another week brings more of our favorite creators into the fold.
NATE POWELL
we couldn’t be happier to have nate join in. he’s not only one of the finest cartoonists of his generation, he’s also one of the sweetest guys i know. followers of this blog will remember a sam cooke ogn demo that i wrote (with jason rodriguez) that nate drew. getting to work with him again is a thrill.
TOBY CYPRESS
few people bring the kinetic energy and graceful power to the comics page that toby does. seeing him rip through wonderland is going to be a blast!
this project continues to grow, and we’re tickled pink to announce the latest creators to join in.
CARLA SPEED MCNEIL
what a thrill to have carla join us. her book FINDER is, quite simply, one of the greatest comics of all-time.
there’s a richness and depth to the world she has created that might be unmatched in the history of comics, and she’s populated that world with characters that share that depth & complexity.
FÁBIO MOON AND GABRIEL BÁ
DAYTRIPPER. CASANOVA. UMBRELLA ACADEMY. the brothers have created some of the best books of the last decade with equal parts style and heart. DAYTRIPPER actually put tears in my eyes. we are blessed to have them come on-board.
–chris stevens
We’re keeping this list of Nemo names updated with most of the contributors we have publicly announced – so check it out if you’re wondering who else has signed up! And our first revealed pages from the book can be found here.
The new book from Rob Woods & Locust Moon Press. Debuting at the Locust Moon Comics Festival on Oct 5, 2013. Cover photo of Rob’s drawing table by Kyle Cassidy.
with the project rolling along and some of our favorite creators having joined in recently, we wanted to announce a few folks we are honored to have join in on what’s shaping up to be a once-in-a-lifetime book. up first:
MIKE ALLRED
mike might be best known for his long-running MADMAN universe. Continue reading →
Locust Moon is undertaking a lot this fall, between the publication of QUARTER MOON #2: “Locust Man vs. Monster” and Rob Woods’ 36 LESSONS IN SELF-DESTRUCTION, the hosting of our second comics festival (at which both of those books are set to debut), and putting together all of various other comic projects we currently have in the works. That’s why we’re asking for a hand on QUARTER MOON – we’ve got a lot riding on October 2013, and we hope you can help us make it through in one piece!
Any little thing you can donate will earn our eternal thanks – but we’re not about to ask for money for nothing! We want to send you stuff in return like the book itself (naturally), the first issue of QUARTER MOON (“Silence”), signatures, sketches, and some special extra stuff thrown in from Locust Moon projects old (ONCE UPON A TIME MACHINE) and new (36 LESSONS).
Pages from “Bow to the Wizard” by Bodie Chewning
QUARTER MOON#2: “Locust Man vs. Monster” will be 48 pages and contain 5 complete stories, by cartoonists Steve Lafler (Bughouse), Kate Farquhar (Zodiac & friends), Dave Proch (Once Upon a Time Machine), Bodie Chewning (IdN Extra 02: Neo York – Mightnight Sessions), and Daryl Seitchik (Smarter Child). It will also include 3 one-page strips by James Comey (American Monster Buffet), illustrations by Lindsey Wavrek & Steven Bradshaw, and exclusive peeks into the sketchbook of Farel Dalrymple (Pop Gun War, It Will All Hurt). Providing this issue’s cover – and title – is Ulises Farinas (Gamma, Catalyst Comix).
The beginning of “A Hard Boiled Heart” by Dave Proch
Here’s a little breakdown of the main stories we’re going to be sharing with you guys:
Bodie Chewning‘s “Bow to the Wizard” or “Don’t Get Your Diapers in a Twist It’s Only a Cthuloid” stars a narcissistic Wizard who may need a little more help from his assistant than he thinks.
Dave Proch‘s “A Hard Boiled Heart” teaches us that underneath every hard shell is the wrong man who will go to the ends of the Earth for the right woman.
Steve Lafler will introduce us to an expat family in Oaxaca, where Steve currently lives. There’s a wannabe superhero Luchadora (female Mexican wrestler), an existential encounter with death, and a 2500-year-old vampire. Chickens are involved.
Kate Farquhar is uncovering some secret, fantastical histories of Philadelphia.
And Daryl Seitchik will take us on a semi-autobiographical jaunt through a cartoonist’s dreams.
Page from “Oaxaca” by Steve Lafler
Like the first issue of QUARTER MOON, “Locust Man vs. Monster” will be partially in color and partially in B&W, depending on how each artist wishes to present his or her art.
But unlike the first issue, “Locust Man vs. Monster” has no single theme. The guys & gals are running wild here.
1 of 3 prints by Lindsey Wavrek & Steven Bradshaw
QUARTER MOON #1, “Silence” (56 pages), spotlighted wordless comics from Charles Fetherolf, Alex Eckman-Lawn, Sophia Wiedeman, Jeremy Baum, Alexandra Beguez, Chris Stevens and Rob Woods, along with sketch pages by Farel Dalrymple and a wraparound cover by Jeremy Baum.
Jeremy Baum
Charles Fetherolf
Alex Eckman-Lawn
Sophia Wiedeman
Jeremy Baum
Alexandra Beguez
Chris Stevens & Rob Woods
We hope you guys will help us out! We love the idea of getting this great work out into the world, and it’s really wonderful to see other people getting behind the idea, too.
Winsor McCay was perhaps the greatest cartoonist of all time, and the Sunday newspaper strip Little Nemo in Slumberland is his most enduring creation. Detailing the adventures of its titular character in The Land of Wonderful Dreams, the early twentieth century opus is one of the most inventive and visually stunning works of American art. A century later, the comic medium is still racing to keep up with the richness, draftsmanship, imagination, and wonder of McCay’s fantastic storytelling and wild Slumberland universe.
In Locust Moon Press’ upcoming anthology LITTLE NEMO: DREAM ANOTHER DREAM, many of the world’s finest cartoonists will pay tribute to the master and his masterpiece by creating new Little Nemo strips, following their own voices down paths lit by McCay. Contributors include Paul Pope, JH Williams III, Bill Sienkiewicz, David Mack, Carla Speed McNeil, Charles Vess, Peter Bagge, Dean Haspiel, Farel Dalrymple, Marc Hempel, Nate Powell, P. Craig Russell, Jeremy Bastian, Jim Rugg, Ron Wimberly, Scott Morse, David Petersen, J.G. Jones, Mike Allred, Dean Motter, Yuko Shimizu, Roger Langridge, and Mark Buckingham, among many others.
To be published in the fall of 2014 as both a newspaper and a hardcover book at the full size of the original Little Nemo broadsheet pages (16″ x 21″), this book will celebrate McCay’s endless legacy, chart his influence on generations of modern cartoonists, and most of all shine a light back on an artist who has given his art form so much, and whose work should be more widely known.
This is a love song for Winsor McCay, Little Nemo, and the limitless possibilities of comics.
. . .
Locust Moon is a retail store, art gallery, and small press based in West Philadelphia. Their first book, ONCE UPON A TIME MACHINE (published through Dark Horse in the fall of 2012) was nominated in the Harveys and Stumptown Comic Arts Awards for Best Anthology. Aside from LITTLE NEMO: DREAM ANOTHER DREAM, Locust Moon’s other current and ongoing projects include the periodical comics & illustration magazine QUARTER MOON, and 36 LESSONS IN SELF-DESTRUCTION, a collection of the mini comics of infamous underground Philadelphia cartoonist Rob Woods. Locust Moon also hosts an annual comics festival, next held on October 25, 2014.
Below are a few pages for the book by Jeremy Bastian, Roger Langridge, Peter & Maria Hoey, Peter Bagge, David Petersen, and Toby Cypress.
Earlier this month, Locust Moon debuted the first issue of our ongoing comics & illustration anthology, QUARTER MOON. This issue, “Silence”, spotlights wordless comics and features work from Charles Fetherolf, Alex Eckman-Lawn, Sophia Wiedeman, Jeremy Baum, Alexandra Beguez, Chris Stevens, Rob Woods, and Farel Dalrymple. And f course there’s that beautiful wraparound cover, courtesy of Jeremy Baum. A nice, big stack arrived in the mail……and it came out beautifully. Here’s a taste of what’s inside:
Charles Fetherolf
Alex Eckman-Lawn
Sophia Wiedeman
Jeremy Baum
Alexandra Beguez
Chris Stevens & Rob Woods
As planned, we had issue one in hand just in time for the one-year anniversary bash for our new store. To celebrate the occasion, we set about decorating the store’s gallery space with all our favorite prints……and all of the best art that had been produced in, around, and about the store.Continue reading →
The nominations for the 2013 Harvey Awards were announced recently, and we were honored and humbled to find our book ONCE UPON A TIME MACHINE nominated in the category of BEST ANTHOLOGY. We have to thank everyone who has supported us in buying the book, reading it, spreading the word and, of course, nominating it. For many of us involved, Time Machine was our first published work – and it took a lot of time, sweat, learning, and love to put it out into the world. We have been consistently overjoyed with the response the book has gotten, and this nomination is a big deal and great validation for what we tried and continue trying to do in comics.
“The Harvey Awards are one of the comic book industry’s oldest and most respected awards. The Harveys recognize outstanding achievements in over 20 categories, ranging from Best Artist to the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame. They are the only industry awards both nominated by and selected by the full body of comic book professionals.”
about 5 years ago i was working on a project about the great soul singer, sam cooke. my pal&occasional editor jason rodriguez had a passion to tell sam’s story, and i wanted to surprise him by getting the ball rolling. i saw some caricatures that rob guillory had done and hit him up to do some of sam. jason was excited, and we came up with the plan to get things going. i’d script things and we’d all hammer out the story together. rob had a different way of handling things in mind, and eventually we parted ways on the project. he wound up on a little book called CHEW, where his comedic talents and storytelling flair have been delighting audiences for the last 4 years or so. here’s a look at his take on sam.
by this point i had been talking on the phone with peter guralnick, the writer and music historian who wrote the definitive book on sam’s life, DREAM BOOGIE, and i was deep into telling this story. i asked nate powell, for my money one of the best cartoonists alive, if he was into it. nate was, and he set off to work on the opening scene.
nate’s pencils set the tone and perfectly captured what we were going for. jason and i holed up in a crappy hotel in south jersey one weekend and laid out the structure of the book, including a perfectly realized ending. nate kept drawing, and i was set to finish up the script. then a guy i loved killed himself and i was lost for awhile, and the last thing i could do was write anything, and nate had other books to draw, and sam went on the shelf. here’s what nate did for the opening scene…
Locust Moon Comics 