Ape Con in the city, summer in the sticks, do a little dance and try not to trip!

Hey there folks! I just did the Alternative Press Expo, or APECON, this past weekend. I did great! My best show (not the most fun, however. While I did have a blast, the "Most fun" still goes out to the FLUKE we did in 2010. It was like Jeff and I were 12 year old boys who freebased Mountain Dew for that show)! So thanks to the friends and family that helped me out. Howdy to the great new folks that I met there, as well!
My most recent Hairball, "Bumper Baby A-Go-Go Versus the Giant Sucking Wound" has now OFFICIALLY become my most popular comic to date. These two guys walked up to the table, one pointed to it and said "Best title of a comic...ever", and then they walked away. They didn't even buy it. That's a whole different type of sale!
There was so much stuff to look at! So much diversity. It was actually fairly overwhelming. It was one of those cons where you walk around and see everything, take a break, and then go back for a deeper search.

It was also not the easiest of cons for me. You see, I had been rather ill in the weeks prior to the show. At one point, I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to pull it off. Luckily, I did. Though, there was a stretch of time Sunday afternoon that was deadly dull. Few people walking around. No one really wanted to talk. I just wanted to go to bed and call it a day. But when it picked up, it got amazing.

Jeff Tuffenstuff couldn't join me for this show because he's back in the South, and I have since moved onto the West Coast. I did miss him. It was also odd not seeing the rest of the FLUKE gang around. Oh well,  this is a brave new world. No more South (or at least, very little. Or perhaps, not for a while...although, I do not relish the thought of getting back into that humidity with all of the palmetto bugs. Do you know that since I've been out here, I have not seen ONE SINGLE FIRE ANT, MOSQUITO, OR COCKROACH????? After 24 years, that's unprecedented). So, do you mind me reminiscing? I don't!
APE was awesome. New pastures, new comics, new projects. I'm actually working on a new Hairball as we speak. It's still in the planning stages....Keep yer one good eye out!


----CHEW

Even Ugly Has to Work

I've decided to take a little break from my drawing. My shoulder seems to be aching from working on this piece.
I've seen three movies this past weekend (or, at least, mostly seen three movies). So, I will give you a brief review during my respite.
The first was an old Italian 'giallo' from the early 70's entitled TORSO. For those of you who do not know, the giallos (yellow) were brainy forerunners of the slasher flicks of the 80's. When I mean brainy, I do not necessarily mean smart. I mean, they were highly over-the-top films with overly convoluted plots. Usually, hard to figure out what's going on, who's killing who, lots of red herrings, and a background story about the killer's motivations that seemingly come out of nowhere. You probably wo'nt be able to figure out what's happening until the very end (except for the fact that tons o' folks get offed). Torso is no exception to this description. It was very controversial at the time, and is not known as one of the better ones of the genre. However, something about it appealed to me. For one thing, it kept making me want to watch THE NIGHT EVELYN CAME OUT OF THE GRAVE (which is no gem, itself...but fun). Torso also came to represent a sort of death of the freewheeling 60's, which I found fascinating. It's definitely a forerunner of the American-styled slasher flicks (i.e. sex=death). Not really recommended for many of you. Borrow it.
Second, I went to see THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO in the theatre. This is a Swedish film. Since I have been living in a cave and stopped watching television, I never saw a preview, let alone heard about this movie or the books it was based off of (it's a trilogy, published posthumously after the author's death of heart attack at 50), I did'nt know what to expect. This is the first film in a trilogy (all of the films are finished now, but we in the U.S. have to wait a while). I must say, I thoroughly enjoyed this film. I was totally in the dark on it and I think I enjoyed it more for that reason (although, it is pretty good in its own right).
Interestingly, this movie was being shown at the theatre where FLUKE was being held. Jeff mentioned it to me and we marveled over the poster as we were waiting to get inside. Highly recommended. Except for illiterates.
The last is a work in process. I rented MACUMBA SEXUAL by the awesome/awful Jess Franco! It's basically a reworking of that tidy little number, Franco's earlier VAMPYROS LESBOS (the soundtrack is really good). This time, instead of a vampire seducing a thick German girl, it's a transexual voodoo priestess seducing a thick Spanish girl (in-famous Lina Romay, for those of you not in the know. Do'nt look any of her images up at your work computers!!!!).
Time being as it is, I have only been able to make it halfway through the flick. I am enjoying it thus far. Recommended for only perverts and sadocinemasochists. Enjoy!
Next on my list? SWEET MOVIE and SALO, OR THE 120 DAYS OF SODOM (again)! Let the pain continue!
ciao, mon amis...

Fluke 2010

Fluke 2010 was awesome.

Chew and I left Columbus at 5:30 A.M. and arrived in Athens just before nine. We grabbed some coffee and decided to scope out the new Fluke location and saw that people were already lined up to rent tables. We rushed back to the car to grab our stuff and stand in line. The doors opened just a little before 11 A.M. and the line kept growing and growing. There is no way the old location at Tasty World would have been able to hold that many artists. The hall in Cine (Athen's indy theater) was just big enough. There was a bar and the coffee and beer started flowing at noon.

Chew and I did suprisingly well. Everyone who bought a copy of Flex Fantastic last year, picked up book II, which was exciting. Chew sold a lot of Hairball and Neutrino Valley.

Several friends of ours made the trip to Athens. Orion rented a table and premiered two of his comics. Roger picked up his friend Steve from Atlanta and arrived around noon.

The day went by quickly and we met a lot of people and hopefully, made some new friends. Fluke wrapped up around 6 P.M. We hooked up with our Columbus Posse and headed out to grab some dinner. We laughed, drank - discussed the new Doctor Who, Blake's 7 and B movies - and ate Thai. It was a 20 hour day and the trip home took forever but it was one of the best days I've had ... and from talking with Chew, I know he feels the same.

I just wanted to thank everyone who came out to see us. If you're new to this blog, please check out our ealier postings (starting at April 2009) for Carnage Cream/How ah met you Muddah. Please leave a comment. We'd love to hear from you!

Thank you, Patrick Dean, for throwing such a great event. Fluke rocks.

Special thanks again to Kennis, our unnofficial third member, for printing our books. Because of him, we were able to pass our savings on to everyone who bought a book this year.

And special thanks to Roger. You've just been made Globster Press Fan Club President!

Spread the word!

--Jeff Tuffenstuff

After a three hour car trip, full of Starbucks coffee and pastries, Chew(right)and I are ready to set up and sell our books at Fluke.


A close-up of Flex Fantastic Issue 2 and Carnage Cream at the Globster Press Table

Chew at the Globster Press Table at 11:00 A.M. That smile is scary, man! You're scaring the kids...


Roger, recently appointed President of the Globster Press Fan Club, reading one of Chew's comics. He drove 150 miles to come out and support us - and brought his friend, Steve. Roger now owns every comic we've done. He also sat at our table and shouted at attendees and helped sell books. A sea biscuit goes to anyone who can spot what's wrong with this picture!


5 P.M.: selling strong, all day long

Our fellow travelers and friends from Columbus: (left to right) Julie, Dan, Hannah, Orion and Steve. Orion also had a table at Fluke. His Sci-Fi comic After the Penal Colony is worth reading. If you come across it, please give it a try. Thanks for coming out to Fluke, guys!


6:04 P.M. Fluke's over. We're done. Bring on the next con!


Chew at Dinner. Excited to order Drunken Noodles and feeling pretty good about Fluke.


Roger and Steve at Dinner. Imitation meat? Huh? What?

FLUKE!

Hey peoples. Hope all is well. Been sick, been busy, been crazy....but FLUKE is here! Now! Set for Saturday, April 17 in Athens, GA. We, here at Globster Press, between the two of us, will have FOUR NEW COMIC BOOKS FOR YOU EDIFICATION! J. and I have the new Flex Fantastic 2 (the sequel) and Carnage Cream. I will have my new/old Hairball entitled "Hillbilly Chic: Part One of the Hillbillogy" as well as Neutrino Valley. All of our books are affordable to poor people who like to wallow in mud and cheap forms of literature. Awesome! You know you wish you could be there to wish you were there wishing you could hang out with our awesomeness all day and drink beer with all of the other people milling about whilst drinking beer wishing that they were sitting at a table all day wishing that they could drink a beer too!
YEAH! We had an unbelievably great time last year. Hopefully this years show will be fun as well.
Before I go, big HUGE THANKS to Kennis for helping us print our books this time. I know my books killed that two-tone printer, but thanks for the effort. HUGE cheers also go out to J. for using his superhuman powers to tackle the cutting and stapling. You guys totally Rock! No sarcasm, either!
FLUKE!!!!!

Chew