9-11: Emergency Relief benefit book signing tour announced
Over 50 cartoonists take part in US and Europe tour with 18 event stops starting in New York City
Gainesville, Florida, January 5, 2002: Alternative Comics announced that with the January 9 release of their 9-11: Emergency Relief benefit comic book anthology (ISBN 1-891867-12-1), over 50 contributing cartoonists begin a signing tour across the United States and Europe with 18 confirmed scheduled stops starting in New York City on January 17. Each tour stop will be an event at which participating cartoonists will be signing and discussing the 9-11: Emergency Relief book and their other works.
Wednesday January 22 - February
7
Heroes Among Us - Comic Book Art Exhibit
New York City Fire
Museum (http://www.nycfiremuseum.org)
278
Spring Street
New York, NY 10013.
Telephone: 212-691-1303
Press
contact: Sean Lough, The New York City Comic Book Museum, phone: 917-710-2779;
nyccbm_press@hotmail.com.
The New York City Comic Book Museum
(http://www.nyccomicbookmuseum.org/) is
exhibiting artwork from Marvel's Heroes, Alternative Comics'
9-11: Emergency Relief, and other benefit
comic books at the New York City Fire Museum starting on Tuesday, January
22. The exhibit is open for three weeks and may be viewed during 10am to
5pm Tuesdays through Saturdays and 10am to 4pm Sundays. A $4 donation to
visit the Museum is suggested.
January 24 - 27
Angouleme Comic Book Festival
Angouleme,
France
E-Mail: info@bdangouleme.com
Web: http://www.bdangouleme.com/
With:
Mark Wheatley, Tom Hart, Jeff Smith, Metaphrog, and others.
Saturday January 26, Noon - 4pm
Richmond Comix
8523 Midlothian Turnpike
Richmond, Virginia
23235.
Telephone: 804-330-3460.
E-Mail: richmix@home.com (Frank
Miller)
Web: http://www.richmondcomix.com/
No admission cost.
With:
Chris Pitzer, Robert Ullman, Jennifer Sorensen, Eric Wolfe Hanson, Danny
Donovan, Renee French, and others.
Saturday January 26, 3pm - 5pm
Meltdown Comics
7522 Sunset Blvd.
Los
Angeles, California 90046.
Telephone: 323-851-7223 or
823-851-0393.
E-Mail: Patty@meltcomics.com (Patty
DeFrank)
Web: http://www.meltcomics.com/
No
admission cost.
With: Tony
Millionaire, Scott Morse, Fly, Graham Annable, Laurenn McCubbin, Andy
Ristaino and others.
Thursday January 31, 7pm -
9pm
Atomic Books
1100 West 36th Street
Baltimore, Maryland
21211.
Telephone: 410-662-4444.
E-Mail: rachel@atomicbooks.com (Rachel
Whang)
Web: http://www.atomicbooks.com/
No admission cost.
With:
Frank Cho, Brian Clopper, Neil Kleid, A. David Lewis, K. Thor Jensen, James
Kuhoric, Danny Donovan, Greg LaRoque, and others.
Saturday February 2, 6pm -
9pm
Comic
Relief
2138 University Avenue
Berkeley, California 94704.
Telephone: 510-843-5002.
E-Mail: info@comicrelief.net (Rory
Root)
Web: http://www.comicrelief.net/
No
admission cost.
With: Jon "Bean" Hastings, Fly, Daniel Cooney, Laurenn
McCubbin, Andy Ristaino, Tom Beland, Sam Hester, Graham Annable, Keith Knight,
and others.
Saturday, February 2
21st Century
Comics
124 West Commonwealth Ave.
Fullerton, California
92832-1809.
Telephone: 714-992-6649.
No admission cost.
E-Mail:
21stccomics@prodigy.net (Barry
Short)
With: Tony Millionaire
Saturday - Sunday, February
9-10
Alternative Press Expo (APE)
Herbst Pavilion at the Fort
Mason Center (http://www.fortmason.org/)
3799
Buchanan Street
San Francisco, California
E-Mail: cciweb@nucgen.com
Web: http://www.comic-con.org/
With: Jeff Smith, Scott Morse, Layla Lawlor, Laurenn McCubbin, Jon "Bean"
Hastings, David Lasky, Fly, Tom Beland, Daniel Cooney, Andy Ristaino, Ellen
Lindner, Sam Hester, Renee French, Tom Hart, Graham Annable, James
Kochalka, Keith Knight, Jeff Mason and others. Alternative
Comics is going to have a panel on Saturday from 1pm to 2pm at APE, and a
Friday evening event in conjunction with APE pre-registration.
More details to be released.
Tuesday, February 12, 4pm - 7pm
Dr.
Volts
2023 East 3300 South
Salt Lake City, Utah
84109
Telephone: 801-485-6114
E-Mail: drvoltz@earthlink.net (Jon
Bray)
Web: http://www.drvolts.com
No
admission cost.
With: Alex
Robinson
Wednesday, February 13 -
Evening
Moving Pictures - Literary Event
New York City Fire
Museum (http://www.nycfiremuseum.org)
278
Spring Street
New York, NY 10013.
Telephone: 212-691-1303
E-Mail:
slashr3@aol.com (Neil
Kleid)
Alternative Comics will join Marvel Comics for "Moving Pictures"
an event to showcase the collective benefit projects to the public -- Many
dozens of cartoonists will attend with selected readings, discussions, and
slide shows from the benefit books. More details to be
released.
Friday - Sunday, February
22-24
MegaCon
Orange County Convention Center (http://www.orlandoconvention.com/)
9800 International Drive
Orlando, Florida
Phone:
813-891-1702.
E-Mail: info@megaconvention.com
Web: http://www.megaconvention.com/
With: David Lasky, Chris Pitzer, Ande Parks, James Kochalka, Phil
Hester, Jennifer Sorensen, Danny Donovan, Mike Avon Oeming, Mark Wheatley, Alex
Robinson, Jason Narvaez, Phil Noto, Jim Harrison, Robert Ullman, Jeff Mason
and others. There will be a 9-11: Emergency Relief
panel at the Orlando MegaCon; and Alternative Comics will sponsor a
reception/signing party along with Highwater Books, Top Shelf Productions,
Fantagraphics Books, and Oni Press on Saturday February 23. More details
to be released.
Biographies of cartoonists confirmed on Signing Tour:
Jessica Abel
Cartoonist and
Illustrator Jessica Abel (Chicago, 1969) is best known for her comic-book series
of short fiction, Artbabe, and her journalistic comics, such as Radio: An
illustrated Guide. Her most recent book, a serialized thriller set in Mexico
City, is titled La Perdida, and is published by Fantagraphics. She lives
in Brooklyn, New York with her husband, Matt Madden. www.artbabe.com.
Graham Annable
Graham
Annable was classically trained as an animator at Sheridan College in Toronto,
graduating in 1992, and has worked as an animator ever since, including work on
British children’s TV, story boards for Chuck Jones Enterprises, Disney’s A
Goofy Movie, and since 1994 an extended string of computer game projects for
LucasArts such as Full Throttle, The Dig, Afterlife,
Outlaws, and The Curse of Monkey Island. Annable was the Lead
Animator for the LucasArts video game Star Wars: Obi-Wan. His projects
have won numerous animation and graphics awards including the ASIFA Annie Award,
animation’s highest honor, in 1998 for "Outstanding Achievement in an Animated
Interactive Program." Graham currently resides in the Bay Area, California where
he creates his Grickle series of books for Alternative Comics.
www.indyworld.com/grickle; grickle@hotmail.com
Donna Barr
Donna Barr has
been a respected presence in Drawn Books since 1986. Her award-winning,
ground-breaking, mind-twisting books, including Desert Peach and
Stinz. www.stinz.com; barr@stinz.com
Tom Beland
Tom Beland is a
cartoonist from Napa Valley, California now living in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico with
his wife, Lily Garcia. His strip, True Story, Swear to God is available
on-line at www.yunque.net/tom; tom@yunque.net
Gregory
Benton
Artist/Writer Gregory Benton was born and lives in New York
City. www.gregorybenton.com; gbenton@nyc.rr.com.
Nick Bertozzi
Nick Bertozzi
lives in Brooklyn, NY with his wife and daughter. He is the author of
Boswash (Luxurious Comics), a map-comic, and The Masochists
(Alternative Comics), and he is working on a new series for Alternative
Comics. www.indyworld.com/bertozzi;
nick@luxcomics.com.
Frank Cho
Frank Cho’s comic
books sell out, issue after issue with early issues now in later printings. His
college comic strip collection, University2, The Angry Years
is soon to enter its 8th printing. He has won the Charles Schulz
Plaque for Excellence in Cartooning, the Scripps-Howard Award for Best College
Cartoonist and the Ignatz Awards for Outstanding Artist and Outstanding Comic
for Liberty Meadows. He was born Duk Hyun Cho in 1971 in Seoul, South
Korea. At the age of six he and his parents came to live in the United States.
In college he created University2. Upon graduation from the University of Maryland in
1996 with a degree in Nursing, he signed with Creators Syndicate, Inc. for a
continuation of University2 as Liberty Meadows. He was married in April of 1999 and lives in
the Baltimore area with his wife Cari and his wiener dog, Truman. www.InsightStudiosGroup.com; Insight
Studios, 7844 Saint Thomas Drive, Baltimore MD 21236.
Brian Clopper
Brian
Clopper, 5th grade teacher, children’s book author and cartoonist, is the
creator of The Heebie-Jeebies, Monster Pals, Norton The
Vampire, Graham The Gargoyle, and Cartoonists in the
Classroom. www.brianclopper.com;
wingnutibh@aol.com.
Daniel Cooney
Daniel
Cooney, 31, is a graphic designer by day and aspiring comic book illustrator by
night. There’s no sleep for this aging hipster who is the artist/writer of
Valentine: Assassin For Hire, published by Red Eye Press. dan@csdsinc.com; www.valentine4hire.com
Danny Donovan
Born in
Portsmouth Virginia, Danny Donovan traveled extensively, just seeing what he
could see. He spent three years living in North Yorkshire, England and recently
coming back to the states in 1998 where he presently lives in the mountains of
North Carolina with plans to head back to his place of birth soon. He began his
career in 1998 with his web comic Hardcore and working for other small
press companies along the way. Currently he works for Committed Comics and
Marvel Comics. www.dannydonovan.com;
impulse545@aol.com.
Fly
Fly has been living and
squatting in the lower East side of Manhattan since 1990. Mostly she paints and
draws comix and illustrations. Her work has appeared in the New York
Press, Village Voice, San Francisco Bay Guardian, The
Comics Journal, The Bradleys (Fantagraphics Books), Raygun,
World War 3 Illustrated, Maximumrocknroll, and numerous others.
Fly’s first book - CHRON!IC!RIOTS!PA!SM! was published by Brooklyn-based
Autonomedia in 1999. She is currently working on a collection of portraits and
stories called Peops which will be published by Soft Skull in the fall of
2002. www.bway.net/~fly; fly@bway.net; PO Box 1318, Cooper Station, New York, NY 10276.
Evan Forsch
Evan Forsch is
a tall, quiet and mysterious man, except that he’s not all that tall nor
mysterious. Five days a week Evan is a corporate drone, sitting in front of a
computer and pretending to work while daydreaming of peace on earth in a world
where everyone reads his comics. Evan Forsch's story for 9-11:
Emergency Relief details his escape from the 89th floor of WTC 1
after the first plane hit on September 11. evan4sh@yahoo.com
Renée French
Renée French
has been writing and illustrating comic books since 1991. She’s the creator of
the Fantagraphics Books series Grit Bath, the Dark Horse graphic novels,
The Ninth Gland and Corny’s Fetish, the Oni Press book, Marbles
in My Underpants: The Renée French Collection, and the recently
released picture book, The Soap Lady, published by Top Shelf
Publications. She lives in New Jersey with her husband and a hermit crab.
www.reneefrench.com; renee@mightycheese.com.
Eric Wolfe Hanson
Eric
Wolfe Hanson has illustrated G.I.Joe and Tellos: Sons & Moons
for Image Comics. Hanson lives in Richmond, Virginia with his lovely wife,
Trish, and their three cats. ericwolfehanson@aol.com.
Jim Harrison
Jim Harrison is a noted graphic designer and illustrator with DECA Design
in Gainesville, Florida. His comics work includes various freelance assignments
as well as 4 issues of his creation Humongous Man, with partner Dan
Stepp. InkPotJim@aol.com.
Tom Hart
Many of Tom Hart’s
comics feature the confrontational pariah, Hutch Owen, squaring off within and
against the forces of multi-nationalism and corporate hegemony. His stories,
often examine issues with an uncommon objectivity and emotional depth. Tom Hart
was born in upstate New York and lived in Seattle, Texas, Morocco, Florida and
Boston before settling in New York City. www.newhatstories.com; tomhart@newhatstories.com
Dean Haspiel
Dean Haspiel is the author of semi-autobiographical comix and
super-psychedelic romances. Haspiel’s aggro-moxie appears regularly in The
Billy Dogma experience (Top Shelf); heart-charming tales about the last
romantic anti-hero, and Opposable Thumbs (Alternative Comics); episodic
tales about a native New Yorker. www.DeanHaspiel.com; dino@cobite.com.
Jon "Bean" Hastings
Jon
"Bean" Hastings is the creator of Smith Brown Jones: Alien Accountant and
Mad Science. His Lovely wife Terry is a former fire fighter and he spent
most of 9/11 thinking what it would be like to lose her. He didn’t like it at
all. This was the hardest story he’s ever had to write. www.beantoons.com; kiwistudios@compuserve.com
Sam Hester
Sam
Hester has been picturing her life as a comic strip for as long as she can
remember, so she was very glad to be able to contribute to this project. Sam is
a Calgary-based artist, and her autobiographical comic strip can be found at
www.thedrawingbook.com; sam@thedrawingbook.com
K. Thor Jensen
K. Thor
Jensen, 25, is a New York resident currently traveling around America gathering
material for his next book, Red Eye, Black Eye. www.shortandhappy.com; kthor@portalofevil.com; PO Box 250593,
New York, NY 10025.
Neil Kleid
A Detroit
native, Neil Kleid moved to Manhattan in 1999, where he created "Stand Up
Comics" – forums designed to elevate awareness of the comics medium. He
co-founded the Third Eye Publishing Anthology and writes Bit City for
Committed Comics, as well as features for the on-line PopImage.com. Kleid is
working on perfecting the art of "rant" comics with Singles Night, his
upcoming autobiographic novel. http://www.neilkleid.addr.com/;
slashr3@aol.com
Keith Knight
Keith Knight
is a cartoonist, rapper, teacher and media activist. His two comic strips,
"(th)ink" and "the k chronicles" can be found in various newspapers, magazines,
and websites around the world. His hip-hop/garage band, The Marginal Prophets,
isn’t very popular at all. keeflix@hotmail.com; PO Box 591794,
San Francisco, CA 94159-1794.
James Kochalka
James
Kochalka has been keeping a daily diary in comic strip form since October of
1998. His contribution to this book consists of his diary entries from September
11 and the days immediately following the tragedy. They vary in tone from being
heartfelt to being snotty and flippant, but they accurately reflect the range of
emotions that he, and many others (one presumes), went through that week.
Kochalka's diary strips are being collected by Top Shelf Productions and
published in a series titled The Sketchbook Diaries. The first volume is
currently available from www.topshelfcomix.com. www.indyworld.com/kochalka; james@indyworld.com.
James Anthony Kuhoric
James
Anthony Kuhoric is a seven-year professional in the comic book industry with a
degree in psychology and sociology from the University of Maryland. He has
written over two-dozen comics including the sci-fi mainstays Battlestar
Galactica and First Wave. Currently he is writing the upcoming series
Roger Corman’s Black Scorpion with artist Greg LaRocque and is developing
a creator owned series with artist Neil Vokes. His most important role in life
is being the father of two very special boys – James "Jay" Anthony and Zachary
Allen Kuhoric. james_kuhoric@hotmail.com.
Peter Kuper
Peter Kuper’s
work has appeared in, among others, TIME, Newsweek, The New
York Times, and Mad, where he illustrates "Spy vs. Spy." In 1979,
Kuper co-founded the political comix magazine World War 3 Illustrated and
is currently co-editing issue #32. His comics have been translated into German,
Italian, Portuguese, Swedish, Spanish and Greek and his artwork has been
exhibited around the world. His most recent book Speechless is a coffee
table art book covering his career to date published by Top Shelf Productions.
www.peterkuper.com; kuperart@aol.com.
Greg LaRocque
Greg LaRocque
is a twenty plus year veteran of comics. His career began in 1980 and has
included stints with both DC Comics and Marvel Comics on titles including
Legion of Superheroes, Marvel Team Up, The Avengers, and
Web of Spider-Man. His kinetic storytelling style was epitomized in the
classic Flash story arc "Return of Barry Allen." Through Exiled Studios
Greg was able to unleash his creator-owned projects Crybaby and The
Exiled. exstudio@aol.com.
David Lasky
Originally from
the Virginia suburbs, David Lasky moved to Seattle in 1992, where he joined the
ranks of a new wave of young "alternative cartoonists." He has since produced a
number of experimental comic books, including a nine page adaptation of Joyce’s
Ulysses. Urban Hipster, his collaboration with Greg Stump, was
nominated for a Harvey Award in 1999. www.indyworld.com/uh; davidlasky@yahoo.com
Metaphrog
Metaphrog are a Franco-Scottish duo comprising Sandra Marrs, art, and
John Chalmers, words and lettering. Their publications include The Maze,
Vermin, Strange Weather Lately and the Louis’ series. The
scary cute Louis – Red Letter Day received multiple Eisner and Ignatz
Award nominations. www.metaphrog.com.
Tony Millionaire
Tony
Millionaire lives in Los Angeles. His comic strip MAAKIES can be seen in
weeklies across the country, with collections published by Fantagraphics Books.
His comic book Sock Monkey is published by Dark Horse Comics and Sock
Monkey – A Children’s Book is available in book stores now. www.maakies.com; millionaire@mindspring.com.
Scott Morse
Scott Morse is the Eisner and Ignatz Award nominated creator of
Soulwind, Visitations, and Volcanic Revolver. His comics
work also includes The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror, Star Wars
Tales, and the comic book companion to the Jim Jarmusch film Ghost
Dog. His current work includes the series Magic Pickle for Oni Press,
and Ancient Joe for Dark Horse. In animation, Morse has worked as an art
director and storyboard artist for Universal and Cartoon Network, most notably
on the Emmy Award nominated Cow and Chicken. www.crazyfish.net; crazymorse@earthlink.net.
Phil Noto
Phil
Noto is the cover artist for DC Comics’ Birds Of Prey and the artist for
the upcoming miniseries Beautiful Killer from Black Bull. He is also
currently an assistant animator at Disney, where his credits include Lion
King, Pocahontas, Hunchback, Tarzan, Mulan and
the upcoming film Lilo and Stitch. www.notoart.com; phil@notoart.com
Ande Parks
Ande
Parks has been employed in the glamorous world of comic book inking for over a
decade, working on such titles as Superman, Wonder Woman and
Catwoman. He has often been teamed with his long-time friend, Phil
Hester. The duo has won acclaim for their bold, graphic style. Parks has also
created his own characters, Uncle Slam and Fire Dog. He is currently
continuing his work on Green Arrow, and writing a gangster graphic novel.
He lives in Kansas with his lovely wife and daughter. www.uncleslam.com; ande@uncleslam.com.
Chris Pitzer
Chris Pitzer’s
first memory of comics was a House of Mystery, which had a monster
breaking out of a box in the attic. Pitzer has worked at Eclipse Comics (as
their Art Director), and Wildstorm and IDW in the capacity of freelance designer
and colorist. Currently, Pitzer likes to publish minis every now and then.
In addition to contributing a story to 9-11: Emergency
Relief, he also did the graphic design. Chris Pitzer lives in
Richmond, Virginia. pitzerboy@aol.com.
Layla Lawlor
A
graphic artist, illustrator, minicomic creator and former Alaskan hippie-child
now living in Illinois, Layla Lawlor self-publishes Raven’s Children, a
graphic novel serialized in chapters. She also write for the comics webzine
Sequential Tart and has been known to refer to herself in the third person.
www.ravenschildren.com; layla@ravenschildren.com; Shadowgrass
Design, PO Box 3283, Champaign, IL 61826-3283.
A. David Lewis
A. David
Lewis hails from Boston, a graduate of Brandeis University. Now at Georgetown
University, Dave has presented conference papers on comic books across the
continent and is working with Committed Comics, The Third Eye Group, and other
collaborators on upcoming projects. He thanks his loved ones for their
support. http://www.serious-about-comics.com/; adl6@georgetown.edu.
Ellen Lindner
Ellen Lindner
is an emerging wit in the New York City comix scene. In her zine/comix
compilation little white bird/MEGACOM, comix Beatnik Love and
The Egg Mysterious, Ellen explores the malaise of relationships,
rubbernecking boys through the dual lens: patriarchy and pleasure. Her brazenly
introspective humor, rock-fashion edge and graphic styling meld subversive
context with romantic content while revealing the mystery of female orgasm.
She’s a sista. littlewhitebird@fantasticteam.com
Jeff Mason
Jeff
Mason is the publisher of Alternative Comics, a company billed as "publishers of
cool comic books." When Jeff is not working on Alternative Comics’ latest
release, he is working diligently to protect everyone’s rights as a criminal
defense lawyer in Gainesville, Florida. www.indyworld.com/comics; jmason@indyworld.com.
Laurenn McCubbin
Laurenn McCubbin has
done a little bit of everything. She’s been a retail slave, an office drone, a
stripper, a teacher, a successful graphic designer and a broke art student. A
California native, she moved to Chicago to attend the School of the Art
Institute on a scholarship, then scurried back to her beloved Bay Area as soon
as she graduated. She and Nikki Coffman began collaborating as students in
Chicago, and on moving to San Francisco they resumed their collaboration in
XXX Live Nude Girls. She continues doing freelance design, lettering
translations of Japanese comics and silk-screening postcards and prints.
www.xxxlivenudegirls.com; laurenn@xxxlivenudegirls.com
Jason Narvaez
Raised in the
Bronx, Jason Narvaez would lose himself in his comic collection for hours, if
not days, at a time. He attended the High School of Art & Design and mostly
credits any lessons learned to other students. In the early to mid-1990s, he
visited the offices of DC Comics and received invaluable advice on how he could
improve his artwork. Narvaez currently manages the graphics department for a top
consulting company and has continued to pursue his life-long passion of drawing
comics. http://home.earthlink.net/~bidexx; jncomix@arghstudios.com.
Josh Neufeld
Josh Neufeld
has been drawing comics since he was four years old. With writer R. Walker, Josh
has recently published Titans of Finance (Alternative Comics), a satire
comic of the financial world featuring true tales of money & business. Josh
also co-created Keyhole, where he does stories about his travel
experiences in Southeast Asia and Central Europe. He has contributed artwork to
Harvey Pekar’s American Splendor, the SPX anthologies, and many other
comics. Josh resides in Brooklyn and makes a living mixing freelance
illustration with web design. www.josh.neufeld.com; joshn@mindspring.com.
Mike Avon Oeming
Mike Avon
Oeming began his career inking for Innovation Comics at the age of 14. He has
inked Daredevil, Avengers and various titles for Marvel Comics,
pencils/inks on Judge Dredd and the Big Books at DC Comics. After
stumbling into Foot Soldiers at Dark Horse, Mike and writer/partner Bryan
J.L. Glass, created Ship of Fools as a six issue mini-series originally
published by Caliber Press. He is co creator of Eisner Award winning book
Powers with Brian Bendis and currently creates his Hammer of the
Gods comic book series with Mark Wheatley and Insight Studios. Mike lives in
New Jersey with his wife and son. oeming@aol.com.
Ande Parks
Ande
Parks has been employed in the glamorous world of comic book inking for over a
decade, working on such titles as Superman, Wonder Woman and
Catwoman. He has often been teamed with his long-time friend, Phil
Hester. The duo has won acclaim for their bold, graphic style. Parks has also
created his own characters, Uncle Slam and Fire Dog. He is currently
continuing his work on Green Arrow, and writing a gangster graphic novel.
He lives in Kansas with his lovely wife and daughter. www.uncleslam.com; ande@uncleslam.com.
Ted Rall
Ted Rall, 38, is
an editorial and social-commentary cartoonist for Universal Press Syndicate. A
Pulitzer Prize finalist and two-time RFK Journalism Award winner, Rall is the
author of seven books, including the graphic novels My War With Brian and
2024, as well as the Gen X manifesto Revenge of the Latchkey Kids.
www.rall.com.
Andy Ristaino
Andy Ristaino
is a freelance animator/illustrator from Massachusetts. Ristaino is currently
working on the two titles Life of a Fetus and The Babysitter for
Slave Labor Graphics. rashanko@yahoo.com
Alex Robinson
Alex
Robinson’s graphic novel Box Office Poison was released by Top Shelf
Productions in 2001, and he is hard at work at his second book, tentatively
titled Sophomore Slump. He is a little over six feet tall and he lives
with his girlfriend Kristen in New York City. http://members.aol.com/ComicBookAlex;
ComicBookAlex@aol.com.
Jeff Smith
Born
and raised in the American mid-west, Jeff Smith learned about cartooning from
comic strips, comic books, and watching animation on TV. After four years of
drawing comic strips for Ohio State’s student newspaper, Smith co-founded the
Character Builders animation studio in 1986. In 1991, he launched a company
called Cartoon Books to publish his independent comic book Bone, a
comedy/adventure about three lost cousins from Boneville. Against all odds, the
small company flourished, building a reputation for quality stories and artwork.
Word of mouth, critical acclaim, and a string of major awards, which continues
to this day, helped propel Cartoon Books and Bone to the forefront of the
comic book industry - an industry not known for its openness to non-action
heroes. In the American comic book direct market (the largest system of comic
book retail stores) Bone has risen to the #1 spot for humor. Jeff Smith’s
work is published in thirteen languages and has won the highest awards in
Germany, France, Italy and at home. Jeff Smith currently works and resides in
Columbus, Ohio. www.boneville.com; PO Box 16973,
Columbus, OH 43216
Jen Sorensen
Jen Sorensen
is the creator of Slowpoke, a weekly comic strip that appears in several
alternative newspapers throughout the US, for which she was nominated twice for
the Friends of Lulu Kimberly Yale Award for Best New Talent. Slowpoke,
which serves up political and social commentary with an absurdist twist, grew
out of a popular daily strip she drew while a student at the University of
Virginia. Jen was recently awarded a Xeric Grant to publish Slowpoke: Cafe
Pompous. Jen Sorensen’s work has also appeared in several other
publications, including The Big Book of the ‘70s (DC/Paradox Press),
Action Girl Comics, Dignifying Science, Empty Love Stories,
the EXPO anthologies, and will be featured alongside such luminaries as
Matt Groening and Tom Tomorrow in Ted Rall’s upcoming book on alternative
political cartoonists. Jen Sorensen lives in Charlottesville Virginia, where she
also does web design. www.slowpokecomics.com; jls6c@virginia.edu.
Steve Stegelin
Steve Stegelin is best known as the creator of the cult comic book
Boondoggle, currently running in strip form at www.popimage.com/boondoggle and in
various anthologies. He resides in coastal Charleston, South Carolina with his
wife and daughter. stevesteglin@juno.com.
Robert Ullman
Robert Ullman
has been diligently pumping out issues of his mini-comic From the Curve
for six years, and his spot illustrations appear weekly in several alternative
newspapers on the East coast. A resident of North Carolina, his comics work
includes Signifying Nothing, a collection of his best cartoons from 1994
to 1998, Atom-Bomb Bikini, and World’s Apart. The first issue of the
all-new, big time From the Curve is slated to debut in 2002 from Alternative
Comics. www.lurid.com/chappy; fromcurve@yahoo.com
Neil Vokes
Neil Vokes is a
middle aged Hammer film fan with a Dr. Pepper addiction who has drawn comic
books for 17 years. Vokes has a wife who supports him, a daughter who is the
light of his life, and a job that makes him feel young every time he sits at his
drawing table. ndv45@home.com.
Mark Wheatley
Mark Wheatley is known internationally as an accomplished illustrator,
writer, editor, and publisher. He has won the Inkpot, Speakeasy, Gem and Mucker
awards and been nominated for the Harvey and Ignatz awards for his comic book
and pulp creations that include Breathtaker, Radical Dreamer,
MARS and Titanic Tales. His illustration work, chosen for
inclusion in the annual Spectrum selection of the best in fantasy and
science fiction art, has also appeared in magazines, books, comic books and on
games. He has written books, comic books and television shows. Currently he is
writing Michael Avon Oeming’s Hammer of the Gods comic book series and
acting as publisher for Insight Studios Group. www.InsightStudiosGroup.com; Insight
Studios, 7844 Saint Thomas Drive, Baltimore MD 21236.
Shannon Wheeler
Shannon
Wheeler was born a while back and went to various schools. None of the schools
managed to knock enough sense into him to keep him from becoming a cartoonist.
Currently he draws a comic strip called Too Much Coffee Man and contributes his
efforts to a magazine of the same name. www.tmcm.com; wheeler@tmcm.com
The American Red Cross name is used with permission of the American Red Cross and does not constitute an endorsement, express or implied, of this book. 100% of the net proceeds from the sale of this book will be donated to the American Red Cross to support its lifesaving relief efforts in communities everyday. For more information on this promotion, please contact Heidi Seiffert at seifferth@usa.redcross.org.
About The American Red Cross
The
American Red Cross is dedicated to saving lives, easing suffering and restoring
hope at home and around the world. Currently operating on a budget of $3.0
billion, the Red Cross annually mobilizes relief to the victims of more than
67,000 disasters nationwide and has been the primary supplier of lifesaving
blood and blood products in the United States for more than 50 years. In 2000,
the Red Cross also trained almost 12 million people in vital lifesaving skills,
provided direct health services to nearly 2.6 million people and delivered more
than 21 million locally relevant community services. The organization also
assisted international disaster and conflict victims in close to 40 locations
around the globe, and its emergency communication centers processed 1.2 million
calls in support of U.S. military families.
The website for 9-11: Emergency Relief is: http://www.indyworld.com/relief
