stonesoup

Stone Soup Halloween

I love Halloween. No strings attached, just spooks and candy and kids roaming around in costume in the spooky night. Here in Oregon, we are predicted to get our traditional Halloween rain, as usual. Poor, soggy trickertreaters, give 'em two pieces. Or three.

And don't miss Comic City, USA at the Oregon Historical Society!

This fabulous exhibit runs through January 31st, and highlights 13 influential comic artists and writers who have helped Oregon become one of the largest centers for comic production in the country. Who knew?

My work is featured in the exhibit, as well as the amazing work of Carl Barks, John Callahan, Jack Ohman, Joe Sacco, Matt Groenig, Homer Davenport, Basil Wolverton, Mike Richardson, Alex Schomburg, Anina Bennett & Paul Guinan, Cat Farris, Colleen Coover and Dylan Meconis. Oregonians all.

MEANWHILE...

Privacy is for Wussies, my 11th collection, arrived in time for the holidays. There are some wonderful reviews on Amazon, thanks to my fabulous readers.

Upcoming Events in Eugene and Portland:

EUGENE: Nov. 12 • 2pm TALK AND BOOK SIGNING • Eugene Public Library

PORTLAND: Dec. 1 • 7-8:30pm • Panel Discussion (and book signing) with Oregon Cartoonists as part of the Oregon Historical Society "Comic City USA" exhibit • Oregon Historical Society

PORTLAND: Dec. 4 • 12-4pm • Holiday Cheer Book Sale and Signing • Oregon Historical Society

EUGENE: Dec. 10 • 10-6pm • Author Artists Faire • Lane County Events Center

If you can't attend these events but would like autographed copies of my new book (or any of my books) go to Fourpanelpress.com or find me on Facebook and just send me a message and we will make it happen!

Stone Soup events this fall...Woooohoooo!

Book 11 has hit the shelves and I am scheduling events for the fall. I won't be traveling out of Oregon for now, but if you are in the Northwest maybe I will see you at one of these.

Sept. 20 • 7pm TALK AND BOOK SIGNING • Barnes & Noble, Eugene OR

Nov. 12 • 2pm TALK AND BOOK SIGNING • Eugene Public Library, Eugene OR

Dec. 1 • 7-8:30pm • Panel Discussion (and book signing) with Oregon Cartoonists as part of the Oregon Historical Society "Comic City USA" exhibit • Oregon Historical Society, Portland OR

Dec. 10 • 10-6pm • BOOK SIGNING • Author Artists Faire • Lane County Events Center, Eugene OR

If you can't come to one of these events and would like an autographed copy of my new book (or any of my books) find me on Facebook and just send me a message. Then, we'll talk :-)

Comic City USA

On August 14th a cool comics show will be opening at the Oregon Historical Society in downtown Portland.

From the earliest Oregon cartoonists to those of us working in the industry today, Comic City, USA highlights 13 influential comic artists and writers who have helped Oregon become on of the largest centers for comic production in the country. Stone Soup will be included in this show.

We lost Richard Thompson, creator of Cul de Sac, this week. A great light in the cartoon force was extinguished. I will treasure my acquaintance with him, and all his wonderful books.

Mike Peters will be honored with his very own day by the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library in Columbus Ohio, Saturday Nov. 12 (Their website still says Nov. 5 but they told me they've changed it...) The exhibit of his work will run through March 12, 2017. Mike is an AMAZING cartoonist and hysterically funny guy, so if you ever get the chance to hear him speak, DO IT.

Finally, my newest book is shipping to retailers as we speak. Officially it's an August 1 release. If you can't order it yet, you can pre-order it and it will come to you very soon. I hope you like it! It's a good one.

Happy Summer to all! ---Jan

Summer!

I love summer. I love writing Stone Soup strips about summer. I can get lost in Alix's undersea world and forget about politics and shootings and all the other miserable things that happen in the real world.

Over Memorial Day I attended the National Cartoonists Society Annual Reuben Awards and since it was held in Memphis this year I visited Graceland. A strange, wonderful place.

I was lucky enough to spend time with my cartoon pals Lynn Johnston (whose wonderful friend Paul got us a backstage tour at Sun Studios), Ann Telnaes (political cartoonist), Sandra Bell-Lundy (Between Friends), Jeff Smith (Bone), Jeanne Schultz and many many others, plus I met Eddie Pittman (Red's Planet) and lots of other great folks. Sergio Aragones was among the speakers (as was I) and it was amazing to hear his history with Mad Magazine. Think your life has been rough? Sergio spent his first night in the US on a bench beside New York's East River. A year later he was a regular with Mad. Lots to be admired there.

My new book is hitting the shelves, and it's a good one! If you are ready to add book 11 to your Stone Soup collection, the time has come.

I took the cover image from this strip...

 

Happy summer, all! Make sure you read your funnies every day to balance the more complicated parts of life!

 

New Stone Soup Cartoon collection out soon!

By popular demand, Book 11 will be released in September 2016. Thanks to all the wonderful readers who make these books possible! You can pre-order it online if you like.

After 20 years of daily publication I am enjoying my new once-a-week schedule. I spent 9 weeks back in Cape Town, my home away from home, and I have new creative projects in the works.

If you are missing Stone Soup dailies and want to read it every day, you can start from the beginning here— Stone Soup Classics

Sending love to all my fantastic fans!

You're The Best

 

Everything I Know About The Writing Life I Learned From A Comic Strip

Sheila Bender of Writing It Real interviewed me on KPTZ Radio in Port Townsend, Washington, for their program "In Conversation: Discussions on Writing and the Writing Life." Port Townsend is a hub of creative types and creative activity, just across the sound from Seattle. 

The interview aired this week and is now archived both at KPTZ (go to Podcasts and scroll way down to "In Conversation") and Sheila's website Writing It Real and available for a listen. Sheila was terrific to talk to, and we had a great conversation about my 20+ years of writing Stone Soup, about the writing life in general, about my new incarnation as a Sundays-only cartoonist, about women in cartooning...

You will notice that Sheila also interviewed Ken Doctor, my very first newspaper editor (circa early 80s) when he ran the Willamette Valley Observer. Fun to think how far we've both come from those early early days.

Thanks, Sheila!

Love Stone Soup? Read it again from the beginning!

2015 is rushing to a close. This year I decided to go to Sundays-only publishing of Stone Soup. I know that I disappointed more than a few readers with my decision, but I'm so grateful you are all out there following the strip on Sundays. The story continues!

Meanwhile...remember that you can read the WHOLE SAGA from the beginning on GoComics. What happened to Joan's first husband? When did Wally come onto the scene? How did Gramma end up upstairs? How have they all changed over the last 20 years????

Find out here...

Stone Soup Classics

Yowza, 20 years of Stone Soup today!

Today's the day...Stone Soup is officially 20 years old. 

Universal Press has posted some fun stuff. Links below. 

What my editor has to say about working with me (are we ready for that?)... 

GoComics blog

And some fun free stuff... 

GoComics giveaway

And then they asked me to pick my 20 favorite strips. Out of more than 7000??? Yikes. But these are definitely strips I love.    My Top 20

Thank you all for making it possible! Without my wonderful readers I'm just a cartoonist talking to herself in a small room. You saved me from that!

#gocomics

Stone Soup at 20 years...

On November 20th, 20 years ago, Stone Soup launched as a daily comic strip. Check out GoComics for a celebration of that, some giveaways and blogs posts, at the end of this week.

Very soon after the launch, at a meeting of the National Cartoonist Society, Charles Schulz announced that newspaper comics were doomed, and, in his words, "when we're gone it's over". He was referring to his generation of cartoonists who made their fortunes on the funny pages after World War II.

Having just begun, that was not something I wanted to hear. Not that I believed that the future was rosy. It's not. But despite the dire prediction, I still had a 20 year career. For that I'm extremely grateful… it's been amazing.

Now web comics are flourishing… the desire to create comics doesn't die as venues change. The web provides a nearly infinite canvass for artwork and story. As you all know, one of the things that is killing newspaper funnies is the constant diminishment of their size. Where's the fun in reading them when you can barely read them? You can't really appreciate the artistry of beautiful cartoons like Non Sequitor. The comic strip Zits mostly uses its Sunday space for a single gag rather than a story…more room for the beautiful artwork, but a loss in the character and story development of the strip. Bill Watterson retired Calvin & Hobbes for many reasons, but a big one was space. The lack of it.

I'm working on my next book, #11, and in reviewing the strips that will be included I came across this series. I guess that there was a day when I just had to say something about space as well. (I know it's futile, but still…) I'd forgotten that I included myself in the last strip. Fun to see how I drew me...

Alix's reference to "the Doonesburys" refers to the fact that Garry Trudeau successfully lobbied for a larger imprint in many of his papers.

Well, more space or less space, I've loved my 20 years. I'm so happy to be able to continue on Sunday, and I hope you will all be there.

Stay tooned for my next book, where the strips are printed nice and big, in 2016.

And We Begin Again...

First, to all of you who are so disappointed not to see Stone Soup in your paper today, a big HUG!

I can't tell you how much it has touched me to read your comments, laments, good wishes, sighs, cries and wails. I love you all for your devotion and friendship. Stone Soup would not have been possible without all of you loyal readers.

Starting today, if you want to take my 20-year journey with me all over again, you can begin reading Stone Soup from the beginning on GoComics. You can add Stone Soup Classics to your comics lineup, add it to your MyComics list, read it online each day or in your morning email.

I cringe just a little looking at this old artwork, but I love my roots. Thank you all again.

See you on Sundays!