The Past Few Months In TransCat!

For those of you with sharp eyes, yes, that is Don Bluth's signature.
Earlier this year at Sac-Con, I had an incredibly rare opportunity to meet the man who gave us one of MY personal favourite movies growing up "An American Tail: Feivel Goes West", among many, many others. The line to meet him was gigantic. That's usually the thing that deters me from wanting to meet celebrities at cons, even ones I especially admire. However, fortune smiled on me and my lovely friend Courteney as we took a break from our table in the Artist Alley to give the rest of the con a run-through. We noticed the line to his table was thinning out towards the end of the day, and we knew we'd never have a better shot at meeting one of the architects of our childhood.
Most people who were waiting in line to meet Mr. Bluth were hoping for original sketches of original Bluth characters. Princess Daphne from Dragon's Lair was a popular request. Courteney got Mrs. Brisby. I figured this once in a lifetime opportunity called for something special. I quickly grabbed my phone and looked for a picture of TransCat to show Mr. Bluth as reference and asked if he'd be so kind to draw me  sketch of my original character! To my delight, he was happy to. I seriously could not be more honoured. I mean, I'm honoured to receive fan art as it is, but from someone whose work I've respected for basically my whole life was not a thing I ever expected.
He was so cheerful and jolly as well! I've run into my fair share of artists who are probably a quarter of Bluth's age and an eighth of his talent who are already totally burnt out on the con scene. Not Bluth though! This man seemed like he just couldn't possibly have been happier to be there, and all too willing to draw basically whatever came to mind from his fans. I only got to talk with him for a short time because even though the line was short at time time, I didn't want to hold it up, but wow! What an experience! This is a story I'm going to be telling for a long, long time. Alongside my Matt Groening story, of course!

Sac-Anime was an all around success! Which was great to have, since my whole life has been bogged down with a rapidly piling work schedule and possibly the worst case of seasonal depression I think I've ever had. I actually had to be taken to the ER a few nights ago because my head hurt so bad I couldn't see. Everyone I described my symptoms to said they were worried about a migraine, or a brain hemorrhaging. After the CT scan they said it was just a tension headache. I had to be rushed to the ER because i had too many feelings. How fucked up is that?
At least I got a couple days out of work out of it.
I admit, even though i'm glad it's nothing serious, I felt a little guilty going to the ER and taking time off work for essentially no reason. I'm just that kind of person, I guess. I always want to be doing something. Logic dictates that I should have spent my days off drawing, but instead I think I watched Gorillaz music videos on Youtube, slept a lot and went to go see the new James Bond film.
Oh, I was also on the phone arguing with my insurance company about why my ER visit wasn't gonna be covered. Don't worry, I got it sorted out.
James Bond was also pretty good.

Also! Happy Birthday to ME! :D
Yeah that was two days ago, in the throws of my feelings headache. I was considering uploading some special birthday art for myself because I'm an egomaniac, but I'm more concerned right now about doing a second draft for the cover of TransCat #6.
It was my hope to debut the new issue at GX3 but I've had so many setbacks, especially in recent months that it seems impossible. I won't stop trying, though, and at the very least I'll be able to release in December, thus adhering to my commitment of releasing a book every 3 months.
I am nothing if not punctual.

Let see, what else happened in the past three months?
I went to A.P.E.! For the first time in years! Oh, I missed A.P.E. a lot! It's changed considerably, but the heart is still there. I sort of miss the days when it was in dreary ass San Francisco. As much as I hate that city, there was something very heart warming about being there in the middle of October, when it was cloudy, foggy and most likely raining and walking into the warm, loving and artistic atmosphere that is A.P.E.
An oasis among the tumult and discord of the city. A bastion of camaraderie in a town that would eat you alive at a moment's notice. There, I felt safe, in an unsafe world.

But if we're gonna be real, moving to San Jose has made everything better.
I mean, for one, the parking was easier!
I think it also brought in a bigger turnout, both of artists AND audience.
I also got to be on another panel! Yes! Very similar in scope to the panel I was on at ComicCon but you know, obviously smaller scale.



There's me in the center, on my phone, like a professional :P
I couldn't find any shots of the panel actually in session, only this one from when we're waiting for it to actually start. But it was good! Lots of good questions and lots of good answers. If there was one thing the ComicCon panels lacked was more time for Q&A. We got down to that right quick at this panel! It was great! I would definitely like to take part in more of these. I enjoy them quite a lot.

What else is going on?

I've got an exclusive TransCat story appearing in the upcoming Alphabet Anthology which you can read all about HERE. I don't think i have a bio up yet but the book ain't coming out till March or something anyway, so we got time.There's also a cool colouring book project I've been tapped to do, which I'm excited about :D and another anthology in the works.

Basically, you're gonna be seeing a lot of Knave next year, as if you'd have it any other way. ;-)