Devil Water Cover

The cover of Devil Water #1 is being graced by art from Harry Roland, an amazing artist. Here's a sneak peek.

VOTE for INNOCENT: Guilty By Association

Click here and vote on INNOCENT: Guilty By Association webcomic!
We need help to get the word out on our work. It's FREE! Please email the links around.

Don't Miss the CDBABY SALE!!

Check out this awesome $5 CD sale at CDBABY. I've been buying their stuff for years since it's directly from the artists and ends up being better and cheaper than what I get elsewhere. Below are some personal picks from the $5 selections.


The Cheebacabra
"The Cheebacabra's debut album presents an onslaught of tight beats and catchy instrumental grooves, a unique fusion of soul, funk, jazz, and electronica.*DustyGroove.com says:"New school funk for old school heads! A nice new offering from the West Coast, with sly, sinister grooves, punctuated by all manner of keys, be they Fender Rhodes, groovy organ or quacking clavinet."*Amoeba Records says:"The Cheebacabra comes crooked with sopping wet funkstamentals. Score your own personal porns with these synth heavy groovers. Like funk in a smoking jacket."*Expose Magazine says:"Skillfully mimics the sounds and styles of classic jazz-funk."Check out the track "Push" which Nic Harcourt spun on his "Best of 2003" Sounds Eclectic show.This CD was also cited by Filter Magazine as one of the "Top Ten Albums of 2003"."





Faith Kleppinger
(I've followed her for years...when I'm not ahead.)
"Midnight roams. Dirty cities. Insomniac maniacs. Street vendor roses. Corner dwellers. Secret passageways. Glory. Heroes in stereo. Shanty towns. Night trains. Real eyes. Half wishes. This is Atlanta-based singer/songwriter Faith Kleppinger's debut solo album, "Asleep In The Well" --a stripped-down, woozy, late-night drift through softly-sung stories."



Hedda Layne
"Hedda Layne's debut recording has received exhilarated responses from all over the world. Electric vocal performances drive these lush, modern, disco-jazz arrangements of standards and originals.Born and raised in Texas, Hedda's heart belongs to the divas of yesteryear - Ella, Billie, and Lena. Her development as a modern vocalist took her from classical training to torch jazz to big band into rock, onto blues, folk, and most recently into more intimate jazz combos. Collaboration with her partner, guitarist, and writer/arranger Troy Lee Warden, and cutting-edge producer Brandon Bishop has distilled a diverse history into the singular passion of this fiery disc. "



Lisa Fraser
"Fraser writes intensely personal lyrics. From the autobiographical tale of her triumph over resistance in "Keep Walkin'," to the ironically personal angst-ridden beauties of "Overloaded" to the bittersweet breakup of "Stepped Out," Fraser reaches out with hope, triumph, deity, identity, family, pain, balance, and integrity. Her guitar tickles and meanders, her voice enthralls. The overarching theme embedded in all her music is that of redemption -- the possibility, and ultimate certainty, of salvation.While her sound merges folk intimacy, rock hooks, searing vocals, and oh-so-intimate lyrics, she has her own make-you-weep/make-you-cheer songwriting style. Fraser has honed her personal, effervescent vocal style with an eye towards mergeing folk intimacy with the edginess of rock. Her influences are apparent: she carries the stylish intimacy of Eva Cassidy, the melodoc storytelling of Paul Simon, and the sultriness of Norah Jones. Though these disparate touchstones give an indication of Fraser's sources of inspiration and synthesis, all agree that she is wholly unique. "



jolei
"Personnel: jolei(vocals,acoustic guitar), Rick Lassiter(stand-up bass, guitars, piano), Lee Kirby(organ), Francis Dyer(drums, percussion), Richard Bowden(violin), Mahlon Hoard(soprano sax), Jack Bowden(banjo), Bryan McCune(cornet), Karen Kletter and Cherie Lassiter(backing vocals), Ed Butler(drums) This cd was recorded in Raleigh north Carolina at Rick Lassiter's Calvin Street Studio www.ricklassiter.com and came about from states of conscious and subconscious love, inspired by working with the late cellist Arthur Russell. (see: www.audikarecords.com, www.soundsoftheuniverse.com, www.roughtrade.com, www.jahsonic.com/ArthurRussell.html). I always think of how he would have played his cello with these songs, and I sometimes do think he was in the room as they were recorded. Check out the new Arthur Russell compilation by Audika on CDbaby. It's great. Before this, I was in a band with Joey Ramone (the Ramones) called the Resistance, where we sang some duets but mostly i sang back-ups and harmonies to him. We did some political rallies and Rock the Vote concerts, all around 1994. Joey was a musical and comedic genius, yes,no doubt about that, and had a really original mind. The Joey I knew was a wonderfully sweet soul, and hilarious, and fun, and just like Arthur in his fierce conviction to reach people with his music. It can be sad, the goodbye to the most beautiful, but let it be the seed that enters your soul, just like they wanted it to be. I did have a career as a back-up singer for a while and then I worked with all these amazing musicians like... Bernie Worrell. Chris Spedding. David Byrne. www.briansdiscographies.com/heads/uo.htm Arthur Russell. Chris and Tina Weymouth of the Tom Tom Club. (www.tomtomclub.com/history.html) I was a Casual God in Jerry Harrison's solo group by that name, www.connollyco.com/discography/jerry_harrison/walk.ht... Ernie Brooks. I was one of the mirrors w/Gabrielle Roth www.emusic.com/album/10585/10585578.html I formed the (mostly)all girl band the Trashaholics in New York. Karen and Dana Kletter. the Milagro Saints(www.milagrosaints.com)."

If you spot any other good deals please tell me. I'm sure there are other great CDs for $5, but I can only listen to so many before I have to go back to work.

I've been TAGGED!

Three floors collapsed after fire broke out at 5:30 a.m.; a cause has not been determined.

Wow...pretty heavy. Think about that for a second. Hmmm....

So I got tagged by Jay Penny.

Here’s the gig.
1. Delve into your blog archive.
2. Find your 23rd post (or closest to).
3. Find the fifth sentence (or closest to).
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions. Ponder it for meaning, subtext or hidden agendas…
5. Tag five people to do the same.
6. If you break the BLOGTAG chain then you will be cursed for 7 years of bad luck. Each year the bad luck gets progressively worse until the 7th year when you lose all the hair on your body. I recommend that you keep the link going.

Red Rover, Red Rover I TAG these people to come on over!!

RUSH HOUR SOUL
Yet Another Comic Blog
Terry Rossio
Comic Book Galaxy
Comic Treadmill

FREE STUFF Join King Tractor Mailing List

It's not going to change your life, but if you don't mind an email every few months about King Tractor Press happenings then don't forget to sign up on the mailing list. There is so much going on that I can't find time to put it up on the blog or website, plus lots of chances for FREE STUFF!

Innocent comes to Web Comics

http://www.drunkduck.com/Innocent__Guilty_By_Association/

(The art above is a bit of humor from a friend and fellow comic creator, Kenny who did it just before his computer crashed and burned. That'll teach him.)

I've decided to showcase some of our stories on Drunk Duck. These are FREE webcomics from our regular print books. It's kind of a thank you to fans as well as a way to show people who haven't read our books just what we're about. It will be updated every Friday.

The first is Innocent: Guilty By Association.
A short introduction to the INNOCENT universe. Written by Shawn Granger, art by Elizabeth Luntao, and colors by Sarah Ruffino. Innocent is a comic book about a serial killer who teams up with an angel to fight demons and otherwise get his rocks off.

Manga Revolution Spotlights King Tractor artist : Dawid Strauss

The website Manga Revolution has done a feature on the King Tractor artist Dawid Strauss. Check it out here!

One Pirate Speaks to Writers

These two posts by Terry Rossio (writer on Mask of Zorro, Shrek, & Pirates of the Caribbean) are MUST reads for anyone who wants to, thinks they can, or knows someone who might write a story in their lifetime.

Wonderful stuff.

"Facing the Blank Page"

"Story world rules (from a brilliant question from HZ )"

These and more can be found on the WORDPLAYER website. I cannot recommend it enough.

Some more videos.

So with that video of the two elderly men in fisticuffs, I thought I would share a couple others. These are work safe, but embarrassing. WARNING: You will laugh.

Big Boy Diving

Naughty Donkey (though I'd like to know why that man decided to use that field for his bathroom)

Why you shouldn't leave your computer camera hooked up while surfing the web.

On Golden Punch

Okay...this shouldn't be funny, but it is.

Wallace & Gromit goes up in flames!!!

The "Wallace & Gromit" series of films are some of my favorites so this news really struck home. It's with a heavy heart that I share.

"Fire destroys Gromit's U.K. lair Aardman Animations' HQ up in flames Fire gutted Aardman Animations' warehouse in Bristol, England, on Monday, destroying props and sets from several of its claymation films, including "Wallace & Gromit" and "Chicken Run," Aardman's first feature-length release. "

"Three floors collapsed after fire broke out at 5:30 a.m.; a cause has not been determined.
With a $16 million opening weekend, DreamWorks/Aardman's "Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit" landed on top of the domestic box office over the weekend.
Sets and props for "Were-Rabbit" were unaffected, as was the company's film archive. But sets from Wallace & Gromit shorts "A Grand Day Out," "The Wrong Trousers" and "A Close Shave" were destroyed.

Aardman spokesman Arthur Sheriff said the fire "had nothing to do with the studio. It was a storage warehouse on the other side of Bristol." Location is, however, where public tours are conducted. Sheriff said, "Everything from 'Morph' to 'Chicken Run' has gone. All the sets, all the props, a lot of the models and particularly the storyboards. When any director works on one of our projects, the storyboards have a lot of comments on them, and we save them for exhibition purposes. It is devastating."

W&G creator Nick Park said, "Even though it is precious and nostalgic stuff -- and valuable to the company -- in light of other current tragedies in the news, it's not a big deal."
"Were-Rabbit" took $5 million in previews on Oct. 8 and 9 on home turf. It opens wide Friday in the U.K.

Aardman was founded by Dave Sproxton and Peter Lord in 1976. Studio has a five-picture deal with DreamWorks, though "Were-Rabbit" is not part of that deal, because Aardman exclusively owns the rights to the film's characters, which debuted in a series of acclaimed shorts.
DreamWorks had no comment."

From the Aardman Studios Website... "Fire destroys historical Aardman artefacts
On the day that Aardman celebrate a chart-topping opening weekend in the US with Wallace & Gromit 'The Curse of the Were-rabbit', news of a fire at our storage unit in Bristol has been devastating.The facility used to store sets, awards, and historical artefacts, is not a part of the Aardman studio, and we are glad to report that no Aardman staff have been affected. However, we have lost a number of irreplaceable storyboards, awards, props and pieces of film memorabilia from our 30 year history.None of the material from the new Wallace & Gromit film ‘The Curse of the Wererabbit’ was in storage at the time, but we have lost many original sets from Chicken Run, Creature Comforts, and the three Wallace & Gromit short films, that were used for reference and toured around the world for exhibition.This will not in any way affect existing or future Aardman productions as 100% of sets and props are purpose built for each production."

It's definitely a sad day for everyone.

Elizabeth Luntao does "Innocent"

Elizabeth teamed up with Sarah Ruffino [colorist for Gene Gardens] to work on an "Innocent" short story. It's going to be a special extra in the "Gene Gardens: Hero Seed" one-shot. (I previously have posted pages from Hero Seed.) The book contains two stories that explain a little about the past for both books' main characters. The Innocent story "Guilty By Association" is from his days in pre-revolution France. "Gene Gardens: Hero Seed" tells the tale of how the main character Adam got to be an Elite Elder guard.

Below are the first few pages of Elizabeth & Sarah's work on "Innocent: Guilty By Association". Check out what this amazing pair has done.

Katrina dogs are saved.

Check out this article on Steve White, a friend of mine since elementary school. He went down to the areas affected by Katrina to help save orphened animals. Some amazing stories. You do have to register, but it's worth a second & it's FREE! [I've quoted a bunch of it just in case you don't like to register.]

"Saturday, October 1, 2005
Story last updated at 11:04 AM on Saturday, October 1, 2005
Former Blue Springs resident rescues pets from Katrina peril
By Stephanie BootheThe Examiner
Steve White planned to take a vacation in Colorado until Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast.

The former Blue Springs resident and 1987 graduate of Blue Springs High School decided instead to travel to New Orleans and help in the relief efforts - rescuing pets from abandoned homes.

"I saw the hurricane news, and it just kept getting worse and worse," White said. "Especially what was happening to the animals."
White, who recently moved to Prairie Village, Kan., and his girlfriend met up with a group out of Seattle called Pasado's Safe Haven. The group went into the area of New Orleans that was hit hardest by Katrina in search of animals. The group went door-to-door, looking and listening for animals.
When someone would hear an animal or see evidence of one, they'd find a way into the house to free the animal, who would be taken into a shelter until the owners could pick it up or until someone could adopt it.

Paul Beaver/The Examiner

Steve White, a Blue Springs High School graduate now living in Prairie Village, Kan., holds two of the stray dogs he rescued on his trip to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. At left is a rat terrier/beagle mix he named Opal. At right is a mix breed he named Louie. They are both up for adoption. "We took in about 100 in the time I was down there," said White, who was in New Orleans for four days. "A lot of those pets were trapped in homes. Ones not trapped, were loose in the streets. Conditions were deplorable."

Most of the animals, White said, had gone without food or fresh water for nearly two weeks before the group found them. He said, some pets would drink their own urine just to stay alive.
One of the most powerful images was a pair of bulldogs running down the street at him. He could tell the animals were excited to see him. He'd tried to rescue the pair for more than two days from an abandoned apartment, but they wouldn't come out.
A more disturbing image was coming across a dog, who died on the roof of a truck.
"The water was so high, he just died on a truck," White said.

In another area of town, White saw a dog that had climbed up on a mountain of junk, while water surrounded him. The dog's companion dog, just next to him, had died.
Some of the animals White and his group took in were reunited with their owners. Many had dog tags, or the rescuers would leave notes for the family about where to get the animal. Many, however, were found in the streets without dog tags.
Those animals, White said, will go up for adoption Oct. 15. White even brought two of the dogs home with him. He hopes to find homes for the two dogs, Louie and Opal.
"They're both really sweet, very loving and great with everyone," White said.

More information on the rescued animals can be found online at pasadosafehaven.org or waysidewaifs.org. "

You can also check out his personal blog for more pictures and the tale in Steve's own words.

Hippy For Sale!

ABC has a great article on a hippy being auctioned off on ebay. It's not exactly his person, but a trip with the wandering free spirit. His sister is trying to get him out of her hair and share her brother with the world. It seems to be working, already talks are about a TV movie about the adventure. And what do you get for your cash? Lots of peace, love, and t-shirt selling but baths are not included.

Check out this blog from a Katrina survivor.

This is from Leo McGovern who is just returning now to New Orleans. It's really a must read.

Check out this before and after photos of a very cool looking apartment.

Sneak preview of "Gene Gardens : Hero Seed"

I know I've still got some San Diego pictures to put up. I'm late and it's going to be later since I've got more comic book work to do. Maybe I can get to posting that last con report tonight?

In the meantime we've got a special one-shot issue of "Gene Gardens" and "Innocent" preview for you. It's coming out early next year as a warm up to the "Gene Gardens" series. I'm hoping that it helps get people excited about these two titles. The art is fantastic. I'll let you judge the stories since I wrote them.

From "Gene Gardens - Hero Seed" with art by Dawid Strauss and Sarah Ruffino. These are 95% done except for lettering.

Julian Aguilera's "Innocent" character sketch.

In the book (when you finally get to read it) Innocent is often wearing his usual overcoat and black jeans. But since this isn't a super-hero book, that isn't all he wears. I hope that doesn't confuse the Superman crowd, but really...who wears the same outfit EVERY day of their life? Julian Aguilera has done a great character sketch of Innocent in one of his espionage outfits. As you can see, it's MUCH easier to hide in than red and blue tights.

Julian is currently working on an issue of "Innocent" that introduces major characters and plots that will continue to torment us for a long time to come.