It’s an amazing concept and one that’s executed pretty much flawlessly. I started leafing through the book during the middle of the night right before bed and ended up reading the entire thing, captivated by each and every page.
When: Saturday, October 27th, 11AM - 4PM Where: Barnes & Noble @ Clarendon. Arlington, Virginia What: Arlington writers of various genres are converging on B&N Courthouse for a day of talking and signing. I'll be there with Postcards: True Stories That Never Happened. Proceeds benefit the Arlington Public Library. Check out the announcement for more info.
Sometimes a show is so awesome that a cheesy pun for a title isn't just allowed, it's required.
I had a great SPX this year. Despite showing up for only an hour-and-a-half on Friday and constantly taking breaks to talk to folks on Saturday I managed to sell 29 copies of POSTCARDS. At $20 a pop a primarily small-ticket item show that's a good deal.
People really seemed to dig the book - it didn't take a whole lot of pitching. I just told them the concept, let them flip through it, and waited for them to make their decision. A lot of people purchased it, everyone told me they loved the concept, and most of the people who didn't purchase it there at least picked up a postcard or wrote the name of the book down (one woman even asked me if it's cheaper on Amazon...I had to say "yes").
I also got to meet a bunch of great new people; press, fans, and fellow creators. Very friendly atmosphere, lots of chatting. There's always a great community around SPX; makes me proud that the convention is hosted in my area.
I'll write up a more detailed report later on including some photos...
I will be at table C6 this weekend selling copies of POSTCARDS. I'll also be trying to sell off the remainder of my Western Tales of Terror issues for $1 a pop (or free if you buy POSTCARDS). Come on by!
I know you probably hear graphic novel and think: comic book, superheroes, men in tights, gore, geeks, teenagers. While that may be true of many, this one sets the golden standard to be something better.
I just got back from doing a lunchtime talk at the Georgetown Senior Center. Honestly, I didn't know what to expect. I had lunch with the folks there and then we all sat in a circle and I talked about the book. I started out by talking a bit about graphic novels and how they're not just superheroes and Archie anymore and then went into the genesis of the project. That was about ten minutes. I then spent about fifty minutes talking about the cards in my collection and we had great little discussions, plenty of laughs - it was a really fun time and everyone there was engaging and taking part in the discussions.
I was also encouraged to try to take my talk to Oprah, The Today Show, various NPR programs, and the Smithsonian. I'll get on that...
Episode 3. Roy gives the people back home disturbing news from the frontier. Also available on MetaCafe, DailyMotion, iFilm, Yahoo Video, and Google Video. Ratings, reposts, and Diggs MUCH appreciated. Enjoy!
The wonderful folks at Current TV hooked me up with producer Gabe Uhr to make a short pod on POSTCARDS. I don't know its TV schedule yet and I'll be sure to fill you all in when I have that but, for now, you can view it online. Enjoy!
I finally placed in the top-10 for a Google-search on "postcards" (I'm currently #9). I was patiently waiting for this day to come and, now that it has, I cannot believe how many people do a search for "postcards" each day. You guys really like postcards, don't you?
Well, if so, there's the book, obviously. I also have some fun stuff over here: the Used Postcard Museum, the ePostcard function, and the Student Supplements. And, of course, the first in a series of Postcards Video Podcasts:
To my great delight the local public library had a copy of Postcards: True Stories That Never Happened almost immediately after it was published. This kind of collection is part of the reason why I am so happy I discovered reading graphic novels a few years ago. It helps that it has a fairly strong Pennsylvania focus—as a loyal son of the Commonwealth, I think I may even have visited the antique store where this book had its genesis.
I've received several emails from Pennsylvania folks saying they love how the book is somewhat skewed towards PA. Now if only there was some way to get everyone in PA to buy a copy...
I thought this was pretty cool. I got an email forwarded to me from Whitney Matheson (along with the note, "aww, you totally made this woman's day!") that says...
Dear Whitney,
I found an Amazon box on my porch when I got home from work tonight. Not unusual, but I didn't remember ordering anything within the last week or so. Inside was a wrapped present. Cool, I thought. I read the card: While vanity searching my book on Google, I came across your wishlist and thought I'd treat you to an early birthday present. Enjoy! --Jason Rodriguez, Editor: Postcards. Jason sent me a copy of Postcards!
My birthday is in two weeks and I'm quite sure this is going to be my favorite present! I knew I had added it to my wishlist after a recommendation from you. I thought you should know that 1) this guy must be really cool and 2) you helped score me an awesome surprise.
I love the idea behind this book. I've been known to buy random postcards and tintypes from antique stores. I can't wait to read it. If you talk to Jason, tell him I said Thanks!
Sharon
I've been thinking of doing a Random Acts of Kindness kind of thing. Occasionally buying the book for someone who has it on their wishlist or their GoodReads "to-read" list. It's nice to know people appreciate it if I do go through with it...
Matt Dembicki snapped some photos of a posh Dupont Circle-area hat, accessory, and gift shop that displayed POSTCARDS in their window. It's a great cover, after all...
Below are some photos of Chris Stevens and Gia-Bao Tran's signing at historic Lucy the Margate Elephant. Chris & GB's story was inspired by a postcard featuring the landmark and we're thankful to the historical board for letting us sign there.
The variety and unexpected subject matter of these stories gives the book great strength. Vintage-style images and stories based on turn-of-the-century ethics, joys, and dilemmas provide a surprising and unique readg experience for both comic fans and readers new to the graphic style.
Last month’s contest had folks writing little stories inspired by a used postcard from my collection. We’re switching it up a bit this month; allowing you to express yourself any way you want. Is everyone here familiar with Installation Art? Good. We’re going to try something that may not be new, necessarily, but it’ll be new to me: Digital Installations.
If you go here, you’ll see art from the book, fronts and backs of postcards, and various other postcard-related images and text. There are a hundred images so far and I may add more over this coming week. These can be your starting points if you want. Make art. Make a collage or use an image or some text as the starting point for an illustration. Wrap a story or a poem around something from the collection that inspires you. A little comic. A short song. Just create something...
…and then install it somewhere. Install it on a message board or into your MySpace layout. Install it on Facebook or Craig’s List or Last.FM or Flickr or YouTube. Wherever it’s installed, send me the link – I’ll keep a running list of installations on this website and, at the end of the month, pick my three favorites. Then it’ll go to a vote again.
The only rule is that the installation needs to be postcard related (preferably used postcards). It doesn’t have to tie specifically to the book and it doesn’t need to include a link back to the site. It just needs to be guerrilla digital art – something that catches eyes, makes people wonder what the artist’s intentions are, and inspires them to create their own art.
If your installation has a chance at being labeled spam and taken down, grab a screenshot of it and send it with the link. Here’s a quick installation I made – I’ll make some more as the month goes on.
So get to it and have fun. Hopefully we’ll have some more fun with this one. The best installation will win the following signed copy:
Well - just got home from some dinner and drinks and I see Xander Bennett up by one vote...40 for him, 39 for Lynn, and 13 for Jesse. It's an hour past midnight, however, so I do feel kind of bad with the poll being so close. I'll give Xander the signed book but if Lynn doesn't have a copy yet I'll send one signed by me, at least, her way.
Xander and Lynn - send me your addresses.
The September contest is going up tonight or tomorrow. It'll be a slightly different spin - keep your eyes open for it!
MARGATE, NJ — Ventnor, NJ writer Chris Stevens and Brooklyn, NY artist Gia-Bao Tran will be signing copies of Postcards: True Stories That Never Happened (Villard Books; On-Sale Now), at Lucy the Margate Elephant historical landmark on August 29, 2007. Stevens and Tran are the creators of "Blue," the lead story of the graphic novel anthology, which pays homage to the innocent age of Atlantic City.
"Blue" is the story of an Atlantic City native returning home and trying to find a connection with his grandmother, a woman who’s not as sharp as she used to be. An image of Lucy on a postcard becomes their means of escape into the landmarks (and relationships) of their past. Creators Stevens and Tran will be signing copies of Postcards: True Stories That Never Happened at the building that inspired it all—Lucy the Margate Elephant.
Praised by USA Today as one of this summer’s best graphic novels, Postcards: True Stories That Never Happened features imagined stories of romance, adventure, mystery, and heartbreak, inspired by 100-year-old missives scrawled on the backs of antique postcards.
Well…this is weird. We had a little over twenty entries for the August contest and there’s only one I’d call unreadable. Everything else was good. That’s…not the usual trend.
It was a tough decision. Some stories lost points for simply being out of the time period, some lost points for being a bit too long without necessarily needing to be long, and some lost points for trying to shoehorn clever into a perfectly even and well-executed story. There are actually four stories that I really liked and before getting to my top three I’d like to give a bit of honorable mention to Pete Anderson’s entry “One Evening in St. Paul.” More on that in a minute…finalists!
1) Xander Bennett’s untitled story…the first one I received. Very simple and well executed. It was between this one and Pete Anderson’s, mentioned above. They were similar stories but, when it came down to it, I simply liked the way this one ended – focusing on the forgotten postcard. That sort of captures the feeling of the POSTCARDS project more; forgotten postcards with amazing stories behind them found decades later. Xander’s ending seemed like a subtle nod to that and I appreciated it a bit more because of it.
2) Lynn Turner’s “Wrestling in San Antonio.” When I first read this I was a bit put off by what I considered to be historical inaccuracies. The story felt very modern and the postcard obviously isn’t recent. However, I let it slide this time since the postcard wasn’t mailed - there wasn’t a date stamped on it. I thought this piece was well executed. I kept expecting some sort of “I’m Clever” ending but, instead, it bridged into the obvious story behind the postcard without being too on-the-nose. It was a cute piece – a little uneven at times, but it made me smile and that’s always good.
3) Jesse Hanna’s untitled story is a great example of clever done right. It didn’t try to hard and took advantage of the 500-word maximum to come up with a story that didn’t attempt to disguise its ending but didn’t give the reader enough time to figure it out.
So, there you have it. Thanks to everyone who submitted a story – I hope you had as much fun writing them as I had reading them. I will be doing something similar next month if anyone wanted to take another crack at it. So you know, a super-signed copy of POSTCARDS went for $250 at the CBLDF auction. I guess that makes this a nice little prize.
Vote below – I’ll close this down on the 31st at 11:59PM EST. CLOSED
Frank had gone off to New York to see about a advertising job. We had been going out for two months and we were even talking about moving in together.
He was leaving when the school was getting ready for our class finals. I was more then willing to skip it and go with him, but he insisted that I stay here and finish school. Just in case he didn't get the job, as he liked to say.
The day he left I went out with my sister and we went shopping. We saw the postcard in a gift shop and thought it would be a good joke, seeing how April fools was right around the corner. I wrote down the hotel's address and mailed it that very afternoon.
I didn't even know that he had even received the postcard until his mother called me asking about where he was. She said he didn't go to the interview and the hotel hasn't seen him for three days.
The hotel said he checked into the hotel and later that night one of the desk clerks gave him his mail. He stared and the postcard for a minute or two and walked straight outside and hailed a cab. They haven't seen him since.
His mom wasn't just calling about where her son was, but was also calling about the postcard. I was furious with him at the time and thought I'd sure like to tell his mother what kind of a man she raised.
I guess I must have left out the part about it being April fools and that I was joking, because she took it awfully serious.
She spent the next few weeks taking care of me. She called the school and got them to let me take my finals later. We would spend the days out looking for apartments, buying furniture, normal expecting mother stuff. There were times when I almost broke down and told her, but she always seemed so happy, and I knew it would crush her.
She insisted to take me to the doctors and get checked on. I didn't know what I would say when the doctor came back. I kept telling her a lot of these aren't very accurate and we could try another doctor. She would just pat me on my hand and tell me not to worry. The guilt got to be too much and I was just about to tell her, but then the doctor walked in, and said a few words that would change my life forever.
Congratulations, He said, would you like to know if it's a girl or a boy ?
Frank caught me by surprise when he showed up with his luggage and those tickets to San Antonio. "San Antonio?" I inquired. "You mean the Texas San Antonio?" He was already dragging my suitcase from under the bed and opening dresser drawers. “Put on a sundress or something. I hear it’s hot down there.” I’ve learned not to question Frank when he gets a wild hair. I packed some lingerie and a bathing suit and a couple of cotton dresses, threw some toiletries into a cosmetic bag, brushed my hair, put on some Rita Hayworth Red lipstick and announced myself ready.
I held my tongue throughout the three hour plane ride, setting a new world record. We checked into a pink motel with a clay tiled roof, stowed the suitcases in Room 6, and were off again, Frank grabbing my hand and pulling me past the pool and the potted palms, under the archways out to the street. There Frank took off at a good clip with me having to run to keep up. “This better be good,” I told myself for the umpteenth time. At the second corner, we cut across the street to Uncle Pedro’s Used Cars. Frank stopped, and, as if he were about to unveil the curtain on Showcase Number 2, announced, “Well, there it is. What do you think?”
I was staring at a two-toned baby blue and white Buick with portholes on the sides. A ’53 I think, one of those “classic” cars they restore and show off at Fabulous Fifties parties. “It’s beautiful,” I remarked, moving in for a closer look. I peered through the driver’s side window.
Frank slapped his forehead. “Not the car, girl! The lot! It’s mine! Well, ours. Uncle Pedro, well, he’s dead now, six months, and when they read the will, guess what! He left me the business. The whole business! The used car lot, the property, all the cars, all the money, everything! So what d’ya think? Are you happy? It’s all ours!”
“You mean yours, Frank. Why do you keep saying ‘ours’?”
“Oh, I forgot that part.” He was digging in his pocket for something. Then, quick as a wink he handed me a black velvet jewelry box and bent down to one knee, and before my mind could register, “¡Ay, caramba!” he proposed to me. Just like that.
“There’s a little wedding chapel down the street. I checked it out.” So the rascal had planned this all along!
An hour later we were enjoying our honeymoon at the Old Mexico motel. Enjoying it and enjoying it until pink sunlight streamed through the curtains in the morning.
Frank decided to stay in San Antonio to take care of his affairs while I went back home to pack up my apartment for the move. He saw me to the plane. “I’ll be back for you in a month or two,” he told me, kissing my hair. “Send me a postcard and let me know how you’re doing.”
Chris Stevens and Gia-Bao Tran, the writer/artist team behind POSTCARDS' "Blue" will be signing books at Atlantic City's historic Lucy the Elephant (the focal point of their story).
Edited by Jason Rodriquez, Postcards is a collection of stories inspired by actual vintage postcards gathered from flea markets, antique shops, and second-hand stores. The postcards may be limited a single paragraph of text, but the creators that have contributed to this anthology have allowed their imaginations to fill in the blanks and tell the “true stories that never happened”.
I will not be at TCAF this year but several POSTCARDS creators will. Make sure you look out for Noel Tuazon, Matt Kindt, Danielle Corsetto, and Gia-Bao Tran. I know Noel will have 20 copies of POSTCARDS on him and he even made 20 original watercolors to give out to folks that buy the book off of him.
POSTCARDS contributor A. David Lewis wrote an editorial for Publisher's Weekly entitled I'm Sick Of You. Worth the read, if only to follow the fall-out that'll come with it.
By You, I mean your story. Your life. Its hardships, its successes and its minutiae. Your idiosyncrasies. Your fetishes. Your day-to-day encounters and your once-in-a-lifetime experiences. The highs, the lows and the status quo. Your traumas, your victories and your journey. Your wisdom, its growth and its pretentiousness. Your adolescence. Your adulthood. And, good God, your anxieties. If I ever get my hands on R. Crumb, I’ll beat him silly with a hefty girl’s thigh bone for having unleashed your floodgate of neurosis all over me.
After viewing antique postcards, artists pondered the subtext and extrapolated several sentences into complete stories--an interesting concept sure to capture the imagination of any postcard collector or ephemera enthusiast.
I honestly can't recommend this book enough to my friends that happen to be teachers, because it really is a wonderful idea that they could use in the classroom.
I'd call this one a highlight of the POSTCARDS press. From what I understand, this'll be in the print edition tomorrow, as well. America's number one newspaper. Also, as far as I can tell, this is the first time USA Today is reviewing graphic novels. And they only reviewed four of them in the column. And called them "some of the summer's best offerings."
It's fascinating to see artists' take on, in Rodriguez's words, the turn-of-the-century equivalent of modern-day text messages."
Read the rest. I think this is a Johnnie Blue Review. Going to get a glass now.
Last night I got to meet Gabe Uhr, the man who'll be producing the POSTCARDS video pod for Current.TV. He's done several pieces for them but his short that I'm most excited about is one that he did on his own...
I’ve been keen to read this book ever since Rodriguez announced it over a year ago. It’s a great idea: he dug up old postcards that had been mailed, sent them to various comics creators, and asked them to come up with a short story based on what was written on the back of the card. What he got was a slew of interesting stories, some of which are brilliant, and great art by a wide variety of people.
Each story in the anthology starts off with the postcard itself, and a short note from Rodriguez; each story is a small gem of imagination, each a prime example of the art form and its possibilities.
I love working with Noel Tuazon. He's an exceptional cartoonist, he puts a lot of passion into his work, and he's fast as all hell. Also, he's always drawing. And most of the time, the drawings are awesome. Like the following 16 washes Noel will be inserting into copies of POSTCARDS at TCAF; one for each story in POSTCARDS. Awesome.
Several things to watch out for. First off, POSTCARDS will be in the print and online editions of USA Today on August 9th. Pretty excited about that. Highest circulation in the country. I just hope they like the book otherwise I think I'll be, you know, pretty embarrassed.
We still have a piece in PopMatters coming up - I'm looking forward to that one. I know the reviewer handed it in so...soon?
And here's a cool one...Current.TV just hooked me up with a film production crew. They're going to do a little mini-documentary on POSTCARDS. Follow me around while I collect postcards and make comics. I think that is quite righteous.
One more really exciting thing in the works - hoping it pans out.
And that's what we have coming up. As always, if you're interested in any media-related stuff, email me.
I have signed copies of my new anthology project, POSTCARDS: TRUE STORIES THAT NEVER HAPPENED. The stories in the book are based on antique, used postcards. Artists look at the front of the card, read the back, ponder the subtext, and extrapolate several sentences into a complete story.
You can win one of these books by coming up with a story behind the following postcard:
You can get your story to me in a number of ways. Email me your story. Snail mail it to me. Post it on your blog (just make sure you send me the link). Post it in the comments section. Get your story to me however you want, really. On August 24th I’ll post my three favorites – it’ll be up to the visitors on this site to vote for the one they like the best.
I’ll be doing this once a month until I run out of signed books. Here’s a scan of the one you can win in August:
It features sketches and signatures from: Phil Hester, Joshua Fialkov, Gia-Bao Tran, Michael Gaydos, Rob G, Rick Spears, Tom Beland, Stuart Moore, Tony Fleecs, James W. Powell, Antony Johnston, Ande Parks, Matt Kindt, Micah Farritor, Jason Copland, Robert Tinnell, Jason Hanley, and Jason Rodriguez.
So, that’s that. Get to writing. Short (500 word) stories are preferred but, if you’re going longer, make sure it’s great from the very first line. I can’t wait to see what you come up with!
It was around five o’clock when I headed over to the Comic Relief pavilion for a signing of Postcards. This anthology features some excellent stories by a host of good creators, and although not all of the stories work perfectly, it’s still a fascinating project. My book was passed around to Antony Johnston, Ande Parks, Matt Kindt, Rick Spears, Rob G, GB Tran, Joseph Bergin III, Jason Copland, and Micah Farritor, as well as Jason Rodriguez, the book’s editor.
Most of the focus was given to the newly released “Postcards: True Stories That Never Happened,” which is an anthology based around antique postcards. Some fans found actual postcards on their seats left for them by the editors, which added a fun and interesting touch to the atmosphere.
I guess I can talk about this one a bit. During one of our DC Conspiracy get-togethers I had folks write out fake postcards - 360 of them, total. I left them all over the convention but I imagine that with the enormity of it all it's easy to lose 360 postcards over a half-mile of space packed with 140,000 people.
I got into town at around noon. Robin and I took a cab to the Sofia Hotel. The Sofia was remodeled In January 2007 and it’s now a nice and swanky spot only seven blocks from the convention center and three blocks from Ralph’s. We ran into James W. Powell and Jason Copland at the hotel – it’s odd that out of all of the hotels in San Diego I book one at the same place that my assistant editor (James) and frequent collaborator (Jason) are in. It's even weirder that none of us even realized we were in the same place and that we showed up at the exact same time. San Diego Comic-Con may have had 140,000 attendees this year but it’s still a small world over there.
After checking in Robin and I went to Sea World. I don’t care if you laugh, I love Sea World. Love it. I can watch fish swim for hours (especially eels, barracudas, and sharks). I love how you can feed and touch the dolphins and the sting rays. I love how the park is owned by Anheuser-Busch and you can get free beers at the hospitality tent. You’re only allowed two per visit but you get around that by visiting the tent every hour or so.
After Sea World Robin went back to the hotel to take a nap and I went to the convention center to check out preview night. I went straight to the Random House booth to see what kind of press they had out for us. They had a nice poster up at the Villard section, a preview copy of the book, and a flyer advertising the four signings we head set up. I can’t complain about that.
I walked around the hall for a while. I dropped some books off with Gia-Bao Tran and the Gigantic Graphic Novel guys (Rick Spears and Rob G) to sell at their respective tables.
After the show I went out to dinner with a couple of folks: my fiancée, Robin, Josh Fialkov and his lovely fiancée (and POSTCARDS II history-editor) Christina Rice, POSTCARDS artist Tony Fleecs, screenwriters Marc Wheaton (THE MESSENGERS) and Gary Dauberman (DEADMAN), and Sam Cooke artist Rob Guillory and his wife, April. We went to a nice little Italian place.
We were going to head over to the Hyatt afterwards but first I had to take Tony to his hotel in Gary’s car. I rented a POSTCARDS Crash Room for anyone that didn’t have a place to stay and wanted to make sure that Tony could check it into it since he was the first one to use it. It took us close to twenty minutes to get to the hotel, the only street that passed by it was a one-way street that seconded as the off-ramp to a highway. By the time we returned Gary’s car it was already past eleven and we were about a half-mile from the Hyatt and tired. Robin, Tony, Gary, and I went out for some drinks closer to our hotels.
The first bar we went to was alright. We were attracted to the outdoor patio and then they closed it. Some Santana cover band was playing the wrong songs too loud inside the bar so we bolted. We went to some dive bar on Tony’s suggestion and it ended up being the greatest two hours of the convention by my recollection.
It was cheap, for starters. Two-dollar beers and well drinks all night, every night. The bartender was hysterical. When we commented on how cheap the beers were she proceeded to tell us the price of every drink behind the bar. She joked with us, made fun of us, took pictures with us. When someone came in with a big box of XL-or-larger restaurant shirts, she encouraged us to take them. Tony got it started, digging through the box and putting different shirts on. Eventually, everyone was wearing the free shirts. People would come through the door and we’d throw a shirt at them. Joshua Dysart comes in and I say, “Joshua! Where’s your shirt?” It was a drunken mess but a good mess.
Ralph’s, then hotel – Preview Night was over.
Thursday
I had breakfast with Josh Fialkov and Christina Rice. While Josh and I talked about our futures, Christina read POSTCARDS. No joke – she cried, in front of us, after reading Phil Hester’s story. Anyway, I think several decisions where made over breakfast that’ll be playing out over the next several months.
Afterwards I went to the Horton Plaza mall to get some new sunglasses and hat – I already had mild sunburn on my bald patch from the trip to Sea World. Robin’s friend, Julie, flew into town while we were shopping and the three of us went to Old Town together from some lunch. We had some decent Mexican food and caught up a bit before heading out to the convention.
I had my first meeting of the show with Paul Benjamin, one of the writers for POSTCARDS II. I stacked most of them during Friday and Saturday (huge mistake – I’ll tell you why later). After the meeting I made my way to the Villard panel. It went well; I’d say about 60 people showed up. Kazu was insightful, as always, and Josh and I cracked jokes, mainly. The audience seemed to be entertained and at least four people came up to me and bought a book during one of my signings, mentioning that they loved the panel. Sales!
After the panel Josh and I walked around a bit before heading out to the Random House dinner. Good conversation and good food – horrible service, though. We were there for three hours, which is fine, but a lot of that time was spent waiting for stuff. Like drinks. And forks. But, hey, I’m not one to complain about a free meal – especially if it’s good.
We headed over to the Circle of Confusion party after that and met up with Gary, Tony, Mark, Christina, Robin, and Julie. There were too many people there to recount each and every one but I did run into POSTCARDS contributors Stuart Moore and Michael Gaydos. It was a great party at any rate, and I took full advantage of the free booze and downed a combination of Red Bull-Vodkas, scotch, and beer before heading over to the Hyatt.
Being party night the Hyatt was kind of dead and I’m not going to complain about that. We met up with James Powell, Jason Copland, Caleb Monroe, Drew Melbourne, and Elton Pruitt and listened to Tony Fleecs tell stories all night. Tony can keep an audience attentive for hours on end – it makes me wish he’ll hurry up and get to IN MY LIFETIME #2.
The bar closed and Robin, Julie, and I went back to the hotel (after a trip to Ralph’s, of course). I was pretty sick but luckily the need to pass out was greater than the need to notice that the room was spinning.
Friday
I started my Friday with breakfast at the Marriott with Josh Fialkov, Christina Rice, Tony Fleecs, Mark Wheaton, Rob Guillory and wife, April, Kody Chamberlain, Phil Hester, Colleen Coover, and Paul Tobin. I got to check out Paul and Colleen’s newest graphic novel and it’s gorgeous. I headed out to get to my 10AM meeting. The convention, however, opened at 10:30 – making me a half-hour late and setting the precedent for late, missed, or canceled meetings. It’s great that there’re 140,000 people attending Comic-Con but those people make it impossible to keep a schedule. It’s my fault, really, scheduling so many back-to-backs, but it was still annoying.
Luckily I had nothing solid planned after the first meeting – I was still able to catch some of the Image Founders Panel. It was fun but definitely didn’t have the drama I was hoping for. It did make me appreciate Jim Lee more, however. His move to Image really shook the comic industry up. I can’t think of a single person working today that could have a similar impact on the comic industry by simply moving to an upstart company.
I had a couple of short meetings before my Random House signing with Josh Fialkov. We sold a couple of books, signed them nice, and then went our separate ways. I had lunch with James Powell and Christina Rice at Dick’s Last Resort. We talked about POSTCARDS II – where we stood and the way forward. There’s work to be done, folks. Lots of it.
Lunch ended early and I had forty minutes of downtime. I sat in the convention lobby and started to read PULP HOPE. It’s not the kind of book you read while burnt out and in a noisy convention center so I just salivated over the gorgeous artwork.
After the quick break I went to Comic Relief for another POSTCARDS signing. We had Tom Beland, Jason Copland, Micah Farritor, Antony Johnston, Ande Parks, Rick Spears, Rob G, Gia-Bao Tran, Matt Kindt, and Joseph Bergin III all signings books. A couple of folks bought some books, a couple of folks brought their own, and I had the crew sign a box of books I’ll be using for promotion. There wasn’t as many people as I would have liked but it wasn’t horrible, at least.
After the signing I went out for a quiet dinner with Robin and Julie. We went back to the hotel and waited for my friend PJ to show up. PJ’s a college buddy, now in LA, working for DreamWorks Animation. The four of us went straight to the Hyatt where we drank all night. Tony told stories, again, and the whispered discussion amongst me and several friends revolved around an interesting turn or events from the day before and what I should do about it. The answer was, essentially, “get paper” but everyone had a different idea as to how said paper would be getted.
I also introduced myself to Frank Miller that evening. Gary Dauberman and I walked up to Mr. Miller and his entourage…it seems like he has a bodyguard these days, by the way. Shook Frank’s hand – he smiled and said, “Nice to meet you.” When we started telling him what we did his eyes glassed over…I don’t know, you’d think the fact that Gary’s writing DEADMAN for Warner Brothers and working with Guillermo Del Toro would at least be interesting to him. I guess he’s just too Hollywood for us.
Ralph’s and then the hotel, as per usual.
Saturday
Breakfast with Josh Fialkov, Phil Hester, and some guys from Harris comics. After breakfast I went back to the hotel room and napped until 12:30, canceling two meetings because it just wasn’t worth trying to fight the crowd. The cancelled parties had no objections, and we agreed to chat at the Hyatt Saturday night. Comic-Con had already worn me down.
Signed at the Random House booth with Phil Hester for an hour. It went well; we sold some books and met some cool folks. Robin and Julie came to the convention afterwards and the three of us walked around – this was my first and only time really taking it all in. I picked up THE HOMELESS CHANNEL, BLACK METAL, SUPER SPY, and the absolute best find of the show. Let me explain…
Matt Kindt made signed-and-numbered, limited-edition Super Spy mini-comics called THE TREASURE. The comic is 70-some-odd panels long and each panel is on a piece of paper and placed into a hand-made box. Also in the box is a treasure map that tells you how to position the panels so you can read the entire story. The box is tied up and Matt put a little sketch on the back. Ten bucks.
FANTASTIC.
If you didn’t buy it you really missed out.
At 2PM we had our second POSTCARDS signing at Comic Relief. This time is was Michael Gaydos, Stuart Moore, Phil Hester, Matt Kindt, Josh Fialkov, Tom Beland, James Powell, and Tony Fleecs. Much better turn out this time and we helped Comic Relief go through a chunk of their stock. I also got to meet up with an editor at NPR and talk to her a bit about the book. She seemed interested so even if it doesn’t get on the radio it’s nice to know it had a chance.
We went to dinner with around 14 folks afterwards, the usual crew – Chinese food. The crispy duck was delicious. One final romp at the Hyatt and I only spent an hours there before making my rounds and saying goodbye to everyone. I became really good at goodbyes – you just need to get in there, shake the hand, and run off before they can stop you. Josh started an hour before me and I caught up to him in the corridor in-between the two bars. Twenty minutes later I finished up the second bar and then I was gone. Just the hotel – no Ralph’s. Robin and I had the room to ourselves Saturday night, after all.
Sunday
Breakfast, packing, cab to the airport, and a comfortable flight to Chicago that allowed me to finish Harry Potter and sleep – two great things. An hour delay in Chicago, thirty minutes on the tarmac in DC, half hour waiting for our luggage, and another twenty minutes waiting for a taxi, however, got me home a little past 2AM. So – a horrible ending to a great week.
In case you want to see what Robin’s signed copy of POSTCARDS looks like, here you go:
I know you wish you had one…luckily I have ten more just like it:
I’m going to start giving them out on this website every month-to-six weeks or so. First one this week sometime. Keep your eyes open for any upcoming promotions.
The obsolescence of postcards (referred to at one point as “turn-of-the-century text messages”) necessitates a certain setting, with many of the stories taking place in the first decade of the 20th century, although there’s a surprising amount of variety from story to story.
My central problem is that, while I share editor Jason Rodriguez’s fascination with these found objects, my fondness for them comes from a different place. To me, postcards represent the promise of adventure or temporary escape from routine. They’re reminders that there are more interesting places out there waiting to be seen when the day-to-day gets to be too much. No matter what’s written on the back of them, they’re messages from a less mundane place.
Honestly, if every "bad-ish" review was like the one above I'd be very happy. The point of the project has always been to get people thinking and making their own stories. I don't consider a "I would have told different stories" review a bad review - it means the book has people doing what I wanted them to do.
Everything was going fine until delays in Chicago, on the DCA tarmac, baggage terminal, and cabstand got me home three hours late. I stumbled in at 2AM after almost 12 hours of traveling. At least I got to finish Harry Potter and read Matt Kindt's phenomenal SUPER SPY on the plane.
I wish I had a way to get my pictures off of my camera...
Anyway, San Diego is going great. I'm going to give an ultra quick rundown. I'll do a full report when I get back, complete with pictures.
Wednesday - After spending the day at Sea World I passed by preview night to check out the Villard booth. Nice big poster, preview copy, all good. Went out to dinner with Josh Fialkov, Tony Fleecs, Mark Wheaton, Gary Dauberman, Rob Guillory, and our ladies before heading out to some dive bar.
Thursday - Breakfast with Fialkov before spending the day in Old Town and showed up at Comic Con in time for my 5PM panel. The panel went well, I think, we had around 60 people attending which is great for a non-movie/Marvel/DC panel. Went to the Random House dinner afterwards, had a great little tuna steak and chatted it up with some people. Circle of Confusion party after that - great time, great drinks. Then I went down to the Hyatt and we were there until they kicked us out listening to Tony Fleecs tell us stories.
Friday - Meetings and signings. Breakfast with some friends, got to meet Colleen Coover and Paul Tobin making breakfast kind of awesome. Signed at the Random House booth with Josh at 1PM - some folks showed up, all good. Comic Relief signing at 5PM - we had about ten guys there, it was a good time. Quite dinner with friends, went home and napped, headed out to the Hyatt for a couple of hours and met some fantastic folks.
Today! Had breakfast with some guys from Harris. At 1PM I'm signing at the Random House booth (1135) with Phil Hester. At 4PM I'll be signing at the Comic Relief booth with Stuart Moore, Michael Gaydos, Tom Beland, Robert Tinnell, Tony Fleecs, Josh Fialkov, Phil Hester, Antony Johnston, and James Powell.
A touch of voyeurism steeped in Americana, these stories play out like mini-noirs of everyday lives from a bygone era. The artwork sweeps a variety of styles, from traditional comic form to clean spartan lines, rich shading to impressionistic sketchwork.
I've been on radio silence since the launch - I apologize. I had a signing at Olsson's Books on Tuesday night that went real well - we sold through most of the books. There's a recap at the DC Conspiracy blog so I'll leave it at that.
After the signing and some drinks it was time to pack for San Diego. Got here yesterday - said "hi" to folks, dropped some books off, ate some food, drank a bit...good times.
The response to the book has been tremendous! Lots of emails! Lots of press! I'll post more as I can...
If you're at San Diego, I'll be on a panel from 5PM-6PM today in room 10. Come by!
The product of this experiment is a morose but thoroughly arresting collection, full of tales of war, disease, homesickness, thwarted love, loneliness and murder. And con men. (Apprently, no one ever sent a postcard in a fit of joy. Or maybe it’s just that happy stories are boring.) Yet the tales are so economically told — and the black-and-white artwork, despite the diversity of styles on display, is so uniformly superb — that you can’t help but be seduced by these vignettes of woe.
In what is likely one of the coolest honors bestowed upon POSTCARDS so far, we are today's Daily Candy. I think that means POSTCARDS is sexy, chic, and fashionable. So congrats to everyone buying it, you just became hip.
To develop the project, Rodriguez gathered old antique store postcards and sent them to comics artists with the charge that they use the messages — hellos, bits of information, whispers of longing and regret — as a starting point. At its heart, then, "Postcards" wants us to consider the nature of truth and reality, the way storytelling often has a logic that existence lacks.
I didn't take a lot of pictures - I was too busy having fun. That's a good thing.
Thirty people showed up, total, so I'd call it a good turn out. Plenty of food - lots of alcohol. I spent the better part of this morning picking up cigarette butts and beer cans from the courtyard but it was expected. A lot of local artists came by. Many members from the DC Conspiracy were present (I'd say they were the bulk of the party), Jesse Cohen and Alex Swain from ArtDC, and Frank Warren of PostSecret fame. Everyone got to take home promotional postcards, at least, and everyone got to flip through my solitary copy of POSTCARDS. That's fine, though, since that just means there should be thirty people at my signing at Olsson's on Tuesday ready to buy the book.
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