Writers Old Fashioned » Signings

Stumptown Wrap-Up.

Greg — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 07:08:43 +0000

Stephenny, Storm, and their Trophies.

Boy, Portland, you sure know how to make creators feel welcome.

Ever since I was welcomed into the fold here at Writers Old Fashioned, I’ve heard about how much fun the Stumptown Comics Fest is. Its been nothing but “Well, the Portland fest is sooo cool!” and “Just wait until we get to Stumptown and you’ll see.” And after spending three days mingling with the people of Portland, I’ve got to admit that it may be the most comic-friendly city I’ve ever been to.

The convention floor was absolutely packed for most of Saturday, and even a good portion of Sunday. But for as busy as it was, creators were still easily accessible and ready to visit. In stark contrast to WonderCon earlier this month, one could look out across the room and see what was happening across the hall. I’ve heard that there were a lot more vertical displays this year than at past cons, but from our table I could see the Drawn & Quarterly table all the way at the far end of the room. The airy setup combined with windows galore made for a more pleasant, open experience than WonderCon or San Francisco’s own indie-fest, APE.

And for the second year in a row, Writers Old Fashioned has come back to San Francisco with a Trophy Award! Stephenny’s mini Panorama won the Trophy Award for Outstanding Publication Design! Her handcrafted books beat out some pretty impressive competitors, like Dark Horse’s Mesmo Delivery. If that wasn’t enough, Storm accepted this year’s Mystery Award for Portland’s Mayor Sam Adams. So the Writer’s table had an impressive amount of Trophy’s on Sunday. Next year we’ll sweep ‘em.

It was a treat to get to hang out with such amazing fellow exhibitors and bask in the creative energy of everyone in attendance. Getting back into the groove of every day life has been especially hard after this convention. All I’ve wanted to do is draw comics. Or read comics. Or write about comics. Frankly, I think my girlfriend is gettin’ a little tired of it at this point…

Jason, STORM, Greg, and Stephenny

Thank you so much Portland, and all those folks behind the scenes keeping this how running as smooth as it did. Without the coordinators and the tireless efforts of the scores of volunteers the show could’ve been a real mess. Instead the Stumptown Comics Fest remains one of the most anticipated shows for Writers Old Fashioned!

(I’ve written a little more about my own personal experiences at the fest over at my blog.)

On the Road Again

Matt — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 22:01:51 +0000

The Writers Old Fashioned crew makes its annual trip to Portland this weekend for the Stumptown Comics Fest. This year, we’ve landed multiple Trophy Award nominations!

Congratulations to STORM, Stephenny, and Greg.

They have racked up SIX nominations between the three of them. Be sure to find the Writers Old Fashioned table and vote for these amazing projects if you are at the show!

Nominees for Outstanding Debut: Greg Hinkle – BeardMonth 2010: Vol 1

Nominees for Outstanding Art: Greg Hinkle – BeardMonth 2010: Vol. 1, Gran.pa, tell me a story…

Nominees for Outstanding D.I.Y.: Stephenny Godfrey – Panorama/STORM – Princess Witch Boy

Nominees for Outstanding Writing: STORM – Princess Witch Boy

Nominees for Outstanding Publication Design: Stephenny Godfrey – Panorama

Wicked Grounds Kinky Comic Carnival!

STORM — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 08:02:18 +0000

Greetings, Dear Comic Aficionados!

This coming Saturday, January 30, 2010, Writers Old Fashioned member STORM will be cavorting with an amazing group of comic book luminaries at Wicked Grounds for a Kinky Comics Carnival! Read about who will be there and what delightful works they have done below in an invitation from the lovely and talented Serena Valentino:

Wicked Grounds invites you to join us for an afternoon social that you do not want to miss, a gathering of local artists, writers and comic creators coming together at San Francisco’s first and only Kink Cafe, Wicked Grounds, located at 289 8th Street @ Folsom in San Francisco at 2:00 PM, Saturday January 30th.

So please join Justin Hall, Tristan Crane, Ted Naifeh, STORM, Greta Christina, Serena Valentino and the lovelies at Wicked Grounds, to have a cup of tea or coffee as well as some of their other scrumptious offering while you sample our creative wares Saturday, Jan 30th. We will all have an assortment of our work available for purchase, and we will of course be available to sign them, that is, if you fancy that sort of thing.

__Justin Hall__ is an award-winning comic book creator best known for his series True Travel Tales, Glamazonia the Uncanny Super Tranny, and the gay porn Hard To Swallow Comics. His work has appeared in the Houghton Miflin Best American Comics, Boy Trouble, Best Erotic Comics, and the S.F. Bay Guardian, among others.

__STORM__ is a San Francisco based writer, artist, oracle & doll shaman. He sells funny books at the Isotope Comic Book Lounge & reads X-Men Tarot at Swankety Swank. His one of a kind art dolls and mini-comic Princess Witch Boy are for sale at http://www.facebook.com/l/1f79f;stormantic.etsy.com. STORM believes that in a perfect world, Iman would have played Ororo Munroe in the movies. Visit his blog at www.stormantic.com.

__Serena Valentino__ has been weaving tales that combine mythos and guile for the past ten years with her work on the comic book series GloomCookie and Nightmares & Fairy Tales published with SLG Publishing. Nightmares & Fairy Tales: 1140 Rue Royale has earned her critical acclaim in both the comic and horror domain, where she is known for her unique style of storytelling, bringing her readers into exquisitely frightening worlds filled with terror, beauty and extraordinary female protagonists. Among her other projects, Serena is currently writing a horror screenplay with writer/director Phil Flores (of the Butcher Brothers), as well as three new graphic novels, Enchanted, Blackbird the Pirate Queen and Hells Café and has writtena novel for young adults for Disney Press based on the Wicked Queen from Snow White entitled Fairest of All, now available in all major bookstores. Visit her website serenavalentino.com

__Tristan Crane__ is a San Francisco based writer and photographer. Tristan’s writing has appeared in the recent ‘Comic book Tattoo’ project from Image comics, his first book ‘How Loathsome’ was released in 2004 to many reviews and general muttering; a second graphic novel, ‘InVisible’ with artist Rhea Silvan was published by Seven Seas early in 2009. As a photographer, Tristan specializes in erotic portraiture, bondage sessions, documentary-style photojournalism, and enjoys collaborating with a wildly diverse cast of models.

__Greta Christina__ is editor of the annual “Best Erotic Comics” series, published by Last Gasp Books and Comics, where she has worked for seven years. She has been writing about sex since 1989, and has had sex writing appear in numerous magazines, newspapers, and anthologies, including Ms., Penthouse, On Our Backs, AlterNet, and three volumes of “Best American Erotica.” She blogs about sex, atheism, politics, and other polite dinner- table topics at the cleverly- named Greta Christina’s Blog, gretachristina.typepad.com.

After making a name for himself drawing Serena Valentino’s Gloomcookie in 1999, __TED NAIFEH__ went on to produce several popular all ages comics. The spooky adventure series Courtney Crumrin follows a grumpy little girl whose great uncle Aloysius draws her into a dark world of witchcraft and creatures that go bump in the night. Courtney Crumrin has been optioned by Dreamworks to be made into a motion picture. Polly and the Pirates tells the tale of prim and proper Polly Pringle, who gets kidnapped by pirates, only to discover her own natural, possibly inherited propensity for swashbuckling. Ted also lent his artistic skills to a comic adaptation of the videogame Death Junior, about a little boy whose father is the Grim Reaper. More importantly, Ted co-wrote and illustrated How Loathsome with Tristan Crane. A stylish, sexy exploration of the alternative lifestyle underground of San Francisco, How Loathsome explores gender, community, and how they affect identity. Currently, Ted is illustrating The Good Neighbors, an urban fantasy YA graphic novel series by New York Times best-selling author Holly Black, about a teenage girl who realizes that she’s half faerie. Volume 3 of the series will appear in October, 2010.