if the world says it's time to go

[turtlesoup]

Um, so hello! I apologize for once again disappearing for so long ... finishing school is always a very disorienting experience, and I've needed time to recuperate, reorient, and relocate. However, I've managed to keep up my art-making momentum, which is great. So I'm not empty-handed by any means, as you can see!

The above is a pile of my newest (and physically tiniest - it's CD booklet size!) minicomic, Tiny Dynamo: DEMOS, which will debut THIS WEEKEND at the Small Press Expo in Bethesda, MD. It collects a couple of short, fluffy stories about an all-queer rock band that I've been playing around with in the background for awhile. These are introductory tales: there are many more stories to tell about the TD queers (some of them rather more serious), and I think I'll bring them out intermittently as a break from my more concentrated projects.


This page is from the story of the band's very first gig, when they were a three-piece without a name ... and an initially very reluctant lead singer.


A comic strip interlude ... drummer Angel is really not putting up with any BS from those obnoxious, intrusive rock radio station interviewer types.


This is just a sketchbook spread I did while trying to solidify the (final) members of the band ... all drawn in their later, stadium-level-fame era, with silly fancy costuming, because that's fun. :) Poses stolen from lots of real bands and performers.

I'm excited for the convention weekend! It's a gigantic cartoonist convergence/family reunion sort of deal, with most of the people I know in the field all in one place ... including most of my former schoolmates (who I already miss dearly), several CCS faculty members, and even old friends like my much-beloved Elle Skinner. I'll be tabling with my talented former classmate Joyana McDiarmid!



This is especially exciting because I have ANOTHER fantastic debut to announce ... for the last year plus, several of my classmates and I have been working hard to organize, edit, and publish an anthology of smart, gorgeous, varied QUEER EROTIC COMICS, and it's finally time for us to share it with the world. I've mostly kept my Adult materials off this blog thus far, but guys, I am so proud of this thing:


This is our beautiful cover, drawn by my dear friend Laurel Lynn Leake. The book contains 16 gorgeous, sexy, smart and thought-provoking comics and pin-ups by a variety of talented creators, covering themes ranging from adorable lesbian first times to trans* bodies, from hot gay historical fantasies to dysphoria of the sex drive! More information, previews, and work from some of the contributors can be seen on this tumblr (which is NOT SAFE FOR WORK).

I'll post when we have information about purchasing the book online, but in the meantime, here's a preview page from my own contribution, done in collaboration with writer friend "Ivy Weine:"


This was my first foray into erotic comics, and I'm pretty happy with it, although I'm already excited to improve ...!

If you're local to the Boston area, you can also find me, and these books, at MICE in Cambridge in a couple weeks! (I'll try and post a reminder!) And that's it for conventions for me this year ... I'm ready to take a breath and get focused on my longer-term plans, which are mostly focused on turning Asylum into an ongoing, long-term online graphic novel ... so stay tuned.

I'll leave you with a few odds and ends that I drew this summer. Oof, I have to stop doing these giant round-up posts, right? For one thing, those of you who follow me elsewhere must find it very redundant.


An illustration of the "a fish might love a bird" quotation from Ever After (which I think is adapted from something much older, but I'm having trouble sourcing it), done for my wonderful new friend Izzy in exchange for this beautiful piece.


Fortunately this doesn't happen to me too often anymore ...


My collaborative contribution to Seven Days's July cartoon issue: a restaurant review, written by Alice Levitt. Color is HARD (and so is adequately portraying appetizing food)!

Comments

[were_duck]

I WANT DEMOS AND QECA SO MUCHHHHH GIVE ME THEMMMMM

[turtlesoup]

SOON <3

[darthbitsy]

Will you have Queerotica with you at MICE?

[turtlesoup]

I certainly plan to! Our first print run is quite small and I don't know how we'll do at SPX, so how many I bring depends on what I work out with my fellow editors after the show. There will be a pre-MICE update. :)

[rhivolution]

so much awesome. also omg food reviews!

[turtlesoup]

Aw, thanks! And hee, it was an interesting experience. A little trying because I had to draw that delicious-looking stuff without trying it! (The writer sent me reference pictures, sigh.)

[archersangel]

A comic strip interlude ... drummer Angel is really not putting up with any BS from those obnoxious, intrusive rock radio station interviewer types.

that reminds me of a story about the singer jewel. she was doing a radio interview where the DJ described her as "snagged-toothed." she responded with something like; "you must be the DJ with the small penis i heard about." they shut down that interview in a hurry.

[turtlesoup]

Good on her!