Hodabeast!
The first volume of collected Cool Jerk is now available for order (just click the link above)! Hodabeast collects the couple hundred strips I did for the Reno Gazette-Journal (and, through them, other Gannett newspapers), all digitally remastered for this book! Within the 144 pages of pure comedy gold you’ll also delight to commentary on each strip, sketches and a comprehensive index. Every book is autographed on the cover and you’ll have the option to get your copy personalized with a sketch inside, if you so choose.

If you’re going to San Diego Comic-Con International July 26-29, you’ll be able to find Team Cool Jerk in the same spot as the past four years. I’ll have plenty of Hodas for sale and I’m planning a special freebee for the first 100 buyers!

WonderCon! Cool Jerk will be chillin’ in San Francisco’s Moscone Center South this coming Friday through Sunday, March 2-4, 2007. It’s true, these things I say! I’ll be in the Artists’ Alley, surrounded by creative freaks, cartooning miscreants and their ilk. If you’re in a 1,000-mile radius of the Bay Area, swing by and say “Hi!” More importantly, drop some coin on some reasonably priced Cool Jerk merchandise, including Happy Happy Funbags, T-shirts of many varieties, Cool Jerk button 5-packs, ashcan collections, Puppy Fizgig Post-It Notes and other lovely schwag!

Plus, be among the first to see the pre-press proof of the first-ever Cool Jerk book, “Hodabeast!” It’s 144 pages of comic goodness! And (unless I get hosed by UPS) the first-ever Armpit Beachhead action figure! Holy cats!

Our Man Horn has a couple pages in Wizard Magazine 2007 Movie Spectacular, on sale today!

As part of the magazine’s coverage of “Spider-Man 3” is a two-page spread (pages 36-37) featuring villains who may appear in the movie. Take a look at Venom and the “Sinister Six,” all drawn by yours truly via my mouse (started as pencil sketches, then modeled in Poser 6 and finally redrawn in FreeHand. No Photoshop, honest. Not even the backgrounds). Unfortunately, they didn’t use Mysterio due to space considerations.

Be sure to go out and buy a copy today, and write Wizard to tell them how much you love my illustrations!! =:^)

This Saturday and Sunday (Sept. 23 & 24) I’ll be in lovely Phoenix, tabling at the Cactus Comicon! For more info on the show, go HERE!

Kind of short notice, I know, but I figure that A) if you’re already going to the ‘Con, then you’re already going to the ‘Con, and B) I’m probably not going to be the deal-maker in getting you to the ‘Con. But hey — if you’re within a couple-hour drive of Phoenix this weekend, do go to the show and swing by the Small Press Area/Artists’ Alley. I understand we’ll be outside of the main exhibit hall where we won’t embarrass the other pros and dealers. i.e. the parking lot in 110-degree heat.

Come on by and buy my wares, like the official Cool Jerk Happy Happy Funbags, T-shirts, button packs, and other zany crap. Undoubtedly, Arizona will be the next toehold in Cool Jerk’s inevitable conquering of the world!

Here’s where I camped for five days of Comic-Con International. On Saturday I wheeled out the heavy artillery: the extend-o-matic Cool Jerk banner in the background (now visible from 1/4 mile away), and the “ASK ME ABOUT MY FUNBAGS” t-shirt. A lot of people did ask me about my funbags. Others just stared at my funbags. I even let some people gently touch my funbags.

Supergirl, Robin, Batman and Batgirl stopped by to administer some justice.

I don’t know why Hawkgirl and Poison Ivy joined the Dynamic Duo… but I’d let Batgirl slap the Batcuffs on me any day.

And speaking of Batgirl, meet Yvonne Craig! She’s adorable and was really tolerant of folks like me coming by and posing for photos with her. Woof!

Just as adorable is this sketch of my gal Darlene by Arthur Baltazar, the artist of Patrick the Wolf Boy.

Ming the Merciless, Martian Girl and Barbarella popped by the concession area for some pretzels.

Meet Jen Prescott. um… I guess she’s dressed as Robin and her stuffed tiger is wearing a Batman mask. And Charlos Gary, close personal friend and cartoonist (“Working it Out”)

Wonder Woman about three seconds from kicking my ass.

Kirk Alyn-style Superman and Green Lantern (the dude dressed as GL is a pro; last year he was Flash, Hulk, Electro, Vision and Mr. Fantastic. I also saw him as Angel this year).

My neighbor to the right, Phil Foglio. Name sound familiar? It’d better; Holmes has probably been doing the indy comics thing since before you were born!

Mystique, as she should’ve looked in the movie. Anyone in Hollywood who says “costumes in the comics just won’t translate to the silver screen” needs to come to SDCCI.

Beast…. or maybe he shoud be called “Sweaty Yeti.” OK, Hollywood doesn’t need to see this guy; they did fine with Kelsey Grammer’s makeup.

Brandon Routh should’ve been wearing hornrim glasses and a fedora with a PRESS sign tucked into the band.

Power Girl. Woof. With Martian Girl and Mystique, among the best costumes at Comic-Con this year (at least that I saw).

Woof. Once again. I have no idea who they are or where they came from… but their FREAKING MOUTHS MOVED WHEN THEY TALKED!

Catwoman checking to see if the photo made her butt look too big.

Meet Zachary Simon. And meet Armpit Beachhead (hair courtesy of Photoshop). And did you see Charlos Gary a few photos back? Say hello to Manhattan. I’m holding open auditions for Puppy Fizgig, by the way. I’m dead serious. Must be a Cool Jerk fan. E-mail me.

Jonathan Solomon — a long-time ‘Jerk addict — handed me his sketchbook and said, “Can you draw me a sexy Velma? You know, from Scooby-Doo?” I had 5 minutes to spare, so voila!

She’s a Supergirl, all right. She had all the poses down pat. Last year she was Hawkgirl.

This will be somebody’s birthday gift in 2007, methinks. Me heart Adam Hughes (the artist whose designs this sculpture is based on).

Again, the Puppy thong was a sure-fire crowd-pleaser. Say hello to Camilla d’Errico, a brand-new ‘Jerk and FREAKING INCREDIBLE ARTIST! She should have gone through the brainwashing and mind-control chip implantation by now….

Half of the “Poway Posse” — Nathan Pierce, Joseph & Ben DiAnna — dropped off another monetary memento. Remember a couple years back when they trashed that Five Spot? Well, at least they’re using foreign currency nowadays. Thanks, guys!

Sigh. Another year, another Comic-Con International in San Diego. Another exhausting five days of playing pitchman and getting through on adrenaline and minimal sleep. And another five days with my voice totally thrashed.

Wouldn’t miss it for the world.

In a nutshell, SDCCI was really terrific for me and Cool Jerk. I’m almost totally out of air fresheners and ashcans. Many t-shirts are gone and may not be reprinted. The Post-Its were a smash and so were the Happy Happy Funbags.

I had a mental checklist of Cool Jerk fans & friends that I expected to see, and I saw pretty much all of ’em at one point or another. I’d like to say thanks. I know SDCCI is gi-freaking-normous and there’s so much to see and do… and it means a lot that you all took a few minutes to swing by and chat/buy stuff/get some sketches. There’s no way I can mention all of you, but “hey!” to a chunk of the Poway Posse (Nathan, Ben, Joseph, Barry), Jamie, Sister Mary Shovelface and Superfro, Chris C. the Tokyo Pizzaboy, Layman, Marc Mason, Allen, Robert the Adult Swimmer, sketchmongers Jonathan and Jonathan, Will “Thwip” Bento, Kim the caffeinated cat-girl and her pop, the Louisiana Pines, Charlos and so many more!

Special thanks to my gal Darlene, who provided a lot of support and behind-the-scenes brainpower. I really appreciate that she spent so much time with me behind the table, luring unsuspecting comics fans into our web of comedy. Despite the hours she spent working the table, she was able to meet two of her idols: Yvonne Craig (actress who played Batgirl on TV’s “Batman”) and Carmine Infantino (artist who brought Batgirl to the comics as a result of Yvonne’s character’s popularity). She also blogged for Comixpedia.com

If you’d like to live vicariously through me, check the photo-heavy recap page.

Oh, the sacrifices I make!

This weekend is my 20-year class reunion, which is being held in Carson City, Nevada. And this weekend is also San Diego Comic-Con International.

I really tried to figure out a plan where I could attend both, including flying up to Reno this afternoon (Friday), renting a car, driving 30 miles to the capital and saying “Hi!” to scores of old friends and former classmates… THEN turning around and driving back to Reno and flying out at midnight (or whenever the latest flight out is) so I could be back at the ‘Con by 8am Saturday.

Impossible. =:^(

So the upshot is: I’m at Comic-Con, all you beautiful babies! It’s a freaking gas! I’ve been having a great time catching up with all you Cool Jerk subscribers (some have been addicted to Armpit & Puppy’s shenanigans since last year’s ‘Con, some since 1992!) and I hope my voice can survive until Sunday evening! I’ve been selling CJ shirts, Funbags, button packs, window decals, ashcans (comic booklets) and doing as many free sketches as my wrist will allow! And that was just yesterday! There’s still three more days left!

So I just want to say thanks to all of you. It was really hard to R.S.V.P. a “not going to attend” for the reunion, but because of you Cool Jerk readers and sleeper agents, it’s worth it.

New strip here, Chester! And check out the Morgue if you need to catch up on Armpit’s hairstylist story. Tidbit: “The New Lou” is about 80% accurately based on the gal who cuts my hair. And I had two sketch requests for her yesterday!

All ashamed that everyone else on your block has nice Funbags and you don’t? Buck up, little trooper! Here are the places to get your hands on some Funbags here in sunny SoCal:

* House of Secrets (1930 W. Olive Ave., Burbank; 818.562.1900)
* Southern California Comics (8280 Clairemont Mesa Blvd. #124, San Diego; 858.715.8669)
* Amazing Al’s (600 F St. #E, Chula Vista; 619.498.0445)
* Meltdown (7522 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood; 323.851.7223)

What’s a Funbag, you may ask all sheepish-like? Well, it’s a polyethylene party-pack containing a limited-edition Cool Jerk ashcan with scores o’ comic strips, a sheet of uncut vinyl Cool Jerk stickers, a couple collectible Cool Jerk character cards (they look almost exactly like business cards), an exclusive Cool Jerk air freshener and an original character sketch by yours truly… all for a mere $4! Wotta deal! Go get one NOW!

Independent Propaganda –specifically Matt Butcher — reviewed my humble strip and had some bitchin’ things to say!

Paul Horn has quite a dynamic cartooning art style. The characters are flashy and good to look at. The panels are filled with movement and clever facial expressions. They are, without a doubt, better looking than most of the daily strips in my newspaper.

To read the rest of the review, visit here.

That’d be me… going to the Alternative Press Expo in San Francisco. I’ll be “tabling” there, which is insider-speak meaning “standing behind a table for two days brainwashing the masses with Cool Jerk propaganda.” I’m going to be beta-testing a new product — the Happy Happy Funbag — so if you’re in the area (i.e. the U.S., Canada, Mexico or any of the Pacific islands) on April 8 and/or April 9, and have a need to check out non-mainstream comics creators and their creations… do swing by and be a test subject! Event info: http://www.comic-con.org