Belated Great Philadelphia Comic Con 2017 report

Thank you to everyone who came out to this year’s Great Philadelphia Comic Con. I had a terrific time meeting everyone. There were so many awesome people that stopped by, some that I had met in past years and some brand-new faces. Plus, all the of the wonderful cosplayers. As someone who has dabbled in cosplay myself (I do a pretty good Doctor Strange), I know how much time and effort goes into making those costumes and becoming those characters. Everyone’s hard work really paid off, I have photographic evidence at the bottom of this post.

It was odd to be there without my tablemate from last year Rebecca Silver (see all her mind-blowing art here). However, I had a great group of neighbor that helped pick up the slack. Big thank you to KJ Kaminsky from Big Blue Studio, who’s table was across from mine. He knows the comic game from a ton of different angles and I learned a lot talking with him. Next to me was, Dominic Riggio on one side and Jason Westlake  on the other. Both were fantastic to chat with during any lulls in the action. Then last, but not least, I was lucky enough to have my old friend Scott Derby in our row. I’ve known Scott forever and have always been a huge fan. Do yourself a favor and check out his art here: http://ScottDerbyArt.com

I always have blast whenever I’m lucky enough to have a chance to hang out with Scott.

If you didn’t get a chance to see me at this show, you’re in luck, my next appearance is right around the corner. On May 5th I’ll be celebrating Free Comic Book Day at Uncanny! in the King of Prussia mall. For those not familiar, every year the first Saturday in May Free Comic Book Day. All of the different publisher will release special comics for the shops to give away on this day. Most store will bring in special guest. For the 2nd year in a row I’m will be at Uncanny! I hope to see you there

Here are just a few of the amazing cosplayer I met at the Great Philadelphia Comic Con

Be Well,

T.

Home Town Con

My next Con appearance is right around the corner and it’s my hometown show. That’s right I’m making my return to the Great Philadelphia Comic Con in Oaks, April 7 through April 9. There will be a ton fun celebrity guest at this show as well as some really cool artist. After you’re done saying hi to me, be sure to swing on by Scott Derby’s booth in artist alley. Not only is he an amazingly talented artist, but he also is one of the nicest people I know.

Click the fancy banner for all the details.

Be Well

T.

Back From SPX '16

It always take me a little bit of time to recover from a convention. It seems the more fun I have at a con, the longer it takes me to recover. Given that it has taken me over a week to write about SPX, you can imagine how much fun I had doing this show.

I meet some many wonderful creators and fans. Really way too many to mention here and I’m still wading through the websites of all the artists whose business cards I picked up. I did however want to single out my fantastic neighbors. At a convention having cool and nice neighbors is key to a good show. They’re the ones who’ll watch your table when you need to run out for lunch (like that actually happens) or use the rest room. They’re the ones who you chat with when there are lulls and commiserate with when sales aren’t where you’d like them to be.

At SPX I was lucky enough to have on my left Sean Dillon and Steven Petrivelli, whom I was splitting the table with. I’ve know these guys for a little while now and it’s always fun talking comics with them. They have a really fun all ages book called Sweetie. Check it out HERE.

To my right was Win Evens. This was the first time we had officially met, but as coincident would have it, we’re from the same general area of the Philly suburbs. I’m sure that our paths have crossed a time or two without even realizing it. Wither we had met before or not this was first chance to see her amazing art. Do yourself a favor and check out her stuff HERE.

Not to bury the lead too much, but The Chronicles of the Tal Nor issue #1 will be released on Comixology tomorrow. That’s right, starting 9/28/2016 at 9am or so east coast time, you will be able to buy the first issue for $1.99 on Comixology. I’m so excited to offer the book on yet another platform. It was a long process to get it posted and I wish they had given us a little more lead time to promote the book, but I know how hard every one there works. They’re flooded with submissions and do a fantastic job of getting comics out into the world. Also they have add the exclusive Comixology guided view to the comic.

COMIXOLOGY LINK

This link will become lives sometime between 9am and 10 am tomorrow. If you are at all interested in picking up the book or just have two bucks to donate to the cause, please buy it tomorrow. It’s my hope to get a ground swell of support on the release day. If we get enough people buying on Wednesday, it will help push the book on to their front page and a few more people might just give it a try. Thank you for your support.

Be Well

T.

The Little Things

It’s the little things in life that making an upcoming event feel real. I’ve been excited for SPX ever since I received the email saying I won the SPX lotto and would have a table at this year’s Small Press Expo. The release of this year’s floor map, showing me and Steve at table L6 (Click the table number for a map), amped up the excitement. But it didn’t start to feel tangibly real until I received my new Square reader (I can take cards with chips now, as well as Apple Pay and I’m sure other things I don’t even know about yet) and my Maryland Tax info on the same day.

This has led to both feelings of excitement and the beginning of the normal pre-convention worries. I’m sure I’m not alone in my pre-con fears which includes but not limited being worried about the following:

·         No one will buy my books

·         I won’t bring enough and miss out on sales (this leads me to bringing everything in my trunk)

·         I’ll forget just about everything

·         There will be a mix up with our hotel room and we’ll have nowhere to stay

·         I’ll have some sort of panic attack/freak out

Now, has any of these things ever happened? Well, outside of forgetting a few minor con supplies (like snacks or extra note cards) none of these things have ever happened. But that’s how it goes with irrational fears. I have them before every con and they drop away as soon as I set up and talk to the first convention goer.

In other news we have been hard at work on issue. Kelsea is killing it with the new character designs. While we won’t have it completed in time for SPX, there is a chance of something new on the table. In the meantime here is a tiny preview of what we’re working on.

Be Well

T.

Back from Baltimore

Thank you to everyone who came out to see me at Bmore into Comics #10. I had so much fun and I can’t wait for Bmore into Comics #11. Monica Gallagher did a wonderful job of organizing this show and the Windup Space is awesome. Also their stage looks like Twin Peaks.

I had a ton of fun up on that stage as a guest on my very first panel ever. Big thank you to Jordan Clark for moderating and Monica Gallagher, Jamie Noguchi, Jonathan Eaton to the other guest on the Character Building panel. You all made me feel comfortable and like I belonged up there. Jordan recorder the panel for his podcast. Check it out at https://soundcloud.com/jordan-clark-830094701/episode-15-character-building-panel

(don’t worry there’s like on the podcast page to download it via iTunes)

 May next show is SPX in September. In the meantime I’ll be hard at work on issue #2 and some other secret projects too.

Be Well

T.

Free Comic Book Day

I want to thank everyone who came out and visited me and Rebecca Silver at the Great Philadelphia Comic Con.  It was so nice to meet everyone.  We had some great conversations about comics, art and writing.  There was also a ton of amazing cosplayers that came out to the con here are a couple of my favorites.

We also had a special visit by the Dark Knight himself.  Who knew Batman was a big fan of The Chronicles of the Tal Nor. He even signed up for our mailing list.(Names and email address obscured to protect the innocent)

Now you missed me at the Great Philadelphia Comic Con, don’t fear, your next chance to see me is right around the corner.  I’ll be signing and selling at the Uncanny! in King of Prussia this Saturday a part of the Free Comic Book Day.  Not only Will I be there, but so will Steven Petrivelli with his book Sweetie.  More than just that there will be, as the name implies, Free Comics books!  But wait there’s more, as a special added bonus, I’ll be dressed as everyone favorite master of the mystic arts, Doctor Strange.  I hope to see you all there.

T.

Con Update and some non-Tal Nor news

It looks like April is going to be a crazy busy month.  I’ll be at no one but two conventions in April.

First I’ll be making my triumphant return to SPACE.  That right once again my uber-talented sister Kat LoGrande and I will be sharing a table at the Small Press and Alternative Comics expos.  If you are in the Ohio area on 4/9 or4/10 come out to see us for the low, low price of FREE. You heard right, this year going to SPACE is FREE!

After a recover weekend of playing D&D I’ll be back on the convention trail, this time a little closer to home.  April 22 through the 24th I’ll be at the Great Philadelphia Comic Con in Oaks, PA.  And I won’t be alone, this time I’ll be sharing a table with The Chronicles of the Tal Nor cover artist Rebecca Silver.  If you’ve never see her art in person, do yourself a favor and come out visit us.  She is amazingly talented.

At both shows I’ll have copies of the first issue of The Chronicles of the Tal Nor as well as a few limited Hard Rock editions of the Club 27 anthology.

Besides announcing cons, I’m also happy to announce the digital release The Marriage Act on Comixolgy.  I had the pleasure of Lettering this thought provoking release from Disposable Fiction, written by Jack Wallace and featuring the art of Roberto Pasqua and Gwydion Vibart.  For more info check out the book at http://bit.ly/24eGdhm

That’s all for now.

T.

Signings, Cons and Reviews

Looking back at the last three Wednesdays I can say without doubt that I could not have asked for better way to launch the first issue of The Chronicle of the Tal Nor than doing events at the Uncanny/Comics and More family of stores.  Everyone who work there is so supportive of the book and made for a great experiences.  I had so much fun meeting people at each signing.  It was great to talk comics, writing and storytelling all day long. If you’re in the Philadelphia area, do yourself a favor and visit one of these awesome stores.

If you missed me at these in-store signs, don’t fear, your next chance to get a signed copy of the book is right around the corner.  On Halloween I’ll be at the Locust Moon Fall Comics Fest from 11am to 6pm.  This looks like it’s going to be an awesome show with a ton of great creators.  It a curated show and I applied without much hope that I was going to get invited.  I’m incredibly honored that they thought enough of my work to ask me to be there.  For more details on all the amazing guest check out their websites. http://locustmoonfest.com/

Speaking of amazing guest.  As you might remembered over the summer made a special pre-release version of the book for the SPACE show in Ohio.  At this show I was able to talk with a ton awesome creators and give many of them a copy of the book.  My old friend David Branstetter, creator of Straw Man (check out his work HERE ), was kind enough to share a review of the book. Please give it a read below, but be warned there are some plot spoilers.

The cover to Tal-Nor #1 boldly proclaims "S.P.A.C.E Exclusive Edition" with the confidence that you'll want to hunt this bad boy down in the future when this series becomes highly collectible. I'll admit that I sometimes fall victim to the old saying "You can't judge a book by its cover".

While nicely illustrated, the design didn't really sell me on the story. Fortunately T. Perran Mitchell's writing and Kelsea Jewell's vibrant and impressionistic illustrations set a wonderfully strange and alien vibe that was apparent from the first page. We follow a young lady named Sophie who is a trained spy and hunter. She's in the middle of a rescue operation when she's unexpectedly captured. Sophie is no victim. She keeps doing her best to get out of her situation and I admire T's writing for creating a strong female protagonist that simply refuses to give up. Even with bruises on her face she continues to move forward in her pursuit without any kind of pity party.

Throw in an interesting story about invading aliens, medieval clothing, and futuristic technology and you have a fresh, otherworldly adventure. Highly recommended! 

Exclusive S.P.A.C.E.

I was worried that we would not get this done in time, but I’m happy to announce that we will be premiering issue #1 of The Chronicles of the Tal Nor at this year’s Small Press and Alternative Comics Expo, July 18-19. That's right; the comic is done and at the printer right now. We are having a special SPACE exclusive edition printed for the show with the regular edition available later this year.

This Limited Edition Exclusive comic will only be available to purchase at SPACE and with a print run of just 120, will be sure to go fast.  If you are planning to go to SPACE and want to reserve a copy please email us at TalNorComics@gmail.com with SPACE as the subject.

Things are really heating up here at Tal Nor HQ. Check back regularly; more announcements are coming soon.

I hope to see you in 17 days at SPACE, cowboy!

~T

Spring City Fun

I want to thank everyone who came out to the Spring City Local Author Fest last weekend.  It was great to meet everyone and get to know my fellow authors.  It's amazing to see how many talented authors we have in our little corner of the world. 

My talk at the show went well and I think I was able to impart a good bit of knowledge about how to make comics to the audience.  In fact I might have snagged a few speaking gigs from this event.  I'll be sure to post about them here if and when they become a reality.

In all my years doing shows, either with my work or helping out at someone else's booth, one constant has been how lucky I've been in having great neighbors.  The Spring City Author Fest was no different.  To my right was the fantastic author Dianne K. Salerni. When you do a show like this, it only takes a few hours before you know your neighbor's pitch well enough that you can give it yourself and Dianne had a great one for her book The 8th Day.  It's about a boy who discovers a secret day hidden between Wednesday and Thursday.  He soon learns that there is a girl who lives next door and she only exists on this hidden day.

It sounds great, right?  That book is going on my to-read list for sure. You can pick up a copy of The 8th Day or any of Dianne K. Salerni's other books here:

That's the really nice thing about doing these types of shows; you get to discover all sorts of new books and works that you never knew about.  I'm really glad that I did this show and I hope to do it again next year.

On the comic front, we are moving full speed ahead.  Unfortunately that speed is slow.  Both Kelsea and I have day jobs which take up a good bit of our time and energy.  This tends to make things go a little slower than anyone would like.  Also you don't get watercolors as brilliant as Kelsea's by rushing.  Never fear: we are both hard at work on the next issue and it will be here before you know.

T.