Morning, all --

The Center for Cartoon Studies graduation is today.

Here's the talk I'm giving the students and their families this morning;
I'm counting on all of them being too busy to have time to read my blog before heading out to the morning brunch, where they'll be subjected to this -- surely, once is enough
(but at least enjoying some of White River's finest dining at the Tip-Top Cafe).

This one's dedicated to a few folks:

To my daughter Maia and my son Daniel;
to James and Michelle;
and to the great Joe Kubert,
for making dreams come true, and showing me the path.

Enjoy -- and have a great weekend.
_____________________

I’m going to direct my talk today to the parents as much as the graduates and fellow CCSers, so please, bear with me.

All we have are our stories.

When I was a kid, growing up in northern VT, there were things we took for granted:

America was the greatest nation in the world -- General Motors made the best cars -- Chrysler, Pan-Am and TWA and Howard Johnson would be around forever, and -- stories and comic books were kid stuff.

Comicbooks were for us KIDS, not for grown-ups.

It was tough being the only kid in Duxbury, VT who wanted to draw comic books for a living.

My next-door neighbor, Mitch Casey, was a couple of years older than me; he was the first person I ever saw draw a comic book -- tiny home-made, stapled pamphlets, made by folding 8 1/2 x 11 paper over, drawing the comic page by page on each side, and selling them for milk money at school.

Mitch taught me to draw comics, but as he got older, he abandoned our collaborative comic-creating efforts -- girls and sports were more interesting.

I kept drawing.

I kept making up stories.

My father, a military man who served in four branches of the service and worked hard all his life, blue-collar through and through, had a tough time with this.

Drawing never seemed a very manly thing to do, and how was his son ever going to earn a living doing something so silly? My older brother and younger sister volunteered for the military -- that made perfect sense to my father -- but I kept drawing, against all opposition and odds and attempts to steer me to more adult concerns, and this never, ever made sense to him.

In 1968, when I was thirteen, it just didn’t make sense to want to draw comic books all one’s adult life. I might as well have said I wanted to live on one of the moons of Saturn.

In 1968, if I wanted to try and turn a friend on to what I considered the best in comics, the best I could do was loan him or her a stack of worn comicbooks, saying, “These really are great!” Nine times out of ten, these would be superhero comics -- most likely Marvel superhero comics -- and these were still easily dismissed as ephemeral, childish things.

In 1968, there were no comic BOOKS, the term ‘graphic novel’ didn’t even exist yet. TIN TIN was still relatively unknown in America, and the only evidence of manga in America were Saturday morning TV shows like ASTRO BOY, adapted from Osamu Tezuka’s classic MIGHTY ATOM manga series (though we didn’t know that).

In 1968, when the great filmmaker Stanley Kubrick and great futurist and science-fiction author Arthur C. Clarke joined to make the ultimate sf film, 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, they populated their future with artifacts and trademarks of the American corporations certain to survive into the 21st Century: Pan-Am, Howard Johnson, and so on.

Like I said, we knew in our heart of hearts those American business icons would last forever.

A lot has changed.

Every single American corporation that appeared in 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY no longer exists.

Chrysler no longer makes the best cars in the world -- in fact, they haven’t done so in decades. Chrysler is effectively no more, as of this past week; a shadow of its former self, a clutch of corporate assets to be sold off piecemeal by its current German owner.

But comic books are still alive and well. Comic books have been the wellspring of most of our summer blockbuster movies, habitually breaking opening weekend boxoffice records and now one of America’s major export successes.

In fact, America’s #1 export is no longer tangible goods -- steel, cars, manufactured goods -- but STORIES. Stories are the 21st Century’s coin of the realm, of the world.

Stories, characters, imaginary concepts, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTIES: movies, TV programming, music, novels, comicbooks and graphic novels. Many of America’s most lucrative exports derived from intellectual properties are adaptations of comic books and graphic novels, primary among them movie adaptations.

Comic books have grown up -- not only are there adult comics, but comic BOOKS -- GRAPHIC NOVELS -- have, for the first time in history, as of this past winter, eclipsed comicbooks in gross dollar sales. They are now in every book store, a known quantity, a desirable commodity.

This was unimaginable, a pipe dream, in 1968. But a generation dreamed -- the Will Eisners, Harvey Kurtzmans Jack Kirbys and Joe Kuberts of the world -- and dreams can come true.

But every generation has to MAKE their own dreams come true.

Every generation has to tell their stories to the next, TEACH the next, so that they can tell their stories -- so that they can dream, and realize their dreams.

A lot has changed.

For me, life changed when I attended the first comics college in North America, the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art, Inc. in Dover, New Jersey. I went in the fall of 1976, a little over 30 years ago; I was a member of the first class, ever.

For me, life changed when my father, diehard blue-collar military veteran that he was and still is, met the founder of that school, Joe Kubert -- a man’s man, a military vet, and a hard worker who raised a large family (five kids!) on what he’d earned drawing comic books -- and suddenly, what I’d wanted to do all my life made SENSE to my father. It WAS possible. It WAS -- well, OK.

I owe so much to Joe, and to his school, to my Kubert School classmates and everyone who was there. It was a dream of Joe’s to pass on all he and his generation knows to US -- and what a gift it was, and remains.

It is perhaps the greatest gift I’ve ever received, since my parents gave me life itself. Joe and his peers told us their stories, and taught us to tell our own. Thank you, Joe.

I was already publishing my first work -- earning my first paychecks -- before I finished my first year in that two-year program. I graduated from North America’s first-ever cartooning college in the spring of 1978. I was entering the comics industry in a time of great turmoil and collapse, but my peers and I made our way into the industry, bit by bit, drawing by drawing, story by story, job by job, and by the 1980s we were part of a generation that changed comics. We made our mark, as best we could. We earned livings and raised families.

My God, my daughter graduated from high school in that once-faraway future year -- 2001!

My son graduated from high school four years later.

Who would have thought, in 2001, I would even have a daughter? A son?

And that I would be able to raise them both on what I earned telling my stories and drawing comic books?

A lot has changed.

I told my stories, and those I shared with creators I was lucky enough to work with; I made my mark in comics for three decades, and thought it was time to move on.

But my work wasn’t done -- it was important to tell my stories and pass on all I know to the next generation.

How, then, could I resist the invitation, from James Sturm and Michelle Ollie, to teach the first-ever class at North America’s only other cartooning college?

Well, I couldn’t resist. And here we all are, today.

We have our stories, one and all.

It has been my great privilege to teach, draw with, and get to know your children -- now adults, all -- the pioneer, first-ever class at the SECOND comics college in North America, the Center for Cartoon Studies. It has been a great, grand adventure for all of us, and no other class will experience what THEY have experienced, accomplish what THEY have accomplished.

They have stories they alone know, and can tell.

Many of them have already shared their stories, their art. They have self-published, here, many comics. Many of them have already earned their first paychecks as cartoonists and illustrators, and have completed or launched work on their first graphic novels.

They are part of the first American generation to grow up without any negative baggage attached to comic books. They are the first American generation to grow up with ADULT comics, GRAPHIC NOVELS, a part of their landscape, a reality rather than a dream.

They know there is nothing silly about telling stories. They value stories, the greatest American commodity today.

They are part of the first American generation in which intangibles -- stories, characters, ideas, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTIES -- are America’s #1 export, the fuel that drives the engines of pop culture, and they -- these students, these graduates -- are FULL OF IDEAS.

They have stories, and will make and tell many more. They know HOW TO PUT THEM DOWN ON PAPER, into digital space and the world, they have the necessary knowledge and tools to make their way in the world.

What they have, today, is worth more than Chrysler and Pan-Am and Howard Johnson, worth more than American cars or steel. In the 21st Century, stories are worth more than all that.

Your faith in them, their art, their stories -- in their dreams -- is commendable and wonderful.

They are entering as uncertain and difficult a world as any prior generation has. That’s scary, yes, but they are armed with their own unique stories and skills, their own unique visions and voices, and with the community they have formed here, with one another.

They are better prepared for the 21st Century than any of we who grew up in the 20th Century -- believe in them, because they believe in themselves -- and they are RIGHT to.

It’s THEIR world now. They have stories to tell. I want to see, hear, read them all.

It has been an honor to teach you, to know you, to work with you, to draw with you, to see you here, today, with your families. I look forward to knowing you, drawing with you, reading YOUR stories, YOUR comics and graphic novels, for years to come -- for the rest of my life.

May you know one another, love one another, dream and draw and change the world together, from this day forward. May you read one another’s comics for the rest of your lives, and teach all you know to the next generation.

YOU are the first graduating class of the Center for Cartoon Studies, and we applaud you.

Zombies, Brickbats & Dragonflies

With real spring hitting, the black flies are finally out, along with the blessings of night moths and my first glimpse of butterflies and dragonflies yesterday by daylight. I love this time of year -- so, to commemorate the new awakening, here's some early morning dragonflies for you. Dragonflies courtesy of my daughter Maia Bissette ('Technicfarce' c 2007 Maia Rose Bissette) -- Thanks, Maia!

Whoa, sobering news yesterday for Chrysler's 80,000 US employees, and another major landmark in the changing times as we continue to lurch into the 21st Century.

Don't underestimate the import of this devastating turn for the auto manufacturer, which unmoors one of the true 20th Century corporate giants those of my generation grew up with as an economic anchor, for better or worse.

Seismic shocks of another kind are continuing to hammer the fringes of the Bush Administration, apart from our ruinous foreign policies and wars:

A panel of executives at the World Bank just ruled that its President (and Bush appointee) Paul Wolfowitz broke the bank's code of conduct and violated the terms of his contract,

but the big news this morning is that the second highest official in the US Justice Department, Paul McNulty, is resigning -- maybe Alberto Gonzales will yet have to pay the piper for his crimes against the Constitution?

Time will tell... keep an eye on these ongoing situations.

Not having enough real-life apocalyptic catastrophes in our own lives, my stepson Mike and I dashed out last night for the viral armageddon opus 28 Weeks Later. I had some fun with it; the film is an invigorating and sturdily made outing for most of its running time, but ran out of gas in its final act. Six+ screenwriters credited, and nothing new to add to its subgenre; it's 20th Century Fox's genre subsidiary Fox Atomic doing its bit for keeping derivative traditions we used to depend upon cheapjack producers to keep alive back in the '80s (and the second such Fox Atomic outing I've seen in a little over a month, on the heels of The Hills Have Eyes 2, which was nastier, meatier, more satisfying fare for this depraved horror addict). Still, nice to see a flick with Mike, and we enjoyed the time out -- more on 28 Weeks Later when I play Cine-Ketchup next week (after a long hiatus posting such comments, though I've seen tons of movies). I hope to see Paul Verhoeven's Black Book before then, too (a return to form for a one-time masterful director?)... lots to talk about in that department.

But here's what I really want to share with you all this fine rainy Tuesday, to wind up on a cheerier note. This just in from Colin Mathieson and Dave West of Accent UK, aimed at contributors to the Zombies anthology, but worth sharing with all of you as a report of that collection's successful debut and an update:

Dear All

Just back from Bristol earlier today so brief update on what was probably our best ever convention!

We’re very pleased to report that Zombies was a well received hit with record sales and an overwhelmingly positive response. Everyone commented on the quality of the strips, the design and the printing with the result that there was a real buzz about the book.

Thankfully many of you were there and able to share in the moment and enjoy what had to be one of the busiest Bristols ever (despite the weather!). It was great catching up with you all and registering everyone’s delight with the way the book turned out and hear of your own creative projects and ideas for Robots – actually we had several ‘new’ interested writers and artists wanting to contribute to next year’s Robots so we’re expecting another strong batch of submissions.

"An Alphabet of Zombie" (c) 2007 SR & Daniel Bissette

We are hoping for a wide coverage and distribution with us being approached over the weekend by no less than 5 separate retailers to stock both Zombies and our other release Wolfmen, with provisional deals set up with 2 others! We also had an encouraging meeting with Diamond’s representatives (and await their USA panel review with interest) so your work is getting the best chance of a wide audience and will hopefully complement and highlight your own individual projects.

Special congratulations must also go to Andy Winter, whose Hero Killers book deservedly won this year’s Eagle for favourite British black and white comic book. Andy’s award nicely follows last year’s success for fellow Zombies contributor Dave Hitchcock’s Spring Heeled Jack series, so well done chaps!

A fuller report on Bristol will follow on the website in due course and we’ll keep you informed of Zombies progress but in the meantime thanks once again for all your hard work and being a successful part of our annual anthology.

Cheers

Colin M and Dave W

Colin added, "Zombies had a tremendous reception – your cover really caught everyone’s attention and when they saw the quality of the strips inside, it was an easy sell! Several buyers mentioned your Indie Spinner interview too, so that proves the plugging works!!"

Shameless huckster Bissette signing off, reminding you to

keep an eye on the Accent UK site for photos, updates, news and ordering info -- remember, Zombies does not yet have a US distributor, so you may want to order your copies now via Accent UK --

-- and to have a great Tuesday, one and all. Cheers!

Another Sweet Spring Morn...

The rest of the area seems to have been hit with freezing rain and sleet, but we're blessedly dry and sunny this AM. Cool.

Best of all, my drawing space is at last set up and functional in our new home!

Turns out I'm still using my original drawing board -- I wasn't sure which one I ended up with, between the move and Danny claiming one board for himself. I've ended up with the very board my parents bought for me waaaaaaaaaay back in 1971; still has the magic marker spider glyph I 'signed' it with on the back. I had the surface refinished around 1980 (faux-wood-texture formica) since the original board surface was so scarred up, but this is the very board I drew 1941, "Kultz," "A Frog is a Frog," "The Blood Bequest," two issues of the never-published Marvel Science comics series, Swamp Thing, The Fury, N-Man, Tyrant, etc. pages on. It's been mighty good to me, this ol' board.

Oddly enough, I never once drew on this board between my decision to retire from the US comics industry in 1999 and today. No doubt, this was due in large part to my complete indifference to drawing much at all during that stretch of time -- I really didn't care. In all the time Marge and I lived in Marlboro, I never set this puppy up to draw. Any art I did during that period was drawn in my sketchbook(s) or on my laptop board or our dining room table. But this is a different time, a different place, and I'm in a much more creative space, physically and emotionally -- between the shot in the arm my son Dan, my daughter Maia, everyone at CCS and this new phase of life have all cumulatively given me, it's a joy to at last prepare the new studio in our new digs. It's looking nice, it's pretty comfy, and I've got a nice view of the woods behind our house from where I'm sitting when I'm at the board.

I finally sorted out the drawing lamp situation very early this AM, disposing of the one truly unfixable light and prepping two to donate to CCS. After years of holding on to a number of drawing lamps, I'm resorting to the venerable old lamp I used in my Saga of the Swamp Thing days -- it still works fine, though it's a bit crusty, but then again, so am I. Heck, it's even got the ol' alligator-foot gris gris Nancy Collins gave me ages ago still hanging from it. Good gris-gris, and it'll be fun to be drawing on the old board again.

____________

This just in from the Trees & Hills cartooning group omni-inkslinger Colin Tedford.

The group's site is

here;

Colin's site is

here.

The Trees & Hills SPRING TOUR continues this coming weekend (March 24-25) at the Boston Zine Fair

(their website is here).

Dan Barlow, Keith Moriarty & Colin Tedford will be crewing the Trees & Hills table, while E.J. Barnes, Marek Bennett, and Anne Thalheimer will have their own table space. New comics: Marek's Mimi's Doughnuts #10, Colin's Before Sleep #4, and Anne's Booty #20.

The deadline has been extended for the Keene Free Comics TV Turnoff Week Special - all submissions must be in to me by the end of this month. Keep in mind (though I don't think I've mentioned before) that previously-drawn material that fits the theme is acceptable.

The Commons's new comic page debuts in April, featuring strips by Marek Bennett, Jade Harmon, Zach Stephens & Colin Tedford.

Sunday, April 1 Colin & Dan will be tabling at the Comic Book Show in Nashua, NH.

The following weekend on Saturday, April 7, we will have a drawing party at the Center For Cartoon Studies from 1-5 pm. Come on up for drawing, jamming, socializing, snacking, and more! If you plan to go, please RSVP Robyn Chapman (chapman@cartoonstudies.org).

Best, Colin Tedford
__________

Thanks, Colin!

Don't know if I'll be at the CCS powwow, but I hope to be.

More later today...

Have a Great Thursday!

Breakfast with Daniel

Gotta run -- breakfast with #1 son.

Will post later this AM -- though it's gonna be a sparse blogging week, folks, just so's you know. I'll be back online daily as of Monday next.

Still, check this out --

"It passed in Jericho, the hometown of House Speaker Gaye Symington. It passed in Hartland, the hometown of Congressman Peter Welch. It passed in Middlebury, the hometown of Gov. James Douglas. In all, 38 communities passed resolutions at their town meetings calling for the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney..."

Next, succession from the Union. News at 11...

The Heart of Saturday Night...

No Tom Waites tonight, spinning

The Devil Makes Three CDs -- all three --

and savoring the tunes while baking some homemade Bissette-style chocolate chip cookies.

The house is swinging (I am deep in love with

Devil Makes Three, and if you want to hear a sample and check 'em out for yourself, click here, slick!)

and it sure smells goooooooood. My deepest thanks once more to Maia and Danny for turning me on to this great music, and howdy out to Peter, Lucia and Cooper, for what it's worth.

Well, here in Windsor, the snow is still blowing, but dropped out just shy of 7 inches or so. We're all plowed out, dug out and fancy free, but no desire to risk the icy roads to go anywhere. Why leave this sweet home tonight?

Screened two movies as part of my WRIF (White River Independent Film festival) duties, one pleasant, one incredible. I'll write about 'em tomorrow. 'Nite, all...

Inkslingers, Assemble!

Compliments of curator Idoline Duke of

the Helen Day Art Center in Stowe, VT

comes this tasty portrait from

this past Wednesday's VT cartoonists gatherum in Burlington.

From left to right, back row: Jeff Danziger, James Kochalka, and yours truly; front row: Harry Bliss, Ed Koren, James Sturm. A fine time was had by all, and the dinner afterworks (at the Pacific Rim eatery) was delish and great fun.
_______________

Zombies Bios

Here's the lineup of fellow American cartoonists I appear alongside in the upcoming Accent UK Zombies anthology. More info & images as May -- and the anthology's publication -- approaches!

Daniel Bissette is a native Vermonter (b 1985) and has been drawing, writing and making music of one kind or another (drums, guitar, etc.) all life. His art appears in an Italian book on Lucio Fulci, onscreen in Lance Weiler's new feature film Head Trauma, on its companion alternative soundtrack CD Cursed, and his first self-published zine was Hot Chicks Take Huge Shits (2006). He lives in Brattleboro, VT, DJs for the local radio station, and he and his dad Steve jammed on a piece for the mini-comic Trees & Hills and Friends before re-teaming for this anthology.

Chuck Forsman currently attends The Center for Cartoon Studies in White River Junction, Vermont where he researches how to sleep less and draw more. Visit

http://mcbuck.wordpress.com.

Jaci June is a student of the Center for Cartoon Studies, and a former resident of southern California. Comix for Jaci are what brains are for zombies: vital sustenance.

Sean Morgan: Born a cowboy, raised a Creole, forever a Yankee. There's no button Mr. Morgan won't push. His artwork (including the monster cover/splash) graces the “Jersey Devil” minicomic packaged with the Heretic DVD release of The Last Broadcast.

Bob Oxman was born in Ohio and raised in New Hampshire where he discovered his three loves: comic books, skateboarding, and beer. Bob started drawing comics in math class using graphing paper. At the University of California Santa Barbara, Bob and Mark Smith cofounded the Comic Book Creator’s Co-op, creating comics published in both campus newspapers and teaching a popular colloquium on graphic novels during their senior year. After college, Bob drifted through a series of uninspiring occupations (temping at a gel implants corporation, working for an insurance company, etc.), eventually moving back home to NH to attend classes at The Center for Cartoon Studies. Bob is currently hard at work on Smuttynose, a macabre retelling of the infamous Smuttynose Island, Maine axe murders of 1873, and he brews several fine beers featuring comic labels, as he works professionally in art crime prevention at the Hood Museum of Art for Dartmouth College.

Against his wishes, Morgan Pielli was born in Connecticut. Here he began creating comics of dubious quality from the tender age of seven. At age twelve his cartoons began appearing in the school newspaper; and the tragic course he had set was clear. But in an unexpected moment of weakness, Morgan decided that a classical art education was needed. After four years of painting pictures of squares bigger than his head, Morgan physically pried a BFA from the cold unfeeling hands of Bard College president Leon Botstein. Dr. Botstein shook his fist and cursed Morgan, vowing to someday have his revenge.Currently Morgan resides in Vermont where he attends the Center for Cartoon Studies. His cartoons “The Dancing Paperclip of Tormented Souls” and “Morgan's Guide to a Fruitful Life” are read by several people world-wide and enjoyed by nearly as many. Morgan's work can be found at

http://morganpielli.rated-arr.net

if you're into that sort of thing.

Jeremiah Piersol is a 2002 graduate of Art Center of College of Design, Pasadena , California (Bachelors of Fine Art). He is currently studying cartooning at The Center for Cartoon Studies, White River Junction, VT. His past endeavors including interning at the The Susquehanna Art Museum, Harrisburg, PA, and volunteer work at The State Museum of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, PA. and The Water Street Rescue Mission, Lancaster, PA; he was born in Lancaster. Jeremiah’s interests include Art in all forms, comics, quantum physics, paranormal research, post-modern theory, and popular culture.

Denis St. John (b 1981) heralds from most of the United States (California, New Orleans, Washington D.C., the Midwest, etc.). Denis was a local children’s show host in Indiana and co-host for a midnight horror show, often playing the creature for the creature feature, alongside the very real and cranky Dr. Calamari. Denis is currently a student at the Center for Cartoon Studies in Vermont, and is trying to move on with his life after the glamour of children’s show host fame has faded.

B.C. Sterrett was born and raised in Ogden, Utah. His ongoing comic strip "The Sweetest of Dreams" has been published by Young American Comics, in entertainment rags like Melting Music and The Salt Shaker, and various other school papers, zines, and newsletters. He acts as founder and current director of the Lost Media Archive Museum and Library, salvaging and saving forgotten and obsolete media formats. Previous host of the long running "Oddity Rock Radio Show" on KWCR, he and has produced and hosted various broadcasts of rare and unusual music throughout the years (i.e. "Outsider Music" on live365.com). He is currently a student at The Center For Cartoon Studies, in White River Junction, VT. Contact: bcsterrett@gmail.com

_________

BTW, speaking of Blair and his creative and archival endeavors, the January 13th Lost Media Archive Museum and Library event I noted

in my January 13th post on this blog (scroll down to that day's posting, just below the glowering Varnae art) yielded photos by Blair's friend Janean Parker,

which are posted online here -- check 'em out!

Check it all out, please, and savor the beauty of it all.

Have a Great Saturday, One & All!

Zombies!,
Digging Out,
& Citro Speaks!

Hey, folks, Bissette horror comics are back!

Well, sort of.

Here's my cover art for the upcoming Accent UK anthology Zombies, just in from editors Dave West and Colin Mathieson. Their designer Andy Bloor took my black-and-white original (after Dave and Colin chose their favorite of the three potential cover images I submitted) and dressed it up with this straightforward bullseye-to-the-cornea use of color, which works beautifully.

Kudos to you, Andy! I love it.

Colin writes to say, "the issue will be released in the UK in May at the Comic Expo event in Bristol 12th/13th May, (with final line up and cover price shortly to be fixed) but we are also looking at possible distribution through Diamond so the book can be widely available to our colonial cousins! More to come on all that later..."

Of the Accent UK contributors from their side of the Atlantic, it's worth noting again that this whole project emerged from a conversation with John Reppion, Leah Moore and Colin and Dave in Denmark, the seed for which was planted in front of the Accent UK booth at the Copenhagen convention Komiks.DK 2006 we all attended in March/April. If I may quote a May 31st email from Colin, he recalls, "It's actually John's fault that we changed the theme on hearing of his zombie fixation and Leah's banter with him about it ("Oh you and your zombies!"), which made us realize that Zombies had that immediacy and fun element which could be interpreted in lots of different ways for an anthology, and would also prove an interesting rematch for the Moore, Reppion and Hitchcock team, so a quick editorial meeting on our return to the UK and we were away!"

So, leading the pack will be a new collaboration from the Leah Moore, John Reppion and Dave Hitchcock team. Colin and Dave first sent out the invitation to contribute to their Accent UK circle (and yours truly) on October 1st, 2006, and the project soon swelled beyond the parameters of their previous anthology Monsters to become Accent UK's first book-format, squarebound anthology. Once Dave and Colin responded positively to my suggestion that I work with Dan and Maia on stories, and extend the invitation to CCS students, I was fully committed and did my best to give Accent UK something memorable from the US. Proud to be part of it!

The other UK contributors include Dave West and Colin Mathieson themselves, cover designer Andy Bloor (solo and working with writer Kieron Gillen); Kieren Brown & Tom Jileson, Jason Cobley & Paul Harrison-Davies, Bridgeen Gillespie, Taboo vets Shane Oakley and Gary Crutchley (solo stories, not collaborating this time around), Laura Howell, David Baillie, Andrew Cheverton (solo and a collaboration with Tim Keable), Garry Brown, Owen Johnson, James Gray, Darren Ellis & Roland Bird, Graeme Neil Reid, Paul Cartwright, Jon Ayre & One Neck, Phil Rigby & Manoel Magalhães, Benjamin Dickson, Tony Hitchman & Leonie O'Moore, Indio, Chris Dingsdale & Dan Denholt, Matt Boyce, Andy Winter & Natalie Sandells, Matt Timson, Chris Doherty and others I don't know about as yet.

Want to see more? Well, Dave will be updating

the Accent UK site this weekend to include all this and more,

so keep that website tabbed on your computer for updates. I'll keep mum about my son Dan's and my own contributions to the anthology until we get closer to publication date. I will, however, offer snapshots of the horrific stories and art contributions from the Center for Cartoon Studies artists/writers: Morgan Pielli, Jeremiah Piersol, B.C. Sterrett, Sean Morgan, Matt Young, Chuck Forsman, Bob Oxman, Denis St. John and Jaci June -- including links to their respective sites -- in the coming weeks.

___________________

That said, in reply to emails I've been receiving since the weekend announcement of this project: No, I'm not out of retirement. My retirement from the US comics industry stands.

I've drawn comics for myself all along, in my sketchbooks and such, and happily open up when it involves CCS, my son Dan, daughter Maia or friends; with Dan's Hot Chicks Take Huge Shits zine, the Trees & Hills anthology of last fall, and this upcoming Zombies collection (for a UK publisher), I'm indeed visible in print again, enjoying playing in the medium again, and glad some of what I'm up to will reach those of you who care. But this doesn't mean you'll be seeing me in the DC, Marvel, Dark Horse or Image plantations again -- far from it (& them). So quell any such anticipation, folks. If I do pursue inroads to future publication, it won't be in the US comics industry proper, such as it remains.

But if you do care, you'll read about whatever the heck it may be, and see samples of the art and/or creative effort, here first. To quote you-know-who, "'Nuff said!"

________________

Just shoveled out before starting this post -- as of 5 AM, we ended up with 20+ inches here in Windsor. I got out early to shovel because once the sun hits this snow, it's gonna get heavy to shovel; no doubt, there's lots of black ice under this snow cover on the roads, too. Luckily, we've got no wind here on Taylor Drive, quite unlike our old Marlboro home, which was always buffeted with winds in these kinds of storms. My stepson Mike told Marge last night that over in Claremont, NH (about a half hour from our Windsor digs) they were getting heavy wind last night, creating massive snowdrifts. We've none of that here, the snow lays where and as it fell.

Shoveled out our front steps and walk, over to the propane fill 'cap' further into the front yard, then stomped on down to the foot of the driveway to see if our morning paper was there. Viola! There it was, atop the snow, just tossed -- had I waited till the plows were out, we would have found it in the spring.

The storm is truly over: the sky is crystal clear, the stars (and a sprinkle of the Milky Way) visible horizon to horizon. I took a little walk around the neighborhood, until my glasses fogged so I could no longer see... by then my beard was crusted with frost and ice, too, so back home I went, scraped out in front of the garage doors, and came back in to hear the phone ring. Marge's school is delayed two hours, so she's able to sleep in again, lucky woman. I can hear her snoozing downstairs.

I've got the TV on: Burlington's WCAX (Channel 3) is reporting 40 inches in Jefferson, NH; here in VT, I caught reports for Bolton Valley, 40 inches; Stowe, 29 inches; 24+ in Burlington (now in top ten biggest snowstorms in that area in recorded history), etc. We're all digging out now, eh?

____________

One of my best friends is Joe Citro, writer/novelist/folklorist extraordinaire, and Joe has

long had a website, graced with his grinning mug and tons of info about the man, his work and his obsessions.

Well, those he cares to share with the public, that is.



But now, Joe's taken his maiden voyage

into the blogosphere, posting all-new research, stories and photos!

Joe has launched the blog with a complete story about the mysterious Bristol "treasure mines," complete with some truly evocative photos Joe snapped himself during a summer visit to this most treacherous of all VT locales -- it's tough to keep your footing amid the rocky debris from a century past, and Joe risked neck and limb (and ankles) to explore this terrain first-hand.

It's quite a story, one that still scars the landscape of the Bristol woods and hillsides...

"Shafts caved in, filled with stifling gas, or flooded with water. As much effort went into reclaiming holes as digging them. But no treasure came to light. After more than twelve years and thousands of dollars, Uncle Sim gave up.

But unlike the rock face of South Mountain, Uncle Sim’s faith was never shattered. About a decade later he returned alone. He had met a new conjurer who assured him that by moving just a few stones he could open a passage leading directly to the treasure...."

This is just the beginning of what will no doubt be an entertaining and at times astounding blog resource, particularly to those of you who are already Citro readers/fans/acolytes and/or folklore and stories "that might not be fiction," as Joe prefers to call 'em. And he always calls 'em as he sees 'em.

Joe and I have dabbled with a number of pet projects over the years. Some have yielded results you can still purchase on Joe's site --


Prominent among our dabblings remains the still-in-print & selling nicely, thank you, paperback book The Vermont Ghost Guide, which sports a full-color cover painting (of Emily on her famed Stowe, VT bridge) by yours truly and a plethora of black-and-white Bissette illustrations inside. This was among the most rewarding of all our ventures (just got a royalty check last week), and it's an ideal guide for driving around VT and seeking out the state's weirdest haunts: the book is designed around the VT map on the back cover, number-coding the locations, town by town, village by village, of the alphabetically-arranged spectral stories inside.

Joe and I also "cooked the book" a bit: there's one, and I do mean one, VT ghost story in the book that we completely made up! It does feature one of my coolest b&w illos, and we milk it for all it's worth. See if you can figure out which ghost is the phoney, folks -- but you'll have to buy a copy to play the game.


I also did the cover art for the University Press of New England paperback edition of Joe's 'stories that might not be fiction' tome Green Mountains, Dark Tales -- which is still available from Joe's site, and well worth picking up.

I also have one color full-page illustration (of the Pig-man) and a photo of my car -- with Marge and I waving from the top window -- poised at Greenfield, MA's 'zero gravity' zone in Joe's most recent book, Weird New England.

We also collaborated on a great full-color cartoon map of our native state marking (and illustrating) many more of our favorite Vermont's Haunts. Alas, that beautiful poster-size map is long out-of-print, and no longer available. Maybe someday we'll find a way to get it back into print... but for now, that's the scoop.

Have a great Thursday -- time to go shovel some more...

New Pop for Pop:
Maia Turns Her Dad On To New Music,
The Devil Makes Three;
RIP Alan Eames

I have to open this morning with the sad news that

Alan Eames passed away this weekend (here's a link to the Brattleboro Reformer announcement; full obit to follow later today at the paper's site).

I was told yesterday by friends at First Run Video, and am spreading the news today. I'm told Alan died quietly, in his sleep, on Saturday; I hope that's true. We should all go so gracefully.

Alan was father to two of my own now-adult children's good friends, Adrian and Andy, which linked us through our beloved kids. I had also worked with Alan on this past fall's first (and likely final) H.P. Lovecraft in Vermont Festival in Dummerston, VT, which I discussed here on this blog repeatedly back in September and October. Alan remains best known throughout the world as

the author of the definitive history of beer, The Secret Life of Beer!: Exposed: Legends, Lore & Little-Known Facts,

and was a renowned speaker internationally.

Here's the best online interview I could find with Alan,

which relates some measure of his character.

I'm glad I got to know him a bit in his last year on Earth, however rocky the path (convention planning is never an exact science, and first-time convention planning is fraught with peril, some of which colored the Lovecraft fest, fore and aft, though I'm told it went well for all who attended as non-guests). I wish the best always and forever to his sons, his wife Sheila, and their circle of family and friends.

R.I.P., Alan.
Tip a beer for the man, would you?

______________

I've been spinning the pictured CD ever since Maia and Danny popped in this past Wednesday, and loving it. As I mentioned yesterday, Maia turned me on to some tunes by bands formed by folks she/we know or have known in and around southern VT, and it was a mind-blowing surprise to find out that our old Lower Dover Road (Marlboro, VT) neighbor Pete Bernhard has joined forces on the west coast with two other southern VT/NH cronies of his -- Lucia Turino and Cooper McBean (Jeez, I think I worked with Lucia at First Run Video back in the day -- there couldn't be two redheads in Marlboro named Lucia, could there? (he said, sounding suspiciously like Lo Pan in Big Trouble in Little China) -- and I sure remember Cooper) -- to form

The Devil Makes Three, a kick-ass band playing kick-ass bluegrass/folk/Americana.

FYI, Pete's father Woody was among Marlboro's most solid citizens, and still is, and his mom Pam used to give astrology chart readings to my first wife Marlene, including comprehensive birth charts for both Maia and Dan. So we've known Pete a loooong time, though as a neighbor. Once Pete hit high school, I crossed paths with him infrequently, though I'd heard he picked a mean guitar. As I mentioned, I think Lucia worked with me at FRV, though maybe I'm confusing her for another Marlboro/Brattleboro Lucia (though I don't think so) -- anyhoot, Pete once slipped a note into First Run Video's rental copy of David Lynch's Blue Velvet ("WARNING: Don't watch this movie! It will fuck your mind completely!..." etc.) that completely cracked me up and that I treasured and posted on my bulletin board in my FRV office for years; I still have it here in my files, as it's the purest gut-level response to one of my all-time fave flicks ever written. And that's not all the embarrassing shit I could post about 'em, but I'll leave it at that.

Anyhoot, Pete and Lucia and Cooper all met in high school in Brattleboro, but it took Pete and Cooper sharing digs in Olympia and relocating to Santa Cruz, CA to galvanize all that life experience and energy into lively tunes and their own band. Funny how that happens sometimes.

Hell, don't take my word for it:

pop on over to their website or MySpace space (linked here)

and check 'em out as close to first-hand as virtual online travel permits. Pete plays slide and "regular old" guitar, tenor banjo, harmonica; Cooper's on guitar, tenor banjo, five-string banjo, musical saw; and Lucia swings on the upright bass, while it sounds like they all sing at one point or another. Thus far, I've only heard what's online and their album Longjohns, Boots, and a Belt, which is terrific -- pick up your own copy

here ('cuz I just did).

While you're at it, do what I did, too: also order their other two CDs, The Devil Makes Three: A Little Bit Faster And A Little Bit Worse and The Devil Makes Three: The Devil Makes Three (wait, no, that makes two -- unless you order all three!), and tell them I sent you. It cost me less than $50 for the three discs, including shipping, and I can't wait to draw to this music in my new studio.

A big congrats and good luck to Pete, Lucia and Cooper, keep making music -- and thanks, Maia, for turning me on to some great new tunes from some youthful ex-neighbors making their own way in this shitass ol' world of ours. It lifts the spirits on the darkest days, and great to see a few folks I knew only as kids making their own music and flying; be good to each other, and happy trails.

__________________

We're supposed to finally get nailed with a winter storm here in VT, after a pretty dry and lean winter.
Not that I'm complaining, mind you, with folks in upper NY state displaced by a reported 12 feet (!) of snow -- but I'm ready for a real blizzard.
Here's hoping --

Have a great Tuesday!

I'll write more later today, but suffice to say now it's hard to grasp the enormity of the devastation in Louisiana -- a part of the country I've twice had the pleasure of exploring, including a trip through Houma researching Swamp Thing in '84 -- and the crippling blow that's been dealt by the raw forces of nature. It's been a long time since New England saw anything close -- the flood of 1927 (which I studied at length last year, including viewings of all the extant film footage), the hurricanes of 1936 and especially 1938 -- but we never saw anything like Katrina. New Orleans has essentially been swept from the face of the planet (though reports from the French Quarter indicate that venerable core of the city stands intact), and our leaders are busily downplaying the economic consequences with the same indifference they've downplayed the reality of the wars they've so blithely squandered a trillion dollars and hundreds of thousands of lives on. No joke: as a nation, we should have been saving for "a rainy day," eh?

On the home front, my 19-year-old son Dan called home last night with the heartbreaking news one of his friends had died in an apparent drowning accident. Dan's home with me now, and we're going out for some lunch soon; it has shaken him and his circle to the core.

Just two weeks ago, he was at a farewell party for a friend he's known since age three who was leaving for Iraq; I never thought I'd see my son going through these kinds of things, but here we are.

Here we all are, in so many ways.

The warnings from awake economists during Bush's first three months in office that we would be seeing increasing poverty and Dickensian destitution on a growing scale are manifesting in all corners of our country, Vermont included.

On the most mundane level, it's coming home. Driving the eight or so miles to Brattleboro yesterday, I passed our local store at 1 PM and regular gas was $2.59; I decided to fill up on the way home. When I returned at 2:30 PM, regular had gone up to $2.85. A station in town was closed with "NO MORE GAS" signs up and their pumps blocked off; in a heartbeat, I remembered scenes of the 'even/odd' license plate lines in New Jersey in the late 1970s, the fistfights among people waiting in lines for hours, even days, the closed gas stations one would pass in search of somewhere to fill up.

We haven't learned a fucking thing, have we?