abbycomix

I’m in the new video game inspired anthology Life Meter 2. My story is about “Bust A Groove!” It will be debuting at the MOCCA Art Fest June 23-24 and features art by lots of great folks. Here’s a list:

Original comic stories debuting in LM2:
METROID by Joel Carroll (Flight)
GUITAR HERO by Jacob Chabot (Mighty Skullboy Army)
DOUBLE DRAGON by Debbie Huey (Bumper Boy)
SPY HUNTER by John Green (Teen Boat)
LINK’S AWAKENING by Dave Roman (Astronaut Elementary)
JET SET RADIO by Miguel Sternberg (back cover artist for Scott Pilgrim 4)
NIGHTS INTO DREAMS by Dave Roman, Bannister (Flight), & Stephanie Yue (Novasett Island)
SUPER MARIO BROS. by Josh Lesnick (Girly)
ELEVATOR ACTION by Sang S. Kim & Jeremy Arambulo (Let’s Do This)
PARAPPA THE RAPPER by Corey Barba (Nickelodeon Magazine)
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 2 by Zack Giallongo (10th Life of Pishio the Cat)
MARIO KART by Alisa Harris (Girls’ Guide to Guys’ Stuff)
PIKMIN by Edward J. Grug III (Those Scurvy Dogs)
THE WIND WAKER by Christopher Hastings (Dr. McNinja) & Carly Monardo (Venture Bros.)
RIVER CITY RANSOM by Michael Vega (Radio Comix)
OKAMI by Jennifer Moore (Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends)
& Miss Monster (missmonster.com)
PHOENIX WRIGHT by Eric Kim (Love As A Foreign Language)
BUST A GROOVE by Abby Denson (Tough Love)
KIRBY by KC Green (Droop)
Q*BERT by Dave Roman & Shelli Paroline (Malarky)
PHOENIX WRIGHT by Alison Wilgus (Kids Next Door)
MEGA MAN by Matt Loux (Side Scrollers)
THE LEGEND OF ZELDA by Queenie Chan (The Dreaming)

New art debuting in the book:

NINJA GAIDEN by Allan Norico (Kappa Mikey)
GABRIEL KNIGHT 2 by Faith Erin Hicks (Zombies Calling)
PANZER DRAGOON RPG by Dave Roman
WIZARDS & WARRIORS by Raina Telgemeier (Baby-sitters Club)
EARTHWORM JIM by Steve Hamaker (Flight)
POKEMON by Jacob Chabot
ICO by Alexei Martins
ALEX KIDD by Elio (Sketchy Five)

Classic stuff that appeared on the Life Meter website:

SUPER MARIO BROS. and THE LEGEND OF ZELDA by Dan Schoening
CASTLEVANIA: CIRCLE OF THE MOON by Derek Hunter
TETRIS by David McGuire
TOAD by Jake Parker
DRAGON QUEST 2 by Lamar Abrams
KATAMARI DAMACY by Jacob Chabot
KID ICARUS by Alexei Martins
DUCK HUNT by Zack Giallongo
SUPER MARIO BROS. By Jeffrey Rowland
PACMAN by Jess Fink
THE LEGEND OF ZELDA by Queenie Chan
GOLDEN AXE by James Mar
CONTRA by Jeremy Arambulo
KID ICARUS by Miss Monster
PACMAN by David McGuire
CAVE STORY by Joseph Bergin III
STREETS OF RAGE by Curt Franklin & Chris Haley
SUPER MARIO BROS. by Jose Garibaldi
KOOPALINGS by Zack Giallongo
KIRBY by Stephanie Yue

Afterward by Matthew Hawkins.

All profits of the book will be donated to Child’s Play, a charitable organization that holds an annual toy drive for children’s hospitals.
www.childsplaycharity.org

I had a great time at Book Expo hanging out at the Manic D Press booth. We were in a cool spot between Small Beer Press (with very talented and sweet author Kelly Link) and Feral House, which puts out great rock and roll and underground books. I was pleasantly surprised by how many comics people were there and got a lot of great new books to take home. My “to read” pile is really towering now! It was very different from the comic conventions since it’s business only, no sales and no fans, all pros. Pretty much everybody there is in the book biz, buyers, sellers, publishers, librarians, agents, etc. That made it less crowded and insane than a comic con (and also no costumes for the most part), but it was still very busy. I would definitely go again. The best part of course was all the free books, they flowed like water! Free books! Yes! Though getting home was a challenge with a giant heavy bag of books T_T

Tim and I had a great time in New Orleans (though I got a cold right in time for it, ugh!). We still managed to enjoy ourselves. We stayed at a great place called Olivier House. It’s like a beautiful old fashioned maze with a courtyard and pool and all the rooms are different and unique. Ours had stairs leading up to the beds and it made me feel like royalty! The festival was great and we had a wonderful time meeting the other authors. Our panel went well and was well attended, especially considering it was a morning panel and everybody likes to party late in New Orleans. We stayed near Bourbon street which had that famous party atmosphere (drunk fratboys). Though we found it especially cool near Decatur and Frenchman St. I think those were more local hangouts. So we did some touristy things, eating beignets at Cafe Dumond and taking the horse-drawn carriage ride. The architecture is stunning, though so many of the houses are in terrible repair. We didn’t see too much of the flood damaged areas, since our activities were all in the French Quarter. The locals are quick to convey the “we’re still here” message to tourists as so many people (Mr. Bush?) seem to have written the city off entirely. I think the restaurants I liked best were El Gato Negro (Mexican place) and Eat Restaurant where I had my first fried green tomatoes. Also, we went to FAB - Faubourg Marigny Art & Books, a very old gay bookstore on Frenchman St. A unique place and the owner is very nice. Here are some pics! The papier mache giant lady is from the Ambush Magazine house (which was amazing!) where a party was held for Saints and Sinners fest. There was another giant lady in different colors near that one too, but it was hard to get a good picture in that hallway.

San Franciso was amazing as usual and APE was a lot of fun. The best part was seeing friends like Shannon O’Leary and Larry Brown who I could not have survived the trip without! Other amazing parts were getting to hang out with Jennifer Joseph at the Manic D booth and the reading I did at a high school. (My first high school reading!)
The reading at the 3 Dollar Bill cafe was a great time too. So many talented  cartoonists! I feel so proud to be included with such great talent! The panels I participated in were amazing too. Top notch!
The other great part was Matt made it in and we had some time for sight seeing. Larry drove us all over (thanks again Larry) and we saw sooo much in so little time. A totally amazing trip! Highlights include China Town, Little Tokyo, burritos, the great comic shops Comic Relief and Isotope, 826 Valencia (a pirate store and writing center for kids), Dog Eared Books. Also the natural beauty Larry took us to see like the Marin headlands. We got an amazing night view at a high point. I also need to recommend two really great breakfast places St. Francis Fountain and Candy and Boogaloos (though I hear it’s tough to get into that one on weekends).
Here are some pics from the trip!

Saturday May 12, 10:00 A.M.
TWO SIDES TO EVERY STORY: WORDS AND IMAGES IN GRAPHIC NOVELS AND COMICS
What are the opportunities and challenges in telling a story with a combination of text and pictures? In this panel, we’ll hear from writers who have worked in both prose and comic formats, and from comics creators who have dabbled in picture-free prose. How do the different formats affect the creative process? How does the collaboration between writer and artist work? What trends are emerging in queer comics? And how can would-be graphic novelists and comics writers find collaborators and break into publishing on the web and in print?
Panelists: Abby Denson, Tim Fish, and Kelly McQuain.
Moderator: Jim Gladstone.
St. Mary’s Salon, Bourbon Orleans
717 Orleans (Corner of Bourbon and Orleans) in the French Quarter
www.sasfest.org

April 20, 3pm
George Washington High School’s Richmond Village Beacon afterschool program. Event presented by San Francisco Public Library. 600 32nd Avenue San Francisco, CA 94121

April 21-22 APE - Alternative Press Expo
620 7th Street , San Francisco, CA

Saturday:
11:30-12:30 signing at the Manic D Press / City Lights booth
12:30-1:40 Socially Relevant Comics Panel with Shaenon Garrity, Keith Knight, Gene Yang, Shannon O’Leary, Mario Hernandez , and Paige Braddock
5-6pm signing at Prism Comics booth
Afterwards-
7-10pm “Going Ape” group reading (including Robert Kirby, Justin Hall, Erika Lopez, Paige Braddock, Tim Fish) at:
Three Dollar Bill Café 1800 Market St. @ the LGBT Center, San Francisco

Sunday, April 22nd @ APE
1-2pm signing at Prism Comics booth
4:45-5:45pm Queer Cartoonists panel

On Saturday Tim Fish and I will be doing our “Adventures in Gay Comics” workshop at the True Colors Conference from 1-2:30pm in SC 1849 ROOM at CCSU in New Britain, CT. It’s a gathering in Central Connecticut for and about LGBT youth.

True Colors, Inc. Sexual Minority Youth and Family Services is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) organization that combats homophobia, gender bias, and racism. We provide support, education, and advocacy to those responsible for the health, education, and well-being of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex Youth and Families.

Sorry for the lack of updates, I’ve been insanely busy lately! I did attend and speak at NY Comicon at Javits Center last weekend and it was a blast! The bigger space and pre-sale of tickets seemed to remedy the crowd issues that plagued the show last year. I was honored to be on a panel with Allison Bechdel, Ariel Schrag, and Jose Villarubia, moderated by Patty Jeres. Our panel got a nice mention on mediabistro.com here. Then I did a signing at the Prism Comics booth. A great time!

It’s a great one too. Check out the starpower!

Saturday, February 24, 2007 — Javits Center
12 Noon
1E15
Pride & Prejudice: Exploring Gay Identity in Graphic Novels
Graphic novelists are transcending the media stereotypes of gay life to create enduring, heart-felt, and honest portrayals of gay identity. Join Prism Comic’s Patty Jeres as she leads Abby Denson, Alison Bechdel, Ariel Schrag and Jose Villarrubia in a discussion of their explorations in this theme.

Also I’ll have a signing at the Prism Comics (booth #A134) 3-4 that day.

http://www.nycomiccon.com

Unfortunately, I won’t be able to exhibit at the con today due to illness. Just need some bedrest. Wish i could go. I know it’ll be fun!