Windy Corner in Pittsburgh---vini vede vici

Windy Corner stopped into Pittsburgh to hang out with Juliacks! Thats me and her in the above picture, hanging out in front of Copacetic Comics (a great comics store).
http://home.earthlink.net/~copaceticcomicsco/

Juliacks did the back cover for windy Corner #2 and you can find more of her amazing work here:She is one of my favorite artists in comics today--Juliacks work is so eccentric but has this huge amount of authority to it. its from out of left field but it looks as if it HAD to come out of left field. No affectation to it.
http://www.juliacks.com

Windy Corner set up shop at Brillobox Bar. We had so much fun---everyone else in comics was stuck in San Diego, walking to Ralphs (or whatever) but Brillobox was like the anti-thesis of San Diego.

That's local Pittsburgh TALENT Sharon Needles who performed at the event! Ooof.

And this local Pittsburgh band, whose name I cant recall, was great! The whole event felt kind of crazy and erratic---sort of like Windy Corner Magazine! Ha!

The next day we had brunch at the house of a couple who work for the childrens museum in Pittsburgh. Their kid sitting next to me here loved mollie Goldstroms drawings in WCM #2.

Again, can i mention how great Copacetic is? I want to move to Pittsburgh and work there! Pittsburgh is really a treat---i wish i was still hanging out there. thanks to Juliacks amd Ben bigelow for putting me up and setting up the event!

Austin

Laural Winter talks with Jason Shiga

Photo of Jason by Eric Nakamura

Is He Your Cartoonist? Laural Winter asks cartoonist Jason Shiga about whether he solves puzzles in real life? Does he enjoy working in libraries? And would he be tough on crime?

LW: As the popular author of Fleep, Double Happiness and Bookhunter do you work at puzzles or mysteries in real life? If yes what kind?

JS:I enjoy reading collections of Google or Microsoft interview questions but as far as real life puzzles, they don't really seem to spring up naturally very often. However there was this one time I found myself trying to cross a river with a goose, a fox and a barrel of grain. No, just kidding.

LW:Writing could be considered a form of fantasizing about characters lives. Have you fantasized in being in the protagonist of FLEEP's shoes? If yes how so? did you do research in a phone booth?

JS:I'm a big fan of Cornell Woolrich and the amnesiac plotline. The one that begins with a man waking up with no identity and he slowly has to piece together how he got there and why there's a corpse next to him. I've often fantasize about being in such a situation myself. For my birthday last year I asked my three closest friends to slip me a roofie and then drag my body into the woods and leave me there. It could happen any day this year so it's very exciting every time I drink a glass of milk.

LW:Bookhunter is about a library police team that retrieves stolen books. Where did the idea for Bookhunter come from?

JS:I've been working for the Oakland Public Library for eight years. Often when I'm shelving or up at the circulation desk, my mind begins to wander. I'll think what if I were trying to track down a missing but I could only use library technology from the 70's. Eventually I just structured all these daydreams into a story and eventually a book.

an interior page from Bookhunter

LW:Do you think stealing from a library is like stealing from a church?

JS:I think it's worse in a way. A library book belongs to the community so you're stealing from everyone in your city. If you steal some jewel-encrusted idol from your church, the only person who's really affected is God who probably doesn't exist anyway.

LW:Further thought on this idea of stealing from revered public institutions, does some part of you feel as tough as Special Agent Bay? Do you wish library staff could be that tough on thieves? Or does this work with the idea if we didn't laugh we would cry? Because you have a wonderful way of blending humor or blasting a troubling human behavior with humor.

JS:Agent Bay in Bookhunter represents a more idealized version of myself. Maybe it's like how Robert E Howard saw himself as Conan the Barbarian when he closed his eyes at night.

LW:I saw you read twice in Portland for the Stumptown Comics Festival this year. You were fantastic! Especially when you did the voice for the character of Finch. How long have you been doing readings? And do you practice or have a routine for preparing for a reading?

JS: The reading in Portland was the second one I've done. I was dreading it at first but actually it was a lot of fun. The one tricky thing about comics readings is that one of the pleasures of comics is that you can linger on a panel if you like it or breeze through it to find out what happens next. In my selection, I usually try and pick very dialogue heavy scenes.

LW: How did you get into a library career? Deliberate choice or fell into it? I ask because mine was a bit of both like many librarians or library staff. I worked at the Portland State University library for work-study during my undergraduate degree. Decided the career of librarian looked pretty good and went for the master's degree a few years later. Though many don't go for the master's. I also heard you may have changed your place of employment recently?

JS: I started working for OPL right after college. I always enjoyed the library. So when I started looking for work after school, the library was first on my list. It's not really an interesting story I guess. Sorry. What can I say? I filled out an application form and six months later I was working for OPL. During the interview they asked me what was the latest book I read. I told them the truth that it was a copy of Knock 'Em Dead borrowed from the Piedmont Branch Library.

the downtown branch of the Oakland Public Library

LW:Card catalogs figure largely in Bookhunter. What do you love about card catalogs?

JS: Their subject headings are excellent. Every MARC subject search I've seen is practically useless.

LW: And like a few library staff I know do you own a card catalog?

JS:I own a couple drawers but the cards are long gone. One of my long term projects is to organize and catalogue my entire comic book collection.

LW: Have you seen Ann Chamberlain's installation of card catalog cards at the San Francisco Public Library?

JS: No. Tell me about it!

LW: She plastered several walls on several floors with the old cards from the SFPL card catalog. And I believe the public was allowed to write things on the cards before she used them. I guess like love letters to the books. Give me some time to read those!

What would be a perfect day in your favorite library branch? A well run computer lab, excellent reference service, quiet reading rooms, vibrant literacy programs, or the spirited mayhem of story-time? What are your favorite services that libraries provide in your favorite library branch?

JS: As a patron my perfect day would consist of finding a new book by my favorite author, finding a new author I liked, an interlibrary loan getting in and a hold being on the shelf for me.

LW: A new practice for library reference staff is to wear a badge that states what we are reading now. I am rereading Lobster Johnson by Mike Mignola and reading Let it Snow: Three Holiday Stories by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle. I just finished reading Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison. What you reading now?

JS: A Brief History of the Dead, Gangster for a Day, and "The World Without Us".

LW: Anything you would like to add?

JS: Return your books by the due date, kids. If you can't, ask your local librarian about the rules regarding renewals.

LW:Thanks for letting me interview you!

A recent review of Bookhunter.
A review of Bookhunter and Fleep.

More Shiga books available here and here.



Sparkplug friend Laural Winter is a writer, librarian, comics fan, crafter, organizer and all around amazing person. She has led the charge to bring zines to the Multnomah Library system in Portland. We'd like to thank her for this talk and hopefully we'll see more from her on the blog soon.
-Dylan

Elijah Brubaker interviewed by Wizard

There's a not-too-embarrassing interview with me over at the Wizard website. read my non-stop blather about my comic Reich.

Uhhh...

This picture of me and Shannon totally rules!
(photo by FOSPCB Sarah Oleksyk)

We got mentioned on the internet.

Sparkplug in the California Geekin' article on the Daily Utah Chronicle.

Comicon '08 report by Tom Neely

I survived another year of the San Diego Comic Con! I had a really great time while I was there. In many ways it was one of the most pleasant SDCCs of my career.

Highlights included meeting both Gonzo and Matt Groening (who said he had The Blot and he bought my new comics!), hanging out with all my comic book friends, and introducing my fiancée to the strange world of comic conventions. And she LOVED it.



The convention has changed in the 10 years I've been going there. There's lots of talk about it being too Hollywood now... but I don't really know about that. Over half of the convention is taken over by movies, t.v. shows, toy companies and video games. And it does seem like that part of the convention overshadows the comics. But it doesn't seem like it really efects us that much. They seem to keep to their end of the convention center, and we've still got ours. That's fine with me. It's like me and my friends are all sitting at the nerd table in the high school lunchroom. The Jocks are encroaching on our territory, but they can't keep us from being who we are.

I love comic convention people. They fascinate me and entertain me and make me feel at home. There is something really wonderful about the freedom to express all of our geeky-weirdness in public.


HUGE thanks to my pals Sparkplug Comic Books and Teenage Dinosaur for letting us join them for our double booth setup. And Levon, Jeff, Shiga, Shannon, Alixopulos and David for hanging out and helping all week.

I love going to cons with these guys - they help keep me grounded amidst the onslaught of interacting with thousands of people. Even though I'm completely exhausted, I'm already lookin' forward to hanging out with them at the next one.

Windy Corner at Quimby's report

Hey everyone-
Windy Corner touched down in Chicago on Friday and I couldn't have been more charmed with the city.

I came into town at noon and spent a lot of time sifting through books at Quimbys Books, where the Windy Corner signing was going to be. Everyone go read Mardou's Manhole #3 and Jason Overbys new mini Jessica! They were great---I hadnt spoken to anyone at all after getting off the plane and was spending the 7 hours from arriving till the signing quietly walking around chicago---so read those books felt pretty charged!

Jeremi Onsmith and John Hankiewicz showed up and we set up our little table. A nice cross section of the Chicago cartooning community dropped by, including Ivan Brunetti, Laura Park and Lilli Carre.

I have always thought of Chicago cartoonists as being both the most talented artists and the most humble. In Brooklyn, I must admit that you find is a lot of confidence, a lot of desire to conquer the world through comics...followed by a lot of procrastination. But I was positively inspired by Chicago---everyone is working very hard there.

At the signing we all talked about comics and it reminded me of how people used to talk about comics 10 years ago---all pure enthusiasm about the craft and joy of it and no talk about book deals and who got what agent.

Comics are changing, no? When I first started making mini comics in the late 90s, it seemed like people did it for the purest reasons. "I'm gonna work as hard as possible on this mini and send it to my favorite artist and maybe they'll see something in it." Now things are different---"gotta get this out ASAP so that first second will know I'm on the map." I like that we're making money now---or that money is at least within our reach---but I do miss that pure drive to just make good comics. It's still there of course, but Chicago reminded me how strong that purity can be if you really commit to it.

Consider this quote from Williams James:
"The moral flabbiness born of the exclusive worship of the bitch-goddess SUCCESS. That — with the squalid cash interpretation put on the word success — is our national disease." Soemtimes, I gotta say, it seems like comics are drifting into this trap while for years we were totally free from it. But we're better than this and I'm glad to be reminded of that.

On Saturday I went to see a Hairy Who exhibit with Jeremi Onsmith. Very Chicago! There was an incredible Jim Hot Salty Nutts colored pencil drawing---it must have taken him ages---using colored pencils as if they were paint. And there were some Gladys Nillson paintings that I couldnt get over--stylized figures, with arms reaching out over other figures shoulders.

Jeremi and I did some drawing---I love Jeremi's work. It has this quality to it---sometimes, people who draw in a very "cartoony" style seem resistant to adding more expressive elements to the work they do---but jeremi combines the two without even thinking about it.

http://onsmithcomics.blogspot.com/

The next day a bunch of us went to Lauara Parks.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/featherbed/sets/986186/

Everyone in the world has been talking about Laura these days...and her work deserves even more talk. She is one of those people that seems to have arrived doing comics fully formed. Of course it jsut seems that way...in reality Lauara has been refining her style for some time but we're all just getting a chance to see it now. She is one of those people though---just glancing at her work you can sense the full force of her talent. Also, her house is like a museum!

At Laura's, me, onsmith, jeremy tinder, laura and lilli all talked comics. What everyone in chicago kept saying is how rare it is to have all these cartoonists together under one roof. Compared to the Brooklyn cartooning world---where it's impossible to walk down the block without running into fellow artists---it was an interesting contrast. Perhaps that is why so much refined work comes out of Chicago...people stay inside, working on making the most elaborate, intricate work they can.

Before I left I got a chance to look through Lilli Carre's sketchbook.

http://www.lillicarre.com/

I can't say enough about Lilli's work. She will be in Windy Corner #3 and a million other more high profile venues in the next year. Lilli, to me, is a true writer. Her recent minis ("The Thing about Madeline" and "Dorado Park") are just overflowing with ideas. So much happens in them---but they're not unfocused either. They are layered but their is a drive to them---a particular feeling that they get to. I think, in comics, there are countless people with unique visual ideas but far less people with unique literary ideas. There are plenty of people who can tell a story---but less people with a totally eccentric story to tell. Lilli's comics are that rarity. Her sketchbooks are incredible.

I was sad to leave town but Windy Corner is trudging along the east coast...I'll be in pittsburgh on Saturday with Juliacks at Brillobox bar.

Saturday, July 26 at 9:00pm to 12:00am Brillobox 4104 Penn Ave Pittsburgh, PA

See you there?

Oh and thanks to Grace Tran for talking me to see Dark Night (ooof---heavy handed!) and for showing me the California Clipper. That place is so cool!

And thanks a million to Quimbys books for hosting us! http://www.quimbys.com/ There's no where else like it---I could spend 5 more days there.

love
Austin

WINDY CORNER in Pittsburgh!

While half the Sparkplug Army is in San Diego sandwiched between Chewbacca and Romulans, the Windy Corner tour is blazing on to Pittsburgh! This saturday at 9pm, Austin and Juliacks will be at Brillobox bar. It will be pretty informal but really fun!

Saturday, July 26 at 9:00pm to 12:00am
Brillobox
4104 Penn Ave
Pittsburgh, PA

Stop By!

Oakland sacked, gaffled by comics thugs

Hi Friends, this is Alixopulos posting about a big weekend for comics in the Bay Area. On the eve of the big San Diego con the ranks of cartoonists in town swelled to outsize proportions. In addition to the SF Zinefest Saturday and Sunday (check this space for a forthcoming blog on that)there was an animation night hosted by Janelle Hessig at Gilman St, the big Horses Mouth reading at the Cartoon Art Museum and what amounted to a Sparkplug Showcase Reading at the Oakland Public Library last Thursday. Yours truly, Jason Shiga and Hellen Jo read comics out loud to people, like they're stupid or something! Since I was too busy getting ready for the SFZF to make it to those other events, here's the lowdown on the OPL reading.


(here's where i would put a break if i knew how and was a real blogger pro)

Billed as a "thriller night" of exciting stories, the event was as much a welcome-back-conquering-favorite-son for Jason Shiga, who is a former employee of the library. Jason has a pending major book deal and was reading from and signing copies of Bookhunter, his action packed library thriller:


(image courtey of Calvin Wong's flickr page)
Hellen Jo and I were accorded the star treatment that comes with being with Jason on his home turf. Besides hosting us in their beautiful vintage library, check out their nice display of Shiga, Jo and Alixopulos comix:



The library director totally brutally brutalized us with introductions, by using her reference librarian skills to pull information about us from the internet! Here I am flailing my arms helplessly in the onslaught of her intro:


Hellen Jo reads an excerpt from her upcoming graphic novel, Jin and Jam:

(image courtey of Calvin Wong's flickr page)

Jason quite effectively dramatized the breathless dialogue of Bookhunter:


Thanks again to the Oakland Public Library and its charming staff! And thanks to Calvin Wong for the photos of the event that I poached from his photostream.

Sparkplug at the San Diego Comic Con

This week Sparkplug will be setting up at the San Diego Comic Con. We'll be selling books for Tugboat Press, Secret Acres, Bodega Distribution, La Mano 21, Robin Snyder/Steve Ditko, Teenage Dinosaur and other wonderful artists/publishers. Shannon O'leary, Tim Goodyear and I will be at booth (1533&1535) during a lot of the show. La Mano head honcho Zak Sally and artist Jason T. Miles will also be at the booth. We will be sharing the location with Sparkplug best buddy Tom Neely's I Will Destroy You.

This Comic Con is a big deal for us for a lot of reasons including Jason Shiga's
Bookhunter nomination for an Eisner Award. We will have a bunch of artists and
surprise guests at the table, stop by and visit:
Trevor Alixopulos: Saturday and Sunday 1-3pm
David King: Thursday through Sunday 11-1pm
Jeff LeVine: Thursday through Sunday 4-5 pm
Jason Shiga: Thursday through Sunday 2-4pm and 2-3pm on Saturday

San Diego will also be your last chance to get a Nerd Burglar.

New Banner

Dylan asked me to design a new banner for Sparkplug.
If I can get it printed today, you will be able to find us underneath this banner at SDCC this week.

I'll be sharing some booth space with Sparkplug and Pals. I will have lots of new and old stuff.

Come by and check us out! It's gonna be a fun week.

Oakland Tribune on the Reading Tonight

The Oakland Tribune has a write up on this evening's reading at the Oakland Public Library. They talked to Hellen Jo, Jason Shiga, and Trevor Alixopulos. You can read it here.

SF Zine Fest July 19th - 20th

Tim Goodyear's Teenage Dinosaur and Sparkplug Comic Books will
be set up to sellzines and comics at the SF Zine Fest. July 19th and 20th, at the
SF County Fair Building(formerly Hall of Flowers) 9th Ave.
at Lincoln Way (in Golden Gate Park). One of our
favorite shows, in a new venue. Please please come by if you are
in the Bay Area, there is a ton of amazing and great stuff.

Oakland Library reading July 17

Jason Shiga, Trevor Alixopulos and Hellen Jo will be reading at the Oakland public library 125 14th Street, on Thursday July 17, 2008, from 6 to 8 PM. Go here for more info.

Windy Corner at Quimby's Next week.

Windy Corner contributors Austin English, Onsmith and John Hackewiecz will all be signing books and talking at Quimbys in Chicago on FRIDAY the 18th. Save the day.

Heroes Con Photos

I came back from Heroes Con in Charlotte NC with a lot of photos. I met a lot of great cartoonists including Derek Ballard and Dan Rhett. Tom Neely and I got to hang out with a lot of the NYC/NJ comics crowd. Tom blogs about it at IWILLDESTROYYOU All in all the trip was fun for me though it ended up being a really strange show.
BUT really the most important part of the trip was the flights there with Greg Means who was awesome and can confirm that that really was Richard Simmons on a flight from Detroit to Charlotte.

Affluenza, finally!

Since I first saw this documentary in 1997 I've been thinking about it over and over again. It sort of predated the whole current "anti-stuff" movement and was an awesome return to 70s liberal capitalist/materialist-bashing. So, it has taken me that long to find it again but I did, finally:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
It is an amazing piece, well worth your time.

Of course, there are a ton of things on simplifying, like the PBS show
Simple Living
and the book by two people who were in Affluenza:
Your Money or Your Life.

Daily Crosshatch interview with Dylan Williams

The Daily Crosshatch has part one of a rollicking interview with the esteemed Dylan Williams. Go read now.

"You like going to the post office?"

"Oh yeah."

"You like the bureaucratic aspects of publishing?"

"Yeah. I like the oldness of the system. Especially if you’re drawing all day, it’s fun to go out there and hang out in line."

Dylan Willams does an Inkstud!

My good buddy Dylan Williams just got interviewed on Ink Studs.
He talks about his publishing empire, Sparkplug Comic Books, and other stuff he likes. Well worth the listen.

Tom Neely does an Inkstud

My good buddy Tom Neely just got interviewed on Ink Studs. He talks about his new and old books as well as a lot of art history and black metal. Well worth the listen.

Reich in the Works.

Elijah Brubaker draws Reich:
http://elijahbrubaker.com/blog/?p=742
Blogger is still giving us problems so I'm posting a link to his blog here.

Sparkplug at Heroes Con this Weekend

Sparkplug overlord Dylan Williams and LA ambassador Tom Neely will be manning Booth #522 at Heroes Con this weekend:

LOCATION:
Charlotte Convention Center
501 S. College St
Charlotte, NC 28202
704.339.6000

ADMISSION:
1-day Pass: $10 per person
3-day Pass: $20 per person
Kids 12 & Under get in FREE!

SHOW DATE & HOURS
Open to the Public:
Friday, June 20, 2008 : 11.00 am - 7.00 pm
Saturday, June 21, 2008 : 10.00 am - 6.00 pm
Sunday, June 22, 2008 : 11.00 am - 6.00 pm

And, in case you were wondering, NO, Dylan did not pose for that picture but, gads, if it isn't an uncanny likeness, no?

Yes.

Desert Island Comics Party Report from veritable eons ago a huge success!!!

We've been meaning to post a report of the awesome pre-Mocca party we co-hosted with fellow publishers Bodega Books and Secret Acres at Brooklyn's premiere comic shop, Desert Island, but, well, we've been super busy with the following items of import:

1) Mocca itself! We sold books! We sold mini comics! There was a fire drill!



Tom Neely and Dylan Williams (pictured above), while great cartoonists, publishers and men of distinction were, to my knowledge, largely unhelpful with local firefighting efforts.

2) We premiered two new books, including Austin English's Windy Corner #2, which features new chapters of Austin's graphic novels and work by a variety of established and up and coming and truly unique artists. The cover art is fantastic and there are a lot of really interesting artists involved in the book, which is currently available at our store.

3) We also premiered the totally amazing, Inkweed, by Chris Wright. This book is so good that I started reading it in the bathroom doing.. you know.. things you do in the bathroom.. and when I was done with #1, then #2 of those things, I kept on reading! I sat right there and finished every last poignantly, heartbreakingly odd word of one of Wright's stories. Man, it was good. Go to our store and buy it now.

So.. yeah, the party was by all accounts a huge success! Gabe, the super cool proprietor of Desert Island was completely stoked that no one spilled anything on any books or anything so he wasn't like mad at us at the end, the place was packed, books flew off the shelves (but didn't hit anyone). And it was really fun to team up with Secret Acres and Bodega who released books from Eamon Espey, Sam Gaskin and Dave Kiersch which are all pretty damn good and available at their websites. Here are some pictures of the event:



I totally love this picture because my comics hero, Nate Doyle (left of frame) is looking off into the middle of the street at nothing in particular, wheels spinning, butters churning, engines grinding towards the creation of what is sure to be a great new mini. Look out for this f*cker. Towards the back, you can see a lovely Gabrielle Bell and an equally lovely Austin English enjoying their complimentary PBR's.



Pictured above are aforementioned afore feted Sparkplug authors, Austin English and Chris Wright, fighting off the mobs of fans eager to sign their new books. Don't they look feteish? That's not supposed to sound filthy. It supposed to sound festive.



Look! Look up! It's Dave Kiersch, author of Neverland, also one of the featured artists answering a question or nodding affirmatively about something in that soothing manner of his. For serious, talking to Dave K. makes you feel like you're in a floatation device - and not in an evil 70's movie kind of way, in a totally relaxing, I can just be with this fellow way! To his left is a slightly open-mouthed talking with his hands Aaron Renier. And, with a pose striking stance worthy of Vogue, in the back is Gabriel Fowler, head honcho of Desert Island. You totally wish you could see his face. He's like not as cute as a button but definitely as cute as a bug.

And here's a final shot of Brian Heater of Daily Crosshatch fame looking hella auspicious and merciless about some comic he will no doubt mercilessly shred on the hatch sometime soon. Look out whoever you are!:



More updates to follow soon in the week about our location at this weekend's upcoming Heroes Con and more news about what we're up to all around (minis and books-wise) later still but soon enough!

Business For Shared Prosperity

A lot of what I'd like to blog about is business stuff. I'm a big fan of the small business ideal and wish I could find out more about it myself. I was writing about this on the Sparkplug Myspace page but I'm going to continue it here.

Last Friday Bill Moyers had an amazing show on the growing economic and thereby social gap between the rich and poor in the US's new "Gilded Age". His guest for most of the show was Holy Sklar the director of the Business for Shared Prosperity project. One of my favorite things she talked about was the idea that the higher ups in most corporations or big organizations provide none of the "value" of their business. It is actually the grunts that provide all the value. You could, of course, apply this to comics as well but for me it is interesting in that in is an essentially communist (or at least socialist) idea explained in capitalist terms. Of course, I don't know enough about either schools but hopefully I'm learning more.

She also explained, and they go over this on the website, the way healthcare and a higher minimum wage actually help the economy whereas a rich upper class does relatively little to help out their country's economy. All basic liberal economics but Holy Sklar says it really eloquently.

New Books!

Sorry, I'm still having some problems posting here.
I just put up 6 new books on the website, please take a look:
www.sparkplugcomicbooks.com
Let me know if there are any problems with the pages and please tell your friends. I'm going to be sending out an email a.s.a.p.
Thanks
Dylan

Mats!? Art in NYC and Portland

Mats!? is part of the Hot Wired art show opening this Saturday in NYC!
His work is currently up at the Floating World Gallery in Portland Oregon. It looks amazing, some awesome silk screening.
I'd go to the one in NYC if I was still there.
http://matstuff.blogspot.com/

Let the blogging begin.