Dan Casey over at Nerdist.com posted an interview with Jeff that covers RASL, noir, BONE, Self-publishing today, and Dave Sim!

You can read the whole article here!

RASL 14 is out today!

Spoiler Alert!!! A review of RASL #14 on the Wizard is Oz!  site can be read by clicking here! (It’s actually not very spoil-y at all.)

Building momentum to the FINAL issue and the BIG Finale! Let us know what ya think of #14!

Everyone who knows me knows that I’ve been trying to cut down on convention appearances for years, and this year I finally did it! TCAF, The Toronto Comics Arts Festival was the only show I committed to for 2012. And I chose wisely! The 10 year old festival co-founded by The Beguiling’s Christopher Butcher and Peter Birkemoe, is one of the best events on the calendar dedicated to cartoonists as authors and auteurs, and this year was by all accounts, a huge success.

3 days of small press and indie comics, starting with a Friday night Kick Off event with Fabio Moon, Gabriel Ba (the team behind Daytripper), and me being interviewed on stage by comics Nexus Mark Askwith. Here is link to Ba & Moon’s site where you can watch the official TCAF videos of the event. The twins are smart and funny, and wickedly talented; I got to spend a bit of time with the two of them over the weekend, and it was  the highlight of my trip.

Up top is a photo from the Saturday night party. Fabio Moon, Cecil Castellucci (The Plain Janes), Gabriel Ba, and Kazu Kibuishi (Amulet, and Flight).

With Cassandra Pelham, our associate editor at Scholastic.

My schedule was pretty full, and I spent a lot of time at the outside venues, but I did make a point to say hello to a few cartoonists who work I admire, like Guy Delisle (Jerusalem), Kate Beaton (Hark! A Vagrant!), Tom Gauld (Goliath), and Becky Cloonan (Wolves).

Also got to meet the wonderful Faith Erin Hicks (Friends with Boys), pictured here with myself and her pal Noreen. I snagged this pic from Faith’s website. You probably know her work, because it seems like it is everywhere these days, but if not, need to check her out!

Sunday was the last day of TCAF, and my last event for the show was getting interviewed by Julinda Morrow of Sequential Highway.

You can read the interview here: 

And that clears my travel schedule for the calendar year 2012! What’ll I do with my time? Draw comics!

Here is another letter from a dad. This went to Kathleen first, who forwarded it to me with the subject headline: “Prepare for cuteness!” Even with that warning, I was not prepared…

Kathleen,

Enclosed you will find the pictures of the hat. Tressley worked really hard designing it, and helping to create the mice, clothes, lettering, and barn. She read Little Mouse Gets Ready to her first grade class while wearing it, and the whole class fell in love with Little Mouse, just like she did.

My daughter has been awe-struck by the proposition of Mr. Smith seeing her hat. When it came time to figure out what she wanted to say, she acted as if she was actually about to meet him, extremely shy. However, she did finally convey to me what she wanted to say, and I have typed her message exactly how she presented it.

Dear Mr. Smith:

My name is Tressely. I love to draw. I think you are a great artist. I love the ending of Little Mouse Gets Ready, because it was like, POOF! No clothes. I really like how you drew the book. The mice are cute. I think the BONE books are funny too, especially the snow that goes WHUMP! and just falls out of the sky. My daddy has a shirt like Phoney Bone. Me and my twin brother hit it and act like we are invincible like when the Mario Bros. get invincible because of stars.

Sincerely,

Tressley Chapman

Thanks again for the honor of letting Tressley convey her love of Mr. Smith’s books. She does love to draw, and his books really inspire her. Well, all of us.

Respectfully,

Richard Chapman.

The honor is mine. Tressley, you are a smart and talented kid. Nice job! Thank you for sharing.

A father sent this e-mail (through the company that made the documentary about me).

I answered it as honestly as I could.

Here is the letter:

Sent RASL #14 to the printer this morning! It’s the second to last issue, and even I’m getting excited! RASL #14 should hit stores on May 30. Aand now I have to start packing for this weekend’s trip to Toronto for the Toronto Comic Arts Fest. It’s a great literary/arts comics show and I am looking forward to returning there for the first time in years. Last time I was at TCAF, it was held in tents out in a parking lot. Lots of great guests and panels, so come if you can!

UP NEXT:

TCAF – Toronto Comics Art Festival May 4-6

2012 Toronto Comics Art Festival! Below is the schedule of where I will be this weekend…

Friday:

Panel – Smith, Ba, Moon On Stage –  Noir and the Fantastic.
A conversation  moderated by Mark Askwith 7:00pm-8:30pm
Signing – 8:30pm-10:00pm (please note only one item per person).
Held at the Toronto Reference Library in the Appel Salon.

Saturday:

Panel – Meet Jeff Smith!
Presentation on Bone 1:00pm-2:00pm
Signing – 2:00pm-3:30pm (please note this is on a first-come, first-served basis).
Held at Owlkids Day at St. Paul’s on Bloor Street.

Sunday:

Workshop – Inking with Jeff Smith Workshop
Special one-time-only interactive TCAF panel! 11:30am-12:30pm
Held at Ristorante Fortuna on Cumberland Street.
Signing – 1:00pm-3:00pm. Held at The Reference Library in Signing Area B1