Northwest Press

TCAF, Gaylaxicon and 4 Days Left for The Power Within!

// May 16th, 2011 // // Misc, The Power Within

May is travel month, and the whirlwind tour is only half over!

I was at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival representing Northwest Press and Prism Comics, and it was a great experience. I didn’t get out into the show as much as I would have liked, but I moderated an excellent panel discussion on identity in comics, and how being our race, gender and sexuality can affect the kinds of work we do and what we gravitate toward as readers. The panel featured José Villarrubia, Erika Moen, Yuko Ota and Ananth Panagariya, and it was quite interesting to see how far we’ve moved away from identity politics in just a decade. Or maybe this bunch was just more enlightened than everyone else.

I also participated in TCAFabulous, a social event at Toronto’s “Crews and Tangos” which featured as its centerpiece a thorough “reading” of the comics from an LGBT perspective. (I’d never really thought about it, but it’s true what Erika Moen says about the “Kole” logo being very vaginal.)

After a few days’ recovery time, I headed to Atlanta for the 2011 Gaylaxicon/OutlantaCon. This is a fun, intimate event with a lot of terrific programming and this year the special guest was none other than Buffy: The Vampire Slayer‘s Amber Benson (aka Tara MacLean). Adam Fair, the creator of This Gay Existence, and I were on a panel about what’s been going on in LGBT comics over the past year, which was fun and a great discussion, to boot. I only managed to snap one picture of Amber, during “The Match Game” panel when the panel was interrupted for a word from the sponsor, “Boy Butter”. I did get to say hello and shake her hand as I was leaving the show, and invited her to do something with Prism Comics in the future. We’d love to work together!

Chance Whitmire of Fanboys of the Universe also joined us at the table and gave out cool buttons and Fanboys cards. Chance has invited Prism Comics to come to Asheville, North Carolina, this coming weekend for the show that he organizes, Fanaticon, with special guest Gail Simone!

I’ll be meeting up with Gail on Thursday and shooting a little video to get any last-minute fence sitters to take the plunge and support The Power Within before we hit our fundraising deadline. (There’s just $900 to go! If you haven’t pledged, please check it out and lend a hand!)

Down to the Wire on “The Power Within”

// May 13th, 2011 // // Misc, The Power Within

Hey folks! We’re about two-thirds of the way through our fundraising period for The Power Within, and we need your help to get the rest of the way there!

Mark has been hard at work coloring the book, and has shared three new pages with me, which you can see at “The Power Within” Kickstarter page. I thought the art was good before, but Mark always brings a lushness to his color work that blows me away.

I’ll be spread the word about the book this weekend at OutlantaCon/Gaylaxicon 2011 in Atlanta (hope to see you there!) and will try to post some video from the show.

Help nurture “The Power Within”!

// April 20th, 2011 // // Misc, The Power Within

UPDATE! I’ve been talking to some comics pals about contributing single-page strips or pinups to the project, and so far I’ve gotten commitments from Archie’s “Kevin Keller” creator Dan Parent, Gail Simone and Phil Jimenez (the latter two will be doing a page together!) I’m thrilled that these talented folks are on board to support the project, and can’t wait to see what they come up with!

When Mark Brill and I worked on an anti-bullying comic for 24 Hour Comics Day last October, we did it because we wanted to be part of the chorus of voices against bullying and harassment after the numerous gay teen suicides reported last year.

We didn’t quite finish the whole book in 24 hours, but the book is done, and we’re both so proud of it that we really want to get it out there, especially into the hands of kids who could benefit from its message that you can summon the power inside you and live through your toughest challenges.

Since Northwest Press is a graphic novel and collected editions publisher that publishes relatively few single-issue books (our most popular one, The Mark of Aeacus, is published in partnership with Class Comics), we are faced with a bit of a challenge in getting this book printed and distributed.

We’ve started a fundraising drive on Kickstarter to help with printing costs, in the hopes that we’ll be able to lower our per-copy price and be able to give away thousands of them to teachers’ groups, gay-straight alliances, gay youth groups, and other support resources for LGBT kids.

Pitching in $10 to our Kickstarter page will get you a signed copy of the book when it comes out, and we’ve got some really great gifts for bigger donors (all the way up to a ticket to join us at the Lambda Literary Awards ceremony next month!)

Please help support this project, and let’s let kids everywhere know that they can rely on their power within when they don’t think they have anyone else.