I arrived in Frankfurt on Tuesday and was met by my German publisher Joachim Kaps of TokyoPop.  Joachim used to be my editor at Carlsen, when the black & white versions were being published there.  When he started up a German office for TokyoPop, I followed him over to his new company. That night I had a wonderful dinner of Pork and apple sauerkraut. 

I almost thought I shouldn’t show this picture on my blog, because it might start to look like all I think about is food – - but well, there it is.

The next day was the opening of the Book Fair and the BONE exhibit.

It was also the first time I got to see the new TokyPop editions of BONE. They made two versions: one a manga sized black & white book. The other a larger full color one.  I think this was a bold move and I hope it works.  In the States, we have had two versions for a about a month now, and it seems the two books have completely different audiences.

The books are beautiful and the printing is very well done. I check the blacks to see if they are solid, and I'm satisfied. At the end of the day Joachim informs me that sales for the second volume of both versions is higher than the first. This is great news, since second volumes in Germany, like in the US, usually go down.

The Fair doesn’t open to the public until the weekend, so we were just going to have some Champaign and mingle around the exhibit. I had pictured something like a cocktail party, but as we got going, a small crowd gathered and Wolle, the Comics Pavillion organizer asked Joachim and I to hold an informal interview on the diaz.

We did our best and winged it. Afterward, we passed champaigne out to entire crowd and had our toast.

It was a very nice way to kick off the World Tour, and it was capped off by finding my old friend Chuck Rosanski, a legendary American comic shop retailer and collector, who was one of those responsible for setting up the Comics Pavillion about six years ago. 

At 3:00 I headed out to the airport to catch a plane to Berlin for a store signing as well as a little site-seeing.  Then to Cologne, but I will be back to the Book Fair on Saturday and Sunday when it opens to the public. I've been told it gets a little crazy… 

This morning I leave for Europe to start the World Tour. It will be a full day of traveling, and to see me off proper, Vijaya made this incredibly colorful breakfast.

Vijaya and I go every Saturday to the Farmer’s Market and pick up vegetables from our farm share. Farm eggs and veggies has become a pleasant ritual for us. Vijaya washes the vegatables and I chop them. It's surprising how much I will miss such a simple thing.

After breakfast, Preston and I head out for a walk before leaving for the airport. When I came up with the idea of a simultaneous release of color BONE across Europe, I didn’t think about leaving my dog for five long weeks. We take the slow way, and enjoy our walk.

Next, a quick flight to New York; a switch of planes at JFK and I'm finally off to Germany. Tomorrow, I’ll be in Frankfurt at the largest Book Fair on earth…