Dang!

I just finished reading the best interview from Tom Spurgeon (The Comics Reporter) with Julie's and my favorite cartoonist, Lynda Barry. If you're not a fan, well, you gotta be!


Her newest book, WHAT IT IS, was recently published by Drawn and Quarterly. Much of the interview focuses on this, but, there's lots of stuff about her history in comics and recent hardships due to the downsizing and/or selling of the many alt weekly newspapers her comic strip has ran in over these many years. She's awesome. Read this and more here.

How to Ollie in 8 Simple Steps

Here's two more finished pages of my ongoing (currently online-published) graphic novel, VILLAGE PARK. This is the first of a handful of "trick tips" sections/pages that will serve as major breaks throughout the book. And this one kicks off chapter one. Once I get the full first chapter finished, I'll publish it to the official VP webpage. Til then, there's just the prologue for readin'.

(click to zoom)

P.S., R.I.P.

Today, my old Boston electric pencil sharpener died. I got it when I was in the eleventh grade (1991).


Therefore, it gave a good, solid 17 years of service. I felt it going for the last month or so. The motor was wheezing and wouldn't start sometimes when I put a pencil in. Today, I got more of that, then the motor stalled for good. They don't make this old model anymore, but I got the next best thing.


Guess X-acto's teamed up with Boston to make the new ones. A lot sure has changed in the last 17 years. I went with the hideous tan, or "putty", version (bypassing the sleek, all-black one) for old time's sake.

Funny thing. It died with me sharpening charcoal pencils I'm using to draw a graphic novel that's loosely based on my eleventh grade year of high school. Wicked.

Village Park Prologue

Well, here's the beginning of my ongoing graphic novel, VILLAGE PARK. I've set up a new page from my website where you can click-thru and read what's done, when it's done. So far, the very first section, the prologue, is complete. This means, I'm about 1/40th done! Holy mother. Baby steps. Check it out here:

http://www.matthewcordell.com/VP_index.html

To any of my picture book aged readers, there's some PG-13-ish language. Written for teens and up.

Cartoonists=Crazy

So, while I was waiting on some notes for my next picture book, I tooled around and finally wrapped the first section (the prologue) of a graphic novel I'm writing/drawing. Like I said in my last post, my plan is to just work on this as time allows, not going super crazy yet about trying to get it published. And, for now, I'll set up a page on my website and just start publishing it there. Soon.

Here's four sample panels from some of the pages I just finished. (click it to zoom.)


I have to say, this work is frickin insane. It's obsessive and it's tedious. It's terribly difficult. And it's no end in sight. I think full-time cartoonists must have a bit of crazy in their brains. OR, they are completely relaxed. I have a LOT left to go on this, and that's where most of the crazy comes in. I've been trying to lean on what I know about zen and meditation. The whole "mindfulness" and living in the present (not the future or past) idea. It's hard.

But, I think, it's worth it. It's kinda fun.

Check with me in a year or two.

Now... back to picture bookin'.