2011

My long, overdue, self-indulgent, self-obligatory post about 2011... late... it's February already. and I feel like this year is getting away from me... but in a good way (more on that later). 

2011 was simultaneously the best and worst year of my life so far. The loss of my friend Dylan is something I'm still not really able to talk about. So, I want to focus on the "best" parts of last year. 

Best of all - The Wolf was finally set loose! It's been a pretty successful effort so far. Though sales have been slow lately (c'mon stores - re-order! keep my books in stock!) I'm very proud of this book.  Thank you to everyone who have adopted a Wolf. I hope you enjoy it. I've received a lot of good press, and ended up on several "Best of 2011" lists on the internets. So, here's some links to archive that stuff:

The Wolf is #78 on CBR's top 100 Comics of 2011

It's on J.T. Dockery's and Keenan Keller's Top 5 of 2011 at the Atomic Books Blog

Ed Luce includes me in his Best list. 

Thirteen minutes Best of 2011

It's #6 on Sean T. Collins list over at Robot 6

Graphic Eye's Best of 2011
and another Best of 2011 list on Graphic Eye.

Kristi Valenti's "career-spanning" interview for The Comics Journal. Even though I feel very "naked" after this and it kinda makes me wanna hide in a cave, it's an honor to be covered in the esteemed TCJ. I never thought it would happen. That interview was conducted in the middle of my tour (Sorry - it's very long - apparently I'm a wind-bag).

The Wolf Tour was an amazing trip! it was a rollercoaster of a Fall in every way, but spending time on the road, visiting friends all along the way, flying kites, punk rock thai food, sleeping under D&D dice, making everyone eat vegan dinners with me, all the fun dinners! record shopping in every town, getting new tattoos, seeing the la mano 21 press and tooth in action, kids, the all "wolf" song dj sets at footsies, digging thru longboxes with cartoonists, fighting over coveted undergound comics found in longboxes, laughing our asses off at anal cunt song titles, sharing a genuine kumbaya moment when everyone quietly sang along to jesse playing "tainted love" on a guitar, hanging out at the fantagraphics headquarters, drinking too much bourbon with kentucky metal-heads, getting lost in museums in new york with friends, sisters, black metal and punk rock shows, late night art parties, brooklyn, new york, minneapolis, san francisco, napa, portland, seattle, berkeley, oakland, sacramento, bethesda, baltimore, san diego, los angeles, everyone who hung out, gave me a place to sleep, came to my signings, wined me, dined me, shared a story with me, supported me... i love you all. 

To be honest, everything before August is kind of a blur. It feels like the first half of the year was about 5 years ago. I think I remember the Igloo Tornado made the LA Weekly's Best of LA list... and we had a fun show at La Luz de Jesus... TCAF... Stumptown... all great things, too. 

I've also now been an herbivore for half my life. Vegetarian since '93. Vegan since 2000.

Anyway... 2012 is already shaping up to be a big year. I Will Destroy You Comics & Books is expanding slightly. I will soon be publishing Levon Jihanian's Danger Country. I will be co-publishing the all new Henry & Glenn Forever & Ever comic book mini-series. I will be releasing a Wolf compilation album and a Wolf special edition box set. I'm editing a new horror/metal/punk/art zine called Too Much Horror. My new partnership with Sparkplug is moving forward with a new book, too. I'm going to be regularly posting new and old comics on Studygroup 12. I'm planing another tour: East Coast and more... It's going to be a good year. 

Okay, enough of all that. Back to work! I have a new"legit" comics job that I'll be announcing soon. Here's a hint.
Gotta lotta drawing to do...

Thank you to everyone along the way. 

You know who you are.