Going across the pond...

Hi internet!  I'm going to Europe!  TOMORROW!

Joe and I are going to be at Thought Bubble in Leeds; if you'll be at the show, please come say hi!  I'll have copies of Primates and Yes Let's for sale, as well as prints (pictures HERE).

I will also be taking commissions; here's a look at my rates:

9"x12" bristol board black and white drawing - $20
9"x12" bristol board color drawing (watercolor and/or marker) - $40

$5-10 for additional characters

You can order them ahead of time from me (for pick up only at Thought Bubble), and pay via Paypal.  I can be reached at maris(at)dotforforeyes(dot)com.  I'll also be taking commissions at the show.

ALSO...Ming Doyle, Joe Quinones and I will be doing a signing at Big Bang Comics in Dublin Friday November 29 from 6 - 8 PM.

Boston Book Festival!

Hi all!  I'll be on the 4:30 PM "Middle Grade: Graphic (Non)Fiction" panel at the Boston Book Festival today!  All the events are FREE!

Updates, updates, updates...

Well, 2013 sure is flying by.  Apologies for the lack of posts...here's a quick update of what's been going on:

Stuff that came out:

Batman Black and White #1
I wrote an 8-page story (drawn by Mr. Quinones) in this amazing anthology!

Batman '66 #3
I was the colorist for Joe Quinones' Joker story (written by Jeff Parker).

Stuff that happened:

M.I.C.E. was AWESOME!  I love that we've got a great little local comics expo in the Boston area; thanks to everyone who stopped by to say "hi" or came to my panel/workshop!

What's up next:

I got to color this sweet RoboCop cover that Joe did for NYCC (we've been collaborating a bunch recently, can you tell?):

New York Comic Con!  I will be there Thursday and Friday!  I don't have a table in Artist's Alley, but I will be doing signings at First Second and Boom! Studios.  Here's the schedule:

Thursday:
Boom! Studios ---- Booth 1344
5:30 - 6:30 signing with Joe Quinones

Friday:
Boom! Studios ---- Booth 1344
1:00 - 2:00 signing with Joe Quinones

First Second Books ---- Booth 2237
3:00 PM signing

Other than that, I'll be walking around the con on those two days...

And a big giant thanks to everyone who has bought/read Primates!  I'll have some news about the next big project I'm working on soon (along with some updates about some fun little projects)!  Okeedokes, I think that's it (for now)!

MICE!

(poster by the ever-awesome Bob Flynn!)
The Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo (MICE) is this weekend!  I'll be there selling my wares (including "Primates" and "Yes, Let's")...I will be on the panel Educating With Comics at 11 AM on Saturday and running a workshop called Super Science Comics! at 2:30 PM on Sunday.  Please come by and say hi!

BOSTON COMIC CON!!

Happy Friday everyone!!  This weekend is Boston Comic Con, and I got to do a 3-cover variant for the show!!  It’s the Newbury Comics special connecting cover, and it’s chock full ‘o’ Adventure Time and Boston things!  I’ll be selling prints and copies of Primates and doing commissions!  I’ll be at table AA330 and surrounded by awesome New England folks like Joe Quinones, Ming Doyle, Erica Henderson, Randall Trang, Emmy C…so stop by and say hi!

Floating World signing!

Hey internets - just a reminder that I will be signing copies of Primates at Floating World Comics from 4:30 - 6:00 PM in Portland, OR!!  Come by and say "pant HOOT"!

A hoot, a hello, and a big THANK YOU!

It's been almost two weeks since Primates came out, and what a wild two weeks it has been!

A HUGE gorilla-sized thank you to all the incredible folks at Heroes Con, Brookline Booksmith and Hub Comics...and everyone who has bought, borrowed or read Primates so far!

An orangutan hug to all the bookstores, comic book stores, libraries, bloggers, journalists and everyone one else who has helped to get the word out about Primates.

Here's a little media round-up:
Wired
DigBoston
Largehearted Boy
Dear Teen Me
ComicBookResources
LA Times

A chimp salute to all my friends, neighbors, family and co-workers for their ongoing support. You guys and gals are the best!

And a Great Ape applause for Jim and all the wonderful folks at First Second Books!

PRIMATES IS OUT!!!

Hi there!

Primates is officially out!  If you like science, or comics (or both), please check it out.  I've been working on this book with Jim Ottaviani and First Second Books for 5 years, so I am very excited to finally welcome it into the word.

All this week, I'll be posting Primate-related things.  So bear with me.  Or rather, "ape" with me.

If you have any questions about the book, feel free to ask!

Here's an excerpt, courtesy of one of my favorite sites BoingBoing.

NY Times Book Review

Primates is in the NY Times Book Review today!  It's reviewed by Carl Zimmer, one of my favorite science writers!  Read the review here.

Countdown to Primates!

Primates' release date - June 11th - is just a few short weeks away!  I've added a list of events on the side, and I'll be posting a lot about the book.  Jim's got fun stuff over on his blog (with more Michigan-centric events).  So, I sure hope you all like Great Apes.

Here's a piece that both Jim and I wrote for Orion Magazine's blog.  Look for more Primates-related articles soon!

And here's a banana, just for you:

TCAF!

I'll be at the Toronto Comics Arts Festival this weekend!

It's my first time in Toronto, and I am EXCITED!  Joe Quinones and I will be hanging out at TABLE 216.

Primates isn't officially out yet, but I have 10 copies of the book that I'm giving away for free.  There's a slight catch; if you want a book, you have to do a little work (I promise that it's FUN work).  Come see me for more info!

And I'll have a bunch of other stuff (books and prints):

Free Comic Book Day: Acme Comics-style

Tomorrow (Saturday May 4th) is Free Comic Book Day!  Joe and I (along with a bunch of other cool comics peeps) are celebrating this joyous occasion at Acme Comics in Greensboro, NC.  If you're in the area, stop by anytime between 10 AM and 5 PM for a free sketch!  I'll also have prints for sale, as well as a preview copy of Primates for you to lay your eyeballz on.

If you're not in the area, be sure to pick up the Free Spongebob Comic!  It's got a one-page comic about camouflage (by yours truly).

Sneaky Peek (courtesy of Boing Boing!)

Here's an excerpt from Primates; it's got my favorite part.  I bet you can guess what part that is...

The chicken AND the egg.

In the beginning of Primates, a young Jane Goodall has the opportunity to witness a chicken lay an egg.  This moment of observation reveals not just where that egg came from, but the significance of observation itself!  So much of the science in Primates is about sitting, and waiting, and looking, and listening, and documenting...and making connections.

"Yes, Let's" is out!!

Hey everyone, the brand-new hard cover version of "Yes, Let's" is out today!!  Tugboat Press initially released an awesome mini-version of this book in 2010; the new edition is published through Tanglewood Press, and it's larger and includes some additional illustrations.

Written by Galen Goodwin Longstreth and illustrated by me, "Yes, Let's" can be purchased at all sorts of places: Powell's Books, Amazon, or your favorite local book store.  If they don't have it, please ask!  The more people asking for "Yes, Let's", the more stores will carry it (and I thank you ahead of time).

And since "Yes, Let's" is all about getting outside, I'm going to go enjoy this glorious Spring weather (while it lasts -- I DO live in New England...so, it'll probably snow tomorrow or something).

Happy Birthday, Jane Goodall!

Wishing Jane Goodall a very happy birthday!

Side note: I got super hungry coloring that banana split.

Jane Goodall

Ladies and gentlemen, Jane Goodall.

Gorilla Call

And here's what it sounds like:

Chimp Call

And here's what it sounds like:

In the beginning...

Hey there! That's me up there, chillin' with an orangutan. And here's Jim Ottaviani, er, hangin' with a gorilla:

      I first found out that I would be the artist on Primates waaaaaaaaay back in 2008 (sometimes it takes a little while to make a book).  I was given the script by First Second, and asked to provide some samples  (kind of like an audition).  I was immediately thrilled to see the author of the script: Jim!!  I had been a big fan of his work since Bone Sharps, Cowboys and Thunder Lizards. 

      I cranked out some character sketches and sample pages, and sent them to First Second within the week.  They let me know that they received them, and they also let me know that it might be a while before I hear from them.  

      Meanwhile, Joe and I were starting to make the spring comic convention rounds.  For the first time, we were going to check out Heroes Con in Charlotte, NC.  I decided to glance at the table layout to see who our "neighbors" would be, and, lo and behold, we were seated next to Jim!!  I was equal parts excited and terrified; I still hadn't heard any word about my samples.  The day before we flew down for Heroes, I got a phone call from First Second letting me know that I was on the book -- talk about some metaphorical pants-pooping!  Now I could talk primate-shop with Jim for the weekend and get super-pumped for the book.

      Jim also has a quick anecdote about how this played out on his end.

Stay tuned; I'll be posting the original samples that I did for Primates next week.

Primates Sneaky-Peek

First Second Books has blog post all about Primates today!  Click here to see not just the front cover, but the back cover, insides, etc!!

Jane's Binoculars

Young Jane Goodall

For Primates, I created 60 little 3"x4" watercolor paintings for promotion of the book, and I'll be posting them here on the blog.  Here's a young Jane Goodall!  Happy Friday!

Happy Birthday, Dian Fossey!

Today would have been Dian Fossey's 81st  birthday!  She studied gorilla groups in the forests of Rwanda for 18 years; you can read more about her here. (And when Primates comes out!)

Primates!!

Happy New Year (a little belated, I know)!

2013 is going to chock full of new and art and doodles...First up: Primates!

Yup, it's the project I've been working on for the past 4 years...written by the amazing Jim Ottaviani, published by the also-amazing First Second Books.  Here's a profile page for the book, and you can pre-order on Amazon.  The official release for Primates is June 11 2013, and I've got a whole lot of fun stuff to post about it.

Oh, and in case you didn't notice, I spruced up the blog with some foliage (and a chimp).