Minneapolis - a Mecca for Cartoonists?

In her popular comics blog The Beat, Heidi MacDonald today asks the question "Minneapolis - a Mecca For Cartoonists?" (in reference to this webpage). If you are a Minneapolis cartoonist, you probably already know the answer to this... you can share your opinions on the subject in the comments on her blog.

For those of you pondering the question, I refer you to this previous post on this blog on the last five years of activity of the Minneapolis cell of the Cartoonist Conspiracy.

UPDATE: I think Heidi got the link from Tom Spurgeon's excellent Comics Reporter blog... unfortunately, Tom doesn't have a commenting system.

Art School Summer US Premiere

Conspirators Dave and Mary Sandberg have completed a feature length cartoon, Art School Summer, which is having its US premiere in Minneapolis on the 12th! Bill Plympton is the only other animator I'm aware of that has made feature length animated films basically on his own (although their probably have been some others), so big congratulations to them on this amazing and rare accomplishment.

Art School Summer
Saturday Jan 12th at 7:30
Premiering at:
MCAD
2501 Stevens Ave.
Minneapolis, MN 55404
In the big auditorium 150

The screening is free but seating might be in short supply.

Note that my understanding is that the film contains a whole lotta content that is not suitable for people under 18... so if you are under 18, please don't try to attend. If you are 18 or over, you won't want to miss it.

There will be a reception afterwards in NE... information on that at the event.

The Twin Cities Rock Atlas in this Week's City Pages

If you're in the Twin Cities, do yourself a favor and don't miss this week's City Pages (December 19, 2007). Kevin Cannon has done an absolutely stunning spread on pages 50 and 55 titled The Twin Cities Rock Atlas that has to be seen to be believed. It highlights numerous music oriented locations around the Twin Cities. It isn't currently online, which is good, because only print could do this justice. The text for the piece is written by City Pages' Peter S. Scholtes (and written well, although it unavoidably and painfully covers the art!)

One of the most outstanding things about Kevin's work is his vast skill at distilling things down to the bare minimum of what they need to be effective. This has never been more evident than in this piece. If you think of icons of Minneapolis, you probably think of the big Grain Belt Bottle cap, the cherry in the spoon, and maybe First Ave. (pictured in the tiny excerpt above from the spread). This spread makes it seem like icons are everywhere, as Kevin beautifully distills the architectural souls of probably a minimum of 50 Twin Cities structures. Not many cartoonists could pull this off, and Kevin makes it look easy.

Happily, City Pages is apparently going to make it into a poster... I don't yet know how they will be making them available, but I sure want one.

I just got an update from Kevin on the posters:

I think CP is going to give away the posters for free.
Word is that they'll be available at the venues that
are on the poster. I'm working on a (Big Time Attic) blog post that
shows the process of making the poster, and there
you'll be able to see all the easter eggs hiding
behind the text (actually there aren't many easter
eggs, but I do have a little Conspiracy guy standing
next to diamond's)...

24 Hour Comics Day Minneapolis Coverage

I just wanted to note that if you are reading this blog, you will not automatically receive event coverage of the Minneapolis event which happened this weekend... and David Steinlicht did a phenomenal job covering it, so I really encourage you to check it out.

Thanks much to David for foregoing drawing to blog on our behalves... thanks much to Danno for organizing the event and talking me into doing it for the fourth year in a row... thanks to our extremely generous sponsors The Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Big Brain Comics, Wet Paint, Pizza Luce, and Grumpy's for sponsoring this again this year... and, of course, thanks to everyone who participated.

24 Hour Comics Day Minneapolis Banner

Here's a banner for the Minneapolis Cartoonist Conspiracy cell's blog to cover our local exploits during the international 24 Hour Comic Day event this weekend. I encourage all you participants out there to put it on your websites, and go check out the blog by clicking the banner, if you haven't already.



You can subscribe to the Twin Cities event blog here.

Here is the international event site for 24 hour comics day.

Here is the group blog for the international 24 hour comics day event.

You can subscribe to the international event blog here.

Thanks much to David Steinlicht for blogging for us during the event!

Come Jam In Minneapolis Thursday March First!

The Minneapolis Cartoonist Conspiracy meets at 6:30 until 10:00 the first Thursday of every month at Diamond's Coffee Shoppe in Northeast.

Generally, we draw collaborative "jam" comics, socialize and drink caffeinated beverages. Afterwords, we often have uncaffeinated beverages somewhere else.

The meetings are open to anyone who wants to draw with us, and the results are posted here sooner or later (and sometimes even printed).

Diamond's Coffee Shoppe
1618 Central Avenue Northeast
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Bus info here.

Please spend some money at Diamond's while you're there, even if it is just a cuppa coffee... they are excellent hosts, and we wanna stay welcome there.

Big Time Attic is now officially hosting our monthly jam meetings at Diamond's... they will be supplying us with a big old plate of pastries or something each month. Thanks fellas!

PUNY Digital Drawing TONIGHT!

Mark your calendars if you want to learn some tips and techniques for drawing for Flash:



Minneapolis based animation and design studio PUNY presents "CLEAN STROKES: Digital Drawing Techniques For Flash." This presentation will feature various digital drawing techniques for creating art that is used in animation and video game art for clients like Cartoon Network and DC Comics. Presentation includes digital inking techniques for traditional artists using the inexpensive 4X6 Wacom Graphire tablet and a "sculpt and stroke" technique using the mouse. Extensive Q&A to answer particular questions about importing or creating art in Adobe Flash.

http://www.punyentertainment.com

When: February 21st 6:30 social 7:00 Presentation. Admission is free and open to the public. Free pizza and refreshments.

Where: FlashMN at Easel Training
More info and directions here: http://www.flashmn.com/

Participate in The Gross Comics Project

This month, some members of the Minneapolis Cartoonist Conspiracy cell embarked on the Gross Comic Project at our monthly Saturday Open Studio. It isn't what it sounds like.

Like 24 hour comic day, the goal of the Gross Comic Project is to produce a certain number of pages in a certain amount of time… in this case 144 pages in 144 hours… a gross of pages, get it? 12 hours a month for a year.

Unlike 24 hour comic day, however, the goal of these comics is quality more than speed… if we are going to invest this much time in it, we want to produce something fun, readable and well-drawn, rather than just quickly produced. To that end, we allow all the planning, drawing, and even working on actual pages outside of the monthly 12 hour sessions that a cartoonist chooses to do. However, the 12 pages should be completed by the end of the 12 hours.

If you go over, that's fine, just get it done as quickly as possible after that... if it takes you until the next month, though, I'd say that would be a definite failure.

Here are the completed first month's 12 pages from this weekend:



Here are the first 12 pages of Kevin Cannon's Oceanis.



Here are the first 12 pages of Zander Cannon's Heck.



Here are the first 12 pages of Steven Stwalley's Ezekiel Fishman Versus the Martians.

Note that this project was inspired by the stellar work Kevin Cannon is doing on his 288 Hour Graphic novel Far Arden. Since he is doing a Gross Comic this year as well, I think he will probably hold some sort world's record for this sort of thing (he probably already does). That's right, Kevin will be doing (at least) 432 pages in an hour this year... more pages than there are days in the year!

We have at least 6 other cartoonists joining us in this undertaking next month... Dank!, Shad Petosky, Tim Sievert, Maxeem, Curtis Square-Briggs and Eric Lappegard.

You can join us too!

We'll link to all participants from this blog... just send the link to us, or put it in the comments.

Our next 12 hour session in Minneapolis will be at the next Minneapolis Saturday Open Studio (where it will be every month). The Saturday Open Studios happen on a different day every month, so you'll have to check the site for the dates. The next two are March 17th and April 21st at:

Minnesota Center for Book Arts
(Just down the street from Big Brain Comics)
1011 Washington Ave S, Suite 100
Minneapolis, MN 55415
Phone: 612-215-2520

Those of you participating other places may want to consider doing it on the same day, because it will be more fun to have all this stuff hit at once, but it isn't a requirement.

Judging from the pages so far, I think this is going to be a pretty amazing project to look back on in a year.

Dreamhaven Robbed, Needs Help

Neil Gaiman recently posted that excellent Minneapolis comics and book store Dreamhaven Books was recently robbed, and is having serious financial troubles. This is a great time to go hit their amazing discounted graphic novel bins...

"We had a break-in on Saturday night. They got a bit of cash but wreaked terrible havoc on the store and my office. Damages will be costly but insurance should cover a lot of it. But after the lull in current business, this really will hurt. I don't like charity but if you could encourage people to maybe buy an extra book off us soon, it may help. Three bookstores have closed in the Twin Cities in the past two months and I don't want to make it four." - Dreamhaven owner Greg Ketter

You can find them online at www.dreamhavenbooks.com. Their current catalogues are up there, for new and for used stuff. There's cool new stuff. There's stuff on sale.

Sat. Open Studio, Feb. 17, noon-4 p.m.

Saturday Open Studio
It's danged cold outside edition

Sat., Feb. 17, noon-4 p.m. MCBA

We'll be somewhere in the Book Arts Building. If you don't see us right away, ask the friendly person working in the bookstore.

This is open studio time for all cartoonists, so come and hang out and draw. There's plenty of room for everyone.

(During this session Stwalley may be try to convice you to draw 12 pages a month for a year. But you don't have to agree to that in order to attend the Sat. Open Studio.)

Minnesota Center for Book Arts
(Just down the street from Big Brain Comics)
1011 Washington Ave S, Suite 100
Minneapolis, MN 55415
Phone: 612-215-2520

Future Sat. Open Studio dates:

March 17

April 21

JAM TONIGHT IN MINNEAPOLIS! (February 1st)

The Minneapolis Cartoonist Conspiracy meets at 6:30 until 10:00 the first Thursday of every month at Diamond's Coffee Shoppe in Northeast.

Generally, we draw collaborative "jam" comics, socialize and drink caffienated beverages. Afterwords, we often have uncaffienated beverages somewhere else.

The meetings are open to anyone who wants to draw with us, and the results are posted here sooner or later (and sometimes even printed).

We're currently seeking people interested in participating in beta testing a cartooning textbook... please consider participating! Read more about it here.

Diamond's Coffee Shoppe
1618 Central Avenue Northeast
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Bus info here.

Please spend some money at Diamond's while you're there, even if it is just a cuppa coffee... they are excellent hosts, and we wanna stay welcome there.

Big Time Attic is now officially hosting our monthly jam meetings at Diamond's... they will be supplying us with a big old plate of pastries or something each month. Thanks fellas!

Kramer's Ergot Gallery Show in St. Paul this Month!

Ahhg! And I'm gonna miss the opening! It should be a great show... info here.

Kramers Ergot

January 28 - February 25, 2007

Opening Reception:
Saturday January 27, 2007

7:00 to 9:00 pm

Art Speigelman says of Kramers Ergot: “If there's a future for comics, Kramers Ergot seems to have bottled it. The first really new paradigm for an avant-garde comix anthology since RAW. A lavish package where the whole is even greater than the sum of its parts!”

Having published the sixth volume in 2006, Kramers Ergot continues to exist in a unique cultural spot where narrative, comics, contemporary art and the avant-garde collide. This exhibition features a selection of artists from the acclaimed comic art collection.

Sammy Harkham, the editor and founder of Kramers Ergot will be present at the opening reception. The opening reception will also feature a music performance by New York band Ambergris, accompanied by the ritual unrolling of a 19th century music video (a large scroll).

Sat. Open Studio Jan. 20, noon to 4 p.m.

Saturday Open Studio
It's cold outside edition

Sat., Jan. 20, noon-4 p.m. MCBA

We'll be somewhere in the Book Arts Building. If you don't see us right away, ask the friendly person working in the bookstore.

This is open studio time for all cartoonists, so come and hang out and draw. There's plenty of room for everyone.

Minnesota Center for Book Arts
(Just down the street from Big Brain Comics)
1011 Washington Ave S, Suite 100Minneapolis, MN 55415
Phone: 612-215-2520

Future Sat. Open Studio dates:

Feb. 17

March 17

April 21

Jam in Minneapolis this Thursday, January 4th

The Minneapolis Cartoonist Conspiracy meets at 6:30 until 10:00 the first Thursday of every month at Diamond's Coffee Shoppe in Northeast.

Generally, we draw collaborative "jam" comics, socialize and drink caffienated beverages. Afterwords, we often have uncaffienated beverages somewhere else.

The meetings are open to anyone who wants to draw with us, and the results are posted here sooner or later (and sometimes even printed).

Diamond's Coffee Shoppe
1618 Central Avenue Northeast
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Bus info here.

Please spend some money at Diamond's while you're there, even if it is just a cuppa coffee... they are excellent hosts, and we wanna stay welcome there.

Big Time Attic is now officially hosting our monthly jam meetings at Diamond's... they will be supplying us with a big old plate of pastries or something each month. Thanks fellas!

MCBA Sat. Open Studio, Dec. 16, noon - 4 p.m.

Saturday Open Studio -- Christmas-in-December edition.

Put off that holiday shopping and draw some cartoons.

Sat., Dec. 16, noon-4 p.m.
Minnesota Center for Book Arts

We'll be somewhere in the Center for Book Arts. If you don't see us right away, ask the friendly person working in the bookstore.

This is open studio time for all cartoonists, so come and hang out and draw. There's plenty of room for everyone.

The Minnesota Center for Book Arts
(Just down the street from Big Brain Comics)
1011 Washington Ave S, Suite 100
Minneapolis, MN 55415
Phone: 612-215-2520

Danger Duck

David Steinlicht just posted his hilarious 24 hour comic Danger Duck from the 24 hour event we had in Minneapolis a little while ago... in color yet! Here it is for your reading pleasure.

More Cartooning Events this Weekend in Minneapolis

The following info was posted on the message board by conspirator Cedric Hosnstadt, who is also a member of the National Cartoonists Society... the NCS has a bunch of cool events going on this weekend with the crew they have in town for Fallcon. Here is the info from Cedric:

I know this is short notice, but the North Central Chapter of the National Cartooists Society is having their annual chapter meeting this weekend in Minneapolis to correspond with FallCon. Some well-known members include Bill Amend (Foxtrot), Michael Jantze (The Norm), Tom Richmond (MAD Magazine), and Jerry Van Amerongen (Ballard Street).

Here's some free events open to the public:

1. Friday October 6, 6-8pm there will be a "meet the cartoonists" gallery opening at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. The exhibit, called "eyeToons" features over 80 cartoons and illustrations from members of our chapter of the National Cartoonists Society. More info here.

2. Saturday Oct 7, 1:00pm - Panel discussion at FallCon entitled "Ask the Cartoonists!". Discussion will focus on the future of cartooning, impact of the internet, breaking into cartooning, working with publishers and syndicates, and Q&A from the audience. Panelists are Michael Jantze, Tom Richmond, Jerry Van Amerongen, and me (Cedric Hohnstadt).

3. Saturday Oct 7, 7:30pm - MCAD Auditorium - Slideshow presentations by artists Michael Jantze, Tom Richmond, and Jerry Van Amerongen. I've seen Tom's part of the presentation before. He talks about his experiences as a parody artist for Mad Magazine and it's a great presentation.

Finally, I will have a table at FallCon. Stop by and say, "hi".

Again, this is all free! Hope to see some of you there.

Make sure to let them know the Cartoonist Conspiracy sent you!

FALLCON THIS WEEKEND!

FALLCON IS HERE! Fallcon is the most creator-friendly convention in the country... they generously offer free table space to all cartoonists, amateur or professional, and they put on a fun show. Check out the enormous guest list for this year... it should be quite an event. Even if you're not going as a guest, I imagine you'll want to check it out anyhow... don't miss checking out the art in the display cases, which is always extremely cool.

Here is the form to send to be a guest, assuming you are not already too late, which is most likely the case.

Send it to:
Midwest Comic Book Association
P.O. Box 131475
St. Paul, MN 55113

Make sure to note somewhere if you want to sit in the same area as the Conspiracy. We are taking names for volunteers to man our table at the convention, so let me know if you're interested by replying to this email.

>23 and <25 Hour Sequential Art Event Box Set

The Minneapolis >23 and <25 Hour Sequential Art Event this weekend was a blast... Thanks much to Minneapolis Conspiracy Events Monkey Danno for all his efforts in making this a huge success. Thanks also to our sponsors The Minnesota Center For Book Arts, Wet Paint Art, Big Time Attic, Pizza Luce, Grumpy's, Sip Coffee Bar, Big Brain Comics.

I believe we had 34 cartoonists participating... not sure how many completed 24 pages, but I'm pretty sure it was a majority. I can't wait to read them. What will certainly be one of the best, Kevin Cannon's comic, is already online:

http://www.bigtimeattic.com/blog/2006/09/24-hour-comics-day.html

Kevin has done it for the past two years as well, and now has produced three of the best 24 Hour comics I've ever read... they don't read or look at all like they were produced in 24 hours. Kevin was born to do this stuff... I keep hassling him to do it once every month and he could have a 288 page best-selling graphic novel in a year. If you agree with me, you should hassle him too... I desperately want to read "The Ballad of Armatage Shanks."

Any of the rest of y'all who get your comics from the event online, send me the links and I'll post the links to them in the blog and the gallery.

We will be collecting all of the >23 and <25 hour comics from folks who want to collect theirs in boxes at the October Jam meeting at Diamond's on October 5th. To do this, simply print 100 of them into mini-comics and we'll collate them into a box with a groovy Bob Lipski cover. Boxes will be for sale (in limited quantities) to the artists for 50 cents each, after which you can sell them for whatever you want (ten bucks will most likely be the suggested retail) and hopefully recoup the costs of printing your minis.

<25 But >23 Hour Sequential Art Event Tomorrow!

The Minneapolis Conspiracy's 3rd Annual <25 But >23 Hour Sequential Art Event is tomorrow! We currently have 32 participants. Get some sleep tonight, fellas. Click on the below poster to read all about it.



Note that 24 Hour Comics Day is on October 7th... we're doing this tomorrow because October 7th and 8th is the same time as the notoriously creator friendly Twin Cities comics convention Fallcon.

Minneapolis Public Library Survey

The Minneapolis Public Library system is seeking feedback on their 2007-2009 budget plan, which you can give them here. There are a number of difficult choices they are faced with right now due to underfunding... if you use the libraries, you'll probably want to let them know how you feel about these issues.

REGISTER FOR FALLCON!

Fallcon (October 7-8) is one of the most creator-friendly conventions in the country... they provide free tables space to cartoonists who request it! Don't miss it.

Here is the form to send.

Send it right now to:
Midwest Comic Book Association
P.O. Box 131475
St. Paul, MN 55113

Make sure to request to sit next to the Cartoonist Conspiracy if you wish to sit next to us.

See you there!

Whole Lotta Scanning Goin' On Part 9

Here's the ninth big jam... this one is from July 2006. Click the image to grab the low-res, reader's pdf.

The theme this month is M.O.D.O.K. As in "Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing." As in the giant head villain created by the late, great Jack Kirby. Cool... What other theme do you need? We should do M.O.D.O.K. every month.

Whole Lotta Scanning Goin' On Part 8

Here's the eighth big jam... this one is from June 2006. Click the image to grab the low-res, reader's pdf.

The themes are "Apocalypso," and... ah... I dunno. "I am the Walrus," maybe? Anyone know?

Whole Lotta Scanning Goin' On Part 7

Here's the seventh big jam... this one is from May 4th 2006. Click the image to grab the low-res, reader's pdf.

The themes are "Babies Can't Do Anything," "The Rattlesnake Twins," "Betrayal," "IQ Tests," "Couch Jumpers" and "A Mother's Love."



Below is a small jpg of the lovely instructional sign Big Time Attic made for this particular jam.

Whole Lotta Scanning Goin' On Part 6

Our posting of the missing jams is now resuming (three more big jams and many miscellaneous pages remain to post)... Here's the sixth big jam... I believe this one is from April 2006 (although it may have been the June one... someone please confirm)... click the image to grab the low-res, reader's pdf.

The themes are "Tales from the Vatican Vault" and "Country Music."

Whole Lotta Scanning Goin On Part 5

Here's the fifth big jam... this one is from March 2006... click the image to grab the low-res, reader's pdf. Again around 2MB.

Only one topic this March... in solidarity with our Danish cartooning comrades I bring you "Fun With Fundamentalism."

Whole Lotta Scanning Goin' On Part 4

Here's the fourth big jam... this one is from February 2006... click the image to grab the low-res, reader's pdf. This one is just over 2MB.

The themes for this month were "Süperman Vs. Albert Einstein" and "People I'll Never Sleep With.")

Whole Lotta Scanning Goin' On Part 3

Here's the third big jam... this one is from December 2005... click the image to grab the low-res, reader's pdf. This one is 1.965 MB.

The themes for this month were "Sneaky Pete Beats the Devil" and "The Dogs of War."

Whole Lotta Scanning Goin' On Part 2

Here's the second big jam... again, I'll be posting these for the next week. I'm not sure which month this one was done in... lets call it August 2005... I'm pretty sure it is either that or October (if anyone knows definitively, please let me know). Click the image to grab the low-res, reader's pdf. This one is 2.177 MB.

The themes for this month were "Godzilla Vs. Osama Bin Laden" and "Fluffy and Nice: A Fluffy and Nice Story For Children" and "Pluto is No Longer a Planet."

Whole Lotta Scanning Goin' On

We've let the Minneapolis jam scanning get horribly behind over the last year... I've decided to see what I can do to remedy some of that this week... watch the blog for a whole lotta comics this week!

Instead of posting the individual jam pages at this point, I've decided to post the individual months as PDF files... these will ultimately be available in the gallery in both low-res versions (for viewing online) and hi-res versions (for anyone downloading to reconfigure and print anywhere they want under our creative commons license... note that if you participated in the jam, it can be for non-commercial or commercial purposes... otherwise, it's just non-commercial).

All scans are greyscale, unedited as-is from the original pages... print versions will be 300 DPI.

Here's the first one from July 2005... click the image to grab the low-res, reader's pdf. This one is just over 2MB. The themes for that month were "Obscure Stories About Blues Musicians" and "16 Pages to Live."



Also note that I just uploaded the first 6 months of jams from the Rice, MN cell... you can grab that here. That one weighs in at 7MB.

Cartoonist Conspiracy Mentioned in Pioneer Press

There's a great comic strip by David Steinlicht and Julio Ojeda-Zapata in the St. Paul Pioneer Press today about Free Comic Book Day... you can see the whole thing here. Best of all, it shows a bunch of characters from local cartoonists, and makes a nice mention of the Cartoonist Conspiracy in the panel shown below.



Pictured in the panel, clockwise from left, would be the little girl in Zander Cannon's "He Becomes Who Kills Him: A Horror Story" mini-comic from the Lutefisk Sushi Volume B box, one of Sean Tenhoff's Bean Men, Bob Lipski's Uptown Girl, my character Soapy the Chicken, and one of Ken Avidor's demons.

The strip also mentions Twin Cities locals Sam Hiti, Ryan Kelly, Dan Jurgens, Patrick Gleason and, of course, Charles Schulz.

Thanks much to Conspirator Steinlicht and Mr. Ojeda-Zapata for the plug!

Don't Miss MicroCon!

Today if you're in the Twin Cities you won't want to miss MicroCon, the second largest comics convention in the area (the first biggest being FallCon, which is put on by the same folks in the Fall).

Hosted by the Midwest (formerly Minnesota) Comic Book Association, the Twin Cities conventions are no ordinary comic conventions... for one thing they offer free table space to any cartoonist who requests one. This is a rare and generous thing for a convention to offer, indeed.

As a result, you have a huge number and variety of cartoonists doing all sorts of comics... much like the Conspiracy, participating cartoonists include everything from seasoned professionals to rank amateurs... drawing every sort of comic you can imagine... manga, superheroes, funny animals, smut, and even stuff that doesn't neatly fall into a genre.

Beyond that, the conventions always have a good vibe (cartoonists not having to hustle to make enough bread to cover a table space definitely are a part of that, along with the free food for creators, and the general friendly respect given to all creators by the members of the MNCBA). Really, it's gotta be one of the best conventions in the country to be a creator at.

Jam War!

Jam War was a blast... much blood and ink was spilled, but many gorgeous pages crawled from the wreckage at the end of it. I wish I could post some, but can't until after judging is completed.

We want to print a book of all the Minneapolis Jam War losers as a mini-comic, so email me if you want to participate in this mini. My team almost certainly will be included... we had a blast losing, though.

Thanks! to Danno for organizing!
Thanks! to Shad for handling everything computery!
Thanks! to Drivas for funding and involuntarily lending us all his lovely visage!
Thanks! to BTA for the paper!
Thanks! to Jeff Rathermel and Book Arts for giving us such a great space to work in!
Thanks! to Wet Paint for providing supplies and letting us stock up at a discount!
Thanks! to Reiner and Grumpy's for the drinks and discounts!
Thanks! to Nat Gertler for conceiving and organizing the national event!

More Great Press for Lutefisk Sushi

The Lutefisk Sushi show and box got a great review from Peter Scholtes this week on page 39 of the current issue of the City Pages (dated March 29th). Unfortunately, it hasn't made it online at this point, so you'll probably have to seek out a print copy yourself to read it.

Lutefisk Sushi Opening Overview

Well, the Lutefisk Sushi Volume B opening was a roaring success... we had a great turnout, lots of fun, and a lot of sales. Best of all, we put together a fantastic box set of comics... you should all be proud. When you tell folks about it, make sure to mention that they can still check it out on Saturdays until April 21st from 11-4, or by appointment with the gallery.

We had a great write up in Minnesota Monthly... we were also written up in the Pulse and we were mentioned in the Pioneer Press, the Star Tribune, on the front of mnspeak.com, on a City Pages blog, on the Comics Reporter, and on the Minneapolis public radio station The Current by Mary Luccia on Thursday (and on the MPR website calendar)... and probably some other places. If you know of other press that we received for the show (or have any clippings you want to give me, including of the stuff mentioned above), please let me know about it.

Also, I encourage you all to send your digital photos from the opening my way so we can put them on the website... suggested captions encouraged, in case we don't know who is pictured in the photo. You can view some photos from the opening by Shad here and by Nik Arnoldi here.

Participants can pick up their boxes at Big Time Attic any time (make sure you cross your name off the list when you get it)... if you haven't made it over by April 6th, that is a good time for it, since the monthly Cartoonist Conspiracy meeting will be taking place at Diamond's Coffee in that building that evening.

For those of you who participated in the Weiner Roast, I'm hoping to get those dropped off at BTA very soon as well so you can pick up your ten copies... I have them rubber banded between cardboard with your names on them.

It is possible we may be having a closing party as well, which would be a very good thing to harass people you know that missed the opening to show up for... I'll keep you posted.

And now that we pulled this thing off, some thank yous...

Thanks to everyone at Big Time Attic for their extensive efforts putting things together, in every part of the process... the website, the silkscreening, putting up money for printing Weiner Roasts, collating, making signs and tags, laying out and printing the postcard, helping hang, etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc.... and etc. Shad, Kevin, Max, Zander, Tim, Brett, Brittany and John all did a tremendous amount of work to make the show happen and look great.

Thanks to Ken Avidor for being an exceptionally good sport and letting us further soil his bad reputation with the Weiner Roast, for putting together a fantastic display of his life's work, and for making us all look good with his art for the box and website.

Thanks to Lonny Unitus for doing such a gorgeous job screen printing the boxes with Shad in deep, rich, velvety colors... they really couldn't have turned out better.

Thanks to Danno, as always, for helping make so many of the comics look so much better than they would have without his knowledge and expertise in the zine arts, and for helping with putting together 400 Weiner Roasts!

Thanks to everyone who helped with setup and hanging... Sean, Andrey, Quillan, Bob, Danno, Shad, Kevin, Seamus, Chris, Tim, and anyone else who helped that I'm more than likely forgetting.

Thanks to Sean for putting together his Shitty Art display in the bathroom.

Thanks to Dave, Jenny, Karl and Kurt at Creative Electric for providing such a great venue for our chaos, for helping extensively with setting up, for dealing with the crowd and for manning the sales at the show.

Thanks to everyone who helped promote the show on websites, blogs and through word of mouth. Please continue to do so until it closes!

And, of course, thanks to all the artists who participated in the box and the Weiner Roast and made the whole thing possible.

Help promote the Lutefisk Sushi show part 2

Here is an easy to use animated gif banner for you to post around the web...



And an image of the box...



Link these to http://www.cartoonistconspiracy.com/sushi

Please Help Promote Lutefisk Sushi

We're doing a lot to promote the event (we've contacted a lot of local media, posted on message boards, printed up 1000 postcards which are being distributed all over the Twin Cities, & did some other miscellaneous stuff)...

BUT WE COULD REALLY USE YOUR HELP GETTING THE WORD OUT!

Here are some ways you can help promote the upcoming Lutefisk Sushi show...

If you have a website, you can download a banner for the Sushi show to add to your site here:

http://cartoonistconspiracy.com/sushi/lutefisk_sushi_banner.zip

If you have a blog, please blog about it.

If you have friends, please invite them and tell them to invite people.

If you know journalists, please encourage them to cover the opening.

Also I encourage you to give these threads a "bump" to help with Sushi show promotion...

http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubb/Forum1/HTML/011307.html

http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubb/Forum1/HTML/011304.html

http://comicon.com/index.html

http://www.sequentialtart.com/community/Forum7/HTML/001512.shtml

You could also post the word on other message boards you frequent.

Thanks much for your help!

Conspiracy Write Up in Minnesota Monthly

The Conpiracy just got a great write up in Minnesota Monthly... check it out!

http://www.minnesotamonthly.com/artsFeature.html

The Lutefisk Sushi Volume B site is live, and it is gorgeous. Thanks much to Big Time Attic and Ken Avidor for putting this together!

JAM WAR Declared!

Dank (aka Danno) has declared a Jam War in Minneapolis here... sharpen your pencils! Here's the poop from Dank...

------------------------------------------------

Attn All Conspirators, and fit men and women of fighting age:

WAR has been declared on the cartooning world!!!
..no, no. Not that Danish Jihad business...

a JAM WAR!!!!

The people who bring you 24 HOUR COMIC DAY have decided that APRIL 1st, 2006 from 11am to 11pm is to be the first JAM WAR.

Basically, teams around the WORLD(US and Canada so far)have 12 hours to complete 8 pages on a theme to be chosen that day. The winning 3 teams recieve cash and prizes!
EIGHT PAGES!!!
TWELVE HOURS!!!
Minneapolis can so sweep this whole contest!

Big Brain has elected to sponsor us, and Book Arts will once again be providing us space(THANKS GUYS!).

What I need from you is a firm commitment to fight for truth, liberty, and cash prizes.
I also need you to "register"
Do so by sending a draft card(or a quick e-mail saying you're in) to:
staplegenius@yahoo.com
Please respond by March 10th.

Michael Drivas over at Big Brain has asked we work in teams of 4, so on March 10th, all the registered participants will be randomly drawn into said teams.

If you wish to be a TEAM CAPTAIN, please also indicate
that in your e-mail of interest.(what will a team captain do? I dunno yet. But its always good to have a field commander in battle.)

Finally, Michael also requests a confirmation fee of
$5.00 from each soldier (to help offset the $150 he's gotta throw down to sponsor us, as well as to help with snacks and such.) The fee will not have to be payed until after final teams are announced on the 10th of March, but please try to stop by Big Brain and pay up by St Patricks Day(the 17th).

Ummm...I think thats it. If you have any more questions, either
1) contact me, danno, at staplegenius@yahoo.com
2) check out comicsjamwar.com
or 3) read the info below

May Mohammed be with us as we lay waste to our hated cartooning enemies around the globe and(did i mention) WIN CASH PRIZES!!!!
--danno

Comics Jam War is a collaborative cartooning competition which will be held in comic book shops across the U.S. and Canada. Teams of 2 or more cartoonists will be given some starting information about the story they have to create, and will then each have 12 hours to create an 8 page comic book story. The stories will be judged by a group of comics professionals.

Prizes (all prizes are per-team):
First place: $300 US, plus copies of an anthology comic that includes all the winners and honorable mentions (50 copies or $395 worth at cover price, whichever is more )
Second place: $200, plus copies of the anthology (30 copies or $245 worth at cover price, whichever is more )
Third place: $100, plus copies of the anthology (30 copies or $245 worth at cover price, whichever is more )
"Honorable mentions" chosen to appear in the anthology (numbers to be determined): copies of the anthology (30 copies or $245 worth at cover price, whichever is more )
Teams can have anywhere from 2 to an infinite number of people on them.
Teams must work at an official sponsoring event host site.
At noon Eastern time (9 AM Pacific time), the details for the story content will be posted on the event website. 12 hours later, all work on the story must be complete, and the story must be 8 black and white pages (no more, no less) in the standard American comic book format.
The work should not include vulgarity, nudity, obscenity, or other material that would keep it from seeming appropriate for general audiences. It also should not violate any copyrights and trademarks.
Participants must promise not to publish their finished work in any form (including, but not limited to, print and online comics) until the judging is complete and the winners are announced. In the event that your story is selected for the anthology, you may not publish the work in any other form through December, 2007. About Comics retains the rights to publish the material in Jam War-related collections. (There will be a participant form at the event. All members of the team must sign this form or the work will not be considered in the judging.)
Each team must include a designated captain. All prizes will be sent to this captain whose responsibility it will be to distribute the money and copies to the team. About Comics takes no responsibility for this distribution.
Entrance fee (if any) and other details will be set by the event host.
NOTES ADDED JANUARY 28th:

Bring your own art supplies! Rather than supplying something that doesn't meet your needs, we want you working with the materials that you're most comfortable with. So bring your drawing tools, your favorite paper or board, or even computer. Just remember to keep the height-to-width ratio appropriate for the typical American comic book.
The food situation will vary from location to location, so if you don't know that your store is supplying food, be sure to bring enough munchies to last you through the 12 hours.

Participate in MicroCon

MicroCon is coming up on April 30th this year at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds. The Minnesota Comic Book Association puts on some of the most creator-friendly comic conventions in the US, and they have invited the whole Cartoonist Conspiracy to attend. The MCBA continues to offer free space to ALL cartoonists at their conventions (they are also responsible for FallCon). That's right, ANY CARTOONIST can get a space for FREE at a convention loaded with comic fans. It is very rare to have this sort of opportunity, I hope a number of you will take advantage of it. At most conventions you have to pay for space, and it isn't cheap.

For more information, and a form to send in asap so they will reserve you a space, download this pdf.

January 2006 Minneapolis Jam Page 18 & 19

January 2006 Minneapolis Jam Page 17

January 2006 Minneapolis Jam Page 16

January 2006 Minneapolis Jam Page 15

January 2006 Minneapolis Jam Page 14

January 2006 Minneapolis Jam Page 13

January 2006 Minneapolis Jam Page 12

January 2006 Minneapolis Jam Page 11

January 2006 Minneapolis Jam Page 10

January 2006 Minneapolis Jam Page 9

January 2006 Minneapolis Jam Page 8

January 2006 Minneapolis Jam Page 7

January 2006 Minneapolis Jam Page 6

January 2006 Minneapolis Jam Page 5

January 2006 Minneapolis Jam Page 4

January 2006 Minneapolis Jam Page 3

January 2006 Minneapolis Jam Page 2

The January Minneapolis Jams begin

I'll be posting the Minneapolis Cell's January Jam here every day for the next couple of weeks...

The themes this month are "Heroes of the Old West," "Plastic Surgery," and "The Contents of My Pockets Display My True Emotions ")

Here is the cover:



and the first page...

November 2005 Minneapolis jam Page 14

November 2005 Minneapolis jam Page 14:



And the credits page:

November 2005 Minneapolis jam Page 13

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November 2005 Minneapolis jam Page 12

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November 2005 Minneapolis Jam Page 9

November 2005 Minneapolis jam Page 9:

Happy Anniversary!

Danno pointed out to me at last night's Minneapolis jam that it was our third anniversary... so happy anniversary, comrades!

Of the people who were there for the first December 2002 meeting Mike Toft, Ken Avidor, and Danno (and me) showed up last night... those guys haven't missed many meetings since the inception. We also had lots of other folks who have been coming for a long time, and the usual smattering of new faces. Thanks to you all for making this such a great disorganization to be a part of.

November 2005 Jam Page 8

November 2005 Minneapolis jam Page 8:

November 2005 Jam Page 7

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November 2005 Jam Page 6

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November 2005 Jam Page 5

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November 2005 Minneapolis jam Page 3

November 2005 Minneapolis jam Page 2:

November 2005 Minneapolis jam Page 2

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The November Jam Begins... balloons and manga

I'm gonna be posting the Minneapolis cell's November jam over the next couple of weeks, a page at a time again... the themes this time are "Big Eyed Action Manga" and "What the hell is this balloon doing floating over my head?" Here is the cover and the first page:

PARTICIPATE IN THE WEINER ROAST!

As part of the Lutefisk Sushi Volume B show, we are featuring the work of Roadkill Bill artist Ken Avidor. We are also doing a mini-comic "roast" of Ken and his work... the Weiner Roast. For those of you who don't already know, KEN AVIDOR, transit-obsessed, sensitive, tree-hugging environmentalist, political agitator and bicycle enthusiast is also KEN WEINER, former Screw art editor, party machine, devil may care ne'er-do-well and alcohol enthusiast.

For Ken's perspective on his duel nature, see this cartoon.

Both Kens plan on making an appearance at the Lutefisk Sushi Volume B show.

To participate in the mini-comic, send your submissions to us at:

Weiner Roast
c/o Big Time Attic
1618 Central Ave NE Suite 216
Minneapolis MN 55413

or email them (as minimum of 300dpi B&W jpgs) to:

cartoonistconspiracy@mn.rr.com

The deadline for participation is January first.

It is not necessary to participate in the Sushi show to participate in the Weiner Roast. Ken encourages us to be brutal with these, although I'm not sure which Ken.

LUTEFISK SUSHI VOLUME B CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

LUTEFISK SUSHI VOLUME B CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

While we don't have an official date yet, Lutefisk Sushi Volume B will be happening, with the opening at Creative Electric Studios some time early next year. For those of you who aren't familiar with the previous event/compilation, you can see more about it here.

We need submissions!
The focus of the show will again be around a big ol' fancy hand-serigraphed box of mini-comics with a cover by Roadkill Bill artist Ken Avidor. It will be limited to 150 copies... every participant will receive one.

To participate:
1) You must live in Minnesota or be Doug McNamara or Jesse McManus. It has something to do with the Mc, apparently. Persons named Andy Singer will also be accepted.
2) You must provide us with 160 copies of your comic. Not 161, not 159, not 2,364. 160. Your mini-comic can be no larger than 5.5" x 8.5", or it won't fit. It can be any format and length. Last year we even had a scroll hand-silkscreened in invisible ink.
3) You may also include other comics you wish to have sold at the gallery. Make sure your name is in the comic somewhere and put a price on the cover. Comics that have no price on the cover or somewhere obvious will not be sold.
4) You must matte, frame, or otherwise make presentable and hangable any originals you intend to have displayed. Kevin still has papercuts from last year. It is not required that you display originals, but it is encouraged. Put your name and the price of the piece on the back (remember the gallery takes a cut when pricing).
5) You must submit everything by no later than January 1, 2006.
6) You must include the form with your submission.
7) You must show up on opening night to pick up your Bento Box, or you must make other arrangements before then if you plan on getting one.
8) You must pick up your remaining original artwork, unsold comics and money (if any) at the end of the show. Any money not picked up by the artists will be kept by the gallery to buy beer... and any artwork or comics left behind will be peed on by feral, unneutered, violent cats in heat.
9) While it is not required, your assistance would be greatly appreciated collating the Bento Boxes at the collating party. Hopefully we'll only have to collate them once this time.

We intend to include ALL submissions that meet ALL the criteria in the box. Entries not meeting ALL of the above criteria will most likely NOT be included in the box, and we will make our best attempts to be cold-hearted bastards about this. No previous comic book making experience is necessary to participate. While we plan on having all entries meeting the criteria included in the Lutefisk Sushi Volume B Bento Box, if we get a whole hog slaughter of entries, we may have to cut it off somewhere- we'll let you know if the limit is getting close on the conspiracy website. We had 35 participants last year, and the box was packed to overflowing. We will use a bigger box this year.

In addition to the boxes, there will also be a lot of original artwork from the participating cartoonists on the walls. Using the artwork from the comic you submit to the Bento Box is preferred, although it is not required. ALL artwork should be priced for sale... let's make the gallery some money, they have a mortgage to pay. Submitting multiple items for display is fine. Due to limited space, we may not get all artists in the box represented on the walls, but we'll give it a shot.

In addition to the main show, there will also be a "sideshow" similar to the King Mini exhibit last year. This year we are featuring Ken Avidor (creator of Roadkill Bill). As part of this we also plan to produce a mini-comic featuring Ken's work and works submitted by participants that are inspired by, satirizing or commenting on Ken's work or Ken. Think of it as a comic "roast." This comic will be included in the boxes. Everyone is encouraged to contribute a page to this comic, although it is not required.

Profits from the originals and comics will be split with the artists and gallery last year it was 60 (artists), 40 (gallery)- it hasn't been negotiated yet but it will most likely be in that neighborhood this year as well. Profits from the Bento Boxes will also be split with the gallery, and our part will go into covering supplies and other miscellaneous expenses, including the collating/decorating/hanging Afghani party pizza... remaining funds will be donated to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund in the form of paid memberships for participants- we hope to get memberships for all participants, but in the event we don't make enough money to do this we'll draw the appropriate number of names at random.

Lutefisk Sushi Volume B is being sponsored and organized by The International Cartoonist Conspiracy (www.cartoonistconspiracy.com), Creative Electric Studios (www.creativeelectricstudios.com) and Big Time Attic (www.bigtimeattic.com).

DOWNLOAD THE SUBMISSION FORM HERE

September Jam Credits

September Jam Credit Page:

September Jam Finale

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September Jam Page 13

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September Jam Page 12

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September Jam Page 11

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Hello from Artistland!

Hey all! I may have posted something here by mistake just now. It was meant for my own weblog giving below. Sorry for any confusion. I think I've deleted the post from your blog. Again I'm sorry.
This is Ron L. Good in the heart of "Artistland", where everything has aesthetic value and crap smells sweet. In fact in Artistland, it's edible!

September Jam Page 10

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September Jam Page 9

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September Jam Page 8

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September Jam Page 7

Page 7:

Page 6 of the September Jam

Page 6:

Page 4 and 5 of the September Jam

I'll post some more of this since I missed a couple days...

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Page 5:

Don't Miss the La Mano Show

The La Mano show opening at Creative Electric was a blast on Friday... it was so packed that I want to go again to take another look in a less crowded environment. Fortunately, the show is still up for a month... you won't want to miss it.

*Show Runs: *September 9 through October 8, 2005

*Gallery Hours: *Thursdays and Fridays: 12-4 p.m.

Saturday 11-4 pm or by appointment

September Jam Page 3

Page 3:

PARTY THIS FRIDAY - SEPT 16th

We hope that everyone can make the debut:




"BONE SHARPS, COWBOYS, AND THUNDER LIZARDS"
----------- BOOK RELEASE PARTY-------------


Friday, September 16, 2005, 4-7 pm
BIG BRAIN COMICS
1027 Washington Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55415
(add this to your blogs, Blackberrys, and events calendars)


Featuring special guest...flying in just for this party, GT Lab's JIM OTTAVIANI!!!

The 168-page true science epic about two ruthless wild west paleontologists will be available for the first time anywhere, and Jim Ottaviani and Big Time Attic will be on hand to sign copies, tell tales, and show off the original art.

Bring in your dog-eared copies of "Two-Fisted Science" and "Suspended in Language" to get signed, or any of BTA's individual books...or, hey, just come for the free beer and stand in the corner quietly until the beer runs out.

The Wild West provided the setting for some famous battles, but the gunfight at O.K. Corral doesn't hold a candle to the Bone Wars. Following the Civil War, the (Re-)United States turned its attention to the unexplored territories between the Mississippi and the Pacific. The railroads led the way, and to build them we blasted through mountains and leveled valleys and exposed rock that hadn't seen the light of day for millions of years. This is the story of Edwin Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh, two scientists who found and fought for those bones, and the artist Charles R. Knight who almost single-handedly brought dinosaurs back to life for an awestruck public. Guest starring Chief Red Cloud and hundreds of his Indian Braves, the gun-totin' and gamblin' Professor John Bell Hatcher, colossal and stupefying Dinosauria of the New World, and featuring special appearances by The Cardiff Giant, P.T. Barnum, Buffalo Bill Cody, Ulysses S. Grant, Alexander Graham Bell, and a plentiful supporting cast of Rogues and Gallants from the Eastern Scientific Establishment and The Old West, the colorful supporting cast makes for a rich blend of history, adventure, science, and art.

September Jam Page 2

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Jam Comics on the Blog

In an effort to liven up this blog a bit, I'm going to start posting jam comics frequently one page at a time before they go into the gallery... that's right, you get to read them here first. Even though we haven't posted the last few months of jam comics, I'm going to start with this month's jam, since the main character is so compelling and charismatic. Today, I'm going to post two images, since the first one is a cover... this month had a total of 17 pages on the theme... hm, I wasn't there for the theme, but I think I know what it was... click on the thumbnails to view the pages.

Cover:

Page 1:


I'll post a new page every day or so... if you're jonesing for more, our old jams are archived in the gallery (as these jams will be after I post the entire month on the blog).

The International Craft Conspiracy

Our crafty friends of the Cartoonist Conspiracy Anna Petosky and Julie Cannon (along with a number of other friends of theirs) have started The International Craft Conspiracy, where you can go to jam on quilts, build a macrame tarantula, design a dress out of phone books, or learn how to knit a cozy for your bong... and you can meet other similarly craft-enthused people to share your projects and passions with. You can find out more information about them on their website.



Photo: The loveliest sock monkey you ever saw, by Julie Cannon.

You're invited to be a guest at FallCon 2005 October 8th and 9th

The Minnesota Comic Book Association (run by the extremely generous Nick Post of The Source Comics and Games) has invited all cartoonists to come to Fallcon 2005 October 8th and 9th and get some free table space to promote themselves and enjoy the convention. This sort of generosity is rare for a convention (generally you have to pay for a table at a con... they are around 800 clams at San Diego). It is especially rare for such a first rate convention... FallCon is the largest comic convention in the state of Minnesota and is always a blast to attend.

You can download a pdf I've posted for attending here. The pdf includes more info about the convention and has a form to send in to let them know if you're attending. I've added an area to the form you can check if you want to request that you be seated near the conspiracy.

Once you fill out the form, send it to:
MN Comic Book Association
PO Box 131475
Saint Paul, MN 55113

While you're at it, you'll probably want to get added to the MCBA's mailing list as well, which you can do on the left side of their home page.

"The MCBA is a non-profit, non-aligned, all volunteer association dedicated to promoting the comic book medium, comic book creators, publishers, comic book retailers, comic book media and the comic book genre as a whole and has successfully done so via the convention & special event format for over 16 years."

THE YEAR LONG GRAPHIC NOVEL PROJECT

For those of you who participated in 24 Hour Comics Day, beyond the exhaustion you felt you were most likely excited and exhilirated at how much work you could get done in a limited amount of time. We've decided to embark on a project inspired by the 24 hour event that hopefully will bear even more exciting creative fruits.

We are starting THE YEAR LONG GRAPHIC NOVEL PROJECT.

THE GOAL: To complete a graphic novel in a year.

THE CHALLENGE: To complete a minimum of three finished pages of comics towards a larger work by the end of each month for a year. More than three pages is, of course, excellent.

THE RULES:
1) The end of the month is defined by the end of the new six hour monthly meetings at The Minnesota Center for Book Arts.
2) While the intent is certainly to produce a lot of pages in a limited time, it is also to produce a lot of high-quality work. Therefore, you can do as much work and planning outside of the meeting time as you want to. In fact, you can come to the meetings with your required number of pages (and as many more as you want) already completed.
3) You can start at any meeting... at this time these meetings are intended to be ongoing indefinitely. It should be noted that many people will probably start at the first meeting, so if you want a good race, this may be a good place to start.
4) If you do the bare minimum, you'll have 36 completed pages at the end of the year... 36 pages completed is the shortest length that will be accepted as a successful year long graphic novel.
5) You are not required to tell one cohesive story to be considered a graphic novel. You could do all one page strips. There are absolutely no rules about content, other than that the content must be comics.

The Minnesota Center for Book Arts has generously offered some monthly space for Minneapolis area cartoonists to draw in. We will now be meeting on one Saturday a month to draw(this will replace the Sunday Funnies meetings... times will be listed on the Cartoonist Conspiracy website).

It should be noted that this is an open studio time for all cartoonists... you are not required to participate in the Year Long Graphic Novel Project to come and draw with us.

The first meeting will be July 16th 10AM-4PM in the MCBA Flexi Space (for those of you who were at the Spot On Festival, this is the room Big Time Attic had a table in, next room over from the space where we had part of the 24 Hour Event).

July 16th 10AM-4PM
The Minnesota Center for Book Arts
The Open Book Building (in the Flexi Space)
1011 Washington Ave S, Suite 100
Minneapolis, MN 55415
PHONE: 612-215-2520

3 Conspirators in new 24 Hour Comics Anthology

Congratulations to the brothers Cannon and Quillan Roe on their inclusion in the new 24 Hour Comics anthology... a total of 24 cartoonists are included in the anthology, chosen out of hundreds of entries from around the world. Great work fellas!

http://www.24hourcomics.com/blog/?p=285

"Kevin Cannon delves into adventure on the high seas (created at the Cartoonist Conspiracy event)"

"Quillan Roe brings a walk to the page (created at the Cartoonist Conspiracy event)"

"Zander Cannon, known for his work on Top Ten and The Replacement God, has an unusual take on the private eye (created at the Cartoonist Conspiracy event)"

Nat Gertler also notes on the blog:

"One interesting note: most of the selections were created by females. The traditional view of cartooning as a male-dominated interest is certainly being challenged by this new generation."

We've also had a lot more women showing up at the Conspiracy meetings lately... this is a really great trend. It is nice to see that comics are no longer alienating half of the population.

"The book is slated to ship in October. If you saw last year’s book, the format is basically the same: 496 pages, conveniently sized (5.5″x7.75″) paperback, for $24.95."

SPOT ON FESTIVAL THIS WEEKEND JUNE 11-12

The Spot On Fair is this weekend and it should be fun... It is part of the Spot On: The Art of Zines and Graphic Novels gallery show that has been there since April 9th (and has recieved some favorable reviews) Many conspirators are participating. There will be a conspiracy table (as well as tables for many other cartoonists and zine makers) where any conspirator can bring comics to sell, and we'll attempt to manage it (Please put prices on the cover of anything you want to sell, and give us a sheet with the price of the books and the number of copies you're leaving with us... we absolutely will not deal with your books if you do not do this, unless you talk us into it). We accept no responsibility for lost or stolen books.

This is also intended to be a trading festival, so regardless of whether you have something to sell, bring comics and zines to trade to people for their comics and zines.

Here is the schedule:


SPOT ON FAIR SCHEDULE


Saturday June 11 (10-5)


10-12 Family Day - Zines


Construct your own zine with Alec Mueller - comic artist and By Design graduate.


1-2:30 Craft of Cartooning: Tips and tricks from Cartoonists

Featuring:
Kirk Anderson
Ken Avidor
Andrey Feldysteyn
Shad Petosky
Andy Singer

3-4:30 Cartoonists and their influences

Featuring:
Ken Avidor
Andrey Feldysteyn
Steven Stwalley

Sunday June 12 (12-5)


1-2:30 Tom Cassidy


3-4:30 Mini-Comics: the Art of Making Comic Books by Hand

Featuring:
Bob Lipski
Doug McNamara
Danno Oschendorf
Quillan Roe


Shad Petosky and Rana Raeuchle will also be participating in some of the panels... I imagine some other folks may join in as well.

Thanks much to Big Brain Comics for donating the table for the Conspiracy... Big Brain, if you didn't already know, is just a half a block away from the Minnesota Center for Book Arts, who is hosting the fair, and houses one of the most amazing masses of comic literature you'll ever see in one place. Thanks also to Book Arts and Jeff Rathermel for concieving and organizing this event.

The Minnesota Center For Book Arts (MCBA)
(at the Open Book)
1011 Washington Ave. South
Suite 100, Minneapolis, MN 55415

www.openbookmn.org
www.mnbookarts.org

Hope to see you there!

Comics Disappearing in the City Pages?

I recently got the below email from Andy Singer...

Howdy strangers,

As you all may have noticed, City Pages got rid of its comics page two
weeks ago. The current issue has just ONE cartoon-- "troubletown"-- in
the entire issue (a very thick issue, I might add). One of the cartoons
they axed (temporarily?) is Kirk Anderson's cartoon "Lance Boyle". Since
City Pages is one of the last local cartoon markets (and Kirk is great)
I feel we should speak up. I wrote the letter to the editor below (and
got a response from the paper, saying they hope to reinstate some of the
cartoons on a more regular basis in the future). If you feel like
commenting, send your comments to--
letters at citypages.com (use the @ symbol for the "at")

Peace,
Andy Singer

Subject: Lance Boyle, Maakies, comics???

Dear Editor,

Where are the comics? "Troubletown" seems to be the only one left! I
like this cartoon ...but I also really liked Lance Boyle and the other
comics and I don't see them in the paper. What happened? The Twin Cities
need more newspaper comics-- particularly locally drawn ones. Instead,
there are fewer and fewer. Your rival "The Pulse" has stopped running
them entirely ...and the Star Tribune and Pioneer Press each have just
one local cartoonist (...and the one in the Pioneer Press, David
Steinlicht, only appears once a week, if that).

I hope the absence of cartoons in City Pages is just temporary and that
you bring back some of the ones you've cut.

Andrew Singer