Thought I would give you a little peak at Dr. Sivana,  Captain Marvel’s arch nemeses…hope you like it. Haven’t had much time to blog lately;  I’ve been getting ready to leave for The Frankfurt Book Fair on Monday to kick off the World Tour.  I’ve finished up the Captain Marvel pages I was working on, and I’ve prepped a bunch more to take with me.  Still have a couple more things to do, but I’m packed and it looks like all my papers and tickets are in order.  The next time I blog will probably be from the road. See you then!

Last minute preparations for the Bone World Tour are under way. On the eve of our announcement, Joachim Kaps, the publisher of TokyoPop Germany came to Columbus to make some final arrangements. It was during this visit that Joachim told us that the Frankfurt Book Fair wanted a 40 piece Bone exhibit for the Comics Pavillion.

That was good news, so Steve and I created several colorful panels for the Frankfurt Book Fair Comics Pavillion at breakneck speed. We also put together some behind the scenes displays.

This is Steve taking a break in my office. I took this picture when I heard his voice coming out from behind this enormous book, Little Nemo:So Many Splendid Sundays.

I also received an e-mail from my Greek publisher Lefteris Stavrianos (seen here when I signed at his store last year in Athens).

He really whet my appetite for this upcoming visit when he said:

“P.S.Please tell Jeff that I have ordered 100 lambs to sacrifice for his arrival in Greece…and of course eat some Lamb chops.”

I'm on my way!

Wow.  

Charles Vess has a new blog and it has lots of stunning art and some photos of himself and Neil Gaiman visiting the set of the Stardust movie.  The picture of the two of them in raincoats, taken on Neil’s camera while they walked around on the Scottish moors is priceless.

Kazu Kibuishi is the cartoonist of the web comic Copper , the editor of the anthology FLIGHT, and he is working on a new book called Amulet .  When I was in New York not long ago, visiting David Saylor of Scholastic, I was shown the first eight pages of Amulet - - and I was very impressed!  Since then, Kazu has shared a few more pages with me, and I have to say I can't wait for this book. 

Meanwhile, Kazu has been keeping an interesting and revealing journal about coping with the exhausting process of making a fully painted, long form comic, trying to get enough sleep, eat right, exercise and watch movies to stay inspired… and on time. I'll link directly to the one about excersise , but just go to Bolt City if you'd like to see the rest.

Kazu also introduced me to all the cartoonists of FLIGHT. One of the main reasons I started my blog was because of Kazu and the FLIGHT crew. Their FLIGHT website and blog was the first one that really appealed to me on the net; the first one I bookmarked. It has links to dozens of talented cartoonists - - many of whom work in the animation industry, and around the world. I highly recommend a visit, and be sure you have a little time to surf around.  It's worth it.

I think we're ready. I still have a couple of weeks, but it seems like I’m already out of time. A World Tour is one of the most complicated undertakings we’ve ever gotten tangled up in.  Vijaya and Kathleen worked for over a year putting this deal together. It’s not just a tour, it’s a publishing venture and a nearly simultaneous release party of BONE in color across Europe.  We coordinated gang printings between publishing houses (which involved making sure the brand new translations were complete), book tours & festivals in ten countries, and Steve and I just finished putting together a 40 piece exhibition for the Frankfurt Book Fair and a 33 piece show of original art for Athens.

Many things changed or fell apart completely over the last twelve months, but ultimately all the publishers came through and many festivals invited me to be a guest.

I'm really enjoying the daily blogs of Scott McCloud & family while on their Making Comics Fifty State Tour , so as I travel across the European continent, I’ll take my laptop and digital camera along and blog as I go.  I’ll share my run-ins with cartoonists and get-togethers at pubs. I will try to capture the Spinal Tap highs and lows. If we have a good signing, I’ll post it, if we have a disastrous one, I’ll post it. And when I get left at the border between two countries, with no one to pick me up - - I’ll post it.

I am still working on Shazam: Monster Society of Evil, and I’m taking pages with me. I have a very strict schedule and I have no intention of messing it up - - but if I do,  you’ll be the first to know.

The second leg will be here in America and will concentrate as much on my black & white roots as on the new color books. That’s still coming together, so there will be more announcements as we go.  Don’t forget to check the official schedule by clicking the Bone World Tour button.  Talk to you soon.