Celebrate the founding of this great nation on the greatest holiday of them all — Independence Day, the Eleventh of July! Huzzah! Or just join us for air-conditioned drawing and socializing at Minnesota Center for Book Arts.

Sat., July 11, noon to 4 p.m., MCBA Bindery (the high tables — Huzzah!)

If you can’t find us in the MCBA building, ask the friendly person working in the MCBA bookstore. This is an open studio — all are welcome.

Minnesota Center for Book Arts
(Just down the street from Big Brain Comics)
1011 Washington Ave S, Suite 100
Minneapolis, MN 55415
Phone: 612-215-2520

Future Sat. Open Studio schedule:
August 1 Flexi-Space (low tables)

In addition to our jam, Diamonds lovely owner LUCY has asked we inform everyone she will be having a blood-drive that day which will run until 7pm. So if you wanna come a little early, give some blood, then promptly pass out the second you start drawing–please don’t be shy!  Its for a good cause! (And yes, its thru the Red Cross, its not just some guy in a van collecting plasma. Just clarifying.)

The Minneapolis Cartoonist Conspiracy meets at 6:30 until 10:00 the first Thursday of every month at Diamond’s Coffee Shoppe in Northeast.

Generally, we draw collaborative “jam” comics, socialize and drink caffeinated beverages. Afterwords, we often have uncaffeinated beverages somewhere else.

The meetings are open to anyone who wants to draw with us, and the results are posted here sooner or later (and sometimes even printed).

Diamond’s Coffee Shoppe
1618 Central Avenue Northeast
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Bus info here.

Please spend some money at Diamond’s while you’re there, even if it is just a cuppa coffee… they are excellent hosts, and we wanna stay welcome there.

Big Time Attic hosts our monthly jam meetings at Diamond’s… they will be supplying us with a big old plate of pastries or something. Thanks fellas!

Here is the BIG FUNNY press release. Please do spread the word.

Every year, Prism awards a significant Queer Press Grant to assist in the publication and promotion of LGBT comics. The grant is funded by donors who are creators who want to help others who are just starting out, or fans who want to see more LGBT creators get published.

Grant Application Process

Grant proposals must be submitted in the form of an e-mailed request and must include the following items (as either PDF or JPG format files):

1) Cover letter that states the project title and why the project is of interest to LGBT comic book readers

2) Creator’s statement of purpose (separate from the cover letter)

3) Business plan and budget detailing how funds (in US dollars) will be spent and obtained, including an intended time period

4) Resume (for each contributor, if more than one)

5) Financial statement (for each contributor, if more than one) — use the form provided by Prism Comics and include attachments as required

6) Presentation of the work to date in 300 DPI JPG images.

When to apply:

Proposals are reviewed on an annual basis by the Prism Comics Board of Directors. Requests must be received by the deadline date to be considered at that review. Early application is encouraged. You will be notified by e-mail when your application has been received.

Deadline date: October 1st, 2009

NOTE: Incomplete applications will not be considered. Unsuccessful applicants may reapply for the following year. The grant awardee should expect a response within four weeks of the deadline date.

Please submit proposals and queries to grants@prismcomics.org.

The Cartoonist Conspiracy Cells of the Twin Cities are getting in on the ground floor of something that could be potentially great! With Pride Weekend in full swing in the Twin Cities, three lone Conspirators Bud Burgy, Ryan Dow, and Daniel Olson learned of an opportunity to push comic materials to the mostly non-comic reading public! How? A bazaar in the Historic Loring Corners community!

Plans are still in their infancy, but with the proper nurturing, this thing could really take off! From what we understand, the bazaar will have various vendors crafting curious things (fashionable wears, paintings, framed album covers, comics, etc.) and associating with the general public. The bazaar is slated to be open during the Basilica Block Party and Loring Art Festival this year too! If all goes as planned and it becomes a success, more weekends could be added!

So, why am I telling you? Well, you should show up! You should say hello! Bud, Ryan, and Daniel may be bored to tears or could quite possibly having the time of their lives! Either way, we need your support! Plus, if you have any books that you’d like us to push for you contact us and we will make arangements for either this event or others in the future!

at yoe! studio we’re considering hiring an editor to help with all the many cool books we’re producing. i get that i’m dreaming, but…the ideal person would know and love comics history, be highly organized, have some editing/writing/maybe even design chops, be into working long hours for dirt cheap, live in the area of peekskill, new york and not be an asshole. or maybe we need a designer with a similar make-up—hey, we’re trying to figure this all out, too!
craig yoe yoecomix@hotmail.com

“Independent Variables: Contemporary Zine Publications”, an interactive celebration of independent voices and democratic art will be on view in the Open Book Lobby gallery from June 26 to September 6, 2009 in the Open Book Lobby Gallery.

The work on display is presented in conjunction with Book Art Biennial, a daylong exploration of arts power as a tool of social change, hosted by Minnesota Center for Book Arts on July 25, 2009. Visit www.mnbookarts.org  for more information.

This show also quasi ties-in to ZINEFEST (http://zinefest.org/) which is July 11th and 12th at the Stevens Square Center for the Arts, and which will feature many a Conspirator and/or comic creator selling their wares including Ryan Dow, Daniel J Olson, Mike Toft, Sarah Morean, Will Dinski, Good Minnesotan, Tom Kaczynski, Ed Choy Moorman,  Vas Littlecrow, Danno Klonowski and more.

We go to press this week! I can’t wait to hold a copy in my mitts!

Note that there is still time to participate in our little funny sideshow! All submissions to that will be included in the show.

Click the images below to see larger versions.

Note that

I recently chatted with comics journalist and long-time Far Arden supporter Tom Spurgeon about life, love, and comics, as part of the CR Sunday Interview series. So if you want to learn about the time I lived in a theme park for three weeks, or get a behind-the-scenes look at a Far Arden easter egg, then this is the interview for you.

Comics Reporter Interview.

And I got so caught up with the MoCCA convention and the launch party that I failed to post about this interview with Alex Dueben at Comic Book Resources. Alex and I get down and dirty about the creation of T-Minus and Far Arden, and how I ended up at Top Shelf.

Comic Book Resources Interview.

Thursday will be an extra special Drinking Liberally featuring Ken Avidor and some of his cartoon/illustrator buddies. Ken promises to bring along his sketch book and pen.

As most of you know, Ken has done several graphics for the Cucking Stool over the past couple of years. He skewers Michele Bachmann with some regularity and writes for Dump Michele Bachmann. Recently, Ken’s work in sketching for Law and Politics at the Republican National Convention won him a Society of Professional Journalists award.

One of Ken’s recent projects was to do the cover of the first issue of False Witness, Bill Prendergast’s graphic retelling of the Michele Bachmann story:

False Witness was noted recently in Talking Points Memo. And the dialogue is genuine Michele Bachmann, too!

We’ll have some copies of the comic available for you to buy, boys and girls, and Ken will autograph the cover if you like. It would make a great gift, especially for the right winger in your life.

We meet six to nine or so at the 331 Club in Northeast Minneapolis.