This Saturday is Free Comic Book Day, blah blah blah.

I'll be signing comics (if anyone asks me to) and doing free sketches (ditto) from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Comic Book Jones shop here on Staten Island. It should be pretty laid back. If nobody wants anything I'm just going to sit on a couch and read comics for a while. Sarah will be dropping by late in the day, I goofed up and made plans for the signing without remembering it was the same day as a local event we wanted to take Emily to. Duh. So, the gals will drop me off like a ruined omelette at the comic shop and head back once they're done acting like normal people enjoying themselves to watch daddy talk horseshit about drawings of superheroes and talking ducks or whatever the hell..

(Today Emily told Sarah, "Daddy likes that place", when they left the comic shop, as if she understood completely what kind of sad person I am when in my element. She also sounded a little sorry for me, I bet. I am alone even in my own home. But now my home has a copy of Willie & Joe: The World War 2 Years by the great Bill Mauldin, so I am temporarily happy in my little fanboy purgatory. And actually, Sarah digs Mauldin as well. Still...from what Sarah told me, Emily said "Daddy likes that place" as if they were helping me out of a bar I had disappeared into since late afternoon, hiding the fact that I had been fired from my job at the firm weeks ago).

More information on the signing and the store here.

Energetic folks can hit up both Comic Book Jones and the Jim Hanley's Universe on the South Shore and potentially load up on free stuff like there's no Free Comic Book Tomorrow.

Bring the kids while you're at it. Or leave 'em at home, just make sure they have some water and something to eat handy or whatever. You could always leave the T.V. on, it's not like comics, kids love that stuff and it keeps 'em entertained for hours and hours.
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Here's one that freaks me out for various reasons:

On Wednesday, June 4th, Dan Nadel will moderate a discussion on comics featuring Kim Deitch, Lauren R. Weinstein and myself. The event is being put together by the NY chapter of AIGA,  which is apparently a professional graphic artists association whose membership is made up of professional graphic artists. Like I would know about that stuff. I had to leave the Nestle's Quik fan club because I couldn't keep up with my dues. Anyway,  it will be held at Galapagos, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and costs $30 for non-members to attend. I don't think I'll be seeing many familiar faces at this one, I can't get my readers to cough up thirty beans for my artwork half the time, forget shelling it out to hear me talk about my artwork. Or whatever it is we're going to talk about. Juxtaposition or something. Formal attributes of the thought balloon. Who's stronger, Hulk or Superman? Who knows.

I will wear my non-cursing mouth and try to behave myself. I'm not sure why I was asked to do this, considering how many cartoonists run amok in the NYC area, but, well, I'll show up and see what happens.

Kim Deitch!? Wow. That's crazy. And then I'm on a panel with Jaime Hernandez at Heroes Con later in the month. Crazy.

Details about the AIGA talk can be found here.

On Friday, April 18th, Sarah and I will be waltzing around the New York Comic Con. We won't have a booth to sit at, but if we're sitting around at, say the Dark Horse booth, and you catch us, I'd be happy to sign a few things. On Saturday I'll be signing copies of I Love You Beth Cooper. Afterward I'll be traipsing about looking for someone to talk to before I head home on the ferry. Maybe I'll bring my portfolio if anyone is interested in buying anything. Otherwise, I'd be happy to sign stuff or chat if you catch me roaming around while you're on the way to the Battlestar Galactica panel.

Speaking of NYCC,  time is running out for you folks to grab some of the Ultimate Experience con packages. Don't miss out on the chance to spend hundreds of dollars on hero worship and exclusive junk merchandise. $200 to get three whole items signed by a big shot, and the chance to exchange a few humble platitudes and well-wishes. Sheesh. No one should have to pay for an autograph. And as is always the case, the people doing these things make good coin and don't need to make more off the backs of the fans. Some might say this is the only way they can have contact with the fans and keep things on an even keel, yadda yadda yadda. I watched Jeff Smith sit at his plain old booth and sign stuff for a few hundred folks last year. They didn't have to dig out the wallet. If the stratification of fans is an outcome of the new comics age, give me the old hotel shows any day. Bad enough you have to deal with lines, now you have to deal with exclusive signings at events where those without $200 get stiffed. Who the hell made these folks popular? The fans. So, let's pay them back by setting up events that benefit retailers who will recoup their costs by selling the giveaways on e-bay. Sheesh. Sheesh, I say. This is Wizard Magazine garbage. At least, as usual, Neil Gaiman is doing his events for charity, and the admission fee for the reading is reasonable. I'm sorry, maybe I protest too much, but this stuff makes me crazy.  If signing is a hassle, don't do signings. Otherwise, sit your ass down, limit the number of items if you need to, let the rank and file fans get a shot at you, and let the chips fall where they may for an hour or two.

Anyway, mini-rant over. Moving on.

Related to NYCC, they're setting up creator appearances along with the NY Public Library throughout the month. I don't have any solid information on a promotional website or list of appearances yet. I'm supposed to be doing a talk/presentation at the Richmondtown library branch on Staten Island on April 23rd at 4 p.m. More on that later, I hope.

The DRAW event for AIGA, the American Institute of Graphic Arts (click on the link and you can read an interview with the great designer/typographer/cartoonist Rian Hughes) is being hosted by Dan Nadel this year, and for some reason they're doing a panel discussion on comics, and for some reason I was asked to participate. I'll have more information on dates and times soon, they just let us know the original date has been changed, it looks like the discussion will take place in early June.

On June 7th-8th we'll be attending MOCCA, and setting up in our usual corner space in the big room on the first floor. Huzzah.

HeroesCon 2008 (June 20th-22nd) is shaping up to be a great show on paper. Plenty of mainstream folks, plenty of small press folks, plenty of panels and events. Sarah and I will be doing a panel on Friday about what it's like to be a working couple in the industry (along with Stuart and Kathryn Immonen and Matt Fraction and Kelly Sue DeConnick). On Saturday I will be doing a panel discussion with Jaime Hernanzed (!). Both panels will be moderated by Tom Spurgeon of The Comics Reporter.