Oxford American & weekend con in Kankakee!

Hey there!

I have an illustration in the brand new issue of Oxford American magazine (#73). check it out!

Also, if you're around northern Illinois this Saturday, June 4th, I'll be at the Kankakee Fantasy Con from 10am-5pm. It's at the Kankakee Public Library (201 E. Merchant St.). Please save me from the lightsaber wielding action figure collectors.

See you tomorrow night at my art opening at the Owlery in Bloomington! 10pm!

Show opening at The Owlery, June 3rd!

If you're in the Midwest, I'll have an exhibition at The Owlery (212 S. Rogers St., Bloomington IN 47404), an extremely tasty new vegetarian restaurant run by some punk friends doin' it legit! The show will be up for all of June, meaning it'll be around if you're coming in to town for Plan-It-X Fest.
We'll be having an opening party on Friday, June 3rd, from 10 PM - 1 AM-- stop by for the late-night menu, some beer or coffee, and check out or buy some art I've been working on for the last couple of years.
See you there!

Little Rock presentations next week!

I'll be in my home turf next week, doing some presentations in conjunction with the Arkansas Literary Festival and National Library Week! Each of these will be a slideshow presentation followed by Q&A:

Monday April 11th-- 12:15-1:30 pm: workshop at Pulaski Technical College Visual Arts Studio (PTC students only)

Tuesday April 12th-- 12:15-1:30 pm: ALF presentation/Q&A at PTC Campus Center Grand Hall (3000 West Scenic Drive in North Little Rock)

Wednesday April 13th-- 6 pm: presentation/Q&A at Fletcher Library (823 N. Buchanan St.)

I'll also have books and stuff for sale at all these events. See you there!

Outstanding Eight

Hey, if you're in the Michigan area, I'm doing a bunch of set art and projected illustrations/panels for a play called The Outstanding Eight by Gabriel Cooper and Jonathan Wierenga-- it'll be performed at Michigan State University's RCAH Theatre on April 28-30th. Check it out!

Tickets are on sale now at 21st Century Comics & Games in East Lansing.

FAT SHADOW tour and new LP out!


Hey crew-- Bloomington powerhouses Fat Shadow are touring the east coast and midwest from March 25-April 23 in support of their incredible new LP, Foot Of Love, which can be ordered from Houseplant Records with a free digital download, or the whole thing can be downloaded here!

Fat Shadow are a quartet making classic-rock-leaning tiki torch punk melodies with spectacular vocals, like a sweet mix of Heart, The Pretenders, Throwing Muses, and X. Members are/were also part of Landlord, The Door-Keys, Pink Razors, Erin Tobey, and Abe Froman. Get on it!

Tour dates and info can be ventured here.

springtime jams


Hey there! It's been a while since I've given a general update-- here's what's in the works:

* After two years, Any Empire and The Silence Of Our Friends are both done! Any Empire will be out in July for Comic-Con International.

* I just got started with the drawing chores for Cecil Castellucci's Year Of The Beasts, due out in 2012 from Roaring Brook Press.

* Check out the February 2011 issue of Oxford American magazine for a weird illustration.

* I have a comics story called "Conjurers" in the forthcoming YA fiction anthology What You Wish For, which is a benefit for building an educational center in Darfur. Bookwish Foundation is releasing it with Putnam Books, and it will feature work by Nikki Giovanni, R.L. Stine, Joyce Carol Oates, Alexander McCall Smith, Francisco X. Stork, Naomi Shihab Nye, Sofia Quintero, Jeanne Duprau, Karen hesse, Cornelia Funke, Ann M. Martin, Marilyn Nelson, Meg Cabot, Jane Yolen, Gary Soto, Cynthia Voigt, and me. It'll be out in Fall 2011!

* I just finished a bunch of illustrations for the forthcoming Cometbus book Add Toner, collecting issues #46-53. (And if you haven't yet, check out #54, featuring a tour diary of traveling across Asia with Green Day-- it's a spectacular issue.)

* I'll be doing album artwork for Band Of Beards' new LP/CD, Fuerteventura. Should be out in the spring!

*If you're around the Bloomington area, come to Boxcar Books' Rock 'N Roll Prom at The Bluebird on April 9th. It's a benefit for the Midwest Pages to Prisoners Project. I'll be in the Black Sabbath cover band Supernaut (as sweet sweet Ozzy) with Jarod from Universe/Morrow, Mike from Universe/Good Luck, and Benny from Gourmet Scum/Butt Piss! Bring it on!

Here are my upcoming comics-related events for the year:

* March 19-20 SPACE in Columbus, OH
* April 11-12 Presentations/workshops at Pulaski Technical College in North Little Rock, AR
* April 12 Arkansas Literary Festival presentation/Q&A at Pulaski Tech (more info soon!)
* April 13 presentation/Q&A at Fletcher Library (823 N. Buchanan St.), Little Rock AR. 6pm.
* May 7-8 TCAF in Toronto, Ontario
* June 4 mini-con at Kankakee, IL public library (201 E. Merchant St.). 10a-5p.
* July 20-24 Comic-Con International in San Diego, CA-- Any Empire debuts!!!
* August 11-14 Wizard World Chicago in Rosemont, IL.
* Sept 10-11 Small Press Expo in North Bethesda, MD.
* Dec 5-Feb 10 solo exhibition at Arkansas Historical Museum, Little Rock AR

see you there!

Michigan State Comics Forum ahoy!


Come up to Lansing, Michigan on January 21-22 for the MSU Comics Forum! I'll be the keynote speaker Friday night from 7-8:30 pm in the RCAH Theatre (in the basement of Snyder/Philips Hall). Saturday I'll be participating in a panel TBA, as well as selling and signing books and original artwork in the Artists' Alley from 11-5.

Also appearing will be teammate Erin Tobey (Here It Is zine/comic, the late HelloMermaid.com, and musician in Fat Shadow, Pink Razors, Mt. Gigantic, and Lansing punk legends Abe Froman!).