Soft Launch: Slush Pile Funnies!

I'll admit things have been quiet here for a while. Besides the very long graphic novel I've been illustrating, I've been squeezing in some time for another side project, Slush Pile Funnies. Slush Pile Funnies is a gallery of some of my worst ideas become a reality. I'm really stretching the alchemical model here, folks. Here's the blurb from the About page:

Every artist has ideas that we reject. We call them ‘bad ideas’ for any number of reasons and choose to focus our efforts on the ‘good ideas’. What if we did the opposite? What if we forced ourselves to entertain these denizens of our cerebral Salon des Refusés? How would you develop them and what form would they take? Would you still think they were ‘bad’ when you were finished? Can this mental base matter be transmuted into some kind of gold? If so, would you still believe in the existence of ‘bad’ ideas? Maybe the ultimate question is, “are there any bad ideas for art?” I don’t know but these questions are certainly a good place to start and they are the genesis of Slush Pile Funnies!

This site will be an online anthology of story ideas for graphic novels and comics that have been developed into various stages. Some will be transformed into covers while others will  have one-page synopses, excerpts etc. Most will be the product of my own warped imagination but as the site builds steam, I hope to have more contributions coming from guest creators and readers.

So there you have it. Take a look and if you're moved to do so, please leave a comment. In the coming weeks, I expect I'll send out official press releases and try to drum up some exposure. In the meantime, enjoy!

Comic Critique Loves Pood #1!

Louis Vitela has a glowing review of Pood #1 up at Comic Critique.com. He gives the paper 5 out of 5 stars! He had this to say about Rammy & Soupy in Dreams of Flight:

“Rammy and Soupy in Dreams of Flight” by Joe Infurnari (with characters created by Joe Infurnari and Cecil Castellucci) is a hobo tale that is by turns gut-wrenching, poignant, and hopeful. Clearly it was an attempt to unman me, to elicit public sobs of understanding and empathy while I Pood on the bus. But it failed; I went somewhere private to sob.

Thanks Louis!

Mocca 2010 Offerings!

At this year's Mocca Art Festival, I'll be spending time at the Act-i-vate table, F27, and while I'm there I'll be signing copies of The Act-i-vate Primer as well as selling two limited edition posters. Each poster (13"x19") sells for $20 or $35 for both. Buy any book at the Act-i-vate table and a poster goes for $15! Each poster is signed and includes a sketch.

La Repubblica's D Magazine!

Italy's premier national newspaper, La Repubblica, did a 9 page piece on the NYC graphic novel scene for their Saturday glossy magazine insert, D. In it you will see that I have been glorified with a full page photo and if you can speak italian, you'll find that I even provide a blurb as well! Also included in this article are photos and information about such luminaries as Mike Allred, Becky Cloonan, Simon Fraser, Dan Goldman, Laura Lee Gulledge, Dean Haspiel, Josh Neufeld, George O'Connor, Kat Roberts, Jim Shooter, Joe Simon and Art Spiegelman! Molte grazie go to writer, Anna Lombardi, photographer, Seth Kushner and Chris Irving at Graphic NYC! Congratulations to all involved!

don_64_65

don_66_67

don_68_69

don_70_71

don_72_73

don_74_75

Pood Anthology Announced!

poodfinal

Today both Robot 6 and The Beat posted about the imminent release of Pood, the extra giant sized newspaper anthology by Big If Comics. Here it is from the horse's mouth:

One of the most exciting new packages debuting at the MoCCA festival in April will be pood – an oversize newspaper anthology featuring some of today’s hottest alternative comics creators! Kevin Mutch and Alex Rader of Blurred Books have combined forces with Geoff Grogan of “Look Out! Monsters” to form BIG IF COMICS and to bring together an exciting array of talent in pood – a giant new package that lets each cartoonist strut their stuff!

Among the cutting-edge creators in the first issue of BIG IF COMICS’ pood: Joe Infurnari, Jim Rugg and Brian Maruca, Hans Rickheit, Connor Willumsen, Sara Edward-Corbett, Chris Capuozzo, Adam McGovern and Paolo Leandri, Lance Hansen, Andres Vera Martinez, Fintan Taite, Henrik Rehr, Bishakh Som, Mark Sunshine, Tobias Tak, Geoff Grogan and Kevin Mutch.

pood is a 16-page comics section in full color (and black and white) printed on newsprint, with a page size (17? x 22 ¾”!) that just may make it the biggest comics package on Earth! (or at least New Jersey). pood is BIG, COLORFUL, EXCITING comics in a beautiful broadsheet newspaper – right out of the Golden Age of Sunday Comics! pood has it all: sci-fi, Western adventure, bizarre drama, slapstick comedy and more! Each creator (or team) has turned their enormous page into a big, beautiful work of art!

pood offers a daring new (and old!) format for alternative comics, unlike anything on the store shelves today – and it’s a steal at $4.00! (Look for pood at the Blurred Books table at MoCCA!)

Following its debut at MoCCA, pood will be listed under the BIG IF COMICS imprint in the May 2010 Previews for comics shipping to stores in July 2010. pood will be published quarterly thereafter.

For more information and pics visit the pood blog!

SAVAGE!

Here's a little piece of art for an upcoming backup story appearing in the pages of Savage Dragon. It's my contribution to a story written by Joe Keatinge and illustrated by Mike Cavallaro, Simon Fraser, Tim Hamilton, Dean Haspiel, George O'Connor and the man himself, Erik Larsen. Fans will recognize Caveman Dragon and Dino Dragon featured prominently. Other incarnations will appear on other pages. It's all part of a series of backups featuring indie cartoonists edited by comics scholar and genius, Michel Fiffe. Keep your eyes peeled!