CulturePulp.

The closest thing I'll do to a book tour: 'Spinal Tap,' Orycon and Comics Underground.

So I guess I'm sort of accidentally embarking on a week-long "Sabertooth Vampire" book tour, all in Portland:

• On Friday, Nov. 11, I'll be selling "Sabertooth Vampire Unleashed" and my other books in the lobby of the Bagdad Theatre before the "Cort and Fatboy" 11:11 p.m. screening of "Spinal Tap."

• On Sunday, Nov. 13, I'll be signing books from 12 noon to 2 p.m. at the PDX Browncoats table at Orycon, held in the Lloyd Doubletree Hotel. The Browncoats will have both "Sabertooth Vampire" books for sale during the rest of the conference (Nov. 11-13).

• And finally, on Thursday, Nov. 17, I'm part of the lineup at "Comics Underground" -- alongside Dylan Meconis, Ron Chan, Sean Kelley, and Ryan Alexander-Tanner. Marvel as I attempt to set "Sabertooth Vampire" comics to music onstage in the Jack London Bar! (I'll also share some other short comics stories. A surprising number of them contain head trauma.)

'Sabertooth Vampire Unleashed.' Book-release party. Bridge City Comics. Oct. 21.

On Friday, Oct. 21 from 6-9 p.m., I'm joining forces with Aaron Duran and James Sinclair for a blowout book-signing party at Bridge City Comics.

We're releasing the second issues of our comics. I'll be debuting the second "Sabertooth Vampire" minicomic, "Sabertooth Vampire Unleashed." Aaron and James will have copies of Issue 2 of their paranormal-investigator series, "La Brujeria."

The full press release after the jump.

Bridge City signing recap. With video.

Want to know how last night's signing with David Walker went? Well, for some barmy-awesome reason, KGW sent reporter Joe Smith there to do a live TV spot from Bridge City Comics. Here's the video: 

 

Guest appearances by Cort Webber and Bobby "Fatboy" Roberts, among others.

So yeah. Last night's signing was insanely great. And it was great from the get-go, when Fats' significant other Bobbie showed up ahead of time with a homemade Sabertooth Vampire plushie she'd made in secret:

An enormous thank-you to Michael Ring of Bridge City Comics for putting this on, and to everyone who showed up. Walker and I were gobsmacked by the turnout.

Writeups of last night here and here, courtesy of Christian Lipski and Jamie S. Rich. And Chris Walsh has a ton of photos here.

Book-release party Wednesday. Stumptown Comics Fest this weekend.

Big week ahead. Couple of announcements:

WEDNESDAY: A BIG FAT BOOK-RELEASE PARTY

 

This Wednesday, April 13, from 6 to 8 p.m., David Walker and I join forces for a book-release party at Bridge City Comics (3725 N. Mississippi Ave., Portland). David will have copies of his terrific young-adult novel "Darius Logan: Super Justice Force." I'll have hard copies of my first "Sabertooth Vampire" minicomic and "Cort and Fatboy and the Secret of the Buried Unicorns" (and maybe a couple of fun freebies). You can even buy the poster at the top of this post (which features glorious Bill Mudron colors) for like five bucks. Here's the official press release with all the details.

 

THIS WEEKEND: THE STUMPTOWN COMICS FEST

 

Then, this Saturday and Sunday, April 16-17, I'll have my first-ever table (Table C-29, to be precise) at the Stumptown Comics Fest. Here's what I'll have on hand, while supplies last:

• Cort and Fatboy and the Secret of the Buried Unicorns -- just five bucks!
  
  
• The Sabretooth Vampire: The Complete First Season -- a mere three bucks!
  
  
• Jaxxon's 11, Vol. 1 -- a FREE 72-page ashcan of my and artist David Stroup's webcomic, which celebrates the complete insanity of 1970s Marvel "Star Wars" comics. David plans to sit at my table for a couple of hours each day, probably starting around 11 a.m.
  
  
• Opera, Drawn Quickly -- a FREE 48-page collection of all my "live comics adaptations" of Portland Opera productions.
  
  
• Plus! "Augie, The Littlest Reaver" prints and maybe even a few old copies of the beloved Christmas fable "Santa's Lil' Gimp."

The complete press release for the April 13 Bridge City party is after the jump.

CORT AND FATBOY: 'Source Code,' Paul' and an 'Aliens' yack-track

Catching up with recent "Cort and Fatboy" appearances (sorry, I've been distracted by book-making):

• March 18 podcast -- A review of "Paul." Fan-casting a "Powers" TV series. And the first thing an adoptee should know if they're looking for their birthparents. (I wrote an essay on the subject, if you're interested.)

• March 25 podcast -- I fail to review "Sucker Punch." A long discussion of the reasons Cort and Fats are so obsessed with Superman. Also: Whedon agonistes and a "Bourne" reboot.

• April 1 podcast -- A review of "Source Code" (which is pretty great, BTW.) I officially announce my Stumptown Comics Fest books -- and an April 13 release party with David Walker. "The Sabertooth Vampire" gets unusual attention from professional voice actors Ryan McCluskey and Kyle Hebert. Also: Plum theft. Transformers. Amateur-hour holidays. "Phantom Menace" in 3D. And JJ Smoove.

• And finally, we recorded a fairly loopy "Midnight Movie Commentary" for "Aliens" featuring Cort, Fats, David Walker, Erik Henriksen and yrs. truly.
___________

Cort and Fatboy [ iTunes ]

Portland Opera's 'L'Heure Espagnole' and 'L'Enfant et les Sortileges': The Live Comics Adaptation

On Monday, March 28, the Portland Opera held its final "Drink n' Draw" -- inviting a handful of PDX cartoonists to the Newmark Theatre to quaff beer, eat pizza, get a backstage tour, and watch a dress rehearsal of two Ravel one-act operas, "L'Heure Espagnole" and "L'Enfant et les Sortileges."

(God, I love that I live in a city where this sort of thing happens.)

I was just over a virus that spent a week staggering wino-style through my body, so I didn't draw as much as usual. But I managed to assemble low-calorie "live comics adaptations" of both (very entertaining) shows.

My drawings after the jump -- along with links to drawings by other, better cartoonists. These sketches will also be on display in the rotunda-level lobby of the Newmark Theatre during the Friday, April 1 performance of the two mini-operas -- possibly with a few artists in attendance.

Stumptown Comics Fest minicomic No. 3: 'The Sabertooth Vampire' Season One minicomic.

This is the printer's proof. The paper will add a little more color. Just three bucks a copy at the Stumptown Comics Fest and at a special April 13 signing event (more soon).

Stumptown Comics Fest minicomic No. 2: 'Cort and Fatboy and the Buried Unicorns.'

It's at the printer now. Available at my Stumptown Comics Fest table April 16-17 and also at a special April 13 signing event (more on that really, really soon).

'Turandot: The Live Comics Adaptation'

We did it again. On Monday, Jan. 31, the Portland Opera invited about 20 cartoonists to watch (and draw) a dress rehearsal of Puccini’s “Turandot.”

Before the show, the Opera gave us free food and wine at Morton’s. Then they gave us a backstage tour at the Keller Auditorium. And then they encouraged us to draw whatever we wanted during the rehearsal.

I stuck to my usual plan, drawing a “live comics adaptation” during the performance. (You can also download the comic as a PDF.) 

Click here to check out the Portland Opera's gallery of dozens of sketches from all the attendees — all of them reacting in completely different ways to what was happening onstage. These sketches will also be on display in the Keller Auditiorium during the Friday, Feb. 4, 2011 performance of "Turandot" -- possibly with a few cartoonists in attendance. Come on by and pick up a free print version of this comic -- and maybe even print versions of my "live comics adaptations" of "Rigoletto," "The Barber of Seville" and "Pagliacci" while you're at it.

Links to work by all the artists -- and candid photos taken during the evening -- after the jump.

A very quick 'Hansel & Gretel' opera sketch.

 
The Portland Opera once again invited cartoonists to drink and draw a rehearsal of one of their productions -- this time of "Hansel & Gretel." I couldn't make it this time, but I did make this very quick sketch from the publicity stills. Click here to see the other, better sketches by other cartoonists.