Month: July 2008

A few quick hits for today:

– Home from San Diego, with many a high-five distributed and received in turn. High tales to tell, in a write-up that I’m about halfway done with. In the meantime, a huge thanks to everyone who came out to the ‘con and said “hi”. It really was the best San Diego Comic-Con I’ve ever attended.

– The LA earthquake, today, reminded me that I need to get one of those li’l 3-day emergency kits put together. I always figure the National Guard will be distributing food/water within three days, so a 3-day kit will do, yes? Also: Need to get my house foundation bolted. Ah, to-do lists I’ve been putting off for years! How lovely of you to come rushing back to my mind during the earthquake itself!

– I’ll write more about it in the next few days, but here’s the first heads-up for people living in SoCal: We’ll be having the big, open-invite book launch party for “Pugs: God’s Little Weirdos” on the night of Sunday Aug. 10th at the Crescent Hotel in Beverly Hills! All are welcome — so mark your calendar and come on out to join in the awesomeness!

– Also! Scott filmed a fun little capstone to our San Diego trip, which — if you jump to the 2:30-minute mark — includes tidbits from one of our panel talks, and a scene from my favorite SoCal burger joint, “In ‘n Out”.

San Diego Wrap Up from Scott Kurtz on Vimeo.

We’re heading into Day 4 of San Diego Comic-Con, and so far the show has been pretty darn fantastic.

Many a Sheldonista has come up to claim their Limited Edition, 2008 Commemorative High Five. One Sheldonista asked if it came with a Stamp of Authenticity, and I said “Yes, if by Authenticity you mean Self-Evident Awesomeness.”

I’ve also been giving out free sketches like a mad fiend. The best sketch requests (in terms of randomness) have been the A-bomb character from the long-ago ‘Crotchley Labs’ strip, the Texan with the 40-gallon hat, and Flaco in the Siberian hinterlands. I love it: Please make sure you get a free sketch if you’re here. It’s the least I can do to thank you for readin’ Sheldon.

The manatee shirts went like wildfire: we only have L and XL sizes left. Which means we’ll probably bow to popular demand and bring them into the store later this summer.

More news later, but in the meantime: Thanks to everyone who’s come by and said “hi”!

“Crazy Train,” as 9,000 e-mails have proven to me in my inbox…was indeed an Ozzy song. Don’t know what my brain was thinking, there. I heard Ozzy in my head signin’ it, but wrote “Iron Maiden”. I’ll fix that when I get back from San Diego.

And, lest the mob turn on me for this vicious error, let’s all remember the lyrics:

“Maybe its not to late

To learn how to love

And forget how to hate”

For everyone going to San Diego, I’ve put together a one-page, easy-to-print-out guide to the ‘con. It has everything a Sheldonista needs to know on one page.

Grab the full-size, 8.5×11″ file *HERE*, print it, and bring it with you to the show!

Also! If you have a specific original comic strip you were hoping to pick up on the cheap in SD, e-mail me before 8AM PST on July 23, and I’ll bring it with me. Thanks!

My apologies for the late notice: Amid the run-up to Comic-Con, it slipped my mind to blog about this…..

Tomorrow! Saturday! From 2-4 PM, at the very fancy Brand Art Library in Glendale, I’ll be giving a long ol’ talk to the Society of Illustrators about Webcomics and the future of cartooning.

The society has very kindly answered my request to open the talk to the public, so you’re welcome to come! Admission is $10 for non-Society of Illustrators members, or $5 for students. Please *do* come, if you’re within driving distance… as it would be fun to have some Sheldonistas in the house.

Brand Library Studios

1601 West Mountain Street

Glendale, California 91201-1200

This strip got such an awesome reaction when it appeared, that we ended up turning it into a button. And, in a way that still surprises me, that one button disappears faster at conventions than any other Sheldon buttons. So I thought it’d be neat to do it as an exclusive t-shirt for San Diego Comic-Con.

Here’s how it came out:

That’s me in that picture, by the way (not), lookin’ pretty ripped (not), from all the workin’ out I do (not) like 4 times a day (not).

Anyway! You can snag your San Diego Comic-Con Exclusive T-shirt next week, at booth #2107!

And who knows: If they get a good reaction at San Diego, we might bring ’em in the Sheldon Store. We’ll see what folks think of ’em.

More news to share on the 5-day, 125,000-people mega-event:

I’ll be giving two panel talks on Friday, with four cartoonists who are surprisingly good at public speaking (…this is not, generally, the rule among my species. Most are timid forest creatures).

Come check out the talks, if’n you get the chance!

3:00-4:00 An Introduction to Webcomics: The single largest explosion of new comics talent in history is happening online. Did you know that there are over 18,000 webcomics? Some of them have millions of readers. Most of these comics are free. Is this news to you? Then come and find out what you’ve been missing from Phil Foglio (moderator and writer/artist Girl Genius), Brad Guigar (Evil, Inc.), Dave Kellett (Sheldon), Scott Kurtz (PVP), and Kris Straub (Starslip Crisis). Room 3

6:00-7:00 How To Make Webcomics: Live!: The four authors of Image Comics’ breakout book How to Make Webcomics present a live version of their popular weekly podcast. Scott Kurtz (PvP), Dave Kellett (Sheldon), Kris Straub (Starslip Crisis), and Brad Guigar(Evil Inc) discuss some of the core issues in webcomics: making money and building communities. Room 8

CORRECTED!

Important note for everyone going to San Diego: You may think to look for me in the “Webcomics” area, but this year I’m gonna be in the Indie Press area, at the Halfpixel booth, #2107.

(Halfpixel, as you may remember, is the umbrella name of I and my “How To Make Webcomics” co-authors.)

E-mail that booth number to yourself, write it down, put it in your phone…whatever helps you to remember. Because if you’re like me, you’re going to enter that massive convention hall and forget your middle name.

So! Once again: booth number 2107.

2107. 2107. 2107.

I’ll be exhibiting all five days at the Halfpixel booth, which is number #2107.

🙂

Do you remember this Sheldon strip?
It’s one of my favorites of all time, and ended up being one of the most talked-about strips the comic has ever had… with links from all over.

Well, in fun news, I put together a special, re-imagined poster that will only be available at San Diego Comic-Con. Here’s how it came out:

And here are two closer shots…

We’ll only be printing up 100 of them, so come get yours early in the show (along with the new book)! …only at the Image Comics booth!

(And keep your eyes peeled in the next week for San Diego-exclusive Sheldon t-shirts. I think you’ll get a squee out of them.)

It’s awesome-time, my friends.

I’m really excited to announce the next book collection in the Sheldon-verse: Pugs: God’s Little Weirdos. It’s a special collection of every pug strip that ever appeared in “Sheldon”…plus some extra pug-related stuff only found in this book. Essentially, it’s a collection custom-made for dog-lovers…or for people who love dog-lovers…or for people who have to live next door to dog-lovers. Perhaps even for the dogs themselves. 🙂

Let me show you a bit of it. Here’s a shot of the cover and the title page:

In addition to all the collected strips, there’s sort of a book-within-a-book: An expanded, reformatted version of Oso’s recent stand-alone adventure, “Little Lost Pug,” with some added stuff not seen online:

The book will be premiering at San Diego Comic-Con, and will be available online one week later in the Sheldon Store.

Then, in mid-August, we’ll be having the big book-launch party in Beverly Hills. Aaaaaand, as of right now, it looks like the free drinks will be sponsored by Coppola Wines! Not too shabby!

Also, just because it’s a ridiculous picture, I thought I’d share this shot of me and the little tornado who inspired this book: Our family pug Payaso. About five minutes after this photo was taken, I believe he had shredded another couch pillow. Such is the joy of pugs.