WINTER 2011 TOUR DIARY Part One

So, Old Uncle John hit the road again the weekend after Thanksgiving.  I had made plans to attend the acclaimed Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival on December 3rd, and then when I was in Pittsburgh a few months ago, I heard about this comic con in Cleveland, called Ghengis Con, and arranged to attend that one too.

Cleveland has always been a mystery to me.  It's a big city, right?  There must be zine-friendly shops/people, a comics scene, but in 20 years of zine-making I'd never been able to figure it out.  At PIX in Pittsburgh I'd met Kevin Czap, and he clued me in a bit.  So I figured Ghengis Con would be a good way to find out more about Cleveland and its comics world.

The show was held in the lovely Beachland Ballroom.  It was small but fun show, lots of good people.

The Spit and a Half spread.

Afterwards I wandered around the corner to an empty parking lot to talk to Stephanie, and I found this van, completely wrapped in plastic.  Whoa.

Stairway to Nowhere.

The next morning Kevin Czap and I wandered around out by Lake Erie.

Nice owl graffito at the lakefront.

Me too.

Spoken like a true American­™.

After hanging out at the lake and discussing the Situationists, we went to a nice comic shop where I found some Gladstone Shock Suspenstories for half-cover, and then Mac's Backs, one of Cleveland's longstanding indie bookshops, where I picked up a nice looking book called What Was the Hipster?  Lately I've been very interested in looking at the commodification of the underground, and this book looked like a thoughtful discussion of the phenomenon.

Finally, at the last minute, we ended up at the Cleveland Art Museum, a few minutes before closing.  The guards did their best to dissuade us from entering, but we managed to sneak through long enough to see a nice Lee Krassner and a BEAUTIFUL pre-neo-plastic Mondrian called Chrysanthemum (1906).

Then more jabbering about comics and politics, and to bed.  For in the morning Lovely Columbus awaited.

View from the Czap Citadel of Domination.

* * *

NEXT: Columbus, Pittsburgh

FALL TOUR DATES / NEW KING-CAT ETC

Hey kids, the new King-Cat is available NOW!  If you have a subscription, look for your copies to arrive soon.  If you'd like to order a copy, info is below.  Also, I'm heading out on tour tomorrow, the day after Thanksgiving.  I'll be visiting the following cities, so come on out and say hello!

Sat. Nov. 26; 11-5 PM

CLEVELAND, OH

Genghis Con

Sat. Dec. 3; 12-9 PM

BROOKLYN, NY

Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival

Mon. Dec. 5; 7 PM

PROVIDENCE, RI

Ada Books

Slide show and booksigning

Tues. Dec. 6; 8 PM

WALTHAM, MA

Back Pages Books

Slide show and booksigning

Weds. Dec. 7; 6 PM

CAMBRIDGE, MA

Million Year Picnic

Slide show and booksigning

Sat. Dec. 10

MILWAUKEE, WI

Milwaukee Zine Fest

KING-CAT #72 - Available Now!  Heartbreak, lonely skies, woodchucks, bats, cats, dreams, and radioactive squirrels; plus, more.  32 digest pages. To order an individual copy of #72, please send:

USA: $4 check/mo; $4.28 via paypal*
CANADA: $5 USD via paypal
EVERYWHERE ELSE: $6.50 USD via paypal

AND:

New hand-silkscreened poster of the full, uncropped image from the cover of King-Cat 67 (San Francisco Skyline), from La Mano 21 Press, printed by Dale Flattum. 2 colors on nice paper, 18" x 24" (45cm x 60cm), signed and numbered edition of 64. Prices include first-class shipping in a sturdy mailing tube:

USA: $50 check/MO; $53.50 via PayPal*
CANADA: $55.00 USD via PayPal
OTHER COUNTRIES: $59.00 USD via PayPal

PAYMENT INFO:
Paypal: kingcat_paypal AT hotmail DOT com

Check/mo:

John Porcellino
PO Box 142
South Beloit, IL
61080 USA

Thanks!  John P.
 
*Illinois residents, please add additional 7.25% sales tax.

LOVE FOR SALE

Hey kids, the new King-Cat is at the printers.  It will be available next Wednesday.  If you have a subscription, look for copies to mail out on Friday or so.  If you'd like to order a copy, info is below:

KING-CAT #72 - Available Weds. Nov. 23, 2011: Heartbreak, lonely skies, woodchucks, bats, cats, dreams, and radioactive squirrels; plus, more.  32 digest pages. Subscription copies shipping next week, or PRE-ORDER NOW:

USA: $4 check/mo; $4.28 via paypal*
CANADA: $5 USD via paypal
EVERYWHERE ELSE: $6.50 USD via paypal

AND:

New hand-silkscreened poster of the full, uncropped image from the cover of King-Cat 67, from La Mano 21 Press, printed by Dale Flattum. 2 colors on nice paper, 18" x 24" (45cm x 60cm), signed and numbered edition of 64. Prices include first-class shipping in a sturdy mailing tube:

USA: $50 check/MO; $53.50 via PayPal*
CANADA: $55.00 USD via PayPal
OTHER COUNTRIES: $59.00 USD via PayPal

PAYMENT INFO:
Paypal: kingcat_paypal AT hotmail DOT com

Check/mo:

John Porcellino
PO Box 142
South Beloit, IL
61080 USA

Thanks!  John P.
 
*Illinois residents, please add additional 7.25% sales tax.

OCTOBER 2011 TOUR DIARY, Part Five

So there I was heading east through the darkness towards Pittsburgh: Quad Cities, Chicago.  I got lost in NW Indiana and ended up in Michigan, where I almost hit a wayward deer.  Then Toledo.  I made it a little bit west of Cleveland before calling it a night.  Woke up at dawn and drove into Pittsburgh a few hours later.

Dawn rises over the Cuyahoga.

I was in town for the Pittsburgh Indie Expo, held on the beautiful top floor of a renovated warehouse.  I was excited to be back in PGH, because I've made a few pretty good friends there, and, in the days leading up to the show I was able to convince Dave Kiersh, one of my favorite artists, to make the trip out from Long Island.  And it's always great to see him.

The show went well.  There's a strong but steady creative vibe in Pittsburgh that I really like.  It's like half east coast, half midwestern.  Which is a pretty cool combo.

Spit and a Half table, PIX 2011

Dave Kiersh makes a new fan.

Views from the PIX space.

Inside.

What It Is, indeed.

Dave Kiersh makes another new fan.

M. Young and Mark of Kindlin' Quarterly zine.  We went out and got Indian food Saturday night. (Photo by Hillary Rehm)

Obscuro stalwarts Max "White Buffalo Gazette" Traffic and Mike "Modernman" Hill.  (Photo by Hillary Rehm)

Three generations of UG cartoonists: Max Traffic, Ed Piskor,

John P., Kevin Czap.  (Photo by Hillary Rehm)

Jim Rugg's cat, Kirby, AKA: Trouble With a Capital T.

Then I drove home.

OCTOBER 2011 TOUR DIARY, Part Four

I left St. Louis early on Tuesday, heading east across the border to Collinsville, IL, and the Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site.

Cahokia was an enormous indigenous city of the Mississippean Culture, a mound-building society, lasting roughly 600 - 1400 AD. Eighty of the original mounds are still present, ranging from short inclines, to "Monk's Mound," which covers over six acres, and rises to a height of 100 feet.  All the mounds were built by hand, bucket of earth by bucket of earth.  Check out the Wikipedia Page for more info.  The mounds were a sight to see, and one could spend hours in the interpretive center learning about this remarkable prehistoric culture.

Monk's Mound from the east.

From the southeast.

Facing south from Monk's Mound, with a view of another, smaller mound across the road.

View of Downtown St. Louis, from the top of Monk's Mound.

Refineries of some sort, to the northwest.

Reproduction of Cahokian woodpecker artwork.

After Cahokia, I drove back into Missouri, heading north through Hannibal towards Iowa City.  At the Iowa border, I decided to take a detour to Keokuk, another town I'd long gazed at on maps without ever visiting.  It was a beautiful river town which had obviously seen better days.  I was too sad to take pictures, and anyhow, I still had a couple hours till Iowa City.

View from my room at the Hotel Vetro, the nicest place I've ever slept. 

James Sturm, Felix de la Concha, and John P. at a fancy dinner Tuesday night.  Photo by Phoebe Gloeckner.

I was in town for the University of Iowa's "Comics, Creativity, and Culture Symposium," a four-day look at comics, featuring panels, presentations, workshops, and an amazing gallery show.

Sturm's hand, Felix, JP, conference organizers Corey Creekmur and Rachel Marie-Crane Williams, Jessica Abel;  Photo by Phoebe G.

With Luis Humberto Crosthwaite;  Photo by Phoebs.

Rachel Marie-Crane Williams opens the conference Wednesday morning.

"Comics and Pedagogy" panel, on which I learned how to pronounce the word "pedagogy."  L-R: Jessica Abel, James Sturm, John P.  Photo by Peggy Burns.

Da Bears; (Conference organizer Ana Merino adjusts her glasses.)  Photo by Phoebe Gloeckner.

Friday night, just before I had to leave for Pittsburgh, I got to meet two of my biggest comics inspirations for the first time:  Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez.  Yes, I gushed.  (Photo by Peggy Burns)

I left Iowa City at 5 PM Friday and started driving east.  I had to be in Pittsburgh (667 miles away) by 10 AM.  I made it.

NEXT: Pittsburgh