Posts Tagged ‘jill thompson’
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As many of you know, in my free time I work as the marketing director for The Reading with Pictures, a non-profit organization working to get comics in the classroom. The organization has been only been around for a year, but in that time we have made strategic alliances with key educational organizations as well as The American Library Association to help educators reach under-developed readers and develop a curriculum to teach teachers how to teach with comics. Parents and educators have really gotten behind the idea of comics in the classroom, and the comics community was also extremely excited about the role comics could play in education as well.
As such, the organization reached out and secured over 50 professional comic creators to volunteer their time to create a 200 page full color anthology, which RWP published. These are award-winning or multi-award nominated creators such as Raina Telgemeier, Jill Thompson, Fred Van Lente, John Bivens, Chris Giarrusso, Jimmy Gownley, Josh Elder, Russell Lissau, and many more!
I also contributed a story in this all-ages anthology called Albert the Alien, with Eisner Award winner Gabrielle Bautista doing the artwork. The anthology was a lot of fun to put together, and it’s been a top-seller at conventions across the country (and also available on amazon.com).
Over the holiday weekend it was announced that Reading with Pictures was nominated for two Harvey Awards:
-BEST ORIGINAL GRAPHIC PUBLICATION FOR YOUNGER READERS
-BEST ANTHOLOGY
The Harvey Awards are like the People’s Choice of comics, where comic professionals create the nominations and then he people get to decide who or what receives the awards. Because of this, we humbly request your continued support for Reading with Pictures by asking you to vote for us in these two categories.
Help us bring home the win by going to the Harvey Awards website and voting for your favorite comic creators / comics.
Thanks so much for your continued help and support.
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Sorry it’s a little late (I was updating blogs about making comics, fer goodness sake), but finally here’s the entry about C2E2.
THURSDAY:
After a long hard day at the office, I headed home to meet my friends at the apartment. As always I provided dinner for the guests, and had a great assortment of friends: Joe Dun and Phil Chan (www.digitalpimponline.com), Russell Lissau (Batman Strikes, Shrek), Steve Wallace (Binary Love), and Alan Evans (www.rivalangels.com). After a long night of catching up and hanging out, we all went to bed to get ready for the long weekend ahead.
FRIDAY
Steve and I had to run to the post office to get some items that had been shipped but not delivered. We didn’t have any problems getting them – but the post office was in the other direction from the show. However, only a little bit after the show started, we arrived and started to set up the table. Professional hours were from 10am-1pm, and so it was a good chance to walk around and say hi to familiar faces, meet some new creators, and chat with editors. However, after the pro hours ended it was time to sell.
And sell we did.
Junkyard Chase sold very well, especially when paired with Reading with Pictures. Steve and I were table mates and had a great time. Positioned in the same isle as many of the top DC all-ages creators, so there were plenty of people who liked what we had to buy. The new banner made it’s premiere and met with positive response.
After a strong day of sales the group went out to one of my favorite sushi restaurants in town, called Niu. Everyone had a great time, and after we went back to my place for much needed rest.
SATURDAY
An early morning and a strong sales day. Steve and I were on fire all day, and with only a few Reading with Pictures panels to keep me away from the table, most of it was able to be spent meeting and mingling with friends and fans. As a bonus, my girlfriend Beth was in attendance and she got to tour the show with some of her friends, and eventually even hung out at the table with Steve and I.
After another long day at the show, the group went out to a local burger joint in my neighborhood, and then went back to my place to hang out and enjoy our last night of the weekend.
SUNDAY
Sunday morning we all went to a local breakfast hub, and then headed off to the show. It was kind of a slow day for me sales wise, but still a fun time. Eventually everyone left the show, Alan being kind enough to take Phil and Joe to the airport. All in all it was a great weekend, spent with amazing friends. Looking forward to the next show.
Remember that big news I’ve been teasing about for the past several months? Been asking yourself why the website hasn’t been updating lately? Well, it’s because my lifelong dream has taken a major step forward to becoming a reality. I’ve been published.
Reading with Pictures came out several weeks ago, and the premiere event was at Challengers Comics in Chicago. Several of the creators were on hand, including Josh Elder, Russell Lissau, Jeff Brown, and Jill Thompson. And the book sold gangbusters!
Lots of people came into the store that day, and many of the creators were on hand to sign books and mingle with fans of the book, the project, or our individual works. The store bought boxes of the books (and I’m told, have bought and sold boxes more), and we signed them all.
There was a charity BBQ as well, with the coolest guy making some great food.
The book was available for order in the June Diamond catalog. Diamond ordered about a thousand copies of the book, and we’ve been selling them individually at conventions as well.
I have a bunch of events that have been keeping me away from the regular updates, and I apologize for that. My schedule looks like the following:
August 17-22: Wizard World Chicago (con report to follow)
September 9-12: CECE (guest of honor)
September 11 (yup, same weekend): Library workshop in Lincoln Square for kids on how to make comics
October 4: FallCon
October 8-10: New York Comic Con
November 6-7: Mid-Ohio Comic Con
Littered throughout the year I have weddings to attend and whatnot as well. It’s a very ambitious convention schedule, and unfortunately it’s cutting into my creation time. On top of all this, I’m also working on another children’s story AND a regular series pitch based on my Reading with Pictures short story.
Lots of great work on the horizon, and I hope to see some of you at a convention soon. Thanks for sticking with me, and no worries – comics will start up again soon.
Help Bring Comics into the Classroom
Reading with Pictures is an educational non-profit organization that promotes literacy and the visual arts through the use of comics in the classroom. To achieve our goals, we’ve recently launched a pledge drive on kickstarter.com to finance the publication of a groundbreaking educational comics anthology. The anthology features a cover by Jill Thompson (The Sandman) and original stories by over 50 all-ages creators including Fred Van Lente (Amazing Spider-Man), Chris Giarrusso (Mini-Marvels), Jim Gownley (Amelia Rules), Jeffrey Brown (Sulk), Scott Sava (The Dreamland Chronicles), and RWP Executive Director Josh Elder (Mail Order Ninja). This limited edition anthology will serve as a proof of concept that comics can be both entertaining and educational, and the only way to guarantee that you get your copy is by pre-ordering on Kickstarter today!
Learn more by visiting us online at www.readingwithpictures.org.
At Reading with Pictures, we’re getting comics into schools and getting schools into comics.
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