April 2006 Archives

Electronic proofing is complete, and now the printing begins for my single largest comic project to date! Still recovering from the brief shock of seeing the debit in my bank account from the printer actually cashing my check (hey, I knew it was going to happen, but still...).
Everything is still on schedule, and I should have the books in hand by MAY 8, in plenty of time to debut them at the MOTOR CITY COMICON on MAY 19-21.
Soon...soon...

Next week I'll be in NYC for the yearly Design Center Professional Development Tour, and I'm SOOOOO looking forward to it!
In addition to getting to tour the best design studios in New York, there's plenty of time for good food, drink, shopping and comics stuff!
I'll be in NYC for FREE COMIC BOOK DAY, and am planning on making my rounds to the bigger and cooler stores to drop off MOPED ARMY promo books and patches. I also might be venturing over to Brooklyn to meet up with the NY branch of the Moped Army!

I'm also going to be doing a ton of digital photography to be used with my new BPM project, getting city and street shots to incorporate with digital drawings. Kind of along the lines of Jamie Hewlett's GORILLAZ work, but different. I'm really pumped for seeing what I can find. It's going to be a main focus for me on this trip. Lots of good dark alley/night streets/cool buildings and bars.
Good times should abound. More when I get back!

SIZER TO ATTEND THOMAS DOLBY CONCERT; WORLD MAY EXPLODE IF THEY MEET!
OK, so my smartmouth sister Nancy emails me after I tell her that her birthday present from me is we're both going to see Thomas Dolby at the Royal Oak Music Theatre in Detroit. "Which is which?" her email asks, "Ha ha." say I until...

OK FINE!
I did spend most of my college days worshiping this dude as a musical genius, and did spend time making myself emulate his unique dress code. Well, he is cool in a geek sort of way. Just like me, right? Aw screw it, we do look alike, and I'll be jumping up and down and embarrassing my sister all night at his concert.
(Just for the record, my picture was taken summer 2005, and the Dolby picture was from 2006. Of course, I ripped off the idea for my picture from what Dolby was doing in 1983, and what I did for my BFA performance art piece in 1987...you get the idea.)

FINALLY!

Got the LWM OMNIBUS Collection out to the printers, with the plan being it will be back in my hands to peddle at Motor City Comicon on May 19-21.
Editing and checking over the details of a 448 page book is incredibly time consuming, and getting the pricing correct is the other half of the battle. Both of these things are over now, so now I just have to wait and see what orders come in from Diamond. Direct market is always sluggish, but the library market has been very good lately, so hopefully orders will be slow and steady over a longer time.

One of the first international orders I received for the MOPED ARMY graphic novel and patch was a guy named Lars who was real excited to get the book and patch. Today, he sent me some cool pics of him, his bike, and the MOPED ARMY patch he proudly wears! He also cleared up the mystery of how lettuce is properly transported in Germany! Thanks Lars!

I did a really cool set of library gigs on March 23 and 24 in Charlotte and Potterville Michigan, and had a real blast each day. Just found this enthusiastic blog entry that mentions my appearance in Potterville from a student named Christine:

"Saturday, March 25, 2006
WOOOOOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Friday was an awesome day (well being still sick suck ass but still...)

1st- had A awesome guy come in to art class Paul Sizer, and he show us how he did his drawing and stuff and sat down and we all picked a subject we could draw and some one yelled out "zombie" then we had to pick whjat kind so someone blurted out "gangster" and we got a kid in the class to pose as a zombie and drew a skeletion shape, then added some skin, then went on. It was really awesome

2nd- went to writing contest Paul Sizer was the spokes dude there, I won (2nd )place in poetry for 9-12th grade J so I won 50$ at scholars bookstore, and I have some one who came up to me and told me personally how much she really like my poem. And I also get a free Wendy's meal (which everyone gets) then after tall the winners were annoced we had to go up a take pictures....it sucked I was sick.....I had to keep smiling too.... And its funny because no one entered the essay contest. And that was my happy day well until my headache evolved to a really bad one."

Heh, never been called a "spokes dude" before, but it's kinda catchy!

MOPED ARMY NOMINATED FOR "BEST BOOK FOR YOUNG ADULTS 2006" BY AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION!

Here's the nomination entry:
BEST BOOKS FOR YOUNG ADULTS
Nomination #49
AUTHOR= Sizer, Paul
TITLE = "Moped Army"
PUBLISHER = Cafe Digital Comics

ANNOTATION = In 2277, after a clash between two rival groups, Simone, an
"upper", decides to try life in the Lower City with the Moped Army.

WHY = This clever graphic novel has a lot going on and manages it all
successfully in a book that is compulsively readable. There is a
dystopian future city inhabited by the rich uppers and the poor "unders"
left behind in the Lower City and an inevitable clash between the economic
groups as played out by teens is wholly believable. The heroine, Simone,
is a sympathetic young girl struggling to find a place where she can
discover her strengths and feel valued. Best of all is the very engaging
Moped Army, reestablished 250 years in the future. The illustrations work
wonderfully, the black and white tones emphasizing the darkness of
conditions in the Lower City. Clever details abound for the observant
readers and who can resist the idea of the abandoned library providing a
welcoming shelter? I found this a very original and intelligent read, one
that is sure to engage older teens. I was almost convinced to abandon my
car for one of those great mopeds.

WOO-HOO!