GEEKS CON 2 coming to GEEKS Comics June 16

GEEKS Comics will be hosting their second installment of their micro-comic convention.....

Yes, GEEKS CON 2: COMIC BOOK BOOGALOO! Saturday, June 16, from 12 Noon thru 5pm. Pick up some comics for your Father's Day gift-giving! I'll be there with lots of other local independent comic book creators. I'll have all my books and Poster Comics and prints and stuff....

Check out the Facebook invite, and make plans to visit your friendly neighborhood comics show. It's FREE to attend, and it's held inside GEEKS, the fashionable comic shop located in Uptown Whittier.

GEEKS
6747 Greenleaf Ave. Suite A
Whittier CA 90601

A poem for The Coma ( from COMA CON )

COMA CON was held this past weekend at GEEKS Comics in Whittier, and it was far from comatose...

This was the release/signing event for my comic book THE COMA. I also debuted THE ART OF THE COMA & THE COMA COLLECTOR BOX  
featuring both books, a button and a Coma sketch doll! (Order your copies of THE COMA and/or my other comics from my webshop or stop by GEEKS Comics)


Among the friends and fans who attended where my two sisters with one of my nephews and two nieces. There were even a few students from my Comic Book Workshops who showed up. The event went off great, and I was happily surprised to see some of the people who came. I slipped up and only took two photographs, but they're enough for this blog post, because I want to use the space to present a very special extra. 


My friend Christopher Luke Trevilla attended as well and enlightened us all with the first-ever reading of his poem...THE COMA! I've had one comic turned into a movie, and now my new one has inspired a poem. (Still waiting for the MAN-SWAMP breakfast cereal!). Chris is a very active & imaginative poet/performer in the Los Angeles area, so it was truly a pleasure to be able to receive this from him. He also gave me his hand-written first draft of the poem, complete with a series of sketches he drew alongside the words. I'm reprinting his poem and sketches here, and I hope you enjoy what he wrote. He really captured various elements of my story in his piece, and intermingled with his particular inner voice, created a whole new experience.

The Coma(Inspired by the eponymous comic by Javier Hernandez, and the track "Peace of Mind/The Candle Burns" contestedly attributed to the Beatles)

 

Open eyes into absent skies,
my vision dulled with void
Inside burns
a flame to meet me here-

I leave
the cold shell there
emotions peeled away,
no laughter no tears,
I manage not a smile.

The world
around me
takes shape at will,
molecules, shadows, and worlds between
unfolding

Suddenly
there’s fear- a kind of ripping pain
Surely this
is not eternal – is it?

This world or whatever it may be
is only held inside
Repressed and now free
alive and changing
perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.

 
Can it be...
World and Time
have ended at long last?
Or am I?
still
silent
nothing
dead
No, I must be in my head.
Feels too real to be over now
Don't keep me
from begin.

I need
to find
a cause, meaning, purpose
can’t just float freely..

 
Inner ear
spoken to
by ancient man and serpent
at war,
at odds,
or one in the same?

I say
I want to hear, see, and be
in the world I knew before

I scream
into the void

Ancient man
looks into me
telling me to retreat further inside
Ancient serpent
slithers into me
telling me to give up hope, I was 
meant to stay.

 
In the void
I listen
to sounds that say

All you want
ought be to fly all day
be led
into a free world newly borne
to build things
never built before
to do things
never before done
And just before
it’s over
it’s really
just begun.

Silent I run.
No pause, no coma, no doubt.
Silent I run.

CLT

THE COMA finally available to order online!

THE COMA has landed, folks!

 

Yesterday afternoon I received my shipments of THE COMA and THE ART OF THE COMA. These books will be available this coming Saturday, Nov. 19 at GEEKS Comics during COMA CON, my big release/signing party. But, I figure since many of you won't be able to fly out to California for the event, I'm putting them for sale in my webshop today. You can order your copies by going to the LOS COMEX Webshop now!.

  Just to make sure we don't break our 'street date' of Nov. 19, I'll ship the books around the middle of this week, depending on where you live. Hopefully you'll get them by Saturday, but I would imagine Monday at the latest. 

Oh, and for the folks who pre-ordered the now-out-of-print digest sized edition of THE COMA, (Thanks!) I will offer you a special deal. If you order the full-size magazine edition of THE COMA, (which features a brand-new 2 page prologue to the story, along with the new cover), I'll give you a rebate of $1.50. Just my way of trying to lessen the feeling of 'double-dipping'! I know it's not the way most greedy comic publishers do business, but what the heck, we do things a little different here around Los Comex! Just order the comic online, pay through the checkout, and I'll refund you the $1.50 through Paypal. And yes, I have the records of who bought the pre-orders, so everyone play nice!

If you do live in the Los Angeles area, I'd be great to have you come out to GEEKS for COMA CON. Nothing like meeting in person, ya know. Plus there will be food and lots of other stuff to buy like some original Coma comic book pages, other artwork of mine, a special GEEKS exclusive Coma print, etc.  

If you haven't seen the Coma micro-documentary "IT'S ALL IN MY HEAD", check it out here.

COMA CON at GEEKS Comics NOV 19

 

GEEKS Comics in Whittier, CA will be hosting COMA CON, my release & signing party for my new comic book, THE COMA and the companion art book, THE ART OF THE COMA! 

 

For those who missed getting a copy of the sold-out Limited Edition version of THE COMA (originally printed up in a special digest-sized edition), the new release of THE COMA features an all-new 2 page prologue, and is published in an eye-popping 8" x 10.5" magazine format!

Featuring an all-new cover illustration penciled by me, inked by Michael Neno and colored by Mort Todd, this 40 pg, b&w comic book takes you on mind-bending head trip into the mind of Damian Arkadian....The Coma!

THE ART OF THE COMA is a full-color 32 page portfolio featuring tons of sketches, production art and other rarities detailing the origin of my new comic book character. There's also a Guest Artist Pin-Up Gallery featuring unique takes on The Coma by an eclectic group of artists: Mary Bellamy, Crystal Gonzalez, Celina Hernandez, Blair Kitchen, Rafael Navarro and Mort Todd!

Come out to GEEKS on November 19th and get your own copies. I'll have lots of other stuff there as well, including the original pages from The Coma, a special print created exclusively for GEEKS and lots of other products from Los Comex, my publishing imprint! Get your Holiday shopping done early and get yourself, or a friend , some cool comic swag!

GEEKS is located at:

6747 Greenleaf Ave, Ste A, Whittier, CA 90601

Cartoonista's SKETCH-A-PALOOZA event at GEEKS Comics

A video shot/edited/produced from filmmaker Jim Lujan featuring the event held yesterday at GEEKS Comics in Whittier.....






SKETCH-A-PALOOZA! A day for free sketches for kids from the Cartoonistas. This was a great event with lots and lots of families showing up for free drawings. I had about 5 of my students from my comic book workshop show up as well. (As if they don't get enough free drawings from me in the class!).


Thanks to GEEKS for hosting us. This is truly a match made in heaven between the Cartoonistas and GEEKS. And thanks to all the wonderful artists who showed up to make the event happen. And of course thanks to all the kids and parents and grandparents who stopped by to visit!

Dia de Los Muertos events in Whittier this weekend

This Saturday and Sunday, I'll be at two Day of the Dead events in good ol' Whittier, Ca! When you're the creator of a comic book character called El Muerto, and you live in Whittier, these are 100% 'No brainers'!

On Saturday, October 23, I'll be attending the first ever Dia de Los Muertos event at Rose Hills Memorial Park & Mortuary:

Rose Hills is the largest memorial park in the world, and as this is their inaugural Dia de Los Muertos, I'm glad to be participating. Having grown up around the Rose Hills area, it's very interesting for me to be able to exhibit there, as it'll have a very 'neighborly' feel to it! I'll be signing at the Luna Sol Books table from 1:30pm to 2:30pm, hosted by my friend Janelle Gonzalez. 


On Sunday, October 24, I'll be exhibiting at the Uptown Whittier Dia de Los Muertos event. I'll be there for pretty much the whole event, from 11am-5pm. I'll be located in front of GEEKS Comics, at 6747 Greenleaf Ave, Ste A, Whittier, CA 90601. 

It's always a treat to be able to attend events in my hometown. Saves wear and tear on the vehicle and keeps fuel costs down! I actually invited all the kids in my local workshops to attend, so let's see if 'teacher' can draw them in (maybe they can get extra credit for buying some books!).

Reflections on the DIY COMICS CRASH COURSE

Earlier today at GEEKS Comics in Whittier, I conducted my DIY COMICS CRASH COURSE. I was really satisfied how the class turned out. The attendees were all really interested in the material I covered, as well as with one another's planned projects.

The companion book to the workshop.
  
This is the second time I've taught this particular workshop. With the 2 1/2 hour time limit, there was a definite amount of material I wanted to make sure I covered for the attendees. Not much chance to devote the whole time to the actual principles of storytelling, but I do focus on what I consider the practical aspects of publishing one's work. And there was no shortage of questions and contributions from the attendees, which I feel makes for a real robust, immersive experience for everybody!

Establishing the final form of one's story, whether it be a web comic or a printed publication of some sort, requires the artist to invest plenty of time in researching costs and time tables for web sites, printing fees, targeted convention dates, etc. What I did before I published my first book back in 1998 was to target an actual comic convention (APE) to debut my book at. This forced me to develop a schedule in which to finish my book, which in my case is always a good thing. (The ol' 'gun to the head' routine, so to speak!).

I honestly don't recall if I obtained quotes for my first printed book while I was still working on it, but it's something I recommend to the novice publisher. At least getting some type of ballpark figure gives them a leg up on saving up for their future printing bill. To finish their comic book, then realize they have to wait another 4 months to save up, for example, $500.00 to cover printing costs...Well, that's something that could be addressed with an early quote.

Like a lot of artists, I get inspired by other creators both within my field and from other mediums as well. Besides strongly recommending Dave Sim's new, revised, CEREBUS GUIDE TO SELF-PUBLISHING, 

I also recommended REBEL WITHOUT A CREW,  filmmaker Robert Rodriguez's account on filming his no-budget indie film, EL MARIACHI. There are a lot of parallels in trying to make a film with a mere handful of collaborators and a pittance of money with creating and publishing your own comic book. I found enough inspiration and instruction in the book to keep it on my 'Recommended reading' list for DIY cartoonists.

I really do enjoy this type of instruction, in that I'm conveying information and my personal experiences to adults who are planning to publish their own comics. I've taught lots of 'how to draw comics' classes to kids, and that's rewarding in it's own way. Teaching a youngster basic storytelling principles and seeing them apply some of that information to the way the create is a wonderful experience.

But knowing that someone has their own story to create, and is specifically looking for instruction and insight in how to approach all the publishing aspects (costs, marketing, presentation, etc) involved, that makes me feel like I'm giving someone a very practical set of tools. Sure, it's based on my own feelings about approaching DIY comics, but since I'm making the effort to provide my services, I don't have to teach anyone else's methods. I'll refer to other things that some creators have done, but I speak best about my own experiences and what's worked, or hasn't worked, for me.

Here's a pic of the 'graduating class':

Thanks to Neil Segura for sharing this pic! (You can read his post about the workshop here)

Like I mentioned earlier, there was a lot of interaction between these guys about what they were working on. I think that's very helpful because it let's people see that everyone is in a different stage of working or planning their books. A nice comment someone made was that it would be neat to see, in another year or two, where everybody is at in their role of self-published cartoonists. I agree!


Thanks to the attendees, and thanks as always to GEEKS Comics for hosting the workshop.

GEEKS CON reviewed (hint: Two Thumbs Up!)

GEEKS CON came and conquered, for sure!

Held at GEEKS Comics, the first-ever GEEKS Con took place on Saturday, June 14. Among the many great things I liked about doing the show was that it was about 10 minutes away from home. That comes particularly handy when I'm driving home at about 11pm, exhausted by a full day show!
 
Here's me setting up. To my left is Ted Seko, cartoonist (BILLY COLE & the SUPERMONSTERS franchise) and podcaster:

EL MUERTO comics, movie and sketch dolls taking up one whole corner. It's Signature Character Korner, Kids!



Jim Lujan not only debuted his brand-spanking new GHETTOMATION GARDEN DVD at the show, but he had time to record several interviews throughout the day, alongside the ever-loving creator of CRYING MACHO MAN, Jose Cabrera (in the baseball cap):

Raul Aguirre Jr. setting another young artist on a strict path of discipline and serious Art Fu:

 (photo courtesy Hortencia Aguirre, used with permission)

Raul's an animator, cartoonist and the host of the MAN VS. ART podcast. Once you hear it, you can't unhear it!! If you've ever talked to Mr. Aguirre, you've no doubt been swept over by his gale force windstorm of artistic knowledge, passion and inspiration. The very reason I've christened him '¡El Bombastico!'




This crackerjack of a comic book artist, Rafael Navarro, has a long history with me:

Rafael is both a Xeric Award-winning comic book artist, and an Emmy Award-winning storyboard artist. But mostly he's the guy I can sit and talk with hours about such topics as Frank Robbin's INVADERS comics, Jack Kirby's CAPTAIN AMERICA and Dick Sprang's BATMAN work. When he's not working on his Sonambulo comic book or freelance gigs, he knocks out stunning pieces like this one:

Yep, this wickedly, wonderful drawing is a pin-up of my WEAPON TEX-MEX. This guy Navarro is a real keeper, believe me!


Here's a pic of (l to r)Rafael, Michael Aushenker, me and Alex Vallejo:

Michael, no stranger to readers of this blog, is, along with Rafael, one of the guys who proceeded my first self-publishing efforts back in 1998. Mikey's the creator of EL GATO, CRIME MANGLER, as well as his current series of comics, CARTOON FLOPHOUSE. He also writes regularly for BACK ISSUE Magazine, and even writes a column for the DITKOMANIA zine (which I occasionaly provide an illustration for). Me, Raf and Mikey were 2/5ths of the 'legendary' LA indie comics group, BIG UMBRELLA! One day, the book will be written on that era (probably by me!) and by Asgard, the tale will be told. Our good friend Alex drove up from San Diego to join us for this show.

Among the other cartoonists joining us at GEEKS CON was Sherm Cohen, the very talented director/storyboard artist from such shows as SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS and  KICK BUTTOWSKI:

Even outside his table, Sherm gets mobbed by young fans!

Between all the hoopla of selling comics and meeting fans and drawing in sketchbooks, we even found time to inaugurate another artist into the Cartoonista fold! Co-founder Jim Lujan and I had discussed this some months ago, but we figured this was as good a time as any to spring this on the unsuspecting artist:

Arvie Villanueva of Agimat Entertainment, newly crowned Cartoonista. He and his lovely wife Adonna have had great success with the brand-new video game that Arvie created based on their webcomic, Shadow Candy: SUGAR RUSH. The game is available through iTunes, and I congratulate Agimat on their successful launch. No mean feat, considering how many applications are submitted to Apple every week!

Among the personal highlights I like to remember: Seeing one of the students from the 4th Grade class I spoke at a few weeks ago show up with his mom and use his own allowance money to buy a comic book from me, the fans who took home my Muerto Sketch Dolls, the friends who came by to say 'Hi', other artists like Will Caulfield (ADVENTURES OF BAT BAT) and Lalo Alcaraz (LA CUCARACHA) stopping by to show some support. 


Also, this young man, Andrew, asking for an El Muerto drawing with half his face peeled away! And he insisted on the eyeball dangling from it's socket!! Remember the good old days when kids would ask for a drawing of a cowboy or a dinosaur?!

 I have to thank all the artists who showed up and helped us pack the room with fans. Thanks to Jim Lujan for gettting the ball rolling on GEEKS CON, and of course to my pal Sal Felix, owner of the shop, for opening his store up to GEEKS CON and all the other shows we've had in his store over the last two years.

Making our comics and cartoons and art is our passion, and we'd do it anyways (or go plum loco). But to be able to have a time and a place to show it, share it and sell it...Well, that's what us artist types want! Thanks everyone who played a part in GEEKS CON!