KEEP ON TRUCKIN'

Hi everyone,

I'm back from PFC/Autoptic -- which was seriously one of the best weeks of my life!  I'm still processing it all and will have a detailed blog post up soon...  BUT I'm heading back out on the road this weekend, to Michigan, for the first annual (?!) Grand Rapids Zine Fest.  I'll start getting pictures etc from PFC up when I get back!

Meanwhile here's my very first animation ever, made with the assistance of the great Lilli Carré (and Eleanor Davis):

AUTOPTIC AND UPDATE

SO...  I'm heading up to Minneapolis in a few days, to participate in PIERRE FEUILLE CISEAUX 4, a France-based collaborative workshop for comics artists.  I'm so excited to be able to attend.  I was invited once before, but because of my ear problems I can't fly, so I had to say no.  Well, this time PFC is being held in good ol' Merka, so I get to join in.

The culmination of PFC is the brand new AUTOPTIC FESTIVAL on Sunday August 18.  Thank goodness Minneapolis has an art-centric comics show again!  I'll be tabling there with lots of Spit and a Half goodness AND, I HOPE, King-Cat #74 in some form or another (probably a special short run edition printed especially for Autoptic).

UPDATE:  I was stressing like crazy trying to come up with a way to get KC 74 out in time for Autoptic, and I'm getting too old for that.  So, no, it won't be available there.  But it will be out shortly thereafter -- late August/Early September!  Thanks and sorry!

Which means -- KC 74 should be out in its regular edition very soon. I'll finish inking the pages this week and put it together next week in time for the Fest.  SO, if you're a subscriber and your address has changed since last year, now would be a good time to drop me a line and let me know (johnp_kingcat AT hotmail DOT com).

When I get back from Minneapolis I'll get the files to the printer, and then the following weekend I'm off to Grand Rapids, Michigan for the first ever GRAND RAPIDS ZINE FEST (Sat. August 24), for which I drew the poster!

ALSO, I'm now on TWITTER: @The_Real_John_P.  What a dork.

More soon.
LOVE,
John P.

MCA's IN THE HOUSE WHACHA GONNA DO

Hey Chicago Peeps:

This Saturday July 27 from 10 AM to 6 PM I'll be exhibiting at the MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART in Chicago's SATURDAY STRIP, with two tables full of King-Cat Comix and other fine comic book releases from around the world!

Also exhibiting: Quimby's, CAKE, Megan Kirby, and Ezra Clayton Daniels (who'll be repping a buncha local cartoonists too), so come on down!  And don't forget they also have their DAN CLOWES retrospective up!).

Thanks.  BTW I was hoping to have the new King-Cat out for Autoptic in MPLS, but that is seeming dicey at this time.  I should still have it out by the end of August tho.  Look for it soon!

John P.

MCA Events page

Facebook Events page

POP-UP KENOSHA

The other day I was invited to come out to Kenosha, Wisconsin to participate in a "pop-up gallery" event.  Kenosha is a city of about 100,000 people, right on the Illinois border along Lake Michigan.  Like many small to medium-size towns in the Midwest (and America) its downtown area has seen happier days.  In an effort to bring art to the residents, the Kenosha Art Association has been having pop-up events in several of the vacant storefronts downtown.

For my part, they exhibited oversized prints of every page from my Thoreau at Walden book.  It was pretty exciting to see them all up, lining one entire wall of the venue.

I really didn't know what to expect, but there was a nice crowd coming in throughout the night, everyone was friendly, and I sold a bunch of stuff!  The audience was truly interested, and willing to engage with the art and the artists, which was refreshing.

At the end of the evening I spoke to Francisco Loyola, the main force behind the pop-ups, about the amount of work he's done to bring these arts events to downtown Kenosha.  It hadn't been easy, with years of effort just beginning to bear fruit.  I was really impressed with how devoted these folks were to improving the quality of life in their town.  It was inspiring.

Chalk drawing on the sidewalk outside.

John P. and cool upholstered bicycles.

Thoreau at Walden

Dean Tawwater

Bess Yontz

Comics by Ryan Pagelow.

John Hambrock

Children's drawings

Mary Pat Andrea and friend.

All photos courtesy Francisco Loyola

LIFE WITH CATS #2,462

This Saturday, July 13, from 4-9 PM, I'll be hanging out with some other artists in Kenosha, Wisconsin, at a Pop-Up Gallery, on the first floor of the unnamed building at 5715 6th Avenue.  Come one, come all!

Facebook Event

AMERICAN GROUNDHOGGERS

Photos by SD

CAKE TOPPING

John P. at CAKE with Alex Nall

(Photo by Jeff Zwirek)

Hey all, I'm way beyond behind on blog updates, but I thought I'd chime in with a very quick CAKE report.

As I mentioned last year, I'm very happy that AT LAST, my home sweet home of Chicago finally has an alternative comics con that seems to have staying power.  Having moved to a new location for its second go-round (Year One was at Columbia College in the South Loop, where I and several other souls were trapped in the Classroom of Despair), everything about CAKE Mark II seemed better.  Now, CAKE I was a fun show, and I was impressed with the number of swell comix folks who made the journey last year, but this one was special.

I can't begin to count the talented cartoonists and wonderful publishers at this year's show, but off the top of my head:  Koyama, D+Q, Uncivilized, Tugboat, Retrofit, Secret Acres, Zak Sally, Michael DeForge, Noah Van Sciver, Joseph Remnant, Jason Shiga, Chris Cilla, Lilli Carré, Laura Park, Trubble Club, Revival House, Leslie Stein, USS Catastrophe, Oily, Phoebe Gloeckner, Collective Stench, Caroline Paquita, Kim Deitch, Fanta, Ed Luce, Gabby Gamboa, Josh Simmons, Paper Rocket, Picturebox, 2D Cloud, Josh Bayer, Pat Aulisio, Cara Bean, Onsmith, Julie Delporte, and I even saw Bald Eagles and Becca Marie wandering the aisles.  Don't get mad but I'm gonna stop there.  You get the idea.

Day One started off slow, but I ended up having a steady stream of visitors throughout the day.  One nice thing about the location was the Whole Paycheck® located on the first floor of the Center on Halsted, which made for easy access to drink and grub.  I usually starve at these things with my low-blood sugar causing me to get cranky and/or shaky-weird, but this show was more comfortable in that way.

Saturday evening my main concern was finding someplace to watch the Blackhawks game, which after some to do I managed to accomplish (sob).

Sunday morning I expected there to be a big lull, as hungover cartoonists stumbled in bleary-eyed and ragged.  And that's what happened.  Sunday was a little slower for me, but I also spent time away from my table to try to check things out.  And if there's one thing I've learned about shows it's I don't sell anything when I'm away from my table.  I managed to make it down the first one and a half aisles before having to jet back to Spit and a Half HQ.  There were so many high-quality exhibitors there, there was no way to table and still see everything.  I was really impressed by how GOOD everything I was looking at seemed.

Sunday after the show a bunch of us headed over to Joy's Noodles for dinner.  It was fun to get to hang out with people outside the show, and watch my pal Ray go head-to-head with Jesse Reklaw in the mental agility sweepstakes.  (Jesse's amazing series COUCH TAG will finally be collected in book form by Fantagraphics this fall!)

After that people wanted to go to a bar.  I wanted to go to sleep.  So it was a quiet night reading comics and chatting at my host Laura Park's house.

Monday, Laura, Noah, and I had breakfast and then I took Noah to visit Chicago Comics and the Picasso.  Then back on the road home.

Excellent.  I look forward to next year...

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(I didn't manage to take a single picture, but if you're on Facebook, here's cartoonist/CAKE organizer Jeff Zwirek's photo album.)