i will destroy you news

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.

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.

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.

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...

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.

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.

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."

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!

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Book Release party was a big success!

Last night's book release party at Secret Headquarters was a lot of fun. Lots of people came out and it was a big success. I think I signed about 50 copies of The Blot and drew bad little doodles in all of them.

You can see more photos here.

Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate with me!

Friday, July 20, 2007

Fuck Harry Potter!!!

COME TO MY BOOK RELEASE PARTY INSTEAD!!!

It's at:

Tonight, I want to see more people than this at Secret Headquarters:

Monday, July 16, 2007

Book Release Party!!!

I'm extremely happy to announce my first Book Release Party for my first graphic novel "The Blot."

It will be this Friday, July 20th at Secret Headquarters Comic Book Shop in L.A.

Please come out and help me celebrate a year's worth of hard work in getting this book done. If the book isn't enough to get you out of the house- there will also be beer.

I also have new limited edition giclée prints of these 3 paintings that will be available for sale:

And Secret Headquarters will have some original art from the book as well as some of my paintings that inspired the book on exhibit for a couple of weeks.

So, come on out, have a beer, buy my book, make me sign it... or just come say "hi."

The Blot by Tom Neely
Book Release and Signing Party
Secret Headquarters Comic Book Shop
3817 W. Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026
Friday, July 20th 8-10 pm

For those of you not in the L.A. area, I will be at the following comics festivals with my book:
San Diego Comic Con July 25-29 at the I Will Destroy You/Sparkplug Comic Book booth
Toronto Comic Arts Festival August 18th & 19th at the Sparkplug Comic Book booth
Small Press Expo in Bethesda Maryland October 13th & 14th at the Sparkplug Comic Book booth

I hope to see you all soon.

If you can't make it to any of those events, you can always order "The Blot" from my site: www.iwilldestroyyou.com

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Process: Group Show at Gallrey Nucleus

I have two pieces in this group show at Gallery Nucleus. It opens Friday, July 13th 1007 from 7-11 pm.

Here are my pieces for the show (sorry though the scans are a little washed out):

The show also includes my pal, and fellow Igloo Tornado member, Gin Stevens. And the amazingly demented Billy Reynolds.

Thursday, July 05, 2007

When Whaleboy Met Ahab!

My good pal, Patrick Morgan, created a character named Whaleboy.
He also made toys of Whaleboy, and there's a release party for them tonight at Munky King in L.A.

There will also be a show of various artists doing pieces of Whaleboy art. That's my drawing (above) of when Whaleboy met Ahab.

Go check 'em out at Munky King! And if you're a fan of animation art and character design, check out Patrick's sketchbooks, too. He's published three of them so far.

Monday, July 02, 2007

Spotted this on Spot the Frog

Mark Heath blogs a little bit about my book. I'm not familiar with the Gahan Wilson story he refers to, but I always liked Gahan Wilson... I first discovered his work in the Playboy magazines I stole from the Flea Market* back home when I was a kid. Sometimes I liked those comics better than the naked ladies.

This reminds me that there is another ink blot strip drawn by Winsor McCay. I believe it was from a Rarebit Fiend in which a man is annoyed by an onslought of dripped ink from the cartoonist's brush. I've always loved McCay, but had never seen that strip until I saw the original artwork in the Masters of American Comics exhibit at the Hammer Museum in L.A. last year. It was not a direct influence on my book (I'd already completed the first chapter of The Blot before I saw this McCay strip) but his Little Nemo comics have always been a big inspiration to me.

*Note: Years later, I felt bad about stealing the porn, so, my friend (a cohort in the crime) and I went back one day and left $50 on the cash register when the vendor wasn't looking.

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