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Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Weekly Comic Strip: #1 & 2

To kick off my weekly comic strip poems, I decided to give you two to give you an idea of what they'll be like.

(Click on them for larger view)




Check back every Wednesday for a new comic strip poem.

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Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Coming Soon: Weekly Comic Strip


Tomorrow I intend to begin a weekly comic strip on this blog.

I've been working on a number of pieces that I see as sort of "comic strip poems." I think most people expect comic strips to be funny, and those people will be disappointed with my strip. There's nothing really funny in these strips... well, I think some of them are funny, but my fiancée is always quick to point out that my sense of humor is skewed toward the surreal and thus not funny to anyone outside of my head... These strip-poems are more personal, contemplative and mysterious, I guess.

Anyway, I'm really excited about these "poems." I've restricted myself to the 4 panel format of the comic strip as an exercise in minimalist story-telling. This is also a challenge to myself in the use of words in my comics, since I usually make "silent" comics. Each "poem" is self contained, but as I'm working on the series, many of them are beginning to draw sub-conscious connections to each other. So, perhaps they will all tell some kind of non-linear story in the end- who knows?

I hope to be posting them every Wednesday (Wednesday is new comic book day for all of us geeks) beginning tomorrow and lasting as long as I can keep up with them. But I guarantee at least 16 of them to arrive on time because that's how many I've drawn so far.

I hope you enjoy them. Please feel free to make comments.

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Friday, February 01, 2008

BEASTS II!

Jacob Covey edited an awesome book for Fantagraphics called Beasts! It includes 90 artists doing their own interpretations of mythical monsters and beasts from around the world. The book was so successful, that he's decided to do a sequel: Beasts! 2. And I'm gonna be in it.

I chose the Skinwalker for my beast. It's sort of the Navajo (and Norse) version of a werewolf, but they can change into other things like hawks, coyotes, bears, etc.

Here is my version of a Skinwalker sort of in the middle of transformation:


The book should be out sometime this summer.

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Wednesday, January 30, 2008

The Return of the 4 Horse-Men



Your favorite Art Fraternity, The Igloo Tornado, returns with another stellar art show February 23rd at Black Maria Gallery.

BE THERE OR SUFFER!

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Monday, January 28, 2008

Wizard on Melvins Comic Book

Wizard Magazine had a little web feature on my Mevlins comic the other day. Read it here.

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Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Melvins Comic Book progress...

Here are the first few pages of the Melvins comic book I'm working on for Hydra Head Records. (click for larger view)







As some may notice, the first page is influenced by several of George Grosz's street scene drawings. There are other pages in the story that are similarly homaged to Grosz and Daumier.

The words that the Talking Horse are speaking are what I have deciphered as some of the lyrics to songs from the album. Though, forgive me if some of them aren't completely accurate- I couldn't get the lyrics from Buzz because he said they were never "typed out." So, they are what I think I heard in some of the songs. The character who pulls the horse's head off is supposed to be the Blood Witch (track 2 of the album). And in the last couple of panels of page 6, you can see The Civilized Worm (track 3), an armless legless man creeping into the picture.

These are all the preview pages that I'll be posting. You'll have to get the book for the rest of the story.

The full book should be right around 22 pages. I'm not sure when it will be released yet- some of that depends on how fast I can finish the book. The book is for a limited edition box set from Hydra Head Records. I will also probably do some mini-comics versions to take to comic conventions this summer.

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Monday, January 21, 2008

Part 1 of my interview with Daily Crosshatch

Yesterday I did a phone interview with Brian Heater for The Daily Crosshatch. Go read part 1 now.

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Sunday, January 20, 2008

#9 out of 50

Over at The Comics Journal website, The Blot made it to #9 in Dirk Deppey's Top 50 comics of 2007 list.

The Blot has made it onto several "best of '07" lists this year. I haven't been able to keep track of all of them. But thanks to everyone who put it on their list. I'm really awed by how well the book has done in it's first 6 months.

I've begun writing a new book that I hope to complete by '09. I hope it can live up to all the expectations of everyone talking about my "promising new talent."

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Friday, January 18, 2008

The World is Full of Evil!



My pals over at Hydra Head Records are putting out a fancy, limited edition vinyl version of "(a) senile animal" by The Melvins. They had the bright idea of asking me to do a comic book inspired by the album. Having been a HUGE and LONGTIME fan of The Melvins, I of course said "Hell Yeah!"

Above is the first page that I inked today. The whole comic will be 22 pages long. In keeping with the surreal nature of the band, the story is quite strange. Instead of trying to interpret the album, I used the song titles as inspiration for the characters (such as: A Talking Horse, The Civilized Worm, and Blood Witch) and then wrote a story around them.

I'll post some more updates as I go along with this project.

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Tuesday, January 15, 2008

SUPERTRASH

There's a film festival and art show going on up in Portland next month. It's sponsored by Night Gallery, Floating World Comics and Fantagraphics.

The artists were asked to do their own interpretation of a movie poster from a real sci-fi/horror/xploitation film.
I chose Lifeforce the 1985 Tobe Hooper movie about space vampires that suck electricity out of you.
Here's my interpretation of that (click for larger view):

That movie scared the crap out of me when I was a kid, but I think it left a pretty deep impression in my brain. I recently re-watched it and it's still a great, weird, sci-fi-horror movie.

The festival info is here:

“SUPERTRASH”
72 HR FEST OF MOVIES / MERCHANDISE / LIVE PERFORMANCE / ART EXHIBITION

WHO: Night Gallery, Floating World Comics, Tease-O-Rama, Famous Mysterious Actor Show

WHAT: 72 hr Fest of Movies / Merchandise / Live Performance / Art Exhibition

WHEN: Friday, Feb 1st - Sunday, Feb. 3rd, 2008

WHERE: Bagdad Theater
3702 SE Hawthorne Blvd.
Portland, OR 97214

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Monday, January 07, 2008

Self Indulgent Werewolf Soundtrack











For those of you that missed my solo show at Black Maria last September, you can now get the soundtrack album over at the Hydra Head Records online store

Though, I must warn that the name "self indulgent" definitely applies here. I'm not really a musician, but I've been playing guitar for about 16 years now, and banjo for 2 years. I've always enjoyed messing around with music, and was even in a couple of bands in high school. When I was trying to think of what music I'd like to listen to at the opening of my show, I had the idea of making my own music and releasing an album. So, I started experimenting with recording various ideas in protools and editing them together. Most of the music started as improvised bits of music that were then edited together. My brother is an awesome composer and he helped to produce the final product of the album- helping me turn my improvised sound messes into somewhat coherent pieces. The result is a mixture of experimental, abstract, ambience, folk and metal styles and I'm pretty proud of it

The album is available on vinyl only, and comes with a silkscreened cover on both silver and gold metallic paper. Limited edition of 130 signed and numbered copies. I won't be making any more of these when they are gone.

So, if you're interested, go buy a copy. And while you're over at the Hydra Head store, check them out because they put out a lot of good music including some of my favorite current bands like ISIS, Jesu, Big Business, Pelican, Xasthur and more... Having been a long time fan of this label and a lot of these bands I'm honored that they were generous enough to help me sell my records through their store.

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Tuesday, January 01, 2008

This will be our year...

Happy 2008!

Wow- this past year has been amazing. I finished and published my first graphic novel, had an awesome solo show, recorded an album, won my first Ignatz Award, got several amazing reviews, and was a part of a few great group shows.

But the best part of 2007 was going to Hawaii and getting engaged to the best girl in the world!

Thanks to everyone who's been a part of an amazing 2007. I couldn't have done it without all the help and support I've gotten from all my great friends and family. Thank you to everyone who bought my book, let me sleep on their floor while touring, gave me a show, shared a convention table, came to my art shows, wrote a review, interviewed me, hung out with me, etc, etc, etc...

2008 should be even bigger and better. I've already got another art show with the Igloo Tornado lined up, I'm working on some new comics, and I'll be taking The Blot to several new comic conventions around the country. And, of course, me and Anna are gettin' hitched!


Last night we quietly toasted the new year together at home with our dog- just some champaigne, a movie and board games. A perfect way to start the year that we'll be getting married.

The first song we listened to in 2008 was "This Will Be Our Year" by the Zombies.

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Friday, December 21, 2007

Happy Holidays!



Thanks to everyone that helped to make this the best year ever!

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Wednesday, December 19, 2007

He LIKES it!


I just got a copy of the latest Comics Journal (#287) and it has an awesomely good review of The Blot by Chris Mautner (who may or may not be the same as this Chris Mautner).
I don't think there is a version of it online, so go get a copy and read it. The cover story is a long interview with Jeffrey Brown.
I showed the review to my friends at the shop and they said "WOW! The Comics Journal hates everything."

As I was leaving the comic shop, I was reading the review while walking down the street... and I stepped in dog-shit. So, the universe balances itself.

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Monday, December 17, 2007

The Blot on Salon.com list!

Wow! Douglas Wolk picked me as one of the best graphic novels of 2007 over at Salon.com. Thank you!!!

If you haven't read Wolk's book "Reading Comics", I highly recommend it. It's a great collection of essays on various cartoonists, with a couple of essays on the need for good criticism in the comics world.

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Thursday, December 13, 2007

super*MARKET L.A.



It's funny... two weeks ago, I was talking to someone about how I wish there was an indie comics festival in L.A. 4 years ago there was a pretty good one, but it disappeared. Then a friend mentioned that it was back and I wondered "Why the hell didn't anyone tell me?" Well, luckily I managed to get a table at the last minute and I will be exhibiting at super*MARKET L.A. this Saturday afternoon.

I'll have copies of The Blot and my 3 giclée prints available for sale.
My pal David King will be joining me with some of his mini-comics.

super*MARKET will be a great place to get some last minute holiday shopping for anyone who knows a fan of great comics. It seems like every cartoonist in L.A. will be exhibiting there.

It's at Meltdown Comics in Hollywood this Saturday, December 15th, from 11am to 6pm

Unfortunately, I'll have to leave around 3 or 4, so get there early to get my stuff!

(above illustration by Martin Cendreda)

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Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Top 13

I'm working on a Top 5 list of comics from 2007 for another blog right now.

To help me shorten the list, I set a couple of rules for myself: I'm intentionally leaving out collections (such as Joe Matt's Spent or Adrian Tomine's Shortcomings) because they collect stories that were previously published as comic books. I'm also leaving out anthologies (such as Mome) because I don't want to single out an individual story by one artist in a book by several artists, and I've yet to read an anthology that I loved cover to cover.

Weeding it down to my favorites of the year I have a list of 13 that will have to be whittled down further for my top 5:

1. Reich by Elijah J. Brubaker (Sparkplug Comic Books)
This is one of the best biography comics I've ever read. A really good read, and the art is well done.

2. Lucky Vol. 2 # 1 Gabrielle Bell (Drawn & Quarterly)
Gabrielle continues to be one of my favorite writers in comics today.

3. The End by Anders Nilson (Fantagraphics)
I wanted to include "Don't Go Where I Can't Follow" but I loooked to find that it was published in 2006. The End is sort of a companion piece to that book, and I highly recommend both books, and everything else by Anders. He is currently my favorite contemporary cartoonist.

4. Sammy the Mouse by Zak Sally (Fantagraphics)
If you haven't read his previous book The Recidivist, go read it now. Sammy the Mouse is the beginning of what looks to be a very interesting story.

5. Injury Comics #1 by Ted May (Buenaventura Press)
I wish Ted May was the editor in chief at Marvel Comics.

6. Bat man by Josh Simmons (Josh Simmons)
The creepiest, weirdest batman story you'll never read.

7. Bluefuzz the Hero by Jesse Reklaw (Slow Wave)
Reklaw, who wrote my favorite comic of 2006 Couch Tag #3, gets some of his D&D obsessions out in this wonderful little mini-comic.

8. Reporter #6 by Dylan Williams (Sparkplug Comic Books)
Dylan is proving to be one of the most original voices in contemporary comics. He's unlike anyone else. So much so that I don't feel like I fully "get" him, but I really want to.

9. Service Industry by T. Edward Bak (Bodega)
Quite simply the best single story I've read in comics in a long time.

10. House by Josh Simmons (Fantagraphics)
Creepy... really creepy. I love horror movies, but am always disappointed with horror comiss. Not this time.

11. Windy Corner #1 by Austin English (Sparkplug Comic Books)
Austin English is a poetic genius and his new magazine is a must read.

12. Storeyville by Frank Santoro (Picturebox)
I can't put my finger on why I liked this book so much.

13. 1-800 Mice by Matthew Thurber (Picturebox)
There are a lot of people doing "Art" comics that are just confused, drug-addled wastes of paper. Thurber is giving us a confused, drug-addled masterpiece.

Other things I've loved this year are a lot of reprints such as the Popeye, Krazy Kat and Peanuts books published by Fantagraphics, Walt and Skeezix and Moomin books published by Drawn & Quarterly, all the awesome Jack Kirby hardcover omnibuses that are out now from various publishers, and King Cat Classix by John Porcelino (Drawn & Quarterly). Also of note: The Incredible Changebots by Jeffrey Brown and Fox Bunny Funny by Andy Hartzell. One more: so far I'm really liking the series Omega the Unknown by Jonathan Lethem and Farel Dalrymple.

Here's hoping my book The Blot will make it into some other "Top" lists of 2007.

Lastly, my friend Aaron often ends his posts by mentioning what he's listening to lately. I like that. So, here's what I've been listening to this week: In Rainbows by Radiohead, The Hobbit (audiobook) by J.R.R. Tolkein, Love That's Last by Oxbow, The August Engine by Hammers of Misfortune and The Complete On The Corner Sessions by Miles Davis.

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Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Another review of "The Blot"

Ned Beauman reviews The Blot over at the Guardian UK and says:

"Neely's remarkable self-published debut pits its spindly hero against a looming black splatter that seems to have the power both to create and destroy. There's a copy of Moby Dick on the hero's bedroom floor, and the symbolic significance of the Blot is as deliberately obscure as that of Melville's whale - is it sin, fear, depression, or something more ambivalent? A series of startlingly surreal twists (and the arrival of a love interest) exploit Neely's considerable artistic gifts to their fullest."

You cant beat a comparison to Melville! For those of you that don't know, I've been mildly obsessed with Moby Dick recently. I read it 4 times in the last coupe of years, and I rarely read anything more than once because I'm a slow reader. Thus, it made sense to put the book by the bedside of the character in The Blot (one of many self-referential hints throughout the book).

I also did a really large painting of Moby Dick for a group show last summer. I may be making prints of this piece soon.

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Wednesday, November 28, 2007

? the War



The painting above will be a part of an anti-war benefit art show at Corey Helford Gallery.

25 artists including the likes of Gary Baseman, Andrew Brandou, Korin Faught, David Sandlin, Gary Taxali, and ME!

One Night Only
Tuesday, December 4th 5-10 pm
Corey Helford Gallery
8522 Washington Blvd
Culver City, CA
www.coreyhelfordgallery.com

Also- CHG is making posters of everyone's artwork that will be given away for FREE at the show. The posters will feature the artwork plus an anti-war slogan of some sort. Mine says "the war is within us."

Typically there is a line out the door of people eagerly waiting for a chance to get into the openings at Corey Helford, so get there early if you wanna see the show. It's only up for one night. And my piece has already been sold.

See you there!

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Thursday, November 01, 2007

The Great War

Halloween party #2... Anna and I went as Magritte paintings:




Here's the actual Magritte paintings we based our costumes on:

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Saturday, October 27, 2007

Halloween?


"No... this is how I normally dress."

photo by Max Gerber

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Wednesday, October 24, 2007

LAist interview

This interview went up on LAist while I was out of town. So, some of you may have seen it already, but I thought I'd link to it anyway.

photo by Jennifer Saxon
Read my LAist interview by Jennifer Saxon here!

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Monday, October 22, 2007

I WON A BRICK!

I won the Ignatz award for "Promising New Talent" at this year's SPX convention. Does that mean I have to promise to do better next time?
For those of you who haven't seen one, the award is an actual brick mounted on a little wooden stand with a nice image of Ignatz Mouse burned into it.


That's me giving my acceptance speech for the award. I think I said something really eloquent like: "uh... thanks... for reading it... and stuff."

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Monday, October 08, 2007

SPX and Ignatz!

I'm heading to SPX this weekend.

I'll be sharing a table with my pals from Sparkplug Comic Books.

I will also be participating in my first panel.
Kim Deitch, Roger Langridge, Jeff Smith and I will be on a panel discussion about "Comics and Animation" moderated by critic Douglas Wolk. I keep asking myself: "How the hell did I end up on a panel with three of my favorite cartoonists?"

And- I was nominated in the Promising New Talent category for the Ignatz awards. This award is nominated by a panel of judges, but voted on by everyone at the convention. So, if you're there- vote for me!

Here's hoping I come home with my very own brick!

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Thursday, October 04, 2007

Wish you were here...



Why haven't you been to my art show yet?
You're crazy! It's the best show in town!
It will still be up at Black Maria Gallery for 11 more days.
Then everything will sadly go into my closet to collect dust.
GO NOW!!!

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Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Book Signing for "The Blot" at Black Maria Gallery


I know I've been doing a lot of stuff lately.
But if you've missed out on my art show opening, or the book signing I did at Secret Headquarters, or if you just can't get enough of me, here's another chance to see it all:

Come join us Thursday, September 27th from 6 to 8 pm
at Black Maria Gallery.
I will be signing my Ignatz Award nominated graphic novel, "The Blot."

The evening will also be another opportunity to see my solo show "Self Indulgent Werewolf" on display at Black Maria Gallery through October 15th.

Other exclusive items available:
New limited edition box set of 13 mini-prints for my series "Self Indulgence"
Limited edition giclee prints of three paintings
Self Indulgent Werewolf black metal logo T-shirts
Limited edition vinyl record of Self Indulgent Werewolf soundtrack recorded by me

So, please come out and join us.
Have a glass of wine or a beer and get your books signed.

Thursday, September 27th
6-8 pm
at Black Maria Gallery
3137 Glendale Blvd (Atwater Village)
Los Angeles, CA 90039
323-660-9393
www.blackmariagallery.com

Here's what the critics are saying about "The Blot":

"The Blot, marks a brilliant, blackly humorous milestone"
- Ron Garmon for L.A. City Beat

“The Blot is a meditation on intimacy, creativity and the loss of control over one's environment.”
- Tom Spurgeon for The Comics Reporter

“The Blot contains some of the most unnerving and original horror imagery I've seen in comics all year.”
- Sean T. Collins

"Days after reading The Blot, I was still thinking about it. So far, it’s one of my favorites of 2007"
- Jeff Vandermeer for Bookslut.com

“A very rich book, this. I strongly recommend it.”
- Joe McCulloch

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Thursday, September 20, 2007

I'm in L.A. City Beat's Comics Annual '07

I'm in this week's L.A. City Beat newspaper. It's their annual Comics Issue and I'm one of the lead stories.

It also has a nice zombie-Popeye cover illustration by Tony Millionaire.



I come across as completely inarticulate about my art when quoted, but we talk about my art show, my book, beards, and other random things. So, go read Thimble Theater of Cruelty: Artist Tom Neely stalks his inner werewolf by Ron Garmon.

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Friday, September 14, 2007

Self Indulgence...

I don't know how to add an animated gif to a blog-post.
But if you click on this link you can see an animated gif of my "self indulgence" series of paintings.
Black Maria Gallery has also made a box set of mini-prints of this series.
Limited edition of 40 signed sets for $50.

Click here to see the animated gif.

Contact the gallery to purchase a set for yourself!

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Thursday, September 13, 2007

2007 Ignatz Award Nominee!

WOOHOO! The Blot is nominated for an Ignatz award.

Promising New Talent
Gabrielle Bell, Lucky, Drawn & Quarterly Showcase Vol. 4 (Drawn & Quarterly)
Scott Campbell, Flight Vol. 4 (Ballantine Books), Hickee vol. 3 #3 (Alternative Comics)
Lilli Carre, You Ain't No Dancer Vol. 2 (New Reliable Press)
Brandon Graham, King City (TokyoPop)
Tom Neely, The Blot (I Will Destroy You)

I love Scott Campbell and Gabrielle Bell's work, so they're tough competition.

Full list of nominees is here.

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Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Self Indulgent Werewolf: Preview

Here's a couple of beautiful installation shots.



Come see it in person THIS SATURDAY at Black Maria Gallery.

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The Blot has a couple more reviews...

Mondo Magazine reviews "The Blot" here.

And Bookslut reviews it here.

And you can still order a copy here.

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Friday, September 07, 2007

To hell with vinyl toys!

I wanted this to be a surprise at my show, but I can't resist posting these photos of my amazingly awesome sculpture!

It's about 6 1/2 feet tall: a life-size version of the character from my book.





Designed by me.
Sculpted by Walt (under my supervision) at the Mannequin Gallery.
Photos by Sam Sagasian.
It's in a limited edition of 3 if you want one.

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Thursday, September 06, 2007

Paint it black!

I'm on the cover of Art Scene (Southern California edition) this month! Jody Zellen gave me a really nice review for the publication. You can read it here.

I especially like the last paragraph: "There is irony as well as humor in Neely’s work. He is able to fuse disparate styles. Being able to tell stories as well as illustrate them is a gift, and Neely excels as a draftsman. Working with various modes of presentation--drawing, painting, sculpture as well as the book format--Neely may represent the next step in the fusion of high art with the comic book."

I finished up all my paintings for the show last week.



This week, I've been busy getting the show put together over at Black Maria Gallery. I'm painting the gallery black!



And a big wolf head by the door to greet you!



See you next week!

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Thursday, August 30, 2007

Save the date: Self Indulgent Werewolf


Saturday, September 15th, 7-11 pm at Black Maria Gallery
My first L.A. solo show: Self Indulgent Werewolf.

34 new paintings!
1 large sculpture!
Soundtrack album composed and recorded by me!
My book- The Blot!
Giclée prints!
New t-shirts!
Booze!
Lots of nudity!

Also- My friend Aaron Turner, singer and guitarist for ISIS, will be DJing the opening party. He will play lots of good experimental, metal, and ambient music along with my soundtrack album.

I know every other gallery in town has an opening that night- but I promise mine is way better than any of those other shows. And I promise way more nudity than any of the other shows!

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Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Headin' to Toronto...

I'm going to the Toronto Comic Art Festival this weekend. I'll be tagging along with my pals at Sparkplug Comic Books. I'll be bringing as many copies of The Blot. as I can fit in my bags.

I'm really looking forward to seeing this festival. It's supposed to be really great. And I'm looking forward to seeing Toronto. If you're up in that neck o' the woods, come check it out.

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I wanna be big in Japan...

This dude hasn't read my book, but wants it really bad. Unfortunately I'm not sure if I can send a copy to Japan because they have pretty strict censorship over there and there is a lot of full-frontal nudity in my book. Anyway, he has some nice things to say about my art.

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Monday, August 13, 2007

Black Metal

I have a fascination with Black Metal, and have for a while now. You can often hear the sounds of Weakling, Xasthur, Ulver, Satyricon, etc emanating from my studio while I'm working on paintings of werewolves.

I was talking to a friend the other day about how it's kind of difficult to be a black metal fan because there is a lot of baggage attached to that genre of music. For one thing, I can't say I in any way support the politics of most black metal bands- many of which are outright fascists- nor do I believe in most of their supposed allegiance with Satanism or Odin worshipping.

The music of many of these bands is really interesting and often beautiful in a horrific way, while others are more like heavy metal clowns who never grew out of that child-hood phase of wanting to dress up like Gene Simmons and play a horribly garbled form of heavy-metal-punk. But the best of these bands create interesting, complex, avantgarde, and very emotional music. If Arvo Pärt was from Hell, he might have been in a black metal band.

Liking black metal is also difficult because so many of the bands' persona are so ridiculous and they take themselves so seriously that it seems completely unbelievable. I often find myself wondering if it's all an act, or if these guys really are as serious as they try to be. I suspect there is some of each in the mix somewhere.

Anyway... I designed my name into a black metal style logo for a t-shirt design for my upcoming art show. Most of the bands also have ridiculously complex and hard to read logos that are usually symetrical in design. Here's my attempt at a "Tom Neely" black metal style:



There is also a bit of black metal influence in the soundtrack that I have recorded for the show. I'll post more details about that soon.

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Covey...

Jacob Covey, the awesome art director of Fantagraphics, seems to be a new fan of some of my work. He blogs about me at the Fantagraphics "Flog" here and here.

Will he put me in the next BEASTS! book? We'll see...

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Friday, August 10, 2007

SOLD!

My Moby Dick piece over at Corey Helford Gallery is already sold. But you can still see it for the rest of the month.

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Thursday, August 09, 2007

Post Comicon favorite comic book

I've been devouring comics since I got back from Comicon. I avoided reading most comics during the creation of my book, The Blot. But since I finished it, I've been going through several books a week, reading everything I can find. I've read a lot of great stuff recently, and I could do a post about all of them, but I'd rather just tell you about my favorite.

Hands down, the best comic book I got at SDCC this year was Reich by Elijah Brubaker and published by Sparkplug Comic Books. It's a biographical comic book about a sex analyst who was a protegé of Freud. I know nothing about the actual William Reich, but Elijah seems to be doing his research really well, and footnotes his facts in the back of the book. I was unfamiliar with Elijah's work before reading this book. The storytelling is very strong in this comic, but what really grabs me is his artwork. The cover of issue #1 doesn't do it justice (check out the cover of issue #2 for a better example of the interior art). The artwork reminds me of the artists of the period in which the story is set: George Grosz, Otto Dix, and there's even a one panel nod to Egon Schielle. But Elijah's work isn't derivative of any one of these styles... he blends them into the comics medium, with some other possible influences of Ulf K. and David B., and manages to pull off a very beautiful and interesting cartooning style of his own.

It appears that Sparkplug Comic Books intends to release this series quarterly, and I hope they are able to keep that up. I'm looking forward to every future issue of this comic book.

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Wednesday, August 08, 2007

A couple more short reviews...

Eric Reynolds of Fantagraphics has a short review of The Blot in his post-con, recent reading book round-up post over at Flog. Scroll down about halfway through the list to read his thoughts about my book.

Sean T. Collins also has a short blurb about my book in which he says: "The Blot contains some of the most unnerving and original horror imagery I've seen in comics all year, including my favorite spread of the year thus far."

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Monday, August 06, 2007

LiterArtistry: Group Show

Literartistry is a group show in which Corey Helford Gallery has asked a bunch of artists to do work inspired by their favorite books.

I did Moby Dick by Herman Melville. I've been somewhat obsessed with that book recently and have read it 4 times in the last couple of years. My piece is over 5 feet tall. Ink on paper. I'm posting an image of it (click for larger view), but it's hard to really see all the detail on a computer screen. I hope you can come see it in person. I put a lot of effort into this one. I'm even impressed myself with how it came out. For those of you who haven't read Moby Dick, I totally give away the ending. So, come see it and I'll spoil the book for you.



The opening is this Saturday at
Corey Helford Gallery
8522 Washington Blvd.
Culver City, CA 90232
310-287-2340
Opening Reception Saturday, August 11th 7 - 10 pm

Among many other artists who I don't know, this show also includes pieces by my friends Gin Stevens and Paul Chatem.

Come check it out!

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Sunday, August 05, 2007

Comics Reporter interview with ME!

Tom Spurgeon interviewed me about "The Blot" for his online magazine The Comics Reporter.

NOW GO READ IT! And you'll learn more about me than you wanted to know.

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Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Comicon was awesome!

I have to say this was the most fun I've ever had at the San Diego Comic Convention. It was also the most exhausting running my own booth with the help of my fellow Igloo Tornados.

I debuted "The Blot" there and was very happy to find it well received by many people. This year, I felt like a real cartoonist with my first graphic novel. I sold a lot of copies and signed nearly every one of them. I met some new people and had a lot of fun hanging out with all my cartoonist friends.

I got a few pictures of people in costumes posing with my book:

Power Girl

Tobias Fünke from Arrested Development

Rorschach


And I got a lot of great new books:

This year, I was really happy to see a lot of "comic books" from artists I like, rather than "graphic novels." The photo above includes: Joe Matt's Spent, James Sturm's America, Jermy Tindler is an Asshole, Porcelain Skinned Dandy & Homicide Detective by David King, Black Ghost Apple Factory by Jermy Tindler, Injury by Ted May and friends, 1-800-MICE by Matthew Thurber, Cat Suit by Steve Lafler, Edison Steelhead's Lost Portfolio by Renée French, Reich by Elijah Brubaker, Green Grass anthology, Reporter #6 by Dylan Williams, Exit Wounds by Rutu Modan, Incredible Change-bots by Jeffrey Brown, Watching Days Become Years #4 by Jeff Levine, Suicide Girls Magazine #1, Fox Bunny Funny by Andy Hartzell, Aviary by Jamie Tanner, Love Eats Brains by Dash Shaw, a stack of awesome horror comics from the '50s and '60s, and a nice Squid and Whale shirt by Josh Frankel.

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Another review of "The Blot"

Brian Heater over at The Daily Crosshatch seems to be a bit confused about the content of my book, but he still gives it a positive review.

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Tuesday, July 24, 2007

2 more reviews...

Here's a couple of good, short reviews of The Blot that I just saw today:

A nice short review from Book By It's Cover:
Reviewed by Julia Rothman

And about halfway down the page you'll find a quickie on Bookgasm:
Reviewed by Rodd Lott

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I Will Destroy You & Igloo Tornado at San Diego Comic Con!

I Will Destroy You / Igloo Tornado at San Diego Comic Convention!!!

We just stapled all our minis last night and I'm surprised at all we have:

10 different mini-zines and mini-comics.
3.5* different t-shirts in a rainbow of colors
4 limited edition giclée prints
1 awesome graphic novel

Scot Nobles brings us 3 cool art zines
"Lace Lock Losers" B&W with hand-printed covers
"Now or Later Loser" in Full Color with hand-printed covers
Or buy the special packet of both and get a 3rd mini "Loser"
(kinda like those porno three packs you get at truckstops)
"Loser Goes First" T-shirt
and his beautiful giclée print "Tete-a-tete"

Gin Stevens brings his first ever attempt at a mini-comic:
The soon to be controversial "Fat Elvis" in which he has recontextualized artwork from the old south with some jokes by a famous comedian.

Levon Jihanian brings the best two minis of the show:
"The Only One There Could Ever Be"- a book of illustrated poetry
inspired by the Highlander series of movies by Jihanian
(illustrations by other members of the Igloo).
"Ordinary Fieldbook"- this is gonna be the best mini of the convention! A beautiful full color sketchbook.
Chock-full of monster battles and grocery lists,
if you've never seen Levon's sketchbooks, you've been missing out!
"Cat & Demon" Igloo Tornado t-shirt

Tom Neely brings:
His debut graphic novel "The Blot"
"S'supermini"- a mini comic of super-hero gag cartoons
"I'm Depressed"- the unauthorized garfield comic
3 new giclée limited edition prints of his paintings:
Reborn, The Wolf, and Rise Above
"The Blot" t-shirts

Igloo Tornado Unite:
The infamous "Henry & Glenn 4-Ever #1" returns!
But wait, there's a new one: "Henry & Glenn 4-Ever #2" with special guest stars Hall & Oates as their new neighbors!
"Hall & Oates" t-shirts!

There may also be some original artwork for sale.

We'll be joining Sparkplug Comic Books at booth #1533, just around the corner from D&Q and right behind Bueneventura Press.

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Sunday, July 22, 2007

The Blot reviewed at Jog the Blog!

Wow! I just got a really, really great review from Joe McCulloch over at his comics review blog.

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