Spent this last weekend in Oklahoma City at the OAFcon (Oklahoma Alliance of Fandom). Bit of a reunion of sorts -- the 1970 OAFcon was the first comic convention I ever attended. Both times I went with my friend, comic dealer Bob Beerbohm (www.BLBComics.com). This time we were accompanied by his daughter Katie.

The big attraction of the show for me was the chance to finally meet my longtime friend in fandom, Bill Schelly. I contributed to Bill's fanzine Sense of Wonder back in the 1960s. He's gone on to be a well-known author on comics and comics fandom, as well as the biographer of silent screen great Harry Langdon . We've been in intermittent contact on the 'net in recent years, but we'd never met in person. Here's a photo of Bill and I (I'm on the left, Bill in the middle ) with Texas Trio member Buddy Saunders on the right.

The highlight of Friday was an hour or so in the evening spent with Bill and Bob, convention organizer Bart Bush, Grant Irwin and Larry Bigman -- six knowledgable guys having a conversation (and sometimes multiple simultaneous conversations) about comics. I've gotta get a copy of the beautiful book on Noel Sickles that was passed around the room.

On Saturday I won a door prize in the trivia contest by being the first one to shout out Roy Rogers' real name: Leonard Slye. Easy for me -- Rogers/Slye and I share a birthday. The prize was a nice little paperback reprint of 1921 Krazy Kat dailies. Later, I won a copy of the first issue of Harvey Comics Flash Gordon in the auction.

I probably wouldn't have bid, but longtime EC fan Roger Hill announced that the cover was drawn by Harvey art director Warren Kremer -- quite a departure from his Stumbo work! That made the comic a must-have -- and I made a beeline over to Hill after the auction to pick his brain about Kremer. Turns out he interviewed the great artist late in life. I'm hoping to track down the interview eventually.

I also got to talk with a lot of prominent longtime fans: Bud Plant, Craig Yoe, Don Maris, Jerry Weist, Robert Brown and my Comicart-l cohort from KC, Greg Huneryager. Quite a good time, actually. Once I get all the photos processed I'll do a little mini-feature on the con for my website.

After a month of trying to attract the attention of media types to my newly-published comic, a little progress has been made. Last night at the CAG meeting I met the Features Editor for the Daily Nebraskan, the university paper (for which I was an editorial cartoonist back in the dim recesses of history). Then tonight I spent an hour or so talking with a reporter from the local daily newspaper, after which he and a photographer came over to the house and photos were taken. I am led to believe something will appear in next Monday's newspaper.

I hope it doesn't make me look any weirder than I already am. If that's even possible.

Thought I'd share a couple of recent original art acquisitions. The first is by Rick Geary, an artist I've long admired:

It was used for a Shakespeare festival -- apparently "Shakespeare II," which accounts for the two fingers. Looks like the ol' Bard is wishing us "Peace."

And the other is by Al Jaffee, the nonagenarian creator of the Mad fold-in -- and it depicts EC publisher Bill Gaines. Here's the original art:

And here's the published version, with dialogue:

If I remember correctly, my 9th grade Latin teacher taught us that "Shakespeare" translates as "Pilvivibrator" in Latin -- "pilvus" being spear and "vibrator" meaning, well, vibrator. Might be that "pilvi" was supposed to have two "i"s -- it's been a long time since 9th grade Latin!

My order at Ka-Blam finally changed status today, from "Print Pending" to "Order Printing." Yay! I went through the process for getting the book set up for sale at IndyPlanet (print-on-demand retail site), but got an error message when I uploaded the info, so I may have to re-do that. But I ought to have the book in hand by the first part of next week, I would think.

Bought a new digital camera yesterday. Went out to the farmstead near Wahoo that I photographed back in May and took some summer photos. One day I plan to paint the same scene in each of the four seasons. (If my experience mowing my yard this morning, and trudging through tall grass out by the farm is any indication, we are about to be devoured by a plague of grasshoppers. Newly hatched little green hoppers are thick out there.)

Okay, the invoice came early this afternoon, along with the online proof sheets so I could check everything and make sure it was okay -- and it WAS okay. So now Ka-Blam (the digital printers) have been paid, and there's nothing left to do but wait for them to print and ship the books.

Yay!

Saturday was a big day for me -- my comic went off to the printers. I sent all the digital files on CD by USPS Overnight Express; since it was a Saturday, delivery isn't actually guaranteed until noon tomorrow. Once they get the files, they verify that they're actually printable (fingers crossed!), then prepare an invoice and email it to me. I'm s'posed to pay by Paypal within 24 hours (the money's in the bank, ready). Then, by the 20th or so of August, four years of work -- off and on -- culminates in copies of an actual COMIC in my hot little hands.

If all goes well. (I wouldn't wanna jinx it!)

I couldn't have done it without my friend and fellow Comicbook Artist Guild member Tom Floyd. He scanned my pages for me, got me started coloring the cover in PhotoShop, and showed me how to prepare the files. He's been nominated for an Emmy this year (!) for a program he worked on for Nebraska Public Television, and his incredible animation of dueling mastodons is scheduled to be broadcast nationally on Nova on the 30th of June. I'm lucky to have a top-flight guy like that for a friend! (If you haven't read the online adventures of Captain Spectre and admired Tom's artistry, go immediately to www.captainspectre.com).

(Addendum, half an hour later): Just used the USPS tracking and found out my package was delivered in Orlando, Florida this morning at 11:37 am. Now I want that invoice! Where's my invoice? I can't wait! I'm getting insufferable already!

Maybe that's "weiner"...

Or whiner...

But anyway, my co-worker Matt (who cleaned up big-time in the National Arts Program competition -- his photos took 1st place and Best of Show) brought me photos today that his dad took at the awards ceremony. I post one here because the city cut me out of the televised awards ceremony -- they showed my winning watercolor, but edited out my getting the check and ribbon.

Of course, they also edited out the sound of the entire program, including (embarrassingly) the mayor's remarks, the names of all the Honorable Mentions, the thank-yous from the Lincoln Arts Council representatives.... Pretty amateur all the way around.

Anyway, here's the picture:

The other major event of the week was seeing Steve Earle play at the Rococo Theatre last Friday. His wife Allison Moorer opened the show and sang a few tunes with Steve, who also played some songs with a DJ adding beats. Otherwise, a solo show. He played guitars (including some jazzy riffs on a National Steel), bouzouki and banjo -- to my surprise, no mandolin -- and did some of my longtime favorites ("The Devil's Right Hand," "My Old Friend The Blues," "Little Rock'n'Roller") as well as more recent material.

My friend Laurie McClain turned me on to Earle a couple decades ago. A wonderful singer-songwriter (look her up on MySpace), she moved to Nashville several years ago. But when I turned to leave, there she was! Her daughter Anna, who lives in Lincoln, had a baby recently and Laurie, like me, wouldn't miss a Steve Earle show.

Best line of the night: looking out at the palatial Rococo, Earle quipped, "Wecome to Hogwarts!"

This is the second year that city employees and their relations have been eligible to participate in the National Arts Program. I entered a couple of pieces, and won third place in the "adult professional" category for a prize of a hundred bucks. The piece that won is a watercolor with collage, the companion piece to the snake-handed man that won at the state fair (see my earlier blog).

It makes me laugh, though. The two paintings typically hang right outside my bathroom in the hallway -- and now they've both won ribbons. I've got the snazziest bathroom decorations in town!

All the art entered in the contest is on display at libraries throughout Lincoln -- Gere, Eiseley and Walt -- until May 21st. I believe my stuff is at Gere (56th & Normal).

On a completely unrelated note, I'm a little bummed that MySpace has apparently removed the little widget from the blogs that let you display what you're currently reading, watching or listening to. That's why I initially chose to blog here instead of other sites. Darn!

Okay, it took me more than a month to decide on a title (I picked an appropriate one, don't'cha think?) and draw the cover -- but, as of this afternoon, that's all done. Now the comic is well and truly complete (except for writing and pasting up the indicia). The creative part is done. Now on to the production woes!

Oh, and here's the cover: