One more little post before leaving for Chi town...

Two things:

1. After lots of work and lots of waiting for my web host to fix the problem, my brand new website is officially up and running! It's still WWW.JAYFOSGITT.COM, but everything within it is new! Click on the link and be sure to bookmark it!

2. I just found out I was nominated in two categories for THE SHEL DORF AWARDS! This is an awards ceremony for comic professionals, and it will be held during the Detroit Fanfare comic con on Sept. 24th. I've been nominated for best letterer and best kids comic for my work on Ape Entertainment's "Little Green Men". If you'd like to vote, click on the Shel Dorf Awards link above!

So that's about it. Still packing for Wizard World and trying to stay on top of commissions and various assignments. Craziness, it's all craziness---but GOOD craziness! Hope to see you in Chicago, and if not, I look forward to talking with you again when I'm back!

--Jay 

"Take me back to Chicago...Lay my soul to rest..."

This is a very appropriate blog title on so many levels...
1. I'm returning to Chicago (specifically Rosemont, Il.) to attend Wizard World Chicago on Aug. 11th-14th
2. They're the opening lyrics to one of my favorite songs from the group "Chicago" (as if I had a not-favorite song of theirs)
3. Perhaps you noticed the adorable zombie above. Lay my soul to rest...he's dead, y'see...so there's the connection...ahem...
4. I LOVE Chicago, my third favorite city after my number 2 (Ann Arbor) and my number 1 (I'm looking at YOU, Toronto).

So if the intricacy of the photo seen here isn't evidence enough, I'm very excited to attend Wizard World--the very first con I set up at back in '09--and I'm pulling out all the stops to make a great showing! I've spent the past week making props to adorn Abner Cadaver with to better promote "Necronomicomics". I'm particularly proud of the mini-Rue Morgue magazine I've put together. The severed hand was a last minute choice and a terrific find at a local dollar store. But that word balloon was the real accomplishment: foam board, a coat hanger and a lot of packing tape. I feel like the original crew at ILM who cobbled together the earliest Star Wars props with chewing gum and chicken wire...

I also built some colorful new table signs that will hopefully up the gravitational pull of my table. And on the merch front, I've made FOUR NEW PRINTS to be sell at this show (check 'em out below)...

This was originally a print I made last year. At that time I printed it on plain ol' copy paper, but it was still proving popular with fans of the TV show Firefly. This time I polished up the design a bit and printed it on a nice glossy card stock. Coupled with actress Morena Baccarin's appearance at Wizard World (that's her in the middle row on the far left), I predict these will go over big.

This is a mash-up I created of the comic book Watchmen with the classic cartoon Rocky and Bullwinkle. For the past few years, I'd been selling a smaller print on flimsier paper based on this idea. But I felt I could do so much more with it, and a far better job. This is the result of that push, and I think it's going to be popular. I particularly want to make a blood-dripped "Wossamotta U" pin, if only for myself.

These two prints are components of my overall Necronomicomics promotional campaign. For now, I only plan on releasing these two cartoons. Hopefully in a year or two, I'll be able to print a collection of the cartoons, so fans can get their fill in a complete collection. I hope these will satisfy folks' cartoon blood lust in the meantime!

If these prints all sell well, count on seeing them for sale at my next appearance: Detroit Fanfare on Sept. 24th and 25th! I'll also be unveiling THREE NEW PRINTS at that show, two comic-themed, and one to coincide with the appearance of actor and Michigan native Bruce Campbell at the con!
 
So if you're planning on attending Wizard World or are just in the area, pop on over to the Donald E. Stephens Center and look for table #3106. I'll be the cute guy with glasses and a goatee drawing dead ducks and voluptuous chickens, and with a zombie puppet riding shotgun at my table! Hope to see you there!

Lastly, I'll be doing a new Live Sketch Show this Monday, August 8th, at 8 pm eastern time. It will be short, but it's going to be a special pre-Wizard World send off. Click on the link to check it out when the date and time hit. And as always, you're welcome to talk with me online via Ustream's chat window. You need to log in to Ustream to use the window, but registering is easy. It only takes a username and an email address. Once you've entered that info, you can chat with me, simple as that!

Thanks for your viewership, readership and friendship, folks! Hope to be in touch with you all soon!

--Jay

My drawings have been fleeced, and that ain't bad!

I had actually planned on doing a new Live Sketch show tonight, but was just reminded by my wife, Laura, that I have two out of town caricaturing gigs tomorrow and won't be back in town until late at night. So unfortunately, no show this week. I'll post something soon about making up for it next week with something special--a theme for the show that would have more audience involvement than ever before!

In other news...

THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE IS COMING...AND IT'S ADORABLE

Last winter, I drew up a design for a zombie puppet. I contacted my friend Gordon Smuder (creator of the awesome online puppet show "Transylvania Television"), and we agreed to swap artworks, whereby I'd draw some cartoons for his show's website, and he'd use his puppet building skills to bring my zombie to life (or un-life)!

It's now seven months later. The soil's been broken, screams have been heard in the distance, and the stench of messily gnawed flesh wafts across the mist. Comprised, these elements can amount to only one horrific conclusion...

ABNER CADAVER HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE!!!

As you can see from my original drawing, Gordon was exceedingly faithful to my design, and gave me Henson-level awesomeness in a fuzzy little package! I'll be unveiling Abner in the decayed flesh at Wizard World Chicago in August, where the little guy will help promote my new horror cartoon, "Necronomicomics"! So huge thanks to Gordon for all his hard work. Having my designs turned into a puppet of this quality has been a lifelong dream, and I'm forever indebted to Gordon's skills!

And speaking of my new cartoon...


NECRONOMICOMICS
My cartoon's first official appearance in Rue Morgue Magazine will happen in issue #114, which lands the week of August 1st! As I always stress, buy the crap out of this magazine, then report back to the powers that be at Rue Morgue and tell 'em you LOVE Necronomicomics (good lord, I'm recruiting a cult)! The new goal is to get 'em to let me draw a cover for an upcoming issue! So supporting my work and the magazine is a step in the right direction!

WIZARD WORLD CHICAGO
As I mentioned earlier, I'll have a table at Wizard World on August 11th-14th selling copies of Dead Duck, and copies of my 2011 sketchbook. I will also be selling original artwork and comic pages, original sketch covers, some brand new prints that will premiere at this con, and I'll be taking commissions at the con! Click here to visit the website and find out more! Hope to see you there!

That's about it for this entry. Thanks for reading, and keep checking back for more news to come!

--Jay

I'M NOMINATED FOR AN AWARD! SUH-WEEEEET!!!

Hey kids! I've just been told that I've been nominated for an award for my sketch card work on Rittenhouse's Marvel: Dangerous Divas set! I'm up for a couple different categories, which is pretty cool! Anyone reading this who might have the inclination to cast a vote on my behalf, hey, I wouldn't stop you! You can vote by visiting this link and following the instructions. Thanks in advance, and thanks to Rittenhouse for nominating me!

--Jay

Gimme your thoughts....

Not sure if it's even worth mentioning, but my Live Sketch Show is off this week. I question mentioning this because my viewership seems to be dwindling on the weeks I DO broadcast my show. This could be due to my switching the show to every other week, rather than the every week schedule I maintained at the beginning. Or maybe I'm not giving people what they want to see. Or it could be that folks just have better things top do. Whatever the reason, I'm contemplating stopping the show altogether. I can watch myself draw without broadcasting it. I started this show to connect with fans, and hopefully accumulate some new ones, and that's not happening if I'm my own audience. Now, this isn't a lame attempt to guilt anyone into watching. This is an honest effort to poll some folks and see if this is worth continuing. If you watch my show, plan on watching my show, or have some ideas for stuff you'd like to see on my show, either write me here, or at my Facebook page, or at fourpanelhero@hotmail.com. I'll run one more show next Wednesday, July 13th. If I don't get some responses by then, I'll give the show a decent burial and call it a day. So, lemme know what you think, folks. Or don't. That'll give me an idea of what you think, too.

In other news, I just sent off my latest edition of Necronomicomics to Rue Morgue Magazine. It'll be in issue #114, which comes out Agust 1st. Check for it then, buy the crap out of it, and be sure to write Rue Morgue and tell 'em you dig it so.

Lastly, a commercial for my commissions. Work has slowed down a tad from the past few months of reckless art gigs and assignments. This wouldn't be a problem, except that I've had two major and unforeseen expenses drop in my lap over the past month, to the tune of two grand. This was cash that was supposed to carry me through the con season. Now it's a crater in my bank account. So I'm outright asking that anyone who may have had an inkling to hire me for whatever reason--caricature for a friend, drawing of your favorite comic character in my style, whatever--now is the time to book me. You can contact me at: fourpanelhero@hotmail.com and I'll make your project happen.

And if you've been wanting to get an autographed book from me but haven't found me at a con, now's the time. I'm selling a limited amount of copies of Dead Duck for $30, which will cover shipping, and will include and autograph and original sketch on the inside cover. I also have copies of my sketchbook which I'm selling for $20, and will also include an autograph and sketch on the front cover. I accept Paypal and can ship within a week of payment. E-mail me if you're interested.

That's about it this week, kids. Sorry if I sound desperate. It happens to the best of us.

--Jay