Writings & Comix

Almost two months into 2020, and I finally have enough time to make an update. First of all, how have you been doing? Did you get that thing I sent ya? Awesome.

This post is mainly to highlight some of the fun I’ve been having venturing forth into the comix zine scene, but before I get to that I wanted to give you an update on the writing and the podcasts.

The satirical piece I’ve been shopping around, “How The 1% Can Feed The 99%,” seems like it might be getting published soon. I’ll make another post linking to the site in question when it does. It’s been a labor of love getting that piece published, because the satirical nature of it I’m sure turned some places off. But alas, it seems to have found its rightful place on the internet, with beautiful illustrations by my friend Gustav Carlson. I’m so excited to share it with you when I receive word it’s live. You’ll be sure to gobble it all up!

I’ve since started shopping another short story in the meantime, with a beautiful pin-up by another dear friend of mine, Garett Knight. I like to surround myself with people far more talented than myself, for it makes me look like I belong at the Cool Kidz table. This new piece isn’t satirical, but still humorous with a twist. The thing about submitting is you have to put in the time to really get it in front of editors and make sure it would fit well with the rest of their content. It can be draining sending it off on a daily basis and sometimes never getting word back one way or another. You gotta assume it’s a ‘No’ so you can be pleasantly surprised when it ends up being a ‘Yes.’ However, the more you submit, the more it takes a chunk out of writing. I’m still slowly writing The Patch (just hit 100 pages!), but I also try dividing my limited time with other projects ranging from new short stories to scripts (TV and comics). Am I easily distracted by the newest shiny object? No comment.

In other news, my good friend and podcast co-host, Jeremy, is no longer residing in Los Angeles. As faithful listeners know he tried making it as a voice over actor, but unfortunately couldn’t make it work this time around. But never fear! He plans on returning to give it another try in the near future. In the meantime however, the three episodes of Geeky Talky: The Return are the only ones you’ll be getting. It sucks we couldn’t record more episodes, but I have no intention of continuing the podcast because I don’t think anyone really cares. I might even sell the microphones and soundboard at this point just to free up some space!

I do plan on attending both WonderCon in Anaheim in April, and San Diego Comic-Con in July. Coronavirus be damned! Amanda will be cosplaying per usual, and you can find me stalking Artist’s Alley for the newest and coolest creators. I attended Comic Arts LA back in December, and it was such a great experience seeing amazing new art and comics by old friends and new ones. Depending on how much progress I make with Clusterfux Comix, I might ambitiously attempt to table at Comic Arts LA this year if it’s still in December. Gotta start somewhere!

So I’m a pretty shit artist in general, so I try keeping characters and panels simple. Fugu Comix is a prime example of this. The initial idea of Clusterfux Comix was to showcase up and coming creators in the underground comix scene in an 8.5”x11” zine format, paying them a certain page rate. While that still might happen, I don’t want to bite-off more than I can chew, so I’m right now just compiling lists of people I follow and admire who might be willing to do a page or two (or even a pin-up) for the inaugural first annual issue. I want to keep it feeling underground with the aesthetic, so nothing too fancy or a comic you might see backed on Kickstarter (yet). I’m taking influence from publications such as Bubbles, NOW, and even Kramers Ergot in a sense.

While I’ll be the Editor, I also want to include some of my own scrappy drawings as well. So I’ve been getting back into illustrating recently. Yes, Fugus will be present, but I wanted to challenge myself a little with creating other characters. I’ve really fallen in love with Psychic Snail, a snail who can see glimpses of the future and make prophecies. He’s like Nostradamus in a shell, and usually is never truly accurate. I’m having fun, so that’s all that matters. I’ll keep you updated in progress moving forward, but if you are interested in submitting illustrations or comics, send me an email at clusterfuxcomix[@]gmail.com and let’s chat. Below are a few comics featuring Psychic Snail.

That does it for this update. Like I mentioned before, I’ll make a new post when my article gets published, or if anything else gets published by then too (some projects I’ve been secret about). As always, here’s a picture of Dinah looking regal.