Another Recent Strip

This one appeared in The Brooklyn Rail over the holiday on their back page instead of its usual slot in the fiction section. I guess that's kind of an honor.

Aline the Alien

I've begun uploading my Aline the Alien comics to Kidjutsu, a new website for children. Come have a look. There are a number of good comics there. Register to vote on them and help shape the future content!

Comic powered by Kidjutsu

Doodle Diary

Doodle Diary

Doodle Diary

Lump's best friend.

Last Year's New York Comic Con

The New York Comic Con is coming up this weekend. I look forward to attending some of the classes and panels they're offering. I may as well post a few more of the sketches I made last year, in anticipation of having a new batch soon.

This is from the panel, "Arf Arf," hosted by Craig Yoe and featuring Al Jaffee, Glenn Head, and David Cowles.


And here we see Jessica Abel and Matt Madden presenting their book, Drawing Words and Writing Pictures.


Here are Mark Evanier and J. J. Sedelmaier discussing "The State of Animation."


And here's the 2008 grouping of "The Legends Behind the Comic Books." Presented by Michael Uslan, we see Murphy Anderson, Jerry Robinson, Irwin Hasen, Ramona Fradon, Joe Sinnott, Stan Lee, Joe Simon, and John Romita. Dick Ayers was there, too, but from where I sat he was hidden by the podium.

I still have a few more of these sketches that I might post sometime soon.

Another Recent Strip

doodle diary

I filled a stack of cocktail napkins, and ended up with this one image that I kind of like.

More Tragic Strips

Here are a couple more strips from The Brooklyn Rail, united by the theme of women falling off of cliffs. The second is a constrained piece. It's made of the end rhymes from Browning's famous sonnet.

Merry Christmas, everybody.

Why I Keep At It

Trying to connect with publishers, reviewers, and the various other comics experts can be frustrating, to say the least. But the reception my work has gotten from actual people has been often positive and sometimes enthusiastic. The other day, I received this email from a stranger:


Hi,
I just wanted to send you a quick note of thanks for this comic:

I have had a copy of it pinned up in my office for as many years as I can remember and it never fails to bring a smile to my face. It has been up there for so long that I don't even remember where I first ran across it.

I just wanted to let you know that the genius of that little strip is still out there and being appreciated now.

Thank you.
Cheers,
Marc

When I thanked him and asked permission to quote him here, he added that he'd posted the strip to his Twitter account and got this reaction from a friend:

"Wow - that comic strip was profound | deep | sad | moving | realistic - thanks for sharing."

So that felt good. That'll sustain me for a while ( in lieu of food money). I confess I tend to think of that one as the best strip I've ever done.

Doodle Diary

A couple unsavory characters.

Comics and the Literary Establishment

Here's the last of the Post Bang sketches I made. This panel featured comics historians and critics. L to R we see moderator Kent Worcester, Jeet Heer, David Hadju, Hillary Chute, and Douglas Wolk.

Subway Sketch

I ended up giving this sketch to the mom. She just sent me this scan of it.
The subway makes my line bumpy. When the train stops, I have to stop drawing.

As of Yesterday...

Good People Who Make Good Comics for Kids

Here are a few convention sketches of artists and publishers who focus on young readers. The con program books aren't always thorough and I don't take the best notes. If anyone who sees this can help me get the attributions right, please respond.


This first sketch is from the Post Bang conference, June 2008. The panel was called "Comics and Kid's Lit." L to R are Raw Jr. publisher Francoise Mouly, historian Leonard Marcus, cartoonists Sara Varon and Mo Willems, and teacher/librarian Lisa von Drasek.


This second sketch is from a panel on Toon Books at the New York Comic Con. We see Francoise Mouly again, artist Frank Cammuso, Dean Haspiel (sitting in the audience), a librarian named Michelle (?), illustrator Geoffrey Hayes, and writer Jay Lynch.

Here's where I really need help. I arrived late to this panel and wasn't able to catch the names of the first three gentlemen in this picture. Assuming I achieved a likeness, does anyone recognize these fellows? The last two are David Saylor of Scholastic and Chris Staros of Top Shelf.


And here's a super quick impression of some creators from Nickelodeon Magazine: Dave Roman, R. Sikoryak, and Chris Duffy.

Comic Con Diary

This one was legible enough when it ran in The Brooklyn Rail, but I've since made some small corrections to it. That's my excuse for reposting it here.

Marvelous?

I see that my new book, Rikki Ducornet's The One Marvelous Thing, is now available at Amazon.

I always wonder what people will make of my drawings. Are they "inky, scruffy" (Publisher's Weekly), "insidious, witty" (Harry Mathews), "gritty, fantastical" (Dalkey Archive) or what? You decide.

I should offer an incentive. If you order a copy, send your mailing address to mot@tmotley.com and I'll send you an index card covered with original doodles. They make pretty good bookmarks.

Doodle Diary

My Cubofuturist dream girl.

Some Recent Strips

When my Tragic Strips appear in The Brooklyn Rail, they print them nice and big. But the versions on their web site are kind of too small to read. So I'll start reposting them here at a generous size. Click on these for a good look at the drawings.

These three are from an oubapo-esque series I'm developing called "Made Out of Mac."

Doodle Diary

Tahm fer a showdown!