the QUIET

Movin' On Up...

2010-02-06T19:23:00.003-05:00

Hey folks. This blog is relocating - please redirect your links and attention on over to jamietanner.tumblr.com, where (ideally) I will be posting about a zillion times more often than I have here...

Thanks!

Still More Kickstartery, Plus: New Shirt Design

2009-12-02T16:46:00.004-05:00

Hey everybody!

My Kickstarter project's funding has ended ($7544! Humbling and awesome!). But, I continue to hear from wonderful people who would still like to pledge and get some rewards. So, if you count yourself among these fine folk, please visit my new Kickstarter Project Storefront / Pledge Area: http://www.jamietanner.com/kickstarter.html

I just posted a new update to the project, on the topic of inspirations, influences and preliminary ideas. Read it HERE. Like what you see? I hope you'll consider joining the project and getting cool stuff!

Speaking of cool stuff, one of my favorite podcasts, Jordan, Jesse, Go! (hilarious show, you should listen) recently held a T-shirt design contest and one of my designs was the winner! Sometime soon you'll be able to order this T-shirt from the MaxFun Store:

That's all for now. Want to hear more blather from me, more frequently? To my great surprise, I find myself really enjoying Twitter these days - please follow me if you are so inclined...

Continued Kickstartin', King Con, and Maximum Fun...

2009-11-02T21:58:00.012-05:00

So much to update! Let's just dive right in, shall we?

First and foremost - KICKSTARTER:
My project to help fund my new graphic novel successfully reached its funding goal in a little over a week! I can't thank all my backers enough. BUT- the funding period is still going, and I've got lots more books and art to give to new backers. So if you're interested in seeing me make a new book, and want to get some original art or other cool stuff, I hope you'll take a moment to look at the project. I'd love to have you aboard, and every pledge helps! And if you want to be even more helpful, spread the word about the project any way you can - here's a nice short link you can copy and send to anyone you know who loves comics / graphic novels / art / etc: http://bit.ly/jtKS

Want to learn a little more about the project? Well, you can listen to an interview I did with Fanboy Radio right here. Also, the awesome people over at Kickstarter did a Q&A with me about my project, for which I drew a brand new short comics story! It's called The Squid. Here's the title panel:

If you like what you see, I suggest following along with my project updates - I plan to give away the original art for The Squid as bonus rewards! So stay tuned...

Speaking of squids, a while back I did a T-shirt design for The Sound of Young America (one of my favorite shows; you should listen!), and you can now buy one in the snazzy new MaxFun Store. My shirt is right here:

For all my fellow New Yorkers (or those near NY), this coming weekend (Nov. 7th & 8th), I'll be at Brooklyn's new comics festival, King Con. I'll be sharing a table with my friends GB Tran and Joanna Mulder, tremendously talented cartoonist / illustrators. Come by and say hello!

Talk to you soon...

Kickstart My Art

2009-09-15T02:30:00.002-04:00

Want to help me make a new graphic novel? Want to get some original art? Check out my Kickstarter project...

A Little Renovation, Some Light Dusting...

2009-09-13T19:05:00.003-04:00

Hey folks. Take a look around this ol' site - I've just finished a bit of an overhaul on it. The COMICS and ILLUSTRATION sections are much improved, with lots of new stuff to see / read. I'm preparing to launch a new project, so check back very soon for updates, or shoot me an email if you want me to add you to my mailing list - jamietanner@gmail.com. Until next time...

Zine Scene

2009-06-25T16:15:00.002-04:00

Hey folks. This weekend I'll be at the NYC Zine Fest:

It's in Park Slope (my own neighborhood - I love an easy commute) at the Brooklyn Lyceum, and it's FREE! I'm sharing a table with my pal GB Tran, and I'll have copies of my book, some mini-comics, sketchbooks, prints, and whatever else I manage to make between now and Saturday. Stop by and say hello...

Heads-up

2009-06-05T13:59:00.002-04:00

This weekend: MoCCA Art Fest. I'll be at the AdHouse table with Mike Dawson, Fred Chao, Lamar Abrams, and the mighty Chris Pitzer.

In a few weeks: NYC Zine Fest.

Right now, for no reason:

Goodbye to '08, Hello to '09

2009-02-04T00:17:00.004-05:00

Strike that; reverse it. First, in with the new - this weekend (February 6-8) is this year's New York Comic-Con, the first comics-related thing I'll be involved with in what feels like a very long time. I'll be sharing table space with GB Tran and Fred Chao, outstanding cartoonists and fine gentlemen, the both of 'em. I'll have copies of The Aviary, a minicomic (featuring one of the very very few - two, to be exact - comics stories I've managed to draw since completing The Aviary almost two years ago now), and a fancypants print for sale. The print is largeish (13x18 or so), and looks like this:

Next, out with the old - a few highlights of my 2008, in no particular order: Got married, became an Eisner Award nominee, went to Greece, became an Eisner Award loser, went to Japan. Lowlight (is that a word?) of the year is that I drew virtually no new comics at all. Spent the year as a consumer far more than a producer of any sort of "art". Saw, heard, and read quite a few things I enjoyed, so for no particular reason, here are some lists of favorite/best entertainments/distractions of 2008 (The Proverbial Top-Whatevers):

Comics: Skyscrapers of the Midwest, by Josh Cotter; Freddie and Me, by Mike Dawson; Pocket Full of Rain, by Jason; Acme Novelty Library #19, by Chris Ware; The Amazing Remarkable Monsieur Leotard, by Eddie Campbell; Ganges #2, by Kevin Huizenga

Movies: The Dark Knight, Synecdoche, NY, Let the Right One In, WALL-E, The Wrestler, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, The Visitor, Snow Angels, Cloverfield

Music: The Night Marchers - See You in Magic, The Hold Steady - Stay Positive, The Gutter Twins - Saturnalia and Adorata, Metallica - Death Magnetic, Girl Talk - Feed the Animals, Greg Dulli - Live at Triple Door, Kanye West - 808s and Heartbreak

Laffs: No funnier show of any kind than the Never Not Funny podcast. And I offer the highest possible recommendation for the album Impersonal, by Mr. Paul F. Tompkins.

That's all for now. If you're coming to NY Comic-con, come on by and say hello...

Crazy Good News / NY Comic-Con

2008-04-15T11:50:00.003-04:00

Most surprising phone call I ever received whilst at work: my fantastic publisher calling to let me know my book has been nominated for an Eisner Award! Not sure what "Special Recognition" means exactly, but this is surreal and wonderful news. Check out all the nominations here (including FOUR much-deserved nominations for fellow AdHouser Fred Chao, whose comic Johnny Hiro is loads of fun).

This weekend is the New York Comic-con, and I'll be there, schmoozin', sketchin' and signin' at the Indie Spinner Rack podcast's table on Saturday and Sunday afternoon, along with a whole bunch of great cartoonists, including the aforementioned Fred Chao, Mike Dawson, Julia Wertz, Liz Baillie, Alec Longstreth, and more more more. Should be a swell time - if you're coming to the show, stop by the ISR table and say hello (and listen to their podcast!)...

Updatin' & Invitin'

2008-02-19T16:41:00.002-05:00

Hey folks. Couple quick items of interest:

First, I'll be selling and signing THE AVIARY - recently named 9th best comic book of 2007 by the great Mister Phil of the awesome Indie Spinner Rack podcast (thanks, Phil!) - this Friday night (February 22) at VOX POP here in Brooklyn, NY. Music will be performed by TWICE AS BRIGHT and scaresthedaylights. I'm told there will be some manner of drink specials, so anticipate an entertaining evening. Come on by if you can - VOX POP is at 1022 Cortelyou Road and seems like a terrific place (bookstore / cafe / venue - sounds good to me!)

Also, if anyone out there is curious about THE AVIARY, there's an excerpt (a story entitled Barry Pago: Crime Scene Photographer) in the most recent issue of Weird Tales Magazine. Check it out at a better magazine rack near you...

Catchin' Up

2007-10-19T00:21:00.001-04:00

Been a little while, lots to "report":

Belated TCAF photos here. Great show, great city. A bona fide vacation this one was. I talked more about it with the fine folks over at the Comic News Insider podcast. I'm on Episode 102, along with Paul Pope and TCAF organizer Chris Butcher.

Just got back from SPX - photos / mini-report here. This remains my very favorite comics show. Such a good time. No better way to wrap up my busiest convention year ever.

This weekend (actually in about, oh, 20 hours from the time I'm writing this): The AWESOME Anthology Release Party at Rocketship!

Got my copy of the book at SPX and it looks great. More about the book here, more about the party here. This was originally supposed to happen Saturday the 20th, but got moved up to Friday the 19th. So, uh, tonight. If you're free, come on out for some free drinks and some chatter with many fine cartoonists.

Before I go, here's a quick look at a page from my contribution to the anthology, a 7-page story called "The Accommodations of Old Man Small":

SDCC, TCAF, AWESOME, NY

2007-08-14T11:41:00.000-04:00

Haven't blogged in a bit, so here's a little catch-up post...

First, some photos from the San Diego Comic-Con, which was pretty overwhelming. I had a good time, though, and didn't make a total fool of myself on the New Voices in Graphic Novels panel.

Next stop - Toronto! This weekend is TCAF (Toronto Comic Arts Festival), which should be really great. What an amazing guest list they've got. And I've never been to Toronto before, so I'm looking forward to it. I'm currently finishing up a brand-new mini for the show, which is a two-part book of sketches and illustrations and things. As soon as I get some copies put together, I'll post a picture.

Coming in October - AWESOME, the Indie Spinner Rack anthology. I've got a new story in here, along with loads of great cartoonists - seriously, way too many incredible people to list. Check out the sample pages on the AWESOME site (including a page from my own story) and marvel at the contributors. Proceeds go to the Indie Spinner Rack podcast and to a scholarship for the Center for Cartoon Studies, so it's for a good cause. Not to mention over 200 pages of great comics for a low price. And for an even lower price, you can pre-order the book now for just $8.22 - seriously, you should: Pre-order here. It'll be out just in time for SPX, and there'll be a release party October 20th at the one and only Rocketship.

One last odd item - my name is in the new issue of New York magazine! Not somewhere I'd ever have expected to see it. The article's a guide to NYC for different types of people, each with a different map of the city - on the "Lit Guy" map, they mention Brooklyn's finest comic store, the aforementioned Rocketship, and their frequent book launch parties featuring artists such as, uh, me (and Peter Kuper - I'm in good company!). It's a fun article with some terrific illustrations - check it out here. Very weird to see myself mentioned, even in passing, alongside the landmarks and luminaries on that map...

Impending Nerdfest...

2007-07-23T21:08:00.000-04:00

Just two days until I fly out west for the San Diego Comic-Con. If you'd care to stop by and get your book signed or buy a sketch (I'll be drawing 'em for cheap, if anyone wants 'em) or just engage in some awkward banter with yours truly, I'll be at the AdHouse Books booth (#2104) off and on over the course of the show. Here's when I'm scheduled to be there:

Thursday: 10-12, 2-4
Friday: 10-12
Saturday: 2-4

And I'll likely be there more than that, if only to hide behind the booth with a glazed stare on my face, overwhelmed by the nerdtastic spectacle that is Comic-Con. The full AdHouse creator signin' schedule is here - come on by and pick up some fine fine comics.

I was also asked to appear on a panel, much to my amazement, and I accepted. Unwisely? We shall see. I'll do my best to blather intelligently or at least entertainingly. I'm in terrific company on the panel, so if you're at the Con on Friday afternoon, check it out:

Friday, 4:30-5:30 PM New Voices in Graphic Novels— The medium is exploding with new opportunities and new creative talent. Six graphic novel creators who have published their first books in the past year—Miriam Katin (We Are On Our Own), Leland Myrick (Missouri Boy), George O'Connor (Journey into Mohawk Country), David Peterson (Mouse Guard), Christian Slade (Korgi), and Jamie Tanner (The Aviary)—talk about their inspirations and about the place their books have in the changing graphic novel market. Moderated by Calvin Reid (Publisher's Weekly). Room 4

In other news, I posted some more reviews and an interview over on the Aviary Press page.

And that's all for now...

I Shall Be Released

2007-07-03T10:07:00.000-04:00

Photos from the release party at Rocketship here. Thanks to everyone who came out, and big thanks to Alex and Mary at Rocketship - great people who have a great store. If you've never been there, you should go, trust me.

Next stop: San Diego Comic-Con, where I will continue signing the book and making idiotic faces when photographed. Also, I somehow wound up being invited to talk on a panel! The topic is "New Voices in Graphic Novels", and the voices in question belong to Miriam Katin, Leland Myrick, George O'Connor, David Peterson, Christian Slade, and, uh, me. Calvin Reid from Publishers Weekly is moderating, and it should be interesting. It's Friday, July 27 at 4:30pm, so if you're at Comic-con, come on by and watch me make fumbling attempts at eloquence...

Release the Birds

2007-06-29T10:05:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow - Saturday, June 30:
THE AVIARY Release Party at Rocketship
Comics, music, drinks, tomfoolery. Come on by!

In addition to my book, I'll also have some limited-edition prints I made just for the occasion, and they'll be cheapish - $10.

Hope to see you there...

Watching the Defective

2007-06-26T22:12:00.000-04:00

Hey, I own a camera-

MoCCA Art Fest

Heroes Con

I also just finished an illustration for Metro here in NY, for a "So you wanna be a detective"-type piece, and since bringing my illustration portfolio up to speed is beyond me at the moment, here's a little look-see:

Rocketship this Saturday...

Undressed by Robot

2007-06-22T12:50:00.000-04:00

First big review of THE AVIARY over at Undress Me Robot. The reviewer interviewed me, too, and I'm told that should appear next week sometime.

MoCCA tomorrow!

Come See About Me...

2007-06-21T00:51:00.001-04:00

That's me at last weekend's Heroes Con, the first stop on my little signing "tour". Photo taken by my wonderful publisher - head over here to buy the book straight from the source.

Or catch us this weekend at the MoCCA Art Fest here in NY.

And then the following weekend:

THE AVIARY - Flying into stores today...

2007-06-13T17:03:00.000-04:00

Available in finer comic shops today, June 13. Seen here in my living room:

If you want to get one signed, I'll be at Heroes Con this weekend, the MoCCA Art Fest next weekend, and at a delightful book release party at Rocketship the weekend after that (June 30 to be exact)...

Aviarybook.com

2007-05-23T22:35:00.000-04:00

So, with my first book about to hit stores, I thought I'd make a little website for it - and here it is: aviarybook.com...

Have yourself a look, why don't you. Contents, excerpts, signing tour dates for the summer, all that good stuff. I believe the book will be in stores in late June, at which time it'll be in my publisher's online store. Until then, it's available for pre-order on Amazon. Your first chances to grab a book in person will be at Heroes Con in Charlotte, NC June 15-17, MoCCA Art Fest in NYC June 23-24, and then a release party at the lovely Rocketship, right here in Brooklyn.

In the meantime, the "star" of The Aviary, the Quiet Bird-Man, or at least his head, can be purchased in sticker form in the fantastic AdHouse Sticker Pack, along with stickers from Doug Fraser, Josh Cotter, James Jean and Paul Pope:

Find them in finer comic shops, or order direct from the AdHouse.

All for now. Take care, my friends - more soon...

Coming in June...

2007-02-19T15:34:00.000-05:00

...from AdHouse Books:

On the (Indie Spinner) Rack, SPX, Etc.

2006-10-19T13:50:00.000-04:00

Hey hey. Still tired from SPX this past weekend. Meant to take some pictures, but was both too busy and too lazy to do so, if that's even possible. It was a great time, as usual. Still slowly making my way through the pile of comics I picked up - some highlights so far include AdHouse's Paul Pope ashcan thingy, a bunch of JP Coovert minis, Kaz Strzepek's Mourning Star, Brian Ralph's Daybreak, Cold Heat #2 from PictureBox, Nebuli, and a couple of really gorgeous minicomics by Eleanor Davis (The Beast Mother and Mattie and Dodi). That's barely a quarter of the books I picked up and I'm sure I'm forgetting some good ones but oh well. You can read other people's more informative thoughts here.

In other news, I did my first interview ever, for my personal favorite comics podcast Indie Spinner Rack and the somewhat embarrassing (though funny, I'm told) results are now online. Thrill to the slightly drunken ramblings of myself and friend / SPX tablemate GB Tran as we discuss our work, among other things (mostly other things) with the hilarious and insightful Charlito and Mr. Phil. You can find it here, if you like.

As I mention in the interview, at SPX I was "shopping around" a mock-up of a big book collecting most of my mini-comics - you can check out a crappy picture of said book below. Gave the thing to some publishers there, mailed out some more, so now I'm waiting to see if anyone'll actually publish the thing... yikes...

That reminds me, I sold almost all of my remaining mini-comic stock at SPX, so they're pretty much all out of print now. If you're interested in reading any of them, check the Catastrophe Store (I just gave them a bunch at SPX, so those should be available soon) or try Rocketship or Jim Hanley's Universe in New York, who may still have some. Otherwise I'll hopefully have that collection done sometime, uh, soon? We shall see.

Hope this finds you well, folks.

Oh, right - I have a website.

2006-09-07T23:09:00.000-04:00

Just wiping off a bit of the dust this place has been gathering. Here's a few things I can mention:

Just got a copy of a nice new Egon Schiele book from Germany the other day, in which you can find a page from my comic The Perpetual Child. Ausgezeichnet! Have a look:

It's from a section about current art about or influenced by Schiele, and I'm amazed my story appeared on their radar in the first place, but I'm pretty thrilled to be in there. I believe a similar book (maybe even the same one, I'm not sure) was published in English to accompany a recent Schiele exhibition at the Neue Galerie here in NY, which I unfortunately missed. I'm hoping to get over there and see if it's in their bookstore, and just to visit that museum again - it's a lovely place and they have a great collection.

Been meaning to update my illustration portfolio here for ages, but until I do, here's another one I did relatively recently, for another Robochrist performance at the Steve Allen Theater in LA. I'm actually not sure if they used this yet...

And here's one of my favorite things I got at MoCCA back in June - I bought a copy of Mine Tonight, by Trevor Alixopulos, who signed the book for me and provided this outstanding caricature of yours truly. A frighteningly accurate depiction of my inner self...

Mine Tonight is published by Sparkplug and is well worth your time and money. Also highly recommended is Mr. Alixopulos's minicomic Hutjack'd, which can be ordered from USS Catastrophe or Global Hobo.

That's all I got for now. More "soon"...

MINE and MoCCA, MoCCA and MINE

2006-06-08T00:18:00.000-04:00

So. MoCCA Art Fest in just a couple of days - who's going? All three of you who read this? I can only hope. I'll be there, anyway, sharing a table with this guy. Just finished a new minicomic, called MINE, which I'll have for sale at said table. It concerns the early days of the mysterious Casualty J. Organ Co. and its cover looks rather like this:

Sketchbookin'

2006-05-09T13:49:00.000-04:00

Oy. Another, what, 3 months since an update? Such a treasure trove this site is.

Anyway. Some stuff:

Sent a bunch of books to the catastrophe shop, so if you want any of my minis that are still in print, they've got 'em, including Amber, my most recent, which has thus far only been seen by the handful of people who happened to stumble across my table waaay in the back corner of the insane NY Comic-Con in February. Brooklyn's finest comic shop Rocketship is also freshly stocked with my wares.

Currently working on a new mini for MoCCA next month. It's called MINE, and I'll post a page or two when I actually have a page or two done.

Also, last week I actually spent a night drawing in my sketchbook. Like, just drawing for fun. Been quite a while since I've done this, depressingly - I actually can't recall the last time I just sat down to draw for the sake of drawing. At least 6 or 8 months ago. Managed to do some drawings I liked, to my pleasant surprise. Here's a few: