Alec Longstreth's Blog, page 25

One Last Summer Outing

The CCS Summer Workshops wrapped up last week... or at least the workshops I had to teach wrapped up. There is still an animation workshop going on this week.

Claire's birthday was on Saturday, so we headed over to the Green Mountain National Forest, where we camped over night and went on a few hikes and saw some waterfalls and the like. As ever, Claire took some photos which are now in her Flickr account, if you want to see some of what we saw.

Today it's pouring rain outside and it's blissfully in the 60s, for the first time in months. I know it will probably get hot again (ugh) but I'm taking this as the beginning of the end of summer. Summer is my least favorite season, so I'm glad it's wrapping up. And Autumn is my FAVORITE season, so I can't wait for it to begin! I've got just about three weeks before school starts up again, and A LOT of work to do in that time. Luckily, I'm going to be staying put from now until SPX.

Somehow, through the trip to Seattle and all the summer workshops, I am still ahead of my progress line for Basewood Chapter 5 (by a teeny tiny bit). So now it's time to dig deep and get that line back up ahead of schedule, where it belongs. I'm going to finish that book by the end of this year or die trying!

I'm working on a lot of cool stuff, but I can't share any of it right now. When I can, you'll hear about it! I hope everyone has a good rest-of-the summer. Stay cool!

Back From the Emerald City

Well, Claire and I made it safely back to Vermont on Monday night, after a relaxing week in Seattle. My sister Galen was passing through town for a wedding and my sister Courtney now lives in Seattle, so we actually had the whole family together, which was great.

We also had my cartoonist pal CCS Summer Workshops and trying to catch up with everything else. Thanks to everyone who made it such a great trip to Seattle!

One workshop down... One to go!

Yikes! It's been almost two weeks since I've written a post for this blog. My life feels like it's going in fast forward right now. The days are ticking off too quickly and time feels like it's slipping away. I guess it's because I have been so busy this summer.

One of the best parts about teaching at CCS as my "day job" is that I get the summers off, to do my own work. The only downside to this is that I'm usually so busy during the school year that my side projects pile up until my summer is just as busy as the school year! Oh well, I'm working on very cool, satisfying projects, so I shouldn't complain.

Yesterday the first CCS Summer Workshop wrapped up. It was a real blast teaching comics to a whole new group of people and on Thursday they all brought their "A" game and made a really cool comic, the cover of which you can see above (mostly drawn by the workshop headmaster, Jon Chad). Aaron even came out for a few days, so it was super fun.

I've got the weekend to catch up on stuff and then Claire and I are heading out to Seattle for a week, to attend a wedding and hang out with my family. I am excited to see my family and ecstatic about finally getting to meet Wicket but I think the thing I am looking forward to most is the 70 degree weather and complete lack of humidity.

I'll spare you my annual rant about how much I hate east coast summers... Instead, I'll just say that I am very glad this is the LAST summer I'll have to endure with this giant beard on my face!

The day after we get back to Vermont I dive into another 10 days of workshops, so it may be another two weeks before another post on here, but I queued up a mid-week post for my newly redesigned illustration blog so you can all check that out if you're itching for some Alec-nonsense to read. Stay cool this summer, everyone!

Phase 7 #016 is now available!

I mailed off the last of the subscriber copies of Phase 7 #016 today, so I have now put it up online for ordering in the comics section.

This issue features sixty-four pages of sketchbook comics from 2004 to 2008 - the four years I lived in New York City. It features stories of me working all over the city as a temp, various tales of heartache and girl trouble, as well as many hilarious interactions with some of the diverse denizens of The Big Apple! You can read the first 11 pages online right now for free if you want to check some of it out.

I had a mini-release party last week at the bar and since then a few people have told me they enjoyed the issue, so I'm already feeling a bit better about it than the previous sketchbook issue, which was met with mixed reviews.

As you'll read in the introduction, this is the LAST "placeholder" issue of my Transition plan. The next issue after this one will be #009, which is the LAST chapter of Basewood. At that point all my confusing non-sequential numbering nonsense will finally be at an end, and there will be a through line from issue #001 to issue #016. Then the REAL fun will begin... ALL NEW Phase 7 stories! I can't wait to get cracking on those.

In other news, I finally beat Medieval Madness yesterday!!! New comics and new high scores... it's been a good couple of days around here!

Phase 7... THE MOVIE!

Earlier today, my comics pal Neil Brideau alerted me to the fact that there is a movie coming out on the 13th, called PHASE 7.

It looks like a violent, end-of-the-world movie. It's pretty funny to see the title "PHASE 7" attached to something so completely different than my minicomic - though they did use a typeface that is very similar to the way I write out the word "PHASE." I guess that's what happens when you pick a kind of vague title for your minicomic.

ANYWAY, Phase 7 intern extraordinaire Sean Knickerbocker and I have been working hard this week mailing copies of Phase 7 #016 out to all the current subscribers, along with free copies of the DRAGONS! book. I will have information up on the comics page by Monday for ordering Phase 7 #016, along with some preview pages. Have a great weekend everyone!

Paper Rocket Minicomics!

I received an email from my old pal Robyn Chapman this week, announcing her new publishing house, Paper Rocket Minicomics.

My take on minicomics is very simplistic. Phase 7 follows design template that I have been using since issue #001. I am more concerned with the comics inside the books than the books themselves, and therefore keep the design simple, with the hope that it will have more and more impact over the years, as I continue to reuse it. I feel like King-Cat Comics and Stories has done this, and that is my idolized minicomic role model.

ROBYN, on the other hand, makes the most beautiful minicomics that I have ever seen. She infuses the design of every minicomic she makes with the concept it's based on. Two-color screen printed dust jackets with french flaps, hand stamps, die cut elements, fold out sections - Robyn uses every bell and whistle available to the self-publisher, but never in a distracting way - ALWAYS to enhance the design, until it becomes PART of the reading experience.

If you have never held a copy of Hey, 4-Eyes!, you have not seen the artistic heights a minicomic can reach. You might think, "ELEVEN dollars?!" but if you had ever seen Robyn slaving away to put together just ONE copy of Hey, 4-Eyes! you would know that she's not charging as much as she could, or perhaps should.

Besides all of this, Robyn is an excellent editor, so I am very excited to see what projects she will be coming up with for her new venture. I have no doubt the stories will be engaging, the books will be beautifully designed, and really, what more could you want in a minicomic?

Drawing at the Farm

Aaron is spending this summer on a farm, which is a few hours away from White River Junction. Last week he went back to Chicago for Jeremy Tinder's wedding. I got to dogsit Beluga while he was gone, which was tons of fun. Beluga is the happiest dog on earth right now.

I spent most of my time on the farm drawing my fingers to the bone. I got TEN Basewood pages done in eight days, which is probably the most productive I have ever been with that book. I only have three more to pencil and then it's ink ink ink until the damn thing is done.

I'm also putting the finishing touches on Phase 7 #016, which should be mailed out to subscribers, along with a free copy of DRAGONS!, by the first or second week in July. If you're a Phase 7 subscriber and you've moved in 2011, please make sure I have your current mailing address!

Weezer and HATP Live Albums!

My summer soundtrack is off to a good start! Three of the best live shows I have ever seen have just been made into albums:

1) Remember last year when I got to see Weezer at the New York City stop of their epic "Memories Tour," where they played The Blue Album on the first night and Pinkerton on the second night? You should! I did the VIP posters for the tour, which is the coolest thing I'll ever illustrate!

Anyway, Weezer has now made albums of these live recordings. Each night is its own album, with about 20 tracks, which not only includes the entire respective album, but an awesome "greatest hits" set, which spans Weezer's entire career. The Pinkerton night's extra set is especially rocktacular because it includes super-rare live performances of a bunch of Blue-Album-era B-sides, including my favorite Weezer song ever: Susanne.

2) Waaaay back in 2008, Harry and the Potters put on an epic show at the main branch of the New York Public Library (or well, its current headquarters - the building with the lions out front). I went to it, and even though I had seen these guys play like three or four times at that point, I was still totally blown away. In addition to their nomal line up (Paul and Joe DeGeorge plus a drummer), they had a HORN SECTION, which kicked this show up to a whole new level.

This too is now a live album. It's 19 tracks, but comes with a FULL version of the show as well, with no editing (51 tracks in all!?!) If you've never seen these guys live, you should get this album - it'll give you some idea of the level of excitement and fun that they can bring to a venue - especially a LIBRARY!

(SIDE NOTE: Harry and the Potters are touring all over the USA this summer! You should definitely see them when they roll through your town!)

It was cool that all three of these concerts even happened, and I felt lucky that I got to be at all three, and BLESSED that I got to see them for FREE because I did illustration work for both bands. And now I can relive some great memories whenever I want. Anyway, check them out! HIGHLY recommended.

In other news, things are going to be a bit quiet around here at Phase 7 headquarters for the next couple of weeks... I'm going to be dogsitting for Aaron, who is spending the summer in a top secret location in upstate New York. I'll have limited internet access, so I'm packing TONS of stuff to work on, with the hope that I can really take advantage of the solitude. Plus it will be great to hang out with Beluga - I've missed that dog!

I'm going to preload a couple of illustration blog entries, and I'll do my best to get my Basewood Beard updates online, but I guess I'll just have to see. For now my main goals are to finish penciling the last chapter of Basewood and to get caught up on all my written correspondence. I'll let you all know how it all goes when I get back!

Phase 7 Funnies are now online!

Just when you thought the comics page of this site could not possibly get any longer, I've added two new minicomics to the "Miscellaneous Comics" subsection.

The first is Phase 7 Funnies #1 which was a little bonus minicomic I sent out to all of the Phase 7 subscribers in December 2007. I do this from time to time, including this summer! I will be sending a copy of DRAGONS! to all the Phase 7 subscribers in a few weeks, along with Phase 7 #016. (Subscription info is here if you're interested!)

The second is Phase 7 Funnies #2 which was a minicomic I put together for Uncle Envelope in November 2009. For those of you who don't know, Uncle Envelope is a zine subscription service for kids! You sign up and get a new zine or minicomic every month from a different cartoonist. It is pretty much the best thing ever.

Both of these minicomics are comprised of rejected material that I submitted to Nickelodeon Magazine and National Geographic Kids. Although this stuff didn't make the cut, I still think there is a lot of funny stuff in here, so check it out if you are in need of a laugh or two (or some groans!)

Over the last few months I've been posting the accepted gags for the above magazines on my illustration blog and in my Flickr, so if you want, you can check those out, to compare and contrast. Enjoy!

Reading Habits

I had a nagging feeling this morning, like it had been a long time since I finished a book. I then thought to myself, "What am I reading right now?" Here's the list:

The Don Rosa Archives II - Captain Kentucky
The Carl Barks Library: Uncle Scrooge - Volume 4, Book 1
The Limerick edited by G. Legman
The Best of Ogden Nash
Raintree County by Ross Lockridge Jr. (audiobook)
A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin (audiobook)

Six books! SIX! No wonder it doesn't feel like I've finished anything recently.

Each night when I get into bed, Claire and I read a spread from the Limerick book (about 10 limericks), then I read a spread from the Rosa book (the pages are DENSE) and then I read as much Barks as I can before I fall asleep.

The Nash lives in the bathroom (cough, cough) I'm relistening to the George R.R. Martin books this summer in my studio, to get ready for the 5th book, which is SUPPOSED to be out in July, and I'm listening to Raintree County while I color Walker Bean 2 at home on my computer.

Is this normal? Having books scattered all over the house, each carefully marked with my current spot? Slowly trudging through all of them a bit at a time, but not making any real headway on any of them? I mean, with the poetry, it makes sense. If you tried to sit down and read the entire 700-page book of limericks in one sitting, your eyes would catch on fire and your brain would melt. But what about the other stuff?

I guess I'm just jealous, because sometimes Claire will pick up a book and read the hell out of it, and two days later, she's finished the damn thing and is looking for her next one. It seems like a better way to go about it, but I wonder if I have the patience for that... Maybe my brain likes it better, to have all these different stories scattered about.

I feel like this might have been some weird habit that I picked up as a child who read comics. You know - reading a bunch of different titles, but many of them are continuing stories, and you're always waiting for the next installment. If you think about it, it took me TWELVE YEARS to read Bone! I'd be interested to hear if my reading habits match up with those of you who did and did not read comics as kids (if there are any of you out there who didn't!)