Drawn and Quarterly made it official this weekend at TCAF: there is going to be a SuperMutant Magic Academy book! Spring 2015. NICE!

The book will compile 3+ years of existing comics (read them here) and include new material.

MoCCA Fest is only 1 week away. I can tell you my schedule now.

SIGNINGS: I will be signing 2-3, both Saturday and Sunday, at the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund’s table. Apart from the signings, you will be able to buy zines and posters at the Society of Illustrators “Museum Shop”, which I presume will be near the temporary gallery they’re erecting in the Armory.

TALK: On Sunday, April 7, I will be in discussion with Ryan Sands, he of the Thickness anthology and the upcoming Youth In Decline. This will take place in the Programming Room on the Lower Level. Other programming here.

Since these things are always more fun when you have something new to peddle, I made posters and a new MutantMagic zine. The zine (with either TEAL OR PURPLE risographed cover!) is a MoCCA-only exclusive, but you can buy the poster here.

There is a lot happening! Here is a rundown.

1. I am now, improbably, the Chair of the annual show at the Society of Illustrators. John Hendrix passed the reins over in a secret ritual somewhere in the bowels of the Society a few weeks ago. [We had a cordial brunch with the past Chairs in the dining room.]

When I first moved to New York, I didn’t go to the Society much. It seemed like a bit of a closed club to me and I don’t think I was the only one who felt that way. This has dramatically changed with Anelle Miller taking over SOI operations. She has revitalized the place and made it welcoming and open to the future of illustration (while still honouring its past); I think the spirit of the Society now matches the beauty of the physical space. Want to learn more about the Society of Illustrators? Here’s a great behind-the-scenes tour. And here’s an audio interview with Anelle Miller and Exhibition Director Kate Feirtag.

2. On a related note, I am a Special Guest at this year’s MoCCAFest! As many of you know, the Society of Illustrators recently acquired the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art (MoCCA) collection and will now be the sole operators of MoCCAFest here in NYC. This is good news. The Society is well aware of the, ahem, “issues” the festival has had in recent years and is working very, very hard to rectify them. It’s a big job that’ll take a few years. But to be honest, after seeing what Anelle and Kate have done with the Society (see above), MoCCAFest is in very capable hands. I’m looking forward to seeing you in April!

3. My webcomic, SuperMutant Magic Academy, was nominated for a Slate Cartoonist Studio prize! Thanks Slate, Center for Cartoon Studies, and Françoise Mouly!

4. I am on my friend Lisa Hanawalt’s podcast, BABY GENIUSES! Topics discussed: boobs, marriage, Twitter, and The Beatles. We have fun.

5. Ryan Sands is one of those people who seem like they have access to a time machine because it’s kind of unbelievable how much they accomplish in a day. You may know Ryan from his anthology Thickness or his incredible Same Hat blog. Ryan, brave man, is now venturing into publishing by starting his own imprint, which will be no doubt impeccable. One of his first projects is a quarterly zine series called “Frontier”, for which I had the pleasure of designing the logo, thus employing my Graphic Design degree and languishing copy of Adobe Illustrator:

That’s my news! Current status: optimistic. Lots of good people are doing good things that are making the world a little more fun and beautiful.

SuperMutant Magic Academy won an Ignatz brick. Thank-you, SPX voters!

[I post SMMA comics on the above tumblr exclusively. You can follow it there, or via RSS.]

I make these comics for fun, as a break from my usual nitpicky illustration and graphic novel work. I’m glad you enjoy them too.

Also, I watched Battle Royale yesterday.

Check out the other nominated webcomics, won’t you?

* Amazing Facts… and Beyond! with Leon Beyond by Dan Zettwoch and Kevin Huizenga
* Black Is the Color by Julia Gfrorer
* Lucky by Gabrielle Bell
* Starslip by Kris Straub

This was an exciting project: a visual essay for PRINT magazine. The theme of the issue is “Trash” and I chose to document the trash I found on my block here in Brooklyn. The items ranged from candy wrappers to medical fluids. All pages are viewable on my site, and in PRINT’s July issue which should be on newsstands soon.

Thanks, AD Ben King!

In prep for my trip to the OSLO COMICS EXPO in June, I’m printing some more SuperMutant Magic Academy minis. [SMMA is my webcomic.] These are the same ones from a few months back that flew off the shelves in a few hours (mainly because I printed too few but also, I’d like to think, because people enjoyed the concept). The prices are a bit higher this time ‘round. Sorry.

US + Canada ($5)
International ($7)

SOLD OUT!

[The comic includes 8 pages of comics (including 3 brand new comics) and 4 little watercolours.]

I’m happy to announce that I have a short comic in the upcoming issue of NOBROW magazine. The theme of the anthology is “Brave New World”. If you’re not hip to Nobrow already, check them out. They make some truly stunning books.

Nobrow 7: Brave New World is available for pre-order TODAY.

Well, here’s something different: a MutantMagic crossover recipe comic for Saveur.com.

(Small reminder: you can read the MutantMagic webcomic here.)

Another comic-related newsie bit: tomorrow, Oct 25th, 7PM, I’ll be at BookCourt in Brooklyn for a little reading/Q&A for the Best American Comic anthology.

BookCourt
163 Court Street (between Pacific & Dean)

I received a copy of the finished book! Here are some pictures for you. Amazon says the book is coming out Oct 4, but as you can see, I’ve already spotted it in the wild:

Thanks to Christopher Moisan, Jessica Abel, Matt Madden, and Alison Bechdel.