The first of a short series exploring romance, sweet romance. Well, not really romance. Frankly I’m not sure what it will explore–I’ve only done the first page, and am more than a little clueless as to what the second page will be about. Don’t you worry: I’ll think of something. I’d say more but it’s time for work. Have a good day at work, sweeties!

Okay so my strip for this week is inked and everything, but I need to add the markers and rescan that badboy. I would say this would happen after work, but tonight is the Discussion Group at my work, and I’ll be there watching the Persepolis movie for the first time and talking about how it compares with the graphic novel, whether or not burkas are flattering to a woman’s hips, etc.

I would have had everything done on time today, except I fell back asleep and had this crazy dream, not waking up until 7.30am, thus burning my drawing time. NOTE: dreams are never as interesting to anyone else as to the dreamer, I know this, BELIEVE ME. Fair warning. Okay, begin dream below:

So me and my whole family show up just before the beginning of the service at a church; it’s the church of this girl I had been seeing but am seeing no longer. In my mind I’m like, “What the dickens am I doing here in this church with my whole family?” Not in a “whoa this dream in nutty way,” but in a “if I’m trying to impress this girl this is a dumb way to do it” way.

Also I knew that it was a Charismatic church, what you might think of as a speaking-in-tongues kinda church, and my family did not know this. So I was worried they’d start freaking out if some tongue speakery broke out. Also I was wearing a suit? Somehow I was not picking up on any of the clues that this was a dream.

So we show up and the service is just about to start, and we are trying to find a place to sit. The sanctuary of the church is strange, windowless, kind of a cross between Greek Orthodox and mountain church. Everyone is sitting there chatting before the service, and no one acknowledges us. I keep trying to walk up the center of the aisle to find a church bulletin, and figure out what’s going on, but before I can get to the front I keep losing my nerve and rejoining my family.

Somewhere in here I keep getting up to change my suit pants for shorts, first camouflage shorts, then regular shorts. I think I was planning on the after-service, maybe it was hot. Then I realized I was wearing shorts in church with a suit, and had to get up and go find my suit pants again.

We finally are all seated, I’m next to my dad, and the minister starts talking about something. I zone out and start looking around to see if I can espy the girl and her family. I see one girl, just the back of her head, who I think might be her–but the longer I look the more apparent it becomes that this is just some old woman, not my friend at all.

Suddenly the minister is right in front of me, asking me why I would disrespect his church and all the people in it in this way. Whaaat?? He’s standing there over me lecturing my father and I about how wrong we are. Inside I’m livid, seething, it’s very rude what he’s doing, just a crazy thing, and I want to take my family and leave, just get up without a word and troop back out the door.

But then he turns his attention from us and to a nearby person and says, “Now tell me–what noise do you make when you talk to God?” The person makes a sound I can’t hear; I’m still trying to figure out what’s going on. He turns to the next person, maybe a woman, and asks the same question, and I hear her say something in sing-song voice, like “hoooo.” He nods, okay that’s good, then he turns to a little chubby kid and asks his question, and the kid leans in close to the minister and puts his hand by his mouth like he’s telling a secret, and the minister leans in too. The sound is something like “Puh,” like he’s pushing out a little puff of air into the minister’s face, and he stands back up waving his hand in front of his face as if the kid had bad breath. But he’s smiling.

Apparently we have been forgotten again, and the minister moves through the people doing this over and over. I realize that I’m smoking a cigarette (another clue that this is a dream–I haven’t smoked in almost 5 years). I try to play it off at first, all cool like what’s wrong with smoking in church anyway. Then I realize that my friend Holston is behind me talking to some contractor guys, so I hand the cigarette to him. He and his buddies are talking really loud; I’m embarassed again. Holston keeps smoking, blowing the smoke everywhere, no one seems to notice.

The inside of the sanctuary has changed, now it’s more open air, it feels like we’re in the mountains, like we’re far from any civilization except what’s in this church. Everything is made from thick wood beams, and there are no walls. The people in the church are getting stranger and stranger–no one seems to notice Holston talking loudly to his contractor buddies. I want to shush him but I’m embarassed and these people are giving me the creeps. At the front of the church are large wooden tables, built out of the same heavy beams as the rest of the church. At the tables there are children doing some sort of activity and laughing. The service has devolved into people chatting, and I keep trying to figure out if there was ever any service at all?

But it’s definitely the end-vibe, so my family and I get up and leave. No one in my family ever says a word, and out we go with Holston, who tells me he’s got a room nearby. I think Holston wants to party or something, so I tell my family bye and get ready to get into the car with party-Holston.

But oops I realize I forgot my suit-jacket, and head back into the church. When I get there all the people are back in their seats, just like before, and the interior has reverted to its original windowless state. For the first time people are looking at me as I retrieve my suit-jacket from the back of the pew. It is neither a friendly nor an unfriendly look. As I stand there being looked at by these creepy people, I get the idea that they had just wandered away and waited for us to leave, and then returned. This idea wakes me up.

Whoa creepy! Okay, I should have that colored strip up, hopefully before bed tonight, maybe first thing in the morning. It’s the first of a multi-parter autobio strip about girls, so don’t get your hopes up for kneeslapping humor or anything. Okay have a good Monday peeps!

Is there a lot of explanation for this strip needed? It took me an insanely long time to do it, but fortunately I’m very proud of it, so it doesn’t feel like time wasted. Anyone who says different had better be wearing a cup.

Huge HUGE thank you to Mr. Alec Longstreth, who took about half an hour out of his wildly busy schedule and really gave me some good schooling on coloring in Photoshop. This would have taken me like a month otherwise, and I’m very thankful to Alec, not only for this, but for being a sweet dude in general.

I’ve put all 9-panels up here in a column, just because I suspect it actually reads and looks better that way. YOU’RE WELCOME!

I’d love to hear your own suggestions for future nuttings below.

[This was originally written for my day-job's blog, so please excuse my shameless hucksterism. But Lamar is cool and so is this book]

One of the cool things about working on the convention every year is getting to see some stuff well in advance of its publication. Sometimes it’s because it gets sent to us, sometimes we see it at another show, sometimes the publisher sends out advance copies to increase retailer interest.

The first time I heard about Lamar Abrams was when “Cheeky” Chris Pitzer informed me that he would be attending HeroesCon with AdHouse Books. Now, while I trust Chris above most people, I like to have SOME kind of idea of who someone is before I just throw their name up on our guest list, so Chris sent me over a pdf of the first bits of Remake, which would be published in a few months. I was down with the program pretty much from page one, although I have struggled with how to explain why–Remake is an amazing book by a breakout artist, although it has some weaknesses here and there, even if they’re mainly weaknesses born out of the enormous enthusiasm of the book.

The best and worst thing about Remake is its limitless enthusiasm and elan. Almost from the first page you can tell that Lamar Abrams is spinning these comics right out of his brain, with very little editing happening between said brain and the page. I say this as if I know: of course I do not. But I certainly got that impression, which as someone who reads a ton of comics is ENORMOUSLY refreshing. This, to me, is one of the things that really animates minicomics as an artform–the kind of egalitarian idea that says anyone can make comics any time, any way they like. And with someone like Lamar, who obviously is hugely talented, that kind of loose energy makes his comics come further alive.

It’s almost like it’s meta-funny–for instance, what is actually happening in the story rarely seems particularly important, as much as HOW it’s happening. Like in this 2-page sequence, one of my favorite of the book which had me giggling out loud in the bathroom of the Toronto Reference Library a few months ago:

“UPSLAPT” is now my favorite sound effect, complete with arrow-addition to the “U”. And how can you beat dialogue like “Oh my hand and part of my arm!” I’ll tell you how: YOU CAN’T!

The problem with Remake is really just one of format. I think what’s reprinted in the book is the original minicomics 1-3, and maybe some extra odds and ends. In small doses the lack of a gripping story is probably less evident, and you’d be free to just giggle yourself silly over the panache and flourish of Lamar’s art and dialogue. As a 150-or-so page book, it can be harder to digest as a whole. This may just be me being a format snob, OR even more likely cautioning myself to be careful when one day reprinting my own feeble minicomics. I suggest reading Lamar’s comics as they were originally published, in chunks. The book is just $12.95, so pretend you’re buying 3 $4.50 minicomics with a fancy cover and you’ll be in good shape.

Basically though, Lamar Abrams is the bomb-diggety. I have found myself looking at this book again and again–there’s something really effortless and engaging about Lamar’s comics, as if he’s channelling the kind of silly comics you’d make when you were 8, but employing man-sized talents to those comics. Result: UPSLAPT!

Oh! And while hunting images for this review, I happened on Lamar’s website, which has a ton more cool drawings and comics. I suggest you hop into that. In the meantime, you can pick up Remake from us at the store (some have Lamar drawings in them!) or from AdHouse if you are not fortunate enough to be one of our customers. Enjoy!

Whoa, two blog posts in two days?! Well, perhaps my guilt over not having my strip done yet is just THAT strong. Actually no, I don’t feel guilty at all. I mean, has feeling guilty ever done YOU any good? Of course not.

I just finished pencilling this badboy finally, so I’ll start inking tonight and be done in a couple of days, I think. I’m really excited about this one, actually–it’s a different style for me, and one that that’s been pretty fun to ink so far in my sketchbook, so we’ll see how it turns out. In the meantime, in lieu of a strip, please accept this bit of one of the great masters of American music, Mr. John Coltrane, with his quartet and guest star Eric Dolphy. I’ve been listening to a ton of Coltrane lately, especially a recent slue of live recordings I’ve, er, obtained, and it’s pretty much the best music ever.

Well good Monday morning to all of you–my strip this week will be late; see above a little snippet from my sketchbook. I’m trying out a new style that I’m enjoying drawing in, AND tackling one of the greatest social ills our civilization has ever faced: THE NUTSHOT. Look for the finished strip midweek or so.

I’m thinking lately of changing my weekly strip format–I could have knocked this one out yesterday and had it done in time to post now, but I would have had to rush it and I feel like I’ve been going too fast on strips lately. I mean yeah, those autobio strips were supposed to be fast and everything, but part of the point of doing a weekly strip was to learn stuff about composition and pacing, and there really isn’t much of those things in my quick strips.

On the other hand, the autobio strips are super easy to do, right? As anyone who’s ever spoken to me for more than 5 minutes will tell you, I have no shortage of things to say about myself. So I may start doing those regularly as my “weeklies,” giving myself more time to work on more serious/finished stuff, for instance a strip all about getting racked. I mean, that’s IMPORTANT, you know?

Let’s see, what else is going on lately? In lieu of a strip, even a quickly drawn one, how about some useless facts about my recent life? OKAY DEAL:

1) I have been drawing like crazy, but strangely not getting anything done. Wait that’s not news.

2) I have also been playing this video game BIOSHOCK, which I heard was the most amazing immersive incredible experience. I heard wrong! If you live around Charlotte and want my copy of Bioshock, I would love to trade it for Halo 2 or 3 or some other really awesome game I can play on my Xbox 360. Oh man I just realized this boring game is why I’m not finishing more comics. BECAUSE THAT WAS SUCH A MYSTERY!

3) Did I mention I bought an iPhone? Wow what an amazing little machine. I can almost write to this blog from it, but for some reason it won’t load my blog to my iPhone. But the thing can do pretty much everything else except parallel park my car.

4) I’m thinking of having a little DUNE book-club discussion right here on my blog, as I’m due to reread this amazing AMAZING novel, probably my favorite book ever, and I could talk about it forever. It seems like a fun thing to do, right? Let’s do it, let’s read Dune together okay? Post a comment below if you’re into it.

5) Iced coffee is really good, although kind of a headache to make. But WHOA it sure is strong.

6) “She Belongs To Me” is my new favorite Bob Dylan song.  “You will start out standing/proud to steal her anything she sees/but you’ll wind up peeking through her keyhole/down upon your knees.” That guy, I swear, so amazing.

7) Oh yeah this Saturday I’m doing a talk at the Mt. Pleasant library on comics, but it’s for teens I think so most of you guys are going to have to make do with me talking here.

8) Oh double yeah, coming up in September on my birthday I’ll be doing my first poetry reading in over 10 years. I know BORING but no actually it will be amazing and most likely change your life forever! More details before too terribly long. 

Okay! Until I get that finished strip up, keep those crotches covered just in case!

Next Saturday, July 18, I’ll be giving a talk at the Mt. Pleasant Library on comics and cartooning. At least I think it’s on comics and cartooning–I think it will at least be about cartooning, right? Okay so that’s decided. I’ll be giving a talk about cartooning, next Saturday at the Mt. Pleasant library, ostensibly from 12.30pm to 2pm, although one must presume that I will continue to talk as long as someone looks like they’re listening. Besides, I may need more than 90 minutes to turn all the 11-and-up people in the room into master cartoonists.

This is the second time I’ve donned a fake mortarboard (I never got a real one, having never graduated anything before) to fake teach–I enjoyed the first time, although it was both more and less difficult than I’d thought it would be. This will probably be less difficult–I can’t imagine that anything is very hard in a town called Mt. Pleasant, right? Wait where the heck is Mt Pleasant anyway? Let’s see…

OMG IT’S LIKE AN HOUR AWAY. Now I don’t feel so bad about taking money for 90 minutes of work. Phew! Okay, well if you’re in/near that area and you’re a library-prone teenager, come by and I’ll turn you into Sam Hiti or Paul Pope or somebody real quick. If you stay for 2 hours I can make you a regular Jack Kirby, but you’ll have to take up cigar-smoking.

ALSO: I don’t usually blog in the middle of the day, but I left work early today because I feel like crap. To show you what that looks like, I have helpfully included a photograph I just took, JUST NOW:

Oh man the end is here! Good thing too, although these little sketchbook strips–they’re only 4″ x 5″–are easy to whip out in about half a day. Good to know for the many many times I know I’ll be struggling to come up with something for the week’s strip! MEDIOCRITY HERE I COME!! Other than that, the strip itself is pretty self-explanatory, which gives me more time to talk about the REAL news this week–

Which is that I bought an iPhone after much soulsearching and struggling–it cost me $115 just to break my Verizon contract, not to mention the cost of the phone and much more expense monthly bill that comes with it. BUT: wow, the iPhone. I have long been, often to my detriment, the sort of guy who eschews things that other people get excited about–which is terrible, considering how much I love to tell people about the things I love (The Wire, Twitter, iPhones).

But in this case, pretty much every single thing I’ve heard about the iPhone is true, and I bet I’m only using about 30% of the thing’s functionality. Twitter is like 500x more interesting now, I’m hooked right into my Flickr account from my phone now, my work and home contacts are all synced up with my freaking phone, and tomorrow I’ll set up this very blog to update from my phone as well. This isn’t even mentioning the umpteen apps, iPod, et cetera that come with the phone. OH AND IT’S ALSO A PHONE.

I could go on like this all day. The big problem I hear about iPhones is that AT&T is public enemy #1 when it comes to bad signals, dropped calls, etc. But NO PROBLEM because I hate to talk on the telephone–I think I’ve sent and received maybe 10 calls in the 6 days I’ve had this thing. So sure, less phone talking = no problem. I would marry this phone if it were legal. Okay that’s all I’ll say–I need to go to bed. But just so you know: tonight I’ll be sleeping with my phone, ladies. The standard just got raised again!

Oh, and also ladies–don’t forget to check out my new strip!

What some of you may not know about Dustin Harbin is that he has one thing in common with stud cartoonist Guy Davis: we are both former winners of Sam Hiti’s Fistacuffs competition. The short description is that cartoonists would create cartoon gladiator/combatants, which would then face each other in tournament-style brackets, with the readers of the blog voting on the winner of each.

Now, Guy won his (I think it was the third FACA (Fist-A-Cuffs Association) all by his lonesome, while I was part of a three-stud team which also included Spaniard powerhouses David Rubin and Javier Olivares (Javier won the very first FACA). Does this mean I had a team full of ringers? YES HAHAHA!

Anyway, head FACA fan Neil Bramlette wanted to get a jam sketch by me and Guy at LAST year’s HeroesCon, where Guy was a guest for the first time, but I was so busy running around I never had time to sit down and do anything, so we agreed that Guy would mail his bit to me and I’d complete it. A little over one year and a second HeroesCon later, at last Guy’s chocolate and my peanut butter have been joined forever. Hats off to Neil for being a super enthusiastic supporter of cartoonists everywhere, and for flattering me monstrously by wanting me to draw all over ANYthing by Guy Davis.

Also, just so you know: I will totally draw stuff for you if you want, although I will charge you money. Basically the more specific you are with what you want, the more I will charge you. But we can talk about this via e-mail, should you be interested.

You can see the above drawing bigger over at my Flickr stream–just click on “All Sizes” to see the big version.