Because I forgot to have one taken last year, here’s a pic of me at the Cool Jerk table. There were lots of cool stuffs to get this year, including a dozen new Canvas Panels, two new styles of t-shirts and OMG Color! Vol. 1. I also introduced the Über Canvas Panel, a premium product I’m offering that you can order with your favorite strip! Here’s a pic of me WEARING A COLLARED SHIRT!! with long-time reader and pal Richard Foley, who always makes a harrowing pilgrimage to Comic-Con! (Holy shit I look just like my Commentary avatar from 1996!)

And surprise! Lucky Cool Jerk readers and patrons got a delicious Cool Jerk sugar cookie, courtesy Jenny Wenny Cakes. They were in extremely limited quantity and you pretty much had to buy something from me or cash in your Subscriber Coupon to get one!

Our tablemate to the left was Jose Cabrera (Crying Macho Man), who was without his wonderful wife Naomi this weekend. Instead, he partnered with Jim Lujan, an animator and all-around funny guy. To our right was Ben Seto and his bro-in-law Patrick. Ben’s comic is Skull Bunnies and Patrick was representing his wife’s pillow-quilting gig. Above is a drawing Ben did of Puppy!

Here’s one of Darlene’s obsessions this year: Tokidoki’s Marvel Frenzies. She was determined to not leave Comic-Con without getting all of the Fantastic Four. Mission accomplished!

That’s all well and good, but I know why you’re here— to see all the crazy costumes!

Let’s start with a mash-up. Here’s Star Wars meets Pulp Fiction.

And here’s one for the ladies! Say hello to patriotic and sparkly vampire R.Patz (“Twilight”) wearing Captain America shorts HA! MADE YOU LOOK!!

Here’s a trio of Doctor Who cosplayers: TARDIS, River Song and Amy Pond (in her policeman’s get-up). I’m happy to report Doctor Who cosplayers were abundant this year, and there wasn’t a single Johnny Depp/Capt. Jack Sparrow to be seen!

I always felt safe, knowing Nick Fury and his S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were on patrol.

Here’s Doctor Doom, quenching his thirst. I like how the monarch of Latveria is such a bad-ass that he can walk around with a handmade Wolverine man-purse and no one’s gonna get in his grill.

Here’s Firestar, Alpha Flight’s team leader Vindicator, H.A.M.M.E.R. Deputy Director Victoria Hand and… some gal in a red dress.

This is great! Here are about half of Darkseid’s Female Furies (Big Barda, Lashina and Granny Goodness). I’ve seen other pics online that includes Darkseid himself, along with Mad Harriet and Stompa (they might’ve all been at Starbucks or in the bathroom at this time).

The following photos I like to call “Crappy Old Nikon Blur-O-Rama!” Here’s Jason Isaacs (l.) of the Harry Potter films, and Rowdy Roddy Piper (r.), notorious for drop-kicking Cyndi Lauper back in the days of MTV/Wrestlemania.

Here are some professional cosplayers: On the left we have Kit Quinn as Dr. Mrs. The Monarch (along with The Monarch). On the right is Yaya Han as the Asgardian warrior Sif (along with an unidentified Black Cat).

As Darlene and I took the trolley to the convention center one morning, we shared the ride with Thor and another Sif, Scarlet Witch and Jessica Nigri as Anya Stroud from Gears of War 3. (You might remember Jessica as Pikachu a few years back.)

Here are some characters I’ve never seen cosplayed (l to r): Galacta (the daughter of Galactus) and Rojhaz (from Marvel 1602), animated-style Beetlejuice and Lydia Deetz, Judy and Jane Jetson. Bravo, all!

Darlene took these pics of probably the biggest gun on the floor.

One of my favorite crossplayers, Nicki Catterlin as Booster Gold, who ditched Skeets this year and is instead joined by BFF Blue Beetle (played by Mary Stanfield). Here’s Booster and Skeets in 2008.

Not to be outdone, here are some more crossplayers. Actually, they’re cosplaying DC’s Earth-11 heroes Green Arrow (Little Hotshot), Batwoman (Tallest Silver), Plastic Woman, Vixen and Flash (Catherine Pow). Kit Quinn was pulling double-duty this weekend as Superwoman (not pictured). More pics of them at this year’s WonderCon here!

Bring on the mutants! Here we have Dark Phoenix, X-23, Wolverine, Emma Frost and the Beast (doing the splits). Beast might look familiar— here he is in 2006.

Saturday was interrupted by some cosplayers who got into a fight outside of the convention center.

Here’s John Layman and Rob Guillory, fresh off their second Eisner Award win in as many years. And by “fresh” I mean “hungover.” If you’re not reading Chew, you should.

Say hello to Chris and Heather Barber, friends and former Union-Tribune co-workers of ours. This was their first SDCC and they LOVED it! (Also pictured is their entourage whose names I forget.)

Sean and Lacie came by with a print-out of the Cool Jerk strip I sneaked them into earlier this year, and I signed it for them. Lacie has come by the table probably every year since 2003, and Sean the year after (I know this because they’ve been subscribers that long). I’m a little sketchy on the details, but I think one of those Comic-Cons was one of their first dates… and they married last year!

Darlene and cartoonist Emi Lenox, discussing the convention, fashion tips or food. It was cool to meet Emi, especially after reading her book Emi Town. We’re glad she took some time to hunt us down and say “Hi!!”

As you can tell, Thor was a pretty popular costume choice this year. The best part of this photo is the guy in the background peeing on the wall. (Joke— don’t sue, Mr. Allegedly Peeing in Public Guy.)

Here’s a couple who Darlene officially refers to as “Sexy Chewbacca and Emo Han Solo.”

Isn’t he the most adorable lil’ serial killer you ever did see??

I love having cosplayers pose with my books. Here’s Tootsie, one of the best and most original costumes of the weekend! She told us “Some people think I’m cosplaying Ugly Jessica Rabbit.”

And here are… well, I actually don’t have a clue. Let’s call her Silver Bodypaint Alien Sexbot and her friend Ms. Fishnets. I took a photo of Ms. Fishnets holding my book Bimboozled last year, when she was dressed either as Emma Frost/White Queen or just forgot to put on all her clothes (the jury is still out). Note the dude in the background also taking advantage of the photo-op (yes, they were wearing thongs).

I think what we need is a palate-cleanser. Here are three lovely Disney princesses— Ariel, Belle and Snow White.

Darlene got to wander the exhibit hall quite a bit, sometimes to find friends, run errands, get lunch or do some shopping. One thing I look forward to each year is getting the new ashcan sketchbook by Adam Hughes. This year, Darlene was able to get Adam to do a sketch for me. She called to ask who I would want. I always wanted an Adam Hughes sketch! My mind started to race— Should I ask for one of Darlene’s or my favorite characters like Susan Storm or Barbara Gordon? Should I ask for someone obscure like Aurora of Alpha Flight? I decided on Puppy… and voila! *kermit flail* HOLY CRAP ADAM HUGHES DREW MY CHARACTER! *gets the vapors, faints*

Darlene also got to meet comics demigod Walt Simonson. “He was really, really nice!” Darlene says. She told him that I thought his run on Thor was one of the defining moments in Marvel Comics. He asked where I was and Darlene told him I was working my table. AND I WAS! >sob!< I met Walt back in 1985— he graciously autographed for me my set of every Thor comic he’d written and drawn (up to that point) PLUS drew a Thor for me on a comics backing board.

OK. Show of hands— who remembers “V?” I’m talking the original series from the ’80s, not the remake from last year. These guys rocked the freaking casbah. They even brought rats to snack on!

No convention is complete without a zombie outbreak in the Gaslamp Quarter.

As we were eating dinner alfresco outside Ralphs, Aquaman and, um, female Aquaman wandered by. I hope they weren’t offended— we were eating fresh-fried swai.

The end of the show. Here we are, packing it up and hauling it out. BONUS: I’ve attached my only existing photo from SDCCI 2003, the first year Cool Jerk exhibited in Small Press. Darlene hasn’t changed one bit in nine years!

As Comic-Con drew to a close, another life goal of mine was achieved. After years of searching, I finally found Waldo.

For more coverage, check out Darlene’s food-related Comic-Con blog post here!

San Diego Comic-Con International 2011 is in the rear-view mirror, and I caught the ConSARS/Nerd Flu as always. But I battled it hard and as of today, I’m nearly back to 100%! Lots of fun, but lots of work. It’s actually pretty grueling to work a convention, especially when it’s the hemisphere’s largest. Darlene and I took a slew of photos and I’ll get to those later in my annual SDCCI Photogasm Recap, as usual.

This year’s ’Con I debuted Cool Jerk OMG Color! Vol. 1, two new t-shirts and a dozen new varieties of Cool Jerk Canvas Panels. I was cautious of the economy and that I wasn’t offering a $12 book this year, but I must’ve hit the right chord with attendees because this year was my second-best in nine years of tabling in Small Press! Huzzah! That means I’m having THREE toppings on my pizza tonight!

This year’s coupon — available ONLY to subscribers — was like “Let’s Make a Deal.” With a coupon, you could either get a couple bucks off anything on the table, a character sketch or Door Number Three — the mystery gift! One reader got a Capri Sun. Another got an out-of-print limited edition Cool Jerk ashcan from 2007. Another got some Cool Jerk Post-It Notes and another got Puppy thong undiepants. Such is the way I thank you for supporting small press and independent cartoonists, and for being a subscriber!

ALSO— did you get a Cool Jerk cookie? Attendees who checked in at my table via foursquare and bought something got a free Cool Jerk cookie, courtesy Jenny Wenny Cakes. They were delicious!

The main attractions at Comic-Con were the “Twilight,” “Torchwood,” “Doctor Who” and “Glee!” panels, along with pretty much every upcoming movie in the next 12 months (“Avengers,” “Men in Black 3,” “Amazing Spider-Man,” the next Dark Knight movie, etc.). There was no shortage of Harry Potter or Captain America fans, either. In fact, I can’t recall seeing a single Johnny Depp wannabe from the “Pirates of the Caribbean” series. Maybe that’s all played out??

It’s always exciting to visit with friends who I usually only see at Comic-Con: Richard Foley & Karen, Jay Halili and Jamie Lim, Marc Mason, Eric and Jocelyn, Wendy the Rollergirl, Lacie and Sean Youtsey (married since last year’s ‘Con), Dennis Schamp, Kim the Catgirl & her mom, Bethany & Denzel and Marcus, Brian G., Marian, Bridget and Josh, Larry C., Dan B., Nathan, Barry, John, Ben, Joesph, Shaylan and Ty (of the Poway Posse), LEGO Maniac David Oakes, Jonathan Solomon, Peg and Ken Gartin, Mason, Erin, Linda, Jenny, J.P., Dana and her pal who loves Scooby-Doo, Demeterius, Brian G., a slew of former co-workers (Heather & Chris Barber, Michelle Breier, Rose & Jeff Dillon, Luis Monteagudo, Cristina Martinez Byvik, David Poller and Steve Schmidt), Apri, Steve Yatson and Fahim Niaz from Poser/Manga Studio. I also met Marianne (Gina’s neighbor), Brian Guthrie, Kalyan Pokala, Liz Ohanesian, Melodie Tao, Lauren & Dom from Australia, Sarah from Poway, Greg S., Randy, R.C., Lee Anne Moore and her Oceanside posse, Makenna and Jonathan and jeez probably a hundred other attendees! I also spotted Armando (who always stops by but this year we missed each other) and cosplayer pals Kit Quinn, Tallest Silver, Betty Felon and Jessica Nigri.

I got to see/say hi to/chat with colleagues JustJenn, Eric & Jodi Kurland, Sarah Kuhn and Jeff Chen, Daniel and Dawna Davis, Ryan Claytor, Ben Walker & Amanda, Jose Cabrera, Bavarian Erin and Superfro, Deb Aoki, James & Rebecca Hicks, Audra Furuichi and Scott Yoshinaga, John Layman, Keith Knight, Chet Phillips, Justin Orr, P.J. Perez, Leslie Levings and Allen Passalaqua.

I also got to meet fellow creators Neil Segura, Emi Lenox, Sarah and Beau Straub, Jim Lujan and our neighbors Ben Seto & Patrick.

It’s nearly impossible to mention you all. I hope I didn’t leave out anyone who’s reading this!

Special thanks goes to the other half of Team Cool Jerk, my wonderful wife Darlene! She’s becoming a veteran at table management and many people came by specifically to meet her in person. MWAH!

Photos to come!

It’s that time of year! I’m talking San Diego Comic-Con International, and Cool Jerk will be there OF COURSE!

So I bet you’re wondering, “What’s at the table THIS year, homeslice?” Well, I have a few offerings that will likely make you squeal “OMG!”

The first is the debut of Cool Jerk OMG Color! Vol. 1! Sorry about all the exclamation points, there. It’s a companion comic that contains EVERY Sunday-sized strip from Hodabeast and Chickadoowa… IN COLOR FOR THE FIRST TIME! Now that they’re in hand, I can attest that they look specTACular! They’re $4 each UNLESS you buy a Canvas Panel, T-shirt or both Hodabeast and Chickadoowa… then it’s FREE! (One freebee per qualifying purchase, please, since the print run is EXTREMELY LIMITED to 100 copies!)

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Another item that’s perfect for your house, office or motor home is the Cool Jerk Canvas Panel. I’ve added a dozen NEW panel choices to the series I started last year, and I’m sure you’ll want to buy 8-9 at a time! $15 each.

ALSO for the first time this year, I have a premium item for SDCCI— the Longform Canvas Panel! This is really limited to what you see here, in both black and white variations. They run $60 apiece. NOTE: Want your favorite strip on a canvas? Worry not— I will also take orders at the show!

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And did I mention T-shirts? Yes! Available in a myriad of sizes for both guys and gals are TWO shirts! The 20th Anniversary CJ shirt, which has probably your favorite character on it (trust me on this) and the JERKea shirt, which I beta-tested last summer to overwhelming acclaim! The CJ shirt runs $15 and JERKea is $20.

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I also have all the other items you’ve been jonesing for in years past, incl. ALL my books, Sharpie original art breakdowns, stickers, buttons and the like. We’re in the same spot we’ve always been, right by the Sweaty Cosplayer Hose-Down Station. Here’s a little map I whipped up while you were clipping your toenails.

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And starting tomorrow, be sure to check in to my table via foursquare for a special treat!

Hope to see you there!

Going to San Diego Comic-Con but don’t want to lug around your Goldie Gold and Action Jack lunchbox? Don’t sweat it — Team Cool Jerk’s got your back.

Here’s a handy lil’ map I whipped up for Darlene’s blog. We’ve been meaning to do this for a few years as a public service, especially for our out-of-town friends who sometimes resort to eating concession “food” at exorbitant prices. As for me, I’ll be having only the finest Kobe beef cheeseburgers, topped with foie gras and tapir bacon imported from Malaysia. Mmm… tapir…!

To help celebrate twenty years of Cool Jerk, I’ve whipped up not only the first Cool Jerk floppy comic book, BUT the first COLOR Cool Jerk comic collection! And you can be among the first to get it… at San Diego Comic-Con!

OMG Color! Vol. 1 is 28 pages of Cool Jerk Sunday Funnies made full-color; every double-sized strip from Hodabeast and Chickadoowa is in here. In fact, it makes a perfect companion to Hodabeast and Chickadoowa, providing that extra punch of color that those books lack. Read them side-by-side, or cut and paste pages from OMG Color! into your copies of Hodabeast and Chickadoowa!

All but one of these strips have always remained in black and white… UNTIL NOW! (I colorized the Zits one for The (Palm Springs) Desert Sun in 1992, but it’s been remastered for OMG Color! Vol. 1.) And, as you’ve come to expect with all my books, I’ve provided new commentary for each strip! NOW how much would you pay??

Here’s the kicker, friends— the price is $4.00 if you buy it à la carte. But it can be yours FREE with a purchase of a Cool Jerk t-shirt, Cool Jerk Canvas Panel or if you buy BOTH Hodabeast and Chickadoowa!

It’s at the printer right now and should be in-hand in about three weeks. I’m doing an extremely limited print run on this— only 100 copies. First crack goes to San Diego Comic-Con attendees, then I’ll make them available for everyone after the show.

(Thanks to Darlene for indirectly giving me the cover idea, btw!)

Twenty years ago on this exact date, the FIRST Cool Jerk was published in the Reno Gazette-Journal! That’s a true fact, Chester! Many things have changed in 20 years (Armpit’s hair, no more hand lettering or Zip-a-Tone) but many more things have stayed the same (four-panel format, the logo, my sense of “humor”). I talk much more about Cool Jerk’s genesis and early days in Cool Jerk Vol. 1: Hodabeast, so if you have your copy, bust it out and thrill in the tale!

As you can see, I still have the tearsheet. (I’m like that— I have tearsheets and clips of everything I’ve had published since junior high school. Serious.) Some time capsule-y stuff from June 15, 1991: “City Slickers” was in the theaters, the most-popular songs in Reno were “Losing My Religion” by R.E.M. and “Seeing Things” by the Black Crowes, and Sparks opened up a paintball park.

The first published Cool Jerk is different from the one online and collected in Hodabeast; I remastered all the older Cool Jerks with my font Hornopolis, and I made some slight changes/fixes in the process.

You’ll also see that Cool Jerk ran vertically. THAT JUST KILLED ME! Paste-up would cut the velox of my strip and arrange it vertically down the right-hand column. This happened for several months until I redesigned the page to accommodate Cool Jerk in its intended horizontal format.

So yeah. Twenty years! To commemorate this event, I revisited the other five characters who appeared with The Kid Who Would Eventually Become Armpit, none of whom we’ve seen since the first Cool Jerk strip. I also decided to give them names, which will be convenient when action figures are made of them.

Coaxed out of retirement for this special occasion, Howard Hindenburg chimes in with a quickie editorial!

Go HERE for a four-decade retrospect of Howard’s best reviews!

I hope you’ve been enjoying this series of strips (start here) centering on Manuel Dexterity. I’d been planning this tale for many years, patiently waiting until the right time. It’s been my intent all along, having Manuel be gay. In fact, as you look back from his debut in Hodabeast through to the present day, you’ll see that he’s always stayed true to my vision. That’s about 16 years of character development.

Has it really been 16 years? In that time, we’ve known Manuel to be a freelance special-effects artist, a good friend of Puppy’s and Manhattan’s, he’s Hispanic and barely bilingual, he saved Spittle Beach from Comic Sans, he’s had porno dreams about Anthony Bourdain, he was devoured by DeeDee’s temporarily gigantic ass, he paints nudes, he created a TV pilot that NBC swiped and turned into “Heroes” and knows how to do the Wild Boys dance. He’s an important part of Cool Jerk and I refuse to make him “the token gay.”

The last thing I wanted was to screw up Manuel’s day in the spotlight, as it were. Manuel needed a voice that wasn’t mine. So, I enlisted my friend David Poller to help plot and co-write this series. David should be a familiar name to long-time readers— he’s been subtly improving my sense of humor over the years by influencing punchlines (see the Mary Annibal the Cannibal on Gilligan’s Island strips) or just killing me with laugh-out-loud conversations (the peeps strips). He’s even on the back cover of Bimboozled.

David is many things: He’s a professional photographer and photo editor. His appetite for pop culture is insatiable. He’s a snarky socio-political commentator. He’s well-traveled. He’s a Cubs fan. He’s a teacher. He’s lived in — literally — three of the four farthest corners of the continental United States. He’s a mentor. He’s hilarious. He’s brilliant. He’s a good friend. He’s gay. No single one of these traits defines David as a person. And thusly, I —we— didn’t want Manuel to be defined solely by his orientation.

Next week is the double-sized finale, and after that an epilogue strip. By my count, that’s 10 strips in this series (plus the bingo card). David wrote/co-wrote nine of them. Can you guess which one was all mine??

This was Darlene’s idea— to collect various portraits of yours truly from others throughout my cartooning years. Now that I’ve gathered them all in one place, it’s pretty amusing.

 

Here’s a portrait by Art Baltazar, artist of Tiny Titans. I don’t know about the chicken legs, but to Art’s credit, he drew this in like 60 seconds AND only used a cell phone photo of me (taken by Joe DiAnna). 2007.

 

And speaking of, here’s one by Joe DiAnna. This was a winning comic strip from some Cool Jerk contest I held in 2007.

 

Let’s go all the way back to University of Nevada, Reno days. Here’s political cartoonist Calder Chism’s take on me, circa 1989.

 

Autobio cartoonist Ryan Claytor put a drawing of me (circa 2005) into his book, “And Then One Day Sketchbook.”

 

Sociopopculturolitical cartoonist Don Asmussen drew up a comic “welcoming” me to the (San Diego) Union-Tribune graphics department, 1994.

 

Speaking of the U-T, fellow infographics journalist Mark Nowlin amended a sasquatch graphic I originally did in 1998. Thanks, Mark. The nightmares continue.

 

And here are a couple by Darlene. I’m fond of the color one because my thighs are slim.

Discuss.

This past Saturday was my Cool Jerk book signing at Sundance Books in Reno, Nev. It was my first signing in Cool Jerk’s home town (Cool Jerk got its start in Northern Nevada, running in the Reno Gazette-Journal for several years before I took it online), and if Saturday’s turnout is any indication, it certainly won’t be my last.

To make this event even more, um, eventful, Nancy Horn of Dish Cafe and Catering was on-hand to provide delicious baked refreshments — ”Pupcakes!” They were white wine cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and black sprinkles. Black and white, just like my strip. If you bought a book, you got a free Pupcake. And if you got a Pupcake, you know it was incredibly good.

While Nancy’s not my sister (we worked together at the UNR Sagebrush some 20+ years ago, when she was Nancy Louvat), my for realz sister Jennifer was there. She not only got to see me work the table and sign dozens of books, but also got to meet many of my Northern Nevada friends. (Jen told me afterward that she totally understands how I frequently lose my voice after doing comic conventions, 7-9 hours a day for 2-5 days straight.)

So I’d like to say hi and thanks to Andy Carey (Doc Splatter letter-writer who received a “goodie,” as is tradition), Guy Clifton (look him up in the index of Bimboozled), Frank Mullen (and Susan, by proxy), Nikki Bomagat, Steve Timko (also in Bimboozled, kinda), Claudia Ortega-Lukas and her mom, Nancy’s mom Cherie, Greg Moyle (another Doc Splatter letter-writer, see page 11 of the Doc Splatter Ominous Omnibus), Mark Lindquist and his boys, Vickie Johnson, Jim, Angel and Gabri Bachand, Ben “Buzzy” Martin (we go WAY back, like ninth grade), Shelly Larson (OMG Shelly!), Charles Nemitz, Bryan Allison (by phone), the aforementioned Nancy and Jen. And, of course, the staff at Sundance Books — Dan and Phillip (and Christine and KC by proxy) — for making the signing as smooth as can be and for restocking their shelves with all my books! So in case you missed it, head on down to Sundance, buy a book or two, and bring it by next time I’m up in the Truckee Meadows for another signing!

Oh, and Ben? You’re on page 11 of the Doc Splatter Ominous Omnibus, too!