...even the more shopworn stories, by their very diversity, remind us how fresh and unique the cartoon view of reality is–and will likely always be.

Read the rest...

Labels: postcards, press

Jason, It really is a brilliant idea . love it across the board and a great book. nice job everyone involved. Give it a try...

Thanks, Jimmy! Jonah Hex is one of my favorite comics on the shelves today, by the way.

Labels: postcards, press

I talk about volume one, volume two, and a bit about the industry. Check it out!

Labels: postcards, press

IndiePulp interviewed Jason Copland and they talked quite a bit about his work on POSTCARDS. Go check it out. Parts one, two, and three.

Labels: postcards, press

I'm always cruising for buzz and I took a shine to this one.

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...

Labels: postcards, press

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...

Oh, and Happy Birthday to Sharon Gunter!

Labels: postcards, press

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...

Labels: postcards, press

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.

Read the rest! For those coming over to the site for the first time, the supplements mentioned can be found here and this month's contest can be found here. Last month's contest was a bit different - we'll be switching it up every month.

Labels: postcards, press, review

From Marty Weil:

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.

From About Heroes:

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.

Labels: postcards, press, review

Someone sent this my way. I thought it was kind of cool. I've always wanted to be featured.

Labels: postcards, press

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.

Labels: postcards, press, review

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...

Labels: postcards, press

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.

Labels: postcards, press

Chris Shields over at cIndyCenter interviewed me about my Comic-Con experience. Go check it out!

Labels: postcards, press

Here you go.

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.

Anyone pick one up despite the odds?

Labels: events, postcards, press

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.

Labels: postcards, press, review

Josh Eiserike profiles POSTCARDS in this week's Washington City Paper in order to hype-up the launch date signing. I hope all of you DC-based folks plan on stopping by the Olsson's Dupont at 7PM on the 24th - we're going to have fun.

Labels: events, postcards, press

There are so many great pull-quotes in Colleen Mondor's excellent articles for Bookslut entitled "Creative Souls" (featuring POSTCARDS, of course) that I don't even know which one to reproduce here. Here's just one of the many highlights:

As a collection, Postcards offers a wealth of ways in which to analyze, reconsider and dream about your own anonymous postcard, letter or photograph collection, and should be an early choice for any teen interested in writing or drawing. Beyond the typical forms of artistic expression, however, Postcards shows just how dynamically creative people think -- that they are able to transcend the obvious and break free of all conventions.

I suggest you go read the whole piece. Colleen represents the response I hope to get from the majority of people that read the book.

Labels: postcards, press, review

My Voice. Along with Tom Beland, Robert Tinnell, and James W. Powell. On Cindy Center. I'm listening to it now, it came out good.

Labels: postcards, press

Ian Brill from PW Comics Week interviewed me last month sometime. Go. Read. I think it's good.

I think a project like this needs community to work. It needs stories from people with different backgrounds and experiences to reach its full potential and to inspire people to find their own stories within these postcards. With a stand-alone graphic novel, you pretty much put this project out there and say, “This is what it is. Take it or leave it.” With an anthology like this, you put it out there and say, “This is the idea. Show me what you got.”

Labels: postcards, press

No, this article isn’t about video games, unfortunately. It’s about pain. Horrible, horrible pain.

You see – we’re setting up a signing at Olsson’s Books in Dupont Circle. This makes me very happy. I love Olsson’s. One of my favorite local bookstores. They have great events there – draw big names into their stores and bring in big crowds to support them. I will do anything the staff there asks to get this signing stitched up.

And they asked for a headshot.

I don’t have a headshot. So when April Flores, my lovely publicist over at Random House, wrote me and told me I needed one – I kind of didn’t know how to respond. I sent her some pictures of me. One of me with a bird on my head, one of me gazing lovingly at the camera, and one of me pouring wine. Unfortunately, none of these were headshots by any definition of the word “headshot.” So I had to make an appointment to get real headshots.

Quick question – what’s the most depressing department store in the universe?

That’s right, JC Penny.

And what’s the most depressing department within JC Penny?

That’s right, the Portrait Studio.

For some reason I decided to take the “easy” way out and get my headshots done at the JC Penny Portrait Studio. I set up an appointment and went Friday after work.

Let me tell you about The Springfield Mall. I’ve been to some bad malls in my day – I don’t know what the Albee Square Mall is up to now-a-days but back when I was growing up in Brooklyn that place had: a) An escalator, b) seventeen shoe stores, and c) a Wendy’s. That’s a bad mall. Speaking of Brooklyn – King’s Plaza Mall is not the type of plaza or mall a king would often be found in. And we have the Ballston Mall down here in the district – a great place to buy ornamental axes and novelty pimp gear. And Landmark Mall…oh, Landmark Mall – let’s not even get into that one.

But the Springfield Mall is a whole different kind of pain. The empty corridors, the food court – the clientèle – the merry-go-round with the bunny on it that gives me nightmares. The left-over-trim from stores long gone – like the discount, no-name clothing store with the Wizards of the Coast layout and decorative store front. There are three arcades in that mall by my count and the biggest store, not counting Macy’s, is the As Seen On TV store. It’s huge – they carry everything you’ve ever seen on TV.

Combine The Springfield Mall with a JC Penny Portrait Studio and you have the worst way to spend two-and-a-half hours.

After being told it’ll be a twenty minute wait for my pictures I made my way to the food court and got a burger from Checkers. I’ve never eaten at a Checkers before but, you know, when in Rome…

I slowly ate my sandwich, figuring the twenty-minute estimated wait time was optimistic considering there were three families in front of me lining up for baby pictures. Boy was I right. I waited two hours to get my pictures taken – a process that took about five minutes. The girl taking the pictures was new – she was real nice but I didn’t feel like I was getting headshots – I felt like I was taking elementary school portraits. Every picture had my body at a 45-degree angle and my head facing forward.

Also, I’m not a good smiler. I can’t smile. The girl took her first picture of me and I said, “I have to tell you – I can’t smile. You have to make me laugh.” I needed to joke around and pretend I wasn’t taking headshots. Because I seriously can’t smile. I can laugh. I can’t smile. Look through my Flickr account if you don’t believe me.

Anyway – I see B&W thumbnails of the pictures and pick out the two best ones. I drive home and show Robin the thumbs and the ones I picked to which she says, “Did you wear a white shirt with a white background?”

I snatched the sheet out of her hands to verify that I did, indeed, spend two-and-a-half hours taking pictures that are going to look downright stupid when they’re developed. I’ll look like a floating head. They will, literally, be headshots.

So now I need to get new ones. Luckily for me, Noel Tuazon came through (like he always does) and made me these:

Labels: material, postcards, press

Postcarding (pohst-kahr-ding]- The act of getting together with friends and filling out postcards.

The DC Conspiracy was postcarding with me this Sunday. Together, we filled out over 300 postcards. What will they be used for? Keep your eyes open...you just may see them around.



You can see me getting down above. Photo courtesy of Chris Shields of CindyCenter.com. He has some more pictures of the get-together, and you can see some other folks postcarding as well.

Labels: postcards, press

He talks a bit about his Postcards story as well as some other books he's doing. I don't know what they are, though, I didn't pay attention to the rest of the interview. Something about Tales from the Crypt or something. Whatevs - POSTCARDS, baby!

Labels: creators, linkylink, postcards, press

Originally published on May 29th, 2007.

PW Comics Week was nice enough to share Stuart Moore & Michael Gaydos' POSTCARDS story. Please go read it and fall in love.

Labels: postcards, press, preview

Originally published on May 18th, 2007.

Some Postcards creators and I are doing a podcast for cIndyCenter.com and they're taking questions for us here. You don't even need to sign up so, you know, go put some questions up. They're recording the podcast at 9PM Monday so go there now. NOW!

Labels: postcards, press

Originally published on April 24th, 2007.

One went up late last night and one earlier today.

First we had Robert Tinnell talking about "The Midnight Caller's Holiday in Hades."

One of my biggest worries was trying to write period. This story is not in my usual voice. I actually forced myself to do a few things I would never normally do. In fact, there's one sentence that drove me nuts, but I knew back in the day it would have been phrased as such. And then when it came to his powers I played that a little loose -- as though you could tell the concepts behind him were vague and somewhat evolving and we were stumbling into one of his early adventures -- not quite at the very beginning, but definitely when the character was developing. Because as any student of the Golden Age knows, that's what happened. Superman couldn't fly at one point, right, so I'm deliberately introducing minor inconsistencies with the character. Whether that's bad or good I'll leave to the reader to decide, but it was fun to experiment.

Then Matt Kindt, talking about his experience working with Harvey Pekar and Joyce Brabner.

Yeah, definitely. I kind of felt like I just stumbled onto the set of a movie – Harvey and Joyce are in the scene, doing their thing and making history – and then all of a sudden – hey! Who's that in the background? Me! – How'd he get in there? Just kind of funny to me. Something I won't forget and truthfully I hope I can continue in the future. Harvey had said he'd keep me in mind and I just said, say the word, you know? He's just one of those legendary figures that you just drop whatever you're doing for the opportunity to work with him. Definitely the highlight of my career so far.

Labels: postcards, press

Originally published on April 21st, 2007.

Day 2 of our 5 day takeover. Check it out.

There are some similarities in the approach, but it's a very different animal. With both "Union Station" and "Capote in Kansas," I had big historical frameworks in which I had to place my themes and story. With the postcard, all I had was a little glimpse. That gave me a lot more freedom in fitting a story around the material.

Labels: postcards, press

Originally published on April 20th, 2007.

First, some plugs. A lot of Postcards activity this month. We had control of Blog@Newsarama for a week, Chris Arrant interviewed me for Newsarama proper, Comics in the Classroom talked to me about the book, and we're coming up on day two of our week-long takeover of Comic Book Resources (Rick Spears and Rob G where the highlights of day one). Please, check them out.

And check out the website! Go to the promote page and do what you can to show some love! Tell me if your comic shop is ordering Postcards so I can add them to The List! Send someone you love an ePostcard! Friend us up on MySpace!

Ok, enough of that. You're here for the contest…

_________________________________

We had a lot of entries. A lot of good entries. James and I read each one. There were some that made us laugh, some that made us roll our eyes, and some that made us…well…feel a little dirty. At the end of the day, we went with one that captured the spirit of the anthology. It was sent by Jeff Siwanowicz of Seattle, Washington.

Charley,
Franklin and I were pleased that you caught a train to visit us for our annual Labor Day supper. Mother left our house the eve of September 7th stating that she had business to attend to in Africa. Her fiancée knows Teddy Roosevelt and has been ranting about the wonders of the African East Coast. She informed us that she will be traveling on an ivory expedition and should return for a July 4th celebration we are attending in Toledo next year. We hope you will be able to make it out again to visit.
Sincerely,
Eva Billman

This story (which, I'd like to add, is 99-words long, one short of the maximum) has everything we look for in a Postcards story. It's grounded in our reality, it's aligned with history, it's clever, and, like a postcard, it represents a fragment of the whole story, leaving our imaginations to figure out the rest.

So, congratulations to Jeff Siqanowicz – your page of Michael Gaydos' art will be in the mail shortly. He sure looks shocked:

Now, as I said, there were a lot of good entries. So many, in fact, that I've decided to give out some runner-up prizes – but the winners are going to have to wait a little while to get them. Two lucky people will be receiving super-signed copies of Postcards: True Stories That Never Happened. What does super-signed mean? Essentially, the copies will be sent out after San Diego Comic-Con, which will allow me to get a LARGE chunk of the creators to sign them. Most of them, really.

The first prize goes to David Lamson who sent us the following entry:

Charley,
Town councilman Whitney Klingbell is a cad. That scalawag treated your mother like a trollop. At the trading post I even heard Lucas Walters and Ule Malloffson laughing about her "dry goods" selling so cheaply. But your dear mother never lacked for gumption. She sauntered into the Town Board meeting, and with great fanfare pulled Whitney's monogrammed monocle from her décolletage. The scandal! The brouhaha! Mavis Klingbell dumped her rhubarb pie right on his bald head. The Gazette's headline: "Red-Faced Romeo Rues Roving Eye." Your mother then hopped a steamer to London, to enjoy autumn beneath Queen Victoria's skies.

It's a grand tale. A real ballyhoo. I found it interesting how many people had Charley's mother either running around with the opposite sex or stoned out of her mind. You're talking about someone's mother, people! Cheers to David Lamson for giving Charley's mom a bit of hardihood – she showed all you undistinguished chaps how to treat a lady!

Then we have the person known only as "Thom." Thom – can you please send me your full name and address? Thanks! The ePostcard feature uses an alias email, so I don't have your email address. Your entry is like the ones I mentioned above, with Charley's mom chasing sex, except, well…very clever…

Charley
We regret to inform you, but your mother was last seen roaming the fields of wheat in ghostlike fashion. True, she is nay a ghost, but age and sun has ravished her once beautiful exterior. Her words float ominously like a sick bird across the stalks that gently bend in the wind, as if they all doff their collective hats to the mysterious visitor. Wheat can be quite the gentlemen if treated properly.

Thanks to everyone who submitted an entry for this contest. I wish I had ten more prizes to give out. But they'll be more contests, likely in July. Check out the blog and the website for any updates. Thanks for your love and support! Postcards: True Stories That Never Happened coming June 26^th to a store near you!

Labels: postcards, press

Originally published April 19th, 2007.

I'm taking over CBR for a week. First up, some talking and some art sharing with Rick Spears and Rob G.

Well, first let me start by saying I never wanted to do this project at all. I'm serious. I have a terribly hard time doing the short 8 to 10 page stories. I guess it's my background in writing screenplays or graphic novels that I'm just more comfortable working out my ideas at length. So, on these short pieces I agonize over them because I have so little room to get my point across. Add to that I had just come off doing two of them for the "24Seven" anthology and I was swearing up and down that I would never do another anthology again when you asked us on. Rob of course says yes instantly leaving me to stop my crying and get to business. So there it is. However, now that it's all done I'm totally excited to be part of this awesome book.

Labels: postcards, press

Originally published on April 18th, 2007.

Chris Arrant interviewed me for Newsarama. Go check it out!

I try to be a postcard guy. I do. I have a stack of about two hundred unused postcards on my desk that I bought off of eBay. I recently used about fifty cards to write notes to retailers announcing the book. I set up a PO Box so people can write me letters and I can write back. The letters and postcards I've received are piling up and the stack of unused postcards isn't going down at all.

It's just weird. We write all through school but I sit down now to write a one page letter and my hand starts cramping, I'm putting white out all over the page because my brain has been trained to go faster than my hand can move – it's a mess.

Labels: postcards, press

Originally posted on April 15th, 2007.

Is Postcards: True Stories That Never Happened good for schools?

Jason Rodriguez things so. Read the interview.

It's hard to gauge these things with comics. There are plenty of literary classics within a wartime setting that are required reading in most schools. Rich in detail, the reader can see a battlefield covered with bodies in their mind. But, with a comic, you actually see the war. And despite how much shadowing and angling you use to murky up the images, there's no denying the fact that what you're looking at graphic representation of a dead body.

Labels: postcards, press

Originally posted on April 13th, 2007.

We'll, we're at the end of week 2 of the Gaydos art contest and the entries are still flying in. We'll raid the mailbag again this week and get Charley to answer a couple of the postcards he's received. I'll let me right-hand man James W. Powell take a crack at the mailbag first…James?

 We've received many good entries, but even some of the more inventive ones fall short of the mark. When I ran across this one, I thought I was in for more of the same, but what I wasn't expecting was a great "twist ending" that would turn the lack of realism on its head…

Dear Charlie,
Mother never left our place. I'm afraid she died two weeks ago. When she arrived at our door, she was naked and had something of a fever. We tried to get her to see a doctor but she is a stubborn women and refused. I wanted to tell you sooner, but she was showing signs of improvement. We couldn't afford a proper funeral, so we had her buried in our back yard. Right next to Julius Caesar and Big Foot.

Your friends do not live here Mr. Frost, please stop writing.

Sincerely-
George Karpen

Charley apparently didn't find the humor in Mr. Karpen's response…

Et tu, Mr. Karpen?
A simple notice that I was sending my correspondence to the wrong address would've sufficed, thank you very much. No need to be rude. And for your information, the notion that my mother would show up on your doorstep without clothes is absurd. Not to mention quite offensive. She is a proper woman, unlike the tramps you obviously run around with..

Charley

Apparently Charley is straight up delusional, since I found this card in the mailbag as well:

Dear Charles,
    It is time that you accept what has happened to Mother.  While it is very difficult to accept, Mother has been missing for over three years.  At this time, I think it best that we accept the facts and attempt to move on with our lives.  The doctors have informed me that you will be unable to leave the hospital's care unless you accept that Mother may have been murdered.  It may seem only weeks to you, but in truth it has been several years.  I beg you, please accept this hard truth.
                                                                         Your loving sister,
                                                                          Eva Billman

Well, Charley just can't take a hit, I reckon.

Dear Eva,
Have you seen mother? It's been over three weeks & you were the last person to see her. Please answer soon, we are starting to worry.
Charley Frost

You have until Wednesday the 18^th, folks. Midnight Pacific Time, let's say. For you Americans, you can get bummed out about your taxes on the 17^th and then celebrate your victory on the 18^th. We'll be announcing the winner here on Friday the 20^th and we've had so many good entries that we may just need to have some consolation prizes. So come on back!

By the way - the two entries above where from Jesse Hanna and Adam Watson, respectively.

Labels: postcards, press

Originally published on April 6th, 2007.

Go check it out.

I didn't really think about that while constructing the story, but I suppose you're right…some of the cards conjure up more emotional situations than others. I think, subconsciously, I was attracted to the LACK of emotionalism in this one, and intrigued by what kind of bond might exist between the two men.

Labels: postcards, press

Originally posted on April 6th, 2007.

Well, we launched our little Michael Gaydos art competition on Monday and the results have been pouring in. James Powell and I have been reading all of the entries and realizing that Charley's mom – she's been busy the past three weeks.

We managed to sit Charley down and get him to respond to two of the postcards he received. The first one, James Powell picked out for him to respond to. The message to Charley read:

Dearest Charley,
Your mother left soon after you. She has taken herself on the road as a performer in Hotel Bella Muerte's Traveling Sideshow. Putting her facial hair to good use, she was last seen in Tulsa with The Fratellini Sisters and Sensei The Mystic Man.

You left your poetry box in the kitchen. I will save it until the next time we gather.

XOXO,
Mrs. Eva

Charley wrote back:

Lovely Eva,
I should've known! I warned mother not to get hooked up with that bunch, but Sensei always did love mother's eyes, and we both know she's powerless against his charms. There's no telling what trouble she'll get into this time. Now what will we ever do with these cases of hair-removal tonic?

Always,
Charley

P.S. I left my poems for a reason, my dear. I hope you find them…appealing.

There was one postcard that caught my eye. You see, I'm a Mets fan. I have fond memories of watching the '86 Mets win game 6 of the World Series – my loud family huddled around the TV set praying for a miracle in a man named Mookie Wilson (and getting it). At any rate, Keith Hernandez played on the Mets in 86, as well, and, well, I always thought he was something of a god. This postcard Charley received proves it:

Charley,
You'll never believe it. Mother and I were walking along the promenade when all of a sudden a burst of lightning appeared and a man emerged. Wearing denim dungarees and a patchwork sweater, he introduced himself as Keith Hernandez, a baseball player from the future who had been sent to fix time itself. He suddenly snatched mother and they both disappeared.

She returned just yesterday with tales of her adventures, bringing back with her the most intriguing mementoes. An alabaster penguin, a sketchbook of prehistoric creatures copulating and a ripened pineapple. It is all a mystery to me…

Eva

Well, Charley doesn't know Keith and what he's capable of like I do, so he responded…

Eva -
Wait a minute…denim dungarees and a patchwork sweater? Did he also have a mustache and dashing smile? My darling, Eva, be weary of that man! He claims to be from the future, from some team called the Metropolitans of Queens (as if anyone can ever take the place of the beloved Brooklyn Superbas!), but that scamp simply abducts women and  gives them some form of opium or, as my daughter called it, "the finest sticky-icky to ever leave Jamaica." (She got that witch-talk from him, of course.)

I am ashamed of you, you should have not let mother go to him. I'm afraid she'll be lost forever to the "skyrockets in flight, afternoon delight." (Again, Claire's term. That huckster has ruined her good.)

Charley

And that's all for next. Keep sending those entries in. We'll get Charley to respond to a couple of more cards next Friday, and then on the 20^th we'll announce the winner of the contest. Thanks for all of the submissions so far!

 

The above submissions, by the way, were from Carolyn Belefski and Jess Chin, respectively.

Labels: postcards, press

Originally published on April 5th, 2007.

Phil Hester says some words on his story, "A Joyous Eastertide"

In a lot of fiction today characters are not much more than Frankenstein's monsters comprised of all their past tragedies and traumas, and I'm not sure people are really like that. People I know anyway. I think people make choices about how to deal with those things. Some are successful and some are not, but I wanted to portray a character who had that moment of choice crystallized.

Labels: postcards, press

Originally published on April 4th, 2007.

Day three of our little spotlight.

I've always enjoyed drama/horror films where things look fairly normal but them something strange happens. You don't know exactly what's going on, but you know it isn't good. Kind of like Jimmy Stewart's character felt in Hitchcock's Rear Window—he thinks he's witnessed a murder, at least all the signs are there, and indeed someone was killed. I wanted to convey that sense of mystery and dread in the story I wrote.

_________________

Also, I got something really cool in the mail today. I need to scan it in tonight and then I'll share it with you all.

Labels: postcards, press

Originally published on April 3rd, 2007.

Antony talks up his Postcards story, "Best Side Out"...

I've always been attracted to melancholy, tragic stories. I can't help myself. And with this card, I think I saw a very sad but unfortunately common tale, especially in the pre-suffrage times it was sent, where two sisters have been separated by circumstance and the paths of their lives; and one of them is desperately unhappy about it.

Labels: postcards, press

Originally published on April 2nd, 2007.

I'm guest blogging on Newsarama for the week. First up, a conversation with Chris Stevens & GB Tran.

It is a hopeful story, in the end. And I owe my collaborator GB Tran thanks for helping me see that. The original ending spread, when I was picturing it in my head drawn by another artist we were talking to, it was much more downbeat. It was in the script. But GB talked to me about taking it in the other direction and he was dead right. It works better overall and it really makes it a perfect lead-off story. If I'm allowed to say that.

More...

Labels: postcards, press

Originally published April 2nd, 2007.

On June 26th, Villard Books will publish Postcards: True Stories That Never Happened, a collection of stories inspired by editor Jason Rodriguez's used, antique postcards. The book features tales of romance, adventure, hardship, and mystery from over 30 creators, including Harvey Pekar, Joyce Brabner, Phil Hester, Tom Beland, Michael Gaydos, Antony Johnston, and Matt Kindt.

The team behind Postcards is offering you an opportunity to win a page from Stuart Moore and Michael Gaydos' "Tic-Tac-Bang-Bang." Neatly framed and delivered to your door, this wonderful work of original art from the illustrator of Marvel's Alias and The Pulse can be the centerpiece of your collection - if you tell us a good story, first.

On September 27, 1909, Charley Frost of Mandale, Ohio, sent a postcard to Mrs. Eva Billman of Muskingum County, Ohio. Charley wrote:

Dear friend
Where did mother go when she left your place? We have not heard from her for over three weeks & we did not know where to write to. We thought likely you would know.
Charley Frost

Do you think you know where Charley's mother went? If so, tell the
Postcards' team in 100 words or less before April 18th by sending an email to charley@eximiouspress.com. Jason Rodriguez (and his right-hand-man assistant editor, James W. Powell) will pick the best of the bunch and send the entrant his or her well deserved page of Michael Gaydos art.

Feel free to visit the contest page to view the artwork you can win and a copy of the postcard that'll be inspiring your story. There will also be updates every Friday when Jason and James discuss the more...interesting...entries. And then come back to the contest page on Friday, April 20th, when we'll be announcing the winner.

So get creative and send us your tale. Impress us with your true story that never happened and we'll send you a fantastic piece of original art.

Labels: postcards, press

Originally published on April 1, 2007.

Greg Burgas writes...

Villard Books offers Postcards: True Stories that Never Happened on page 368.  Jason Rodriguez has been putting this book together over the past couple of years, and I'm very keen to see it.  Creators tell stories based on a postcard from a hundred years ago and what's written on the back.  Groovy.

Labels: postcards, press

Originally published on April 1st, 2007.

Randy Ladner writes...

Postcards: True Stories That Never Happened (Villard Books): Man, have I been looking forward to this anthology. The basic idea is that a bunch of creators took old postcards found in antique shops and, using the postcard and the sentiments written on them, created stories. It's one of those genius "why didn't I think of that?" ideas, and not only did editor Jason Rodriguez come up with the idea, he's backed it up with an unbeatable roster of talent: Phil Hester, Tom Beland, Daniell Corsetto, Gia-Bao Tranh, Rick Spears, Neil Kleid, a whole bunch of my indy favorites plus some big names like Harvey Pekar. Even in a month when there's a new volume of Flight on tap, this is the anthology I'm most looking forward to.

Labels: postcards, press

Originally published on April 1st, 2007.

Friends, fellow creators, fans of all things comics...

Today starts the big Postcards Push. Postcards: True Stories That Never Happened is currently in Previews (Villard Books, Order # APR074039) and I was never one to ignore the direct market. So, I need to get people buzzing around this book, and this email will tell you how you can help.

First, Postcards is a collection of 16 stories inspired by used, antique postcards I've collected over the years. It features work by some of the top talents in comics today, including stories from Harvey Pekar, Joyce Brabner and Matt Kindt, Phil Hester, Tom Beland, Stuart Moore and Michael Gaydos, and Rick Spears and Rob G. You can get a complete l