Read Rambo 3.5 for FREE

Rambo 3.5 is nominated for the Outstanding Mini-Comic Ignatz Award at SPX this Saturday. In an effort to prepare voters for this responsibility, we have decided to post Rambo 3.5 online for educational purposes (we'll also have copies available at the show!).

Flickr
Comicpress

Please be sure and forward this to all of your friends, make torrents, shout from the rooftops, etc.

If you're attending SPX, I'll be at the Adhouse Books table with a couple of new things for you to check out - a collection of commissions (most of which you can see on my Flickr account), COMIXED UP (a zine/mini-comic of cartoon and comic character mash-ups), and the new issue of PAPERCUTTER (with an all-new, never-before-seen Bald Eagle one pager co-written with Brian Maruca):

I'm also doing a panel on Sunday:

Commercial Eruptions

4:00 | Brookside Conference Room

Jim Rugg (Street Angel, Afrodisiac) and Frank Santoro (Storeyville, Cold Heat) have produced auteurial work that shows the influence of commercial comics, and have brought an independent sensibility to work for publishers like Marvel Comics. In a conversation moderated by Tim Hodler, the two cartoonists will reflect on what they have learned from the contents and processes of historical commercial comics and how they reinterpret their influences when working for corporate publishers.

Finally, I contributed a short strip to the new Fort Thunder Monster anthology which debuts at SPX (and I couldn't be more excited to see)!

Rambo invades Earth

I'm pleased as punch to announce that a few more stores and distributors have joined the Rambo 3.5 army.

Below are links where you can find Rambo 3.5. As always, if you choose to order Rambo from one of these fine establishments, be sure and look around at some of their other offerings. These are some of my favorite sources for comics - show 'em some love, and find some awesome new reading materials!

Chapel Hill Comics
Velocity Comic
Phantom of the Attic in Oakland
Copacetic Comics
Sparkplug Comics
Microcosm
Desert Island
(DCBS) Discount Comic Book Service
Don's Atomic Comics

Not in the US of A? Not a problem! Freedom knows no border (and has no fear)!

INTERNATIONAL ALLIES:
the Beguiling
Gosh Comics

In case you aren't convinced, check out ghettoManga's Preview/Review of Rambo 3.5! Samax says it's "hilarious!" And we like Samax so we won't disagree!

Poopsheet review

Comics Reporter review

Comics Journal review

Finally, for your Rambo pleasure, cartoonist superbadass, Ben Marra gets deep inside Rambo II with Brandon Soderberg. They didn't teach this kind of stuff at my school!

Rambo everywhere

Rambo is now available from these fine establishments:

Copacetic Comics
Sparkplug Comics
Microcosm
Desert Island
(DCBS) Discount Comic Book Service
Don's Atomic Comics

REVIEW:
Justin Giampaoli at Poopsheet Foundation gives Rambo 3.5 an A+!
"...make no mistake about it, this book is hilarious. Jim Rugg is my comedic guru."

PODCAST:
The 11 O'Clock crew gives Rambo 3.5 the once over.

Thanks to everyone who has taken time to check out Rambo, and to spread the word about it. Freedom!

Captain America and FDR commission

Thanks to everyone who stopped by the Carnegie Library last evening for my talk. Librarians Corey Wittig and Renee Alberts have put together a nice, monthly graphic novel discussion group. So if you're in the area and have an interest in the medium or what the library has to offer fans of comics, add it to your calendar. Next month's speaker is Pittsburgh treasure, Bill "Copacetic Comics" Boichel.

This Saturday, I'll be at Summit City Comic Con in Fort Wayne, IN. It's their inaugural show. They seem to be promoting it well, and I think it could be a very enjoyable show. If you're there, please stop by and introduce yourself. I'll have the usual stuff, including Rambo 3.5, which has gotten a couple nice mentions lately:

The Comics Journal: This comic is jammed with puns, cheap shots, double-entendres, adolescent sexual references and hilarious non-sequiturs. RAMBO 3.5 is gloriously inspired silliness, a comic destined for cult status.

The Comics Reporter: Mostly what you get is the infantile previous president's child-like social interaction with the dumb-as-ammo John Rambo character via cartooning that shifts style in a way reminiscent of Bill Sienkiewicz's 1980s pastiches on a similar group of scoundrels.

Brett Warnock (Top Shelf Comix): Rugg is nothing short of a fucking genius. So much so, even his "throwaway" stuff is brilliant.

I am down to my last 25 copies of the first printing of Afrodisiac, so if you're planning on grabbing that at Summit City, swing by early!

SUMMIT CITY PANEL
Indie Comics and Self Publishing! This panel offers our audience insight about the process of producing independent comics and self-published comics and doesn’t skimp on the pitfalls and hurdles that must be overcome. Self publishing can be excruciatingly difficult and endlessly rewarding. Join some of the best in the business for this sure to be lively discussion. Our panelists include: Jim Rugg (Afrodisiac, Street Angel, Comics Comics), Steve Bryant (Athena Voltaire), Matt Kindt (Super Spy, Strange Tales, 3 Story), Jeffrey Brown (Clumsy, Unlikely, Sulk, Incredible Changebots), Andy Jewett (In This Corner, SICKO, Awesome 2: Awesomer), Shawn Pryor (Mercury & The Murd, Wasted Wonderland)

SUMMIT CITY COMMISSIONS
I have time for one more commission for Summit City. If you're interested email me ASAP. It's $100 for an 8 x 10, b/w drawing.

TCAF, I'm coming for you

Heading to Toronto on Friday for the great TCAF. Hope to see all of you there! I will have copies of my new mini-comic Rambo 3.5, my usual assortment of books (Afrodisiac, Street Angel, One Model Nation, Guild), a few copies of the PLAIN Janes and Janes in Love (and I'm tabling next to Young Adult novelist and Janes co-creator, Cecil Castellucci so you could have her sign them and write something nice), color prints, iron-ons, stickers, and original artwork (ranging from loose sketches and illustrations all the way to finished pages).

On Saturday morning, I'm participating in a panel, hopefully we're not all still asleep:

How You Draw: How Does Art Affect Story?
Saturday, May 8th, 9:30 – 10:15am, Learning Center 1 (1st floor, in the main atrium space)

People make comics to tell stories. But how are those stories affected by the art style they’re told in? What are the ways that art style change the content, audience, and storytelling for a comic? Do artists choose their style, or does their style choose them? Featuring Dave Roman, Salgood Sam, Jim Rugg, James Turner, and Abby Denson. Moderated by Walter Dickinson.

QUICK LINKS:

Multiversity Comics recently interviewed me.

The National Post interviewed a bunch of TCAF participants. This is mine.

Amber Love posted our interview at The Girls Entertainment Network.

EVENTS:

Wednesday, May 5, 2010, 6:00pm - 7:00pm
Cartoonist and author Rina Ayuyang will be reading selections from her graphic novel "Whirlwind Wonderland" at the Toonseum.

Monday, May 17, 2010, 6:00pm - 7:00pm
I'll be talking at the Carnegie Library in Oakland for their graphic novel discussion group. Please check it out so I am not talking to myself.

Rambo 3.5

My fist mini-comic in many years, debuts this weekend at SPACE (April 24, 25) in Columbus, OH:

In 1988, Vietnam veteran and ex-Green Beret, John J. Rambo pushed the Soviets out of Afghanistan (see Rambo III for complete details).

With the Ruskies gone, the Taliban, led by anti-Soviet Mujahideen, siezed power in Kabul. After apparently forgetting how awesome and badass Rambo is, the Taliban gave refuge to Osama bin Laden and his terrorist gang - al Queda.