AND

R.I.P Beefheart.

lordy, lordy.

SEATTLE, home, etc.

so, after brooklyn there was seattle; i missed the huge blizzard leaving my poor wife to shovel the 6 1/2 feet of snow while i....partied. ok, i don't really party, but i got close i suppose.
the Fantagraphics bookstore 4th Anniversary was pretty fun; a lot of people, great art show (i'm thinking that might have been my final "live performance"...ever. ok not ever, but i got some stuff to figure out...). followed by a crazy-ass party at the Woodring residence (you all know he built a 6-foot dip pen, right? well he did, and i saw Chris Cilla waving it around). i gotta say some thanks here to Larry Reid for picking my tired ass up, and putting the whole thing together; everyone who came down and said Hi; Jason T. Miles for carting me around and general Jason T. Milesishness, Kim and Gary and Mike and Janice and Jacob and Jacq and the whole Fanta crew; cartooning couple Max Clotfelter and Kelly Froh for some pretty incredible hospitality and warmth (and an air mattress). Chris Cilla and Mindy for coming up from PDX. Eric Rhea and Clementine for nice hanging around, and American Treasure Pete Bagge for the lift to the airport. and everyone i forgot.
home now.
it's nice. have no idea how i ever travelled so much, i LOSE EVERYTHING.


ALSO: sorry for the delay on...nearly everything, but i'm knocking them down--got really backed up on filling orders, but they're packed up and going out; my apologies to everyone i kept waiting.
the KIM DEITCH FILES is (obviously) finished, site update with paypal buttons going up hopefully sometime monday. for all of you who wrote reserving a DELUXE edition; your order HAS BEEN noted and those folio #'s will go out in the order in which i received them (pending payment, of course).


best, z.

BCGF, interviews, appearances.

i don't have photos, but other people do: the Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival this past weekend was completely amazing on any number of levels; the work available (i got so much good stuff...), the artists in attendance (yeah, you heard right Matt Groening was there too, but only to SHOP.), the programming (very little of which i was able to check out, manning my table and all...), but mostly just the sheer NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO CAME TO CHECK THE THING OUT. the place was PACKED, almost all day.
which would be great in any case, but La Mano did as well as i've ever done at a convention; this makes me very happy.
and, Kim Deitch came and sat at the table for a while, signed some books and such. it's always great to see him, and he seemed to like the folio. he's just a great guy, that Kim Deitch.
so, some lucky folks got their first crack at the folio, and the rest of you will as well, REAL SOON. i'm working on the site update/ paypal buttons etc.
but, overall-- BCGF was a hell of a show. Desert Island and Picturebox did a great job putting it together.

also-- an interview with me went up at the Fantagraphics site, which is worth reading i guess but even moreso because it features the best/ most terrifying photograph i've ever had taken of me (scroll to the bottom).

and it's all a ramp-up for the big Fantagraphics Bookstore's 4th anniversary bash this saturday, where i'll be making a lot of noise to cover up the fact that my throat is completely blown from yelling for 9 hours in Brooklyn.

that's all.
oh wait: i joined facebook. i haven't figured out how to use it yet, though.

DEITCH: incredibly close (also preorders).

see, told you there was a "plan b" for the Deluxe edition.



GOCCO.



there's isaac helping. he's good that way (and about every other way, too.)


as of this writing, ONE item left to print (on the offset; the "list of works" insert).

if nothing goes horribly awry, i'll nail those after work/ kids go to bed, then finish assembly and get on the plane tomorrow to BKYLN. it's real down to the wire shit, but...very, VERY close.

close enough that i'm ready to start taking requests for the DELUXE version; i've already received 2 hold requests and considering that this is a limited edition, it only seems fair that i open it up.
so, #'s 001 and 002 are spoken for; i WILL get these up for sale with paypal buttons very soon...but in the meantime,
if you'd like to reserve a copy of the DELUXE EDITION email me at orders@lamano21.com.
your name will go on a list in the order it is received; if you bail, that # will go to the next person in line (orders that come in this weekend will be processed when i get back from the Brooklyn Comics and Graphics festival.)

-z.