Genesis of "Liebestrasse" (available June 2022!)

 This has been a very long time coming, and I couldn't be more pleased with this news. Excepting of course, we never had the history to draw from.

The project first started as I toured the Theresienstadt and Auschwitz camps. As the Nazi's attempt to show the world how well they were treating their ghetto inhabitants, Theresienstadt had detailed records that made their way to the museum their today. Reading the stories of the inhabitants, it was easy to read between some lines, as to who there was queer.

Sitting on a bench in Kraków's Planty, I began imaging how normal life must have been like, and one moment later, everything on its head. I imagined what my life might have been like, and the lives of the men whose stories were in the museum. And the first sketches made their way into my sketchbook.

Years later, after Greg Lockard and I had successfully collaborated on several short stories ("Trying Something New," "RE-Infinity," "A Sincere Lack of Manners and Subtlety," and "Star Players") I wanted ask Greg to work with me on the short story version of "Liebestraße" for my collection of romance stories On the Romance Road. All I had were a few sketches and idea for the opening scene (a bait and switch of a normal life upended). Greg and I brainstormed the two main characters, the feasibility of their meeting, and he developed the story. He enlisted the coloring talents of Hector Barros, and we completed the story in 14 pages.

The story was translated to French for the magazine La Revue de LGBT BD and Greg made a mini comic in English for convention sales... and quickly  the folks at ComiXology Originals hired us to expand the short story into a full original graphic novel.

Greg's research and care was a real inspiration for me, both in my drawing of Liebestrasse as well as forging my own goals as a writer as I entered graduate school. 

The book was completed, debuted at Thought Bubble late 2019 as a digital-first publication, and was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comic as well as for a Tripwire Award for Best Graphic Novel. I don't recall the original print plan (thank you Covid brain!) but I am proud to share with you that it will be available from Dark Horse in June 2022. 

And, PS, I took liberal inspiration from an old movie poster of the 1940 Hitchcock version of Rebecca to make this unofficial promo graphic!

Harrogate

This was a fun jaunt!

Greg and I had finished Liebestrasse some time back, and comiXology Originals chose Thought Bubble to release the book. 

They lined up several interviews for us, and a panel. 

Sadly, the panel was poorly advertised... "What's new from comiXology" rather than what the book is about.I think we agreed it would have been better that way. 

I love Leeds, so it was a little sad that the show moved to Harrogate (no offense, Harrogate). But it was nice that Dom trekked over to the show, as did Christophe.

I also had a great chat with a comics pal, Sean, an English guy I met at Angouleme in 2010. In the back pages of one of his books, he mentioned drawing comics in his 50s. As I was about to turn 50, I asked him further about his experiences and feelings. That was great, because it's certainly had been a challenging experience for me, to re-enter the world of exhibiting at shows into my late 40s.

Q-Force

 

My introduction to anime was in the late '70s, when Gatchaman was imported and repackaged as Battle of the Planets, to capitalize on the sci-fi craze reignited by Star Wars.

While Greg, Monica, and I were having a mini comics retreat early in 2019, somehow the idea resurfaced of "us" as members of G-Force (who, in the anime wore bird-themed uniforms: eagle, condor, owl, falcon, swan).

Here we are, Monica the cockatoo, Tim the toucan, and Greg the parrot.

Dublin revisited

 I hadn't been to Dublin in a few years, so it was fun to revisit!

After Thought Bubble, Monica, Greg, and I chose Dublin for our comics retreat. We started having a swell time, camped out in the neighborhood of Stoneybatter, talking about future projects, and drinking. But during the trip the election occurred. 

It was suddenly very awkward to be an American... at pubs we talked very quietly if at all, to avoid conversations about the election. 

Our last full day of the trip, a coworker of mine arrived for her Irish holiday, and Kayla's presence added a light-hearted dimension for a final night of frivolity.

Blurry

Though I was tired and eager to be home, I was also happy to be in NYC, and was able to see many of my pals there during NY Comic Con and throughout the week. I asked Goo-Goo to be my personal shopper, which he was very excited about. But generally, his ambition runs low, and when it comes to shopping, my ambition always runs low. We made it to one store, didn't try anything on, and didn't buy anything. We then went to dinner with wine, and then drinks. Since I am not a big drinker, it wasn't long before I was fairly tipsy. Add to that my big brother little brother relationship I have with Goo-Goo, I caught myself giving all kinds of unsolicited advice! Ultimately, I had a little out-of-body experience: I could hear myself droning on, but really had no idea what I was saying, and was definitely seeing double. And poor Goo-Goo was clearly a bit bored or beaten down from my time on the soapbox. Time to leave the bar, eh?