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• In this interview at the Prism Comics site Donna Barr talks (some more) about her recent skirmish over at Girlamatic.com that led to moving her "Paid Home" strip to Modern Tales.

• Reminder for folks in Houston: The Fourth Annual Texas Comics Creators Forum takes place Thursday, May 27th at Borders (3025 Kirby). For more info, e-mail Shane Boyle.

• A small press comics show is being planned for February 2005 in Austin, Texas. If you'd like to get in on the ground floor, e-mail Chris Nicholas.

• In September NOW Comics will be releasing Vinny, the Bug Man, a 3-D computer-rendered comic by Chet Spiewak that will include a CD-ROM featuring animation and more. Previews may be found at the website.

• Gary Spencer Millidge has announced that the tribute book Alan Moore: Portrait of an Extraordinary Gentleman has been nominated for a Bram Stoker Award by the Horror Writers Association.

• In August Oni Press will be releasing the trade paperback collection of Too Much Hopeless Savages. Here's more.

• Graham Annable was named "Best Unknown Local Cartoonist" in SF Weekly's (San Francisco) "Best of 2004" issue.

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The Goddess of War
Lauren Weinstein’s follow up to her critically acclaimed, Xeric award-winning graphic novel, Inside Vineyland. The Goddess of War traces the life of the title character, from her majestic beginnings as the best Valkyrie and the great granddaughter of Thor, to her present position as the Goddess. But she’s bored of determining the outcome for all wars on earth. So she leaves her isolated planet of vampires, wolves and volcanoes to visit Earth, where she quits her job being a Goddess to be with her lover, the Apache Chief. This angers her boss, the king of the Gods, and he decides to exact vengeance upon them. Will he succeed in punishing them or will the lovers escape the hand of fate? The Goddess of War is based on the character that Weinstein plays in her rock band, Flaming Fire. The story will be told in deluxe, oversized format with both pen and ink and with etchings.

The Goddess of War, deluxe graphic novel by Lauren Weinstein, For Mature Readers, 40 pages, partial color, 10” x 16”, $11.95. ISBN: 1-891867-84-9. Diamond Code: MAY04 2210. July 2004.

www.indyworld.com/altcomics
www.indyworld.com/weinstein

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From Amaze Ink:

15 Minutes #1
Diamond Code: JUN04 2131
Creators: Bob Elinskas, David Hedgecock, Mike Kelleher
Page Count: 24, Full-color
SRP: $3.95
Synopsis: As the saying goes, everyone gets fifteen minutes of fame. That includes superheroes, supervillains and the average, everyday folks who cross their paths. However, not everyone handles their fifteen minutes the same way. For some, it means celebrity. For some, heartbreak. For some, redemption. 15 Minutes - everyone gets theirs. The first issue features two self-contained stories. In "Return to Sender", we ask what would you do if the postman delivered you the world's most powerful weapon by accident? In "Book Covers", we find out if we're the people our kids see us as or the people everyone else sees.

Bill & Ted TP Vol. 1
Diamond Code: JUN04 2133
Creator: Evan Dorkin
Page Count: 168
SRP: $13.95
Synopsis: SLG is totally stoked to announce the first of two volumes collecting the Eisner-award nominated series originally published by Marvel Comics in the early '90s, chronicling the fully awesome further exploits of those two trippy time-traveling troubadours, Bill S. Preston, Esq. and Ted “Theodore” Logan. Written and drawn by multiple Eisner and Harvey award-winning humor dude Evan Dorkin (with inks by totally excellent drawing-type persons like Stephen DeStefano and Marie Severin), volume one contains the Bogus Journey movie adaptation and issues #1-4, featuring zombies, aliens, assassins, some dude named Satan, and most non-non-heinous of all – record industry executives! Along with a new cover and introduction by Dorkin, here’s a rare chance to see a Marvel comic that was intentionally funny, brought to you by the always fun folks at SLG. It’s not just excellent, it’s totally excellent! 0-943151-98-8

Patty Cake Vol. 2, #12
Diamond Code: JUN04 2132
Creator: Scott Roberts
Page Count: 48
SRP: $4.95
Synopsis: Patty and the kids go down to the woods for a day of adventure, but it's all spoiled when toddler Duncan McBee insists on tagging along, and the day ends in an emergency rescue. Special feature, a previously unseen story from the early, Permanent Press days.


From Slave Labor Graphics:

Hsu & Chan #7
Diamond Code: JUN04 2143
Creator: Norm Scott
Page Count: 24
SRP: $2.95
Synopsis: Issue 7 finds the boys in danger while sightseeing! Do the brothers Tanaka have the fortitude to overcome these new perils, or will they just sorta luck out of it like usual? Find out for yourself, and check out loads of free comedy at www.ape-law.com/evilmonkey in the meanwhile!

X-Ray Comics Volume One: Filth
Diamond Code: JUN04 2156
Creators: Landry Walker, Eric Jones and Rustan Crade
Page Count: 144
SRP: $14.95
Synopsis: Collecting the earliest comics works from the award-winning creative team behind SLG's Little Gloomy and Disney's Kid Gravity. This 144-page adult-oriented graphic novel explores the fun world of drug abuse, music, Jesus, cross-dressing and the usual perils of love and alcohol. Originally published by the now defunct collective known as Puppy Toss and the sometimes dead company AEON, this series portrays the twenty-something crowd as they truly are: Selfish, stupid, angry, psychotic and desperately horny. The critics hated it! Some readers loved it! You will order it!! 0-943151-97-X

Outlook: Grim #6
Diamond Code: JUN04 2149
Creator: Black Olive
Page Count: 24
SRP: $2.95
Synopsis: In the exciting conclusion to the series, Wren is stuck in the land of goblins and beasties in search of friends that desperately need rescuing. Dark secrets are unlocked and the mystery of Wren’s haunting is revealed. Will she return to the living and kick the ghoulies back to where they came from, or will the dead have the last laugh?

http://slavelabor.com

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AdHouse Books is excited to announce their Fall 04 - Spring 05 schedule for the larger projects we plan to publish. We've been calling these the "SKETCH-COLLECT-RE:PROJECT" Plans. In chronological order, we present:

COLLECT:
This fall will find Paul Hornschemeier teaming up with AdHouse to bring back to print his series Sequential in the aptly titled The Collected Sequential. These seven highly experimental comics have been long sought by fans of Hornschemeier, and AdHouse Books is proud to offer them in a beautiful hardcover format.

SEQUENTIAL: THE COLLECTION
by Paul Hornschemeier
256 pages
6.5" by 9" HC
Interiors: BW & 96-page 2C section
Retail Price: $25

+ + +

RE-PROJECT:
What could possibly be cooler than space & robots? How about superheroes? Or should I say Project: Superior. (Legal disclaimer: Say "superior" out loud, it kind of sounds like super hero!) Chris Pitzer has decided to re-visit the "project" anthology and has challenged some of his favorite indy comics and alternative artist creators to work within this theme. A peek at who is planning on playing: Tim Biskup, Jeffrey Brown, Farel Dalrymple, Dean Haspiel, Scott Morse and Paul Pope (and many, many more!). Planned for this winter, this will make stuffing those stockings easy.

PROJECT: SUPERIOR
by various
264 pages
6" by 9" SC
Interiors: 176-page 2C (red & black, blue & black) and 88-page 4C
Retail Price: $25

+ + +

SKETCH:
Most great artists keep a sketchbook. That's how they get good. Eisner-nominated cover illustrator James Jean is good, and he's got a lot of sketchbooks. Process Recess collects the art of James Jean. From his travelogue-sketchbooks of Vienna, London, New York, LA and Taiwan to his finished illustrations and paintings we get to see a side of the artist that most have not seen. James' artwork blends media such as watercolor, oils, computer work, and sketching – all of which is collected here in a beautiful hardcover format.

PROCESS RECESS: The Art of James Jean
by James Jean
192 page
7.5" by 5" HC
Interiors: 128-page 4C & 64-page 1C
Retail Price: $25

www.adhousebooks.com

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From Jim Ottaviani:

It's been a while since I've announced a new book, but I think you'll find it's been worth the wait.

Suspended in Language: Niels Bohr's Life, Discoveries, and the Century He Shaped is on page 314 of this month's Diamond Previews – that's May 2004, for books shipping in July. Speaking of which, it's going to be almost as thick as that catalog: Suspended weighs in at 320 pages, with a 12 page tipped-in color mini-comic as a special supplement!

Please take a look at it, and at our website. If you want to hear even more about the book, you can head over to Comicon.com and read a brief interview/article about the book.

www.gt-labs.com

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• The Haarlem Comic Festival takes place on June 5th & 6th in Holland with guests such as Robert Crumb, Craig Thompson, Typex, Souther Salazar, Maaike Hartjes, Marjane Satrapi and many others. More info here.

• If Dave Cooper's work never creeped you out before then this should do it. [ thanks to Yoram ]

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• Here are Guy Leshinski's latest zine reviews at the Eye site.

• It's a couple years old at this point but here's a transcript of Chris Ware and Ira Glass' 2002 panel discussion at the University of Minnesota, "Glass/Ware: New Media for Writing American Lives." [ thanks to EGON ]

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From the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund's latest e-newsletter:

New Censorship Bill Turns Parents Into Prosecutors

On April 28, California Congressman Duncan Hunter (R) introduced legislation that could "turn parents into prosecuting attorneys fighting a wave of obscenity," the representative told Family.org.

H.B. 4239, also called the "Parents' Empowerment Act," would allow the parent or guardian of a minor to sue in federal court anyone who knowingly disseminates any media containing "material that is harmful to minors" if the material is distributed in a way that "a reasonable person can expect a substantial number of minors to be exposed to the material and the minor, as a result to exposure to the material, is likely to suffer personal or emotional injury or injury to mental or moral welfare." The bill has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee.

The bill allows compensatory damages starting at no less than $10,000 for any instance in which a minor is exposed to "harmful to minors" entertainment products. The bill also allows that punitive damages and reasonable fees may be awarded to the prevailing party at the discretion of the court. The bill also seeks to strengthen the current test courts utilize in determining what is obscene material by providing a separate definition of obscenity specifically for children. It is an affirmative defense to action under this bill if a parent or guardian of the minor owned the material.

The bill is in its earliest stage, but if it passes, it will seriously threaten retailers, distributors, and publishers. Family.org talked to Hunter who said, "If the people who published (the material), published it in such a way that they could reasonably have expected children to access it, then the parents can receive an award of
$10,000."

"This bill is troubling on several levels," explains CBLDF Director Charles Brownstein. "It appears to allow for civil actions against any, or every, member of the dissemination food chain, from the retailer to the distributor to the publisher, of work that an individual parent may object to. So any citizen, using their own sense of what is obscene or harmful to minors, can bring suit. Considering that comics still suffer the cultural and legal stigma of being perceived as a juvenile medium, this bill could become a dangerous weapon in the hands of an individual who walks into a comic book store and is shocked to find that comics offer much more than Archie and Superman."

Hunter's bill enjoys the support of several religious, family, and conservative legal groups including the Christian Coalition, the American Center for Law and Justice and the World Family Policy Center at Brigham Young University. Working closely with Media Coalition, the CBLDF will continue to monitor the progress of this bill.

www.cbldf.org

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From Jay Koivu:

The 2004 LA Zine Fiesta will be held July 10th from 11am to 5pm at
1919 7th Street, 4th Flr., in Los Angeles.

Exhibitor registration is now open. If you want to get a table to display and sell your zines, comics and handicrafts go to http://www.geocities.com/lazinefiesta and print a copy of the registration form. Each half table is $15. If you need – and I stress need – a full table (they're about 8' long) e-mail me explaining your needs. Information on payment and where to send the registration form is printed on the form itself.


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• David Blumenstein (Nakedfella Comics) had finished the animated flash version of his "Herman, the Legal Labrador" comic. In fact, it's premiering tomorrow night at the Former Magistrates Court in Melbourne (Australia). Here's more info on the cartoon. [ thanks to John Weeks ]

• Hey, check it out, Stefan Neville and Clayton Noone have a new "City of Tales" collection out.

• Oni Press has announced that Andi Watson's Love Fights is ending with issue 12. More info here.

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Exclusive Preview Content for Smut Peddler Vol. 2 Now Available

Saucy Goose Press, publishers of co-operative minicomic Smut Peddler have announced a collaboration with alternaporn website ThatStrangeGirl.com, kicking off what will prove to be "a hot summer of cool comics."

Starting May 15, 2004, visitors to www.thatstrangegirl.com will be able to view four stories from Smut Peddler Vol. 2 that will be featured in a guest-accessible section of that website, as well as take a glimpse at the thought process that went into each story. The stories featured will be (in alphabetical order): "Apres Le Monocle" by Sean Bieri, "Don't Try This at Home" by Harris O'Malley, "Nightclubbing" by Paul Sizer and "Phone Sex…?" by Smut Peddler managing editor Trisha L. Sebastian and John Peters.

"I'm incredibly enthusiastic to be teaming up with Smut Peddler for this issue," ThatStrangeGirl.com webmistress Lux Nightmare said. "It's refreshing to see sex discussed and portrayed in a manner that is artistic, funny, touching, and hot all at once."

"The reason why I chose to team up with That Strange Girl was that the motives behind the two ventures were similar," Sebastian added. "They both have a positive attitude about sex, a sly irreverence and a firm belief that porn can be palatable to women as much as men."

The four stories will be available on ThatStrangeGirl.com on a weekly basis, leading up to Smut Peddler Vol. 2's debut at the 2004 MoCCA Art Fest in New York City, NY on June 26.

ABOUT SAUCY GOOSE PRESS:
Saucy Goose Press is a co-operative venture founded by Editor-in-Chief Carla Speed McNeil (Finder), Layout Editor Sean Bieri (Jape) and Managing Editor Trisha L. Sebastian. Along with Submissions Editor Johanna Draper Carlson ("Comics Worth Reading"), Saucy Goose Press has been dedicated to providing quality erotic comics that are accessible to both males and females since 2003. Visit www.saucygoosepress.com for more information.

ABOUT THAT STRANGE GIRL:
That Strange Girl was founded by Lux Nightmare in September 2002 as the web's first alternaporn site featuring both male and female models. Since its inception, TSG has provided countless visitors with access to hot imagery celebrating sexuality and a growing sex-positive community. Visit www.thatstrangegirl.com for more information.

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• Check out this Waldo cartoon by Kim Deitch and John Kuramoto at the Pantheon site.

• Hey, dog lovers, did you see the feature on artist Gary Baseman in the Spring issue of The Bark? (It's not on the site, sorry.)

• New academic comics journal ImageTexT now has its first online edition available covering the work of Dan Clowes, Terry Zwigoff, Art Spiegelman, Kim Deitch, Robert Williams and others.

• Jeffrey Brown, Allison Cole and James Kochalka are reviewed in Andrew Arnold's latest column at Time.comix.

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• Spartacus Books, Canada's oldest radical bookstore has been destroyed by arson. Read the press release here. [ thanks to Lyn X of ESPA ]

• Ellen Forney invades the alt-weeklies! I somehow missed this piece (written by David Schmader) in the LA Weekly last week but here's her new one in this week's issue. Also: it's a bit difficult to read but she's got something in this week's Stranger (Seattle) as well.

• The New York Times profiles Roz Chast. [ thanks to EGON ]

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Growing up. Leaving home. Falling in love. Witnessing madness and murder. Becoming a ninja. This could be a story about any of us. But it isn't. It's a story about eggs.

Egg Story, an SLG Publishing graphic novella by comics newcomer J. Marc Schmidt, tells the tale about two egg siblings who are determined to have lives that don't end in a frying pan. The plight of eggs is not a subject most people think about, but Schmidt did, asking himself what it would be like if the mainstays of so many breakfasts were like people.

"They have a pretty short, rough life," Schmidt said. "Being taken away from their mothers, locked up in a carton, then a refrigerator, then as a final insult they get their heads dashed and are cooked up in any of 1001 or more ways! So what if an egg said, 'I'm not doing that'?"

He answered the "what if" with Egg Story, a 64-page graphic novella about two eggs named Five Spots and Feather who liberate themselves from the fridge, only to find that freedom isn't all shopping sprees and channel-surfing. When one of their comrades cracks up, entertaining fantasies of becoming a soufflé and ending it all on the kitchen floor, how can the eggs find meaning in life? For Feather, the answer is simple. He becomes a ninja.

Egg Story is a 64-page graphic novella scheduled for release in July 2004. A preview is available at SLG Publishing's website.

www.slavelabor.com

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STEAL THE SCENE

New Work, Fresh Perspective

Opening Reception:
Saturday May 15 7-10pm
Escapist Bookstore, 2209 South First St., 512.912.1777



This show features dynamic new works by
• Bill Jeffrey
• Leslie Uppinghouse
• Hunter Darby
• Penny Van Horn

Featuring Music by
• Attic Ted
• Bad Baby

And in typical Escapist fashion, refreshments and beautiful people will abound!

www.escapistbookstore.com
Austin Chronicle's Best New Bookstore 2003

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• Like to trade your mini-comics with others? Check this out.

• The 2004 Harvey Awards voting deadline is June 1st. Comics industry members may download ballots here.

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• Reported in this article at Pulse is the Alternative Press Expo's move in 2005 from February to April. Unfortunately, that's also when SPACE, a smaller-but-growing alternative convention in Columbus, always takes place.

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After wowing critics and fans alike with his debut graphic novel, Lost at Sea, Bryan Lee O’Malley is back at the drawing board in preparation for the release of his latest creation, Scott Pilgrim, Volume 1: Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life. Scheduled to arrive in stores this July, Scott Pilgrim follows the title character through Toronto and the subspace freeway in his own head as he practices with his rock band, dates a high school girl, goes to parties, and tries to woo the literal girl of his dreams. Along the way he gets a helping hand from the other dudes in the band, his rockstar sister, and his roommate Wallace, a veritable encyclopedia of obscure facts and videogame special moves. Standing in the middle of his road to bliss are seven people each with a special relationship to his ideal woman and a fantastic power and/or fighting style. While the new series might seem far off from the subdued and touching emotion of his first book, Scott Pilgrim isn’t so much a departure for O’Malley as it is a showcase for another side of this multifaceted creator.

“Bryan has always had the ability to go back and forth between heart-filled drama and off-the-wall comedy,” commented editor James Lucas Jones. “Fans who have followed his online comics over the years will notice the same type of humor and energy in Scott that can be found in some of his earliest work. That said, Scott Pilgrim is not in any way a regression. Bryan’s taken the experience of Lost at Sea and applied it to his craft and the result is a hip and funny tale that doesn’t sacrifice story for the ha ha.”

Scott Pilgrim, Volume 1: Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life arrives in stores July 28, 2004, retails for $11.95, and is suitable for teen readers on up. It has 160 pages of black-and-white story and art with a full color cover.

www.onipress.com

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• Johnny Ryan is profiled at the Eye website.

• Want to know about everything Chris Ware has ever created? Check this out.

• The new print issue of Hellcar, #14, is out with Paul Friedrich, Smell of Steve, Bwana Spoons and more. You can test-drive the whole thing here for free. [Note: 2.9MB pdf]

• The May issue of kids' mag Nickelodeon is on the stands now with comics from Scott Roberts, Jef Czekaj, Hilary Barta, Mark Martin, James Kochalka, more.

• Mary Fleener has reported on the Comics Journal message board that the long-awaited Big Book of Wild Women has been canceled by DC. In addition to Fleener, the book was to contain work by Susie the Floozie, Jeff Parker, Lea Hernandez, Salgood Sam, Leslie Sternbergh, Russ Heath, Mitch O'Connell and many others.

• Jeff Mason of Alternative Comics has announced that he's intending to publish a Walt Holcombe (Poot, King of Persia) collection in 2005, something I'm really glad to hear. I don't know if it's a done deal, though, so let's rally the troops, shall we?

• Time Magazine's Richard Corliss pays tribute to the late, great Harvey Kurtzman. [ thanks to EGON ]

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PERVERSO!
For adults only, deluxe oversized 8-1/4” x 10-5/8", 24pg, $4.95
Alternative Comics, ISBN 1-891867-53-9, DCD: MAY042212. July 2004.

A taut, unsettling exploration of sexual perversion, Rich Tommaso's Perverso! drives you straight into the mind and life of a "bad girl" photographer obsessed with his work. The pornographer, known only as Roy, is desperately seeking a more fulfilling sexual lifestyle than the one he has with his dull, uninterested, lush of a wife. But when his wife up and leaves him one day, he begins to feel more lost than free. Even his fantasies behind the camera begin to revile him – especially when a certain new "model" arrives at his studio. This is the second in a trilogy Tommaso has planned about "camera shy" men trying to create a more desirable world within their art form. So, keep watching, if you so desire!

Alternative Comics

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"Autumn came turgid and sullen,
The wind in her wake a lament,
Nobody knew where she came from,
And nobody knew where she went."

Fate and dark magic come to an isolated village in the form of a mysterious and powerful girl named Autumn and a shape-shifting squirrel named Widdershinn in Autumn, a new SLG Publishing comic book series full of moody textures and mystical atmosphere. Autumn and Widdershinn befriend Splinter, a recluse who lives in a house set high in a tree. Meanwhile, a monstrous being watches from the demon-choked boughs of the Black Wood.... With his new series Autumn, Tommy Kovac, creator of Stitch and Skelebunnies, weaves a tale of betrayal and redemption, and the search to discover secrets buried deep inside.

An exile who carries powerful magic in her right hand, Autumn arrives at the Nameless Village, where frightened people wear masks to hide their human faces and call each other by public names to hide their true selves. But Autumn is not one for hiding. She is determined to keep her true face and name, and to discover the reason she has come to this strange place. In the eight issues of Autumn, love will blossom, blood will flow and secrets will be revealed.

From the delicate, detailed artwork reminiscent of Gothic-revival architecture to the character Autumn herself, to the very inspiration for the story, Autumn reveals Kovac's fascination with the beauty and romance of decadence. "Autumn is a bottle rocket of angst-fueled wild magic, leaving nothing unchanged behind her," Kovac said of his creation. "She is partially inspired by unintentionally destructive yet exciting friends in my past. The mood and tone of Autumn is informed by the sights and smells of the season itself – the promise in the air of decay and impending storms."

Even in creating Autumn Kovac is giving a nod to the decadent. "Autumn is so self-indulgent for me," he said. "I built in all the quirks I love most – squirrels, a prickly nonconformist girl, angst, tragedy, guys with cool hair, acorns and leaves."

Issue one of Autumn is scheduled for release in July 2004 and will be published thrice-yearly. A preview of is available at the SLG Publishing website, www.slavelabor.com.

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• Did you catch Seth on CBC Radio's "The Roundup" last week? If not, it's archived here. [ thanks to Jeff Mason ]

• Rich Tommaso shows up in this week's Creative Loafing (Atlanta). [ thanks to Shannon Smith ]

• Raina Telgemeier (Take-Out) has a new comic, "Smile", starting today at Girlamatic.

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From Indigo Kelleigh:

Announcing the inaugural presentation of the Stumptown Comics Fest! Centered in downtown Portland, OR, this new comics festival hopes to put the focus on the creators, rather than the dealers and collectors. The show will take place on Sunday, June 6th from 1pm till 6pm, with an afterparty sponsored by Backspace. Our special guests for this first year are Jason Lutes of Berlin and Jar of Fools fame, Shannon Wheeler, creator of cult sensation Too Much Coffee Man, and Christopher Baldwin, the cartoonist behind the long-running online strip "Bruno". There will also be a Cartoonist Battle featuring 'Ezra Claytan Daniels and challengers', and a raffle at the end of the day to benefit the Old Church, host of the festival.

I'd like to invite anyone in the Portland area to join us for our first Festival this year, and for anyone interested in exhibiting at the show, information can be found at our website at http://www.pdxcomix.com. We still have plenty of spaces available, with half-tables going for just $10!

Again, the fest is on June 6th from 1-6 pm at the Old Church in downtown Portland at SW 11th & Clay. Admission is $5 at the door, and raffle tickets are $1 each.

See you there!

[ thanks to Jeff Mason ]

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• Jeff Mason's Alternative Comics message board has moved.

• From Aaron Augenblick: "In support of Shorties [running on Comedy Central], the Augenblick Studios website has been refurbished and restocked."

• Marjane Satrapi (Persepolis) is interviewed at Newsarama.

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"Beware the creatures of the night – They have lawyers!" That tagline heralded the first issue of Batton Lash's Wolff & Byrd, Counselors of the Macabre when it hit comics shops in May 1994. Since then, Lash and his wife, Jackie Estrada, have published 40 regular issues in the series (whose title changed to Supernatural Law at issue 23), 4 issues of the spinoff series Mavis, and 7 trade paperback collections.

As one of the few self-publishers in comics to hit the decade mark, Lash is commemorating the occasion by revealing how Alanna Wolff and Jeff Byrd, the main characters of Supernatural Law, first met. In July Lash's company, Exhibit A Press, will publish Supernatural Law 101, a one-shot special in which young law students Alanna and Jeff work on their first project together and get their first glimpse at the intersection between the judicial system and the supernatural.

"Readers have been asking me for years when I'm going to tell the 'origin story' of Wolff and Byrd," says Lash. "Well, this is it."

Lash is also celebrating the 25th anniversary of having first developed the concept of a law firm representing monsters and the supernatural: The weekly "Wolff & Byrd, Counselors of the Macabre" newspaper strip first appeared in The Brooklyn Paper in September 1979. In addition to that paper, the strip appeared in The National Law Journal for 17 years.

To honor both anniversaries, Comic-Con International: San Diego has made Lash a special guest for its big show in July and has made the 10th anniversary of Supernatural Law one of its souvenir book themes. The 32-page Supernatural Law 101 (priced at $3.50) is expected to hit comics shop shelves the week of that event.

More information can be found at www.exhibitapress.com.

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