Oh my heck! Check out the hellaradbitchin’ photos taken today at San Diego Comic-Con International!

Notables: The voice almost went out. I traded a Cool Jerk trucker hat for a Fantastic Four pin (it was a ‘con exclusive by FOX to promo next year’s movie; I missed it the night before when they cracked open the boxes and everyone grabbed ’em). I junked up a few more sketchbooks and sold some shwag. I added a bunch more ‘Jerks to the weekly emailer. Two cool-as-hell sisters from here in SD brought in their well-preserved copies of two infographics I did for “X2” and “Spider-Man 2” for me to autograph (!!). And I was ambushed by the “Poway Posse” a couple more times, and we traded artwork for underwear (follow the “photos” link above)!

A shout out to prestidigitator James Burks, my table buddy to the right, for being swell and a good motivator. He’s got quite the following, and for good reason. Check out his online strip, “Martin’s Misdirection,” and buy some of his stuff!

Well, I’m exhausted and full of bite-size Snickers and juice bags. Darlene and I want to say thanks to everyone who visited the Small Press tables this year! I know there are lots more exciting booths, displays, merchants, events and panel discussions to go to, but it’s great you folks took a few minutes to come by. Remember to check my CafePress shop to get merch that I had on display!

Sweet jumping prunes! Day three is in the can!

Notables: I autographed a shoe, chatted with the Scotts (McCloud and Kurtz), actaully sold some ‘Jerk merch and signed up dozens more ‘Jerks to the weekly mailer! I was at the table most of the day, but managed to slip away to catch the FOX panels on August’s “Alien vs. Predator” and next year’s “Fantastic Four” movies. No shock to anyone that I’m a huge FF fan. A lot of my concerns were alleviated by what was said. But heck… there’s plenty of room to screw things up, since principal shooting hasn’t even started yet. Darlene and I missed the Masquerade this year but that’s fine because we’re VERY LOUD hecklers. As it is, my voice is gonna be shredded tomorrow.

Thanks to Sean McDade — fellow cartoonist and artist from waaay back (like when Cool Jerk was running in the Reno and Palm Springs newspapers) — for blowing a few hours and dollars over dinner!

Remember to check my CafePress shop to get merch that I have on display at the ‘Con.

Well, rip off my head and call me Jayne Mansfield! Check out more dope photos taken today at San Diego Comic-Con International!

Among those photos you’ll see Spidey, who is actually one of the most-loyal Cool Jerk readers around! He and his posse met me last year and clued me in that they used to read Cool Jerk each week in Reno (when it was published in the Reno Gazette-Journal)! Plus there’s Psyche and Bozzi, two swell friends from a ways back, checking out the Puppy thong. And geez there’re so many more people to tip the fez to; suffice it to say that many folks from last year came back to say hi and many more joined the legion o’Jerks!

Costume-wise, we saw at least three Wonder Woman impersonators and one Troia (that’s the grown-up version of Wonder Girl), a fantastic Xena and Black Cat, yet another Nightcrawler, a Raven, a female Riddler, Adam West-style Batman, plenty of furries, several Star Wars characters and the “Prosthetic Forehead Club,” which consisted of about four Klingons and a Hellboy. Holy crap! And the Masquerade isn’t even until tomorrow!

Oh my sweet mother of God in a sidecar with chocolate jimmies and a lobster bib!

Lots of people spreading the love, lemme tell ya! Gotta say hi to a bunch of ‘Jerks from last year who sought me out and said hi. Jesse from Guam showed up; he used to work at the paper (Pacific Daily News) that ran Cool Jerk on its teen page a decade ago! Many more ‘Jerks from the four corners of the U.S. were initiated to the ever-growing ranks of subscribers. ‘Jerk farthest from home today: Nathan Rice from Portland, ME.

Remember to check my CafePress shop to get merch that I have on display at the ‘Con.

Yes, I mean you! This is a family environment! For God’s sake, cover yourself up!

I’ll be selling a variety of swell Cool Jerk T-shirts, including a brand-spanking-new one of fan-favorite Maggot! Plus, I’ll be displaying a variety of awesome merch, including mousepads, mugs, Frisb- er, I mean “flying discus,” tank tops, ringer Ts and even a trucker hat! Unfortunately, some samples are not for sale; I’m only using them for display because I want to keep a low overhead.

But you know what? The quality is really good! On one shirt I reprinted a favorite strip. The printing on the shirt is so clear it looks better than it does on paper.Screw the Web! I might start printing new strips on shirts from now on!

The runaway favorite is the girl’s ringer T. And the thong.

Can’t make it to the ‘Con? Or are you going but still REALLY WANT to get your hands on this swell swag? They’re all available at my online store, located here!

Not to worry, O Faithful One. I’ll have plenty of freebees at the table, too. Come snag a sticker or two, a button, a sampler book with about five dozen strips in it and some collectible cards (OK they’re really business cards, but there are nine different versions)! See you there!

That’s where you can find me at San Diego Comic-Con International, Thursday – Sunday. It’s in the back of Exhibit Hall B, kinda near the concession area and bathrooms. Hey! Wait a sec! Isn’t that where the waiter seats you if you don’t have a reservation?!? Maybe I oughta slipped the placement manager a fin for a better spot.

Actually, it’s a good place. It’s like last year’s spot, but in the main hall instead of the expansion. There’s no one in front of my row so I can attract many passers-by with freebees and taunts.

Yes, the scent of Comic-Con is in the air.

San Diego Comic-Con International — the largest freakshow of its kind in the world — is coming back to town later this month. Our man Horn has a table again this year, and this time he’s armed with a California Business Seller’s Permit. So you’ll actually be able to BUY some crap, like T-shirts and mousepads, this year. I’ll post the particulars (table location, stuff he’s selling, etc.) as the info becomes available.

No, not really. My Mac’s hard drive DID crash — and burn — and I cannot blame Ms. Bellucci or Salma Hayek for what happened.

So all you thousands of ‘Jerk subscribers who eagerly await my e-mail reminder message each week had to do without last week… and probably this week, too. All I can do right now is just post a new strip each week and hope for a Pavlovian response from all my drooling doggies.

So, more news later. Bear with me while I get my Mac up and running.

***UPDATE***

A trip to Fry’s and $50 later, I have a new hard drive. The old hard drive is gone forever. I lost a handful of Cool Jerk strips (luckily I draw all ‘Jerks with brush and ink, so all I really lost were a few scans of those originals) and other stuff here and there… but all in all the disaster rated a 3 on the 0-10 scale of Computer DOOM.

I cannot stress the importance of making off-CPU dupes of files.

<> The black-clad Goth chicks in the first strip are the Lynch Mob, a trio (coven?) of cinema undergrads who are devoted to David Lynch. They’re some of my favorite characters at Spittle Beach.

<> Darling Alien is a Cool Jerk pseudonym for… well… let’s just say the name has been changed to protect the innocent.

<> No joke regarding the fact that I haven’t made any strips making word-play with Puppy Fizgig’s name, until now. Unlike Armpit, who got an armpit joke on my second-ever comic strip.

<> This is for the folks who don’t live in Southern California: The gal who appeared last week is indeed Angelyne Billboard Queen, a Hollywood pseudo-celebrity who has become famous because she paid for the ads. Spot her in “Earth Girls Are Easy” and on the California Governor Recall ballot.

<> No, I didn’t forget to show you what was on the greeting card Armpit was holding. Keep reading, effendi! I added that “bonus deleted panel” to the last strip.

<> The “It’s so cute I want to smash its face to make it ugly!” line in the last strip was actually spoken by my girlfriend, regarding Mr. Winkle. We laughed so hard about it that it actually became the impetus for this whole storyline.

Thanks to the tens of thousands of folks who signed up for the weekly Cool Jerk reminder service at San Diego Comic-Con International last month!

For those of you who aren’t subscribers, what you’re missing out on is a weekly email message I blind carbon-copy (bcc:) to thousands of rabid Cool Jerk fans. It’s the most effective way to remind folks that there’s a new strip online. This is mainly necessary because Cool Jerk is not daily, and I bet there are some of you who don’t “toon” in every day. And the bcc: is to prevent some potential wingnut on the list from spamming everyone else on the list.

So that’s my pitch. If you popped onto this page and aren’t a subscriber, then mouse down, homeslice! The SUBMIT button awaits!

I’ve got a fever… and the only prescription, is more cowbell.