PACC 2011 RECAP

So, this is a Blog Recap of the Philly Alternative Comic Con that happened not this most recent weekend ago but the one before. GCPMer Josh Burggraf represented with a small sampling of Gold County products plus some of his own. This post initially lived on his site, but the earthquake and other acts of God have kept that site disabled. So. Here it is again, and with some additions and modifications:

First things First. In GCPM news, the table SOLD OUT of the Shaman Thunders(collab zine by Burggraf/Cardini)

Secondly, both Burggraf and Cardini were still being represented elsewhere at the show in copies Math Fiction, a 3D comic made in collaboration with Pat Aulisio and Ian Harker. AND NOW TO THE SHOW:

JOSH:

I didn't take any photos at the event Proper, but I'll steal somebody else's.

So everybodys talkin bout how it was raining, and it was. It was nasty. The water from the sky could've ruined everything, but it didn't. People came anyway, seemed excited enough to be there, it was cool. Pat Aulisio gets plenny credit for making things work/run smooth, also, for being a much better drummer than he made it seem like he was gonna be. Him and Hope Mountain's Mike Turzanski played while Bob Pistilli did some vocals and mouth harping at the GRAWLIX ceremony on Sat, wherein which awards were awarded and drinks got drunk.

At the show me and Victor Kerlow shared a table, and the legendary Sasquatch in the forest Steve Fuentes seemed never far away. Had u not known what I looked like, u prolly thought he was me, when I had to get up and move around from sweating. But he wasn't-this was me:

PHOTO Courtesy of the FTW archives, taken Friday night. Big thank yous to the whole GPC, who stepped in at the last minute to save days and avert printing disasters that will not be named. Also big thanks to Eric Watkins for runnin round in a strange land with me, finding new ways to make life interesting, many a pleasant repasts.

THE FRUITS OF ALL LABORS

Immediately after taking the photo I thought of a few things I forgot to put in it, but its too late now, no turning back. Lot of cool things there, My personal favorite was

1.SF #1 by Ryan Cecil Smith. Love the art, the writing, the overall execution. He nailed the tone. It's ridiculous without being tongue-in-cheek, it knows what it's doing, and it flows really well. He even did a page of trading cards of his characters at the back.

2.Suspect Device, the Nancy book that Josh Bayer and Edwin Vazquez put together is such a cool anthology, Im really proud to be in it. Read their breakdown of what is, maybe think about owning it. Josh also had ROM which is a reinterpretation of ROM #29 and should be seen to be loved. Edwin had "Johnny is Dead" which is an intense violent poem comic, with art that hist you in the eyeballs. Both Josh and Edwin kind of have that hit you in the eyeballs thing going on, and I'm loving it.

3.HOPE MOUNTAIN dudes Pete Lazarski. and Mike Turzanski blessed me with shirts and comics and a free newspaper that currently has a more of a single page illustration bent, but I'm told they're lookin for more comics submissions, so Im gonna.

4.Heather Benjamin's Sad Sex #9 won a Grawlix, or one of them did, and its prolly cuz its so well drawn and so gross.

5.Jo Jo Sherrow's Captcha comics were a cool thing I'd never seen before. The way she tells the stories bounce around frenetically but in a way that holds together, I dunno, hard to put it into words. I like her drawins a lot tho. That was somethin I rilly liked about PAAC, I saw a bunch of comics I'd never seen before...felt like I was in the right mix.

6.I also really like Mooshe Nickerson's drawings in What Else are Girlfriends for? A loose, expressive zine, real upfront and direct, all drawins-no words.

7.Was good to meet Mike Sgier at the show, his DIG looks real sharp, hes got a space buccaneer plot that he weaves together effortlessly, a lot of cool character and he's playing with his tones and his blacks in inventive ways.

8.Rob Corradetti's KILLER ACID brand provided me with a rockin shirt. So did The Philadelphia Cartoonist Society

9.Ian Harker's Art Object wasn't new to this PACC, but I didn't have it, and now that I do, Im a happy guy. This is one of Ian's comics(mangaka) where he grafts his panels onto dimensional rectangles, and plus also its got espionage and gunfights and a firehose....man what a great comic, ure gonna love it!

10.Kevin Czapiewski's Waffle rounds it out as one of the most pleasant surprises. An unassuming cover gives way to a comic focusing on two women gettin graphically romantic. Its neither sweet nor dirty, and its both, if that makes any sense.

Also, in addition, I finally got Meathaus's SOS, which is really good, and bunch of old Meathaus comics which are crazy to see cuz they stretch back to before 2001, which I had Not Realized.. Thanks to Chris McD.

AND IN CLOSING:

So I brought the new comic Kid Space Heater down to Philly, a new run of Mongoloid Revenge, Shaman Thunder and my full color book 2010. Should you want any of them, let me know pls, thanks.

Photo Recap of STAPLE! 2011

Hey yawl, Glademade and the GCPM had a great time at STAPLE! 2011 in Austin. Thanks to everyone who came by our table, chatted, and/or bought stuff - we hope to see you next year!

Here's a shot of our table with everything except for Glademade's second card rack. Two thirds of our table are missing, Glade's like "why'd y'all duck beneath the table?!"

Here's a close up shot. From left to right, you can see Michael Miles, DT Fullen, and Glade Hensel. Mark P Hensel AKA William Cardini is behind the camera in all of these.

Here's a close-up shot of Michael Miles' side of the table. He's got a piece of original space poodle art from his newest zine Slime Studies out. We decided that next year he should totally have a zine of just space poodle drawings.

Here you can see the 11x17 red/blue anaglyph 3D comic Math Fiction (published by Yeah Dude Comics but featuring Josh Burggraf and Willy C of the GCP), which was definitely our most popular item. Next year we're going to try to have some sort of 3D item for sale.

Here's another close-up shot with David Fullen and Glade Hensel. You can see Glade's piece from the last Monster Show at Domy Austin in the lower right.

After the first day of STAPLE! Michael Miles made it rain with the tens of dollars we got from selling zines.

Let's end this with a shot of freshly spraypainted bags containing Michael Miles' Slime Studies.

GCPM Merch and Other Items on Sale at Domy Austin

Hey y'all, William Cardini here. I've been dropping off a bevy of our books and some other goodness at Domy Books in Austin over the last month.

I'm going to list these in order from the item that's been at Domy the least time to the item that's been at Domy the longest:

1. Mongoloid Revenge by Josh Burggraf – $2, 16 comic pages, black and white xerox
   
   This sequel to Burggraf's zine Mongoloid Diner includes a summary of the previous issue for people who are just jumping onto this sordid tale of revenge and loss.
   
   Check out the awesome doodles of Floyd and the GCPM logo that Josh drew on the letter he sent me.
   
   
2. Lords ov thee Black Sun by Michael Miles – $10, 12 pages of drawings, black and white xerox, includes an 11x17" poster
   
   This zine is a bunch of totally sick ink drawings by Michael Miles, related to his upcoming animation masterwork Burial of the Rat King. Check out his tumblr for a preview.
   
   This might be the dopest double-page spread in the zine but it's really hard for me to pick between them.
   
   
3. Math Fiction, $40, 16 digital press pages, published by Yeah Dude Comics, edited by Pat Ausilio, featuring Pat, Josh, Ian Harker, and myself
   
   This 11x17 anaglyph 3d monstrosity with screenprinted covers was published by Yeah Dude Comics, not the GCPM, but it includes two GCPM dudes and I dropped it off at Domy Books in Austin recently so it's on this list. Here's a preview, but y'all should just go slide this thing out of its poly bag and check it out yourselves!
   
   I tilted the camera to make it look monumental on purpose ...
   
   
4. The Miizzzard – $15 two-color screenprint
   
   I've mentioned these before. They're now in Domy's fancy new poster rack, in between amazing prints by Rand Renfrow and Mat Brinkman.
   
   

And of course our older items, Catch Up (both covers), TRANZ, Froghead Hangover, and Shaman Thunder are still on sale.

CATCH UP : SUBMISSIONS : CONTEST

Catch Up is now accepting submissions for the first issue of our ELECTRONIC MAGAZINE!

GUIDELINES

Catch Up is looking for weirdo poetry, prose and comix from anywhere.

All submissions will be taken through electronic mail. Please attach your submission as a .doc file and address it to GCatchuPM@gmail.com with the subject SUBMISSION

Submissions should include a cover letter where you say stuff you want other people to know about yourself

You should also include any contact information that you then would like published on the internet.

Poetry : Send 3 - 5 poems. Since we are not so gravy with html, please hold back on experimental format/font stuphs.

Flash Fiction : No more than 1,500 wordz.

Short Stories : No more than 5,000 wordz.

Comix : You only get one page. It can be full color, so make it pop. Also, send it 300dpi full-color 8 x 10.5 jpgzzzz

ALSO ANNOUNCING OUR FIRST CONTEST!

So, to get things going for our upcoming first issue of our online Catch Up, we've decided to add a prompt contest! Two winners will be selected, one for poetry one for flash fiction. They will each recieve a free copy of the current printed Catch Up and have their winning pieces included in the first issue of the e-zine. Runners up will also be featured in said issue. Here be the prompt yawl.

WRITE ABOUT THIS TOTALLY GROSS PHOTO

Poems and flash pieces should be no more than a page.

Attach the work in an email as a .doc file and send it to gcatchupm[at]gmail.com with PROMPT as the subject.

Include a brief bio and mailing address in the body of the email.

SUBMISSIONS ARE DUE BY DECEMBER 10th, 2010

Also, here's Dr. Chuch dressed as a woman.

Rad.

www.catch-up.us

Via Jak Cardini's Blog : FICTION DAILY

Is Spotlighting, today only, my short piece A Barely Marked Place, which originally appeared in Alice Blue #12. Rad.

PRESS

Reynard Seifert of HaHaClever ( which Will Cardini was in a while back ) gave Catch Up a little shout out over at HTMLGiant.

CAKETRAIN! CATCH UP!

Caketrain #8 is now available for pre-order.

In it Jak and William Cardini collaborate on the 4th installment of their IMPOSSIBLE OBJECTS series. Bill chose his favorite lines from Jak's poems and drew em.

Buy Impossible Objects #1.

To see Impossible Objects #2 and #3, buy the GCPM DVD.

CATCH UP NEWS!
The PRINT ISSUE is finally ready for sale!If You're in Louisville, pick yours up at The Makery and Ultra Pop

Anyone not, BUY IT HERE ONLINE!
AND CHOOSE BETWEEN THESE TWO AWESOME JOSH BURGGRAF COVERS!

Cover

Space Japan Volcano Skull

CATCH UP IS OPEN TO SUBMISSIONS!

GUIDELINES

CATCH UP IS LOOKING FOR WEIRDO POETRY, PROSE AND COMIX FROM ANYWHERE.

All submissions will be taken through electronic mail. Please attach your submission as a .doc file and address it to GCatchuPM@gmail.com with the subject SUBMISSION

Submissions should include a cover letter where you say stuff you want other people to know about yourself

You should also include any contact information that you then would like published on the internet.

Poetry : Send 3 – 5 poems. Since we are not so gravy with html, please hold back on experimental format/font stuphs.

Flash Fiction : No more than 1,500 wordz.

Short Stories : No more than 5,000 wordz.

Comix : You only get one page. It can be full color, so make it pop. Also, send it 300dpi full-color 8 x 10.5 jpgzzzz

WWW.CATCH-UP.US

Got a Problem I Can't Fix?

Just deal with it.

News From Catch Up

BIG News and finishing touches for issue #2.
First, we are stoked to announce the last minute inclusion of two poems by Adam Day. They are both about badgers. Heres a rad poem by him from BOMB.

Second, ALL OF OUR COVER ART IS IN!
Here are some low rez images.Josh Burggraf provides two outstanding front covers. Yes. We did a variant. Thats how serious we are.

Tell us yer fav in the comment section.

And, here's the final version of William Cardini's back cover.


Stoopid dohp. We know.

All Happening At CATCH UP : LOUISVILLE

CakeTrain

Mark P. Hensel and Jak Cardini have completed the fourth installment of their now infamous Impossible Objects series. This next phase harkens back to where the project began : William Cardini drawing his favorite lines of Jak Cardini's poems. A series of six illustrations will appear in the December issue of the lit. journal CakeTrain.

Until then, buy Impossible Objects #1.

To see Impossible Objects #2 and #3, buy the GCPM DVD.

People Got Into Stuff

Mark Got Into Smoke Signal #5

Mark And Josh Got Into Secret Prison #2Mike Miles Got Into On Again // Off Again

Jak Cardini Got Into A Few Things Including Elimae , Girls With Insurance , Japanese Baseball and Retort

Secret Prison #2 Ad Spot By Josh Burggraf

Check Josh's Site Here

New Short Short Short

Funny Day

I wake up with a black widow spider crawling the length of my arm. The eyes are dark sacks of goo perched on its body. A poisonous black bulb. I hear my neighbor yell “These fucking spiders are everywhere!”

I want to reach over for the spider and flick it off my arm but I’m thinking it will just attach itself to my finger and bite my knuckles. But I’m no scientist.

My alarm clock begins to buzz and it is far out of my reach. The sun is slowly rising and you can hear the wood crack under the immense heat that is advancing against what was a cool night. I laugh to myself and think today will be a very funny day.

What 5th Grader Took A Sharpie To Your Chest? Want Me To Beat Them Up?

Thats Jak Cardini. He looks pretty baller out there in space doesnt he? I mean, he's not wearing a space helmet or anything. Just breathing in all that cold darkness. Tough.

But then, he has to take a shower. Or go swimming with his nephews. And this happens.
Dont get us wrong, to the left he's reppin GCPM harder than any of us, but what the hell is that reject spirograph looking thing? Is that supposed to be a Stargate? Who does he think he is, an X-Man?

We, The Gold County Paper Mill, are embarrassed to be seen on the interweb with this guy. So, we are encouraging you, our adoring fans, to get that thing the fuck off Jak's chest.

ANNOUNCING : The "Jak, Your Chest Is Little Enough, Dont Cover It In Stooopid Shit" Tattoo Re-Design Contest.

Listen Up Yawl! Here Be The Rules.

Designs need to be:

Simple.

No Color.

Relative to the existing size. This dood's chest is TINY.

Think Cheap. Like Jak did when he first got this stooopid fucking tattoo.

Email your dope ass hyper sketch to thepapermill@googlegroups.com

We will then pick a sketch and force Jak to use it to hide his shame.

*UPDATE : Contest Submissions Are Now Being Posted On Our Flickr : http://www.flickr.com/photos/21800805@N07/sets/72157623840120086/

Also, no GCPMers can enter. I know you guys want it the most, but thats just not fair!

But guess what else you get winners?!

THIS SHIT!

Impossible Objects #1 by Jak And William Cardini

There Is A Mars limited ish chapbook by Jak Cardini

Comix : TRANZ, MASKS and Froghead Hangover by William Cardini

The GCPM DVD! Including all our recorded performances AND an interactive DIGI-COMIC!

AND A CHOICE OF ONE OF THESE

THE FIRST ISSUE OF Catch Up : Louisville

_OR_
A DOPE ASS GCPM OWL T SHIRT!

ANNOUNCING THE MAKE FUN OF JAK CARDINI'S TATTOO IN THE COMMENTS SECTION CONTEST

funniest comment gets their choice of the aforementioned GCPM t-shirts

So, get to sketching, emailing and shit talking. And jak, put on a fucken shirt, bird chest!!

STAPLE! 2010

This upcoming weekend is STAPLE! 2010 and we here of the GCPM will be tabling for the third year in a row!

We'll have a lot of great stuff, including:

• T-shirts screenprinted by Jak Cardini and Sarah Cassidy with our owl god (viewable [and purchasable!] on our etsy)
• The Gold County Paper Mill Presents the DVD (viewable on our etsy), a collection of live performances and videos featuring Jak Cardini, William Cardini, and Dr. Chuch (some of which can be watched either here or here), and an interactive version of the comic Impossible Objects, where William Cardini illustrated lines from Jak Cardini's poetry
• Print versions of the Impossible Objects comic
• Jak Cardini Achieves the Narratological Singularity and There Is a Mars, two poetry chapbooks by Jak Cardini
• Swimming at Work, a collection of short fiction by David Fullen
• Screenprinted posters of William Cardini's one-page comic WITCH ATTACKS (previously published online at hahaclever.com) done by the super-talented Rand Renfrow
• Other digital prints of two of William Cardini's one-page ATTACKS comics
• Masks, TRANZ, and Froghead Hangover, three minicomics by William Cardini

We're also going to be splitting our table space with the greeting cards and fabric art of Glade Whitworth. We hope to see y'all there, you can see our location of our table in the Monarch Event Center (where STAPLE! will be this Saturday, 3/6/10, from 11am to 7pm) here. We'll be at table 51A, right by our buddies the Poopsheet Foundation and the League of Extremely Ordinary Gentlemen. Also, when you come, be sure to check out the STAPLE! Program Guide, in which William Cardini will have a two-page comic.

Japanese Baseball

*NEW NOT MADE BY US SHIT SHOUT OUT*


Friends In Austin Started A Nice New Print/E Zine. Check Em Out. If you are in Austin, TX, you can pick em up at DomyBooks, MonkeyWrench and BookPeople.

If not, go to their site and download the PDF.

The E Zine : www.japanesebaseball.us

The FaceBook : http://www.facebook.com/pages/Japanese-Baseball/306960991905

TONS OF NEW CYBERSPACE CRAP

The Online Store Is UP!

Along with t-shirts, you can buy the first issue of Catch Up : Louisville and our performance DVD, complete with an interactive issue (use your remote to flip through the pages!) of Impossible Objects!

Here's a shot of Catch Up.


Here's a shot of it as a shirt


We are already working on issue #2. This time : 8x10 full color glossy magazine. Here's a sneak peak of it's layout style.



Ok. Thats Enough.

my other car is a car

345th Street

There is a man on 345th street with a bomb around his neck. The bomb looks like bowling ball and is worn around his neck like a necklace, the man has lost his job and is feeling the blues. The bomb’s digital read out reads 00:05:64:24. Or Five minutes sixty four seconds and twenty four hundredths of a second. People say he is crazy. Gone bonkers. He does look strange, wearing a bowling ball and smoking a cigarette, his hair matted down with Brylcreem.
The city is large and could be two cities if it wanted to be. Yellow cake snakes around the tops of buildings so the sky cannot be seen most days. Afternoon view becomes a yellow tint of everything.

The man holds a sign:

Needs Bride

Love

or

City Explodes

Kaboom!

His head feels like a tangle of shapes manipulating and pressing intrusively against the current of proper function. No one goes near him like he has a disease and his stomach churns and grumbles from weeks of eating only government issued space food. He’d never even been to space. Poor fool accidently signed up for a years worth of space potatoes. Damn that television ad where the pretty woman in the blue dress eats the stuff on the moon and smiles, “It’s like being on the moon,” gigglegigglegigglehee.
The cars of 345th street were now starkly abandoned, posed in their traffic jam positions, their owners hiding by trashcans, benches, and corners of alleys. Watching. Watching. Waiting.
At 00:04:23:22 left until explosion a robotic officer programmed for sympathy and reason approaches the man. The robot has synthetic human flesh sagging here and there, and half a mustache hangs off his upper lip. The bot offers the man a steak and a beer as a substitute for a suicide bombing. It almost fools the man but he quickly realizes the offer to be coupons for Daryl Dicks Steak House. A marginal steakhouse susceptible to twelve year old humor.
“The coupons, sir. They are worth two free steaks and a free beer at..” and here the robotic officer turns to address the sheepish onlookers, bellowing a deeper-louder robotic voice, “Daryl Dicks Steak House.”
The bomber spits in the face. “It’s not food I’m after. It’s this whole god forsaken city! It’s this god damn yellow cake. It’s being alone for ten years!” he opens his arms audaciously and looks over everyone, the bomb swinging left and right, “Aren’t you all tired of the yellow cake? When was the last time we saw the sky? When was the last time any of you left this city? When was the last time you loners were not alone? Government issued bride? Mine died ten years ago. I never knew so much as her middle name when she was there but at least she was there. And now they say I have to find my own?” He laughed manically and shook his head, “And where in this cluster fuck of cluster fucks inside of cluster fucks am I supposed to find a suitable woman? They’re not here. All of ‘em taken, here. They’re all taken here and all I have is my god damn one year supply of space potatoes.”
The people stare while the robotic officer lurches forward with the coupons tightly gripped in his metal fingers, “Daryl Dick’s Steak House invites you to come in for free steak and potatoes.” He releases the coupons mechanically and takes three clunking steps backwards.
The man reveals a tiny flame thrower from his back pocket and gas and flames hiss across the robot. The robot raises his hand with one slivery finger pointing defiantly up, “You are not complying. Comply or face consequences.” His face skin melts and his mustache drops down to the ground like a burning asp. The crowd is halfway disgusted, to see the machine deteriorate like that, tubes and circuits and pipes hanging like the red ribbons of a carcass. They all unknowingly share the same feeling that moment, something in between realization and disappointment, having fooled themselves all these years that the officers were real.
The clock on the bomb reads 00:03:22:22. Or three minutes twenty two seconds and twenty two hundredths of a second.
From the third story window of the closest building you would be able to see the bomber pacing around the burning metal. The smoke rises in black-thick curls, mixing into the yellow cake. A news paper whirls through the silent scene like some kooky visitor unable to stop its passing by, forced only to look quickly at the scene, before disappearing into dead yellow sky down the street.
A woman comes and she is really a hologram. She has hazel hair and brown eyes. She carries herself like a flower. Her projection, or body, is illuminated by a white glow and a white dress drapes around her feet. The bomber thinks her an angel. She only smiles. The bomber cries because he does not want to blow her up, even if most of him knows she is only a hologram.
She moves her fingers smoothly over the bomb, caressing the round surface with the care of a woman. The bomb reads 00:02:21:66. Two minutes twenty seconds and sixty six hundredths of a second.
“Please.” He pleads, “You’re not real. Don’t do this.”
She kisses the bomb. The man fixes his eyes on the tiny specs of pebble in the concrete and for one second her hologram image flickers off and back on. The bomb reads 00:01:57:22. He lays down tired and realizes he is crying. He curls into a ball and is smitten for the illuminated woman with joyful tears. She leans down and whispers “Why is it like this? It doesn’t have to be like this.”
“I know,” he says sniffling.
“Give me the bomb,” she says looking down at him. Her hair waves magnificently with a new wind stirring through the city. The yellow cake is moving in a slow current now. So much so that you can see clear afternoon sky emerging in patches.
“No, your not real.” He cradles the ball closer to his chest.
“Come on now. Hand it over. I think you and I, me and you, should be together. You and me together in our own loft where we cook and talk and share the details of our day. I have had a good day today. How was your day?” She says with programmed smile 23.3333AAC.
The bomb reads 00:00:59:24.
“It’s not fair he said. I didn’t want this bomb. I didn’t want to hurt anyone. I just want my wife.”
“I know. It’s okay.”
“It’s not. It’s not. It’s not okay. It’s just not fair. Nothing’s fair.”
The bomb reads 00:00:31:22.
She whispers a hot speech in his ear and he swears he feels the tip of her tongue faint on his ear, “dismantle the bomb,” she says lovingly.
Like a wired up toy he jumps to his feet to remove the bomb from around his neck and cracks it in half, against the concrete, like a coconut. Triumphant. Inside are wires meshed together with more wires. He fiddles with the contraption, operating like a surgeon, meticulously re-arranging and searching for the one wire with all the power to stop the whole scene. The bomb makes clicking off noise and reads 00:00:09:27.
“That wasn’t so bad, was it?” She says with her hand almost on his cheek.
He laughs and sniffles, “No. Not at all.”
“See. It is fair. Everything is fair,” she reaches down for his hand.
He laughs manically and rolls on the floor. Rolling and rolling on the floor. “It is fair!” Just then a hologram of the bomb exploding with confetti materializes. It is hilarious. The whole city can’t stop laughing and smiling and crying joyfully. On windows and corners of alleys they laugh and shake hands. Kisses on the cheek. It’s over they say.
“What a close one. I thought I was going to blow this place to smithereens.” Says the bomber.
“I know. That was close,” she says and her body’s image flickers two more times and then three more times until blinking out. The man does not notice this and his hand cups where he thinks her hand to be. For the first time in years the man sees the yellow fog completely dissipate and a blue sky is revealed. The pedestrians look up momentarily and then move back to their businesses of moving. Traffic proceeds and the great giant clouds glide on.