Hey gang! It’s Tom again and we have some new merchandise, and some recently found older stuff available in the store!

Above is the RASL signed and numbered print that we sold in San Diego. It was limited to 150 prints and we have about 50 left. $10 each!

Little Mouse Gets Ready

There is a lot to do before Little Mouse is ready to go visit the barn. Will he master all the intricacies of getting dressed, from snaps and buttons to Velcro and tail holes? Be sure to find out in Jeffs latest hardcover book, Little Mouse Gets Ready. It is published by Toon Books and is for younger readers ages 4 and up (although we had a lot of adults enjoying it during Comic-Con!).

The Cartoonist: Jeff Smith, BONE and the Changing Face of Comics

This DVD is a beautifully done feature-length documentary about Jeff (which is getting a lot of good reactions around the web; like here, and here!). It also features interviews with other cartoonists in the industry today such as Terry Moore, Paul Pope, Scott McCloud and others.

Phoney’s Big Bone Hunt

We found full cases of the "BIG BONE HUNT." This was our entry into the hidden figure craze a few years ago.  These  counter top display cases were only available in comic book stores. If you aren’t familiar with what this was, allow me to explain. There are six figures: Fone, Smiley, Phoney, Lucius, Rat Creature, and a Stick Eater. Each case contains 24 figures in individually packed boxes, but only one. You dont know what is inside until you open it. In each case you get one stick eater and there are paint variants on the rat creatures, Smiley Bone’s vest and Lucius’ shirt. You also have a chance to find a gold Phoney Bone figure that is super rare. Only 100 of them exist!

New RASL T-shirt

You can get the awesome cover art for RASL #6 on a super comfortable American Apparel t-shirt.

Not to mention the new Bone T-shirts we debuted in San Diego that were a huge hit, so be sure to check out the Boneville Store by clicking here!

I can’t believe it’s August. Where did the year go? Seems like I just got back from Stumptown, but San Diego has come and gone, and this weekend I’m leaving for a signing in Toronto.  As I write this, I’m working on the new material I wrote for BONE: Tall Tales, and sometime in September, I’ll be getting back to RASL. In the meantime, I thought I’d catch up on some blogging.

 Back in May, I delivered the third ever commencement address at The Center for Cartoon Studies. The Center is in White River Junction, Vermont, and was founded by the brilliant cartoonist James Sturm and administrator Michelle Ollie (both can be seen in the picture above on the left). It was an honor, and I had a great time.

The graduation ceremony was filmed, so if you are interested in seeing the speech, it’s here.  Sam Carbough’s talk and Alec Longstreth’s introduction are really good.

CCS is, I believe, the only two year MFA program for cartoonists in North America. Along with Sturm, the faculty includes up-and-comers like Alec Longstreth, and veteran masters such as Steve Bissette and Jason Lutes.

And here they are! The class of 2009. Masters of Cartooning all! They have to grow mustaches before they are allowed to graduate, it’s part of the training.

Below: CCS Fellow Alec Longstreth and me on our way to the ceremony. Alec has the mustache thing down cold.

The students followed a bagpipe player onto the Northern Stage Theater in the beautiful old Briggs Opera House, right in the center of town.

Sam Carbaugh was the student speaker this year, and his talk was funny, smart and insightful. Just what I wanted to follow with my speech!

Then Alec gave me a rousing, full blooded, hilarious introduction that had the audience shouting "Amen, brother Alec!"

After my address, James and Michelle presented me with an honorary degree. It is the first one CCS has given out, and it is definitely the first one I’ve ever received; honorary or otherwise!

The Center for Cartoon Studies Class of 2009 (in alphabetical order): Dan Archer, A. Kubby Barry, Sam Carbaugh, Brandon Elston, Sango Imai-Hall, Lucy Knisley, Liza Petruzzo, Jeremiah Piersol, Steve Seck, Al Wesolowsky, Benjamin Williams. Also present were CCS Fellows: Chris Wright and Alec Longstreth. Congratulations, everyone!

Afterward we all headed back to the Center for a reception with friends and family.

Me & Sam Carbough at the reception. I’m holding my Honorary Degree diploma designed by Jim Rugg.

Behind us, on the walls of the gallery you can see examples of the students’ thesis exhibition.

Below is a close up of Brandon Elston’s thesis project called LUSTY TALES.

 Beneath each framed page of original art, hangs a fully printed version of the finished comic. Here’s a closer look at Lusty Tales:

Nice, huh? I was blown away by all the student work. I highly recomend you explore the CCS website!

That same weekend, Vijaya and I stopped in New York for some meetings with our color Bone publisher, Scholastic. 

They surprised me with a champagne reception to celebrate the release of the last color volume of BONE: Crown of Horns.  Quite a treat, and a lot of fun. (BTW, while looking for a link for the Crown of Horns book just now, I dicovered there are Wikipedia pages for all the Bone books. Who knew?)

Even more surprising was an appearance by my good friend and legendary cartoonist Jules Feiffer!

To top off a great weekend, Vijaya and I had dinner that night with Mutts cartoonist Patrick McDonnell and his wife Karen O’Connell at a nice little Indian place in Mid-town.

Before we left New York City the next day, we went to Ray’s Pizza. And not just any Ray’s, either. We only go to the one on 11th and 6th in Greenwich Village.  Local legend says that this is the actual original famous Ray’s, but there are others who claim the same thing.  Even if it’s not the original one, it’s still the best slice of pie in the universe.

Hey, I had to get in at least one food shot, didn’t I?

Many thanks to everyone at Scholastic, and at The Center for Cartoon Studies. I had a wonderful time!

 

Someone left an amazing "munny" with a lot of signatures of cartoonists at our booth at the con by accident (not the one pictured, the one we have is covered with signatures). If you left it, or know the person that lost it, please contact me at tom@boneville.com. You will need to let me know at least 5 signatures on it and the costume you were wearing when you asked Jeff to sign it. Jeff’s doesn’t count as one of the five. Only serious inquiries please!!!