Hatter Entertainment

Coville’s Clubhouse

Gregg August 2, 2009 Behind the Scenes

One of the little joys of conventions is putting faces to names and meeting people who you until then only knew over the phone or e-mail, etc.

At this past Comic-Con in San Diego, I finally put a face to a name I’d first encountered nearly 10 years ago: Jamie Coville.

At the end of 1999 I was an assistant editor at Marvel Comics. I had pencilled a series of anti-drug Spider-Man comics that appeared in every Marvel Comic for several months. I was going to both write and draw a recently approved special project for Marvel. And shortly thereafter I was offered a job as a full-time illustrator for Nickelodeon in their licensing department. Lots going on. And amidst all that, a guy in Canada e-mailed me asking to interview me for his web site.

That guy was the aforementioned Jamie Coville and from the time of that request to the time the interview was posted (March 2000), I had officially left Marvel Comics to start work at Nickelodeon and the special project that was approved was summarily cancelled as I was drawing page six.

But the interview remains online as a kind of archival relic of where I was nearly 10 years ago. For those interested, patient, or bored enough to read it, it’s quite thorough, covering everything from how I got started to the day-to-day of an assistant editor to influences and long-terms plans/dreams. As this was the first time anyone had really shown any interest in me as a professional, I was quite a chatty Cathy.

And there was this now hard-to-believe-in-2009 question: “What kind of cartoon is SpongeBob SquarePants?” and my answer. Hard to believe there was a time where people didn’t know what is now the phenomenon of SpongeBob SquarePants (who is currently celebrating 10 years of being on Nickelodeon). Weird to realize I was kind of, in a way, part of that so early on.

So, if you’re bored and want to read more of my ramblings (albeit from a while back – though much of my thoughts still ring true to me), check it out here.

And more to the initial point, finally meeting Jamie Coville was great. I’m not sure in the moment at the con that I was properly able to convey what that time was like for me and how much fun and how flattering it was to be part of that interview. Jamie has, over the years, established himself as a comics historian with several web sites documenting the history of comics. You can find a couple of those here and here. and I guess I’m happy to be even a small blip in that history, thanks, in part, to Jamie Coville.

It was a pleasure to finally meet him face to face. Thanks for stopping by to say hi, Jamie.

San Diego Comic-Con 2009: DONE.

Gregg July 29, 2009 Comics 3 Comments

Every year it comes, and every year you think you might be ready for it…but you never are.

The crowds and the scene in San Diego and at Comic-Con were once again bigger and more intense than the year prior. And again the same refrain was uttered: “It’s not even about comics anymore!” But, from where I was sitting in Artists Alley, comics were very much what it was about. Comics, comic art, superheroes… Way back in the southwest corner of the San Diego Convention Center – hundreds of feet from the big booths and displays set up by the various television and movie studios and video game companies – people were into getting sketches drawn of their favorite characters and meeting and chatting with the guys and gals who create the comics.

At least, that’s how it felt from where I was sitting:

aatable_pov (POV from my table in Artists Alley – A moment of calm – Sunday, 7/26/09)

X-BABIES #1 – The Cover!

Gregg July 21, 2009 Comics

Here’s the cover art to X-BABIES #1 by Skottie Young.

xbaby001_small

I think Nightcrawler looks particularly rad; dig that as yet unteleported tail!

And lo, there was a Comic-Con!

Gregg July 19, 2009 Comics

San Diego’s Comic-Con International begins Wednesday night, July 22nd, with Preview Night and runs through Sunday, July 26th. When I’m not eating burgers, barbecue and fish tacos, I’ll be stationed in Artist Alley at table GG-12. I’ll be selling sketches, mini-comics, and original art from SpongeBob comics and some animated-style Batman books, as well as doing sketches.

In addition, I’ll have previews of both my PIX: TEENAGE AMERICAN FAIRY story that’ll be serialized in G-MAN: CAPE CRISIS as well as a full set of pencils (all 22 pages + cover art by Skottie Young*) to check out from X-BABIES #1. And speaking of X-BABIES #1, stop by for a FREE promotional bookmark (which’ll also serve as a friendly reminder of when the first issue comes out and how much you’ll want to buy it when it does).

And if that’s not incentive enough, I’ll be sitting, as I often do, with my good friends and fellow comics creators Jacob Chabot (to my right) and Chris Giarrusso (to my left). Three cartoonists in one fell swoop. Something this exciting hasn’t happened in threes since the last time the Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus did their thing!

And finally, for those of you wondering, yes, THE MILLION DOLLAR CONAN O’BRIEN will be making its triumphant return to San Diego in recognition of Mr. O’brien’s new position as host of “The Tonight Show”. Come see it with your own eyes!

Sunny San Diego. 7/22-7/26. Artist Alley table GG-12. Let’s go!

*as far as I know this information hasn’t been released, so you can call that a real live “exclusive” for those of you reading this.

Plugs, Pics, and Pix

Gregg July 6, 2009 Comics

Golly Gee, so much going on…

Let’s start with some plugs.

First, plug-plug for G-MAN: CAPE CRISIS #1, the first issue of an all-new, 5-issue series by my friend and comics’ superstar Chris Giarrusso, who’s best known in comic book circles as the man behind Marvel Comics’ MINI-MARVELS. G-Man is Chris’ own creation, but it’s in the same spirit of the work he’s known for: kids with superpowers being awesome and funny. I’ve read the first issue and it’s great and when it hits comic shops in August, do yourself right and pick up a copy. And if that’s not incentive enough, the book’s got all kinds of back-up strips in it, a couple by yours truly (more on that in a bit).

gman_cc_miniseries_1 Buy this starting in August!

Next plug: KIRBY KRACKLE is a “comic book rock band from Seattle” who I happen to be friends with (that’s right, I know rock stars). They just released their Summer Single titled “Ring Capacity”. And in as much as it’s about DC Comics’ superhero Green Lantern, it’s also a straight-up catchy rocker of a song. And it’s FREE! For serious. Go here, sign up for their mailing list, and boom, they e-mail you an mp3.

single_color Dig it.

X-BABIES Press Round-Up!

Gregg June 24, 2009 Comics 2 Comments

With the announcement of the X-BABIES mini-series coming out October of this year, there was a flurry of press releases and interviews on a number of sites. For easy access, here’s a rundown, complete with links, so you can read a bit more about it and see the way my name has been misspelled (sometimes in the body of the same article).

First up, there’s this piece from Marvel.com, where my name was only misspelled once.

Next, here’s a bit from the Robot 6 blog, short and sweet with a link to the marvel.com piece above.

Newsarama.com posted an interview I did with them. They only got the spelling of my name wrong in the headline.

The article at comicbookresources.com attributed one of my collaborator, Jacob Chabot’s quotes, to me (the one about having read EXCALIBUR: MOJO MAHEM a million times).

Here’s a Q&A up at ign.com…who somehow credit Jacob and I for works we’ve never done (Deathlok for me and 2000AD for Jacob – never happened).

My friends Rob and Craig hipped me to this piece at io9.com, which also reports off the marvel.com release.

Someone even blogged about it at their blog, Full.Body.Transplant.

And here’s a site, superpouvoir.com, translated from French, talking about it (they don’t seem to excited…and apparently Jacob Chabot translates to Jacob Chub, which made me chuckle).

And here are some folks on a newsgroup talking about it, not all of it in glowing terms.

So that’s a whole lot of X-BABIES stuff right there. Soon, I might even talk about some of the other stuff I’m working on…

X-BABIES Announced!

Gregg June 22, 2009 Comics

Just back from Heroes Con in Charlotte, NC – a great show to be sure – where finally, the project I mentioned a while back was officially announced.

So now it can be told: Starting in October I will be writing a 4-issue mini-series for Marvel Comics starring the X-Babies.

(for the uninitiated, the X-Babies are kiddie clones of the X-Men who live on a world where (a) virtually everything is a TV show and (b) the X-Babies are the top rated program)

Drawing this series will be the super-talented Jacob Chabot, who, if you’ve been reading, know was with me in our effort to pitch the Marvel Animals/Spider-Ham story that didn’t fly.

All of that said, there are a few articles popping up on various comics news sites…at some point I’ll post a series of links for easy access.

That and a few more updates to come. Lot’s going on these days…

x-babies_lineup

Comics Chatter

Gregg May 26, 2009 Comics

RE: COMICS!, a column/conversation about comics with Stephen Mayer over at Acme Comics in Greensboro, NC, is up and rolling, for those who care to read my thoughts on, well, comics. So far there’s been an intro column, a discussion of comics’ prices, and this week, talk of decompressed storytelling. If you’re interested in comics, my blathering, or some combination of both, check ’em out.

With Memorial Day behind us, for all intents and purposes, summer has begun. This means summer conventions, of which there are many. I will be at Heroes Convention in Charlotte, NC from June 19-21 and Comic-Con International in San Diego, CA from July 22-26. I’ll post details as to where I’ll be specifically when I know.

And just following up on some earlier bits and pieces:

The aforementioned project with Marvel Comics is moving along. It looks like we’re shooting for an October release, but more importantly, we’re looking at this being “officially announced” in the next two months…possibly even in Charlotte at HeroesCon (see above). Once that happens we’ll be able to talk about it more openly.

And finally, a recommendation: G-MAN: LEARNING TO FLY is a new collection of the creator-owned work of friend and fellow cartoonist Chris Giarrusso.

gmanltfcvr

It just came out last week and it’s great, funny, and fun for all-ages. You can get it at your local comics shop (if they don’t have it, ask them to order copies), Amazon, or you can save a few bucks here. Either way, check it out. It’ll be a nice warm up for his new mini-series coming later this summer (more on that another time as yes, I might be connected in some capacity).

Dr. Kitchenstein Presents: Brownie-Cookie Pie & Ring Ding Bread Pudding

Gregg May 17, 2009 Food 2 Comments

Sometimes all it takes is a simple question – “you wanna bring one of your famous desserts?” – to get the brain parts firing (when it comes to food, it doesn’t take much).

I have been known, among those who know, to get experimental in the kitchen…often taking existing foods and re-presenting them in new forms (i.e. Spinach Pie as a Mac ‘n Cheese) or combining two foods that might not otherwise be combined (i.e. Bacon, Lettuce & Mango Sandwich). Some of these experiments are wonderful successes or surprises and others glorious failures (for the record, both of the above: successes). So recently, when asked to bring desserts to a cookout, I got creative.

A handful of ideas popped into my noggin and I settled on two, determining to save the rest for another day. So now I present “the making of” Brownie-Cookie Pie and Ring Ding Bread Pudding.

Brownie-Cookie Pie came first. The concept of baking a brownie in a pie crust isn’t the most novel idea, as a matter of fact, as much as the idea occurred to me one day, I’ve seen it out in the world, so I wasn’t the only one. As a result, I tried to think of a way to re-think it. I was considering a graham cracker or Oreo cookie crust (and with the graham cracker, maybe a marshmallow icing/frosting, essentially making a s’mores pie), but worried the baking time for the brownie filling could lead to a dry or even burnt crust. Talking it out with someone, they misunderstood, thinking I meant a pie crust made out of cookie dough…an actual cookie crust…an idea I’d (surprisingly) not even considered! And with that I was off to the races.

The prep was pretty simple, really. It started with the forming of the crust:

cookiebrowniepie01

Re: Comics!

Gregg May 13, 2009 Comics

I met the fine folks from Acme Comics (of Greensboro, NC), last September at the Baltimore Comic Con. At that show we spoke, naturally, of comics. That led to some e-mail exchanges and now, Stephen Mayer (one of the aforementioned fine folks), has invited/asked me to participate in a column over at their site (acmecomics.com), where he and I, in a series of e-mail exchanges, will discuss comics and things relating to comics. The name of this series, RE: COMICS (get it? because it’s regarding comics…and it’s like, via e-mail and stuff).

So, if you’ve been thinking there’s not enough comics talk here…or you want some more “insider/industry” type talk without so much explaining, check that out. It’s gonna be a guy who works in/helps run a comic shop in the south taking to a cartoonist in NYC. Could be interesting. Maybe even fun. The plan, as I understand it, is for weekly postings. Time will tell. The best laid plans and all that.

And if you actually want to hear specific topics discussed, by all means, let me know. Click on that li’l comments button at the bottom of this post and have at it.