March 7000 BC Meeting

Sunday, March 9 | 2:00 | Winning Coffee Company and Brickyard Pizza | Albuquerque, NM

The next 7000 BC meeting will be Sunday, March 9 at Winning Coffee Company at 111 Harvard Dr SE at 2:00 in the afternoon. We'll be working on a jam and discussing conventions, education programs, and ideas for a new anthology. Around 5:00, the meeting will move around the corner to Brickyard Pizza at 2216 Central for dinner.

Send an email with any questions. New members and interested folks are always welcome

7000 BC at Breakin Hearts

Breakin Hearts | Saturday, Feb 16th |
6 pm-midnight | UNM Student Union Building Grand Ballroom | Albuquerque, NM



7000 BC will once again have a table at Breakin Hearts, Albuquerque's hip-hop festival, this weekend on Saturday, February 16. A larger venue with plenty of activities (including afternoon workshops) will make this their biggest and best yet. Look for Fakin' The Funk and other comics from local creators at the 7000 BC table.

See "Independents" and meet Windy Pini (Elf Quest) Tuesday February 12 7-9pm

This just came in from Andrew Farago at the Cartoon Art Museum...

We'll be screening comic-book documentary film Independents at the Cartoon Art Museum this Tuesday, February 12 from 7-9pm. Director/Fillmmaker Chris Brandt will be on hand for a Q&A session, and we'll also be featuring a brief live-and-in-person interview with Wendy Pini, creator of the classic indie comic Elfquest. They will be interviewed by manga authority Deb Aoki after the film. Admission is only $5, and the event is free to Cartoon Art Museum members.

Best,
Andrew Farago
Gallery Manager
Cartoon Art Museum

Cartoon Art Museum Event: Tuesday, February 12, 2008 from 7pm to 9pm

$5 General Public, Free for Cartoon Art Museum Members

Please click on these links for more information:

http://cartoonart.livejournal.com/8106.html

http://manga.about.com/b/2008/02/08/212-sf-event-wendy-pini-independents-at-cartoon-art-museum.htm

February 7000 BC Meeting

Sunday, February 10 | Noon | Backroads Pizza and Second Street Brewery | Santa Fe, NM

The February 7000 BC meeting will be held in Santa Fe at Backroads Pizza (807 2nd St # 1), moving across the street to Second Street Brewery after 2:00. New members are always welcome.

Send an email with any questions.

Free Conventions For Cartoonists

I'm curious how many conventions are out there that offer free table space and attendance for creators. I've mentioned the wonderful Minneapolis conventions FallCon and MicroCon as two examples of this rare practice in the past... they both offer free table space to any creator who asks for it until table space runs out. Josh Blair mentioned Syracuse Heroes Expo, Ithacon and the Ithaca Winter Comic Book Show on my personal blog here. Are any of you aware of any other conventions that do this? Please let us know in the comments.

Sunday Comix February Gallery Shows

That's right! Sunday Comix members' artwork will on display during the month of February at TWO gallery shows:



"Komics @ Kerouac" is a Sunday Comix specific show featuring members Matt & Ellen Wyatt, Ray Tomczak, Max Ink and others' framed art on display as well as their books for sale all thru the month of February at the Kafé Kerouac (2250 N. High St. Columbus). Kafé hours are Mon-Fri, 8am to 11pm, Sat, 10am to 11pm, and Sun, Noon to 10pm. The opening reception will be held at the Kafé on Friday, Feb 1 from 7-11p.



A few members of the Sunday Comix group will also be participating in the National Cartoonists Society, Great Lakes Chapter sponsored show, "LAUGHS AT LAKESIDE" at the High Road Gallery (12 E Stafford Ave, Worthington) from January 30 to February 23. Gallery hours are Wed-Fri, 12-4pm and Sat, 11:30am-4pm. Sunday Comix will be hosting a Comix Jam during the Opening Reception on Sunday, February 3, 2:00 - 4:00 pm.

Art School Summer US Premiere

Conspirators Dave and Mary Sandberg have completed a feature length cartoon, Art School Summer, which is having its US premiere in Minneapolis on the 12th! Bill Plympton is the only other animator I'm aware of that has made feature length animated films basically on his own (although their probably have been some others), so big congratulations to them on this amazing and rare accomplishment.

Art School Summer
Saturday Jan 12th at 7:30
Premiering at:
MCAD
2501 Stevens Ave.
Minneapolis, MN 55404
In the big auditorium 150

The screening is free but seating might be in short supply.

Note that my understanding is that the film contains a whole lotta content that is not suitable for people under 18... so if you are under 18, please don't try to attend. If you are 18 or over, you won't want to miss it.

There will be a reception afterwards in NE... information on that at the event.

DOWNLOAD THE LUTEFISK SUSHI VOLUME C SUBMISSIONS DOC

Above: A rendition of the Conspiracy Logo Fiend by Lutefisk Sushi Volume C featured artist Kevin Cannon from the Big Time Attic Blog. Click it to download the submission info.

You can download and print the Lutefisk Sushi submission info here.

If you don't have software for viewing a word document, you can get high-quality, free office software at openoffice.org.

LUTEFISK SUSHI "C"

IT'S COMING!!!!!

LUTEFISK SUSHI VOLUME C CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

The third Cartoonist Conspriacy organized Lutefisk Sushi event, Lutefisk Sushi Volume C will be happening at Altered Esthetics in May 2008 (the month of Art-A-Whirl!).
For those of you who aren't familiar with the previous events/compilations, you can see more about them here and here.
We need submissions!
The focus of the show will again be around a big ol' fancy hand-serigraphed box of mini-comics with a cover by featured artist Kevin Cannon.
It will be limited to 150 copies... every participant will receive one.
To participate:
1) You must live in Minnesota.
2) You must provide us with 160 copies of your comic.
Not 161, not 159, not 2,364. 160.
Your mini-comic can be no larger than 5.5" x 8.5", or it won't fit.
It can be any format and length. For the first set we even had a scroll hand-silkscreened in invisible ink. Please only submit one title, as space is limited.
3) You may also include other comics or other items you wish to have sold at the gallery. Make sure your name is in the comic somewhere and put a price on the cover. Also include a folded 3x5 card with the name of the comic and the price on it for each comic you are selling. If we do not have an obvious way of telling how much your comic costs, we will not sell it (note when pricing that the gallery gets 30% of the sales price).
We will do our best to be fair about the limited display space we have for various items... if you submit a lot of items, we may not have room to display them all.
4) You must matte, frame, or otherwise make presentable and hangable any originals you intend to have displayed. If you don't do this we will not hang your work... frames can be purchased cheaply easily enough at thrift stores and other places. It is not required that you display originals, but it is encouraged. Put your name and the price of the piece on the back of the piece (note when pricing that the gallery gets 30% of the sales price).
5) You must submit everything by no later than March 15, 2008.
6) You must include the form with your submission. Submissions without forms will not be included in the show.
7) Every participant will receive a bento box. You must show up on opening night to pick up your Bento Box, or you must make other arrangements before then if you plan on getting one.
8) You must pick up your remaining original artwork, unsold comics and money (if any) at the end of the show. Any money or artwork not picked up by the artists will be kept by the gallery to do with as they please.
9) While it is not required, your assistance would be greatly appreciated collating the Bento Boxes at the collating party. We will also be looking for many volunteers to hang out and draw jam comics during art-a-whirl. You're also encouraged to suggest and organize other related activities for the month.
We intend to include in the box all submissions that meet ALL these criteria.
Please read the criteria carefully before submitting, as it takes a LOT of our time and resources to go back and hassle people for items they are missing.
Entries not meeting ALL of the above criteria will NOT be included in the box.

No previous comic book making experience is necessary to participate.

While we plan on having all entries meeting the criteria included in the Lutefisk Sushi Volume C Bento Box, if we get a lot of entries, we may have to cut it off somewhere- we'll let you know if the limit is getting close on the conspiracy website.
We had around 50 participants last time, and the box was packed to overflowing. First come, first served, so get your submissions in early.
In addition to the boxes, there will also be a lot of original artwork from the participating cartoonists on the walls. Using the artwork from the comic you submit to the Bento Box is preferred, although it is not required. ALL artwork should be priced for sale... let's make the gallery some money. Submitting multiple items for display is fine, although we can't guarantee we will have room for everything.
In addition to the main show, there will also be a "sideshow" featuring the art of Kevin Cannon.
Profits from the originals and comics will be split with the artists and gallery 70 (artists)-30 (gallery).
Profits from the Bento Boxes will go first to reimburse our miscellaneous production expenses, and then to the gallery (which is a wonderful non-profit organization we are thrilled to be involved with).
Lutefisk Sushi Volume B is being sponsored and organized by The International Cartoonist Conspiracy (www.cartoonistconspiracy.com), Altered Esthetics (alteredesthetics.org) and Big Time Attic (www.bigtimeattic.com).







LUTEFISK SUSHI VOLUME C PARTICIPATION FORM

Name:

Address:

Phone Number:

Email Address:

Name of the work you are submitting to the Bento Box:

Indicate prices of any originals included here (and on the backs of the originals):


Indicate prices and titles of any comics you are selling here (and on the books.. also include a folded 3x5 card with the name and price of each book you are giving us to sell):


I am aware that The International Cartoonist Conspiracy, Big Time Attic, and Altered Ethetics do not insure or agree to be responsible for any theft, damage, or loss of any article. I freely choose to exhibit in Altered Esthetics and I agree to accept any and all loss, theft, or damage resulting directly or indirectly from registrant's participation in these activities.
In return for the benefits I will receive from participation, I agree to not sue or to hold the organizers, their directors, officers, employees, agents, and volunteers responsible for any loss, theft, or damage connected with registrant's participation in the exhibition.



SIGN HERE




Send this form along with your submissions and the standard Altered Esthetics exhibition contract (http://www.alteredesthetics.com/2008ExhibitionContract.pdf) to:

BIG TIME ATTIC
1618 Central Ave. NE Suite 216
Minneapolis, MN 55413
(612) 521-7423
Questions? Contact Danno at staplegenius at yahoo.com

Leap of Faith at Susan Hensel Gallery

Two press releases for this weekend's Leap of Faith gallery show Minneapolis Conspirator Andrey Feldshteyn is featured in:

Eden Prairie cartoonist Andrey Feldshteyn has been
invited to be a featured artist in LEAP OF FAITH 3:
casting shadows at the Susan Hensel Gallery, 3441
Cedar Ave S. in Minneapolis. His work will be shown in
depth.

Andrey Feldshteyn, born in Leningrad, Russia,worked
for years as a computer programmer until he entered
the Studio of Poster and Cartoon In 1974 and later
joined the Leningrad Cartoon Club. In the late 70's
the Cartoon Club became in a sense a center of
underground humorous art. At that time in Russia it
was a unique art phenomenon. The artists looked for
the new way to express themselves, they developed a
specific graphic language.

In 80's Andrey was a regular cartoon contributor to
the local press. His works started to appear around
the country, and later abroad (Germany, Israel,
Bulgaria etc).

In 1989 Andrey accepted a position of Art Editor in
the House of Humor and Satire. From 1991 till the
departure to the USA in 1993 he was the art director
in the children newspaper "Five Corners". At the same
time he edited the humor column in "Neva Time".

In 2003 Andrey was awarded a Grand Prize at the
International Cartoon Contest in the USA. His works
are also kept in the Cartoon Art Museum in San
Francisco.

His work couldn't match the mission of the gallery
more. The Susan Hensel Gallery is devoted to art,
story and activism, seeking work that elicits a
response from the viewers, asks the viewer work a bit
to make the experience personal. It is a place where
discussion happens and where stories are told.

www.cartoonblues.com

He joins thirty-eight local and national artists
casting light and shadow on faith using paint,
photography, digital media, sculpture, assemblage and
letterpress print.

and

Mark Your Calendars

for the opening parties

Friday, November 9, 5-9pm

 

Thirty-eight local and national artists cast light and shadow on faith. This annual show has grown,become increasingly competitive and has outgrown this space. This year it opens at both the Susan Hensel Gallery and ArtSpace.

in Lake Nokomis Presbyterian Church at 1620 East 46th St, Minneapolis.

You will see sculpture, photography, assemblage, ceramics, painting, calligraphy and more. Go to both openings, meet the artists and see the range of their works. Several artists are being shown in some depth: James Michael Lawrence, Mary Simon-Casati, and Andrey Feldshteyn. Their work will certainly be in both locations. Come meet them and all the other artists who are within driving distance. It's "Artists,Artists, everywhere!"

For more information about Leap of Faith, please call Susan Hensel Gallery at 612-722-2324 or the church at 612-721-4463

Return to Susan Hensel Gallery Saturday, November 17, 2pm, for a poetry reading by PENCHANT, formerly Northfield Women Poets. They will be reading from their newly published anthology. You will remember them as the group that read during Riki Købl Nelson's show, ROOSTERWOMAN, earlier this year.

---

Jam in Minneapolis this Thursday, November First

The Minneapolis Cartoonist Conspiracy meets at 6:30 until 10:00 the first Thursday of every month at Diamond's Coffee Shoppe in Northeast.

Generally, we draw collaborative "jam" comics, socialize and drink caffeinated beverages. Afterwards, we often have uncaffeinated beverages somewhere else.

The meetings are open to anyone who wants to draw with us, and the results are posted on our website sooner or later (and sometimes even printed).

Diamond's Coffee Shoppe
1618 Central Avenue Northeast
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Bus info here.

Please spend some money at Diamond's while you're there, even if it is just a cuppa coffee... they are excellent hosts, and we wanna stay welcome there.

Big Time Attic is now officially hosting our monthly jam meetings at Diamond's... they will be supplying us with a big old plate of pastries or something each month. Thanks fellas!

November 7000 BC Meeting

Sunday, November 4 | 2:00 | Winning Coffee Company and Brickyard Pizza | Albuquerque, NM

November's 7000 BC meeting will be back at Winning Coffee Company at 111 Harvard Dr SE around 2:00 in the afternoon. We'll be working on a jam, talking about 24 Hour Comics Day, and planning for upcoming events. Around 5:00, the meeting will move around the corner to Brickyard Pizza at 2216 Central.

Send an email with any questions.

Joe Sacco in Minneapolis November 13th

From the Drawn and Quarterly blog:

Rain Taxi sponsors a reading series as a further demonstration of its commitment to literary culture. All events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.

JOE SACCO
Tuesday, November 13, 2007, 7:00 pm
$10 ($8 for Walker Members and Rain Taxi subscribers)

Walker Art Center
1750 Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis

Celebrated cartoonist JOE SACCO visits Minneapolis for a special presentation co-hosted by Rain Taxi Review of Books and the Walker Art Center. Appearing in conjunction with the Walker exhibition Brave New Worlds, Sacco will offer a visual tour of his acclaimed approach to comics journalism, in which he combines the techniques of eyewitness reportage with the medium of graphic storytelling to explore complex, emotionally weighted situations in some of the most conflicted and war-torn regions of the globe.

24 Hour Comics Day Minneapolis Coverage

I just wanted to note that if you are reading this blog, you will not automatically receive event coverage of the Minneapolis event which happened this weekend... and David Steinlicht did a phenomenal job covering it, so I really encourage you to check it out.

Thanks much to David for foregoing drawing to blog on our behalves... thanks much to Danno for organizing the event and talking me into doing it for the fourth year in a row... thanks to our extremely generous sponsors The Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Big Brain Comics, Wet Paint, Pizza Luce, and Grumpy's for sponsoring this again this year... and, of course, thanks to everyone who participated.

24 Hour Comics Day Minneapolis Banner

Here's a banner for the Minneapolis Cartoonist Conspiracy cell's blog to cover our local exploits during the international 24 Hour Comic Day event this weekend. I encourage all you participants out there to put it on your websites, and go check out the blog by clicking the banner, if you haven't already.



You can subscribe to the Twin Cities event blog here.

Here is the international event site for 24 hour comics day.

Here is the group blog for the international 24 hour comics day event.

You can subscribe to the international event blog here.

Thanks much to David Steinlicht for blogging for us during the event!

FallCon: The SPX of the Midwest

The Twin Cities are a great place to be if you'ra a cartoonist or if you love comics... Minneapolis is the second most literate city in the country so, needless to say, we have a huge base of comic fans. We have more than our share of fantastic comic book stores. We also have what are certainly two of the best comic book conventions in the country for cartoonists, FallCon and it's little sister MicroCon. FallCon was last weekend.

FallCon is always packed with cartoonists, both professional and amateur. Much of this is due to their incredibly generous (and very uncommon) policy of not charging creators anything for table space! This offer is extended to any comics creators regardless of experience, renown or talent (space is huge but it is obviously limited, so you want to let them know early if you'll be attending future conventions). As a result, there are small-press cartoonists all over the place... FallCon has got to be the best convention for small-press cartoonists in the midwest (with MicroCon in the Spring at a close second).

FallCon is a huge convention, and growing every year (next year will be its 20th anniversary). It is also getting better every year... this year was easily the most fun FallCon I've attended yet. It has been held for a number of years in the vast Education Building on the fun, retro-quirky Minnesota State Fairgrounds. Next year it will be moving to an even larger building on the Fairgrounds.

This year the International Cartoonist Conspiracy decided to do something different for FallCon. First of all, it was determined that any conspiracy worth a damn should have a funny hat. Since the Cartoonist Conspiracy is worth considerably more than a damn, we donned our new formal-wear 100% wool fezzes.

Here I am proudly modeling my Conspiracy attire on Saturday before the convention... little did I suspect it would be 87 degrees outside! Yes, we had some sweaty wool fezzes this weekend. Let's take a look at some of them...

The other big part of our FallCon initiative was to set up a Cartoonist Conspiracy lounge rather than a traditional table space. We easily had the most comfortable digs at the convention. The two couches were generously lent to us by Big Time Attic and Bud Burgy. Ryan Dow (pictured in the middle below) also lent us a nice drawing table which we made jam comics on all weekend. Ryan is flanked by Daniel Olson on the left and Matthew Kriske on the right, and the three of them (along with Vas Littlecrow of the Cartoonist Conspiracy Rice, MN local, who, alas, I didn't get a photo of) made the main group of Conspiracy volunteers manning the lounge and welcoming new members into our fold.

Ryan is responsible for Introspective Comics, and also has a mysterious alter-ego that was also seen at the con this weekend. I went to school with Dan, and he is doing a fun, frequently updated webcomic at bewilderedkid.com. Matthew Kriske needs a website so I can link to him! Here is the comic he did for the recent City Pages comix issue the Conspiracy organized. Vas Littlecrow is a one-woman publishing empire... you can start digging into her comics here... she also runs the very reasonably priced Rice Print Shop, which we have gone through to publish a number of our projects, and I can not recommend highly enough.

Here's another shot of the Lounge with the Conspiracy reading rack library visible (which Big Time Attic also brought to the convention... thanks again, guys)... the reading rack features numerous comics by anyone in our membership that wants to donate copies to it (if you want to have yours included, you can mail them to Big Time Attic 1618 Central Ave. NE Minneapolis, MN 55413). You can also see Conspirator Mike Sgier on the far right.

Here's the Minneapolis Conspriacy Events Czar Danno (aka Dank aka Staplegenius) Danno is incredibly prolific and had many exciting new issues of his hilarious Manly Tales of Cowardice available, as well as cheap originals... I bought a Manly Tales cover to hang on my wall (pictured on top of the stack on the right). Danno recently got a rave review for his contribution to the Muscles and Fights anthology on Newsarama.

Danno is currently very busy getting us ready for our upcoming 24 Hour Comic Day event later this month (as a part of the international event 24 Hour Comics Day, which we have participated in since it's outset 4 years ago).

In addition to the event for the last three years, we have also published the 24 Hour comics we make the day after the event, the first year as an almost 200 page book, and the two subsequent years as a box set of mini-comics. This year we're planning on breaking the tradition of doing it the next day, and after talking to the friendly folks from MCAD Comic Heads who are putting together another Minneapolis 24 Hour comic event this year for 24 Hour Comic Day, it sounds likely that we will be collaborating with them to do an enormous box set collecting the comics from both events!

Next we have Mike Toft of Brain Food. Mike and Danno have been with the Conspiracy since the first meeting (now almost five years ago!) Mike had a free FallCon giveaway issue of his long running comic book Brain Food that I'm looking forward to reading.

Pictured above are Bud Burgy and Damian Sheridan. Bud and his publishing partner Amado (pictured below) were premiering the release of the brand new, even more enormous second volume of their Muscles and Fights anthology, Musclier and Fightier. The first volume was a blast, I can't wait to read the second (full disclosure: I contributed to both volumes... so did many of the other people in this FallCon post). The third volume is planned to come out early next year... if you are interested in contributing to it you'll want to do so before January 15th... details are on the website. Bud was nice enough to consolidate his table space with Amado to accomodate Damian, who was nice enough to put up with a ruthless aquisition of his planned space by the Conspiracy to build the lounge. Thanks much to both of you guys for making the lounge possible!

Here's the other half of the Cream City Comics/Muscles and Fights publishing empire, Amado Rodriguez, on the left, and Jon Sloan, cartoonist and master of martial arts on the right. Amado and Bud are taking Muscles and Fights to a convention in the UK this week.

Here is (L to R) Zander Cannon, Donn Ha (of the Chicago cell of the Cartoonist Conspiracy) and Gene Ha at the Big Time Attic table... Zander is talking to 13-year-old cartoonist Lewis Tuck, who had a cool little mini debut at the con this weekend called CRANEON (which includes a pinup by Sam Hiti!). Zander was the only other fella besides me smart enough to wear a tie with his wool fez in 85 degree weather! Zander is the brilliant cartoonist behind The Replacement God, Smax the Barbarian (in collaboration with author extrordinaire Alan Moore), Bone Sharps, Cowboys and Thunder Lizards (in collaboration with Jim Ottaviani and Big Time Attic) and many other things. He has a new series of Top 10 comics coming out in collaboration with Gene Ha in the near future... Zander is taking over the writing on this run (which was previously by Alan Moore). I read a preview of Zander's wonderfully detailed layout/scripts for the first number of issues, and they are going to be great.

Here's Kevin Cannon, also of Big Time Attic, the man responsible for the (almost completed) Armitage Shanks graphic novel Far Arden, which I have mentioned before numerous times, and you can read online. Kevin was nice enough to give me an awesome sketch of heroic Shanks in fisticuffs with a fish. Watch for Far Arden to be nominated for awards all over the place next year after it sees print. Kevin, unlike his pseudo-brother Zander, was the only man with a wool fez smart enough not to wear it in 87 degree heat! Kevin also did a photographic report on FallCon on the Big Time Attic blog, which you can read here.

Here's another picture of Donn... Donn used to live in Minneapolis, but now he is in Chicago... I forgot to ask Donn how things were going with the Chicago cell of the Cartoonist Conspiracy. In addition to cartooning talents, Donn is an amazing Flash developer... check out this hilarious game he developed a while ago, Five Minutes to Kill Yourself.

Next we have Brett VonSchlosser and Tim Sievert. Brett and Tim had a number of beautifully screen-printed items at their table, and Tim had amazing stuffed dolls of his character The Canary Kid (which you can see on the Big Time Attic blog). Tim and Brett have recently been collaborating on a fight comic called Champions of Eternity. Tim has a book coming out soon from Top Shelf called That Salty Air.

Tom Kaczynski makes some gorgeous mini-comics. He is also a regular contributor to the wonderful Fantagraphics MOME anthology... I bought one of everything on his table, and if you ever see him at a con, you should do yourself a favor and do the same. If you're going to SPX this weekend, you'll have a chance.

Here's Sarah Morean, the founding member of the Sioux Falls, South Dakota Conspiracy Cell... she recently joined us in Minneapolis, so Sioux Falls is gonna have to get along without her. Sarah is very prolific cartoonist and a wonderful writer. She had some of my favorite contributions to the recent Alley Cat anthology we put together to benefit the family of Minneapolis cartoonist and Conspirator Eric Lappegard who died in July (The MNCBA thoughtfully dedicated FallCon to Eric this year).

Sarah is also a thoughtful comics reviewer as the Mini-Comics Editor for the excellent blog The Daily Cross Hatch. Naturally, I hope to shamelessly hassle her into reviewing my webcomic Soapy the Chicken there some day (which has been on hiatus but will be resuming next week on an irregular schedule). Here's her FallCon review for the Cross Hatch. I bought everything Sarah had too...

Sitting next to Tom and Sarah was Will Dinski... which was appropriate, as the three of them make some of the most beautifully printed hand-made comics in the Twin Cities. I got most of the stuff on Will's table too, although I stupidly passed on his gorgeous new handmade hardcover for budgetary reasons... I'm sure I will live to regret this decision.

Next we have Sam Hiti and the previously mentioned Lewis Tuck. Sam has the most amazing stack of sketches for sale that you are likely to see anywhere for a mere ten to forty dollars... Sam printed a book of his sketches recently called Ghoulash, and from how many sketches he shows up with at every con, I think he could probably make a sketchbook a month if he was inclined to do so. Sam's best known for his deservedly critically acclaimed Tiempos Finales, as well as for starting the Fisticuffs blog. I eagerly await his upcoming WWI graphic novel, Death Day.

Pictured here are
Bob Lipski and Brian Bastian. Bob is probably the most insanely prolific cartoonist I know. There aren't many cartoonists out there who can write, draw, publish and distribute a comic book every month and still work a day job, and keep it up for over 60 issues, as Bob has with his charming comic Uptown Girl... in fact, I imagine Bob's probably the only one who has done this. After he publishes his monthlies, he collects them in huge volumes, of which there are now four... you can purchase them online here. On top of that, Bob regularly collaborates with Brian on the comic book Tommy Chicago.

Here is the previously mentioned Mike Sgier again with a plate of msg visiting the lounge. Mike has a couple of posts with his sketches from this year's FallCon on his site, here and here.

One of the coolest things about FallCon is the huge glass cases on the left side of the building that they fill with an amazing selection of artwork... I meant to take more photos of this stuff... they literally cover one whole side of the building... it's gotta be 1000 feet of glass display cases, all full of amazing orignal artwork and other obscurities. They went all out this year and had some fantastic art for viewing. Pictured above is a whole case filled with rare underground comics from the sixties and seventies. As they do every year, they had a case full of the wonderful Joel Thingvall Gallery of Wonder Woman Art, which I've mentioned before. There was also a large collection of trading card sized renditions of Doctor Doom.

Here's another case... I don't know what the specific theme of this case was, if there was one... note the Kurtzman Little Annie Fanny in the center.

They didn't limit it to comic art either... here is a case displaying cheesecake art by George Petty.

FallCon also features a huge charity auction every year with funds going to The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and the Lupus Foundation of Minnesota. They go around to all of the artists' tables asking for donations, and they get a whole lot of nice stuff that ends up usually going for very affordable prices. This year the Conspiracy donated a jam poster comic strip we drew during the con along with two of the limited edition Lutefisk Sushi Volume B boxes of mini-comics we made last year.

Here is a somewhat readable copy of the jam poster we donated.

Here is the obligatory photo of superheroes... a whole goddamn Justice League of them. The Batmobile was off to the left...

Here is a photo of my comic book scores from the weekend... I got some fun reading to do. In addition to all the great comics I bought from artists, FallCon has a lot of comics dealers as well. I barely had time to dig through their wares, but I scored a beat up but intact Walt Kelly Animal Comics comic I'm gonna have to scan for my blog and a coverless issue of Gabby Hayes for a buck each! Plus one of the comics issues of National Lampoon. All in all, a really great weekend. Hope to see you there next year!

John Porcellino at Big Brain Tomorrow Night! (Thursday, October 11th)

John Porcellino (of King Cat Comics) is at Big Brain Comics tomorrow!

Big Brain Comics, 1027 Washington Ave. South, Minneapolis, MN 55415, (612-338-4390)

5:00 PM slide show, Q+A, and signing

PLUS: Live music by John Porcellino and Zak Sally
Slide Show begins at 6:00 PM

FallCon is this weekend!

FallCon 2007, Minnesota's Premier Comic Book Convention, is this weekend! You won't want to miss it.

The Conspiracy will have a lounging area at the Con... please come visit, draw, and/or read comics with us.

The wonderful annual event (now in its 19th year) is unparalleled in its generosity and hospitality to creators, and offers free tables for any creators who want them... as a result there is a wonderful variety to the work you will see there. Professional mainstream cartoonists and obscure amateur cartoonists are made equally at home at this delightful event... thanks much to the Minnesota Comic Book Association for continuing to host it.

Fallcon is October 6th and 7th from 10AM to 5PM.

You can see the guest list here.

Admission to non-guests is $10.00. $1 off admission with a canned Food Shelf Donation. Children ages 9 and under are admitted FREE. First 500 paid attendees Saturday and the first 200 on Sunday will receive a free grab bag of goodies.

FallCon is on the Minnesota State Fairgrounds in the Education Building at 1372 Cosgrove Ave. in St. Paul, MN.

Here are banners for the event to put on your websites and blogs... lets help make this the biggest FallCon yet.

728x90
728x90 Alternate
300x250
300x250 Alternate
468x60
468x60 Alternate
170x50
88x31
Download all banners

Link them all up the the Fallcon website here.

Creators, here are the set-up times for the con if you are on the guest list...

1) CREATOR SET-UP HOURS -
Friday October 5, 2007 - 3PM to 8PM
Saturday October 6, 2007 - 7AM to 10AM
Sunday, October 8, 2007 - 9AM to 10AM

2) CREATOR TEAR DOWN HOURS -
Sunday, October 8, 2007 - 5PM to 8PM

October 7000 BC Meeting

Sunday, October 7 | Noon | Backroads Pizza and Second Street Brewery | Santa Fe, NM

Back to Santa Fe for October for the monthly 7000 BC meeting. As is our custom, we'll begin at Backroads Pizza (807 2nd St # 1) up on the second floor (just follow the counter around to the stairs) around noon, and move across the street to Second Street Brewery after 2:00. We'll be working on a jam during the day, hearing about Stumptown and the Harwood classes, and preparing for SPX.

Send an email with any questions.

Jam in Minneapolis Tonight, October 4th!

The Minneapolis Cartoonist Conspiracy meets at 6:30 until 10:00 the first Thursday of every month at Diamond's Coffee Shoppe in Northeast.

Generally, we draw collaborative "jam" comics, socialize and drink caffeinated beverages. Afterwards, we often have uncaffeinated beverages somewhere else.

The meetings are open to anyone who wants to draw with us, and the results are posted on our website sooner or later (and sometimes even printed).

This month we will also be working on posters for FallCon. FallCon is this weekend! Oh, it is gonna be fun! You won't want to miss it.

Diamond's Coffee Shoppe
1618 Central Avenue Northeast
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Bus info here.

Please spend some money at Diamond's while you're there, even if it is just a cuppa coffee... they are excellent hosts, and we wanna stay welcome there.

Big Time Attic is now officially hosting our monthly jam meetings at Diamond's... they will be supplying us with a big old plate of pastries or something each month. Thanks fellas!

Kim Deitch in Minneapolis Today

Courtesy of the Comics Reporter.

hey everyone, zak sally here.

you know i send out on of these "press releases" every so often when i uh, think something stupendously awesome is hitting minneapolis: this one's a little late, but here it is-- underground comics legend Kim Deitch will be in town next week, on the 19th & 20th.

i wrote a piece on Kim for the city pages a couple years back for the city pages, upon the release of his acclaimed book "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" (Pantheon).

Kim is pretty much a living legend, and certainly the "cartoonists' cartoonist": having begun his cartooning career damn near 40 years ago, back in the underground comics explosion of the late 60's, Kim has consistently honed his craft to the point that he's in the running for the title of "America's greatest living cartoonist" (i read an interview with none other than Chris Ware where he said that he and Dan Clowes often wonder if they don't like Kim's work more than R. Crumb's...).

There's been a renaissance in reprinting Kim's work lately, with another long novel from Pantheon ("Alias The Cat"), and a collection of his amazing mid 80's/ 90's work called "Shadowland", both released in 2006. you should buy them and read them, and THEN you should write, blog, promote, or whateverthehell the fact that Kim (and his wife Pam), will be doing a signing at Minneapolis' own Big Brain comics on wednesday sept 19, from 5-7 pm. and then the next day (thursday), giving a presentation/ talk/ slideshow at MCAD (auditorium 15) from 1 to 2:30 pm, and it's open to the public. i haven't seen the presentation myself, but knowing Kim (and having heard rave reviews from pals who HAVE seen it), it's going to be multi-media and WILDLY entertaining.

so, spread the word or come on down to one or both.

if you got any questions, email me (or Barbara Schulz at mcad, barbara_schulz@mcad.edu)

hope yer all good.
best, zak sally

An Open Studio Tour at Puny Entertainment

I thought some of you might be interested in this MNSiggraph event coming up this Thursday:

An Open Studio Tour at Puny Entertainment -- 9/20/07 - starting at 6:00 pm

Puny Entertainment
1618 Central Ave. NE, Suite 130
Minneapolis, MN
612-216-3924
punyentertainment.com

Jam in Minneapolis Tonight, September 6th!

The Minneapolis Cartoonist Conspiracy meets at 6:30 until 10:00 the first Thursday of every month at Diamond's Coffee Shoppe in Northeast.

Generally, we draw collaborative "jam" comics, socialize and drink caffeinated beverages. Afterwards, we often have uncaffeinated beverages somewhere else.

The meetings are open to anyone who wants to draw with us, and the results are posted on our website sooner or later (and sometimes even printed).

Diamond's Coffee Shoppe
1618 Central Avenue Northeast
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Bus info here.

Please spend some money at Diamond's while you're there, even if it is just a cuppa coffee... they are excellent hosts, and we wanna stay welcome there.

Big Time Attic is now officially hosting our monthly jam meetings at Diamond's... they will be supplying us with a big old plate of pastries or something each month. Thanks fellas!

September 7000 BC Meeting

Sunday, September 9 | 2:00 | Winning Coffee Company | Albuquerque, NM

We'll be starting off September's 7000 BC meeting at Winning Coffee Company at 111 Harvard Dr SE around 2:00 in the afternoon. We'll work on a jam, tell stories from Bubonicon, and plan for upcoming appearances at Stumptown and SPX. Sometime in the evening, we're going to get some dinner; not sure where yet.

Send an email with any questions.

Schmapples Tribute September 8th

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SCHMAPPLES TRIBUTE
SEPTEMBER 8... MARK YOUR CALENDARS

Benefit to Honor Comic Artist & Bicycle Advocate Eric Lappegard

What: Benefit to Honor Comic Artist & Bicycle Advocate Eric Lappegard

When: Saturday, September 8th, 2007. 2pm—2am

Where:

Alley Cat Race to begin at Behind Bars Bicycle Shop, 208 13th Ave NE, Minneapolis 2pm-5pm

Comic Art Show & Silent Auction/Raffle/Vegan Bake Sale at Altered Esthetics, 1224 Quincy St. NE, Minneapolis 5pm-10pm

Minneapolis / St. Paul—Beloved local comic artist and bicycle advocate Eric Lappegard passed away on July 23rd from complications following an automobile accident. Eric was in the process of moving from Minneapolis to Portland, Oregon, when the accident occurred. Originally from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Eric had spent the last number of years in Minneapolis, where he worked as a bicycle messenger and coffee shop java-slinger, artist, community organizer and bicycle advocate.

Eric (a.k.a. Schmapples, a.k.a. Vegan Ninja) was an active member of the local comics collective The International Cartoonist Conspiracy, as well as a founding member of The Minneapolis Bicycle Federation, a group that advocates for a better cycling environment. Eric was a friendly face around town, a vegan who championed animal rights and environmental sustainability, and a friend to many people across the community. He will be greatly missed.

On Saturday, September 8th, friends of Eric are partnering with local businesses and arts organizations to pay tribute to a dear friend and important member of the art, music, and bicycling communities. All proceeds from the event will go to Eric’s family to aid them with expenses incurred as a result of this tragic accident.

The Schmapples Tribute event will include a messenger-style alley cat bike race beginning at Behind Bars Bicycle Shop in Northeast Minneapolis.

Eric's artwork, as well as donated artwork from local artists & members of the Cartoonist Conspiracy (cartoonistconspiracy.com), will be on display at Altered Esthetics (alteredesthetics.com) all day Saturday, with a silent auction and reception to begin at 5:00pm. Two original publications have been created specifically for this event & will be on sale; a collection of Eric's Schmapples comics, and a huge anthology by over 50 cartoonists. Additional items for auction will be included, including gift certificates and highly-desirable items from local bicycle, comic and other businesses. Raffle tickets will be purchased for $5 each. Prizes include artwork, comics, gift certificates and custom bicycle parts and products. A vegan bake sale will also help to raise funds for the Lappegard family. Live music will be provided by the Roe Fam