Sparkplug and me

The Comics Reporter has a Holiday series of big interviews going on for the next couple of weeks. It includes a new interview with Emily Nilsson, Virginia Paine and Me about the future of Sparkplug Comic Books, the company started by my friend Dylan Williams who passed away this year.  Please check it out. And please follow our activities at the Sparkplug Books website, blog, twitter and facebook pages.

Also, we've started a group blog to archive the life and work of Dylan Williams. Check it out and follow it.  It's off to a pretty good start. It's a bit random so far, but eventually we hope to grow this as a resource for all the knowledge, artwork, writings and contributions Dylan made to the comics world.
Dylan Williams Reporter

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Interviews... reviews... Holidays... etc...

There's a really long, career spanning interview with me over at The Comics Journal. I talk about everything and reveal things I'm already regretting. Enjoy!

Also, there's a couple of really nice reviews that came out:
The "erotic science fiction" magazine Circlet calls me "an exemplar of surrealism!" I like that.

Jordan Hurdler puts The Wolf among his "Best of 2011" books and has nice things to say about it.

Levon Jihanian's Danger Country #1 has a good review up at The Comics Journal. I will be co-publishing this book with Teenage Dinosaur beginning in 2012.

Have a Happy Holiday!  Here's a Krampus I drew last night:

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CUSTOM CORPSE PAINT POST IT PORTRAITS!

LIMITED TIME OFFER:

CUSTOM CORPSE PAINT POST IT PORTRAITS!

That's right, for this week only I will be taking commissions for corpse paint post it portraits. What does that mean? I did a series of these portraits of musicians who paint their faces.
You can see a Flickr set of them here.
Most of these musicians are in the black metal world.
But I also included KISS and Alice Cooper and some others.

These portraits are done on post it notes with oil paint markers. 

They are fun to make and cheap to commission!

They vary in size. 

$30 plus $5 priority shipping 

(International orders please e-mail me your address for shipping price)

I'll paint any musician with corpse paint.

If interested, please e-mail me at tom (at) iwilldestroyyou (dot) com

I will stop taking requests on Friday.

I will complete all portraits this week
and ship them on Saturday the 17th

Give them as a X-mas gift!

Happy Holidays!

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Vlad the Retailer Holiday Co-op this weekend!

Hey, I'm gonna have a booth at
Vlad the Retailer's Holiday Co-op this Saturday!

Lots of DIY crafts and art and books to be found
from several local independent vendors. 

Also baked goods, booze and DJs all in a space named
after a horrible vampire overlord! 

Tell me - what could better put you in the Holiday spririt? 

Bonus: it's next to everybody's favorite ice-cream place - Scoops!

I'll have all of my books, prints, some original art and more!

I might even have some brand new, EXCLUSIVE Henry & Glenn merch!

Saturday, December 10th, noon - 8 pm

Vlad The Retailer

704 Heliotrope Dr.

Los Angeles, CA90029

facebook invite here.

Come fill your stockings with my books and art,
so i can fill my belly with some vegan scoops!

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Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival

This weekend, I'll be at the
Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival!

I will be manning my own table #13 on the 2nd floor of the Fest. 

Beside me will be my partners Sparkplug Books. 

We have a lot of great new stuff.

Since I've never been to this show, it's like all my books are debuting!

Here's your shopping list: 

The Wolf

Doppelgänger 

Bound & Gagged 

Brilliantly Ham-fisted

Neely... Creeps!

Your Disease Spread Quick

The Blot

and of course Henry & Glenn Forever
And a selection of my prints: 

Wolf Tour, Moby Dick, Hollywood, Isis, WITTR, Black Math Horseman

I am also distributing a few of my LA friends' books: 

Levon Jihanian's Danger Country

and a selection of Drippy Bone Books 

including Keenan Keller's Galactic Breakdown series. 

Please come out and do your holiday shopping at an independent arts and comics festival!

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HOLIDAY ART SALE part 2 - Henry & Glenn!

HOLIDAY ART SALE PART 2

This time it's the Henry & Glenn fake comic book covers I did last year for the Henry & Glenn Gang Bang art show 

at La Luz de Jesus last year. 

Henry & Glenn in Defective Comics #13

watercolor and ink on paper

with custom frame measures 22.5x17"

SOLD!

 The Savage Sword of Glenn #9

watercolor and ink on paper

with custom frame measures 23x19"

SOLD!

Igloo Tornado's Glenn & Henry #138

watercolor and ink on paper

with custom frame measures 22x17"

SOLD!

For purchase inquiries, please write to

tom (at) iwilldestroyyou (dot) com

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Holiday Art Sale!

Holiday Art Sale!

I've dug out some old illustrations, comics and other original art to sell in time for the holidays. 

Prices and sizes are listed. If you are interested in any of the following pieces, please e-mail me with your address and I will calculate shipping for you. 

Buy some art!

Wolverine gag from S'supermini

Batman gag from S'supermini

Two superhero gag panels i did for my S'supermini comic from 2005

ink on watercolor paper 

8.5x12"

$150 each

batman costume

superman costume

wonderwoman costume

martian manhunter costume

hawkman costume

flash costume

green lantern costume

aquaman costume

The Justice League of bad superhero costumes 

drawn at San Diego Comic Con 2005

watercolor and ink on paper

5.5x8.8"
$200 for set

UPDATE: on hold pending purchase

Tentation

Unearthly Spectaculars

A couple of my Horror Cover recreations

2010

watercolor and ink on paper

14.5x20"

$250 each

Blot Ghost

Blot fallout

Two early Blot sketches

Blot Ghost

2004

ink on watercolor paper

15.5x22"

$150

Blot fallout

2004

ink and watercolor on paper

10x13"

$125

 

Blot/Wolf drawing

2009

black and red ink on paper

18x24"

UPDATE: SOLD!

  Nancy and Sluggo Hair Fight

2005

ink on paper

8.5x12"

UPDATE: SOLD!

 Fight cloud painting 

2004

ink and watercolor on paper

8.5x8.5"

UPDATE: SOLD!

Two scenes from the TV show CHiPs

from Do You Like T.V.? anthology 2006

ink on paper

14.5x20"

$60 each or both for $100

 Two "And How" one panel comics

2004

ink on paper

8.5x12"

$200 each

 Please e-mail any purchase requests to 

tom (at) iwilldestroyyou (dot) com

And don't forget to give The Wolf and my other books as gifts!

thank you!

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Wolf Tour Posters now available

I've added The Wolf West Coast Tour silkscreen posters to my webstore. 

2 color silkscreen on colored paper

18 x 24"

$15 (+ shipping and handling)

Order one now!

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Happy Birthday Moby Dick!

Moby Dick was published today in 1851. 

Have you read it yet? You should.

(I still have some of these prints available)

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Levon Jihanian did Bill Keane

Bill Keane, creator of The Family Circus, died this week. In some ways I love the Family Circus. I read it every day.  But I've probably spent more time making fun of the Family Circus than enjoying it as a comic. Love him or laugh at him, anyone who devotes their life to the pursuit of comics deserves a lot of respect in my book.  And now that I think of it, I've probably laughed harder at how bland Family Circus is than I have at just about anything else in newspaper comics... So, in a way, it is kinda the funniest strip in the paper. Maybe Bill Keane is the most unintentionally funny cartoonist of all time?

Anyway... Last year the incomparable Levon Jihanian did these two amazing Family Circus inspired pieces for the Bound & Gagged book (available in my store - i know that's crass, but just wait till the real book publishers start exploiting his death). Levon is a genius. These are bleak masterpieces. And in their own way, a tribute to Keane's work.

 

R.I.P. Bill Keane

thanks for all the laughs!

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MIX this weekend!

I'm heading to the Minneapolis Indie Xpo this weekend!

I'll have my own full table, and will also be helping with the Sparkplug Books table next to me. 

I'm also on a panel about anthologies to discuss Bound & Gagged.

Please come out and check out this great festival!

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Inkstuds Interview

Here's a new interview with me on the Inkstuds Podcast. 

Inkstuds Interview with Tom Neely

I talk about The Wolf, Henry & Glenn
and some future projects I'm working on. 

I also got to choose the music for the show. 

I picked all WOLF songs: 

Death SS - Werewolf

Danzig - Killer Wolf

Necro Dethmort - Origami Werewolf

King Diamond - Follow The Wolf

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

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new untitled comic

 

This comic was just published in the new issue of POOD. 

It's a reconfiguration of comics from 

my ongoing "i just figured it all out" series. 

I'll be posting more of those soon.

Get POOD #4 now!

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KEPI GHOULIE - I BLEED ROCK 'N' ROLL

I did the cover, incidental art, and package design
 Kepi Ghoulie's new album "I Bleed Rock 'N' Roll!"
Kepi's the former frontman of the Groovie Ghoulies.
I also did artwork for them a few years ago,
and had a lot of fun working with him again.

You can pre-order "I Bleed Rock 'N' Roll" now
and get a tote bag with my art on it, too!

Go get it now! It Rocks!!!

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Poe

 

I did 3 illustrations for 

Edgar Allan Poe's 

Fall of the House of Usher

Coming Soon from Scout Books.

 Part of a series of illustrated short stories

by classic authors and contemporary cartoonists.

Pre-order your copy now!

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delays...

i must apologize for any late orders from the iwdy store. 

the world has been upside down for the last 2 months. 

but all orders are finally packed and will ship on monday. 

thank you for your patience.

I should have some new items for sale in the store soon.

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Sparkplug Forever

Read the full story at the Sparkplug Blog.

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WOLF TOUR! WOLF TOUR! WOLF TOUR!

THE SHOW MUST GO ON!

The Wolf Tour: West Coast starts this Tuesday!

I will be doing signings and presentations at the following places.

The links below should take you to Facebook Event pages for each date. 

Tuesday, Sept 20th Kick-off Party in LA: 

at my regular DJ night Heavy Tuesdays at Footsies Bar at 9:30 pm

Wednesday, Sept 21st has TWO stops in Sacramento: 

A-1 Comics co-signing with Matt Maxwell from 3 to 5 pm

then at Phono Select at 7 pm with live music from Kepi Ghoulie

Thursday, Sept 22nd in Berkeley: 

at The Escapist Comic Bookstore at 7 pm

Saturday, Sept 24th in Seattle:

Fantagraphics Book Store at 6 pm

also a presentation by Warren Bernard

after party with bands playing TBA

Wednesday, Sept 28th in Portland:

Floating World Comics at 6 pm

plus a small exhibit of original art from The Wolf

Friday, Sept 30th in San Francisco: 

at GOTEBLÜD zine store at 7 pm

with Ed Luce and Levon Jihanian

Sat and Sun, October 1st and 2nd:

at The Alternative Press Expo

San Francisco Councourse Exhibition Center

I will have all of my books and prints available on the tour. 

Hope to see you soon. 

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Small Press Expo this weekend!

I'm heading to Maryland for a couple of events this weekend.

I'm a guest artist at the Small Press Expo. And I'm bringing The Wolf with me!

Friday Night in Baltimore: 

SPXPLOSION at Atomic Books

A night of comic readings and book signings with Marc Bell, Anders Nilsen, Dina Kelberman, Melissa Mendes, Brian Ralph, Noah Van Sciver, and ME!  

We'll be signing books and projecting comics and there's even something called the Nerdlinger awards. Come out for a fun pre-SPX party night!

All day Saturday and Sunday I'll be at SPX:

I'll be signing my brand new painted novel The Wolf all weekend.

I'll also have all of my other books and some new prints as well. 

I'll be at table H10 with my pal J. T. Dockery.  

In addition to our own fine books, we'll be proudly representing 7 Ignatz nominated comics at our table, as well as some of the recent new releases from Sparkplug Comic Books. 

Check out these Ignatz Award nominated books at our table: 

Outstanding Anthology nominees: 

Black Eye from Rotland Press 

Gay Genius from Sparkplug Comic Books. 

Outstanding Series nominee: 

Reich by Elijah Brubaker

Outstanding Comics: 

Danger Country by Levon Jihanian 

Habitat #2 by Dunja Jankovic

Outstanding Graphic Novel: 

The Heavy Hand by Chris Cilla

Outstanding Mini-comic: 

Danger Country by Levon Jihanian 

Be sure to vote for these great books so I can bring home a suitcase full of bricks for everyone!

I will also have a selection of Drippy Bone comics and zines!

And don't forget your WOLF!

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THE WOLF TOUR : WEST COAST

VERY EXCITED ABOUT THIS:

TIMES AND MORE DETAILS COMING SOON!

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Another great review of The Wolf...

More good words about The Wolf over at The Poopsheet Foundation:

"...On the back cover, Tom Neely bills The Wolf as “a painted novel.” Now, ordinarily my knee jerk reaction to verbiage like that would be that it was just plain pretentious, yet here it’s actually spot on. It does feel like you’re witnessing some original blending of mediums here, like some type of sequential portraiture that’s an engaging modernization of those old Gothic triptychs, as Neely transitions fluidly between Fine Art paradigms and the world of self-published comics. The blending of artistic paradigms often yields a muddled composition that reveals its experimental nature. Not so with The Wolf. It is stark, fresh, and original, with a crisp sense of purpose that flows naturally and effortlessly...."

Read the whole review here!
What? You haven't you ordered your copy?
Do that now!

Also- It has just been announced that I will be a "Guest Artist" at
this year's Small Press Expo in Bethesda, Maryland.
See you in September!

Stay tuned for info about my upcoming West Coast Wolf Tour!

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And now for something completely different
Two of my heroes, Cy Twombly and Lucien Freud, passed away recently. Both have had a huge influence on my art for nearly 20 years. Here's a few favorites...

Lucien Freud Self Portrait

Lucien Freud

Cy Twombly

Cy Twombly

I urge you to see their paintings in person sometime. The Cy Twombly building at the Menil Museum in Houston, TX, is amazing. But both can be found in most museum modern art collections.

Cy Twombly in front of his painting.

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