New comic in The Nib-- "Pecking Order"

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The new issue of The Nib anthology is out now! This one centers around the theme of power, and includes a 7-page comic by me called “Pecking Order”, reflecting on early 2010’s warning signs about misanthropic nerds, pop culture & identity, and how fascist cosplayers were likely just actual fascists in the making.

This issue has an amazing creative lineup, with contributions by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Ezra Claytan Daniels, Richie Pope, Thi Bui, Sarah Mirk, Sophie Yanow, Ben Passmore, and tons more! Order (and better yet, subscribe) here.

BONUS: “Pecking Order” was originally roughed out waaaay back in 2013, and was always intended as the second half of the comics essay “Havens Have Not” from my You Don’t Say collection. I encourage everyone to read both comics back-to-back for the full effect!

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TCAF signing/panel schedule.

I'll be at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival this weekend, slangin' books and debuting my new OMNIBOX set. Here's my schedule of panel discussions and signings-- see you there!

SATURDAY, MAY 13:

* 11:00 am: "Teamwork: Comics and Collaboration" panel w/ Molly Ostertag, John Jennings, Metaphrog, and Fanny Britt. Library Learning Centre.

* 12:00-2:00 pm: signing at Top Shelf/IDW booth #285-286.

 

SUNDAY, MAY 14:

* 12:00 pm: "Comics As Political Resistance" panel w/ Ben Passmore, Julia Alekseyeva, Matt Lubchansky. Forest Hill Ballroom, Marriott Bloor-Yorkville.

* 1:00-2:30 pm: signing at Top Shelf/IDW booth #285-286.

* 2:30-3:30 pm: signing at First Second booth #204-205.

* 4:00 pm: Creator Spotlight discussion, moderated by Cecil Castellucci. (Books will be sold outside the panel immediately afterwards, as it's the very end of the show.) High Park Ballroom, Marriott Bloor-Yorkville.

OMNIBOX set debut at TCAF-- taking direct orders now!

This weekend in Toronto at TCAF, I'll be debuting my OMNIBOX set-- a 700-page boxed set collecting SWALLOW ME WHOLE, ANY EMPIRE, and YOU DON'T SAY. Come see me at the Top Shelf booth May 13-14th-- I'll post my panel/signing schedule tomorrow!

I'm currently taking direct orders of the boxed set here (which includes a bonus download of Erin Tobey's amazing MIDDLEMAZE album). You're also welcome to get one at your local shop, from Top Shelf, or from Amazon, among many other outlets. Thanks!

 

NATE POWELL'S OMNIBOX collection coming in June!

I'm pleased to announce that Top Shelf/IDW are releasing a boxed set collecting a decade's worth of my creator-owned work-- Swallow Me Whole, Any Empire, and You Don't Say-- hopefully debuting at TCAF in May, and available in stores in June.

Here's Top Shelf's official announcement about the 700-page Omnibox.

For those mostly familiar with my work on the March trilogy, here's a fantastic diving-in point to explore the rest of my stories. Thanks!

San Diego Comic Con schedule & CBLDF artwork auction!

I'm just about to join 97% of my cartoonist peeps in San Diego for Comic-Con International 2015-- I'll generally be found at Top Shelf's booth (#1721), signing copies of two new books-- You Don't Say and March: Book Two-- along with all the rest.



Here's my schedule of signings/panels/goings-on:

THURS 7/9: at Top Shelf booth all day.

FRI 7/10: at Top Shelf booth most of the day, plus discussing You Don't Say and March: Book Two at the Top Shelf spotlight panel from 12-1pm in Room 23ABC.

SAT 7/11: 
   *March panel (with John Lewis & Andrew Aydin). 10-11am, Room 23ABC.
   *March signing (with John Lewis & Andrew Aydin). 11:15am-1pm, Top Shelf booth (#1721).
   *March signing (with JL & AA). 3-4:30pm, IDW booth (#2743).

SUN 7/12:
   *March signing (with JL & AA), 10:30-11:30am, Top Shelf booth.
   *March event off-site at Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation (w/ JL & AA), 3:30-4:45pm.



I'll also have this page from The Silence Of Our Friends (written by Mark Long & Jim Demonakos; First Second, 2012) up for auction to benefit the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. It'll be Saturday, July 11th from 8-10pm at the Bayfront Hilton. 

See you there!

Original artwork up for sale through late July-- a rare chance to buy MARCH pages too!



Original signed pages from nearly all of my books are now for sale through late July at my Etsy site-- your support will help me pay off a mountain of hospital bills from the birth of my second daughter, and swim out of debt with the IRS.

CHECK OUT THE SALE HERE.

The sale features work priced from $150 to $1000, and includes pages from March: Book One, The Lost Hero, You Don't Say, Any Empire, Swallow Me Whole, The Silence Of Our Friends, The Year Of The Beasts, In The Dark, Sweet Tooth, Please Release, Sounds Of Your Name, Tiny Giants, and Walkie Talkie. It includes collaborations with writers Scott Snyder, Jeff Lemire, Rick Riordan, Robert Venditti, Cecil Castellucci, Congressman John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Mark Long, and Jim Demonakos. There are also a few unpublished gems in there, like a 1999 Fantastic Four pinup, a tryout page for The Lost Hero, and an alternate version of a March: Book One page! 

Being a self-employed comic book artist isn't easy or full of job security, especially when trying to support a family with one's efforts-- cartoonists usually don't have a typical means of saving for any retirement or getting employer-based health insurance, and we get absolutely slammed by income taxes as sole proprietors. Career cartoonists are virtually guaranteed to die at their drawing tables, working through old age to make ends meet. I welcome and am prepared for that challenge, and this sale will help bridge a little bump in the road.

Thank you so much for your support and understanding, and for spreading the word-- now back to work!


Next week-- limited original artwork from all books for sale!



Hi-- I'll be putting some pages of original artwork up for sale in the next few days in order to pay for hospital bills, car problems, and swim out of my debt dungeon with the IRS.

This includes pages from SWALLOW ME WHOLE, ANY EMPIRE, WALKIE TALKIE/ SOUNDS OF YOUR NAME, PLEASE RELEASE/ YOU DON'T SAY, THE SILENCE OF OUR FRIENDS (w/ Mark Long & Jim Demonakos), THE YEAR OF THE BEASTS (w/ Cecil Castellucci), TWELVE REASONS TO DIE (w/ Ghostface Killah & Matthew Rosenberg), IN THE DARK (w/ Scott Snyder), THE LOST HERO (w/ Rick Riordan & Robert Venditti), SWEET TOOTH (w/ Jeff Lemire), and the only two pages from MARCH that will ever be available for sale in the forseeable future.

Stay tuned-- Probably putting them up Monday, remaining available through the end of July. Thanks for your support and faith!

New interview up at Paste/ YOU DON'T SAY out tomorrow!



Here's a very in-depth interview up at Paste, covering all kinds of topics!

My new book You Don't Say will be in stores everywhere TOMORROW-- here's some love from the folks at 13th Dimension:

"Nate Powell is one of those comics creators who doesn’t get the credit he deserves. Now, before you start sputtering to yourself about his countless awards and his recent television appearances to promote the March series he draws with Rep. John Lewis, let me clarify. Powell is one of those people whom I almost never hear anyone discussing. His work is liked and respected, he is awarded and rewarded left and right, but no one seems to talk about how powerfully evocative his line is, how intensely personal and emotional his writing is, and how easy he switches between any color on the emotional spectrum in the course of just a single page. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you need to pick up this collection of the last nine years of Powell’s shorter work. And if you do know what I’m talking about well, you were already going to buy it."

New interview at CBR



Here's a new interview I did at Comic Book Resources for the stories in my book You Don't Say (out May 20th from Top Shelf/IDW). Soon after doing this phone interview, I realized that the last few months of sleep deprivation had taken a toll on my ability to convey thoughts clearly-- sorry if it's a bit rambly or cloudy. Email interviews only for the next couple of months..!

You can directly pre-order signed, sketched copies of You Don't Say from me here, and I'll send them out as soon as they arrive.

2015 Events Schedule

My 2015 events schedule is getting finalized, so here are several coming up-- including an interview about March: Book Two on The Rachel Maddow Show with my collaborators! More info soon.

View my 2015 schedule here-- updated regularly!

Also, this Thursday, March 26th, I'll be taking over Chicago Ideas Week's Instagram account to cover March and some of my other work, leading up to Rep. John Lewis' Chicago Ideas talk on March 31st.

8-page preview and solicitation for YOU DON'T SAY



My new book You Don't Say, collecting my shorter work from 2004-2013, is in the Diamond catalog (page 159) to hit shelves this May! It features a ton of out-of-print, unpublished, and never-before-available-in-English comics (including collaborations with Rachel Bormann-Powell, Al Burian, and kinda Pretty Girls Make Graves), and is the first official release under the new Top Shelf/ IDW partnership.

Here's Top Shelf's press release about it, which also features an 8-page preview.

I'll be opening up direct pre-orders from my site in the next month-- more info soon!

MARCH: BOOK TWO is finished!



I'm very relieved and pleased to announce that the artwork for March: Book Two (written by Congressman John Lewis & Andrew Aydin, and drawn by me) is all wrapped up-- now to do final edits and corrections, and get that thing to the printer.

It'll be out in late January from Top Shelf-- you can pre-order from them here, or from Amazon here. I'll be doing direct pre-orders at my shop soon (all signed and sketched-in copies).



What's next? A still-unannounced side project, then a personal short comic inspired by one of my favorite songs, an upcoming collaboration with a truly great horror writer, the release of You Don't Say next September, and March: Book Three in 2016! More info on these as soon as I'm able to elaborate.

Presentation, MARCH exhibit, and signing at SPACE in Columbus OH!



If you're in the Midwest, come to SPACE in Columbus OH this weekend! It'll be happening April 12-13th at the Ramada Plaza Hotel (4900 Sinclair Rd.), 10am- 6pm. 

I'll be selling books and artwork at my own table all weekend, and will also have some other things going on:

* Original pages from the forthcoming March: Book Two will be unveiled for the first time ever, and will be on exhibit near my table all weekend.

* I'll be giving a presentation on Saturday from 3-4 pm about all the projects afoot since the release of March: Book One-- this'll include Book Two, Rick Riordan's The Lost Hero, my comics collection You Don't Say, a new printing of Swallow Me Whole, collaborations with acclaimed writers Scott Snyder and Van Jensen, pinups for Operation Margarine and Henry & Glenn Forever & Ever, and an early look at work on my next solo book, Cover.

Here's the FB page for SPACE, and the full programming list. See you there!

THE LOST HERO is complete!



Drawing chores on the graphic novel adaptation of Rick Riordan's THE LOST HERO are finished! It's written by Robert Venditti, drawn by me, and colored by Orpheus Collar, to be published in October from Hyperion Books. More details, including an unveiling of the cover, as soon as it's available!

Time to catch up on commissions, pinups, and lettering for my short story collection YOU DON'T SAY this weekend, then jumping straight into inks for MARCH: BOOK TWO, which will be released in January 2015 from Top Shelf.

January 2014-- recap of press and new releases!

Happy New Year! It's been a bit, so here are some of the recent goings-on:



* The French edition of March: Book One is out now-- it's titled Wake Up America: 1940-1960, and is published by Rue De Sevres. 

* An Italian edition of Sounds Of Your Name will be out in early spring, titled Condizioni and published by Edizioni BD's Psychopop imprint. More info soon!


* I'm currently drawing a horror comic with acclaimed writer Scott Snyder (The Wake, American Vampire, Batman, Superman: Unchained) for the In The Dark anthology hardcover, edited by Rachel Deering. It'll be available in April via IDW Publishing!

* Here's a new interview I did with Bloomington's own WFHB a couple of weeks ago, discussing March and other books, punk, scamming photocopies in the 1990's, working for folks with disabilities, and other topics.

* I'm proud to announce that March: Book One made Comic Book Resources' #3 book of 2013, several best-of-year lists at Comicosity, and #3 of 2013 at Mental Floss! In addition, the collaborative team of John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and I made "Comics Team Of The Year" over at Comics Beat. Thanks so much!


* I'm about 25 pages away from finishing work on Rick Riordan's Heroes Of Olympus: The Lost Hero (with writer/adapter Robert Venditti and colorist Orpheus Collar). That'll be out in October from Hyperion Books!


* I'm also finishing up work on You Don't Say, which collects all my out-of-print, unpublished, and new short comics stories from 2004-2013. It should be out in late 2014 from Top Shelf! More info soon.

In Progress.

Here's the title spread from March, written by Congressman John Lewis & Andrew Aydin and drawn by me.



And here's a little past-present-future-- the top row is all the books or stories I've had published from 1992-2012. The bottom row is pages and scripts for all the books I'm currently working on (the March trilogy, Rick Riordan's The Lost Hero adapted by Robert Venditti, my next solo graphic novel Cover, a short comic written by Al Burian for Tugboat Press's Free Comic Book Day release, and new short stories for the You Don't Say collection.)




Pencil pages galore on forthcoming books!

I've been holed up in my fort lately, working away at four books simultaneously. Here's a little sliver of pencil pages-in-progress for each of these projects:

Here's an excerpt from a new short story called "Havens Have Not"-- a return to the Please Release-style autobio comics essay form. It's one of several new stories in my forthcoming collection You Don't Say, which should be out in 2013 on Top Shelf, and collects all of my shorter stories from 2004 to present, including a ton of rare and unpublished stuff.

(you can also read the included short stories "Cakewalk" [one of my all-time favorites, awkward, haunting, and true-- written by Rachel Bormann] and "Bets Are Off" [a comics adaptation of a Pretty Girls Make Graves song] with these links here.)






Next up-- here's a pencil excerpt from my graphic novel adaptation of Rick Riordan's adventure megahit Heroes Of Olympus: The Lost Hero. Robert Venditti (X-O Manowar, Surrogates, The Homeland Directive, Percy Jackson And The Olympians) handled the script adaptation, and this graphic novel will be released in 2014 by Hyperion Books.






I'm also hard at work drawing March, the graphic novel autiobiography of Congressman John Lewis (D-GA), living architect of the 20th century civil rights movement. The book is co-authored by Andrew Aydin, and will be published in 2014 or 2015 by Top Shelf. Very stoked about this tome!  

(You can read a finished preview chapter of March here.)


Finally, here are a couple of pages from my next solo graphic novel, Cover, which will be published by Top Shelf in 2016. I'm currently working through pencils and dialogue for the entire book, with details about the story later in the fall. There is nothing more satisfying, challenging, and exciting than diving into undiscovered worlds within a new graphic novel, watching the characters and environment evolve and mature in the years between those first scribbles and the finished product.




Thank you for reading my books and continuing to support me, and all comic book creators! Now back to the drawing board.