Frabjous Day! Callooo! Callay!
Current mood: ecstatic

I got a boxfull of my comic this morning.

Currently reading : Meanwhile...: A Biography of Milton Caniff, Creator of Terry and the Pirates and Steve Canyon By R.C. Harvey

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Order! We Must Have Order!
Current mood: anxious

My order at Ka-Blam finally changed status today, from "Print Pending" to "Order Printing." Yay! I went through the process for getting the book set up for sale at IndyPlanet (print-on-demand retail site), but got an error message when I uploaded the info, so I may have to re-do that. But I ought to have the book in hand by the first part of next week, I would think.

Bought a new digital camera yesterday. Went out to the farmstead near Wahoo that I photographed back in May and took some summer photos. One day I plan to paint the same scene in each of the four seasons. (If my experience mowing my yard this morning, and trudging through tall grass out by the farm is any indication, we are about to be devoured by a plague of grasshoppers. Newly hatched little green hoppers are thick out there.)

Currently watching : The Good, the Bad & the Ugly (2-Disc Collector's Edition) Release date: 2007-06-05

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More Waiting (Not To Be Petty)

Okay, the invoice came early this afternoon, along with the online proof sheets so I could check everything and make sure it was okay -- and it WAS okay. So now Ka-Blam (the digital printers) have been paid, and there's nothing left to do but wait for them to print and ship the books.

Yay!

Currently listening : Music From and Inspired by the Hit TV Show By Original TV Soundtrack Release date: 2008-06-10

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The Waiting (Is the Hardest Part)
Current mood: excited

Saturday was a big day for me -- my comic went off to the printers. I sent all the digital files on CD by USPS Overnight Express; since it was a Saturday, delivery isn't actually guaranteed until noon tomorrow. Once they get the files, they verify that they're actually printable (fingers crossed!), then prepare an invoice and email it to me. I'm s'posed to pay by Paypal within 24 hours (the money's in the bank, ready). Then, by the 20th or so of August, four years of work -- off and on -- culminates in copies of an actual COMIC in my hot little hands.

If all goes well. (I wouldn't wanna jinx it!)

I couldn't have done it without my friend and fellow Comicbook Artist Guild member Tom Floyd. He scanned my pages for me, got me started coloring the cover in PhotoShop, and showed me how to prepare the files. He's been nominated for an Emmy this year (!) for a program he worked on for Nebraska Public Television, and his incredible animation of dueling mastodons is scheduled to be broadcast nationally on Nova on the 30th of June. I'm lucky to have a top-flight guy like that for a friend! (If you haven't read the online adventures of Captain Spectre and admired Tom's artistry, go immediately to www.captainspectre.com).

(Addendum, half an hour later): Just used the USPS tracking and found out my package was delivered in Orlando, Florida this morning at 11:37 am. Now I want that invoice! Where's my invoice? I can't wait! I'm getting insufferable already!

Currently reading : Rebel Visions: The Underground Comix Revolution By Patrick Rosenkrantz

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The Winnah and Still Champeen!

Maybe that's "weiner"...

Or whiner...

But anyway, my co-worker Matt (who cleaned up big-time in the National Arts Program competition -- his photos took 1st place and Best of Show) brought me photos today that his dad took at the awards ceremony. I post one here because the city cut me out of the televised awards ceremony -- they showed my winning watercolor, but edited out my getting the check and ribbon.

Of course, they also edited out the sound of the entire program, including (embarrassingly) the mayor's remarks, the names of all the Honorable Mentions, the thank-yous from the Lincoln Arts Council representatives.... Pretty amateur all the way around.

Anyway, here's the picture:

The other major event of the week was seeing Steve Earle play at the Rococo Theatre last Friday. His wife Allison Moorer opened the show and sang a few tunes with Steve, who also played some songs with a DJ adding beats. Otherwise, a solo show. He played guitars (including some jazzy riffs on a National Steel), bouzouki and banjo -- to my surprise, no mandolin -- and did some of my longtime favorites ("The Devil's Right Hand," "My Old Friend The Blues," "Little Rock'n'Roller") as well as more recent material.

My friend Laurie McClain turned me on to Earle a couple decades ago. A wonderful singer-songwriter (look her up on MySpace), she moved to Nashville several years ago. But when I turned to leave, there she was! Her daughter Anna, who lives in Lincoln, had a baby recently and Laurie, like me, wouldn't miss a Steve Earle show.

Best line of the night: looking out at the palatial Rococo, Earle quipped, "Wecome to Hogwarts!"

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Snazzy Bathroom Decor

This is the second year that city employees and their relations have been eligible to participate in the National Arts Program. I entered a couple of pieces, and won third place in the "adult professional" category for a prize of a hundred bucks. The piece that won is a watercolor with collage, the companion piece to the snake-handed man that won at the state fair (see my earlier blog).

It makes me laugh, though. The two paintings typically hang right outside my bathroom in the hallway -- and now they've both won ribbons. I've got the snazziest bathroom decorations in town!

All the art entered in the contest is on display at libraries throughout Lincoln -- Gere, Eiseley and Walt -- until May 21st. I believe my stuff is at Gere (56th & Normal).

On a completely unrelated note, I'm a little bummed that MySpace has apparently removed the little widget from the blogs that let you display what you're currently reading, watching or listening to. That's why I initially chose to blog here instead of other sites. Darn!

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A Cover

Okay, it took me more than a month to decide on a title (I picked an appropriate one, don't'cha think?) and draw the cover -- but, as of this afternoon, that's all done. Now the comic is well and truly complete (except for writing and pasting up the indicia). The creative part is done. Now on to the production woes!

Oh, and here's the cover:

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A Farewell to Matzohville!

I finished "The Moon-Faced Monarch of Matzohville" this afternoon. Fourteen pages of art and story, and it gives me enough to produce a 32-page comic book pretty soon (once I decide on a title and do the cover).

Looking back through this blog, I discover that I finished Page 1 in July of 2006 -- about 20 months ago. I finished Page 2 in January of 2007, six months after Page 1. Then I finished Page 3 toward the end of February '07, six weeks later. And I've done the remaining 11 pages in the last 12 months (did the "Euripedes Pants" 2-pager and some incidental art as well). Winning the art contests at the State Fair and participating in the Comic Artist Guild helped me persevere.

But that's a little misleading. I came across the original pencil page I did when I first conceived the story -- the main image eventually became the finished splash page -- and it was dated 2004. I sat on that for at least 2 years before I started the story in earnest.

And I finished it on Leap Year Day of 2008. So maybe the whole thing only took me one year (in Leap Years).

This started out as an homage to George Carlson. It grew to include tributes to Warren Kremer, Basil Wolverton, Joe Kubert and a bunch of my other favorite cartoonists. Just as I was finishing, I won an Ebay auction for a book on cartooning Carlson did back in the 1930s:

Would've been nice to have this when I was starting out. But I'm looking forward to getting it, and seeing what insights it can provide on GC's methods and thought processes!

I finally finished The Moon-Faced Monarch! Yay!

Currently listening : Oscar Peterson Plays the Cole Porter Songbook By Oscar Peterson Release date: 25 October, 1990

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Alan James Hanley

I got a new piece of original art in the mail over the weekend. It's by the great fan cartoonist Alan James Hanley -- I always think of him as Alan Hanley, but the piece is signed "Jim." It's presumably from his brief stint at Charlton comics, illustrating a text story. There's a second page with three smaller illustrations from the same story. (If anyone knows where and/or if this was published, I'd love to know!)

Hanley was truly one of the best of the '60s fan cartoonists. His Comic Book fanzine, with his humor strips Goodguy and The Mighty Buggers, was a treat. He seemed destined to be a top professional, but sadly died quite young. I'm thrilled to add this to the pieces I have by fan artists Biljo White, Grass Green, Dennis Fujitake and others -- maybe someday I'll score a Ronn Foss piece!

Currently listening : We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions By Bruce Springsteen Release date: 25 April, 2006

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More Music!

A second blog entry on music, not comics!

I've just figured out how to do a little manipulating of the CD files my buddy Tom C. made for me a few months ago, digitizing the songs I recorded years ago for a tape I called Quiet Life, and for its prospective follow-up Famous Outlaw Heart. I did a little noise reduction on the first song of Heart, called "In Amy's Eyes," and converted it to mp3. If I did it right, it should be playing on my main MySpace page -- or you can find it here:

http://incolor.inebraska.com/knights/music/In Amy's Eyes.mp3

I picked this one because it's entirely my own -- I wrote it, I'm singing it, and I'm playing all the instruments. (Sure wish I'd done the vocals in a more professional studio environment, though, but I guess it is what it is.)

Comments welcome -- although my ego is fragile (if enormous), so please be kind....

Currently reading : Atlas Era Strange Tales 1 (Marvel Masterworks) Release date: 30 October, 2007

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