EMERALD CITY

I know i neglect this space (i'm a tumblr man now, sadly) but i have an announcement - I'll be tabling with Brandon Graham this year at Emerald City Comicon in Seattle! We'll be sitting at table Y-12, with this shiny new print (colored of course)!

Come on down!

How Dinosaurs Can fix your Religion

Today, we have a guest post from my amigo and editor Daniel Bensen! His wise words, below the image...

There comes a time in every spec-fic writer's life when they must take a good long at themselves and think: "is this novel I've written nothing but a vehicle for my made-up culture?"

You bet it is! I was working on a lost time-colony of bronze-age humans in the Late Cretaceous period for ages before I finally figured out how to work them into a novel about intercultural romance and the difference between power and strength (buy it here!) I had the whole shebang: languages, population genetics, rituals, and of course religion. Ahem.

The people on the timeline called "Maastrichtia" are most likely the descendants of an apocalyptic cult that stole a time machine and went back to the time of the Chixulub Impact about 65 million years ago. It's that "about" that turned out to be the problem. Their time machine was only accurate to a margin of error of .01 million years, and it dumped them out more than five thousand years before the impact.

In the subsequent millennia, most vestiges of the cultists original religion have vanished. The Maastrichtians have adopted a number of belief systems, most only vaguely Abrahamic.

The Ethlek tribes who herd triceratops around the alluvial plains at the site of the first colony believe their land itself is God. To the west are the forested hills of God's Brows and to the east the sea, his eye. He sends his angels up to live on his face as humans, animals, plants, and some natural features. This monotheism evolving into animism by way of reincarnation and ancestor-worship is common on Maastrichtia.

The Memorialist church of the polar sea civilizations has a conservative approach. They believe God left the universe in the charge of angels, many of which forgot their duties and became demons. Demons control the destructive storm or the hungry mosasaur, but angels live in reliquaries and may be made to do work. Some reliquaries are called radios, others steam engines or arc lights. These miracles are kept, maintained, and very rarely reproduced by the priesthood, their secrets hidden lest they become corrupted and turn into demons. In the Thalassocracy on the north coast of North America, Memorialist dogma exists side-by-side with an animist tradition where totem animals and nature spirits patronize social organizations like warrior societies (ankylosaur, mosasaur, etc) priestly orders (troodon etc) and political parties (magnolia etc).

When confronted by time travelers from the 21st century, the Memorialists look at high-tech soldiers and think, "powerful entities we must enslave lest they become demons." The Ethlek think, "Aha. An opportunity!"

Blurb:

Groom of the Tyrannosaur Queen (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B018UD6DH2/ ) is a time-travel romance with dinosaurs, available now as a kindle book.

Back-of-the book information:

Former soldier Andrea Herrera isn’t happy with where her life’s taken her. Specifically, to Hell Creek, Montana, 65 million years before the present. As far as careers go, making sure the dinosaurs don’t eat her paleontologist clients comes in a pretty dismal second choice to serving her country. But when their time machine malfunctions, Andrea and her team are trapped in a timeline that shouldn’t exist with something a hell of a lot more dangerous than terrible lizards: other humans.

Links:

Dan's website (http://www.thekingdomsofevil.com/?page_id=1884 )

Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B018UD6DH2/ )

Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28007296-groom-of-the-tyrannosaur-queen )

TV Tropes (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/GroomOfTheTyrannosaurQueen )

Tumblr (http://www.tyrannosaurqueen.tumblr.com/ )

Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/The-Kingdoms-of-Evil-218960014786258/  )

Twitter (https://twitter.com/Evil0Dan )

Deviant Art (http://bensen-daniel.deviantart.com/ )

NEXT WEEK: PROPHET EARTHWAR!

Next week, the first issue of Prophet: Earthwar comes out, after much strenuous labour! 

\

CHECK IT OUT!

PETROLEA

Recently I've been doing some drawings for my homey Daniel Bensen's latest story, 'PETROLEA!'

"Victor Toledo went to Titan for its oil reserves. Doctor Feroza Merchant has made it her mission to stop him. The wild robots of the petroleum jungle want to strip the flesh from their bones.

Cut off from help, the programmer and the biologist must cooperate not only to survive, but to understand the hostile wilderness. Where did these self-replicating robots come from? Who created their ancestors, and why? This oil ecosystem, this Petrolea, could open space to humanity, or it could destroy our civilization.

PETROLEA is a novel about conservation and love in a nest of robot dragons."

You can read more about (and of) the story here!

Below, some of my rough ideas of what the 'dragons' - airborne apex predators of the mechanical ecosystem on Titan - could look like.

This story - and more art for it - is looking for a home, too!

Special Edition NYC

On june 6th and 7th, Brandon Graham and I will be sitting beside each other at Special Edition NYC - come down and say hi!

ISLAND MAGAZINE!

This summer, Island Magazine comes out - and I'll have a big epic old story in it! 
Here's the first scene from the first chapter of "Habitat":

A Shining Emerald Weekend

I’ll be in Seattle this weekend at table DD-12 with Brandon Graham, surrounded by a big heap of our favourite collaborators (like Farel Dalrymple, Sandra Lanz, and more)! See you there!

This coming saturday...

I'll be in Victoria at Legends comics to do a "Tiger Lung" signing - come on down!

Every day I'm tumblin'

This blogspot will probably keep being updated with the same sloppy regularity, but if you want more constant sketch updates, etc, I'm moving some of my operations over to a Tumblr blog! Check it out here!

The Solicitation of Tiger Lung

This past weekend, I had the slightly terrifying realization that me and Jason’s book “Tiger Lung”, which I was recently put the finishing touches on, was ALREADY BEING SOLICITED! It was right there, on page 54 of previews, (order code AUG140080!)

Here’s the solicit summary:

"Thirty-five thousand years ago, the world was ruled by strange beasts and ancient gods! For some Paleolithic tribes, hope lay in the shaman warriors who stood between them and the unknown. Tiger Lung follows the struggle of one of these shamans to keep his people alive in a vast, hostile universe! Collects the Tiger Lung adventure from Dark Horse Presents #21-#23, along with two bonus stories."

Pictured below: Two pages from “The Hyena’s Daughter”, one of the stories contained within

Augustus Travels

THE INKSTUDS PARTY BUS ADVENTURE CONTINUES! Pictured here - two of the images I did to pay my way.

Next weekend, Brandon Graham, Robin McConnell, Farel Dalrymple, Joseph Bergin the THIRD and ME will be at Floating world comics in Portland - FOR THE FINAL ISSUE OF PROPHET SIGNING!!!!! Come on down August first! 

Next up, me and old Brandy will be in Whitehorse for YUKOMICON August 8-10 (along with Ken Steacy!). If you're a man (or woman or whatever) of the far north, we will be amongst you! Info here

After that, I'll be at the Vancouver Comic Show at the Croatian Cultural Center on August 17th, with my stalwart amigo Ed Brisson, Ken Steacy, Joan Thornborrow Steacy, and more! Info here

And lastly, me and Ed Brisson will be in Saskatoon Sept. 20-21st! Info here

It's a cruel, cruel summer

With a road trip and a convention (the always amazing VanCAF) under my belt since the last time I updated this sad, dusty blog, new events! New announcements!

First off - Robin McConnell is posting road trip travelogues, documenting our wild and crazy adventures on the road (image above - me getting picked up at the dawn of the first day with a positively glowing brandon graham). CHECK IT OUT HERE

Secondly - On Saturday June 7th, I'll be in Olympia for the Olympia Comics Festival, where myself, Jesse Reklaw, and Charles Burns (!!!) will be special guests, complete with a roudtable discussion and everything. More info here!

Thirdly - June 21st, Ed Brisson and I will be in Baltimore, doing a signing at Third Eye Comics!

Fourthly - The month ends for me at the Metchosin Summer School for the Arts,  where I'll be spending the 28th-29th teaching a comics course. If you're interested in bringing some stuff to workshop and explore, it's a cheap weekend and I think, from the cool people I've already talked to who will be taking it, it'll be a constructive time. Sign up before it's too late!!!!

Ramblin' Mans Club

AKA THE INKSTUDS 500 TOUR ROADTRIP MANSTRAVAGANZA! Tomorrow morning, bright and early, I will hop in a car with Brandon GRaham, Robin McConnell, and Shannon Lentz, and we will ride SOUTH! GIRD YOUR LOINS, AMERICA!

In addition to roaming around accosting comics professionals, we'll be at Mission: Comics and Art in San Francisco, at 7pm this saturday!
"Mission: Comics welcomes artists Brandon Graham and Simon Roy, partners in the relaunch of PROPHET! All part of the Inkstuds 500 Tour with Robin McConnell. As seen on kickstarter! http://kck.st/1lfyUkt"
https://www.facebook.com/events/601718026583397/


Plus so much more!

A down-home weekend

After the amazing, wonderful commotion of Emerald City (a huge thanks to everyone there - from the other creators to everyone who came by and got a book or commission! YOU ARE ALL WONDERFUL!) i'm on the road again this weekend, heading back home to Victoria for two events!

First! I'll be doing a signing for the new book "Jan's Atomic Heart and Other Stories" at the AMAZING Legends comics from 2-5pm on Saturday, April 5th (in downtown Victoria).

SECONDLY! I'll be spending all day Sunday at “4C”, the second annual Camosun College Comics Conference, hosted by the Comics & Graphic Novels program at Camosun College. The one-day conference will be held from noon until 5pm on Sunday, April 6, 2014, located on the third floor of the Young building at Lansdowne campus. Admission is free. (above poster drawn by the indomitable Ken Steacy)

So come on down, Victoria!

Emerald City

First, my book "Jan's Atomic Heart and Other Stories" came out yesterday!

Secondly, I'll be attending Emerald City Comicon in Seattle this weekend, sitting amongst a cluster of the finest artists of the comics medium, yet trapped betwixt the incorrigible Brandon Graham and the salubrious Joseph Bergin III (at table X-05). The above picture (drawn as a commission, much to the delight of my thirteen-year-old self - colored by Dean Stuart) will be available as a con-exclusive print!
While I'm there, I'll also be on this panel:

--

Image Comics Presents Building A Better Dystopia

No matter how good we have it, a future where we have nothing has its own thrill. These creators know their way around a dystopia, whether it's due to mad science, economic factors, or nightmarish alternate dimensions.

Program date and time: Sunday, March 30, 3:00pm in Room TCC 301

I think it'll be a pretty swell time all around.

EDIT: ALSO - the first issue of Ed and I's series, "The field", will be available with an exclusive convention cover! AHHHH!
IT LOOKS LIKE THIS!

The Mailman's Gift

At long last, "Jan's Atomic Heart and Other Stories" lives and breathes!

Plus another little interview for the book over at Bloody Disgusting!

Simon Roy Talks Tone, Inspiration, and Point of View in "Jan's Atomic Heart & Other Stories"

I'll be doing a Comics Workshop this summer

I'll be teaching a weekend of comics this summer at the Metchosin International Summer School of the Arts, an art school that runs every summer at Pearson College in Victoria. It'll be two hundred bucks for two days of deep comics knowledge.... read here for more info! 

The FOC Approacheth

"Jan's Atomic Heart and Other Stories" is set for a March 26th release, which means the final order cutoff for ordering Jan's is this monday - March 3rd! Get to your local comic book store with the order code JAN140546 and demand it!

The Everyday Alien

A really nice little write-up from my publisher, Image Comics!

(and an unrelated image from my flickr, below)

"What about the Tiger-men, hippies?"

(pictured above - a quick kzin drawing)

The second half of a conversation between Daniel Bensen and myself wherein we talk about more sci-fi stuff, including that annoying trope of "the exceptional human" and the awesomeness of the MAN-KZIN WARS!  LISTEN HERE!