Hey, a new character! He seems like a nice enough guy…

It’s been about ten years since the comics landscape was forever altered by the emergence of graphic novels and book length compilations (i.e., comic books with spines), so I figure the time is right for Neil Jam to jump into the fray. That’s right, later on this summer I plan to release the first ever Neil Jam collection!

Titled simply Neil Jam or Neil Jam “Something” (as in Neil Jam Invasion, Neil Jam Romance, etc), this book will be a collection of Neil Jam shorts, with strips ranging anywhere from about one to ten pages. The material featured will be strips taken directly from recent Neil Jam minicomics, some redrawn and/or reformatted strips from recent and prior minicomics, as well as a selection of all new strips. It will be a modest and concise package, clocking in somewhere over 100 pages.

Though I’ve obviously self published a heap load of minicomics, I do not fancy myself a publisher. I do not feel equipped to embark on this project on an offical scale, so I have decided to go about it in an unofficial capacity. The plan is to use a print-on-demand service and then see where it goes from there. If it turns out well perhaps I would take it in a different direction with the printing, or perhaps someone else would offer to take it in a different direction with the publishing (yes please).

I’ll have my hands full over the next month or so finishing this puppy up. In the meantime, let me know if you have any suggestions. Word.

I’ve drawn this same strip in the past, but for the sake of all that is new school, here it is again!

Production on the Neil Jam book is moving along. It is pretty crazy how much longer these big pages take to finish than the lil’ daily sized strips. I’m hoping to have it all ready in August… And then it’s party time!

He must’ve done something to cross me, though I can’t say what it was or when it happened. All I know is that while combing through the pages for the upcoming Neil Jam collection, Buck is conspicuously absent. The book is roughly 100 pages, and Buck appears in *four* of them. Poor guy. It seems up until the launch of the new edition of strips on neiljam.com, he’d been largely ignored for quite a long while. At any rate, I’m glad he’s back playing a larger role in these newer strips, and I’ll be sleeping with one eye open until further notice.

*The Buck bust in the pic above was crafted many moons ago out of Sculpey*

Production on the Neil Jam book is complete (wiping sweat from brow)! Yay! It was a lot of work, but I think we’ll all be pleased with the results. It’ll still be a little bit until they’ll be ready and available. I’m hoping to have some copies in time for the Chicago Comic-Con (formerly Wizard World Chicago), which takes place August 6-9. I’ll be posting all sorts of info and specifics about it in the next couple of weeks. But for now I’ll just leave you with a look at how the cover came to be (as seen above).

Say hello to the Neil Jam book! Titled simply Neil Jam, this compilation has been a long time coming and should prove to be worth the wait. At 104 pages, this book compiles the perfect selection of shorts to indoctrinate anybody knee deep in the wonderful world that is Neil Jam.

This is no mere slapdash collection of comics. Only the best strips from the recent minicomics made the cut. Some strips went straight into the book “as is,” while others were completely redrawn or reformatted to give the book that extra something special. But it doesn’t end there, as this compilation is rounded out with some appropriately placed all new material which helps make the whole of the book much greater than the sum of its parts.

Does that whet your appetite? I hope so. Copies of Neil Jam will be made available on the website in early August, at which point there will be a storefront set up with plenty of previews and pics and even more info. Word up!

I got the first shipment of Neil Jam books. You wouldn’t believe how nervous I was while opening up the boxes– fearful of anything and everything that could’ve gone wrong with them. But it was all for naught! The books appear to be in tip top shape! Not too shabby, y’all!

The Chicago Comic-Con (formerly known as Wizard World Chicago) is coming up this weekend (August 6-9), and as usual, I’ll be on hand with plenty of the two Neil Jam staples: books and artwork.

In the books department, I’ll have with me brand new copies of the hot-off-the-presses Neil Jam collection. I suppose they’ll be making their official debut at the show. I’ll also be bringing along the individual minicomic issues, though at this point I’m not sure how or even if I’ll be displaying those, as there’ll be lots of stuff taking up room on the table. So if you’re interested in the single issues and you don’t see ‘em, just ask.

As for all that other stuff taking up all the room on the table, well you know it isn’t really a convention without a healthy dose of everybody’s favorite: Neil Jam Icons!

These fun little framed original art pieces feature a cornucopia of pop culture personalities, each depicted in the trademark Neil Jam style. I’ll have lots of these to choose from.

My table will be situated right in the heart of Artist Alley. Since this is a pretty big show with a pretty big Artist Alley, I’m actually planning on tying some balloons to the table (no joke) to make it easier to find and make your way back to throughout the weekend. I suppose it may look a little tacky, but hey, a Neil Jam’s gotta do what a Neil Jam’s gotta do.

So if you’re in the neighborhood definitely stop by and say hi. It can be a pretty grueling show, and seeing some happy faces will surely give me that extra boost to keep going strong throughout the weekend. If you’re not going to the show but still wanna know a little of what’s going on, following me on twitter might be a good idea. I’ll do my best to tweet along the way. Thanks everyone!

Now that I have recovered from the long weekend that was Chicago Comic-Con I’m ready to tell you all about it. In short, It went pretty well! The show itself has been in a downward spiral of sorts for the last few years, with fewer and fewer crowd pleasing comics centric displays and happenings each year. While that surely disappointed attendees, I’m thinking it probably helped give a boost to artist alley, as there was plenty of comics stuff going on in there. I was actually able to make this my most successful show of all time– imagine that!

I had one of the most elaborate displays that I’ve ever had at a convention on my table. The new Neil Jam book made its official debut at the show, but it was the stepchild on a table jam packed full of glorious mini framed Neil Jam Icons! The artwork was by far the hit of the show. I lovingly refer to those things as “nerd crack,” and I am an unabashed dealer. Big shout out to anyone who picked up some books or artwork. Y’all definitely made the whole weekend worthwhile.

I took a bunch of photos which can be seen here in my flickr gallery. Now that the con is over I’ll have a chance to do some maintenance around the website. Look for the new book to be made available later in the week. And while I was able to unload a lot of artwork at the con, I still have plenty left (I brought an obscene amount with me), so I may be making some of that available as well sometime in the near future. Thanks again everyone!