Mythographical

San Diego Comic-Con 2005

ITEM! Steve Ahlquist, Chris Reilly and Ben Towle will be manning the Slave Labor Graphics booth at Comic-Con International in beautiful San Diego, California from July 13-17, 2005. We won't, of course, be alone, also making appearances at the table will be such luminaries as Black Olive, Roy Boney, Kerry Callen, Christopher, Roman Dirge, Steve Emond, Jennifer Feinberg, FSc, John Gebbia, Jon "Bean" Hastings, Derek Hunter, Eric Jones, Tommy Kovac, Antony Mazzotta, Todd Meister, Scott Mills, Jim Rugg, Crab Scrambly, Rikki Simons, Ian Smith, Tyson Smith, Pete Stathis, Tavisha, Serena Valentino, Jhonen Vasquez, Landry Walker, Daniel Warner and Gene Yang.

Canadian National Expo 2005

ITEM! Steve Ahlquist and Chris Reilly will be attending the Canadian National Expo, Toronto, Ont., August 26-28, 2005. We look forward to meeting and greeting comic fans in what's commonly known as the friendliest country in the world. Also attending will be Jhonen Vasquez! More info on this one as it developes!

SPX 2005

ITEM! Steve Ahlquist, Chris Reilly and Ben Towle will be attending SPX in Bethesda, MD on September 23 and 24, 2005. We'll be providing our own booth and world premiering our new mini-comic: Goggles and Gloves! Plus we'll be giving out special "Strange Eggs" mini-comics.

Harvey Award Losses!

ITEM! We lost! Not only did we receive a record number of nominations at the Harvey Awards, we also received a record number of losses. We'd like to congratulate all the winners and co-nominees, fine artists all.

Our Harvey Award Dinner

(Winners in Red)

The 2005 Harvey Awards were held June 11 in New York City on the 7th floor of the fabulous Puck Building.

Attending were Chris Reilly:

and Steve Ahlquist:

They were up for four awards.

They didn't win any.

Best New Talent
Samuel Hiti / End Times – Tiempos Finales / La Luz Comics
Christopher Reilly & Steve Ahlquist / Puphedz / Brillig Productions
Andy Runton / Owly / Top Shelf
Leslie Stein / Yeah, It Is / Alternative Comics
Bryan Lee O’Malley / Scott Pilgrim / Oni Press

We find out we're not the best new talent...

Best Writer
Brian Michael Bendis / Daredevil / Marvel
Daniel Clowes / Eightball / Fantagraphics Books
Alan Moore / Promethea / DC Comics/Wildstorm/America’s Best Comics
Christopher Reilly & Steve Ahlquist / Puphedz / Brillig Productions
Judd Winick / Green Arrow / DC Comics

...then we find out we're not the best writers...

Best Single Issue or Story
Batman: Room Full of Strangers / DC Comics
Black Hole #12 / Fantagraphics Books
Dogs and Water / Drawn & Quarterly
Identity Crisis #1-4 / DC Comics
Eightball #23 / Fantagraphics Books
Puphedz / Brillig Productions
Supernatural Law #101 / Exhibit A Press

...it's not the best single issue or story...

Special Award for Humor in Comics
Kyle Baker / Plastic Man / DC Comics
Jimmy Gownley / Amelia Rules! / ibooks/Komikwerks
Roger Langridge / Fred the Clown / Hotel Fred
Christopher Reilly & Steve Ahlquist / Puphedz / Brillig Productions
Johnny Ryan / Angry Youth Comix / Fantagraphics Books

...and forget about that special reward for humor in comics. What a pair of losers!

But on the plus side, I met a lot of really great people, including Andrew Bonia, who had very kind things to say about me and Oz Squad. He said, "The community really is a lot like a family. I was talking with artists who've worked on books I've read for ages, or books I remember from years ago. One cool discovery was Steve Ahlquist , the creator of "Oz Squad". Like pretty much everyone else, he was a great guy." Thanks Andrew. Check out Andrews online strip Chaos Chronicles, if you get the chance.

Harvey Nominations

ITEM! It's an honor to be nominated for a Harvey Award, and a real ego boost as well. To be nominated for FOUR 2005 Harvey Awards defies all reason. That's exactly what happened to Chris Reilly and Steve Ahlquist. The comic was PUPHEDZ, something we had done last year that didn't sell all that well, so we kind of put it behind us like the ugly stepchild in our resume. Then came the four award nominations:

Best Writer

Best Single Issue or Story

Best New Talent (Ironic, because Chris and I have been at this for years)

Special Award for Humor

Of the four nominations it's the special award for humor that tickles me the most. To be up for an award for humor, given in the name of Harvey Kurtzman, founder of MAD Magazine, is like being up for an award in literature given in the name of Charles Dickens. It's unbelievable. On the other hand, my name was left off the ballot, though I was co-writer and share equal responsibility with Chris for the writing.

We will be at the awards ceremony Saturday June 11. Stop by and say hi, we promise to be gracious losers.