Big Time Attic

Madden and Abel Talk Comics on NPR

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Cannon) — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 22:53:00 +0000

Matt Madden and Jessica Abel have just written and illustrated a great textbook on making comics. The pair were on NPR this afternoon, talking about the book:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91944828

Zander brought a copy into the office last week, and it's been difficult to put it down. The book is exactly what it sounds like: a big thick textbook that gets down to brass tacks on how to make a comic book. It features tons of info, from a detailed analysis of crow quill pen nibs to descriptions of the different kinds of transitions between panels. And the whole book is peppered with explanatory drawings from Matt and Jessica, and examples from other pro cartoonists.

This book is high on my list of "books I wish I could have read a long time ago."

Photos from Wizard World Chicago 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Cannon) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:53:00 +0000

Here are photos from Zander's artist alley location. Getting photos from Zander's cell phone feels like receiving images from Mars for some reason. Check back for more photos throughout the weekend.

SUNDAY, JUNE 29, 2008:

PHOTOS FROM DONN HA:
"Zander and a Gaggle of Luigis"
"Timzilla"
"Gene Drawing Sketches"
"Zander at Wizard World Chicago"
Thanks, Donn!

SATURDAY, JUNE 28, 2008:

FRIDAY, JUNE 27, 2008:

NOTES FROM ZANDER:

These are some drawings I did while sitting or standing there behind the table.

I feel like this is one of the guys I'm seeing more and more often. Bald, sleeve and neck tattoos; goatee (minus mustache, may also have soul patch or close-cropped mutton chops), stiff jeans, wallet on a chain, and morbidly obese, although in a tough way. I like him.

This is a rough approximation of how I felt on Friday.

Notes from the Attic

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Cannon) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 18:51:00 +0000

Hey folks, a few notes:

ZANDER is representing the Attic at Wizard World Chicago this weekend. If you're around, make sure to say hi!

The Twin Cities ROCK ATLAS took home another award. The Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists awarded City Pages a 2nd place award under the "Graphics and Illustrations: In-depth" category.

FAR ARDEN, a 350-page graphic novel (serialized online), was recently picked up for publication by Top Shelf Productions. Look for your copy in April, 2009.

City Pages Comix Issue: DUE TOMORROW!

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Cannon) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:00:00 +0000

June 25

Submission info here.

Sacred Cow Barbecue Illustration in This Month's Game Informer Magazine!

noreply@blogger.com (Zander Cannon) — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 18:07:00 +0000

First page Second page Original image

This month we drew an illustration for Game Informer Magazine, the best dang video game magazine out there, for the article "Sacred Cow Barbecue". In this article, the editors finally cut loose on some classic games that no one (until NOW) had the cajones to take down a peg.

Half-Life, Chrono Trigger, Smash Bros, NFL 2K5, Gran Turismo, Rez, and even good old GoldenEye get the bum's rush. And I tell you what, nothing is as fun to draw as Nintendo characters grilling up to a golden brown.

One thing that was different about this image was that we delivered the work in six different Photoshop layers. This was because last year, the designers wanted to take parts of the illustration and use them on subsequent pages of the article to break up the text a little. Doing the drawing this way was kind of fun and interesting-- being a double-page spread, it worked out better to draw all the elements separately since we don't have any paper around here big enough to do the entire illustration on. Also, when working for clients (even clients as easygoing as Game Informer), it's good to design in a good deal of adaptability to your drawing-- in this case, the ability to move elements around all the way until the end of the process.

That said, the intention was that the drawing be reproduced like the Original Image mentioned above, going across two pages, and leaving space at the bottom for some introductory text. On the next couple pages, they could then take elements and scatter them around to illustrate some of the individual games with their particular image. What they did, however, was split the drawing up entirely, and put two whole layers on the following page, which I think was pretty successful; it draws a lot of attention to the grill with the Nintendo characters on it, it clones the Rez burger and makes that more prominent, and it makes the initial page's layout less symmetrical and more dynamic. It loses some of the depth that the original illustration had, but I don't think that's that big of a deal. It also allows the second page to have a good corner-oriented illustration that gives that spread an attractive look. Pretty tricky how they switched around that crowbar. Nice one, guys.

The little details that went into this (as opposed to the kind of obvious characters-being-barbecued details) are the partially-obscured "BTA" on the car's hood, mimicking the Gran Turismo logo, the "GIO" which is meant to look like "GTO" but stand for "Game Informer Online", and "Hodges" on the top of the car, which is a name-check to Paul Hodges, a friend of mine who played a lot of Gran Turismo back in the day.

Anyway, check out the images and see what you think. You can also read the article, which doesn't seem to be available online-- hopefully that's cool with GI.

"Ten-Cent Plague" Author David Hajdu Minneapolis Appearance

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Cannon) — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:47:00 +0000

This should be an interesting talk:

A Twin Cities Appearance by

DAVID HAJDU

Author of The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic Book Scare and How it Changed America

Tuesday, July 8 at 7:30 p.m.

Elmer L. Andersen Library
University of Minnesota
222 21st Avenue South, Minneapolis

www1.umn.edu/twincities/maps/EALib/index.html
blog.lib.umn.edu/lib-web/events/

Dessert reception follows with books available for sale courtesy of Red Balloon Bookshop. David Hajdu will be signing books.

City Pages Comix Issue: DEADLINE REMINDER!

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Cannon) — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 21:34:00 +0000

June 25

Submission info here.

MoCCA 2008 Was Rather Enjoyable For Zander

noreply@blogger.com (Zander Cannon) — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 15:45:00 +0000

I just got back from New York City yesterday, where I had gone to the MoCCA Art Fest this past weekend. Here are some things that were, as they say, rather enjoyable:

1. Sharing a "Pod" hotel room with Jim Ottaviani, with whom Kevin and I are working on a book (and with whom we worked on Bone Sharps, Cowboys, and Thunder Lizards). The room had a sink, a bunkbed, and an air conditioner (luckily). It did not have a bathroom. There were four bathrooms in the hallway, and we shared them with everyone else on the floor. That would be inconvenient except for a few minor details: The bathrooms and rooms were clean, attractive, and modern, the rooms were relatively inexpensive, and best of all, there were four little lights above our door that showed which bathrooms were occupied. Slick!

Jim and I had a fine time. A lot of science and comic talk. No pillow fights. No hair braiding or toenail painting. And I got the top bunk.

2. Meeting Ryan North (Dinosaur Comics), Jeffrey Rowland (Overcompensating, Wigu), and David Malki (Wondermark) in the internet cartoonists corner. I also saw, but did not speak to for whatever reason, Meredith Gran (Octopus Pie). These are four of my favorite internet comics, and I read them every day, or however often they post.

3. Talking with Howard Zimmerman, who packaged our last and next (but not current) book.

4. Evacuating the Puck Building during a fire alarm. No, actually, that was kind of a drag.

5. Bryan Lee O'Malley came by to get some comics. So did David Mazzucchelli (not pictured).

6. Kicking it with the extremely suspicious Stuart Moore.

The show seemed approximately the same, crowd- and commerce-wise, as last year, although I haven't asked around to compare notes. Jim Ottaviani, who is far more scientific than I, sold almost precisely all of the books he brought. How do you do that? He said some gibberish about keeping sales records from previous years and only bringing that number of books, and... well, if it's going to be that complicated, you can count me out.

The bottom floor (rooms A, B, and C) were nice and cool despite the 104-degree heat outside, but the top floor (room S) had the visual benefit of beautiful sunlight streaming through the windows and skylight, and the physiological liability of making everyone up there feel like they were going to melt. I was lucky to be on the ground floor, but ol' Jim was upstairs, and to add to his misery, right outside the window was a billboard that flashed the ever-escalating temperature every five seconds.

I didn't have a lot of time to walk around the show, being the lone table-minder, but the vibe of the place and the work in it was that the middle has shifted in small press stuff away from indy-tinged genre stuff, ultra-painful autobiographical meditations, and art books, and toward funnier, more writer-centric, and shorter serialized work. Perhaps it's just the change, but this work seems very lively to me; it still has the heart of the previous generation of the small press, but seems more aware of its presentation. Serializing on the web makes reader reaction immediate, and this may quickly force these cartoonists to polish up their jokes and be more reader-friendly if they want to build an audience.

Best of all was packing up really fast and hustling over to get a table in the bar across the street. Only once a cold beer is in front of you can the healing truly begin.

MNArtists.org Reveals the Secrets of Minnesota Cartoonists

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Cannon) — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 15:11:00 +0000

Steve is one of the many handsome cartoonists you can read about in Britt Aamodt's article about the local comics scene.

www.mnartists.org/article.do?rid=195050

Shanks: "An A-FLARE to Remember!"

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Cannon) — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 23:28:00 +0000

I finally got around to drawing on the little art cards for this year's FallCon. The idea is that cartoonists draw on five of these cards, send them in to the MNCBA, and then they'll distribute them randomly.

The paper is pretty glossy, which is why you see the pencil still on the page -- I'm going to let these dry for a day or two before erasing. Nothing worse than an unnecessary smudge!

Rock Atlas Wins First Place

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Cannon) — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 15:20:00 +0000

The Twin Cities Rock Atlas took home the gold over the weekend. The 2-page map that first appeared in City Pages in December '07 won in the "Innovation" category at the AltWeekly Awards in Philadelphia.

City Pages also took home two more awards, described here.

I don't know a lot of details about the award itself, but I'm hoping that there's some sort of plaque involved that I can hang up next to Zander's Eisners...

BTA Photo Album

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Cannon) — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 15:02:00 +0000

Here are some snapshots from the past two months:

First up, graphic novelist Jim Ottaviani (author of "Bone Sharps") swung by a few weeks ago. Here he is in the bullpen with Zander, probably talking about how much fun they're going to have this weekend at Mocca.

A handful of Lutefisk Sushi artists pose in the Attic with their stuffed-with-comics bento boxes. Hard to believe that the third Sushi show has come and gone already! Artists featured above are (L to R): Lupi Miguinti, Maxeem Konrardy (kneeling), Ryan Dow, Jon Sloan, Zander Cannon, David Sandberg, and Carl Nelson.

Kirk Taylor came by the Cartoonist Conspiracy meeting last Thursday and gave a great presentation on Wesley Morse (the creator of Bazooka Joe). Kirk's talk focused on a cache of drawings he recently uncovered. The drawings -- pencil, ink, and wash on Morse's own stationary -- are beautiful and often cynical "love letters," all sent to Kirk's great aunt, actress Avonne Taylor. You can read much more at the collection's website. Thanks, Kirk!

Wesley Morse Presentation This Thursday

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Cannon) — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 22:36:00 +0000

This THURSDAY, swing by DIAMOND'S at 8:00pm to hear Kirk Taylor give a presentation on Bazooka Joe creator WESLEY MORSE.

Steven Stwalley puts it this way:

In addition to our usual jam this meeting, we will have a special presentation by Kirk Taylor on cartoonist Wesley Morse. Morse was the creator of Bazooka Joe, and an uncredited illustrator of many of the best examples of the notorious tijuana bibles. In many ways, Morse was the prototypical underground cartoonist. Kirk’s presentation will feature works from the Taylor-Morse collection, a unique collection of beautifully illustrated love letter cartoons that Morse wrote to Kirk’s great aunt, chorusgirl Avonne Taylor. Read more on the Taylor-Morse collection website. The presentation will begin at 8:00. Thanks much to Puny Entertainment for providing the space and projector for the presentation!

More info here.

Morse's Tijuana Bible cover, above, is from tijuanabibles.org, which is a great site to check out if you're a few years older than Matthew Kriske.

How to Punch

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Cannon) — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 21:58:00 +0000

Check Out "The Thousandth Word"

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Cannon) — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 18:25:00 +0000

Cartoonist Conspirator and best-letterer-known-to-mankind Andy Sturdevant will be regaling us with his views on the Twin Cities Art Scene, via The Thousandth Word.

The Thousandth Word is a new blog from the Rake, a free monthly magazine that disappeared from Twin Cities' street corners a few months ago. Now they're online-only, which I guess is good news for whatever kind of tree it is that produces glossy paper.

So check out Andy's first article, a look at South Minneapolis' Shoebox Gallery.

CR Guide to San Diego Comic-Con

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Cannon) — Mon, 26 May 2008 12:28:00 +0000

Tom Spurgeon posts his annual exhaustive guide to the San Diego Comic-Con. Well worth a read whether you're sure you're going, sure you're not going, or on the fence.

City Pages Comix Issue #2: Call for Entries

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Cannon) — Wed, 21 May 2008 23:11:00 +0000

Wanna be in City Pages' upcoming Comix Issue?

This year's theme is WHEN THE ELEPHANTS COME TO TOWN...

Editor-in-Chief Kevin Hoffman describes it like this:

"Each contributor will be asked to interpret that theme by predicting what it will be like when the Republican National Convention comes in to town in September."

For all the submission info, DOWNLOAD THIS PDF.

Entries are due JUNE 25, so get crackin'!

Science Idol Cartoon Contest

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Cannon) — Wed, 21 May 2008 16:38:00 +0000

Here's a cartoon contest opportunity on the topic of science vs. the government.

Contest and submission details can be found on the Union of Concerned Scientists website.

View last year's finalists.

Cartoon (above) by Jesse Springer

Sean Kleefeld's Far Arden Review

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Cannon) — Tue, 20 May 2008 16:14:00 +0000

Sean Kleefeld has a review of Far Arden up on his "Kleefeld on Comics" blog. In it, he struggles with the same problem I've had recently: trying to explain what the hell the book is about. My attempts at summarizing FA usually melt into a babbling mess, so as of this morning I'm just going to start saying it's "Jack London meets James Bond" and leave it at that.

Warning, Kleefeld's review has a few spoilers.

Thanks for the review, Sean!

Thanks for the link, Steve!

Rock Atlas Nominated for 2008 AltWeekly Award

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Cannon) — Tue, 20 May 2008 15:44:00 +0000

I'm thrilled to announce that the "Twin Cities Rock Atlas" has been nominated for a 2008 AltWeekly Award in the category of "Innovation."

The Rock Atlas originally appeared in the 11/19/07 edition of City Pages, the Twin Cities' big weekly alternative paper. The Atlas was written by Peter S. Scholtes and art directed by Nick Vlcek.

You can see the Rock Atlas on the City Pages Blotter and read about the art process on the Big Time Attic blog.

Details on the AltWeekly Awards are here. Winners are announced in Philadelphia at the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies Conference, June 5-7. Nominees for the "Innovation" category are:

INNOVATION circulation 55,000 and over

City Pages (Twin Cities): Twin Cities Rock Atlas in print (PDF) and online by Peter Scholtes, Jeff Shaw and Kevin Cannon

The Pitch: Smoke & Mirrors: story and podcast by Eric Barton

Westword: Paint the Town Read: in print (PDF) and online by Amy Haimerl and Kenny Be

INNOVATION circulation under 55,000

Orlando Weekly: Downtownopoly (PDF) by Shan Stumpf, Jeffrey C. Billman and Bob Whitby

Santa Barbara Independent: Locals Only by Matt Kettmann and Aly Comingore

Tucson Weekly: Project White House: Presidential Candidate Contest (PDF), Run for President, Project White House Deadline Extended, Speaking of Presidential Campaigns, Let the Games Begin! and Project White House the Blog

Note: the original art from the Rock Atlas is currently on view at Altered Esthetics gallery in NE Minneapolis (through May 31). This is the last time you or I will ever be able to see it in public!

Reviews: Broken Frontier and Playboy

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Cannon) — Mon, 12 May 2008 22:52:00 +0000

First up, a Far Arden "inter-review" on Broken Frontier. Find out where the term "Far Arden" came from!

Also, we knew it wouldn't be long before Tim Sievert graced the pages of Playboy!

Will Dinski on Comics Reporter

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Cannon) — Sat, 10 May 2008 18:55:00 +0000

Minneapolis cartoonist Will Dinski is man o' the hour in last Sunday's Comics Reporter Interview. Will talks about his life, career, and has some pretty nice things to say about the Minneapolis scene.

Reminder: Sgier's MFA Thesis Show Reception on Saturday

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Cannon) — Fri, 09 May 2008 14:12:00 +0000

Conspirator Mike Sgier has been hard at work at MCAD getting his MFA. Celebrate with him at SooVAC on May 9, 2008. Here are the details:

The Minneapolis College of Art and Design MFA Thesis Exhibition 2008

Mike Sgier
The Ballad of Toby & Sara

April 23-May 11, 2008

Soo Visual Arts Center
2640 Lyndale Ave S, Mpls (612) 871-2263
Open Wednesday through Saturday or by appointment
Gellery hours at www.soovac.org

Reception: May 9, 2008: 6-9 p.m.
Ride the reception shuttle/ MCAD > Soap Factory > SooVAC
Departing MCAD every 45 minutes; first bus at 6 p.m., final bus at 9 p.m.

Sushi Photos on L'Etoile

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Cannon) — Thu, 08 May 2008 00:02:00 +0000

letoilemagazine.blogspot.com

Nice shots, Digital Crush!

Lutefisk Sushi Wrap-Up

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Cannon) — Sun, 04 May 2008 15:21:00 +0000

Thanks to everyone who made this year's Sushi such a great success!

A few things to keep in mind:

The reception may be over, but the show itself will be up until May 31. Check the website under "event details" for times.
The Conspiracy will be hosting activities and events during Art-a-Whirl. Stay tuned for details.
A huge collection of photos from the reception is available online at alteredesthetics.phanfare.com. Thanks to John Terwilliger for generously sharing his work!
Any unsold art will need to be picked up from Altered Esthetics at some point after May 31. We'll keep you posted when we have more info.