Northwest Press

Call to Action: SEP101088

// October 7th, 2010 // // Teleny and Camille

I’ve been reaching out to friends and colleagues all morning, urging them to create a wave of recommendations for Teleny and Camille at comics shops across the country.

Diamond is the primary distributor for the direct sales comics market, and they’ve been super supportive of Northwest Press so far. They’ve featured both Teleny and Camille and Glamazonia: The Uncanny Super-Tranny prominently in their catalog, and offered great advice and encouragement. Over the past month, I’ve reached out to comics shops, giving them a preview of the book, sharing reviews, and encouraging them to order it for their customers.

But the fact remains that Northwest Press needs to make minimum order numbers in order for its books to remain in the PREVIEWS catalog, and we’re in danger of not meeting that minimum.

Many shops won’t order the book unless a customer specifically asks for it; if you’re a supporter but you’ve waited to ask for the book at your local shop, I urge you to ask for it today. You don’t even have to go in person, just pick up the phone and give them a call. Tell them that you want Teleny and Camille, item #SEP101088, and that they should order it from Diamond for you.

You can find the comics shop closest to you by calling 1-888-COMIC-BOOK or going to the Comic Shop Locator page and entering your zip code.

Northwest Press is a fledgling enterprise with a long-term vision. I want to introduce lesser-known LGBT comics talent to the whole world and celebrate them. I want to help maintain the wave of great new gay comics that has risen over the past few years. I want Northwest to continue to financially support causes like Prism Comics and INSPIRED: The Voices Against Prop 8.

To do that, I really need your help.

Northwest will definitely continue if we lose Diamond distribution, but the road will be that much harder. Please help spread the word.

Teleny and Camille Submitted to Lambda Literary Awards

// October 7th, 2010 // // Teleny and Camille

Northwest Press is proud to submit Jon Macy’s new graphic novel, Teleny and Camille, for consideration for the Lambda Literary Awards.

The first Lambda Literary Awards were presented in 1989, and have been awarded annually since then to the finest lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans literature available in the United States. The “Lammy” is the most prestigious, competitive, and comprehensive literary award offered specifically to LGBT authors.

Teleny, the original anonymous novel written in secret by a group of authors—one of which is believed to have been Oscar Wilde—set its sights on being more than mere pornography, attempting to be a work of literature. First published in 1893, it told the untold story of gay men trying to live their lives and find love and fulfillment in an oppressive time.

Over a hundred years later, Macy’s Teleny and Camille continues that tradition, striving to break out of the box that typical erotica is trapped in and depict not only a sensual and exciting world, but also one with its share of horrors and dangers. Readers are taken to the heights of ecstasy, but not spared the ugliness of societal persecution and the struggle to discover one’s identity in the face of it.

To see a list of works that have been submitted this year, visit the Lambda Literary Awards Current Submissions page.

Video Preview of Teleny and Camille

// August 3rd, 2010 // // Teleny and Camille

Here’s a video that Jon posted a while back with preview art from Teleny and Camille. Stunning!

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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!

Teleny and Camille On the Way

// June 25th, 2010 // // Teleny and Camille

The proofs of Teleny and Camille have been approved, and the book is currently being printed by the fine folks at Bookmasters in Ashland, Ohio, which means it will be done in time to make its big debut at Comic-Con in San Diego next month!

I’ve also been on the line with a number of distributors (including one that serves the Australian market!) and they are all eager to include Teleny in their catalogs. Hopefully, you’ll soon see Teleny available everywhere; could it become the holiday season’s most naughty literary gift? Let’s make it happen.

Here’s another image; this is the full wraparound cover spread for the book. The proofs I’ve seen so far haven’t included the gold ink, and I’m excited to see the final product in a few weeks.

Northwest Press is real y’alls.

// June 17th, 2010 // // Teleny and Camille

I’ve been maintaining this site for quite a while as a place to post all my comics stuff and to talk about The Mark of Aeacus, that I write for Class Comics, but the idea that Northwest Comics was a real publisher was kind of a fantasy.

But “Northwest Press” will be publishing its first official project next month: the graphic novel masterpiece Teleny and Camille by Jon Macy. This is an adaptation of the anonymous gay erotic novel Teleny, which is attributed to Oscar Wilde and his circle of writers and poets. Jon shared it with me over a year ago, when it was nearly finished, and he produced a small print-on-demand run for WonderCon earlier this year. It’s a gorgeous book, and it really deserves a deluxe presentation and a wide audience.

I’m sure I’ll be talking more about it in the coming weeks and sharing previews and such—especially since both Jon and I will be at Comic-Con next month!—but I’m nearly ready to send the cover off to the printer’s and I wanted to share it with the world.

Enjoy!