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Wow. Here's a stunner of a review from the one of the grumpiest men in blogging (and a great supporter of mine) Dan Traeger, posted at BlogCritics.org
(Note: the juxtaposition of letters in the title of the review are not Dan's fault)

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Or if you prefer to read it here:
"Every person on Earth, every man, woman and child has a soundtrack. We all have that personal set-list that sparks memory triggers both good and bad, and these memories mark different places and events in our lives. Music is with us constantly, from the time our ears develop and we are able to process signal in utero, to the time when we breathe our final rattle. Humanity has one constant in life, music. It's one of the most important concepts we share as a species, and it has proven itself time and again as a better communication tool than language or mathematics. It's no wonder that we measure music and the rhythm of the human heart in beats per minute.

Let me narrow this down a bit, by spilling a not-so-secret confidence. Every writer I know, and I highly suspect that you can comfortably make the blanket statement, "every writer", either hears a soundtrack in his head while he's writing, or simply listens to music as he writes. Whenever I get the chance to meet a writer one of the questions I always ask is, "Do you listen to music while you write, and if so what?" The answer is always yes. Stephen King listens to rock n roll, the great comics creator Brian Wood listens to indie rock (and is really good about publishing his set lists.) Both Harlan Ellison and Roger Zelazny told me they listen to jazz while they write. When I asked Harlan Ellison the music question, he told me he listens to jazz cranked to 11. He then proceeded to argue with me for about forty-five minutes or so, when I stubbornly refused to admit that Django Reinhardt was a better guitarist than Les Paul. That one ended with him bonking his signing pen off my noggin and cursing me out in Yiddish, great fun. (And just to prove what a mensch Harlan is, he not only let me keep the pen, but he signed for an extra hour so that everybody got their books autographed.) I digress, but it proves my point that music is inexorably tied to the human soul.

Paul Sizer knows this as well as any of us, and with his newest graphic novel he has tapped into that ever-present soundtrack of humanity. Herein, he presents a story of music and how it penetrates the human heart. B.P.M. is the tale of Roxy, a twentysomething working as a DJ on the New York City club scene.

When we first pick up her story, Roxy is at that most dangerous and exciting point in any artist's career where she's dancing across the razor's edge of either breaking big, or giving up for good. We get to follow her through the transition from gifted amateur to professional, as she learns what it takes to become a star DJ. Sizer lays out the track that all young artists must follow to make this transition. As an artist himself he knows all-too-well what you have to give up to succeed, and as readers, we are left with the lingering question of "was it worth it?"

The characters in this story are the most spot-on, fully realized people that Sizer has written to date. Even minor characters who don't rate much panel time are intriguing to the point that you find yourself wondering about their back stories. The protagonist Roxy is alive on the page, warts and all, as Sizer masterfully weaves her story. The relationships she shares with her friends, her lovers, even her mentors, have the ring of truth. Roxy, like all of us, sometimes makes bad choices. She's occasionally unfair, and she's filled with self doubt, but she's honest, loyal, and a great student. Like the wonderful storyteller he is, Sizer sucks you in to the story, and keeps you dancing with these people until the music finally stops and you walk out into the night, humming a tune and feeling fulfilled for having known these people. B.P.M. is something increasingly rare in the world of comics. It is a story told with passion and fire, filled with the absolute joy of being alive, and an affirmation of how important music is to the human soul.

The artwork on B.P.M. is a bit of a change from Sizer's usual visuals. He brings his prodigious talents as a graphic designer full force, deftly combining computer enhanced photographs with detailed hand drawn backgrounds. Sizer uses a computerized palette of coloring and visual presentation techniques that are new to his stories. Light smears signify the passing of time, lens flashes in the clubs add depth and realism to his hand drawn artwork. His use of computer drawing techniques enhances his artwork, and detracts not one bit from the story. It's the first time he's really cut loose with his graphic design skills, and the pay-off is huge. B.P.M. is a sexy package with a running soundtrack (available on I-tunes, by the way), and it's wrapped in one of the coolest covers to ever grace a graphic novel.

Sizer has never been one to skimp on extras with his graphic packages, and B.P.M. is no exception. With the addition of his I-tunes set list, he's created an extended dance mix complete with liner notes, promotional artwork, sketches and research drawings. The whole graphic novel is a delicious feast for the eyes and ears of anyone lucky enough to lose themselves within this world of neon, chrome and concrete. The music tracks aren't necessary to enjoy the story, but if you listen to them while reading it, taking time to let the songs play through before moving on to the next scene, the story rises to a new level, revealing layers to the narrative that you miss the first time you read it through.

B.P.M. is a unique audio visual package that entertains on every level imaginable. Like the perfect beat underlying a night spent lost within the mixes of a master DJ, the book sticks with you long after you've finished reading it. It's a great read that will appeal to anyone who has ever heard the siren call of music, and that's everyone on the planet. The perfect beat runs through the hearts and minds of all of us, and it's measured in Beats Per Minute."

Also, I am going to be at SPX (Small Press Expo) later this month (September 26-27) in Bethesda, MD. Across the row from Carla Speed McNeil. Visit her first, then spin 180 degrees and say hello to me and Jane.

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Look, it's OFFICIAL now; I'm an "author", because my local paper had a slow news day and did a set of articles in the A/E section of the Sunday paper.
Wonder how the other authors feel having to share page space with a self-publishing, funny-book making deviant like me?

Hello friends, fans and retailers.
Good weather means good news, I guess. Here's a few nice tidbits of info from the Cafe Digital Studios News Service:

B.P.M. ON SOLIPSISTIC NATION PODCAST THIS WEEK
A cool interview about B.P.M. with Bazooka Joe of SOLIPSISTIC NATION this week.
LINK
The podcast also features a great talk with Gary Bredow, the director of "High Tech Soul", a great documentary about Detroit techno. "High Tech Soul" is the first documentary to tackle the deep roots of techno music alongside the cultural history of it's Detroit birthplace. "High Tech Soul" features interview with legends such as Juan Atkins, Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson. Well worth checking out!

PAUL SIZER ANNOUNCES B.P.M. "BEAT THE SUMMER" CONVENTION TOUR
Which is just a dorky way of announcing the summer conventions I will be attending this spring and summer to promote B.P.M.
Please feel free to stop by and say hello (or throw fruit or garbge at me, whatever works!)
Here's the schedule:

ANIME CENTRAL (ACEN), May 8-10, Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, Rosemont, IL
LINK

MOTOR CITY COMICON, May 15-17, Rock Financial Show Place, Novi, MI (I will only be attending on Saturday and Sunday of this convention)
LINK

KIDS READ COMICS CONVENTION, June 12-13, Chelsea, MI
LINK

WIZARD WORLD/CHICAGO COMICON, August 7-9, Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, Rosemont, IL
LINK

"We'll be brief: Hemingway once wrote a story in just six words ("For sale: baby shoes, never worn.") and is said to have called it his best work. So we asked sci-fi, fantasy, and horror writers from the realms of books, TV, movies, and games to take a shot themselves." LINK TO WIRED ARTICLE

I know this isn't exactly how this is played, but since I've had to get my "elevator pitches" locked for the books I've done, I decided to apply the "6 word synopsis" to my three graphic novels:

"Lost in space, she finds purpose."
LITTLE WHITE MOUSE

"Upper. Lower. Between, Simone chooses equity."
MOPED ARMY

"Perfect beat. Imperfect life. Journey continues."
B.P.M.

2008 has been an interesting year.

2009 will be a challenge. Or a right bastard. Or both.

The ability to find the things in our lives that are important and basic to what we need will become more important than ever before. The excessive things in our lives may need to fall away, and we'll come to recognize that which does truly sustain us.

The power that art, music and creative pursuit provide are now more important than ever. We will need these things to balance out the practical and numerical parts of our lives; we need to rediscover the simple pleasures that we get from seeing and creating art, and from making and dancing to music. Especially when we feel that it's the last thing we should do, that's usually a sign that we need to do it more.
Art still matters.
Music still matters.
And they both give as good as they get. More important that we remember to bring our best each time.

Peace and love for you and yours during this holiday season.
Share the simple gifts you have with others and let yourself be empowered by what they offer as well.
And thank you for all the support you've given to me and my work.
If it gives you happiness, joy, something to think (or swear) about, or entertains you, then my job is done.
And for God's sake, get out and shake your ass to some music this season!
Year end thoughts coming soon...

Nice online review from Iain Jackson, via LiveJournal:LINK

B.P.M. (Paul Sizer; Cafe Digital)
$15.99, 94p.
50 page preview online at paulsizer.com

"Roxy wants to be a DJ. In fact, she is a DJ, but she wants to be a great one, not just a good one. She starts investing more of herself in finding out just how to do this, spending more time with her friend Atsuko, who is a very good DJ, with her friend Dominic who is both a DJ and a recording engineer. This causes conflict in her romantic relationship with her girlfriend Hannah, who wants Roxy to spend more time with her. At the same time, Roxy gets some unsolicited but very good advice from this guy whom she's never met before. After doing a little research, she discovers that he's Philippe Robicheau, a one-time luminary on the club DJ scene who self-destructed in a haze of drugs and sex, among other things. She starts working with him, absorbing his knowledge to make herself a better DJ. In the meantime, her relationship with Hannah pretty much implodes, and Roxy's forced to make hard decisions about her life. How much does she want to give to her work? How much to a relationship? Where does she want her priorities to lie? Just how much does she want this, anyway?

Sizer does a very good job of depicting how it feels to be a young adult, just beginning to take your work seriously, deciding just how driven you are and how successful you want to be, and what sorts of sacrifices it takes to get where you want to be. Roxy gets portrayed a bit inconsistently -- in most of her life, she's forthright and assertive, but when it comes to the breakup of her relationship with Hannah, she just takes the hits without pointing out that Hannah's doing the same thing that she's doing, prioritizing her career over the relationship. That really is the one character quibble I do have about the story. Sizer's New York is also very inclusive -- it takes place in a New York with all sorts of people, as opposed to the "Friends" New York, for example. The colors are strong and vibrant throughout, with a playlist running along the bottom of the book for evocative music. The one place where the artwork has a few -- a very few -- problems comes in his depiction of faces; there's something about a few of the faces where he's drawing them full-face or close to it where they look clunky and squished; a perspective issue of some sort. Again, that's in a very few places; otherwise, the faces are very expressive and distinct.

BPM is a very enjoyable read. Older teens and adults who like stories about music and the people who work in that world might like it very much. Highly recommended."

And B.P.M. is also the featured review for Diamond Bookshelf, based on the Publishers Weekly review from a few weeks back:
LINK

It's now official; "B.P.M." is a nomination for the American Library Association's "Great Graphic Novels for Teens" list, winners to be announced at the ALA Winter Conference in January.
"Great Graphic Novels for Teens" 2009 Nominations
Fingers are crossed for "B.P.M." to make the Top Ten list this year!

Hot damn, another good review for "B.P.M.", this time from Publisher's Weekly:
BPM REVIEW AT PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY

B.P.M. Paul Sizer. Cafe Digital (Diamond, dist.), $15.99 paper (92p) ISBN 978-0-9768565-6-6
Roxy is a club kid and aspiring DJ in New York City. Loud, opinionated and a little scattered, she's the kind of girl who keeps her life--including calendar--on her iPod. When Robie, a "semi-legend" who now runs a used-record store, offers to take her under his wing, she gets the chance to play the big clubs and maybe even to cut a record. But to make her dreams of DJ stardom come true, she must choose between the records and her girlfriend Hannah. The "Portrait of the Artist as a Club Kid" plot is standard issue, but Sizer (Moped Army; Little White Mouse) adds distinctive, nicely observed details. He ramps up the art as well: bold ink lines, day-glo background colors, even neon-bordered speech balloons add to the impression that the reader is raving right along with the characters. A soundtrack--referencing songs by Talking Heads, They Might Be Giants and Everything but the Girl--runs at the bottom of each page, bringing the reader as close as possible to a multimedia experience. Call it a mashup, call it a remix, call it a day-glo pop love letter to a misspent youth: B.P.M. is brain candy in the best sense of the word. (Nov.)

A few new newsbytes from the ongoing BPM Perfect Beat Promotional Tour!

1. B.P.M. ON THIS WEEK'S "COMIC GEEK SPEAK" PODCAST
"B.P.M." gets the star treatment on the latest episode of the Comic Geek Speak podcast series
Man, these guys work fast! I just did the interview over the phone last night, and the podcast is already up and ready to download!
Here's the show page link:
COMIC GEEK SPEAK Episode 545

2. NEW PHOTOS FROM THE AUTHOR TALK
Good friend and amazing photographer Thomas Deater took some killer shots of me during my author talk/DJ demo/book signing/reading at the Kalamazoo Public Library in September.
Tom has been teaching himself black and white digital photography over the last few years and has developed a killer eye, so I asked if he would shoot the event.
I finally got my lazy butt around, picked out the best of nearly 300 (!) shots and posted them as a Flickr album that you can check out:
TOM DEATER B.P.M. PHOTOS
Check out more of Tom's work at his home site: LINK

3. "B.P.M." HITS THE SHELVES NOVEMBER 19
Cross your fingers; "B.P.M." is set to hit the shelves of your local comic book stores in the US this Wednesday, November 19 if all goes according to plan.

More soon. Thanks to everyone for the tons of support you've given. As always, it is appreciated!