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Neil Jam Jabber:
If this comic strip makes sense to you, you’ve got probs.
As you might have noticed, I had a little help in drawing this strip. The bulk of the artwork was handled by my pal Justin Madson. We cranked this sucker out this past weekend during the Chicago Comic Con. I suppose this has become something of a tradition, as we busted out the forerunner to this strip last year during the very same convention. Nothing beats making comics with friends!
Did you think I’d given up? Surely you know by now that will never happen. There are always happenings happening around here. Why just this weekend, for instance, August 10th and 11th, I’ll be on hand once again at the Chicago Comic Con. I’ll have all the usual goods with me, so do me a solid and swing on by. It’s a long multi-day show, but due to a scheduling conflict I’ll only be there on Saturday and Sunday, so please make a note of that. It looks like they’re gonna have a pretty large artist alley this year. Look for me at table M2.
Another thing I’d like to mention is this review Rob Clough recently posted about a couple of my recent books, Me and Jerry’s Journal Volume 2. It’s kinda cool how he talked about both books together, as they certainly do piggyback off of each other in terms of theme and content. He has some nice things to say, so check it out, and then contemplate whether you can continue living your life the way that you do without purchasing these books for yourself in the Neil Jam Shop.
I’ve been yapping about it for weeks, but I am happy to announce that the Me comic book is officially ready and available in the Neil Jam shop. It is a compilation of strips that I was drawing during a low point in my life– Fun for the whole family! It’s a compact lil’ 40 pager, and a must have item for the die hard Neil Jam fan (that would be you).
I’ve also cobbled together a handy lil’ three pack of my recent books that can be had at a reduced price. If you’ve been slacking on your collection of Jerry’s Journal books, this is your chance to catch up! So do me a solid, swing by the Neil Jam shop, and check it out!
I was in attendance at the CAKE convention in Chicago last weekend and I’d like to say a thing or two about it. To put it simply, I consider it a positive step forward in what I am trying to accomplish (making good stuff). I’ve been to a million conventions before, but never in the midst of whatever it is I’m currently in the middle of, which I guess consists of searching for… something. I may not have found exactly what I was looking for, but I did find inspiration, and am feeling better about pressing forward, both in wrapping up unfinished projects as well as setting out with brand new stuff.
It was great to be in a room with so many talented creators. It was great to be able to talk to everyone who came by my table. It was great representing not only myself, but Hic & Hoc Publications as well. I am quite proud to be in cahoots with such a publisher. It was great talking shop with other cartoonists. You gave me encouragement, whether you know it or not.
I even managed to bust out a few strips right then and there, so you can expect to see some new Jerry’s Journal strips next week. Moving forward, I’m sure I’ll be doing more of Jerry’s Journal, but I’d also eventually like to be able to complete the non Jerry’s Journal stuff that I’d been posting over the last handful of months. It was broadly themed stuff with a few different things going on within (Jerry included), but I am ultimately envisioning it all coming together in a book which I have tentatively titled “Jostled Up!”
What’s most important to me is doing something that is somehow completely new or different. And thanks to CAKE, I feel more confident and ready to try just that. And maybe I’ll be blogging more too… The possibilities are endless! Thanks again everybody!
Before I go, I’d like to share this amazingly funky piece of art I came away with from CAKE. It is a portrait of me drawn by Alex Nall, another cartoonist on hand at the show. I actually think he captured my likeness quite nicely.
