Thanks (and my STAPLE! report to the indie roleplaying game design community)

Hi all,

If you're interested, my STAPLE! report to the indie roleplaying game design community is here.

And also I just want to say thanks. Danielle and I had a great time at STAPLE!. (Thanks as well to everyone who came to the "Self Gratification" panel. I had great fun doing it.)

Paul

STAPLE Art for for Charity

Hey folks,

I'm offering some unsold paintings I did at Staple and this past weekend's New Orleans Alternative Media Expo. All of the money is for an outstanding charity too! So, some background on the purpose and the cause, I'm riding again in the BP MS 150 from Houston to Austin and raising money to help fight MS. I'm a bit behind on my goal of raising $2000 so I thought I might offer up some original art if anyone was looking to put some weirdness on their walls. Please check out the following pieces.

Email me (toby at ithinkican dot com) if you are interested in one of them, or maybe request a commissioned piece? Standard donation for one of the 8x5 watercolors has been $65. Please pass this on to friends and strangers alike...









To make a donation online, visit my personal donation page. REMEMBER: Email me if you'd like a particular piece reserved.

Early and ongoing treatment with an FDA-approved therapy can make a difference for people with multiple sclerosis. Learn about your options by talking to your health care professional and contacting the National MS Society at http://www.nationalmssociety.org/ or 1-800-FIGHT-MS (344-4867).

Our postal address is:
National Multiple Sclerosis Society
733 Third Avenue
New York, New York 10017

New fiction collection and contest!

It's my extreme pleasure to announce that my first collection of horror shorts is now available for pre-order from Thunderstorm Books. Broken Skin collects fifteen of my darkest tales, including nine brand new stories, one of which is the novella Deeper Waters. Broken Skin is a limited edition harcover available on a pre-order only basis between now and May 1st.

For a little extra incentive, Thunderstorm Books is sponsoring the "Personal Injury" contest. Everybody who pre-orders the books is eligible. Once a week, Thunderstorm will draw from the names of those who have reserved copies. Each winner will star in a short story that will appear exclusively in there copy.

Copies available for pre-order from Thunderstorm books and Horror Mall.

STAPLE Report, plus a radio interview!

Hi all, Chris Ruggia of jackcomics.com here!

I had a wonderful time at my first STAPLE, which was also my first convention appearance of any kind, and for what it's worth I have posted a brief report at my Live Journal.

But my "big" news for today is that Marfa Public Radio will be interviewing me about my comics this coming Tuesday (March 24) on their "Talk at Ten" show. The show is about 20 minutes long, and it comes on just after the 10 am newscast (central time).

If anyone's interested, their stream is available at www.marfapublicradio.org.

string #12

Now available for download — the latest issue of string, the regular anthology of comics from 7000 BC.

We had issues for sale at STAPLE!, and we've been posting them regularly here — download a PDF of string #12 and check out future issues every month. In this one, the latest Peoplings, ruminants, enlightenment, and Danny with The Funniest Frickin’ Comic Strip in the Whole Damn Universe.

Previous issues: string #1 | string #2 | string #3 | string #4 | string #5| string #6 | string #7 | string #8 | string #9 | string #10 | string#11

Geek Bombast talks (and shows) Staple!

Hey everyone, John here from the podcast group, Geek Bombast. We've posted quite a few bits of Staple material on our website.

In the latest episode of the audio podcast, we do talk a bit about Staple. You can find that HERE

We also posted the second episode of our video show, which is all about Staple. Included on the page are the full interviews we preformed at the show. You can find all of those videos HERE

Finally, we tried to record the Stan Sakai panel for those who may not have been able to attend. We were only able to record about 27 minutes of it before they ran out of tape, sadly. However, what we did record can be found on our VEOH page. You can view the video HERE

Hope you enjoy!

We had a lot of fun at Staple '09 and can't wait till next year!

Monica Gallagher's con report

read it HERE.

STAPLE! T-shirts

Have quite a few left over. Most men's sizes and L and XL in women's. If anybody wants one drop me a line.

Another Great STAPLE!

Was it really just last week? Thanks to Uncle Staple and all the organizers, other exhibitors, and everyone who came to the show.

7000 BC's second STAPLE! was an amazing time. The crowd that comes to this show is always terrific, and we always wind up meeting some great people.

Possibly did even worse than last year documenting this, but a few photos below (click for larger); our friend Rob and our neighbor Jennifer on the end there.

    

And I've got my microsecond of fame in the video, scratching my nose.

LEOG at STAPLE!

Internationally infamous podcasters The League of Extremely Ordinary Gentlemen set up at STAPLE! this year to interview creators varied and sundry. The first intallment of these interviews are now online!

More to come!

Awesome show.

Staple! '09 was great! Mucho thanks go out to all.

Am I the only one who thinks Staple! is ready for a full weekend?

Stan Sakai blogs Staple!

Stan Sakai blogged about STAPLE!
And he posted a way better picture where I don't look crazy!

Video!

Freddie Avalos of Texas Geek TV sent me some video of STAPLE!

Randy Lander's con report:

Here!

more pics...

here by John Sitton of Geek Bombast. They also got some video that will be up on their site soon enough, by gum!

Photos!

Toby Craig has posted his pics from the show.

L.E.O.G.!!!

The League of Extremely Ordinary Gentleman, that is! And what that is is a very excellent comics related podcast on which your's truly Uncle Staple had the pleasure of participating in recently. Follow the link to hear it.

Leon of LEOG helped us out by moderating Jeffrey Brown's Q&A at STAPLE! and The League also set up at the show and interviewed a bunch of the creators and exhibitors that were on hand. Look for recordings of those coming up soon.

Ans as they say - Long Live the League!

Two nice write ups...

by Tron and Ninja Mike of Cyber Monkey Death Squad, filed under Rants and Raves.

2009

Best. Staple. Ever.

PS, I don't normally look this insane. I'm a little bit drunk, and a whole lotta happy.

Thanks from the Feeps

I've been at every STAPLE! since its inception, and this one was the best yet! Thanks to everyone who stopped by and took home a feep, or grabbed a few stickers to pass on to their friends. Hope to see you all again next year! In the meantime, you can keep up with the feeps' exploits at The Daily Monster.

Cheers,

Dylan

Fantastic experience

Thanks to everyone we met and just everyone! The place was so good-vibes! It is a joy to be part of this very Austin-bunch.

We launched our "World of Almost-Real" there on Saturday. Smiles and "go for it" energy just poured out to us.

Uncle Staple and your troops: all stars! Hugs, Allee Blatner.

GCPM at STAPLE!

All of us over here at The Gold County Paper Mill are super excited about STAPLE, here's what we'll have for y'all tomorrow:



From left to right:

Hyperbox #1-3 by William Cardini

Jak Cardini Achieves the Narratological Singularity by Jak Cardini, book design by Paul DeVay

TRANZ by William Cardini with assistance from Glade Whitworth

Masks by William Cardini

Coyote by The Medicine Men (Dr. Chuch and Davehat)

OMNI by William Cardini and Lanneau White

Impossible Objects #1 by Jak Cardini and William Cardini

See y'all there!

RHD debuts at STAPLE!

Greetings! My name is Jose Esquivel and this will be my first time attending STAPLE this year. I will be debuting my comic book, RHD, and my art book, Jose's Sketchbook. Hope to see everyone there!


Click on the images to see some sample pages.

Reinhard District #1
Story and Art by Jose Esquivel
$3.00


Jose's Sketchbook Vol. 1
Art by Jose Esquivel
$5.00

Last-minute Additions to the 7000 BC Table

We've arrived in Austin — and so has our checked luggage of 7000 BC comics.

 

The printer came through at the last minute, so we have two more sketchbooks from Jamie Chase to go along with the one we announced earlier. Heroes/Villains and Beasts are slimmer volumes, $3 each. Interested in all three? Let's call it $10 for the set.

-=-=-=-=-

We also stopped by Jeff Benham's on the way to the airport — he's passed along a few more copies of some of the hand-made comics that were so popular at STAPLE! last year. And we'll have copies of Peoplings, his new project with Courtney Angermeier.

Ready for STAPLE!

hey folks, Joe Eisma here! Tomorrow's the big day! This will be my second year exhibiting at STAPLE! and I'm totally stoked. I'll have plenty of my wares on hand, including my graphic novel from Devil's Due Publishing: Serpo, my mini-series from Viper Comics: A Dummy's Guide to Danger: Lost at Sea, and my short story Dodge's Bullets, published in Image Comics' Dynamo 5 #18. Preview pages from my upcoming book from Outlaw Entertainment, We, the People will also be on hand.

I'll also have sketchbooks and prints on hand (like the one included in this post) and I'll be doing sketches throughout the day. I'm at table #20A, and I hope you'll stop by and hang out for awhile!

Fanboy Video's Staple Flashback Finale

Fanboy Video.com is proud to finish off it's Staple Coverage with two anthology videos with more interviews from Staple 2008.





You can also see all the videos from Staple 2008 on this playlist. Thanks to all the people we interviewed, we'll see you at Staple 2009.

My Checklist for Staple!

Hi folks! I'm Keith Quinn, creator of the Local Heroes and Playtime Projects strips. For the second year in a row, I'll be at Staple!, and boy, I'm excited! I want to make sure I bring everything I need for a successful show, but time's running out. What I need is a checklist to keep me from frantically gathering the goods at the last minute or, even worse, forget to bring something important.

First thing's first, let's make sure I have my "convention basics":

• The goods
  
• A big stack of Local Heroes #1.
  
• Two or three copies of Heroes Incorporated #1.
  
• A big stack of Playtime Projects Temporary Tattoos.


• Hand-outs
  
• A stack of flyers. (Special note: The backs of my flyers double as sketchcards!)
  


• Cash
  
• I need to make sure I can make change for any customer that needs it. It's especially important to bring plenty of singles and a scattering of change.
  
• Receipts.

Whoa, whoa whoa...I'm already forgetting some important things. Don't I want my table to look nice? What if someone wants a sketch on those sketchcards?

• Table supplies
  
• Table cloth. (I picked up a nice disposable one from Target!)
  
• Character standees and price list.
  
• Napkins/paper towels.
  
• Tape, rubber bands, big clips.
  
• Scissors (That table cloth is probably bigger than I need).
  
• Garbage bags.


• Art supplies—got to have something to use on those sketchcards!
  
• Pencils, pens, sharpies, markers, etc.
  
• Erasers.
  
• Pencil sharpener.
  

If I bring nothing else, at least the basics are covered. But I can do better. I want to make sure I capture some promotional moments as well as some great memories. And I probably want to make sure some personal comfort is accounted for.

• "Capture the moment" gear
  
• Camera (with fresh batteries!).
  
• Flip camera (also with fresh batteries).
  
• Extra batteries.
• Autograph book.
  


• Comfort
  
• Bottled water.
  
• Small snack.
  
• A table partner—great to spend time with (and to watch the table when you have to step away!).

Whew! I think I'm set...for now. In the future, especially if I were to have a larger table, I might also include more books and other merchandise, and maybe even sketches and portfolio pages for fans to flip through.

Am I missing anything? What do you have in your convention checklist?

Books about boobs & rollergirls for sale!

Hi Staple! fans! Monica Gallagher from www.eatyourlipstick.com here! Come on out and see me at table 45 in the Hall (next to Stan Sakai -- eee!) for some books, prints, and t-shirts for sale! Here's a sampling of the fun you'll find ...

T-shirts! Skate love and skate sex for all the rollerderby fans out there ....













Comics! Stories about autobiographical moments, greek myths, models killing people as a side job, and rollergirls dealing with the tedium of their day jobs ...

Space-Gun Kru at STAPLE!

Hey everyone, Space-Gun Studios (Jake Ekiss, Evan Bryce, Vinh-Luan Luu, and Matthew Warlick) will be back at STAPLE! this year with the Synesthetic Anthology, Real Magicalism, our sketchbooks, and original art. We had a blast last year and wil be looking forward to Saturday. Come visit us over at tables 1, 2, and 3!

We'll be at the after party as well hopefully kicking out some live art. Come up and say hi, we love meeting new folk.

another (late) coloring

Jamie Chase Sketchbook Premieres at STAPLE!

Available for the first time anywhere, a new sketchbook by Jamie Chase.

Jamie's the creator of Muse and the illustrator on Death, Cold As Steel and The Darkness From Warsaw, as well has having his own career as a modernist figurative painter. Some sketches are development for other projects, others are just for the fun of it — only $5.

-=-=-=-=

And I'm one of the folks quoted in the STAPLE! article in Decider. Cripes, I sound stilted, but hopefully welcoming. So stop by the 7000 BC table in the auditorium and check out the wide range of offerings from northern New Mexico.

Please do ask questions — and if I actually start talking like I did in that quote, like I'm trying to be your self-help guru or something — just dope-slap me.

After STAPLE!

The Anthropology of Comics

These guys contacted me and wanted to let you know about their research project. Sounds really interesting!

E.J. Ford, PhD, Dino M. Leto, and Sherman Chow

Email: schow480(at)gmail(dot)com

Purpose: We are interested in learning about how comics are made: the whole process. We want to follow a comic from when it is created all the way through the publishing and distribution network until if finally finds a home in a collection someplace. We want to learn about what comics mean to each of the links in the chain. We want to learn about literary or artistic influences on both the creative talent that works on a book as well as the editorial staffs that preserve continuity in long-standing series. We also want to learn about the business of comics – who is paid, how much, what the comics industry is worth these days, and so forth.

If you are interested in participating: Just email Sherman Chow - schow480(at)gmail(dot).com. He will send you more information about the project, including specific questions we are interested in asking as well as details about the schedule of research we hope to complete. We will come to you at your convenience and you will be granted complete anonymity while participating in our research.

Manly Art!

Here's a few samples of things I'll be selling at Staple!. I'll also being doing sketches and custom Moleskine notebooks, and will have prints of some of my pin-ups available. Click on the images to see larger versions and read the descriptions. See you Saturday!

Jeff Brown interview!

STAPLE! Guest Jeffrey Brown was recently interviewed by the Decider supplement to Austin's print version of the Onion. Read the interview here!

Paul Maybury at STAPLE!

Hey everyone, I'm back again this year for more STAPLE.

I'm sitting at table 43 in the Hall section next to the talented Paul Benjamin.

I'll have copies of Popgun, Aqua Leung, Comic Book Tattoo and more.

If you have no idea who I am, check out these interviews

Dick Hyacinth and I discuss my webcomic Party Bear.

I'll also be at the STAPLE! pre and after parties, so come say hello.

Wondering Why You've Never Heard of the Indie Roleplaying Games Community?

Until recently the indie RPG community has manifested to the general public as just a tiny cluster of packed-to-the-gills and hard-to-fund booths at a much larger annual summer game convention. It's an economic situation that makes us very fierce. But if you haven't been to this show or if you haven't been to a specific small handful of online community sites, you'd never know we exist.

Those of us who've started to metastasize to other shows, who've worked with indie comics artists on our books, and who've been to your shows are excited to be connecting with you. We think the indie RPG community could learn a lot from the way comics folks operate as a community and do your shows.

Comics folks maintain their creative vitality by forming up into projects, splintering off into side projects, and doing special event projects. You recognize that a creative identity is about both independence and finding shared purposes. And your shows, and your fans support this with enthusiasm. The indie RPG community has a lot more in common with you all than we do with the paradigms of the established RPG publishing industry.

And maybe there's something to learn from our fierce, tight community mojo. I can't say I've seen online communities of aspiring comics creators that are like the indie RPG community sites, with participating indie comics publishers giving advice to aspiring writers and artists and self-publishers, and folks cross promoting their books. (Tell me what's out there that I'm not seeing.)

Anyway, we're excited about having this conversation. Stop by table #52 on March 7th and say hello.

Paul

Three-Woman signing at Book Woman Friday night!

If you're in Austin this Friday night (which of course you will be, right?), you should stop by Book Woman for a three-woman signing featuring cartoonists Danielle Corsetto and Monica Gallagher, and artist/author Youme Landowne from 6:30-8:30. There will be a short discussion and then all three artists will have copies of their books available for sale & signing.

Corsetto will be bringing collections of her webcomic, Girls With Slingshots, Volumes One and Two. Gallagher will have copies of her short stories: Bonnie N. Collide, Nine to Five (a collection of the online strips); Gods & Undergrads (book number one of the online serial); Boobage; and Lipstick & Malice. Landowne will be selling copies of her illustrated book Pitch Black, the true story of a homeless man living in the New York subway tunnels.

BookWoman is located at 5501 North Lamar, just down the road from Austin Books & Comics, where the Staple! pre-party will be held that night. So stop in on your way there, or on your way out (if you're the early-to-bed type)!