Let’s get out of this town baby we’re on fire

Heh, I’m still getting used to the WordPress interface. Funny how something little like switching blogging platforms can be so jarring.

f8f24b5ac8b211e2affb22000aa8059e_7

tumblr_mnml3znTDl1qicnlko1_500

I wrapped up It Girl #12 last week! #11 comes out June 19; be sure to place your orders at your local comic shop. The feedback for #10 has been really good. Big thanks to everyone who’s been writing Jamie and me and spreading the word online.

Now I’m back to Over the Surface and an unannounced project. My collaborators on both projects have put me on something I’m fondly calling my “payment plan”, which is 3 pages/week for each, due to prolonged negligence in favor of lucrative freelance work. It’s good hard love, and much needed to make these projects happen. I don’t want to keep relegating them to the back burner, even though commercial work = good.

Portland hosted the 2013 Internation Comic Arts Forum last weekend. I was able to attend a couple of the talks, learned more about the UO’s comics minor, and got to hear Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá speak about their careers and artistic development. We’re really spoiled in Portland; I can’t believe how many amazing people have come through town just this spring.

Lastly, the Picture This! show I participated in at Bridgetown Comedy Fest last month was recorded, and I was so happy to see this clip go up online this week. Check it out!

Only then you’ll see the world all brand new

I haven’t been posting here too much. It’s a combination of having lots of work (a good thing), and the weather being great in Portland. You have to go outside when that happens; it could change back at any minute!

I drew at a little cafe downtown yesterday. Ice coffee, filtered sunlight…heaven!

So what have I been up to? Lots!

There was the Stumptown Comics Fest, which was GREAT this year. Fest director Kaebel Hashitani knows what he’s doing and his team was on it. The guests were phenomenal. I spent about as much time away from my table as at it–there was so much I wanted to see!

Brett Warnock gave me this copy of Jess Fink’s new book. I LOVED it. Whatever materials she’s using (pencils and a wash?) really work. It’s so pretty and warm.

I have a gallery show this month at Sequential Art Gallery, and I did a First Thursday event for the opening of that. I was on Geek in the City with Merrick Monroe to promote it.

^(That has to be the happiest face of mine anyone has ever caught on camera. I love it.)

On May 6 I had a signing at Powell’s for Husbands!!! I got to meet Brad Bell, Jane Espenson, and Tania del Rio. We did a panel and Q&A with my studio mates Ron Chan and Ben Dewey as well. It was cool having so much of the creative team in one place. The crowd was great and we filled that Pearl Room space!

It felt full-circle for me because I found out about Periscope Studio at a Powell’s author reading in the exact same place where Steve Lieber and Jeff Parker were speakers. I was a 19-year-old, making comics but badly wanting some IRL comics friends. Finding out about the studio changed everything for me.

I’m working away on It Girl issue #12. Mike Norton, Chynna Clugston, and I each get 8 pages–I think it’s a really nice device for bringing the whole creative team together in the finale issue. I got my comp copies for #10 yesterday and I am SO happy with them. The issue drops May 15; be sure to pick it up!

I’ve been running for exercise. I’m finally finding the nice pockets for that in my neighborhood.

And I’m still a klutz. At least I have an outlet.

Lastly, I’ll leave you with some new doodles. Until next time!

Flew me to places I’d never been

Image’s May solicitations are out!

IT GIRL & THE ATOMICS 10
story JAMIE S. RICH
art NATALIE NOURIGAT
cover MICHAEL & LAURA ALLRED
MAY 15
32 PAGES / FC / E EVERYONE
$2.99
“TWEENAGE FBI” Part One
BETWEEN GEARS creator NATALIE NOURIGAT joins the Atomics team! Someone broke into Flem’s lab and stole a dangerous invention. It Girl picks up the crooks’ trail, only to discover it leads to a team of underage secret agents – though the real criminal mastermind is centuries older than all of them.

Wait, WHAT?

Yes, friends, I got to draw an issue of It Girl! Jamie’s script is crazy-fun, Mike’s universe is sensational, Allen Passalaqua and CRANK! take my black and white pages and turn them into magical complete perfect comics angelbabies. This is the first superhero comic I’ve ever drawn and I couldn’t be happier about it. Make sure to preorder your copy and enjoy It Girl & The Atomics #10!

Show some mercy if you can

Unfortunately, this is how I experienced the whole movie.

Sorry, Jeff!
Making movies, making music~

They really reminded me of the brofoes in Hark, a Vagrant #265.

I was kind of annoyed by all of these characters.

More movie reaction comics: What Women Want, Looper, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2, Skyfall, The Dark Knight Rises, Magic Mike, Brave, Prometheus

I do not feel ashamed

So here’s what happened last night:

Have you seen What Women Want? I recommend it! Try finding a copy to watch before reading these comics; they’ll be funnier if you are familiar with the movie:

What Women Want was released when I was 12, and I only saw about 10 minutes of it on TV once, so it was practically brand new to me. I thought previously that it was a standard romcom, and the convenient magic element turned me off in the previews, but I turned out to really like it! I’m glad I went back and watched it. It had some really great things to say and I loved a LOT of little things the movie did. Probably too many to list. But here are a few: hearing the deaf women’s conversation, Nick’s rant to his male coworker about what he’s discovered about men and women, positive portrayal of Nike (Portland priiiide), so very many lady characters / speaking roles, the Ivy-league-graduated secretary’s rant, the way that Alex knew all of the reassuring cliches but hearing them reinforced by her dad helped her believe them, the reveal about Erin appealing to Nick to be a copywriter, Darcy sinking into her bubble bath after her bad day rather than answering her phone, and just the general lack of things that piss me off in movies (directed by a woman and co-written by a man and two women…coincidence?).

My other movie reaction comics: Looper, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2, Skyfall, The Dark Knight Rises, Magic Mike, Brave, Prometheus

I could show you things that could make you sick

I saw Looper this week! Read on for SPOILER-filled reaction comics:

One of the things I liked best about the film was the slow (like, embarrassingly slow) realization that I was NOT rooting for Old Joe. Him killing that little boy was a point of no return, but I didn’t realize until the final confrontation that Old Joe was not our protagonist. We are so conditioned to side with characters who are motivated by love, it takes time to see that Old Joe is not the wiser of the Joes. In actuality, Young Joe comes to understand the nature of love far better than Old Joe does–he chooses self-sacrifice for the greater good over preserving one individual’s experience of love. He sees beyond himself and breaks the cycle so that others can thrive.

I mean, you all saw the movie. You know this. But can we talk about it a bit? That was amazing!

At Sara’s first appearance, I asked, “Is this our prostitute friend (Suzie)?” I was not the only one in the group who assumed that it was. Diversity please.

Okay so this movie you guys. Two days ago I would swear up and down that Safety Not Guaranteed was the best film of the year, but now…I think I’m on team Looper. Just. Wow. It almost never happens that a movie is that surprising and makes sense. That it also makes statements about ending the cycle of violence, self-sacrifice, and the subjectivity of good/evil at the end of a shoot-em-up action movie? Incredible.

Details I absolutely loved: Old Joe’s falling-in-love montage, Sara’s mimed smoke on the porch, Abe’s understated death off-camera cuing that he is not our main antagonist, Joe practicing French while waiting to kill someone, frog toy booty call, final shots of Sara and Sid going through daily life together.

Read my reactions to other movies:
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2, Skyfall, The Dark Knight Rises, Magic Mike, Brave, Prometheus

These times are changing and reshaping into something I can’t face

I saw The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (in 2D, non-iMAX, and I-can’t-remember-how-many-fps)! Read on for SPOILER-filled reaction comics~

I started twitching in my seat after 2 hours, but the movie held my attention throughout. I enjoyed revisiting the rich world of The Hobbit, and appreciated the time lavished on the sets and creatures. The designs were incredible! The diversity amongst the dwarves’ designs, the shots of The Shire and Rivendell, the gobelins and orcs and trolls and stone giants…amazing!

Okay, I had one big issue and it was with the horrific staging during the chase scene where Radagast leads the Wargs/Orcs away from Team Gandalf. What the hell was going on in that scene? Back and forth and back and forth, it felt like Team Gandalf was stuck behind the same rock the whole time, even though it was suggested that they were moving.

*Gollum (thanks, Ann)

Every hour has come to this

(Other reviews: Skyfall, The Dark Knight Rises, Magic Mike, Brave, Prometheus)

I watched Twilight: Breaking Dawn, part 2 last night! Read on for reaction comics. As always, SPOILERS!

So…I actually really, really liked what they did with that battle. All of the action and drama of a full-on fight, because you believe it’s really happening, and then a conclusion where A) the “villain” or hate sink doesn’t need to die*, B) the conflict is resolved through discourse, and C) everyone finds a way to coexist albeit a compromise. THAT NEVER HAPPENS IN BLOCKBUSTERS YOU GUYS.
*I mean, I guess that Irina did play the hate sink and die….but I’m counting Aro as the main one and the rest of the Volturi as next in line.

You may have my number you can take my name but you’ll never have my heart

I saw the new Bond film Skyfall last night! Here are some reaction comics I made before bed. As always, SPOILERS!

*Incongruous

*Whoops, that’s “Silva”…ha ha….British accents, you know…!

^My mom and I made this joke almost simultaneously.

So okay, it’s fun to poke holes in movies, but in all seriousness I really enjoyed Skyfall and will be recommending it to my friends. It’s a good Bond film. It’s a good action film. The glass door scene? The opening shot? The rat monologue? The rooftop dirt biking? The new Q? The use of the backhoe loader? The word association game? Every single establishing shot in the film? *whistle*
I was a little underwhelmed by the plot and the not-so-deep reveals about James Bond’s past because my friends had built it up a bit too much, but ah well. He’s an orphan. He hid in a cellar once. I would have loved more character development than that, but I should have reminded myself that I was going into a James Bond film and they need to save all the time they can for the shoot-outs and explosions. That final act…don’t even get me started. The ice scene was cool, but I was falling asleep during the rest of the fire BOOM fire shouting BOOM stuff.

I can feel my feet on the ground

I’m back from Oahu and it was GREAT! I had this image in my head that Oahu was one giant city, and why would you travel all the way to Hawai’i to just be in another city?, but it was actually the best island experience I’ve had yet. There are parks and hikes and tons of nature within walking distance from Honolulu, and some parts of the island look completely untouched.

Here are my travel sketches. I would clean them up if I had more free time, but I’ve got to hit the ground running today on actual work-work. Even if some of these are less-than-legible, I hope you enjoy!

I looooove the way that the island looks from the water. The clouds passing over the mountains cast shadows that seem black in contrast to the bright light shining everywhere else. It made this great layering effect on the mountains, depending on whether the shadows were on the peaks closest to you or further away.

Autobio travel comics:
In hindsight, these sound a little…boastful? That’s not my intention; I just want to remember what we did. It was an extraordinary trip and it looks like an embarrassment of riches when it’s all listed off in one place.