Northwest Press

APE was a Glorious “Waste of Time”

// October 5th, 2011 // // A Waste of Time, Glamazonia, Teleny and Camille

Northwest Press made its first solo appearance at San Francisco’s Alternative Press Expo over this past weekend, and introduced con-goers to the latest addition to the NWP lineup: Rick Worley’s delightfully inappropriate A Waste of Time.

Rick was on hand to sign copies of the book, do sketches and chat with fans. The response to the book was overwhelmingly positive, and I think it’s bound to get gift-wrapped and put under a lot of Christmas trees later this year.

The Waste of Time release party at Mission: Comics and Art on Saturday night was a lot of fun, too with beer and wine and comic books galore.

In addition, Northwest’s APE table hosted Lambda-Award-winning artist Jon Macy—who signed copies of Teleny and Camille and his new fantasy series Fearful Hunter. We occasionally got visits from neighboring Justin Hall, author of Glamazonia: The Uncanny Super-Tranny, who was tabling across the aisle from us.

Northwest Press publisher Charles “Zan” Christensen was featured on Justin’s Queer Cartoonists panel on Saturday, and engaged in a lively discussion about sex, reaching the right audience, and how to make it all work on a shoestring budget.

Next up, Northwest Press will be making appearances at this weekend’s Geek Girl Con in Seattle—including a panel discussion about how our sexual, gender and race identity influence our comics reading and creation—and the next weekend we will be joining Prism Comics for New York Comic Con!

Comic-Con International 2011

// July 20th, 2011 // // Events, Teleny and Camille, The Power Within

Northwest Press will be one of the dozen talented comics creators and publishers joining Prism Comics at their deluxe triple booth at Comic-Con this year! The fabulous Jon Macy will be on hand to sign copies of Teleny and Camille, and our brand-new anti-bullying comic, The Power Within, will be available for the very first time!

Gays in Comics: Year 24!

// July 9th, 2011 // // Events, Teleny and Camille

As mainstream companies DC and Marvel continue to frontline gay characters such as Batwoman and Northstar and hire top-level gay or gay-friendly creators, independent publishers and creators are publishing unequivocal content spotlighting gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered characters, to the cheers of the thousands of fans who are out of the comic book closet. Founding moderator Andy Mangels (USA Today bestselling author of Star Trek novels and Iron Man: Beneath The Armor) hosts Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead, head of Image Comics’s Skybound imprint), Chip Kidd (author, editor and designer, Bat-Manga, Rough Justice), Dan Parent (writer/artist, Archie, Betty & Veronica, creator of Archie’s new gay character and series, Kevin Keller), Jon Macy (writer/artist Teleny and Camille and Prism Queer Press grant recipient for Fearful Hunter), Paul Cornell (writer, TV’s Doctor Who and DC Comics’s upcoming Stormwatch and Demon Knights), and Greg Pak (writer, Incredible Hulks, co-writer, Alpha Flight, Herc). Plus a special video appearance by J. H. Williams III (co-writer/artist, Batwoman). And there’s always a surprise or two. Afterward, stick around for the hour-long gay comics fan mixer/social, hosted by Prism Comics, with prizes and surprise special guests!

Publishing Queer: Producing LGBT Comics and Graphic Novels

// July 9th, 2011 // // Events, Glamazonia

Queer-themed comics, once solely the domain of the gay press, are breaking into the mainstream. What are the challenges and rewards of producing this work and getting it in front of an audience hungry for the material? How can it be marketed and publicized, both to an LGBT readership and beyond? Should queer cartoonists self-publish or look to established publishers? Moderator Justin Hall (Glamazonia: The Uncanny Super-Tranny, Prism Comics Talent Chair) leads a spirited conversation with a diverse panel of publishing pros: Brian Andersen (self-publisher, So Super Duper), Charles “Zan” Christensen (publisher, Northwest Press), Jacquelene Cohen (publicist, Fantagraphics), Shannon O’Leary (comics editor and journalist), Bob Schreck (editor-in-chief, Legendary Pictures), and Tony Valenzuela (executive director, Lambda Literary Foundation).

Buffy the Vampire Slayer and LGBT Comics Fandom

// July 9th, 2011 // // Events

LGBT fans hailed the revelation in the long-running television hit that one of its main characters, Willow, had fallen in love with another female character, Tara. This groundbreaking depiction of queer love in the TV show has been built upon in the Buffy comic books published by Dark Horse Comics, and Buffy remains one of the most queer-friendly properties in pop culture. Moderator Charles “Zan” Christensen (Northwest Press publisher and Prism Comics president) discusses the special relationship between the Buffyverse and LGBT comic book fans with Buffy creators and actors, including Scott Allie, Andrew Chambliss, Jane Espenson, Drew Greenberg, Tom Lenk, and a special guest!

Massive Comic-Con Wrap-Up!

// July 27th, 2010 // // Glamazonia, Teleny and Camille, The Mark of Aeacus

What a weekend! More like a week, actually…

I’d been tending to a lot of things over the last few weeks, trying to complete a lot of projects in time for Comic-Con in San Diego. I didn’t finish and bring everything I’d been working on, but it was still an amazing lineup of neat stuff.

I saw the Teleny and Camille books in person for the first time on Thursday, and they look stunning. I was hoping that the cover would turn out as lustworthy as Jon’s graphic novel, and I wasn’t disappointed. Visitors to the Prism Comics booth snapped them up, and I got complimentary copies into the hands of a lot of people whose work I admire. The book is available right now through Last Gasp and soon through some other distributors, and will be in Diamond’s September Previews catalog. Ask for it at your local shop!

In addition to pushing Teleny at the Prism booth, I was able to promote the book on an all-star panel on the 23rd annual Gays in Comics panel, moderated by Andy Mangels. It was also during that panel that Geoff Johns asked me if he could keep my sample copy of The Mark of Aeacus #2. (What was I going to say? “No”?)

Yes, the second big project was the long-awaited second installment of the erotic vigilante book that Mark Brill and I co-create. There were a few hundred copies of MoA #2 waiting for me at the hotel when I checked in, and they looked gorgeous. In addition to the first and second book and the t-shirts, I also ordered up some temporary tattoos with the Mark on them, and was branding people right and left with them all weekend. (I’m not quite ready for a permanent Mark on my neck…)

I also brought a companion volume, The Myth of Aeacus, which is an illustrated storybook recounting the Greek mythology that the modern story is rooted in. The book is drawn by none other than multiple Eisner Award winner Eric Shanower, and it’s beautiful.

Both books will be available shortly on the Prism Comics website and also here. (If you buy them from me, I’ll toss some tattoos into each order. Mythic powers await!)

The next big project was a brand new t-shirt for Glamazonia, the Uncanny Super-Tranny, Justin Hall’s superpowered heroine. The bold orange shirts were a big hit, as was the new minicomic, Glamazonia: JFKiller, which we printed up especially for the show. The mini features a story from the forthcoming Glamazonia collection from Northwest!

While I was hawking Glamazonia products, the Prism booth was visited by none other than Kids in the Hall‘s Scott Thompson, who was promoting his forthcoming Danny Husk graphic novel project. We’re best friends now.

There was a lot more going on at the show, including demos of a new app for the iPad, but I have to keep a few mysteries to keep things spicy. More news very soon!

WonderCon Wrap-Up: Friday

// April 3rd, 2010 // // Misc, The Mark of Aeacus

Hey lovelies!

I’m waiting in the iPad line at the San Francisco Apple Store, so I’ve got some time to share some tidbits about how the first day of WonderCon went.

As always, I spent almost all of my time at the Prism Comics booth. It’s like the queer comics drop-in center at every con, so the con pretty much comes to me. Convenient!

Storm came by to sign copies of his minicomic Princess Witch Boy, which was sprinkled with a hint of glitter and faerie magic.

I stepped in for an absent Patty Jeres to moderate the “Queers, Comedy and Camp” panel, featuring Joey Alison Sayers, Ed Luce, Sean Seamus McWhinny, Rick Worley and Brian Andersen. I asked the crowd to help me take a new Grindr photo to replace the censored Iron Man one. Just to be safe, I had them say “bible study” instead of “cheese” to make it extra wholesome.

At the end of the panel, I got to make the announcement that the recipients of the Queer Press Grant this year were Ed Luce and Eric Orner. See how happy he is here? Or maybe that’s just lack of sleep catching up with him.

Robert Triptow stopped in to sign and sell copies of Gay Comix and regale us with tales of his adventures over the past year. He had to fly in this year, because he moved up to Oregon, and was obviously happy to be back in town. I know the feeling! I love Seattle, but SF always feels like home when I come back.

Jeff Krell was here promoting his Jayson books and translations of Rälf König comics. His latest book, Jayson Goes to Hollywood, is a convention favorite and is already sold out here! I’d recommend heading to his website and ordering a copy or you might miss out.

Jon Macy showed up at the con with not one but two gorgeous graphic novels: Teleny and Camille and Fearful Hunter. Teleny is an adaptation of an anonymous erotic novel reportedly written by Oscar Wilde and his circle, and Jon’s produced a masterpiece. Hunter is the first in a series of fantasy romance/erotica stories with druids, werewolves and all kinds of freaky and awesome stuff.

The only other booth I made it to was the Hungry Tiger Press booth, to check in on Eric Shanower and David Maxine. Turns out they drove up from San Diego for the show this time, so they were running on fumes, but still managing to entertain visitors with tales of Greek warriors and the magical land of Oz.

Adorable overload! Justin Hall brought this Wonder Bear shirt to the con and it was an immediate favorite. It’s apparently part of a line of bear images including a bear luchador and a “cowbear”. If this shirt was any cuter I think my head would explode. Want!

That’s about all for Friday. Saturday was off the charts! I’ll write some about that tomorrow.