Heroescon 2012

This weekend in Charlotte NC things get lively! Heroescon appears in the subterranean halls of the Charlotte Convention Center like a gaudy 3-day annual bloom. And, dammit, I'm not going!But I've got friends who are, and some of them are getting together in Room 206 on Friday at 4 for this-

 If you're at Heroescon please stop by and have a seat!

And while you're in Charlotte would you please stop by Mert's Heart & Soul and bring me a plate of shrimp and grits?

June 19th

If anybody sees Mr. Chris Sparks of Asheville, North Carolina today wish him a happy 42nd birthday for me, would you?

Launching a Book

Here's what it looked like Sunday night at One More Page books, once the mob had cleared and only cartoonists remained. More to come.

Tonight at One More Page

Sunday, June 10, from 5 - 7 pm:  Fundraiser celebration to launch the Team Cul de Sac: Cartoonists Draw the Line at Parkinson's. Several of the contributors live here in the DC area and will be on hand to sign copies. Join us for wine and light snacks to celebrate the launch of the book!  A portion of the day's sales will go to Team Cul de Sac. Click here to see which cartoonists you might run into.  Whew!!!  Don't miss this great event! One More Page is located at 2200 N. Westmoreland Street, #101, in Arlington VA, phone 703-300-9746, just a few blocks west of the Lee Highway exit off Route 66.

(Swiped from One More Page's website)

tick tick tick

And this was 5 minutes ago! Go bid.

Team Cul de Sac Auction - The Last Two Days

Here we have a two-fer: brilliant cartoonist, cartoonist, cartoonist, critic and writer Shaenon K. Garrity and her husband the accomplished curator, cartoonist  and author Andrew Farago offer insights into Ernesto Lacuna. Look at the detailing and insight on this baby! It can be yours for a little more than $55! See here.

Team Cul de Sac Auction - The Last Two Days

Over the next two days I'm going to post some random selections from the auction just to gin up sales.

First up: the unique and ingenious R. SIKORYAK paints an Otterloopian parody of Picasso's the Three Musicians. Currently a mere $90! Chicken feed  to a person such as yourself! Go here.

Publisher's Weekly Says

And what Publisher's Weekly says, goes.

A Not-So-Gentle Reminder

Tomorrow, June 5, marks the launch of Team Cul de Sac: Cartoonists Draw the Line at Parkinson's, Chris Sparks' magnum opus and labor of love, and if I didn't know Chris I would imagine he's exhausted. Actually he may be but who can tell? Being exhausted just seems to fire him up.

Today Chris passed along Michael J Fox's reaction to the book:

“Richard Thompson is lucky to have a friend like Chris Sparks. With this amazing collection, Chris is raising significant dollars and awareness for Parkinson’s — while proving comedy can help speed a cure. We’re grateful to have both Chris and Richard on our team.” – Michael J. Fox.

Couldn't have said it better myself!

And Hey! There's an auction going on!
 

A Gentle Reminder

Book Event | 6/10

Team Cul de Sac

Contributors to the new cartoon collection, "Team Cul de Sac: Cartoonists Draw the Line at Parkinson's," a tribute to local cartoonist Richard Thompson, creator of the Cul de Sac strip, discuss their work and sign copies of the book as part of a wine and light fare reception. A portion of the book's sales will be donated to Team Cul de Sac, a division of Team Fox & the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research. Also, the Small Press Expo, a co-sponsor of the evening, will distribute passes to the SPX2012 with each book purchase. Call 703-300-9746 for details. One More Page Books 2200 N. Westmoreland St., #101, Arlington, VA | 703-300-9746

Today's Cul de Sac June 3, 2012

The banana smell must come from isoamyl-acetate, which I don't know much about it except it's nasty and it's in the spray fixative I used for years (Krylon). And it's also called banana oil, which I always thought was a Milt Gross joke.

Yet More Restaurant Closings

The theme here is: buildings are fun to draw. That's also the theme for Sunday's strip. And by "theme" I mean "excuse".

Exclusive Preview!

This is from Sunday's strip (I think it is, I get sloppy with dating things) and you get to see it first! What can it mean? Who can tell? It better be funny, that's all I'm sayin'.

MJFox Signed Book!

The star of Back to the Future and The Frighteners demonstrates superior penmanship in this signed copy of Team Cul de Sac and it can be yours!

Go Bid!

The Heritage Auctions Cul de Sac Auction is open for business!

Today's Cul de Sac, May 26, 2012

I've wanted to use this gag for a while and couldn't figure out how to present it. I'd planned it to be a Sunday strip and that's why I was having trouble. A Sunday page provides a bit more room to play with the layout and sometimes that's more of a distraction than an opportunity. In other words, I monkeyed around with the format so much the gag got lost, and it's a weird little gag. So it got moved to a daily which simplified it into coherency. The lesson we all learn from this is: Stop monkeying around when you don't have to. Life's hard enough as it is.

More Restaurant Closings

Jut when you thought it was safe to grab a bite. This one was probably the first one I did despite what I said before. I gotta start dating things.

Two Days!

In two days The Team Cul de Sac auction of original art begins! That's on Sunday, My 27th at Heritage Auctions. That's in two days!

Alan Gardner, Man of Taste

The first review is in, and it's by Alan Gardner, the hardest-working underpaid blogger in daily cartoonland. Go to the Daily Cartoonist for his thoughts on the book. And leave a nice comment, and/or some blog-support money.

Caricature by Mark Pett, who's up for a Reuben divisional award for illustrating The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes, and a swell guy. 

The Observer-Reporter Comes Through

Yesterday the Observer-Reporter, newspaper of record for Washington and Greene Counties in Pennsylvania, ran an editorial headlined Drawing on Humor to Combat Disease. The O-R carries Cul de Sac and came out four-square behind Team Cul de Sac, for which I'm hugely grateful (they should've mentioned Chris Sparks, who's out in Vegas representing the Team at the Reubens). And, hey, wouldn't now be a great time for some other newspapers of record to do likewise?