A very exciting new project just hit Kickstarter. Cartoonist Dave Kellett and filmmaker Fred Schroeder have put together what looks like one of the most important pieces of film journalism that the comics community has seen. It’s a serious talk about past and present, a medium that can’t keep up with a changing world, and how technology changes art and craft that’s essentially been the same for decades. It’s about adaptation, and as a young cartoonist I feel caught between a tradition taught for years and a curveball pitch that could make that tradition obsolete. It’s an honor to be part of such a special project, along with some of the greatest cartoonists I grew up admiring and loving.

Meg Golding, Madeline Rupert, and myself were interviewed for the documentary. I had the privilege to sit and talk comics with two incredible talents at SCAD. It was a very emotional chat. We talked aspirations, our hopes for our careers, our doubts and fears about the business and how that shaped our perspective and affected our craft. But by the end of it, we all agreed that we just want to find our place.

Please contribute to what will be a very powerful film for comics creators, historians, and lovers and enthusiasts. Comics and cartooning will never be the same as it once was, and already truly isn’t the same now.

Well now, this has been quite a summer already. With the traveling I’ve been doing, grinding away at getting a job, I’m finally taking the plunge and heading to NY. After months of job hunting with very few results, I’ve found something that would have me. In the meantime though, I have been doing quick spots on comedy shows, working on some editorial illustrations, and redesigning this here website and the supplemental job search materials (i.e. print portfolio, resume, twitter background, etc.) It was an early birthday gift to myself. Tell me what you think of the new design by commenting below!

Check out this comic that made it onto Classy Hands. Comedians I knew from Savannah, Lee Keeler and Phil Keeling, have created a great hub for writers, thought-provokers, and even illustrators like myself to make some fun. It’s a taste of the new direction I’m taking my comics. A brand new story with the same sensibilities will be premiering at SPX September 10-11 with chuckloads of fun.

Mm. I just finished a brand new book. It was a grueling process to get through 20 pages, written, pencilled, inked and hand-lettered. And it was heavy subject matter. I spent weeks putting it off, and then I found a way to reach the end. And that ending was MoCCA.

I went to New York this weekend for the MoCCA festival, the indie-comics convention that the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art puts on. Thanks again to my tablemate Pranas. We had too much fun meeting and interacting with New York comics lovers, and eating Shake Shack burgers (You’re the best, Amy!)!! I met talented cartoonists, talked about The Village Voice article that came out that weekend, exchanged copies of “Luke Holds Off”, and enjoyed the comics culture that I most identify with. The comics blogs are all talking about how the show is all about the cartoonists, and it is. People making handmade printed books. Stapling sheets of paper together and saying “I did this”. That what comics are. It’s so simple, so basic. And when you’re in it, you forget that there’s a world that doesn’t know this kind of art and expression exists.

I’m always scared to travel to new places and stay in unknown neighborhoods. Who isn’t!? I stayed in Brooklyn with my good friend Andy Mai, and we had too much fun making fun of Asian people. We hit up a stand-up show in Williamsburg at the Knitting Factory that I’ve been dying to see ever since I found out who Hannibal Burress is. And the comedians made so many jokes about Asians. Wyatt Cenac brought up Asian people and he looked right at Andy and me to see us approve. Btw, Andy is hilarious and super talented. I am glad to see him with the success he has. Thanks so much for hosting me this weekend, man!

Next up is FLUKE in Athens. I was just there a couple weeks ago chatting with Patrick and Robert, and they are so excited for this year’s event. I saw Patton Oswalt perform at the 40 Watt club, which will be the exact same venue for the FLUKE festivities. I’ll be bringing more copies of “Luke Holds Off”, because nothing beats feeling proud of the work you’ve done. Come see me at my table, because I want to tell you “I did this”.

When I was a freshman I was dying to take the classes that the upperclassmen were in. I would spend hours looking through the course catalog at all the electives I could take. All sorts of comic book classes were available. Scripting, Inking, Manga, Superheroes. The two that appealed to me were Mini-Comics and Alternative Comics.

This year, I took both.

NOTE: I enjoy writing these reviews of classes and the assignments given. Some of these posts become very long and strenuous, so I identified that problem by breaking up longer sections into separate posts. In this blog entry that you are reading right now, I display the final image (or images) of the comic along with a general look at the assignment goals, and what I did to meet them. Separate posts provide more in-depth looks at certain aspects that go into the creation of the comic or illustration. They show sketches, original pencil work, and I talk about where the ideas came from and the troubles I faced while making the final piece.

Project 1 – Not a Box

Booster Puzzle

I hit the ground running on the first project. Our first assignment wanted us to create a comic that didn’t conform to traditional panel shapes. We were not allowed to use squares or rectangles.

The first idea was more puzzle-like. The narrative was more linear, and I planned to create a puzzle that had to be put together entirely to be read. It would have a beginning, middle, and an end. The story would start off with a character that answered the door in every panel, revealing more about a painting that he was showing off at a party. Once the puzzle was complete, it could be flipped over to reveal the painting the main character was speaking of in its entirety. But with some suggestions from the class and little bit more guidance from the professor, the idea evolved into something better.

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Have you ever done a MAD Fold-in? You know, those things on the back cover of MAD Magazine? It was a riddle of sorts, where you read the set-up, folded the page over, and got the punchline!

Now, I wouldn’t ask this of anyone who comes to the website in any other circumstance, but in order to really fully experience this piece, you have to print it. Print it out, and fold it, and laugh or feel enlightened. That’s right, PLEASE PRINT THIS OUT AND FOLD IT TO GET THE PUNCHLINE. You can print the above image, or download the PDF by clicking here.

[UPDATE: It will also work if you print it in black and white. This really is the one and only time I would ask ANYONE to print something from my website, after years of giving my art and comics for free. Thanks!]

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