I step up to the mike with a lyrical vortex; there's a rap volcano in my cerebral cortex

Graeme McMillan has some kind words about our winning the Best Local Publisher nod from the Guardian. "It’s a fairly significant achievement, especially when you consider that Chronicle Books, McSweeneys and other popular publishers are based out of the area… and something that, with the announcement of their publishing schedule for the rest of the year and beyond, I feel that they’re definitely living up to. There’s always been a quality to AiT’s books, a kind of Larry Brand of “The Best Action Movies You’ve Always Wanted To See” if you like (mixed with the very occasional – but wonderful - non-action book like True Story, Swear To God and Electric Girl), but with books like Ursula, Demo and upcoming things like 1000 Steps to World Domination and Five Fists of Science, the publisher seems to be making important steps beyond that and into quality comics of every genre. And with the announcement of the all-prose Tales From Fish Camp, they seem to be moving into a time where they’re looking past their slogan and mission statement of Making Comics Better to just making lots of things better. So, well done Larry, Mimi, Ryan and everyone else at the company… it’s a well-deserved prize."

Over at Pop Image, Brian Domingos also has some kind words for our work, this time about The Making of Astronauts in Trouble: "Larry Young released the script for the first Astronauts in Trouble mini series along with about a hundred extra tid-bits. Young writes with a casual tone and tries to throw some fun into his words. His panel descriptions are pretty open, as he trusted his artists Matt Smith and Charlie Adlard, and he has often comment on how they always do something special with the scripts. The dialogue pops, too, which is always fun when reading a script. The book is very action orientated with strong characterization so it needs to be fun. A script that trudges though a brooding plot is really little fun to read on the backend. The Astronauts in Trouble script book is a great example of an idea built from the ground up into a clever and inventive and, most of all, entertaining story. You can learn a lot from that guy."

Also, Fabio has some words about Smoke and Guns on his and Gabriel's blog.

...and here's a link to Loose Cannon #28 (from July 27, 2001) wherein we find a summary of San Diego 2001.

Playing catch-up today. San Diego cats, you should be hearing from me. People expecting packages: most are going out today. AiT creators: watch your mailbox.

And according to the maestro Brian Wood, apparently Couriers 03: The Ballad of Johnny Funwrecker will have people shooting guns in it:

off the grid

Boy, there's nothing like a family emergency that calls you away to rural Georgia to make you feel missed. Mimi and I very much appreciate your supportive calls and emails. Being gone for San Diego, and then sick, and then off to Georgia has put us a little behind, so if you're expecting to hear from one of us, please be patient; it's taking us a while to catch up.

Sean Cleveland has a nice pic of Mimi and me from San Diego on GeekSpeak.org

"Any time you give Larry Young booth number 2001, you're gonna get what you deserve."

Laura Gjovaag names Ursula as one of her eleven books that should be carried by libraries. She writes, "Already a classic, and it just came out. This one talks about relationships and growing up and somehow manages to capture both at once. Well worth a a read, and well worth a spot in a library."

Speaking of Ursula, here's a quick sketch Gabriel Bá did of their appearances at the AiT booth in San Diego:



Here's a stellar review by Bill Sherman, who calls Ursula "an unapologetically romantic fantasy about the endurance of young love. " Well worth the read.

Over at Near Mint Heroes, Shane Bailey names Becky Cloonan as one of his favorite artists. Me too, Shane; me, too.

...and BookSlut gives Bri Wood the interview treatment.