Vacation Time

The AWP reading went well, considering we had a last minute change of plans. About three hours before show time I got a call from Karen and Jon. They were stuck in Connecticut because Jon had food poisoning! They hunkered down in a sleazy hotel while Jon recuperated. But that was half of my AWP readers! I was able to get Jon Chad, Chris Wright, and Dennis to step up and take their place. There were a few crash courses in PowerPoint, but everyone pulled together a great presentation.

Jon was a natural, he's a great voice actor. Whale Town was a hit! Dennis did a solo reading of Neon Girl (a comic with virtually no male characters) and helped me with a Sourpuss reading. I think he really nailed the voices of Jason and Sinclair. We both got to sing to Fugazi!

Alec really took advantage of the slide show format, and made some smart choices (like whiting out the captions). Chris read The Snake, which is one of my favorite stories from his collection Inkweed.

Jon Lewis recovered from his illness, he and Karen rolled into town in their Zip car about midnight. We spent the weekend eating good food, stomping around in the woods, shopping in New Hampshire (no sales tax!) and snorkeling in the frigid and murky White River. I miss those guys!

Tomorrow Dennis and I head to Baltimore for Damien Jay and Melanie Lewis' wedding. I don't have much of my own work to share in this post, but you can check out their websites instead. They are both hot talents in the mini comics world!

Summer Fun

WRJ is hopping! It's really amazing how much has been going on here, socially. There have been parties, movie marathons, 4-square games, potlucks, shows and film screenings every night of the week. The community has really come into its own. I'm excited about the future.

In the near future, I have an event of my own!



"For Immediate Release:


A.W.P. Comic Book Reading
Friday August 1, 6pm

Main Street Museum
58 Bridge Street
White River Junction, Vermont


AWP (Artists with Problems) is a Brooklyn-based cartoonist collective. Since 2003, the group has held weekly comic drawing parties at secret locations throughout Brooklyn. Its members include some of the best emerging talent to come from New York's comics community (including Vanessa Davis, Jonathan Bennett, Gabrielle Bell, Aaron Renier and many, many more).

On August first (first Friday!) AWP members Robyn Chapman, Jon Lewis, Alec Longstreth and Karen Sneider (AWP's founder and President For Life) will offer a slideshow comic reading at the Main Street Museum. This event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be provided."


I hope we draw a decent crowd. I've never done a reading before! If nothing else, it's a good excuse to spend some quality time with my AWP friends. And that includes Alec, who (as of today) is a WRJ resident! He will spend the next year as a CCS fellow. I know he will be a valuable part of the community here.

In other news, Dennis and I just got the keys to our new apartment. It's spacious, light-filled, pet friendly, and a short walk from CCS. It's also located above a thrift store, how cool is that?

For clarification: yes, our new apartment is in WRJ. Earlier this year Dennis had planned to move back to New York City. About mid-summer, we decided to stay. Our employers were happy to keep us on, and the community here grows more inviting by the day. I think it was a good choice, and the right choice. It did mean moving to another apartment however, since we let some CCS students sign the next lease on our current place.

So started the great apartment hunt! Not an easy task considering our requirements (pets friendly and within walking distance of downtown). Dennis and I collaborated on an Apartment Wanted poster. It didn't help us find our apartment, but it was fun to draw.

Teaching and Biking in Burlington

This week Dennis and I took a midweek, 2-day vacation. I gave a cartooning workshop in Colchester at the Burnham Memorial Library, which is a short drive from Burlington. Jon Chadurjian lives nearby, so we teamed up for the workshop. We each gave presentations about our cartooning process, then we worked with the students to make a comic anthology. Each student made a page of comics based on characters and a location that we provided. I drew the character designs and Jon Chad drew a map. It was a fun activity. I brought home the pages, and I'll print up some mini-comics this weekend.






After the workshop, it was vacation time! Jon showed Dennis and me around Burlington, a town (or city?) I had never explored before. We took a 20-mile bike ride around Burlington and along the coast of lake Champlain. I highly recommend the Lake Champlain Bikeways in Burlington; it's scenic, shady, and it has few challenging hills. It was definitely a highlight of the trip!






We visited several stores and coffee shops while in downtown Burlington. I'd describe Burlington as a pedestrian-friendly college town and tourist destination. It's a nice place, but certainly different from the Vermont towns I know. I was very pleased to find an Indian restaurant, a Caribbean restaurant, and a Japanese restaurant — all on the same corner!

Create Comics!

As usual, the Create Comics Workshop was a whirlwind week of 11-hour days for me. But I wouldn't change it! Along with their cartooning wisdom the faculty brought enthusiasm that was contagious.



It's always a treat to watch Steve Bissette at work. Anyone who wants to teach should pay close attention to this man. Jason Lutes is a great speaker; he’s a smart cartoonist who expresses his ideas concisely. James Kochalka got the students cranking out character designs. Aaron and Alec brought concept to paper and got the ball rolling on two amazing class anthologies. AND, we had special guest artist Jon Chadurjian in the house! Jon shared his inking wisdom and spoke about book craft. If I do say so myself, I think Jon and I pulled of an excellent screenprinting workshop (we have a rapport!)



We had a great group of students, many of whom are now my cartoonist buddies and penpals.

Check out these day-by-day reports on the CCS flickr or the AIGA blog.

And THANK YOU, CCS summer interns! Alex, Cal, Dan and Matt - we couldn't have done it without you.

Brooklyn Reviews and Create Comics

Before I forget:
Mighty Diamond is a tasty little joint. Everything is vegan (well, a few dishes did contain honey). It has a nice atmosphere and quick service (since they serve pre-made dishes, cafeteria style). The prices were decent-good.



I recommend the tempeh skewers and the curry "goat". Honestly, their chickpeas were a little hard. There chocolate rum cake was great!



I really dig Desert Island! The shop's small, but uses its space well. The design is very sharp, especially the window display and the faux olde-time bakery signage. There selection was generally quite good. You should patronize this joint! The guy who owns it is nice and throws good parties.





Create Comics starts Monday! We have a full class, almost 40 students! I manage the workshop, with much help from the CCS staff and summer interns. It was pretty challenging planning this week's programming. We decided to break class into two groups and have rotating workshops. I think we have a solid plan. It will be an exciting week!

MoCCA Madness!

Whatta weekend! MoCCA was its usual whirlwind of stress, excitement, good times, good food and good friends. I was printing and folding up till my ride left on Thursday (thanks for the lift, Dan!) But the important thing is, Sourpuss #2 is in print. I feel good about it, and that's about all I can say. I wish I had more published works to show for the last year. Still, I'm doing my best work, slow and steady. Steady is the important part.

Dennis also had work to debut! He's been working hard over the last few months on his Neon Girl mini, and another Neon Girl story for the Secrets and Lies anthology. I know he was excited to have work to show - he was beaming all weekend.



I did my usual double-duty, staffing the CCS table and selling at the AWP table. The CCS table was upstairs, unfortunately, where the traffic was low and the heat difficult to tolerate. We were in good company though, with ISR, One Percent Press, and Sundays as neighbors.


Here's Chuck being interviewed by ISR, with his big novelty scholarship check!


The AWP table looked particularly snazzy, thanks to the book displays Sarah Glidden designed.

I got some quality time with two of my favorite people, Karen Sneider and Jon Lewis. Karen and Jon are old roommates, and they put Dennis and I up for the weekend. It was nice to stay in my old hood (which, unfortunately, has a new high-rise condo every time I visit). However, there are two excellent additions to my old corner of Williamsburg – a new comic shop called Desert Island, and a new Caribbean vegetarian restaurant called Mighty Diamond (reviews to follow!)

A big highlight of the visit was meeting Merlin, a baby starling that Karen rescued. Karen is a very dedicated bird mom and Merlin was a charmer!



I saw a lot of friends, bought a lot of books, and had a very pleasant show.

Drawing and Listening

Wow, the last few weeks were intense. I was a member of the CCS thesis board again this year. As a board member, I review all the thesis projects, offer my feedback, and help decide whether students meet their requirement. I'm honored to take part in the process, and I get lots of free comics in the bargain. But man, it takes a lot out of you.



The CCS 08 class is special group. Their dedication to their work and the comics community is really something to behold. I left the review session inspired to do my own work.

After the reviews, we held our second ever CCS commencement ceremony. It was intimate and sincere. And I got an MFA. What more can you ask for?

Dennis and I both have comic deadlines on the horizon, so we've spent a lot of time drawing together. It's a habit we fell out of, and I realize now how much I missed it. Audio books and This American Life keep us going. We're currently listening to The Lives of Christopher Chant. I'm digging it.

In addition to MoCCA preparations, I drew up this illustration for Make a Zine, a book coming out from Microcosm. Backgrounds and perspective were never my strong suit, so it was a bit of a challenge.



In case you're curious, it's the Zine Archive Publishing Project in Seattle, one of the best zine libraries I've been to.

Robyn Chapman, MFA

Well, here's the proof.



In an amazing and surprising turn events, I was awarded an (ad eundem?) MFA from the Center for Cartoon Studies at today's Commencement Ceremony.

I don't know what to say, except wow and thanks.

Ordinary Victories and Everyday Battles

It's a small thing, but important. I quit my part-time job at the Hotel Coolidge. I have (finally) realized that it doesn't make sense for me to have two day-jobs. Not if I want to be a cartoonist (and publisher, and editor).

My CCS responsibilities have grown, and this was a long time coming.

I'm grateful to the HoCo, for paying me an hourly wage while I did as much drawing, CCS work, emails, blogging (I'm at work now!) as possible.

Whenever in White River Junction, you should stay at this historic hotel - it's high on charm and personality. I once caught a bat here, all by myself.

Won't you take me to Stumpy Town?

A few weeks ago I had dinner with Joe Lambert and his wife Becca. After an excellent dinner by Dennis (collard greens with dill and black eyes peas) we played card games. One of those games was Shortstack, created mini-comics mad genius Jon Chadurjian!






Then it was screen print, fold, staple and Stumptown!

I know I said there's no reason I couldn't get the next issue of Sourpuss out for Stumptown. Well, here are a few (unfortunately):

I moderated a Stumptown panel on Anthologies. I didn't want to drop the ball on this, so I worked hard to prepare.

CCS responsibilities are getting heavy, with graduation, thesis reviews, summer workshops and the incoming class looming in the future.

So, while the issue is almost completely drawn, it wasn't done for Stumptown. Bummer.

Dennis couldn't come along, he's saving money for our big New York move. I missed him, but it was nice to have some alone time.

I arrived a few days early in Portland to wander and relax. With my handy Zinester's Guide to Portland (the best guide book ever!) a walked and biked around town. It was nice to have some alone time.

Stumptown was nice, not too large, not to small. The quality of work and people was remarkably high for a comic convention. The highlight of my trip was seeing friends I rarely get visit (including west-coast AWP members and friends from New York).

The panel went well, though the audience was on the small side.
We had a great group of panelist, and think we covered a lot of ground.

Here was the line-up:

Moderator: Robyn Chapman (editor: True Porn, Hey, 4-Eyes!)

T. Edward Bak (contributor: Orchid, Drawn and Quarterly Showcase)
Greg Means (editor: Papercutter)
Jason Miles (Fantagraphics Submissions Editor, Kramer’s Ergot contributor)
Diana Schutz (editor: The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist, Autobiographix)
Francois Vigneault (editor: Elfworld, Family Style Jamboree)

Here's a little slideshow from my trip. Enjoy!



Me biking across one of the bridges. It drizzled all day!


Floating World, a very cool comic shop in Downtown Portland.


I got vegan doughnuts at Voodoo Doughnuts - a must when you're in Portland!


The pre-party at Guapo Comics and Coffee (thanks Guapo, Sparkplug, and Jesse Reklaw!)
PS - Sarah Glidden won the Kokoc!


Colleen Frakes, at the CCS table.


My view of the con, from the CCS table.

Crunch Time!

Busy, busy, busy at CCS. Last week was Editor's Day. We had Brenda Bowen from HarperCollins, Jeremy Ross from TokyoPop, and Bob Schreck from DC. I learned a lot, and had fun hanging with editors who were extremely generous with their time and thier knowledge of the publishing industry.

Today, Jonathan Lethem, Farel Dalrymple and Paul Hornschemeier are coming to town. And in two weeks, I'll be at Stumptown!

I have a lot to finish before I head Portland! I need to complete Sourpuss #2, and prepare for a panel I'm moderating on comic anthologies.



Speaking of Stumptown, The Maisie Kukoc Award for Comics Inspiration just anounced their 2008 nomminees! I'm a nominating judge for this award. I think we put together a great ballot. Keep your eyes on these cartoonists, they're going places!

Rina Ayuyang: Doodle Daze
Liz Baillie: My Brain Hurts #7, Layover
Jon Chadurjian: LEO GEO Acquires Ancient Knowledge, Shortstack: The Journal Comic Card Game
Sarah Glidden: How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less
Alex Holden: Magic Hour #3, Magic Hour Sketchbook
David King: Danny Dutch and The King of the Aliens

Sunday Bloody Sunday

This Easter Sunday I celebrated by watching a zombie marathon with cartoonist friends. Jon-Mikel Gates and Colleen Frakes put the shindig together (it's their tradition). Here was the line-up:

Let Sleeping Corpses Lie
Bio Zombie
Wild Zero
Zombi 2

I missed Zombi 2 (and its famous underwater zombie vs. shark scene), but I stayed for the rest. I really enjoyed Wild Zero (with Guitar Wolf!) Bio Zombie was pretty good too. And we watched the Thriller music video! If it's been a couple of years, watch Thriller. It's just as good as you remember, I promise.

It got me thinking about the secret zombie comic that exists only in my head and in my sketchbook. Maybe, some day, I'll draw it.

This weekend I was able get back to work on Sourpuss. It hasn't been easy, but I feel like I'm back in the swing. There's no reason issue two shouldn't be at Stumptown.

Right now I'm trying to draw a teenage make-out scene. It's tough.

I don't want to spoil too much, so I'll just post an early image. I just want to let you know I'm back in the saddle.

ker-SPLAT

This weekend I went down to New York with Dennis and a bunch of CCS students to attend the SPLAT Graphic Novel Symposium. This was the event's debut year, and I think they pulled it off quite nicely. You couldn't ask for a better venue - it was held in the library of The General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen. It's in a gorgeous old building, grand yet utilitarian.

SPLAT had 3 tracks of programming, their audience seemed to be teachers, librarians, students, and members of the publishing industry. CCS had a table of promotional material and student work, and we attracted a pretty large audience.


Here's Paul Karasik "shilling" for CCS.

I spent the rest of the weekend catching up with friends, wandering with Dennis, and eating a lot of excellent vegan food.

Vegans of the world, listen: you must try the drumsticks at Foodswings.



For a while know, I've been working on a project in my sketchbook. It doesn't have much structure, I'm just sketching out ideas and hoping they'll come together in a pleasing way. The tentative title is Why's it Got to be So Hard? It's about the struggle (well really, MY struggle) to make comics. Making comics is hard! But does it have to be? Comics take discipline! But does that mean comics can't be fun?



For me, these are almost spiritual questions.

I hope this comic will be reflective and somewhat educational, or at least handy.

Pancakes & Champagne

I turned 30 last week and I feel pretty good about it. 30 is a milestone, and worthy of a good party!

So Dennis and I threw a Champagne and Pancake Jam! Dennis made this excellent flyer.



Here's what was on the menu (all vegan):

Banana & Cherry Pancakes
Tropical Pancakes (with coconut milk and mango)
Dark Chocolate Chip Pancakes
Potato Pancakes with Mushroom Gravy
&
Flirtinis
Mimosas

My birthday is also my anniversary as a vegetarian. I've been a vegetarian for 10 years! In a month I'll have been a vegan for 4 years.



I think this was my favorite birthday ever. Pancakes and champagne go together excellently (as I knew they would!) But best of all, Dennis put together a book of birthday drawings by my friends at CCS. It's a great gift, I'll treasure it.



I also got a painting by cartoonist Cat Garza! It’s nice having so many cartoonists in the neighborhood.

To be honest, birthday celebrations and CCS have kept me very busy this last week, and I haven't been drawing as much as I'd like to. Still, I have a few projects on my plate.


(Bonus points if you can identify who these Art Stars are!)

I'm working on a comic for an Existo fanzine my friend Colleen Frakes is putting together. Existo is a strange little film about the battle between art and the dominant culture. Steve Bissette showed Existo at the CCS Film Club a few years back, and it became a school favorite.
When I first saw Existo, it reminded me of Surf Reality, a strange little theater in the Manhattan's Lower East Side. Surf Reality was notorious for anything-goes performances, and has its own history for guerilla performance art. In 1998, key members of the Surf community formed the Dance Liberation Front. The DLF protested against Giuliani’s enforcement of the Cabaret Laws by coordinating a number of public dances, including a mass Hokey-Pokey on the steps of City Hall.

Welcome to 2008

Hello, friends and strangers of the Internet. Curious about what's going down at Unpopular Comics?

I've started this blog to offer weekly updates on my creative projects. Feel free to share your thoughts!

Ignore for the moment that we are well into 2008! I want to write about a project I do every new years: Diary Tunes.

Dairy Tunes is a mix cd trading club I started back in 2002. The idea is to create a mix cd that represents the past year of your life - sort of like an audio time capsule, and any music is fair game.

I've been trading for 6 years now, so I have quite the collection! Most of the Diary Tunes members are cartoonist friends, so I also get the benefit of having a nice collection of album art.



Here's my cover for my 2007 mix cd. The title is a lyric from a Byrds song (when Gram Parsons was in the line-up). Several of the songs on my cd are about winter (we've had a tough one in Vermont this year).







Here’s my line-up!

1. Out on the Weekend - Neil Young
2. Shisheler - The Mogador Band
3. The Butcher’s Boy - Buell Kazee
4. America - Simon & Garfunkel
5. Cherub Rock - Smashing Pumpkins
6. Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues - Bob Dylan
7. This Place is a Prison - The Postal Service
8. Van Occupanther – Midlake
9. Don’t Talk To Strangers - Chris Gaylord
10. 36-24-36 - Violent Femmes
11. Rolling Log Blues - Buffy Sainte-Marie
12. Ahlof Bi Houbbi Ya Min – Amaya
13. You Ain’t Goin Nowhere - The Byrds
14. One More Hour - Sleater-Kinney
15. Don’t Be Upset - Jeffrey & Jack Lewis
16. Waist Deep In The Big Muddy - Pete Seeger
17. You Are My Flower - The Carter Family
18. Hungry Heart - Bruce Springsteen
19. My Back Pages - Po!
20. Blue Eyes - Uncle Tupelo
21. Evergreen - Roy Orbison