Recap from MARCH debut at San Diego Comic Con!


The grand debut of March: Book One went better than any of us could've hoped for! We sold out of all the limited hardcover copies in the first couple of days, and nearly sold out of our softcover stock as well. Folks were beyond stoked to meet John Lewis, and he loved the inclusive atmosphere generally felt at the Con. At our presentation on the book, Congressman Lewis' introduction was cut off after one sentence-- by a lengthy standing ovation from the overcrowded ballroom.

Here are video excerpts from our standing-room-only panel discussion about March-- couldn't dig up any of my section, but here are some from John Lewis and Andrew Aydin.

A first for the Top Shelf booth-- the Con threatened to shut us down at one point because of the insane line for the MARCH signing!

Virtually every major news outlet did features on the book, including CBS, ABC, NBC, CNN, NPR, PBS, Roll Call, UT San Diego, Publishers Weekly, ColorLines, and Huffington Post.


In addition, in the days leading up to Comic-Con, Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick Leahy held up a copy of March in the Committee hearing on the gutted Voting Rights Act, saying "it will be seen by all five of my grandchildren." It should be noted that the Senate Judiciary Committee is the very same that held those infamous 1954 comic book hearings on the heels of Dr. Wertham's Seduction Of The Innocent, crippling the American comics industry.

Amidst an NPR interview with John Lewis, Andrew, and I.
Dr. Neil Degrasse Tyson arranged a special meeting with us to get signed copies for himself and his father!
Alia Shawkat from Arrested Development!
I'll post more as it becomes available, of course-- just wanted to get all this stuff up here. Thank you everyone for a truly incredible experience at San Diego Comic Con this year, and thanks to my Top Shelf family for being excellent human beings!

San Diego Comic Con schedule-- signings & panels!

If you'll be at the gargantuan mind-shredder that is Comic Con International next week, I'll see you there! Come see me anytime at the Top Shelf booth (#1721)-- Brand-new copies of March: Book One will be there, and I'll also have the rest of my books and a ton of original artwork for sale.

Here are the special panels and signings I'll be doing as well:

THURSDAY, JULY 18:

5:00-7:00 pm: Drawing with tons of other artists on The Blank Page Project, with artwork auctioned off later to benefit The Hero Initiative (helping take care of our fellow creators, as many of us have no safety net, pension, retirement, health resources, etc.). This will happen outside in the back of the Vela restaurant at the San Diego Hilton Bayfront hotel (next door to the convention center).

SATURDAY, JULY 20:

10:00-11:00 am: March panel with John Lewis and Andrew Aydin. Room 23ABC.

12:00-1:00 pm: Top Shelf spotlight panel w/ Leigh Walton, Chris Ross, Shannon Wheeler, Mark Russell, Jeffrey Brown, Zander Cannon, Kevin Cannon, Andrew Aydin, and Rob Harrell. Room 4.

2:30-4:15 pm: signing at Top Shelf booth with John Lewis and Andrew Aydin.

4:30-5:30 pm: "Comics And Prose: The Graphic Novel Hybrid" panel with Jeffrey Brown, Cecil Castellucci, Tom King, Jim Pascoe, and Janet Tashjian. Room 26AB.

SUNDAY, JULY 21:

10:30 am-12:00 pm: signing at Top Shelf booth with John Lewis and Andrew Aydin.

1:00-3:00 pm: signing at Top Shelf booth with John Lewis and Andrew Aydin.

4:00-5:00 pm: signing at Top Shelf booth with John Lewis and Andrew Aydin.

Starred review in The Library Journal for MARCH: BOOK ONE!

Here's a new starred review for March: Book One from The Library Journal:

"Lewis’s remarkable life has been skillfully translated into graphics... Segregation’s insult to personhood comes across here with a visual, visceral punch. This version of Lewis’s life story belongs in libraries to teach readers about the heroes of America."

And a starred review from Kirkus:

"A powerful tale of courage and principle igniting sweeping social change, told by a strong-minded, uniquely qualified eyewitness... the heroism of those who sat and marched... comes through with vivid, inspiring clarity."

As well as a starred review from Booklist:

"Dazzling... a grand work."

Now filling direct pre-orders for MARCH: BOOK ONE!

 
March: Book One will be in stores everywhere on August 13th, but I'm taking direct orders for them NOW-- signed, sketched-in, and in your mailbox weeks before they're available anywhere else!

ORDER HERE! 

or order from my Etsy site!

Or send a check for $15 to Nate Powell/ PO Box 3382/ Bloomington IN 47402.

Copies should arrive here this week, and I'll start sending them out as soon as they're here. Thanks-- spread the word!

ALA Annual Conference in Chicago this weekend!

 
John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and I will be in Chicago this Saturday and Sunday (June 29-30) at the American Library Association's Annual Conference, gearing up for the big release of March: Book One next month. We'll be signing free preview excerpts of March, and I'll have copies of Any Empire and Swallow Me Whole for sale as well!

Come see us at the following events:

Sat. 6/29-- Andrew Aydin presentation, 12:00-1:00 pm at the Graphic Novel stage

Sat. 6/29-- Signing with John Lewis & Nate Powell
     1:00-2:30 pm, Top Shelf Booth (#2646)

Sat. 6/29-- Keynote Presentation with John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, & Nate Powell-- 3:30-4:30 pm, Grand Center Ballroom (S100)

Sat. 6/29-- Signing with John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, & Nate Powell
     4:30-5:30 pm, Lobby outside Ballroom (S100)

Sun. 6/30-- John Lewis, special guest at the Coretta Scott King Awards Breakfast-- 7:00-9:30 am, Radisson Blu Atlantic Ballroom

Sun. 6/30-- Signing with John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, & Nate Powell
     10:00-11:00 am, Top Shelf Booth (#2646)

Sun. 6/30-- Nate Powell presentation (covering all my work), 11:00 am-12:00 pm at the Graphic Novel stage

Sun. 6/30-- John Lewis keynote address at the Spectrum Scholarship luncheon-- 12:00- 1:00 pm, Sheraton Chicago Superior A/B Room

Sun. 6/30-- Signing with John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, & Nate Powell
     1:30-3:00 pm, Top Shelf Booth (#2646)

* In addition to this, I'll be at the Top Shelf booth most other times to sign/sell books.

See you there!

Live streaming "Graphic Arts & Social Change" panel tomorrow in Washington DC!

HUMANBEAST full U.S. tour starts tomorrow-- new album too!

 
Two of my best friends and long-time bandmates, Maralie Armstrong-Rial and Eli Milholland, have been performing as Humanbeast for about 6 years now. Tomorrow they're embarking on a full U.S. tour in support of their new album out on Load Records. Here are the dates-- not to be missed!

Here's a song from their new LP/CD.

**all shows are with Russian Tsarlag-- also amazing!

6/4-- Providence RI @ Dungeon C w/ Angels In America, Shv, Virusse

6/5-- Montreal QC @ Drones Club w/ Angels In America, Wermaggetermite Wagon
6/6-- Toronto ON @ Double Double Land
6/8-- Chicago IL @ Situations w/ Andy Ortmann, Bomb Banks
6/9-- Milwaukee WI @ ?
6/10-- Minneapolis MN @ House Of Rock And Roll Science w/ Mar Habrine, Prostate 
6/11-- Iowa City IA @ Shawn Reed
6/12-- St. Louis MO @ Apop w/ Larva, Ghost Ice
6/13-- Kansas City MO @ Fokl w/ Timegate: Isam
6/14-- Denver CO @ Crash45 w/ Alphabets
6/17-- Vancouver BC @ Red Gate w/ Shearing Pinx, A Magic Whistle
6/18-- Olympia WA @ Cryptatropa (421 4th Ave E) w/ Thee Source, Blvckopvl, A Magic Whistle
6/19-- Portland OR @ Multiplex w/ A Magic Whistle, Portland Bike Ensemble
6/21-- Sacramento CA-- house show w/ Screatures
6/22-- Oakland CA @ The Church
6/23-- San Francisco CA @ The Lab (Division Of Labor Fest)
6/24-- Los Angeles CA @ Boy Manor (NNF)
6/25-- Los Angelese CA @ Mata w/ Pedestrian Deposit, Unmanned
6/26-- Phoenix AZ @ Trunkspace w/ IDM Theftable, Glochids, Brooke Herr
6/28-- San Antonio TX @ Essential Studios
6/29-- Austin TX @ Nacho Town w/ BabyAsprinDVD
6/30-- New Orleans LA @ The Mudlark w/ Curved Dog, Professor Rabbit 
7/1-- Chattanooga TN @ Human Conduct Records
7/2-- Asheville NC @ Apothecary
7/3-- Carrboro NC @ Nightlight w/ Mark Van Fleet, Bad News
7/4-- Baltimore MD @ The Bank
7/5-- New York NY @ Jane Pain

Eli and Maralie originally hail from Little Rock AR, live in Providence RI, and have performed in the bands Tem Eyos Ki, Soophie Nun Squad, Bloodhuff, Truckenstein, Gioteens, V Manuscript, Vodun Tron, Global Credit Squeeze, and The Body over the years.

MARCH: BOOK ONE summer signings, TV appearances, and presidential blurbage!

I'm pleased to announce we scored the first ever presidential endorsement for a graphic novel!

"Congressman John Lewis has been a resounding moral voice in the quest for equality for more than 50 years, and I'm so pleased that he is sharing his memories of the Civil Rights Movement with America's young leaders. In March, he brings a whole new generation with him across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, from a past of clenched fists into a future of outstretched hands."
— President Bill Clinton

Top Shelf has just released a ton of info surrounding the release of March: Book One on August 13th, including TV appearances on The Colbert Report, CNN's State Of The Union with Candy Crowley, and Huffington Post Live, as well as the first wave of summer signings/ presentations, starting this weekend at Book Expo America in New York City!

John Lewis and Andrew Aydin (I can't make it, unfortunately) will be signing at the Top Shelf booth (#1005) on Friday, May 31st from 2-4 pm, and Saturday, June 1st from 1-3 pm. 

READ THE WHOLE SHEBANG FROM TOP SHELF.

More news soon!

Graphic Arts & Social Change panel June 11th in Washington DC!

If you're in the DC area, I'll be participating in a panel entitled "Visualizing Peace: Graphic Arts & Social Change" organized by Search For Common Ground. The panel will also feature my March collaborator Andrew Aydin, Dalia Ziada (Egyptian human rights activist, and director of the Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies), and SFCG moderator Jeanne´ Isler.

It's happening Tuesday, June 11th from 9:30-11:30 am at the Johns Hopkins University SAIS Kenney Auditorium (1740 Massachusetts Ave. NW). I'm pretty sure you've gotta register ahead of time, so please sign up here!

See you there!

MARCH is a Staff Pick in the Diamond catalog!

 
March: Book One, written by John Lewis & Andrew Aydin and drawn by me, is now available for orders in the Diamond catalog, and is a Staff Pick in Previews!

It'll be available at San Diego Comic Con ONLY from July 18-21, then in book stores everywhere August 13th, comic book stores on August 14th, and is available for pre-order on Amazon for delivery on the 13th as well. Expect BIG surprises around the corner-- more updates as I'm cleared to share the exciting info!

ERIN TOBEY & FULL SUN on Southeast/East Coast tour this week!


If you live between the Gulf Of Mexico and New England, go see Erin Tobey and Full Sun on tour from May 16-25!

Erin Tobey is one of my favorite songwriters in underground music, in addition to being an amazing visual artist and one of my favorite human beings. Over the years she's been a part of Abe Froman, Mt. Gigantic, Pink Razors, Fat Shadow, and sometimes Tammar. She'll have a series of new screenprints available on tour, and is recording a much-anticipated second solo album this year.


Full Sun is the solo endeavor of Jeff Grant (also of The Sands, Fat Shadow, Pink Razors, and Stop It!!), and will be touring as a two-people-and-a-hologram band-- not to be missed! He's got a new cassette and a brand-new 7" for this tour.


Here's the FB event, with the dates posted here too:

MAY 16-- Chattanooga TN @ Anarchtica
MAY 19-- Florida-- please email erintobey@gmail to help!
MAY 20-- DeLeon Springs FL @ Surf 13 Barn
MAY 21-- Gainesville FL @ The Backyard
MAY 22-- St. Augustine FL @ Nobby's
MAY 23-- North Carolina-- please email erintobey@gmail.com to help!
MAY 24-- Richmond VA @ The Cat Mansion in Church Hill
MAY 25-- Philadelphia PA @ The Mitten