I wanted to share some recommendations with you for a couple of smaller-press books that I have read and dug recently, and I invite the rest of you to do the same:

Remake, by Lamar Abrams
AdHouse Books, $12.95

Full disclosure first–when I read the teaser of this in AdHouse’s FCBD, I wasn’t that impressed–it was a little odd, and I didn’t really ‘get it.’ Fortunately for me, this is one of those characters and stories that you really need to read the story in its full form to truly appreciate it. It’s a combination of black humor and a sort of naive innocence, which means that it’s one of those books that you really have to think about while you’re leafing through. And if you can “get it,” if you can read between the lines, I think you will really dig it. I’m glad I took a chance on this book even after I rejected the FCBD snippet, but I know that Pitzer and the AdHouse crew put out a good product, so it was still pretty low risk.

Second Thoughts by Niklas Asker
Top Shelf Productions, $9.95

This was another book that I ordered sight unseen, but Top Shelf is a company that I like about 80% of their stuff, so it was another pretty low-risk endeavor. It’s a story of coincidence, of crossed paths, and of human emotion and relationships, and about how we picture ourselves and others in our own mind. While it is a small book, it has a pretty deep concept, and I definitely am looking forward to what Swedish newcomer Asker comes up with next.

For those of you who didn’t know, I am in Berlin, Germany until the 20th of June. I am participating in a work-related seminar, but the trip is on the government’s nickel, which makes it that much sweeter.

One side effect of said seminar is that I haven’t had a whole lot of time to play in Berlin, and I have to sneak in a little sightseeing every time I have a spare minute. But the trip has been fun so far, despite the hard work and the absolutely wretched weather that has been here.

The city is very green and very spread out, although most of the “sightseeing” things are fairly close together, and Berlin has an excellent mass transit system. I am also getting to practice my very rusty German, which is a good thing. Berlin is much more relaxed, and much more sane, than cities of similar size, like Paris, London, and New York. The people are a little more relaxed and the pace is a little slower, which is a-ok in my book.

Here’s a shot of me in front of the Brandenburg Gate.

.

Tomorrow I have a free day, and am taking a tour of the Reichstag and visiting both the Pergamon Museum and the DDR Museum.

Yes, it’s true! Our message board is moving. The fine folks over at Comic Related, led by the charming and handsome Chuck Moore (hi Chuck!) have agreed to host our message board. The one we had over at Ape Entertainment has been having quite a few problems over the last few months, most particularly the lack of an ability for new members to create accounts thereon. Hopefully that’s all fixed now.

Our message board isn’t the most brisk of forums, but hopefully that will change soon, and there is no better time like the present! So if you have questions about the strip or comic, want to make comments to Stan or I (or to each other), want to show fan art, or just make a nuisance of yourself, now is your chance! Check it out here!

The wait is over! We will begin airing our guest strips starting on Monday, and we will post a new one EVERY DAY, Monday through Friday, until they are exhausted. So you will get 250% of your normal weekly SubCulture goodness over the next two or three weeks!

They are still trickling in, but the ones I have seen so far have all been terrific, and you all are in for a treat. I’m expecting a few more, and some folks have done two and even three strips–not just the one that I asked for. All in all, this should run for about three weeks.

We’ll see the last strip in the “Cracking the Code” storyline tomorrow (Friday), and then we’ll launch the guest strips with none other than JIM MAHFOOD, who, if you’ll remember, did the art on the cover of the first issue of the original SubCulture comic book miniseries!

This is probably a reflection on the lame-ness of our webstrip (LOL), but as far as I can remember, neither Stan nor I have ever gotten any fan art from our readers, and we would love to get some. So if you have a hankering, we’d love to see what you’ve got, and we’ll be sure to post it here for everyone to see!

As an incentive, one month from today, June 1, Stan and I will pick our favorite piece of fan art from the lot and send him/her a bunch of swag AND we will give him/her an opportunity to do a guest strip for SubCulture. KEEN!

So get those pens, pee-yon-sils, or mouseys moving, and let’s see whatchya gots!

This Saturday, May 2nd from 1 - 6 pm, join SubCulture Artist, Stan Yan at I Want More Comics at 104th & Federal in Westminster, Colorado to celebrate Free Comic Book Day! Stan will be doing free pencil sketches of your favorite character copies the SubCulture: The TPB and the brand new 24 Hour Comics People II: Dead by Dawn anthology. Stan will be joined by fellow 24HCP2 contributors, John Peters and Michael O’Keefe.

Take a listen to Stan’s interview on Indie Spinner Rack, episode #154 with Charlito at the Denver ComicFest recently. It’s about half way in, although it’s fun to listen to Charlito and Phranque try to navigate the crazy blizzard that hit Denver on opening night.

My exploration of Manga (and European comics, including Marvel’s Soleil line) has increased in direct proportion to my dropping of virtually everything superhero related, and I have been pleasantly surprised with virtually everything I have given a chance to, which still only scratches the surface.

Let me preface this by saying I’m not a huge fan of BESM (big eyes small mouth) Manga. I don’t really like giant robot stuff like Voltron or Robotech, or hardcore Shonen stuff like Vampire Hunter. But even with those restrictions, there are TONS of amazing stuff out there.

I started with relatively “safe” stuff like Lone Wolf and Cub, which made me give similar works, like Path of the Assassin, a shot, which was particularly easy given my interest in Japanese culture, history, and politics. From there I tried some of Tezuka’s work, particularly his Buddha storyline, which I also dug. I’m now giving his Black Jack a try, but I already know I will like it. The Oishinbo series, about Japanese food and drink, has been, if you’ll pardon the pun, refreshing as well.

I’m much more willing to give Manga a try sight unseen, as I do with a lot of stuff done by Top Shelf, 01: First Second, and a few other small press publishers. Some I end up really digging (Pluto), others not so much (MPD Psycho).

I’m even reading a couple of Shojo series that I really like: Nana and Nodame Cantabile, both of which have musical spins.

I used to be one of those that, due to ignorance and not liking a lot of Anime cartoons, pigeonholed Manga as rather shallow. But boy, was I wrong, and pleasantly surprised.

This time with the proud papa!

Born today, April 15, 2009 at 12:16 PM. 7 pounds, 15 1/2 ounces.

Two weeks early, but full term and healthy.

Mother and baby are doing great!