Hula-Hoop Girl by Kassidy Smith on sale this weekend at HeroesCon, Charlotte NC, USA Earth.

My 12 year old daughter Kassidy's first minicomic is ready to print.  Yup.  Look for us on Indie Island this weekend and come get a copy. 

The file under other HeroesCon 2013 report with Henry Eudy.

The file under other HeroesCon 2013 report with Henry Eudy.

My HeroesCon 2011 report is up at fuo.

Yep, I sho nuff went to HeroesCon and I sho nuff wrote a report about it.  Check it out.

Your best pal ever,

Shannon Smith

HeroesCon this weekend. Be there!

So yeah.  HeroesCon starts tomorrow (Friday) in Charlotte NC.  I will be a guest on Indie Island.  I'll be sitting (well, more like standing/staggering) in the Top Shelf/Wide Awake Press Lagoon area of the island.  Just look for the best looking guys in the building.  Then keep looking around until you see us. 

Normally I would have liked to have posted an extensive preview report about what I'm looking forward to.  But, I'm busy.  I hope to make enough money to buy Robert Venditti and Brad McGinty's new books and some comics for the kids.  I've got a checklist of folks I want to say hi to that runs two notebook pages long.  Heroes is great folks.  Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, you need to drop that right now and start driving, hitching, flying, sailing and/or moonwalking to Charlotte right now.

Hopefully, I'll have a new minicomic with me on Friday.  It's called #RockingSoHard (aka Shannon Smith is Addicted to Distraction No. 2).  It's got fake Spider-Man, fake Hulk and fake me in it.  It's probably the best comic that's ever been made.  Well, I did read an issue of Sonic the Hedgehog that was a little bit better, but other than that.  I'll also have some of my older comics and the Shiot Crock 16 anthology.  If I get them cut tonight, I plan on selling inked  5 1/2 X 8 1/2 sketchcards this weekend.  As always I'll do quick pencil sketches in your sketchbooks for free.  I also plan on bringing a bunch of originals and selling them dirt cheap.  I've got a hundred or so originals I'm going to sort through this evening and I'll pick out some fun stuff for you folks to check out and make your own. 

So, I'm way to busy to keep on blabbing about this.  I've got a nose to floss, teeth to comb, shoes to iron and underwear to shine.  Just get in your car and drive to Charlotte already okay!

Your best pal ever,

Shannon Smith

The Shannon Smith World Tour 2011

Ah, can you smell the comics in the air?  That's right true believers, it's convention season again.  Shannon Smith and the File Under Other Experience are packing up the tour bus and getting ready to bring the finest in hand crafted comics to a town near you. 

The first stop will be on April 23rd in Athens GA for the Fluke Mini-Comics and Zine Festival.  This is Fluke's 10th anniversary.  A lot of my most favorite people will be there.  You should too.

The next stop on the non-denominational mystery tour will be on Indie Island at HeroesCon in Charlotte NC June 3rd, 4th and 5th. HeroesCon has it all.  Legends, current fan favorites, indie stars, mainstream stars, dealers, t-shirts, nerd/hipster paraphernalia and me.  It's the second happiest place on Earth.

The last stop scheduled on the tour (so far) is the Small Press Expo in Bethesda MD September 10 and 11.  I've been wanting to go to SPX for about eight years and this year I'm finally going to pull it off.  The tables were booked up right after they were announced but I got to work early this year and landed a spot before they were gone.  This will be a new deal for me so I'm super excited.  

 Isn't that exciting!!!!!!!

I plan on having new comics for sale at each stop.  I'm working on a lot of different things but I'm going to break some of it up into little mincomics for Fluke and Heroes and then finally release everything in  my nice thick "complete" collection at SPX.  (Maybe a sneak peak by Heroes if you say your prayers at night.)  And I'll be glad to sketch for you and all that fun stuff.  I'm there for you folks.  I'm there for you.  

And for comics creators that would like to see their stuff reviewed at file under other (and/or some other places I may be reviewing stuff) there is no better way than to get me your comics than handing them to me at a show.  I'm way super very much behind on reviews but I seem to get to the stuff in my convention round up posts faster.

So yeah, you should totally come and see me at all of those shows.  I'll update more what I'll be bringing to each show as we closer to the dates.

See ya there suckers!

Your best pal ever,

Shannon Smith

And then there was that time I kicked Batman in his face.

Something I drew at HeroesCon.  Just because.

Your best pal ever,

Shannon Smith

My 2010 HeroesCon report is up at file under other.

Yep.  It sho nuff is.  Well, it ain't gonna read itself  Go on wit ya. 

Your best pal ever,

Shannon Smith

I'll be a guest on Indie Island at HeroesCon this weekend.

I will be at HeroesCon in Charlotte NC this Friday and Saturday, June 4th and 5th.  I will be on Indie Island table AA-429.  My important announcement as far as file under other readers go is as follows:

ATTN: SMALL PRESS AND MINICOMICS CREATORS-- IF YOU WOULD LIKE YOUR BOOKS REVIEWED AT FILE UNDER OTHER, PLEASE BRING ME A COPY AT HEROES CON.  EVERY BOOK I AM GIVEN WILL BE REVIEWED EITHER IN A POST-HEROESCON ARTICLE OR IN AN INDIVIDUAL REVIEW. 

I've done this a few times in the past and it usually works out really well.  You, save on the postage of sending out a review copy and I get material to keep file under other rolling for the rest of the year.

Now, I know there are folks out there that will see this and say, "hey you jerk, I sent you stuff a long time ago and you still have not reviewed it".  I know.  I know.  I'm behind.  But I'm going to catch up.  2010- the year I catch up.  Honest.  You just wait.  You'll see.   Your books will be reviewed and you will totally forget the months and months you were up all night wondering when oh when will file under other review your book.  Just wait.  You'll see.  It will be great.

Another file under other related idea I had for HeroesCon was to bring some samples from my huge minicomics collection.  I'm going to bring the Good Minnesotan 4 preview copy with me for folks to check out.  If there are other comics you've seen reviewed here that you might want to see then please use the comments feature below and let me know.  The sooner the better. 

I will also be bringing a hand full of copies of shiot crock sixteen hot off the presses.  (pictured above)  shiot crock is the unofficial anthology of The Comics Journal message board.  It contains a bunch of great cartoonists, several of which will be on Indie Island.  shiot crock is generally a very small exclusive project with a tiny print run so I think this is the first time additional copies will be made public.  I will only have a handful on sale at the show so get there early.  I am the editor/publisher of the book and I also have a few pages of comics in there.  It is a 128 page trade paperback sized book with a fantastic color cover for just $10.  I will not make the official publication announcement about the book until sometime after HeroesCon so consider this an early bird special.

I will also be at the show not as file under other but as just plain old Shannon Smith.  Plain old Shannon Smith is also a cartoonist and I'll have a bunch of my books there.  I'll have Shannon Smith is Addicted to Distraction #1 which I have never had at HeroesCon before.  I'll also have Small Bible, Brush and Pen, Bag of Savages and a bunch of mini minis.  I also have a comic in the new Dollar Bin anthology.  I was in last year's book too.  You should be able to track down the Dollar Bin gang for both of those books.  I plan to have some original comics pages there for sale.  I will do free pencil sketches.  I'll do inked drawings starting at $5.00 depending on how time consuming the request is.

So, if you are going to HeroesCon then please drop by.  Since we are in Charlotte, I'll even talk NASCAR  with ya.  And if you are not going to HeroesCon then what is wrong with you?  It's the last great American comic-con!   You need to go.  If you read this blog then you must like small press and minicomics.  If that is the case then you really need to visit Indie Island and check out all the great folks there.  I wish I had more time to go through the guest list and tell you who I am excited about but it's pretty much the entire Indie Island page.  So, do yourself a favor and check it out.

Hope to see you there.

Your best pal ever,

Shannon Smith

Linkage:

HeroesCon

Indie Island

Guest list

shiot crock sixteen 

p.s. By the time I get to the show Friday morning I probably will not have slept in a couple of days so, I might be a jerk.  Sorry.
p.p.s  If you are trying to find me, I look exactly like this...

So maybe I was a HeroesCon.

Iiiiiiii ammmmmmm Ihernnnn Dooooooode!

(Thanks for the photo magic Jean.!)

Your best pal ever,

Shannon Smith

My HeroesCon preview at FUO.

(Image lovingly stolen from J. Chris Campbell.)

I've posted an Indie Island and Small Press preview of HeroesCon over at file under other. I'm terribly sad to say that I won't make the show this year but I will be in two books on sale at the show. Check it out.

Your best pal ever,

Shannon Smith

I bought The Deadbeat and you should too.

(A quick sketch of a younger version of The Deadbeat by Jeremy Massie.)

On Saturday I took the kids over to Cavalier comics in Wise where Jeremy Massie was signing his new graphic novel, The Deadbeat. I have reviewed most of it's contents in their original minicomic form here and here. Simply put, it's a great read and Alterna did a great job on the graphic novel version. I love the size, the print quality, the cover quality and most importantly, it smells great. Congratulations to Jeremy on a great looking book. It's really cool for me as a reviewer at file under other to see something I originally covered as a minicomic be released as a nice book and over the past year Jeremy and I have become pals so I'm really happy for him.

This is what the cover looks like. You should go to your favorite comic book shop and buy a copy today. It's really affordable at just $6.95. I think you can also buy it here. Jeremy will also be at HeroesCon in a couple of weeks. If you are going you should look him up.

Jeremy also threw in the above sketch and wrote a personal note in the inside copy of my book. It made me feel swell. Thanks Jeremy!

Your best pal ever,

Shannon Smith

HeroesCon 2008. (Or... thanks Rob's mom!) UPDATED 6/30!

UPDATE 6/30: I keep finding more pics on the web. This one is stolen from the HereosCon blog. On the far right, you can see Brad McGinty, Josh Latta and me. It appears that we are lining up to take a penalty kick.

UPDATE 6/26: Hey hey! People keep posting about the show on their blogs and I keep stealing their pics. These top three are stolen from Brad McGinty's blog.

(Josh Latta on the right and myself on the left. I think this one speaks for itself. And yes, Josh really is seven feet tall.)
(Me taking a picture of Brad taking a picture of me taking a picture of Brad. What happened to the picture of Brad? How knows? What's next?)

(Every time I see J. Chris Campbell he sets my world on fire.)

(That's me on the right. I don't know why I look so surly. I guess my face is just made that way. I had a great time. Really! The pic is stolen from Rob Ullman's blog.)

(The #1 goal of my journey.)

(The hot air balloon I drove under somewhere between my 2nd and 3rd energy drink Saturday morning.)

I had a great time at HeroesCon this past weekend. For a proper report, I suggest you visit The Comics Reporter. For more pics than seem possible you can visit Comics Related. For podcasts of the panels and other goodness visit the Dollar Bin. I'll cover some of the books I picked up at file under other.

(Todd Dezago is one of the nicest guys on earth and when not recollecting on how he wrote some of the better DC comics of the past decade and his new book The Perhapanauts he likes to check out the indie kids on Indie Island.)

I stayed at the Hilton with my Georgia pals Brad McGinty, Josh Latta and Patrick Dean . Hanging out with those guys all weekend would have been reason enough to drive to Charlotte. The fact that there was a comics convention going on was just icing on the cake.

(Even after sharing table space with me at cons for the past six years, Brad McGinty and Josh Latta can still fake smiles in my presence and make me feel good about myself.)

(Patrick Dean is as cool as a Herb Trimpe signed Hulk comic.)

I also got to hang out with most of my favorite comics peeps from the south whom I've gotten to know over the past several years of comic con travels; Rob Ullman, J. Chris Campbell, Andy Runton, Duane Ballanger, Scott Ellingburg, Dean Trippe, Jason Horn, the Dollar Bin guys... and more folks I'm forgetting to name.

(J. Chris Campbell marvels at Duane Ballenger's powers of consumption.)

It was cool to see my pal Robert Venditti. I heard some interesting stuff about the making of the Surrogates movie. You can read about it here. Just scroll down to the post titled "ROLLING!" I was also excited to notice this on the Top Shelf site. I can't wait. I'm super excited about that movie. However, what was better than all of that (at least for my belly) was that Rob's mom made a bunch of food for the Top Shelf gang and friends and I got to enjoy Rob's mom's awesome cooking for breakfast and lunch. Thanks Rob's mom! I really can't over emphasize how awesome it is to not have to worry about tracking down some lunch when you are at a convention. If not for Rob and his mom's generosity, I probably would not have bothered to eat lunch.

I saw some of my new Virginia comics pals like Brian from Cavalier Comics and Jeremy Massie. (Everyone go check out Jeremy's comics. Good stuff.) I was really surprised to see how many creators, dealers and fans from VA were at the show.


I met a lot of cool people I had never met before like Alex Robinson, Jeffrey Brown, Pat Lewis, Stephanie Gladden, Terry Cronin and the Students of the Unusual gang and more indie comics creators than I've ever seen in one place. I met Charlito from Indie Spinner Rack. I really like the show. He looks nothing like I expected. I met Tom Spurgeon and Heidi MacDonald. I read both of their blogs every day. They were both very nice. I got a sketch from Jaime freaking Hernandez! Thanks to Patrick Dean, I was able to get my oldest Hulk comic signed by Herb Trimpe. It was cool to be a guest and set up shop with my pals from Cute Girl Demographics but it would have been just fine to have walked around all day meeting all the talent in the room. There were so many creators it was nearly overwhelming.

(The shining beacon of hope that is the Cute Girl Demographics table.)

Charlotte is such a nice clean relaxing city and Shelton and the gang go out of their way to make sure that everyone has a good time. And I do mean everyone. The fans, the kids, the parents, the creators, the dealers... everyone. And the whole staff is super nice and never flustered. From the check-in desk to the security to the concession stand. Smiles all around.

(My chunk of Indie Island sand.)

(On the right side of this pic you can see Brad teaching me how to do the dance from the Scooby-Doo title sequence. Pic stolen from Comic Related.)

The show itself was a dream for me as a fan. More talent than I could even get to in two days. I had a good time as a creator too. Hanging out with all the fine folks on Indie Island and looking through all their great stuff was a blast. The fans at the show are great and I had a lot of fun doing some sketches and selling some books. As a creator would I have liked to have sold more books? Oh, of course but you always wish you sold more books. I worked in book retail for seven years and I can't remember one single day where the other managers and I stood back and said, "wow, we sold more books today than we could have ever wanted". You always want more, the grass is always greener etc. Sales did feel slower at this show but when I did the math after I left I realized that I had a pretty good weekend. Times are tough. Money I would have normally spent I was saving for gas. I spent less so I shouldn't fault the con attendees for spending less. A lot of us were lamenting the slow sales and I've seen some talk around the blogosphere about how the indie crowd did poorly at this mainstream con but to that I would like to say this; if you want the mainstream comics audience to buy your books you can wait around for them to magically want your books or you can take your books to the mainstream audience and show that audience how great they are. It won't happen overnight and it won't happen at just one Indie Island appearance. You can lead the horse to water buy you can't make it drink. Sometimes you have to wait on the horse to get thirsty and you have to keep the trough full. The way I see the whole Indie Island thing is that Dustin and Shelton have built a trough of magic indie water right in the middle of a mainstream horsie playground. Right now the horsies have plenty of mainstream water to drink so they are not thirsty but if we keep the indie trough full they will notice that the water is nice and cool and tastes really good. I'm not about to tell publishers or creators how to spend their time and money. I'm just saying that I think Indie Island is a great idea and I hope it will continue to be supported.

A big thank you to Shelton Drum for making HeroesCon such an enjoyable experience year after year. A big thank you to Dustin Harbin for making Indie Island so much fun for me both as a creator and especially as a fan. And a big thank you to all the dealers without whom these things probably would not be possible. I shake a lot of hands at comics shows but I probably need to spend more time shaking the hands of the guys that actually make the whole business possible. Thanks dealers!

(You can't say that Indie Island was hurting for customers.)

And now some random unrelated thoughts on the weekend:

The talk of the show? I can't say but the conversation I heard most often around Indie Island and the bar at the Westin was about how badly we all want Archie comics to not suck.

People really dislike Ian Harker. It says a lot about the impact Ian Harker has had when multiple people at a show Ian Harker is not at (and may have never been at) and mention how much they dislike Ian Harker.

The pros read the message boards. (See above.)

People love the boobies. My Phillip! book with the boobie cover outsells my other foldies every time.

People love Stormtroopers. People still ask me when I'm going to do more My Dad the Stormtrooper Strips. I think it's been about four years since I drew one and people still ask me about it. I'll set the record straight now. Yes, there is an outline for a full length Dadtrooper comic. It involves secret origins and disco. Will I ever draw it? Who knows? If I did, would Lucasfilm let me print it? Probably not.

Drawing standing up is hard.

No matter when you enter the parking garage, the correct time to leave the parking garage is Sunday afternoon after the attendants have left and don't let the lady behind the desk in the lobby tell you otherwise.I look enough like my bio comics for a person to recognize me. (Which is kind of sad because I always try to draw myself kind of goofy looking. The truth hurts.)

I need to think of a response for when people say "I like your work". That one always stumps me. I'm thinking to myself, "you think this stuff looks like work?"

The best thing about being a "guest" is that you get to watch the sassy security guard ladies tell everyone else to get in line and pass though the turn stall properly but you get waved through with a big smile and they call you "sweetie".

Phat Burrito has not changed at in the three years since I was last there. And that's a good thing!

"Draw you as a hot chick" is the best con sketch idea ever.

(Scott Ellingburg is a hot chick thanks to Brad McGinty.)

Even though I didn't do a lot of shopping I picked up some good stuff. Please visit file under other in the next day or so for a rundown of what I got.

Your best pal ever,

Shannon Smith

p.s. If any of you readers have sketches I drew at the show and have a scanner or digital camera handy I'd love for you to send me a jpeg I can post up here in bloggy town. Thanks!

HeroesCon here I come.

In case I forgot to mention it... I'll be at HeroesCon in Charlotte this Saturday and Sunday. I'll be sitting with my bestest pals Brad McGinty and Josh Latta somewhere on Indie Island. The above picture shows the fine hand crafted comics I will have for sale. Including...

• Bag of Savages 2008 Summer Blend. This one has 8 minicomics for just $4.
• Brush & Pen. This is a special third edition of the book with a color cover. Just $3.
• Small Bible: The Old Testament. Just $3.
• Six different foldies for just 25 cents each.

Plus, I'll have some FREE STUFF. I'll have a few copies of the FCBD Candy or Medicine Sampler and my own FCBD foldie. Double plus, I'll throw in a free sketch with any purchase of $3 or more.

How can you possibly not want to come see me at HeroesCon?

Your best pal ever,

Shannon Smith

Less than two weeks until HeroesCon!

I'm counting down the minutes until I see all my pals at Heroes Con. It looks like I will only be there on Sat. the 21st and Sun. the 22. You can find me on Indie Island. The image above is from the awesome official T-Shrirt designed by Evan Dorkin and Sarah Dyer. Very cool huh?
I'm still printing up stuff for the show. The new Bag of Savages I'm working on is going to be packed full of goodies including my daughter Kassidy's first printed minicomic foldie. (She's made a lot of little books but this is the first one we are printing up.) Hopefully, I'll have time to update the bloggie blog with a pic of all the stuff I will have for sale before I leave for Charlotte. If you don't have your tickets and/or hotel for Heroes then you need to click as fast a possible. I hope to see you there.

Your best pal ever,
Shannon Smith

You need to go to HeroesCon & Indie Island. I am.

I am very excited about being a guest in Indie Island at this year's HeroesCon June 20-22. HeroesCon Creative Director and MC of Awesomeness Dustin Harbin has been very kind and posted nice words about me at their blog. I've been a part of HeroesCon's Artist Alley in previous years but this is my first time as a guest. Even if I were not a guest I would still want to go. HeroesCon is the most fan friendly, indie friendly and kid friendly show I've ever been too. As a fan I've met, received sketches and even had drinks with some of my comics heroes. (I rode the elevator with Lou Ferrigno once. I was dying to ask him to throw me through a wall but I chickened out. I bet Dustin Harbin would throw me through a wall though.) As a creator I've met a lot of smiling faces that are very supportive of my brand of indie comics goodness. Shelton Drum and Dustin Harbin are two of the coolest guys in the funnybook biz and work tirelessly from open to close to make sure all the fans and guests are having a great time. If you are a fan, you need to go to HeroesCon. If you are a creator, you need to go to Heroes Con.

Here is what you need to do:
Go to the HeroesCon site and bask in the glory of it's mighty guest list.
Go to the Indie Island site and weep tears of joy at the sight of it's mighty guest list.
Go to the schedule page and start marking your calendars for when and where you need to be.
Order your tickets.
Book your hotel room.
Buy a T-shirt.
Live happily ever after.
Rinse. Repeat.

(Awesome t-shirt art.)

I'll be somewhere on Indie Island with my favorite Cute Girls, Brad McGinty and Josh Latta. I'll have some freshly printed copies of my Small Bible as well as a new printing of Brush & Pen, my foldies, a new Bag of Savages and hopefully at least one new goodie just for my pals at HeroesCon. I also plan to offer a free sketch with each purchase. More on all that as we get closer to the show and I get closer to having everything printed up.

Your best pal ever,

Shannon Smith

Brush and Pen

A few weeks ago I introduced my latest mini-comic Brush and Pen at HeroesCon in Charlotte, NC. Brush and Pen is probably my best mini-comic to date. It is the first comic I have made in which the finished product is identical to the original image I had in my mind at the point of inspiration. Or simply put, it came out the way I wanted. Or, at least it came out the way I wanted after Brad McGinty used his Force-like photocopy powers at the end of a whirlwind lost Kinkos expedition in, around and all over downtown Charlotte. Thanks Brad!

Brush and Pen is the end result of an artistic challenge I placed upon myself to create a comic using different art styles. Having no real art education and a limited knowledge of illustration tools, the easiest idea I came up with was, 'well, if I make a comic where I draw each character with a different tool, they can't help but have their own look'. So, I made a comic where all the characters are writing, drawing or painting tools and drew each character with the tool they represent. Clicky the ball-point pen is drawn with a ball-point pen. His wife Lucy the brush is drawn with a brush. Etc. so forth yadda... The story is told in old school TV sitcom style. Two newlyweds in slice-of-life melodrama in the style of The Honeymooners or I Love Lucy. (And yeah, Spaghetti Junktion is a sitcom as well.) The main them, as in those two great shows, is that opposites attract. The classy brush married to the common ball-point pen. One a tool for boring writing, the other a tool for inspired artistic expression. So, what you end up with is a comic book (a delivery system for the merger of writing and art) about two instruments of writing and art merged together as husband and wife. Of course, all I expect the reader to find in Brush and Pen is a cute little story about a ball-point pen and his brush wife. You can check out a sample of the first six pages here. Unfortunately sample doesn't show Lucy but it was the only section of the story that really stands on its own without leaving too much to explain or ruining the comic's punchline. Drop me an email and let me know what you think. You can buy it here.

Jeri and I had a great time in Charlotte at HeroesCon. I had the pleasure of sharing Indy Island beach space with the beforementioned Brad and the rest of the Cute Girl Demographics team Josh Latta and Jennifer Young. After three days of my shenannigans, none of them kicked sand in my face or tried to vote me off the island. It was the best con I've been to in the south for indy types like myself. At most cons, the dealers get the best spots (rightfully so, they spend a lot of money), the famous mainstream comics folks get the next best spots (rightfully so, they bring the customers), and the indy guys like me get shoved in the back corner. Not at HeroesCon. Thanks in no small part to J. Chris Campbell, HeroesCon had this huge Indy Island in the center of convention hall with a big banner and everything. It was very, very cool and the response seemed to be very positive so I hope Indy Island continues to grow.

I met a lot of great people and had a great time. I picked up new stuff and got fanboyographs from some of my favorite people in comics like Paul Pope, James Kochalka, Bob Burden and Robert Ullman. I also picked picked up a bunch of books by the very friendly and talented folks of Indy Island. I have a whole box of new comics, anthologies and mini-comics to read. J. Chris Campbell had a whole table of cool minis as well as his impressive new book Zig Zag from AdHouse Books. I was very impressed by The Common Bond gang. They were really great guys to hang out with as well as producers of very fine comics. Not to mention the bad azz t-shirt they gave me. Thanks Duane, Scott, Frank etc.! Atlanta peep Joe Pruett had all his new Desperado Publishing books out and I picked up new Flaming Carrot and Negative Burn. I also got my pal Robert Venditti's new book The Surrogates from the Top Shelf booth. I was very impressed by Rob's comic. It looks great, it reads great, it is great. You don't see good sci-fi in comics but he pulled it off. I highly recomend it and look forward to the second issue.

I also highly recommend everyone visit Cute Girl Demograhpics and check out Brad, Josh and Jennifer's latest books. I'm not just saying this because they are my pals. I really love their books and look forward to each new issue or project. At the con I was able to check out the two newest issues of Brad's book Wysteria, Josh's book Anxiety, Sleep-Problems & Depression and take a sneak peak quick read of the yet-to-be published next installments of Jennifer's Cold Summer plus these really cool minis she did called Plank Girls. You can buy their stuff at their website or if you are in the Atlanta area, come out to Zin-A-Palooza July 31st. I should be there with copies of Brush and Pen as well.
Love always, your best friend ever,
Shannon Smith

Words and stuff...

So I've now read five Star Wars novels and eight Star Wars graphic novels in the past five weeks. The best were Shatterpoint, Yoda: Dark Rendezvous and Labyrinth of Evil. Labyrinth of Evil leads right up to Revenge of the Sith (The novelization sits on my books shelf mocking me, "C'mon, you know you want to read me, spoil everything, do it!") and is a very good book, probably the best prequel book I've read. All things considered though, I probably enjoyed the John Ostrander stories in the graphic novels as much as any of those in picture-free fancy pants novel-novels. Anywho, my nerd powers have never been stronger. On May 18th, I will go see Revenge of the Sith more prepared than any nerd ever before me. (I've already bought my tickets.)
Other words causing recent trouble in my fragile grey matter come from the R. Crumb Handbook (excellent), Howard Chaykin's Bite Club (not quite essential), and Chuck Palahniuk's new book Haunted (genius).
In other news, the new The Mars Volta album Frances the Mute is so good it is terrifying. Some parts are so amazing I just have to stop the thing before my head explodes. It's Mahavishnu Orchestra with the Latin Robert Plant on vocals. It makes me want to practice guitar, a lot.
After this whole Star Wars thing is done, I'm going to have to ban myself from fiction for a while and focus on finishing some new comics in time for HeroesCon in Charlotte.
Nerd out.
Just because I don't call, doesn't mean I don't care,
Shannon Smith