dec 27-jan 9 2005

dec.28.04

And a happy new year! (Guess who got markers for Christmas?)

That same exhuasted webcartoonist is now swamped with a bunch of January jobs, many of which are due in this week, so alas, I'm afraid GWS will have to be put on hold until the new year.

2005 is the year of the cock (woo-hoo!), and yours truly is indeed a cock. Coincidentally, I've already been informed that this year is going to have a lot in store for GWS (details to come soon - I still can't tell you yet!). Thanks to everyone for reading, even when they knew I couldn't post anything until my other [paying] projects digested, and I hope you'll all stick around for a new year of Hazel, Jamie, Darren, Jameson, Tyler and yes, even the high-demand one-shot Clarice. In addition to some new and wacky upcoming characters, I think a lot of people are going to fall in love with Ms. Clarice by the end of the year...

Until I get a chance to post again, I hope everyone has a great New Years Eve and starts the year off right... with a great big hangover. Be careful, and if you're gonna drink, find some cute single sober person to drive you home :)

A little sneak preview into my current project; artwork for a brilliant script by Bill Roundy, called "Man Enough":

jan.04.05

GRRRRR!
Just a note for those who have been waiting patiently for today's strip - I just got a call (coincidentally, from the "dirty snowman card" creator) informing me that my first assignment today is photographing in Berkeley Springs, at least 45 minutes away, so I have to leave early. GWS #23 is sitting on my desktop waiting to be finished, but if I don't leave in 3 minutes, I'll miss the shoot. ARGH!

Anyway, looks like I'll be taking a long *ahem* dinner break and coming home to wrap it up. Check back later tonight to return to Hazel and Jameson's psuedo-date!

jan.04.05

Welcome back!
Alright, a little "dinner break" later, and we've got some GWS action going on. Sorry for the long wait.

More comments later tonight, including a few convention plans to share with y'all. Later!

jan.05.05

God DAMN this is a long post!!
Alright, here's that final entry I promised you, complete with news and information for the new year. Happy 2005, everyone!

Before I start on my own news, I'd like to call attention to the passing of a very important man in the world of sequential art, Will Eisner. I'm not going to pretend to know him or his work NEARLY well enough to make any poignant speech, but I know that he meant a lot to both the sequential art medium, and to many of my friends. I've heard nothing but rave reviews of both his comics and his gentlemanly personality. RIP, Will.

For more information on the man and his accomplishments, you can find the story here at The Pulse.

Next I'd like to announce a few dates and times for GWS this year. Seeing as it's a mere two weeks away (AAAAA!), the first two events I should point out are the Big Apple Convention in Manhattan on the weekend of January 22 and 23 (at which I will, once again, be the only female guest, so I won't be hard to find), and on that same weekend, I'll be having a show at a hip little gallery in the Village called Jigsaw. Jigsaw is actually a comic book store with a gallery attached, I've been informed. I'm psyched, not only for the show, but to see the place it'll be held at! For pics of the gallery and past shows, click here.

As for the rest of the year, April 16 and 17 will be spent at Wild Pig Comics II in Kenilworth, New Jersey, spending a full 24 hours on my second crack at the 24 Hour Comics challenge. Unfortunately the group that supports 24 Hour Comics Day won't be giving the store any press because we'll be doing it on the weekend PRIOR to the official 24 Hour Comics Day, so please spread the word around, especially if you or someone you know is in the north/central Jersey area. Not only will there be hard-working artists and writers doing comic books from noon Saturday 'til noon Sunday, but Wild Pig will have a huge sale going on the entire time! So come out if you can!

The next weekend is my favorite con of all time: Pittsburgh. I love this convention. Not only is it huge and busy; it's also jam-packed with AWESOME people. Almost all of my favorite people in comics come to this convention. I look forward to it every year. So, again, that's April 22-24 for the Pittsburgh Comic Convention.

Besides the fall conventions and a possible trip to the San Diego Comic Con this summer, that's about it for trips. However, I have a few projects I'm working on which should be getting wrapped up in the coming months.

Hopefully I'll have Bill Roundy's "Man Enough" finished by the end of January in time for the show. You'll be seeing more tidbits of that project as I get further along.

I'm working on two covers - front and back - for the small-press comic book Some Big Lumberjack this month as well. They're direct knock-offs of Tim Bradstreet covers, featuring SBL's own characters - the Lumberjack himself, and Obi Juan Shinobi, a Mexican ninja. Hey, don't ask me, I just draw the stuff. But it's pretty damn funny!

By the end of February I should have the first five pages of Robert Tinnell's "Perry Normal," a short that will be featured in Mark Wheatley's popular Frankenstein Mobster for four issues. I'm totally psyched for this project! It'll be my first print collaboration with the Insight Studios Group, a fantastic group I've worshipped since I started my Frank Cho obsession back in "the day." Y'know, like... way back in 1997 or something...

The one big project I've got plenty of time to work on is a ten-pager by Rafer Roberts of Plastic Farm. Rafer's a local friend of mine - almost certainly the only con-goer who knows where Shepherdstown, West Virginia is - and pitched a very, ah... unusual script to me last year, which I quickly signed up to draw for him. The comic book is small press, but that man's a serious pro - he dresses up for conventions, has incredibly nice press packets for PF, and has some super-sweet banners and buttons of his characters. As long as I get his permission, I'll see if I can't post a panel or two as I work on his script. :)

Another quick announcement - one of my favorite webcomics has returned from the grave! It's called In His Likeness. This is a seriously funny strip created by Jamie, the inspiration behind our very own Jameson of GWS, and stars none other than God and the Devil. If you've ever wanted to do a webcomic, but didn't know how to draw, you need to see this comic. You'll realize how insignificant drawing skills are when creating brilliant comics. (If you can draw a black dot and a red dot with horns, you're golden.)

I believe that's it! I'm ready for bed now. Oh, and in case the above schedule didn't make it clear already... I'm SOOOO grounded for January, as well. Phooey!

jan.09.05

$1/2 off for all burns victims at City Hospital

Turns out I wasn't the first person in the ER at City Hospital Thursday to state sheepishly "I, uh... I burned myself" when asked why I was there. In fact, they considered running a special on burns for the day.

I might not look the type, but I have around seven slices of bacon every morning (before the routine scrambled eggs, cereal, glass of milk and mug of hot tea - yeah, I'm a big breakfast person).
Thursday morning I decided to break the morning mold and pour the entire panful of hot bacon grease on my hand - of course, the one I write with.

I didn't know you were supposed to go to the ER for that kind of stuff! But Mindy, one of my mom's coworkers and a friend of the family, picked up the phone when I called to ask my mom what to do, and she reemed me out for not going directly to the hospital and - OH! "And you're OVERDUE for your tetanus shot, young lady!" So I got one of those at the hospital, too.

Doc said it was just one big 1st degree and one or two 2nd degree burns, and the discoloration may be permanent. Oh well. Oddly enough, the tetanus shot hurt more than anything they did to my hand!

So what does this mean? Nothing, really. I'm not going to stop drawing. (You can see a bit of my current project in the picture above.) But I'm taking it easy on the typing - it's the only thing that really irritates the burn. Had I burned the PALM of my hand, well, I'd be SCREWED!! But it's not like I have joints on the BACK of my hand.

Now, if I was a hand model, pro volleyball player or an abusive husband, I'd be shit outta luck.