One of my favorite comics oddities, Daniel Merlin Goodbrey’s All Knowledge is Strange, came to a close today. A bit reminiscent of comics such as Wondermark or Dinosaur comics, while still maintaining Goodbrey’s unmistakable voice. Worth a read.

When I launched http://www.picturestorytheater.com/ as an archive for my fairy tale/YA comics, I included all of the archived stories from my Picture Story Theatre collaboration with Bill Duncan at the new site. I did not, however, immediately remove them from the WebcomicsNation archive linked through TwentySevenLetters.com. As part of my effort clarify the branding and organization of my work, I have now done so.

A more thorough redesign of TwentySevenLetters.com is also in the offing, at some point, eventually, one of these days.

The following stories can no longer be found here at TwentySevenLetters.com, but can instead be found at PictureStoryTheater.com:

The Little Bear Who Knew Fear
Together Again
Portraits of Nervous Children
Amy’s Picture Stories
Fantastic Zoology: The Coastal Giraffe
Robots Abroad

And, of course, PictureStoryTheater.com houses my ongoing collaboration with Edward J Grug, Gingerbread Houses.

Note: All of the above-mentioned stories can still be found at ModernTales.com as well.

My original collaboration with Grug, Bring Your Daughter to Work Day received a fantastic review from Rich Kreiner in The Comics Journal yesterday:

The office dynamic is vividly captured by a cast that distinguishes itself quickly thanks to Alexander Danner’s sharp dialogue. Each character fluidly plays their part, either knowing or unknowingly, relative to the young protagonist, as the unpredictable tale wends its way.

Edward Grug keeps the proceedings moving smoothly with a loose yet expressive style.

Full Review

To those of you coming here from TCJ, or those of you who just liked BYDTWD, remember Grug and I have been working on a new, even more ambitious project for the past year–you can read it over at PictureStoryTheater.com. Gingerbread Houses is our take on the classic tale of Hansel & Gretel.

I’m not in this issue, sadly, but I will definitely be at the event, along with the many very talented folks who did contribute to this lovely anthology.

Join Porter Square Books and the Boston Comics Roundtable for an evening with contributors to Inbound #4, A Comic History of Boston. Writers and Artists will be presenting their process and research from the individual stories. Signed copies will be available for purchase.

Location:
Porter Square Books (map)
25 White St
Cambridge, Massachusetts 02140-1413

Gingerbread Houses begins its fourth chapter tomorrow at its brand new home on the web, PictureStoryTheater.com. 2010 promises many new trials for the unfortunate family, as we enter into the next phase of our story. Gingerbread Houses is a self-contained graphic novel, and is now halfway through its two-year run in online serialization.

PictureStoryTheater.com will serve as the primary home for Alexander Danner’s comics inspired by fairy tales, fables, and children’s literature, and is aimed at a young adult to adult audience. In addition to Gingerbread Houses, PictureStoryTheater.com will serve as the archive for the original Picture Story Theater comics, which were illustrated by Bill Duncan and originally published on ModernTales.com. Danner’s more experimental, mainstream literary, and workplace-themed works will continue to reside at TwentySevenLetters.com.

Gingerbread Houses will continue to update at ModernTales.com and in Grug’s livejournal, in addition to on the PictureStoryTheater.com website.

In addition, the first two chapters of Gingerbread Houses are now available as a print mini, and can be purchased via PictureStoryTheater.com.

Gingerbread Houses is written by Alexander Danner (“The Discovery of Spoons,” “Five Ways to Love a Cockroach,” “Panel One”) and illustrated by Edward J. Grug III (“Love Puppets,” “Glorious Bounty,” “The Bizarre Life of Charlie Red Eye”).

A new page appears every Thursday at:
http://www.picturestorytheater.com
http://www.moderntales.com/comics/gingerbread.php

Contact Info
Alexander Danner
alexander@twentysevenletters.com
http://www.picturestorytheater.com
http://www.twentysevenletters.com

Edward J. Grug III
tedprior@yahoo.com
http://tedprior.livejournal.com/

A Multiplicity of Minor Milestones
For Immediate Release

After enduring famine, parental abandonment, forced labor, compelled gluttony, and the brutal death of their wicked captor, Hansel and Gretel made their way home, to the loving embrace of the parents who sent them out to die in the first place. Now, all that remains is to restore that feel-good familial harmony…

This Thursday, December 10th concludes the third chapter of Gingerbread Houses, and brings to a close the first year of our somber retelling of Grimms’ “Hansel and Gretel.” What’s more, this brings us to the halfway point in our story; the witch is dead, the children are home, and there’s a bag full of witch’s pearls hidden in the cookie jar. But what do you do with a deranged little boy who’s terrified of food?

From the start, Gingerbread Houses has been a self-contained graphic novel, with a definite end in sight. The coming year will bring the conclusion of our story, approximately on the series’ second anniversary.

Gingerbread Houses will resume regular updates on Thursday, January 7, 2010, with the beginning of Chapter Four.

Gingerbread Houses is written by Alexander Danner (“The Discovery of Spoons,” “Five Ways to Love a Cockroach,” “Panel One”) and illustrated by Edward J. Grug III (“Love Puppets,” “Glorious Bounty,” “The Bizarre Life of Charlie Red Eye”).

A new page appears every Thursday at ModernTales.com.
http://www.moderntales.com/comics/gingerbread.php

My semester is officially over, which means that, aside from finishing up my grading, I have the next few weeks off. I expect to get lots of comics related projects done in that time. In fact, I’ve already started, and will have a few minor announcements to make in the coming days. Here’s what I have in the works for the coming weeks:

• Launch a new website. This will happen in the new year, but I’ve been busily developing it for the past few weeks. More on that when the time comes.
• Plan a series of print minis for Gingerbread Houses. The first one is already done, but I haven’t put it up for sale yet. That’ll probably happen this weekend.
• Complete final revisions on Trouble Is, Book One. This is my top priority after finishing up my grading. It will still be a while before anyone other than Shelli sees the results of this, but I’ll feel very good about having it done nonetheless.
• Revise the script for Uncertainty, a short story I’m doing with Tym Godek. This one has been on both our back burners for a couple of years now, but I think we’re finally going to get this one out in 2010.
• I’ve got a couple of other artists I’ve vaguely talked about new projects with—I hope to nail down some specifics there, and start on new scripts.
• I have a few non-comics projects to work on as well, including preparing for fatherhood (75 days to go!), so I suspect I should be able to keep busy this year.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The History of Boston – Finally in Comic Book Form!
New comics anthology showcases true tales from Boston’s past and present
in Inbound #4, the latest from the Boston Comics Roundtable

BOSTON, MA (December 3, 2009) – Boston history has never looked so lively as in Inbound #4: A Comic Book History of Boston. This 144-page trade paperback features over 35 stories from dozens of contributors, all chronicling true tales from their beloved hometown. The book is the latest in the Inbound comics anthology series produced by the Boston Comics Roundtable. (View book cover and samples at http://www.bostoncomicsroundtable.com/inbound-4/.)

Inbound #4: A Comic Book History of Boston has already been hailed as “an unexpected and delightful assortment of Boston lore” by Jane Clayson, radio host of WBUR’s “Radio Boston.” The stories are fresh takes on some of Boston’s most fascinating history that rarely makes its way to dusty textbooks and walking tours. Ever heard about the book bound in human flesh at the Boston Athenaeum? What about the true and surprisingly sympathetic tale of Ponzi Scheme inventor Charles Ponzi? From revolutionaries to pirates and heroes to thieves, this collection brings them all together into a single, thrilling volume of shared history.

The book is a great gift for both history buffs and comics lovers. It’s available online at the Boston Comics Roundtable website (www.bostoncomicsroundtable.com) and in many comic book and traditional book stores in the Boston area, including: Million Year Picnic, Harvard Book Store, New England Comics, Brookline Booksmith, Comicazi, Hub Comics, and Comicopia.

To hear the WBUR interview with Inbound editors and contributors, as well as the radio dramatization of Cathy Leamy’s “The Old Howard,” go to http://www.bostoncomicsroundtable.com/2009/comics-on-the-radio.

Contributors for Inbound #4: A Comic Book History of Boston include Matt Aucoin, Matt Boehm, Eric Boeker, Baldemar Byars, Susan Chasen, Will Clark, Ellen Crenshaw, Brad DeRocher, Franklin Einspruch, David Fernandez, Samuel Ferri, Tim Fish, Bob Flynn, Jaime Garmendia, Joel Christian Gill, Lawrence Gillette, Raul Gonzalez, Erik Heumiller, Richard Jenkins, Dave Kender, Kevin Kilgore, Braden D. Lamb, Cathy Leamy, Ron LeBrasseur, Line-O, Jesse Lonergan, David Marshall, Dan Mazur, the MCC, Troy Minkowsky, Lindsay Moore, Shelli Paroline, Steve Polackawicz, Matthew Reidsma, Roho, Aya Rothwell, Joshua Santa Cruz, b.k. Smith, Dirk Tiede, Carl Tsui, Dave Unger, and Jen Vaughn.

*

The Boston Comics Roundtable is an independent organization of comics creators in the Greater Boston area. It was created in 2006 to unite Boston-based artists and writers in the spirit of camaraderie and professional development. More information about its publications, its members, and local meetings can be found at http://www.bostoncomicsroundtable.com.

###
Contact info
——————
Dave Kender
Boston Comics Roundtable
dave@bostoncomicsroundtable.com
http://www.bostoncomicsroundtable.com
http://www.theragbox.com

Issue 4 of Inbound, the anthology of the Boston Comics Roundtable, is now available for pre-order! Our biggest issue yet, number 4 is an educational romp through the history of the great city of Boston. Reserve your issue now, and spread the world!

The Boston Comics Roundtable presents
Inbound 4: A Comic-Book History of Boston.

38 tales from Boston’s past, as written and drawn by local independent comics creators!

Since 2006, the Boston Comics Roundtable has been bringing comics artists and writers together to collaborate on Inbound, a twice-yearly anthology of “Comics from Boston.”

Now we’ve asked this diverse pool of comics talent to choose their favorite characters and incidents from local history. The result is “A Comic Book History of Boston,” an entertaining tour through three centuries of important social and political events, bigger-than-life personalities, and colorful New England lore.

From Shay’s Rebellion and the great Molasses Flood, to Charles Ponzi’s original “scheme” and Mark Twain’s disastrous encounter with Boston literary society, to the 1970s busing crisis, the Gardner Museum heist and many more, the “Comic Book History of Boston” is an opportunity for readers of all ages to take a fresh look at our historical heritage and be introduced to the area’s thriving independent comics scene.

Before I moved, I printed out copies of the script for Gingerbread Houses, as well as another substantial project. I read both documents thoroughly, marking them up for revisions. I made some of the revisions at that time, and set my notes aside to finish after the move.

Of course, now I can’t find my notes. Not all of them anyway–more irritating than not being able to find anything is the fact that I can find all the marked up pages for sections of the projects that I already revised. But I can’t find the part that I set aside to work with later.

So, anyway, I’m proceeding with my revisions, but it’s annoying to have to figure out solutions to problems I already solved once before. But at least I’m getting some writing done again.