Heroes Con road trip this weekend

Due to my freelance work schedule, I will only be at Heroes Con on Sunday. Wish I could I be there for all three glorious geek-filled days, but paying the bills comes first.

I will not have a table, but I will be walking the floor with a backpack full of copies of Suburban Tribe #1 for sale. Right now, the plan is for me to grab one of these packs of iron-on transfer paper, print out a Suburban Tribe logo and wear it on a t-shirt like a big glorious dork. If I can't do that, I'll just dress like a Klingon. I'M KIDDING! If I really can't manage the t-shirt, I'll try to have a couple copies of the comic in my hands at all times. Come up and say "hey", I'll be disappointed if you don't.

This travel schedule makes it unlikely that there will be a new comic here on Monday. Maybe there'll be a sketch. I'll do my best, but missing one strip to attend a national con to promote my work is a bit like making an omlette by breaking a few eggs. Or strips. God, I'm tired.

See you all in Charlotte or back here next week. Happy Independance Day to those of you here in the States.

Super-Quick Blog Update

1. If someone ever says to you, "Print is dead", smack them.
Saturday's Courier-Journal article has brought in more new visitors and all-time page views than all of my previous online efforts (ad banners, forum posts, etc.) combined. Various online comic blogs from all around have picked up on the online version of the article and have linked here from it. I may never purchase online banner space again. Which leads me to tell you that...

2. I am up to my nose in unanswered email.
Orders for the print comic are the number one priority, so please pardon me if you are an old acquaintence/friend or new fan who spotted said article and wrote to me. I am also currently on a hard deadline for a big graphic design project, so it may take me a while to get back to you. Especially because...

3. I will be at Heroes Con this weekend.
Look for me on the floor (I will NOT have a table) with plenty of copies of Suburban Tribe #1 for sale on Sunday. God help me, I will likely be wearing a Suburban Tribe t-shirt. More details later.

Finally, thanks to Tauhid and Mike, creators of Spells and Whistles for linking to me from their home page on Monday. Judging from the amount of hits I got from them, it may be time for the C-J to give them a call!

My 15 minutes of fame starts... now!

Woke up this morning to a big, beefy article on Suburban Tribe published in the Courier-Journal's Louisville Scene. Click here to read the online version. I have also scanned and formatted a PDF version of the article here so you out-of-towners can see it as it appeared in the paper. (1.5mb)

I was bracing myself to see my giant block head on the cover of the Scene itself, but when I went to the store to pick up the paper, I was not prepared to see it on the upper-left corner of the front page. Yikes! Good thing I went to the store with my ballcap on, wearing socks and sandals.



I'm really thrilled with this article. Reporter Tamara Ikenberg knows her pop-culture stuff, and it was very flattering to have her place the comic in the context of all those great comics and cartoons.

Big thanks to Tamara and everyone who took the time to call her to speak with her about the comic. The article ends with a comment about newpaper comics in general, and Beetle Bailey in particular. I placed a bet with my wife that some cranky old so-and-so will misinterpret my remark and write the paper to complain about it. We'll be watching.

Then I turned to today's Beetle Bailey (reproduced below):



...and it just made me want to reach for the tequila.

PS: New link in the site navigation on the right that will take you to Suburban Tribe's Wikipedia entry. Might the kind and dilligent soul who created this page send me your full name? I would like to credit you here somehow.

Do you live in the Louisville, KY area? I NEED YOUR HELP!

Okay, who wants to be famous?

The Courier-Journal is writing an article on Suburban Tribe within the next week and they want to talk with local fans! (kGunn - a.k.a. "StripclubDJ"... are you out there?) If you live in the area and would like to possibly be featured in the article, please send me an email to the address below, and I will give you a phone number to call.

I have already interviewed (rambling on and on about the strip's origins and characters, etc.) and I think this article will be a doozy. So if you're local and you've been reading for a while, please contact me and help me pimp this dog and pony show!

Thanks!

Magneto Sketch & X3 review

I've seen X3 twice now, first with the wife and then with my nephew (who, as he gets older, is becoming my defacto movie-buddy for all sci-fi/fantasy flicks).

When I saw it the first time, I thought it was pretty darn good. Hell, my wife even liked it. All that bisserwissing by the mouth-breathing mental 5-year-olds online had me conditioned to the point where I was expecting to see the superhero equivalent of Godfather III. Then I took my nephew to see it one week later... and I still liked it. More, even.

Now don't get me wrong. The movie was good when it could have been great. But in my opinion, all that was missing was about 20 -30 more minutes of character interaction -- especially for the Dark Phoenix storyline -- that could have addressed so many issues that the movie raised and then moved on from without a second glance, including:

1. Abortion clinic bombings
2. Terrorism
3. The War on Terrorism/Pre-emptive war
4. Class and Racism
5. Genocide
6. Etc, etc.

I mean, holy cow... I've never seen a move raise questions such as these in such an effortless manner... and then turn away from them so it can move on to the next (admittedly impressive) action sequence. All I can suppose is that they were in a rush to get the movie done or the director just didn't trust himself to address these things. Kind of a shame.

AND IN THE "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH ALREADY" DEPARTMENT:
There is a scene during the movie in which Magneto (who admittedly is a terrorist) issues a recorded warning statement which other characters watch... on FOX NEWS. Give me a break! I half expected Bill O'Reilly to show up on the TV screen and tell everyone watching what a scumbag Magneto is.