To appease those angry sun gods this weekend, in addition to sacrificing an hour on Sunday, I'm giving 10% off on all items in my store this weekend! Enter DAYLIGHTSAVINGS at checkout. :)
Recently my boyfriend and I decided to share our favorite musicals with one another. I'm not exactly sure how this came about, but it's an awesome idea. I haven't seen too many musicals in my life, and fewer still that I've been mad about, but I was willing to try out his pick:
I'm pretty familiar with the general love triangle between the three, but I haven't seen too many good examples (my past run-ins with King Arthur merely include First Knight, King Arthur, and random episodes of Gargoyles). I'm pleased to report this one was fantastic. Funny, beautiful, romantic, and tragic all rolled into one. Unfortunately, I wasn't quite sure why Guinevere would choose Lancelot over Arthur but ... oh well.
One thing I was totally smitten with was the look of the film:
I think Design Sponge definitely needs to do a Living In on this movie ...
... Aaaaand I'm back in Baltimore! After a SUPER early flight (I had to get up at 3:45 a.m. Austin time, which is definitely obscene), I was thrilled to be greeted by a chilly, gray, and slightly snowy Baltimore. Aw, thanks city weather, you must've missed me! All that complaining I did about the Austin heat was worth it. Seriously though - despite my aversion to warm weather, Austin was as beautiful and awesome as always, and we had a great time at and around Staple. We even started considering the possibility of moving there, romantically pondering over what our Austin selves would be like ... until we heard about "Cedar Fever" and "yellow tailed scorpions". Erh. What.
In case you missed my furious tweeting/posting all weekend, here's a recap of some of the fun sketches I got to do at the show:
I also had a fabulous time on the Women in Webcomics panel with Liz Prince and MariNaomi. Can't wait to read both of their books! And I really liked the fact that we were all in sync on being comics creators, not just female comics creators. I'm pretty confident that the industry will continue to sloooowwwwly get more diverse, but until then, hey - I get to be on panels with cool women.
This weekend, the fine city of Austin is hosting Staple! a super awesome indie comics show at the Marchesa Hall & Theater. Get all the info at the show's website here, or on their Facebook-y page here.
I'll be selling my books, prints, as well as some fun hanging Spirit Guides and some Greek God cuffs! For those of you who've seen me at Staple before, these'll be somethin' a little new.
Also, on Saturday at 4:30, I'll be part of a Women in Webcomics panel along with Liz Prince and MariNaomi. I'm still pretty new at panels, so you'll have to forgive me for when my voice starts shaking. Oh, it'll happen. Just ask my senior year of college's Final Projects class.
Hope hope hope to see you all there!
Okay, so I've got a new mini-comic in the works. And by mini, I mean 24ish pages. Because it's handmade and printed out on my very own printer, I feel compelled to still call it a mini-comic. Is there another term for indie/handmade? Is the term "mini comic" still around, or is that just something the old folks say?
I've been mulling around about this new idea for a while now, but I figure if I announce it HERE, then I have to do it by when I say I'll do it. Peer pressuring myself into action! So here goes.
My next self-published comic will be called ..... GO FOR THE EYES!
Along the same vein as Boobage and When I Was A Mall Model, the new book will be a mixture of autobiographical anecdotes and musings on a particular topic. This time around, I'm going to be talking about my experiences with self-defense, violence, and some opinions on how women in action roles are depicted in the media. All squished into 24 pages! I plan on debuting this fine li'l book at Stumptown in the end of April.
I've wanted to talk about this topic for a while, so at first it was really difficult narrowing down what I wanted to say and how to say it. Autobiographical comics tend to be difficult for me, because I always wonder if I should have some sort of message at the end. Like, what's the point of documenting these experiences? Am I going to drag people along through pages of personal memories just to leave them with a "whelp, thanks for hanging out in my mind for a while. Peace!" Or should I have some sort of point I'm trying to argue, and include all my anecdotes as evidence of that point?
I'm still figuring this stuff out, but for me, I think the main drive has always been just to share experiences/thoughts and hope that someone else out there is not only interested in hearing about them, but maybe identifying with them too.
Anyway. I'll start posting preview pages of the new comic soon, so keep on the lookout! If I don't stick to my guns, you guys are gonna have to come harangue me. (are people still haranguing these days?)
True confession: I graduated from college TEN YEARS AGO! *gasp*
I know, I know, it hit me hard recently too. But you know what's super awesome about the college I graduated from? (University of Maryland Baltimore County, home of a pretty killer chess team) They have a fun, super informative magazine with a great design sense that keeps tabs on students young and *ahem* old. And recently, they honored me by asking me to be a part of their Class Notes section!
For my piece, I decided to condense 10 years of my life in comics into a 2-page memoir. Enjoy! (if you click on it, it'll be at least a little bit more readable)
Since my boyfriend is off enjoying sun and food and wine festivals this weekend, and I'm holed up in windy Baltimore with a cold, I decided this would be GET MY SHIT TOGETHER weekend. Y'know, when all the stuff gets done. Easy, right?
I think the first step is to attack the dreaded calendar.
A little while ago, I turned one of the walls in my office into a chalkboard and measured out each day over a calendar year. I love seeing an entire year before me so I can figure out what's coming up, what to prepare for, etc. The only problem I found with this chalkboard calendar plan was that I couldn't really write that much in each space. My chalk is run of the mill grade school chalk, so it's pretty blunt and big and couldn't fit much information in for each day. I tried post-its, but the only one that stayed stuck for longer than 10 minutes was this one:
My dentist appointment reminder sticker. That's not cool.
So I think (sadly) it might be time to take down the ol' Calendar Wall and fill out some good ol' fashioned paper calendar with all my conventions, projects, ideas, and plans of attack for the year. Now I've just got to think of something cool to do with this new chalk wall - if only I was as skilled at GORGEOUS chalkboard art like Mary Laurel Burt!
I was thrilled to get to submit a piece to SCARCE this year - the ubercool French comic anthology! Here's how I squished six chapters of my webcomic Gods & Undergrads into a one page summation . . .
Lately I've been poring through old seasons of Bones episodes on Netflix, catching up on the series I've only caught glimpses of in the past. Even though we always end up watching during dinner (ooky) and it's fairly formulaic, I'm finding a deep love for all the female characters on the show. Of course, I love the guys of the show too - Seeley Booth with his structured shoulders and unwavering sense of loyalty, Hodgins and love for all things conspiracy, Zack and his endearing quest for real friendship, despite what his brain wants (even though his character has since taken a turn for the worse - sigh). I'm not loving Sweets yet, you'll have to give me some time with him.
Since I'm just working my way through season 4 right now, everything I write after this could be nullified in later seasons (please no spoilers posted here!), but I'm pretty impressed with how they've handled Bones, Angela, and Cam so far. Angela especially - this has to be the first time I've ever seen a female character allowed to explore her sexuality onscreen. Buffy's Willow did some groundbreaking in this area, but she was strictly regulated to the straight camp with Oz, and then the gay camp with Tara, but not allowed to waffle inbetween.
On Bones, Angela is allowed relationships that only last 3 weeks out of every year and promise sex and adventure in an artist's retreat. She can get married to a hulking, beautiful man who builds her a house on an island, only to sober up and later get a divorce. She falls for Hodgins and they play with new relationship sex, engagement, etc. And best yet, she's now (where I am in the series, at any rate) allowed to reconnect with an old girlfriend of hers from college. None of the other characters judge her, or give her any grief for shacking up with a lady. Even the lesbian "wink wink" comments are kept to a minimum. Even though they keep knocking you over the head with the fact that ANGELA IS A FREE SPIRIT, I appreciate her character development nonetheless.
Bones (or Dr. Temperance Brennan) is a great character that is rarely seen - the logical, brainy female who is still allowed to have a sex life and remains unashamed of her sexuality. She's not cold and wound up and just waiting for a man to release all of her sexual tension - instead she's fully embraced all the "human" aspects of her own behavior and preferences. I did get a little worried one episode when Bones was juggling two guys and having a great time - and then her partner Booth and therapist Dr. Sweets came down on her, like her behavior was somehow inappropriate.
Unfortunately, Cam hasn't gotten a lot of airplay yet but I can't wait to see more of her. She's initially presented as a tough bitch who needs to immediately assert her dominance over the group, combining particular skills of ex-cop with her extensive knowledge of dead bodies. Luckily, any hint of her and Bones competing for female dominance of the lab has been tossed aside and Cam's separated herself as just as brainy and beautiful as the rest of them, just slightly more professional and funny. I'm hoping they'll make more use of her in the show, since currently all I know about her is she likes hockey, loves fashion, and has no problem scoring dates.
In light of viewing the Bechdel test for this year's Oscar movies, I thought it was a great time to stop and celebrate some killer female leads I'm seeing pop up on TV.
That Tina Fey line perfectly captures my mood while I'm at work. When guys are rushing past me in the parking lot to get into the building in the morning or impatiently hovering behind me while I'm walking down the stairs. (These are the same guys who, while wearing comfortable tennis shoes, insist on taking the elevator up a floor.) I feel like this when I have to run errands after work - clomp through the pet store carrying the heavy litter, navigate my way in the aisles of the grocery store, pump gas and clean my windows. What I love about heels I also hate - they make everything more of a statement, and it's impossible to be subtle or quick and efficient in them.
Last summer, while I was in the middle of a meeting, we had an earthquake. Other states/people made fun of us after the fact, because apparently it was a wee baby earthquake, but since we'd never had one of that magnitude before, it was a big deal to us locals. I was taking notes and clicking slides while the important people were talking. All of a sudden everyone's chairs started rolling about uncontrollably and the projector started swaying dangerously from the ceiling. Everyone was like, "Is this an earthquake?" "Does anybody feel that?" while we were still in the middle of it. I calmly logged out of the computer I was using and got my coffee cup. Of course, I was wearing heels.
Since I've never considered having to move about suddenly in an emergency situation, I don't plan my outfits very well. Sure, I can totally walk/run/jump over dead bodies in heels, if I have to. It just struck me in that moment of shaky-shakiness where no one knew what was going on (because we just don't HAVE earthquakes here) that this might be something I should prepare for in the future. I considered this as I watched one member of the meeting immediately jump up to claim possession of the doorframe (which I've since been told will "cut you in half"), as people contemplated hiding under a desk ("you'd be crushed"), as I crowded with others down the stairs ("which will chop you up"), and nervously looked at the WORST, most unnecessary artwork ever - a giant stone sculpture suspended over the entrance to the building.
I've always viewed my day job as temporary and I've always tried to separate myself from it. Comics and design are what I love, what I get excited about, what I think of myself doing out here in the world. But every morning I still get back in to my car for the long commute and clomp back into the building, heels echoing off the hallways, to start another day at work.
Lately there's been a three-pronged attack of Fairy Tales hitting me all at once - Grimm and Once Upon A Time on TV, and me cleaning out my comic store box and finding a pile of Fables comics to catch up on. I've always been a fan of variations on these fine tales from the Disney to the disturbing, so it's interesting to be simultaneously ingesting three different takes on similar material. I know which my favorites are, but I find all of them fascinating none the less.
GRIMM - Set in Portland and penned by ex-Buffy/Angel writers, I couldn't see anything wrong with diving right in to this series. It was pretty gruesome (as promised, I guess) from the start and features a lot of faces-changing-randomly-into-monsters. Our main hero, Nick Burkhard, is a cop squared - a police detective as well as a "Grimm" - a hunter of all the creepy creatures of the fairy tale world. Grimm is familiar monster-of-the-week territory, with each murder case bringing up a new creature and history along with it. There are big bad wolves, three little pigs, rat people, snake people, etc. One of the things that takes some getting used to is the terms they use to describe the creatures they encounter - Blutbards and Lausenschlange and such. It took me a couple of episodes before I was into it and then looked forward to repeatingly barking out each term after them. I've found a special place in my heart for Monroe, Nick's reluctant Blutbard friend who's learned how to control his vicious instincts. Instead, he wears sweaters, keeps his house tidy, and sits around drinking wine and listening to music all day. I'm a sucker for a werewolf-esque creature who craves the finer things and just wants to be left alone. I also find it amusing that every episode Nick gives his partner Russell the boring job ("Why don't you get started on that paperwork and I'll go check out this dude's house") and Russell falls for it every time. "Sure, I'll stay on hold with the insurance company while you embark on an exciting shootout with our #1 suspect." I'm still waiting for them to give Nick's girlfriend Juliette something to do besides looking worried, but I have faith that they'll eventually come around to realizing she's a character on the show, too.
ONCE UPON A TIME - Originally, I didn't know what to think of this show or it's wacky premise. A town full of fairy tale characters, doomed to live in the modern world, with no idea of who they were. -Okay, I can get behind that. A main character, Emma, who's the adult daughter of one of the fairy tale characters, whose son has been adopted by the Evil Queen and lures her to come live in the town? Nope, you lost me. Gradually, though, the show started to reel me in when it started to focus on the flashbacks of the town residents. I like contrasting the Cinderella we're familiar with with her modern counterpart - a waitress knocked up by her secret, wealthy boyfriend. Or the star-crossed Snow White and Prince Charming, who were TOTALLY made for each other in the past but now can't even navigate a date. One of my favorite episodes offered a few glimpses of the world below, proving that they weren't just whisked into the modern age - they were plunked right down on top of it. I still get confused by who knows their true identity and who doesn't ( too many characters just wander around looking suspicious 24/7), but I'm willing to stick it out and see what happens. I do wish that they'd stop giving away ALL the show's secrets already, though. It's almost as if the writers have no confidence that it will be around for a couple of seasons. In one episode, they'll delve into a character, reveal their entire backstory, and then kill them off. Wait - we just met that guy! Couldn't we have let him linger just a bit, it could've been interesting! Maybe, since it's from a couple Lost writers, they wanted to barrage their audience with answers before they started complaining that there were too many mysteries (which - for the record - I LOVED about Lost. That's right, I thought it was just the right amount of secrets. There. I said it.).
FABLES - Fables is the much much beloved comic book series put out by Vertigo, penned by Bill Willingham and drawn mostly by Mark Buckingham. Naturally, a lot of comparisons between Fables and Once Upon A Time have sprung up, especially considering ABC bought the rights to Fables back in 2008. Recently I caught up on the massive backlog of comics I had and was impressed over and over again by how amazing it is. Willingham has created a massive, complicated world for oodles of fables characters (not just a princess here and a frog there) to bump around in. There are battles for survival, struggles with identity, and showdowns galore. I'm especially impressed by what he's done with the princesses - Snow White's strength, Cinderella's guile, Sleeping Beauty's nuclear weapon - and the witches, ranging from the terrifying (Baba Yaga) to the downright badass (Bellflower). It's rare that you get to see such depth wrenched out of beloved, but somewhat two-dimensional storybook characters. I would have much preferred to see Fables take the screen instead of Once, but I'm happy enough just having the comic book series in existence. I've long since gotten over thinking every book or comic book I enjoy should be made into a movie or TV show - the medium its already in is wonderful enough. And if the powerful one-two punch of amazing story and great art isn't enough to reel you in - dear god, look at all the gorgeous covers that series has maintained over the years, done by James Jean and Joao Ruas.
It's never too late for resolutions, right?
Oh, and I made a little print out of that V-Day Card I posted the other day, featuring the Pantone Color of 2012 - Tangerine Tango!
My latest Valentine's Day card - give it to someone handsy in your life. Get it? Handsy?? Wah - wahhhhh.
Here's a picture I did for the upcoming Staple! convention in Austin, Texas, March 3-4 at the Marchesa Hall and theater.
I looovvveee Staple, it's up there with my favorite conventions for sure. Great atmosphere, friendly exhibitors, and attendees of the show who honest-to-god like art and comics! (Surprisingly, that is not always the thing you find at a comics convention.) Can't wait, can't wait, so I just wanted to share.
Skiier meets Sasquatch.
Mermaid meets surfer girl.
I'm not sure how y'all feel about Valentine's Day, but I'm all about an excuse to eat tons of candy, go out to dinner, or otherwise turn a Tuesday into a fun night out. I've come up with some little Valentine's Drawings I'll be posting in my Etsy Shop by the end of this week - but I'll share some sketches with you as the week goes on. Not sure yet if I'll be doing prints or cards. Any thoughts?
Here's the first one! (one that's particularly close to my heart :)
Aaaaaaand scene. That's it for this chapter, everyone! I wanted to leave it on a quasi-cliffhanger, or as my boyfriend would call it, an "Oh shit, it's Mystique" moment. Which is a reference to the first time I saw X-Men in the theater. When Mystique first appears on screen, revealing herself as Senator Kelly's aid in the helicopter, this dude in the back of the theater was TOTALLY SHOCKED and said out loud, "Oh SHIT, it's Mystique!" Priceless.
For this chapter, I wanted to deal almost entirely with Anthony's descent into the Underworld. At first I thought about making it just about he and Hermes' journey together, but then I decided to split it up into sections - each one dealing with one of the stages of grief. As Anthony eventually accepts his death, his wounds return, and it finally becomes real what happened to him. And even though the build-up is kind of scary and sad, the reality is - kind of no big deal. Hades was the general underworld of the population - it's where everyone went, good or bad, which I always loved about Greek Mythology. Rather than going down to hell or up to heaven, you got ferried to one place, and sorted out later. I know I barely touch on Hades and Persephone in this chapter, but I'm saving them for later. I didn't want them to steal focus from the guy we've journeyed with this whole time - not yet anyway.
Oh - and they're big on purpose. ;)
Thanks everyone for reading, and please feel free to share your thoughts on this page, or any part of this chapter!
***UPDATE: Gods & Undergrads returns on Dec. 12, 2012!! EEEEEEE!***
Monica Gallagher is a comic book creator, illustrator and freelance designer making work for hire with a positive, feminist spin.
TCAF - Toronto, ON, Canada // June 7 - 8
Heroes Con - Charlotte, NC // June 20 - 22
Tucson Comic Con - Tucson, AZ // Aug. 29 - 31
Small Press Expo - Rockville, MD // Sep. 13 - 14
Denton Comic Art Expo - Denton, TX // Sep. 27
Powered by Squarespace.
