by John | Jul 19, 2009 | Blog
I’m doing several signings at Comic Con International 2009 this week in San Diego. If you want some free Last Kiss goodies or just want to chat, come on by. I’ll be the handsome guy in the Last Kiss shirt:
THURSDAY (July 23):
• 5-6 pm World’s Famous Comics–Booth 4918
FRIDAY (July 24):
• 1-2 pm Comics Buyer’s Guide–Booth 1419
• 5:30-6:30 pm World’s Famous Comics–Booth 4918
SATURDAY (July 25):
• 10-11 am World’s Famous Comics–Booth 4918
• 3-4 pm Little Lulu Fan Group–Room 24A (No signing, but I’ll be there and it’s lots of fun. Come by and take part in a “radio” reading and recording of one of John Stanley’s classic and hilarious Little Lulu stories!
SUNDAY (July 26):
• 1-2 pm Cartoon Art Museum–Booth 1930
• 3:30-4:30 pm World’s Famous Comics–Booth 4918
by John | Jul 8, 2009 | Blog
It’s been a wonderful, happy, scary and weird few weeks in the Lustig household. My daughter’s recent wedding supplied the wonderful and happy portion. The scary and weird part has been something I haven’t talked about, though.
My wife–the amazing Shelagh–hasn’t felt too amazing this last month. In fact she spent several days in the hospital with a really nasty infection that caused an abscess in her nose. (Scary because it could’ve gone into her brain.). She had surgery (twice), but is mostly fine now and should make a full recovery. Really.
Why am I mentioning this now? Well, mostly because we’ve come through this and I’m sure there’s a happy ending. But also because I want to explain why I’ve been re-running a few of my older comics recently.
Frankly, after getting through a month of medical drama and our daughter’s wedding, I decided to give myself a gift: a few days off while I catch up.
Hence today’s re-run. New stuff is coming soon. Really!
by John | Jun 18, 2009 | Blog
I’m the guest speaker at The Seattle Graphics Artists Guild luncheon on June 24. In a mere two hours I’ve been asked to teach people how to be more creative; explain how to be funny; and be entertaining.
To my complete astonishment, I think I’ve figured out a way to do it. So if you’re in the Seattle area sign up. It should be fun. And I’m even giving out free Last Kiss goodies!
Details and reservations here!
by John | Apr 23, 2009 | Blog
Times aren’t just tough. They’re weird! And here’s proof:
I was recently recruited by Friends of the Seattle Public Library to persuade the City of Seattle not to cut the library budget. It gets weirder. My expertise and reason for testifying? Comic books.
I testified at a Seattle City Council budget hearing on April 20 that libraries needed to stay open so that kids can check out and read comics/graphic novels.
The 10-year-old kid in me—I once had to smuggle Captain America comics into our home because “funny books” were considered junk literature—is flabbergasted to be testifying about the importance of comics.
And yet, there I was explaining that graphic novels are now a major attraction in libraries—especially to kids:
“A few years ago, my daughter and her friends learned Japanese primarily so that they could read Japanese graphic novels.
“Today, hundreds [thousands?] of these books have been translated and published and are more popular than ever. And kids are devouring them. But times are tough.
“That means–for many kids—there’s only one place where they can find these books. Whether it’s graphic novels or Harry Potter or Moby Dick, it’s the library that’s going to keep our kids excited and reading.”
(A more complete version of my testimony is here on the Friends of the Library blog.)
Of course, there were other pleas on behalf of the library. Some quite serious—such as people needing the libraries so that they can go online and search for jobs. My plea, obviously, was the offbeat, pop-culture-with fun visual aids testimony.
As it turns out, none of this saved the library budget from being cut this year. But we were already fighting for next year’s budget. So, we’ll see what happens.
by John | Mar 12, 2009 | Blog
I’ve closed the old Last Kiss Yahoo mailing list. Join my new, improved (better-tasting, fewer-calories) mailing list and receive free Last Kiss comics via e-mail three times a week. Just enter your e-mail address below. No spam. All info kept private and not shared:
