Why? Because it was a rebirth or sorts. Or why didn’t I want to do one? Because I was sick as a dog. (Do dogs get sick?)

See, you can still tell I’m a bit out of it if I’m questioning things like that.

Anyway, here’s some random thoughts…

The ChinaBus ride up was one of the most bizarre trips I have ever taken… and I’ve taken quite a few. If I would have been by myself, I probably would have curled into a fetal position and cried, but Neil (Out of Step Arts) Bramlette and Jared Callum were along for the ride, so I weathered on. If you see them, seriously…. ask them about this trip. (Coming back our bus driver actually left passengers at the Delaware House. He TOLD them 15 minutes. That’s why I ate my pizza near the bus.)

So, yeah, taking the bus up the night before without ANY sleep might have not been the best of ideas, but dammit, I saved money. But I digress.

I guess I wanted to do this post because I wanted to thank everyone. The Society of Illustrators for stepping up and doing it right. Many nice new touches (curtains, gallery, volunteers), Neil for being my AdWingMan during the show. Boulet for being a Super Trooper for the fans… of which I am one. Annie for being Annie. Friends for sympathizing for my condition. Customers who dug what we do and showed the support by picking up some of our stuff. I honestly hope I don’t make you sick.

Noirness: Boulet spent around 3 to 5 minutes doing a sketch for anyone who purchased the comic. That might not seem like a lot, but multiply that by 100 copies, and that is two full days of sketching. And each sketch was wonderful. Just go search on instagram or twitter.

Purchases: I am proud to say I was the first purchaser of new-comer Gregory Bentons “B+F”. I think he’s going to go places. Speaking of going… Going into the show, I knew I wanted Lisa Hanawalt’s new one. I mean, I knew I wanted it before, but when Tom did that punk review, I just had to have it. She did a kick-ass sketch inside, too. Boobs and all. I also wanted Dash’s new comic since, well, I spent many years at CC. I also got some surprises at the show, and even managed to miss some things, par the norm.

I like that the Society sent an email right after the show. That’s a little touch that goes a long way in my book. Also, they’ll be sending a survey at some point, which is a BIG thing in my book. Because we were all watching this show, and hoping it would be that good, I kept a running list of good things and bad things about the show. I’ll tell them both, since I feel we have that type of relationship.

I don’t really have that many pictures, since I wasn’t feeling that well. I suggest checking the Out of Step Arts report when it goes live, since we were buds for the weekend. OK. I better get back to it. Love ya.

(photo credit: Dustin Harbin at one of the previous Harvey Awards ceremonies.)

I’ve talked about awards here and there before. They are somewhat of a double-edged sword. Do they help? Sometimes? I mean, honestly, I can’t point to sale of a book and say “SEE! It was because it won XYZ award!” But I digress…

I am VERY proud of the work we produce. Last year we trudged along and put out some of the best work of any of our years. Some people took note and others did not. So, here’s your chance to help make your opinion heard (AdRock THE VOTE!).

If you “work” in the “industry” (and come on, who doesn’t?) You can go to the Harvey Awards website and nominate any of the work we produced last year if you feel it deserves it. I feel it does, and I have voted as such.

Deadline to vote is May 6th.

To help you remember what we produced, I’ve posted the work below, with what I consider the category it should be considered. Note that the links I’ve included will take you to the works webpage where you can review the work if you are not familiar with it.

Best Cartoonist:
Cartoonist: Ethan Rilly / Title: Pope Hats

Best Graphic Album – Original:
Title: American Barbarian / Publisher: AdHouse Books

Best Single Issue or Story:
Title: White Clay / Publisher: AdHouse Books

Special Award for Humor in Comics:
Writer/Artist: Lamar Abrams / Title: Remake 3xtra

Special Award for Excellence in Presentation:
Title: Notebook / Publisher: AdHouse Books

OK. That’s all I got. Thanks for thinking of us and the work we create. Excelsior…

SUPERMAG
by Jim Rugg & Various.
Published by AdHouse Books

SUPERMAG is Jim Rugg’s latest print project… a glossy, magazine-format collection of “narrative collapse.” It showcases his interests in genre, irreverent humor, graphic design, drawing, and typography. SUPERMAG features new work as well as collecting the best of his recent anthology contributions.

details:
56 4C pages
8.5 ” x 11 “SC
$9.95 US funds
ISBN 978-1-935233-22-0
Shipping May 2013
Diamond Order Code: MAR13 0766

Download a PDF preview

AdHouse’s Page

Someone suggested we might not want to call our Darkness comic Darkness.

And hey… I get it. I usually do a search to make sure we’re not to close to a previously published comic property. I guess life has been too busy, or this project was moving too fast… or I just forgot.

Anyway… even though the files were at the printer, nothing was printed yet.

So, ladies and gentlemen… may I reintroduce Noirness.

Color me crazy, but AdHouse Books will be hitting the road to attend both the Asbury Park Comicon, Society of Illustrator’s MoCCA Art Fest, Toronto’s awesome TCAF and the Phoenix Comicon this spring!

I guess the crazy part is that the first two are back-to-back weekend shows, the third is in another country… and the fourth is almost clear across the good ol’ US.

We decided to do the Asbury show because it seemed like it had the right vibe. Having previously been held in a bowling alley, we heard nothing but good things from prior guests. So, why not?

Now, the MoCCA Art Fest was a tougher decision. Having been spurned by the previous promoters, we had to give it some hard thought as to whether or not we would return. Slowly, but surely, we kept hearing good things. First they had formed a steering committee including like-minded publishers Secret Acres. Second, it was now being run by the Society of Illustrators… who we have always loved. So, after talking it over with a few friends, we decided it was time to make our return. It also helped that Boulet was coming over and wanted to publish a comic with us.

TCAF? If they’ll have us, we will try and make the trip. It’s that good of a show. Last year AdHouse central was moving, so we sent good ol’ American Barbarian in our place. This year, we’re happy to return!

The Phoenix Comicon? Well, we were on the fence for a little while… but then they went and announced the 20th anniversary of Babylon 5. Heh. We are HUGE B5 fans at AdCentral. On top of that, our pal Matt Wagner was going to be there. And then AdBuds Jim Rugg and Tom Scioli are making the trip. So… if you are a left coaster, try and swing by for this show. It looks awesome!

So, look for us at Asbury Park Comicon on March 30, the MoCCA Art Fest on April 6 & 7, TCAF on May 11 & 12 and the Phoenix Comicon from May 23-26.

(Of course we’ll be hitting HeroesCon in June, but we’ll be back for a Summer blog post before then.)

Spending time with Sterling at an illustration event? Color me yes.

I guess the first thing that really hit me was how gracious everyone was. I guess the years and years of being “low brow” (or what have you) made me not think a state run museum would be interested in illustration or the publisher’s who publish them. But that was far from the case. So, a big, BIG thank you to everyone involved. I had a fantastic time. Here’s a few snippets of the trip…

Curated by David Apatoff, I thought the show did a wonderful job of linking the threads of Howard Pyle to the current generation of image makers. I was lucky enough to take in David’s talk about the show, which gave even more details into his thinking on the curation. I especially liked with David asked me which online comic maker could be associated with Howard Pyle. I gave it some thought, and eventually came up with Kate Beaton, as she is the queen of the internets…

I’ve never known all that much about Howard Pyle… so to suddenly be thrust into his collection of originals, sketches and history was quite amazing. I need to learn more about the man.

Another joy was meeting John Cuneo for the first time. Having barely known his work prior to the show (my fault), I enjoyed his WoodyAllenEsque personality and the ties we had via comic books. It was a pleasure for him to ask for my card, only for my to reply I didn’t have one. You see, having just moved, I haven’t created new ones, and I don’t know if I could put my hands on my old ones if I had to… but this only fired his flames. I promise to mail John a new card once I have them.

Yet another nice surprise was the Hotel Dupont. Frequent readers of my blog will know I cherish traveling and the staying within hotels. At least the good ones. Celebrating their 100 year birthday this year, the place was a feast for the eyes… in more ways than you can imagine. They had original Pyles and Wyeths throughout the building. Hell, they even had some drawings for sale. When we opened the hotel room door the scent of whisky beckoned us to enter…

Bernie Fuchs originals? O.M.G… And I got to meet his daughter!

Since most everyone involved was/is an illustration nut, we also made time to run over to Wyeth Museum in Chadds Ford, PA. We honestly were the last ones to leave, with them shutting the doors pretty much right after us. Man… A Wyeth can feed the soul.

The State of the Art show is up until June 1st… so if you are in driving distance, please make the trip. You will be glad you did.

More photos…

Darkness by Boulet.
Published by AdHouse Books

Representing Boulet’s first solo US-published material, The Darkness is a 24-hour comic tour-de-force. This comic was produced in conjunction with the artist’s 2013 US tour, and as such, is produced in a limited quantity.

Details:
4C cover
32 1C pages
7″ x 10″ saddle stitched
$6.95 US funds
Shipping in April 2013
An AdHouse Books Limited Edition Exclusive

Download a PDF preview

AdHouse’s Page

First off, we’re not the most advance of website developers over here. I basically try and “ballpark” the cost of shipping within the US (and other countries) and then add that cost to the Paypal shopping cart. 90% of the time it works. The other 10% of the time I will refund the purchaser or I lose money.

I’ve seen questions and comments on Twitter about what we would charge to ship to other countries. It’s not like we’re trying to rip you off. That’s pretty much what the USPS charges. We can really only send things via Priority Mail. So, that one comic really does cost us from $14-$20 to ship to your country.

We received an order lately for one comic to Canada. Because of the rise in international shipping costs, that one comic was given away.

So, I doubt things are going to get cheaper. I guess “digital” is looking better and better all the time…

Happy Holly Daze from AdHouse Books. Art by Mr. C. Scott Morse with embellishments by Mr. Chris P. Pitzer.

Just wanted to let you know that we’ll be driving north to Philly on 12/16 to set up at the Locust Moon Fest.

Why?

Well, they have curated one helluva show.

Brandon Graham. Farel Dalrymple. J.G. Jones. David Mack. Jim Rugg. Michael Zulli. Jasen Lexx. Terry LaBan. Box Brown. Ben Marra. Ed Piskor. Jeffro Kilpatrick. Meathaus Enterprises. Secret Acres. Koyama Press. Locust Moon Press and many more!

I’m going to bring the last of the AdDistro, so let’s wheel & deal! You may go home with some sweet & awesome comics.

What’s that? Why yes, the festival is doing special prints. Wonder Twins powers … activate.

PS. The fest gets bonus points for bringing in special food. I like special food. Hope you can make it out!