Heroes Con and Other Stuff

I will be at Heroes Con in Charlotte, NC this weekend. If you go to the show, please stop by and say hello. I'll have the usual comics, books, art, and prints. Heroes is an awesome, comic book show, so if you're on the fence, I highly recommend it. I enjoy it as an exhibitor and as a comics fan and tip my hat to organizer Shelton Drum and the many people who work hard to make the show run smoothly and to create a welcoming, friendly atmosphere.

TRON EVOLUTION vinyl

I Am 8-Bit produced a limited edition, 12" vinyl record of Sascha's game soundtrack from Tron Evolution.

When they contacted me about working on the artwork, I was ecstatic! I LOVE the original Tron movie, and look forward to seeing the new one. Plus the idea of doing album art in general is pretty awesome. If you don't believe me, go check out Picturebox's book about superstar album artists, Hipgnosis. Amazing!

Art Show in Arlington

Comic Book Culture Invades the Art World

Arlington Arts Center
NOV 19, 2010 - JAN 16, 2011
Opening reception: Friday, November 19, 7 – 9 pm Members only preview 6 - 7 pm

PARTY CRASHERS mashes up comic art and contemporary gallery culture. Featuring Gabrielle Bell, Deb Sokolow, Derik Badman, Robert Pruitt, Victor Kerlow, Blaise Larmee, Warren Craghead III, Jamar Nicholas, Anton Kannemeyer (aka Joe Dog), Jeffrey Brown, Dash Shaw, Rosaire Appel, Andrei Molotiu, Rina Ayuyang, Joshua Cotter, Olav Westphalen, and me!

PIX: This Weekend (and some other junk)

If you're in Pittsburgh this weekend, check out the Pittsburgh Indy Comics Expo (PIX). It's Saturday and Sunday and FREE to attend. If you know someone in the area that might be interested, pass it on. Thanks.



I drew an illustration in this week's Pittsburgh City Paper. It was fun, a bit of a nod to editorial cartooning which is something I haven't done in the past. You can read the article online.

Katamari fundraiser artwork for sale

Floating World Comics organized a Katamari themed art show, and now the artwork is being auctioned off on ebay. 100% of the proceeds will go to JOIN - a local nonprofit organization that works to “connect the street to a home”. There is a lot of great looking original art and archive prints and they are very affordable!

You could own a limited edition color print of my piece or the original artwork.

Baltimore Comicon and PIX

I will be at Baltimore Comi-Con this weekend, at booth 1904 (Adhouse Books). I'll have my usual assortments of books, prints, and artwork as well as copies of my Ignatz-nominated Rambo mini-comic and a new book of commissions and other drawings.

Pittsburgh gets its very own Indy Comics show (PIX) - October 16 + 17. Brought to you by the fine folks at the Toonseum and the Copacetic Comics Company! Add this to your calendars folks - admission is FREE! Tables for exhibitors are inexpensive. Please check it out, and pass it along to anyone you think might be interested! Thanks.

Scott Pilgrim, Milk & Cheese, Batman

Legendary St. Louis comic shop, the Star Clipper has posted some recommended graphic novels to read after you've enjoyed Scott Pilgrim. Street Angel clocks in at a respectable number 2.

Meanwhile, over at Comics Comics, you can see a poorly-scripted imitation of Evan Dorkin's Milk & Cheese duking it out with a poorly-drawn imitation of Neal Adams' Batman. Here are the original pencils:

Finally, Multiversity Comics: Off the Cape column reviews Afrodisiac: "If you're looking for one of the best characters in comics in recent memory as well as a book that acts as a grand tribute to years upon years of pop culture (not just comic pop culture), this book is definitely for you."

Skate 3 postcards

I designed some postcards for a release party for EA's Skate 3 a couple months ago in LA.

This was an unused design that I kind of liked:

And here are some of the roughs I initially submitted. I like the diagram of the skater with the body parts labeled as cuts of meat:

Smirnoff Graphic

I recently did a series of illustrations for a Smirnoff event in Toronto called Graphic. Here is a link to a more detailed description and photos from the event:

http://kimtarlo.com/2010/07/547/

It was a very enjoyable job that included an invitation, map, projected images (that changed throughout the night depending on what was happening at the party), and large blown up prints of my drawings:

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.

Comedy and Everything Else and OC Weekly

I created a logo for Comedy and Everything Else. You can also see some of the attempts I made that didn't quite make it.

  

Here are a couple of recent OC Weekly illustrations as well.

 

How the West Was Weird

Zombie towns - gunslinging exorcists - Aztec vampires - and lots more stuff your history teacher never told you about... 'cause she was scared!

How the West Was Weird is a new anthology from Pulpwork Press. The book features nine tales of the weird, wild west, by the likes of Barry Reese, Derrick Ferguson, Josh Reynolds, and more. All wrapped up in a cover by me.

Russ Anderson, the editor of this anthology, contacted me about a year and half ago about doing a cover for a western anthology he was putting together. He liked another cover I had done for Out of the Gutter:

He also commissioned an Afrodisiac piece for SPX 08:

That's a digression. Back to the west...after a couple of emails, I drew some cover roughs. And revised those, until we arrived at the final image (at the top of this post).

I had forgotten about this version. It's a lot more comic book and less pulp. I like the green of the alien's hand in this one.

You can order a copy of the book from Amazon or Pulpwork Press.

Communication Arts Illustration Annual 51

The cover illustration I did for OC Weekly featuring skinheads and swastikas and hatefulness will appear in Illustration Annual 51, the May/June 2010 issue of Communication Arts.

Ninja, the Comics Reporter's Opinion of Afrodisiac, and the iPad

Tom Spurgeon reviews Afrodisiac at the Comics Reporter: "Afrodisiac is an extremely handsome book that fosters 10,000 giggles."

David Brother suggests an alternative to the iPad that Afrodisiac fans will surely agree with.

And here are two illustrations I did for an article about ninjas for McSweeney's. At the twelfth hour the story was cut, and sadly, so were my drawings. That's okay though, cause I wouldn't have drawn them otherwise.

See how many ninjas you can find in the image below. And go buy Afrodisiac, in better comic book stores everywhere.

LA Times likes my Vonnegut drawing

The LA Times blog wrote about Steven Gettis' cool online collection of authors and literary characters as rendered by cartoonists and illustrators. And they used one of my drawings (the late Kurt Vonnegut) in their piece. Go check out Hey Oscar Wilde! It's Clobberin' Time!!! You won't be disappointed.

AFRODISIAC - BEST COMICS 2009 NEW YORK MAGAZINE

Afrodisiac made New York magazine's list of the ten Best Comics of 2009! The strength and diversity of the other titles leads us to wonder if there's an Afrodisiac agent on the inside who switched out the real winner and added Mack Midnight!

Seriously though, we are very excited. Thank you, New York magazine!

I did a few illustrations for the McSweeney's 33 the San Francisco Panorama. One of them was for a roundtable discussion about the state of and future of film distribution.

OC WEEKLY

Did some illustrations for this week's OC Weekly, including the cover! Four skinheads went into a immigrant Latino neighborhood one night and attacked a Mexican man. The next thing they knew, they were getting an ass-whuppin' from the residents of Oak View. You can read the article online.

Here are pencils and roughs.

This is the second true crime story I've worked on for OC Weekly. Despite the unattractive nature of the crimes, both jobs have been a pleasure to work on. Their staff has been exceptional to deal with.

M.O.D.O.K. vs. LUCHA LIBRE

Check out this recent commission I drew.