Since my checks evidently didn’t bounce, I can now share the official schedule of Cool Jerk comic-con appearances in 2012 thus far; Cool Jerk may attend a ‘con or two later in the year. (Any suggestions?)

Staple! • Austin, TX

March 3-4

We’ve never been to Austin or Staple! so we’re really looking forward to this little independent show. We’ve heard nothing but good things about the city, the people and the attendees’ appetite for comics.

WonderCon • Anaheim

March 16-18

This will be Cool Jerk’s fifth year at WonderCon! They moved the venue from San Francisco while the Moscone Center is being renovated, so it’ll be interesting to see who makes the pilgrimage down from the Bay Area.

Phoenix Comicon • Phoenix

May 27-30

Really on the fence about Phoenix Comicon. The last time I tabled there (2010) it seemed more like “early Halloween” than a place for people to buy comics. So I’m likely giving it a pass.

Denver Comic Con • Denver

June 15-17

Cool Jerk has never exhibited in Denver, either… and that’s probably because Denver has never had a comic-con before now! The inaugural Denver Comic Con looks to fill the comic-con void in the Rockies, drawing in people from several adjacent states!

Comic-Con International • San Diego

July 11-15

Ten years in a row for Cool Jerk, in the same spot as always (Small Press K10, next to the restrooms and vomitorium)!

GeekGirlCon • Seattle

TBD (October?)

In lieu of spring’s Emerald City Comic-Con, Cool Jerk will be attending the second GeekGirlCon in the fall (if they hold a second con — stay tuned).

So mark your calendars, put in vacation time, book those flights and bring your wallets!

Thought I’d do a quick recap of my Cool Jerk book signing at The Comic Bug in Manhattan Beach last Wednesday.

I arrived a bit early (I padded my drive time by an extra hour because it was raining pretty hard between San Diego and L.A.) and hung out with The Bug Crew— Mike, Jun and Greg. By time I got my table set up, justJENN and her youthful entourage (read: kids) arrived with boxes of cupcakes for book-buyers.

And let me tell you about the cupcakes. When I opened a box and peeked in, I burst into laughter. JENN had decorated each of the scrumptious red velvet cupcakes with a little Cool Jerk art element! So people could choose a Yuri Tomato cupcake, a Ghost of Paul Lynde cupcake or a projectile-puking Seashelly Dumpster cupcake (I ate that one). There were a couple bonus cupcakes adorned with images of my face and business card. (I worried if someone would choose those!)

Turnout was pretty good for a dreary* and humid Wednesday, and nearly everyone who stopped by the table and bought something was a new face! Thanks to Felix, Michelle and her family, Greg (and Alex, by proxy), Alan, Liz and Dianne (aka Pirate Space Queen) for adding Cool Jerk books to your Buy Pile this week! Also I got to meet comics writer Tracey Claverie. He was doing a signing for his comic, Scar Unit, right next to me. When there were lulls in patrons we ended up talking about comics influences, inappropriate cosplay and the best cheeseburgers in the tri-county area. Good guy, that Tracey.

Thanks again to The Comic Bug and justJENN, without whom the signing wouldn’t have been possible.

*Steve Jobs, R.I.P.

(That’s “Taking Care of Business,” as Elvis would say)

A couple weekends ago Darlene and I attended my 25th high school reunion in Carson City, Nev. This is the first one I’ve been to since the 10th in 1996 (I didn’t know there was a 15th, and I missed the 20th in 2006 because it was the same weekend as San Diego Comic-Con). It was a lovely affair, and I got to meet up and reminisce with many friends and former classmates, and even finally meet a few face-to-face for the first time. The festivities— ranging from a barbecue at Mark Funke’s home to golf and meet-ups at bars and restaurants— started Friday afternoon and lasted through Sunday. We only had time to socialize on Friday.

It was a lot of fun and doubly so to introduce Darlene to many kids (yeah, I know we’re all in our early forties… it’s a habit) I used to see in classes and pal around with. A couple kids (Wendy Johnston and… oh, jeez I forgot!) mentioned they still had my first business card from when I was a senior. Wow! How cool is that! Darlene hadn’t even seen that one before, so she suggested my next blog post should showcase my freelance business cards.

So here we go!

Here’s my first freelance business card, from my senior year. “86 RULES, DUDE!!” Can you tell I didn’t have access to a Macintosh?? This little beauty was created with a Sharpie marker (a dull one, by looks of it) and was likely created in less time than it took for me to write this paragraph.

I like to think I had other freelance business cards during college… but I did not. I probably used one of the business cards I created for the UNR Sagebrush newspaper staff, which also had a self-portrait on it. Regardless, here’s a set of six freelance cards from 1990 (photos taken by Greg Moyle).

When I moved to San Diego in 1994, those cards became obsolete. I didn’t have freelance business cards until I started professionally exhibiting at San Diego Comic-Con in 2003, and I would just use Cool Jerk cards (reminder to self: do a blog post showcasing all those cards). But after I quit The San Diego Union-Tribune in 2006, I realized I needed a card that showcased my mad infographics skillz, yo. So that’s when I created the current card.

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!)

– – – – –

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!

– – – – –

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.

– – – – –

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.

– – – – –

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

Hope to see you there!

I’ll be having a book signing at Sundance Bookstore in Reno, Saturday, April 16! Christine Kelly has been a friend of Cool Jerk since my first book and Sundance was the perfect venue for my first Northern Nevada signing. And speaking of friends…

Nancy Horn — owner of DISH Cafe — agreed to partner with me for the signing. And by “agreed” I mean “succumbed to blackmail.” See, Nancy and I go WAY back. Back in the college days, we both worked for the UNR Sagebrush (she was the variety editor and wrote a food column, and I was production director, page designer and staff cartoonist). In fact, SHE’S responsible for the “death” of Doc Splatter, back in 1990. Well, we’ve both pursued our dreams, and over the past several years she’s become a foodie luminary in Northern Nevada. You might’ve eaten at DISH, read about her in various regional and national publications or even seen her on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Well, she’ll be there with Cool Jerk-related desserts that’s still under wraps at this writing. But I guarantee it’ll be fun and flavorful.

Here’s how I’m folding the comics-and-cuisine thing together into a riot-inducing, must-not-miss event: For every Cool Jerk book you purchase, you get a DISH coupon for FREE EATS! I’ll only have a couple/few dozen coupons so it’s first come/first served, and there’s a limit of four tickets per person.

I’ll have all four Cool Jerk and Doc Splatter books on hand, ready to personalize to you with a sketch. Also, I’ll be bringing buttons, stickers, t-shirts, original art sketches and canvas panels. It’ll be like a micro comic-con, but with free admission and free food!

The signing is only two hours (1pm to 3pm) so be sure to schedule your appetite accordingly!

ps Nancy Horn is no relation, actually, but my for-realz sister will be there!

I’m sure many of you have seen my recent guest-artist run with comic writer Kevin Church (The Rack — Halloweek). If not… GO THERE FIRST BEFORE YOU READ ANY MORE OF THIS.

This is Kevin’s and my third annual Halloween collaboration, and since I detailed how I create Cool Jerk a few months back, I though I’d share how I did these strips for Kevin. It was a bit of a departure for me, in several ways.

First, I’m working with someone. Crazy! Kevin types up his screenplay (for lack of a better layman term), detailing each panel, caption and sound effect. Kevin even went so far as to include hyperlinks to source images, in the event I didn’t know what type of gun or video game I was supposed to draw. So for this Halloweek, there were five screenplays.

Another difference from my Standard Operating Procedure is that I’m working with characters not my own. Now, this happens all the time in comic books, but rarely for me. So I plowed through The Rack Year One (Mostly), Kevin and regular series artist Benjamin Birdie’s first volume of The Rack, and worked up my own variations of his characters. It’s kind of fun to play in someone else’s sandbox every now and then!*

The most-obvious aspect of Halloweek that differs sharply from Cool Jerk is… Sharpies. When I cartoon for myself, I use brush and ink; always have (well, since 1988… and I use Koh-I-Noor rapidographs or Sakura Pigma Micron pens for Doc Splatter). But, a couple years ago, I did the 24 Hour Comics Day challenge all in Sharpies. It allows me to adopt a loose and manic style which works great for Doc Splatter, plus it saves my hand from cramping up (which can happen if I use the brush for too long). Each Halloweek strip is about 98% Sharpie, and 2% Photoshop trickery and retouching.

Finally, The Rack uses a Comicraft font called Monologous. Thing is, Monologous doesn’t have a lowercase, so I have to use Comicraft’s BlahBlahBlah for those instances. (I also snuck in a tiny bit of Hornopolis hee hee. Look for it.)

The actual cartooning process was similar to Cool Jerk. Penciled roughs, printed panels, lightbox, Macintosh post-production, etc.

Thanks to Kevin for another harrowing week outside my comfort zone, and to Benjamin Birdie for clearing a week from your regular schedule.

*I recently did an illustration for Sarah Kuhn of her characters, featured in her witty and delightful book One Con Glory.

I had a book signing for Cool Jerk Vol. 3: Bimboozled this past Saturday at M-Theory Music here in San Diego, and it was the best three+ hours I’ve had since my written driver’s test! Like I mentioned earlier (see the previous blog post), I wanted to have a consolation ‘con — a “Cool Jerk Comic-CAN” — for local friends and allies of Cool Jerk who couldn’t make it to Comic-Con this past summer. So I set up a mini-version of my SDCCI “tablescape” and sold some books!

Now, I’ve done a few book signings over the past 3-4 years, but this one was special for a few reasons:

• I used Facebook and Twitter (in conjunction with the weekly Cool Jerk e-mailer) to get the word out. Likewise, Darlene also contacted a few of her local friends via her food-blogging and comics aficionado circles. Believe it — those two worlds overlap!

• Darlene managed to get San Diego’s premier mobile cuisine (read: taco truck) Tabe BBQ to partner with us for the first 90 minutes. AND — to sweeten the deal — I whipped up some Taco Tickets for book-buyers (buy a book, get a free taco).

• M-Theory Music also has a weekly newsletter, plus a calendar of events (like mine) on their website.

• San Diego City Beat ran a blurb about the signing in the most-recent issue.

It was a synergetic synchronicity of comics, music and delicious Asian-fusion cuisine! Not a bad way to spend a warm autumn evening in America’s Finest City!

Thanks to a chunk of the Poway Posse — Nathan, Joe, Ben, Barry, Mack and rookie inductee Gary — for coming down to get Bimboozled! Also, a contingent of former Union-Tribune colleagues showed up to get the ‘Jerk (Chris, Steve, Janine, Anna, Mike, Jenny, Sandy, Ani and Bruce). Bethany Jordan and her friend Joey came by, as did Alex Gamboa and Darlene’s high-school video instructor, Mr. Lakin (and his entourage). I also finally got to meet the hilarious and enigmatic food-and-pop-culture blogger Canine Cologne (also with entourage). And, lastly, thanks to Rick at M-Theory Music for hosting the event, and to Chef Todd and Matt from Tabe BBQ for making it 40% more awesome (and 100% more delicious)!

Had a nice, busy Cool Jerk-related day yesterday. Comic-Con is barely a week in the rear view mirror, but that doesn’t mean I rest on my laurels until the next convention or store signing. Oh no. I loaded up the car and headed up to Los Angeles. Mission: Bimboozled.

My first stop was Tustin. No, wait. My first stop was Port of Subs in Oceanside. Gotta eat some #8 for breakfast! (I considered sending JustJenn a photo, as is tradition.)

OK. My first Bimboozled-related stop was Comics Toons and Toys in Tustin. The owner — Matt Powers — and his #1 henchman Ken Rolow have long been allies and advocates of Cool Jerk. In fact, my second-ever store signing (in Dec. 2005) was there. Their inventory showed Hodabeast only, and Matt was kind enough to add Chickadoowa, Bimboozled and Doc Splatter Ominous Omnibus to their store. Yay!

My next stop was in Pasadena. I’d been to Comics Factory a few times, the most recent time I spotted a copy of Hodabeast on their shelf. So I introduced myself to George (the owner) and let him know I have three more books! He took a stack off my hands, cut me a check and we wished each other a good day.

Like a moth to a flame, I can’t get within a 20-mile radius of Burbank without stopping in to Porto’s Bakery for some lunch (potato ball sandwich) and to one of my all-time favorite comic shops: House of Secrets. Erik and Paul have been staunch supporters of Cool Jerk for years, and they hosted a store signing for me in January. Their clientele are loyal and friendly. All Erik needed to see was one copy of Bimboozled and nothing need be said by me, as he just said “let’s do it.” And now House of Secrets has the full Cool Jerk library.

Off to Meltdown on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. I “officially” met Leslie (creator of the Beastlies), whom I’ve seen and said “hi” to a few times at Comic-Con over the years. Unfortunately, the head cheese Chris was recording a podcast so I was unable to strike up a partnership. I left copies of three books for his consideration, and a promise to contact him when it’s not so busy. (Meltdown does have a couple copies of Hodabeast in stock)

It wasn’t the smartest plan to drop in on comics shops on a Wednesday, aka New Comics Day. The busiest day of the week. But it was necessary, because my NEXT stop was The Comic Bug in Manhattan Beach… and thus the true reason for the trip north.

Unlike the other shops I visited, this one wasn’t about Cool Jerk. It was about JustJenn. Darlene’s and my friend Jenn was having a store signing (is that the right term?), selling her stationery, pads, buttons, badges, posters and related handmade design collectibles and ephemera. And cupcakes. Ohh-h-h-h. The cupcakes.

Besides being an outstanding food blogger and graphic designer, Jenn also bakes a mean cupcake. The ones she was selling (or giving away as samples, or with purchase) were meticulously decorated with some of the more popular Marvel or DC superhero logos.

That Superman logo was a jaw-dropper.

Not only did she make up one special for me (Fantastic Four logo), but the cupcakes themselves were “Horn Specials” — Red Velvet with Cream Cheese frosting and Ovaltine with Ovaltine Ganache frosting. (They’re nicknamed “Horn Specials” because Jenn did these exact cupcake varieties for Darlene’s and my wedding last summer, minus comic logos.)

Jenn already blogged about the event, so I won’t steal her thunder. But from my side of the table, it was a lot of fun. I saw a bunch of friends, most of whom are on Twitter (@sarahkuhn, @fakejeffchen, @foodlibrarian, @waffles) and met Jenn’s friend Cheryl (who bought a set of Cool Jerk books from me curbside at Jenn’s suggestion) and Jenn’s grandmother, aka The O.G.

For 12 hours yesterday, it was like a bonus sixth day of Comic-Con. Sure I sold a bunch of books, but I also bought more comics than I did during comic-con. I also met friends, made new ones, helped support a pal. Good day.