More comics...

Since I haven't been posting regularly (mostly due to the not-being-home-because-I'm-at-a-comic-book-convention situation), I'm going to go ahead and post a bunch of the notebook-y comics I've been doing. Most of them are still drawn on the subway, but now I ink them afterwards. I'm just not so great at doing "sketchy" or "on the fly" comics. Hopefully I can get on a schedule where I post one of these each day. Here goes:











Date-wise, these are all out of order. I just want to catch up. SO I CAN POST MORE COMICS...bwahahahaha!

HEROES CON 2008! ZOMG!1!! NAME-DROP/LINK-O-RAMA:

Where to start...where to start. Ah! Last week. So, last Thursday, Ms. Liz Prince and I flew to Charlotte, NC to attend Heroes Con 2008 (Mr. Joe joined us a day late due to prior commitments). On our connecting flight, we ran into a Mr. Kaz Strzepek, and, once on the ground in Charlotte, we were greeted by a Mr. Greg Means and Mr. Alec Longstreth (thank you thank you thank you for carting our bum-bums around!). Liz and I parted ways, for I had a rendez-vous with a Mr. Paolo Rivera. I settled into my temporary abode and topped of the evening with some CABLE TELEVISION (le droolz).
The next morning, I awoke to sunny downtown Charlotte. But first things first: I completed my daily ritual of rigorous calisthenics and cleansed my body (with complimentary hotel toiletries, of course) in preparation for the big day that lay ahead. As I stepped into the sweet, Southern air, I let my eyes fall upon the concrete wonder that is the Charlotte Convention Center. This would be my semi-lucrative day-time dwelling for the next two and a half days...

OK ENOUGH WITH THE WRITING!! WHERE ARE THE PRETTY (<---somewhat subjective) PICTURES?!?!?! AHHHHH!!!

I SAW LOTS OF PEOPLE!!!11!!

I"M SORRY IF I FORGOT ANYONE/MADE ANYONE LOOK NOT OK!!!1!1
But really, I had some time to kill sitting at my table, so I tried to draw everyone I knew (or knew of) within eyeshot. Also, some peeps I hung out with afterwards (I can't say that I wasn't inspired by Mr. Matthew Reidsma's SPX drawings of yesteryear). What I wouldn't give to be marooned on the Indie Island...

TOO MANY WORDS!!!

I SAW IRONMAN!


THAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED!!!

I had awesome neighbors! Mr. Jim Ottaviani on my right, and Ms.MK Reed and Ms. Liz Baillie on my left (see above for rough interpretations of the actual people I just mentioned).

On Saturday, WE WENT TO DAIRY QUEEN!!!!! THANK YOU AGAIN, MR. GREG!!!

All I had for dinner on Saturday was BLIZZARDS AND BOURBON! Let's just say it was a good night, and leave it at that, all right?

Heroes Con was AWESOME! (Did I already say that?). I had an AWESOME TIME! Are you feeling the AWESOMENESS yet?

But then, Mr. Joe and I tried to fly back to Boston. Here's us waiting in the Charlotte Airport:

FOR SEVEN HOURS.
Luckily, we ran into Mr. Brian Ralph (who was waiting for the same flight to Baltimore) and convinced him to watch our bags, eat at Chili's and draw comics with us.
Once we FINALLY arrived in Baltimore at around 12:30 AM, there were no more flights to Boston (le sadz et le tiredz). The next possible flight we could take was at 6:30 AM. AWESOME (<---that one is sarcastic, not to be confused with the three previous "AWESOMEs"). Brian kindly offered up his place (thank you, again), but we figured it'd be better just to wait it out:

IT WAS COLD, BRIGHT, AND LOUD (no thank you, rude, evil swearing night workers who blatantly KNEW that we were trying to catch a wink and didn't give a flying FUDGESICLE). Regardless, Mr. Joe and I made it safe and sound back to Beantown around 7:30 the next morning.

In short, I would totally do Heroes Con next year (if Charlotte would have me again, that is). A super-duper thanks to Mr. Dustin Harbin for alerting me of this con, and making it a great show. And for looking ultra-swanky in that hawt white suit. YOWZERS.

Oh, and I do realize that this might just be the weirdest blog post on Dots For Eyes yet. heh heh

-m

Let's watch the sun rise...

...or not. It really does feel like I'm stuck in a giant butt crack, especially when it's muggy outside.

Taking my work home with me...

inadvertently.


No matter how much I was my hands after work, I generally have an "ocean" flavor to my skin. Yum.

MoCCA?

So, last weekend, Joe and I attended the MoCCA. It was the hawt. It was also the fun.

I meant to mention that we were going on the bolg, really, I did. But somehow I never got around to it. Some of the highlights from our trip to NYC:

1. Saw lots of people (yay for internet friends who actually "exist" now!)
2. Had Red Vines for the first time...PLUS I drank Sprite using a Red Vine as a straw (thank you, Alec)
3. Lost my voice (and supposedly sounded like a eighty-year-old tranny...thank you, Greg)
4. Sweated constantly (thank you, heat wave)
5. Bought some comics
6. Saw some AWESOME lightening in Chinatown after consuming the most delicious vegetarian Dim Sum

Here's everything that I ate on Saturday (the day before the Dim Sum):


For some reason, this MoCCA wasn't as fun as the last year's, but last year was our first time. And this time, I was bogger-y. And covered in sweat. And farting (uh, like that doesn't happen ALL THE TIME...). And completely unable to talk on Sunday. Eh, it was still awesome.

Speaking of convention-type thingies, Joe (and Liz, and like a butt-load of other people) will be attending Heroes Con this coming weekend. Boo-yah!!! I'll have the same-ol' stuff (stuffed super heroes, t-shirts, assorted mini comics), and I'll be selling my wares some where amidst the shore of Indie Island. Come by and say "hi". I guarantee that I will be wicked tired.

Back to the past few weeks. I've been drawing lots of comic on the no-no paper (you know, lined paper that is for note-taking, not comic-making) while on my way to and from work. So I'll be posting those now and then. But since this post is pretty much about MoCCA, I might as well post the ones I drew while I was there. Here we go!








So, yeah, more comics soon.

-m

One more cup of Weasley for the road...

I had to add this one. I had it half done as of this morning, but I finally sat down and "finished" it (the sketch part that is).

Side note: I had three days off from my fishy job (which is going swimmingly, might I add), and I spent it inside my apartment...working. It was pretty treacherous, considering how AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL it was outside today (to be fair, I took a half-hour walk to get some fresh air...and coffee). Given my commitment to the indoors, I've been playing music non-stop. I don't usually do this, but for fun, I'm going to post what I've been listening to:

The Arcade Fire - Funeral
Beirut - Gulag Orkestar and some EP
Islands - Arm's Way (not sure how I feel about this album...it just came out)
Sunny Day Real Estate - Diary
Weezer - this random CD of unreleased/b-sides I unearthed whilst cleaning...with songs so good they make me want to poop my pants...er, in a good way ::ahem:: )
The Stereo - Three Hundred (guilty pleasure ::drool:: )
Smog - a bunch of stuff from random albums...thank you Ann and Evan
Jonathan Richman - Best of Jonathan Richman
The Alkaline Trio - I Lied My Face Off EP, Goddammit! (that last one was an album, not me cursing)
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - Broom (just bought this, and I like it)
Nada Surf - The Weight is a Gift
The Blow - Paper Television (also just got this, and it has definitely grown on me...OMG I heart the "Parentheses" song)
The Magnetic Fields - I
Currently: Islands...again (giving another go - still not sure about it...it's kind of like a rock musical, and I generally like albums that sound like rock musicals, but...I dunno)

Random, I know. I always like to read about what people listen to when they work. So there's my 2 cents.

Spare time?

During my spare doodling time, I've been sketching Harry Potter characters, under the influence of the Harry Potter Drawing Challenge (yeah, I'm a wee late on the uptake, but whatever). I've decided to do all them as sketches first, then have the pleasure of inking them [relatively] all at once. I heart myself some inking. And then, I will color them. Don't look for the end of this anytime soon, as I am currently running short on having the spare time. Here's the first four (as done over the past month):

You want the comics?!

You can't HANDLE the comics!!

All right, well, you probably can...I've been scribbling away the 20 or so minutes on the subway each morning on my way to work. I take it so early (usually around 6 AM) that I'm almost guaranteed a seat. Given the nature of the subway, these drawings are a bit shake-y (apologies for the eye-strain that may ensue). I guess these are somewhat of a response to my need to always make "polished" drawings; the following comics are quite raw. I also see the fitting of a story or snip-it into 3-panel comic as a challenge. It looks so easy when other people do it, but it takes some consideration as to what (or what not) to show. Oh, and if you click on them, they get bigger!

Enough of my babble...comics:










I would like to note that the "We built this zitty" comic should be read to the tune of "We Built This City" by Starship. And here's all you need to know about Alewife. And, no, I don't actually ride a cannoli to work...

-m

Celery

I thought about making a sequel to this where the celery is face down on the ground, topped with peanut butter and raisins...a sort of macabre "ants-on-a-log".

Eat cher veggies, ya hear?

Portland was...

AWESOME!! We (Joe-Liz-Dave-etc.) had a wonderful time on the opposite coast. The main reason for our trek out to Oregon was the previously-mentioned Stumptown Comics Fest. It was my (and Joe's) first time as exhibitors, and we would definitely return for next year's Fest. We had visited Portland a year and a half ago with intentions of investigating its live-ability, and these past two trips have been a blast. Portland is proving to be a future semi-permanent destination. The food, the people, the trees, the doughnuts...

On the topic of confections, we finally had a chance to purchase tasties from Voodoo Doughnuts. I had heard a lot of hype about this place and how good their doughnuts were, but I remained skeptical...up until my first bite of heaven, that is. Behold, the doughnut of my dreams:



That's right. A cake doughnut with vanilla frosting delicately powered with Tang drink mix and garnished with miniature marshmellows. OH. MAI. GAWD. They also make doughnuts with maple frosting and two strips of bacon on top, which would be reason enough to visit Portland a third time.

But back to Stumptown. I debuted a new mini dubbed "Coping with Death" where Death and I proceed to beat the living snot out of eachother Mortal Kombat-style. I won't say anymore. As per usual, I bought a TON of comics. Joe shows restraint in this department, whereas I make up for his restraint...and then some. Yesterday was the first day I had since we got back to really sink my eye-teeth into the pile of issues, minis and books. Needless to say, I'm pretty full right now. And...back to Stumptown (again). Here's me being a doofus:


Yes, I am making the "silent coyote" hand signs...Here's Joe, Liz and me combining our powers to become one mighty doofus:



Ah, collective power of silly. Most of this silliness can be blamed on lack of sleep and increase of caffeination. This is the formula every time I travel. There's just so much to do, and so little time to do it in (we were only there for three days, since I don't count the two days it takes to fly out). I use this simple remedy to get the most out of my trips, that is until I get a cold or fall asleep somewhere unfortunate (i.e. on the subway while going to work...). Yet, I still appear to be a fully armed and operational human battle station.

Some of our evening activities included: playing arcade games whilst drinking, eating reeeeaaaallly spicy thai food, singing karaoke, walking (a lot), eating reeeeaaaallly tasty bread pudding, and watching cartoons back at the hotel (thank you, Cartoon Network). Oh, and frequenting photo booths...Can you spot the Maris?



Once we got back from Portland, I worked my bumkins off. I didn't really get to recover from our travels until yesterday (I slept until 1:30, which is a rarity for the ol' Maris), hence the delay in blog postage. Speaking of which, I hope to be back on track and posting a lot more in the days to come. I promise (how many times have I typed that...hee hee). But seriously, I've been drawing up a storm, I just need to take the time to post the darn stuff.

OK. This is hands-down the longest post I've ever made, so sorry about my rambling. The last thing I wanted to add about my glorious three days in Portland, Oregon is that is was great meeting new friends, hanging with long time friends, and getting to know better the friends we only see at comics-y shin digs. If my eyelids weren't so heavy, I'd will myself to list some names and link, link, link away, but it'll have to wait for the next post... All righty, I'm becoming semi-incoherent at this point...time for bed!

-m

OMG COMICS!

There has been much to do in Marisville as of late. Here a peep at my daily schedule:

1. Wake up
2. Eat
3. Become clothed
4. Think about work
5. Ride some form of public transportation
6. Work
7. Think about other work I have to do while working
8. Eat (sometimes)
9. Work some more
10. Make a bad pun
11. Handle some invertebrates (still considered work, but lots of fun)
12. Work
13. Eat
14. For desert: more work!
15. Maybe sleep

Ok, it's not really that crazy, but I've been busy with life. Ah, life. So in about 5 hours, I'm heading to Portland Oregon to sell my wares at this year's Stumptown Comics Fest. I've got a new mini-comic coming out called "Coping With Death"; more about that (and perhaps some preview pages) later. I've also rounded up a band of mischievous superheroes:

Yes, I will be selling them, which makes me some kind of superhero trafficker, but that's ok because I made them. If you're in the Portland area, stop by and say "hi". Oh, and tell me of wonderful places to eat, because I know there are oh so many. WEST COAST HERE I COME!! WAHHAHAHA!!

-m

*note about photo* I had only 2.5 hours of sleep before this was taken...Go me!

Theme number 100.

I think I procrastinated so long on these last two because [subconsciously] I didn't want it to end. Well now it has. Who knows what'll be next...

I know I'm not supposed to pick favorites...

...but this is probably my favorite animal at work.