Alec Longstreth's Blog, page 16

TCAF 2014

Well, after a few restful, productive weeks at home, it's time to head back out and hit the road again! This weekend I'm heading to The Great White North to exhibit at the Toronto Comics Arts Festival. I'll be at table 203 all weekend long, along with Greg Means of Tugboat Press. I'll have copies of Basewood available as well as issues of Phase 7 and Drop Target.

Claire is going to accompany me on this trip, and we scored an extra day in Toronto, so that will be a lot of fun. I have only been to Toronto once before, when I attended TCAF back in 2009. I had a great time at the show five years ago, so I'm hoping this year will be more of the same.

If you live in the Toronto area, please swing by and say hello. It is free to get in to the show!

WonderCon 2014

Well, the first ever Linework NW was a lot of fun. It was a one day show that went from 2-9pm, which was an interesting experiment. There were tons of talented people exhibiting and lots of Portlanders turned up to buy books, so I feel confident in saying that a good time was had by all.

Three shows down, one left to go, and this "gauntlet" will be complete!

This weekend Greg Means and I will be tabling at WonderCon in Anaheim, California. The show runs Friday through Sunday, so if you're in the Los Angeles area, please swing by and say hello!

For now I am once again trying to catch up on everything while I am home for a few days. I'm looking forward to the completion of this four-shows-in-four-weeks run, when I'll finally have some time to sit down and draw again. I much prefer drawing comics to promoting and selling comics, believe you me!

Basewood wins the 2014 Prix Bulles De Cristal!

A few weeks ago I was notified that the French edition of Basewood won this year's Prix Bulles De Cristal!

La Librarie L'Ange Bleu selects about a dozen graphic novels, which are split into two groups: half for 11-14 year-old readers and half for 15-18 year-old readers. The books are made available at libraries and schools all over the French-speaking world (France, Belgium, Quebec, etc.), so that middle school and high school students can read all the books. Thousands of students cast their vote for their favorite book and Basewood had the most votes this year in the 15-18 year-old category. Amazing!

I was honored to be nominated and I'm thrilled to have won. My French pal Matthias went to the ceremony in Paris last week and accepted the award on my behalf. He also took this photo of the award. I'm hoping this will encourage even more people to check out the French edition of Basewood... or the English version, too!

Linework NW 2014

The MoCCA Arts Fest was a smashing success this year. Thanks to everyone who swung by the show and said hello. With that behind us, Greg Means and I are halfway through our April "gauntlet" two shows down, two left to go!

Next up is a brand new show, Linework NW in Portland, OR. I was at the first Stumptown Comics Fest ever and I was at the very last one too (with many years exhibiting in-between as well). When that show ended last year I was bummed that I wouldn't have an excuse to visit Portland, land of pinball and many friends. I was very happy when this show was announced!

The organizers are awesome and the exhibitor list looks pretty rad, so it should be a lot of fun. It's a one-day show, this upcoming Saturday, so if you are in the Portland area, please swing by and say hello. It's free to get in!!!

MoCCA Arts Fest 2014

Greg Means and I are currently running the comics festival "Gauntlet": four shows in four weeks. With Emerald City Comic Con behind us, that's one show down, three left to go!

Up next is the MoCCA Arts Fest this weekend in New York City. I will be at table B-15 all day Saturday and Sunday, along with the aforementioned Greg Means, as well as MK Reed, Joe Flood and the inimitable Nicole Georges. Talk about a powerhouse of comics talent!

I took a few years off from MoCCA, as I was getting frustrated with how the show was being run. It's now under new management (the Society of Illustrators!) and I have high hopes for a return to its former glory. The cover price is down to $5 a day, which is a step in the right direction.

Anyway, it should go without saying, if you live in the New York area, we would love to see you there!

Emerald City Comic Con 2014

I'm leaving tonight to fly up to Seattle for the Emerald City Comic Con, a show I have not been to since its first year when it was a two-day show held in the lobby of the Seahawks stadium. It's now a three-day show at the Washington State Convention Center and it's gonna be fun!

I'll be at Table NN-03 all day Friday, Saturday and Sunday with Greg Means and MK Reed who will be selling copies of their new book Cute Girl Network. I'll have copies of Basewood, Phase 7 #017 and #018 as well as the complete run of Drop Target Zine and a few other things. If you're in the Seattle area, please swing by and say hello!

Basewood is now available for online ordering!

Well, this morning I mailed off the very last batch of Kickstarter Basewood books. It has been a long process, signing and mailing out hundreds of copies of the book. Claire has helped me so much, for which I am very grateful.

Now that the Kickstarter copies have been sent out, I am happy to announce that Basewood is available for ordering online. Yes, if you missed the Kickstarter campaign, you can now order your own copy of the book directly from me. All ordering information is over on the comics page, or you can learn more about Basewood and see a video preview of the book on this page.

Family Time

In the past three weeks Claire and I had a visit from my parents and then one from my oldest sister, Courtney. It was great to see them and we had fun exploring some Bay Area attractions, including a trip to Muir Woods and a visit to the new Mary Blair exhibit at the Walt Disney Family Museum.

Ironically, I'm going to see all these family members again in a few days when I head up to Seattle for Emerald City Comic Con!

I've only got 20 copies of Basewood left to sign for the Kickstarter backers, so I'm hoping I can get that done before I leave on Thursday night. Once the Kickstarter copies have been sent out, I will put Basewood up for sale on my site for the general public. I've also got some illustration work I'm trying to finish up, and I want to prep some Phase 7 #019 pages to work on during my trip, so I better get back to it!

The Calm Before the Storm

Well, it was super fun having Liz Prince in town. We had a great time at both of our signings, so thanks to everyone who came out and said hello.

It's hard to believe it's March already! This year already feels like it's zooming by and I think it's about to go into hyperdrive. Greg Means and I are both hitting the road pretty hard this year to promote our new books The Cute Girl Network and Basewood and late March/early April is basically our "Gauntlet." We're going to four shows in four weeks!

Emerald City Comic Con - March 28-30 in Seattle, WA
MoCCA - April 5-6 in New York, NY
Linework NW - April 12 in Portland, OR
WonderCon - April 18-20 in Anaheim, CA

So I basically have three weeks before everything gets even crazier than it already is. My goal for this period is to try and finish the Basewood Kickstarter fulfillment. Claire has been helping me out a tremendous amount and we've already sent out about 300 of the 450 copies. If I can sign five copies a day, I should have it all done before I get on the plane heading to ECCC.

Unfortunately, progress on Phase 7 #019 is pretty much stalled until I can finish off the Basewood Kickstarter stuff. I'm still hoping I can get it out in late Spring, but we'll see how it goes... I'm also juggling some illustration and teaching work - busy, busy! I guess there's nothing to it, but to do it. Onwards!!!

Alec & Liz! Bay Area Book Signings!

One of my oldest comics pals, Liz Prince gets into town tonight. She will be here all week, leading up to TWO epic book signings that we are doing together! Details are below!

- FRI 2/21: Liz and I will be signing at Mission: Comics and Art in San Francisco starting at 5pm!

- SAT 2/22: Liz and I will be signing at Dr. Comics and Mr. Games in Oakland starting at 2pm!

The above links will take you to Facebook "event" pages where you can get all the details. Liz will have copies of her brand new book Alone Forever and I will have copies of the not-even-released-yet Basewood. Also there will be tons of other amazing comics to check out because both of these comic shops are great!

If you live in the Bay Area, please swing by one of these events (or both!) it would be great to see you there.