Yuko Ota's Blog, page 67

Release Party!

Cricket's got a lot of names, some of which are not appropriate for print! Naught cats have a lot of names like that. You guys and gals have any good nicknames for your pets? That's a dumb question, I bet you do. 

Our handsome release poster on the front door of Bergen St. Comics (and actually, Yuko has some work in that book on the right side of the photo)! There's now a post on Bergen Street's site about the release party. It's this Friday at 8 PM, bring your friends! Lela is making some cookies and maybe some little sandwiches, we'll have copies of our book, and we'll be a doing a live reading of John Advice with John and Conrad! It should be a good time. 

Also, I'd mentioned Exquisite Beast last week - there are some new posts for you to look at! Check it out!

That's all for us! See you Thursday - and Friday! Take it easy!

the exquisite beast

Yuko's dad is a really good cook! Sometimes you just gotta combine those leftovers to clear out the fridge. 

Here's an exciting announcement: Yuko and Evan are working on a new project together! They're going to take turns drawing creatures derived from the previous generation as the species undergoes a theoretical evolutionary process. As Evan says, "We'll play with the aesthetic of living things and the process of natural selection, and may or may not end up with a biologically plausible series of beasts." It's called The Exquisite Beast and will be updated on Tuesdays and Fridays.  It's being posted over on Tumblr for your convenience:

And we are doing a release party for Johnny Wander Vol. 2: Escape to New York at Bergen St. Comics on January 13th at 8 PM! You can read more about it here - we'll have food and drinks, John will do a live reading of John Advice, and we'll have copies of the book that Yuko can sign and doodle in for you. Drop in, it'll be a good time!

That's all for us! See you next week!

Vol. 2 release party @ Bergen St. Comics!

Hey guys and gals! First of all, Happy New Year! Hope your holidays were just lovely.

I'd mentioned this before, but I can mention it "officially": We're having a release party for Vol. 2, graciously hosted by Bergen St. Comics in Brooklyn! We've got a few things planned:

A small party with food and drinks
A live reading of John Advice by John himself, with questions asked by myself, Yuko and Conrad
Books & Signing - the first time we'll be offering signed and sketched books!

I hope that's enough to entice you out - it'll be a good time and we'd love to see you there!

MEOW

Rook and Cricket came with us to Yuko's parents' place, which means they serenaded us with a chorus of miserable meows. I think Cricket was mostly imitating Rook ... but Rook hates cars. Not a car cat, that one. 

We saw Girl with the Dragon Tattoo on Christmas. Not a very feel-good movie, but I liked it! Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig were both well cast, especially Mara - she really 'got' Lisbeth Salander. The movie itself is a big blur of snow and sexy coffee. And a warning: If you were uncomfortable with certain content in the book, you're not going to feel any better about it in the movie. We tried watching the Swedish version afterwards - a mistake. Salander is portrayed very conventionally pretty which seemed at odds with the text, and something about Blomkvist just didn't grab me ... he felt bland? There may have been some cultural nuance that escaped me, though. If you want to watch both, I'd recommend watching the Swedish version first. 

That's all for us! Thanks for the sci-fi recommendations last week, I really appreciate it! Have a happy (and safe) New Year, see you on the other side!

Some science fiction short stories

In case you missed it. The cats came with us for Christmas! They're getting along with Mika and Gonta. Uh, mostly. 

I'm working on a new project, so I've been reading a lot of science fiction short stories recently and got particularly interested in Arthur C. Clarke. His name was always on my radar, but I seem to have an on again off again relationship with sci-fi, so sometimes it takes me a little while. Anyway, here are some short stories you can read online:

Rescue Party
The Sentinel (the inspiration for 2001: Space Odyssey)

Here's some Asimov:

The Feeling of Power
The Last Question
The Immortal Bard

And one by Vonnegut  - more commentary than anything else:

Harrison Bergeron

I've been reading China Mieville's Embassytown, and after that I'll probably read one of Clarke's books. Rendezvous with Rama's been suggested to me a few times, so I'll start there. 

Hope you enjoy some of those links! We'll catch you Thursday. 

Krampus!

Krampus is a creature with roots in Germanic folklore, and is essentially the bad cop to St. Nicholas's good cop. St. Nicholas hands gifts out to the good kids, and Krampus warns and punishes bad kids - and if a kid is particularly naughty, he'll throw him or her into his sack and carry them off to his lair to eat. Krampus has appeared on cards in the Alpine regions of Europe since the 1800s - in older depictions he is more fearsome and scary, while in newer versions he is generally cuter. You can read more about Krampus at Wikipedia.

Anyway, Yuko came across some images of Krampus where he is depicted with young women and in the act of wooing (tempting?) them,

and here he's shown carrying a bunch of women off:

Yuko really likes the dapper one, but I think I prefer the idea of Krampus as an awkward shut-in who only comes out once a year with St. Nick. But anyway, one thing led to another led to today's illustration. Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Happy Holidays - Happy Everything! You guys better have a good one, I'll be checking. 

Just wanted to mention three things:

First, the Nemu*Nemu Kickstarter is nearing it's goal and completion date (in 4 days)! Scott and Audra are two of our favorite folks and their comic is fun and light-hearted - if you like Johnny Wander or Yotsuba&! there's a good chance you'll dig Nemu*Nemu (you can check for yourself!). It's also kid-friendly, for any parents or folks looking for comics for their littler siblings/cousins. Check it out!
Second, all orders are on hold until the New Year! We'll probably start shipping again around January 5th - just a heads up!
Third, the release party for JW:V2:Escape To NY will be the evening of Friday, January 13th in Brooklyn, NY! We're still working out the details, but one of the things we have in the works is a live reading of John Advice by John himself! And it'll most likely be catered by our own pal Lela! Oh, and we'll have copies of Volume 2, of course. 

That's all for us! Have a great holiday and we'll catch you next week! Stay warm!

Last day to order!

A familiar story ... ! Alas.

Hey all! Gotta keep this quick: Just a heads up, Wednesday the 21st (tomorrow) is the last day to order! Please have your order in by tomorrow 12 noon EST. After that we'll be shipping orders in the New Year. 

That's all for us! See you Thursday!

Store rundown, Vol. 2 release party in the works!

Mandelbrot sets! In case you were curious and wanted to know more.

Here's the holiday rundown of stuff in the store!

Johnny Wander Vol. 2: Escape to New York
Discount book set with Vol. 1 & 2
CMYCat tees
CMYCat totes
Phoenix Down tees
Neutiquam Erro patches
An Evening In giclée print (Death & Cecilia)
Dark Horse Presents containing Callie Eats Feathers (with and w/out print)
The last of the Hokusai shirts!

We won't be adding anything new till next year at this point, as our hands are pretty full with shipping! 

Also - this is pretty exciting - we're planning a JW:V2 release party in Brooklyn, NY for January! More details on that as they come. 

Okay ... back to mailing stuff! Have a great weekend, catch you next week!

Phoenix Down tees, CMYcat tees and CMYcat totes now in the store!

Hey guys! Phoenix Down tees, CMYcat tees, and CMYcat totes are now in the store! That's the last of the items we're adding for Christmas. Johnny Wander Vol. 2 is still in the store, as well as a discount book pack.

I think that's all for us! It's been a looong day so I'm going to keep it short - have a good one and we'll catch you Thursday!

Holiday dates!

International orders: The post office deadline for international shipping is tomorrow, December 9th. Today is the absolute last day to get your items guaranteed for Christmas! We'll still be shipping as fast as we can, every day till we hit the holidays, but we can't guarantee your order will arrive on time after today. 
Domestic orders: Our cutoff is the 18th! After that we will try to get your orders in, but again, we can't guarantee it. Thanks!
The Johnny Wander book pack - that's V1 and V2 - are $5 off until Christmas!
There's no special edition available till the new year, but we're still including the sticker that would normally go with the special edition. 

That's all for us! See you next week!