Warehouse Find!

Not really, but I was going through my closet and found some old stock of my comix. If you're interested, I have the following issues for sale. Add 50 cents for postage.

Postal b/w I Yam What I Yam (3 copies) - $3

Candy or Medicine - $1 each

Vol 4 (3 copies)

Vol 5 (3 copies)

Vol 8 (1 copy)

Vol 9 (1 copy)

To order, email me at joshblair83 (at) gmail (dot) com

See you again in a year???

lunarcy II - COMING SOON!

Six years in the making! The follow up to the smash hit lunarcy, lunarcy II features 16 pages of our lone existential satellite. Coming first quarter 2017. Only $1! Don't miss it.

Volume 17 Out Now

Candy or Medicine Vol. 17 is out now! This issue features "The Training Beard" by Bobby Mono, "Pizza Bill" by Jon Light, some lesser known awareness organizations by M Young, "Dungeon Dudes" by Buttersword, "Waltz No. 7" by Harry Nordlinger and front and back covers by Willard Herman. Good stuff all around.

You can order on the Candy or Medicine Etsy page or click the Paypal button below to order. Sixteen pages for $1.50 shipped.

Mini-Comic a Month Challenge for June 2011: The Adventures of Apple and Banana and Let's Be Happy No. 2

The Adventures of Apple and Banana
by Sassy Spinster
Sixteen half-sized pages
Price: $1 plus shipping

Let's Be Happy Issue #2
by Sassy Spinster
Sixteen half-sized pages
Price: $1 plus shipping

Available here

So we've reached the half way point of the 2011 Mini-Comic a Month Challenge. I'm glad I've kept up with it and I'm looking forward to the second half of the year. So far, I've read some great comics. Anyway, this time we have two by Sassy Spinster: The Adventures of Apple and Banana and Let's Be Happy Issue #2.

The Adventures of Apple and Banana is about, you guessed it, the adventures of an apple and a banana. It's a compilation stories about run ins with rocks, worms, gorillas and fun houses plus the circle of life for an apple. A quick, fun read. If you're a fan of Minty Lewis, you will like this comic.

Let's Be Happy is a compilation of eight of Sassy's previously published comics. Topics range from swimming, anthropomorphic food, urban myths and creative impotence. Another quick, fun comic. I'm looking forward to reading more of these.

News and Notes, March Edition

March was a busy month. Here's what went down:

• You can preorder HIVE FIVE, featuring Noah Van Sciver, Ed Choy Moorman and yours truly.
• The Onion's AV Club interviews Noah Van Sciver. You can also order Blammo #7, which is really great, by the way. Here's a review.

• Daniel Olson was featured in a Bleeding Cool article about C2E2.
• Josh Blair/Candy or Medicine featuring in a Liberal Ohian article about SPACE.
• Katie Omberg offers her SPACE recap.
• Kyle Nolan has a new comic out and it's pretty rad.

• Candy or Medicine Vol. 11 is reviewed in another SPACE recap.
• Tori Holder now has her debut comic for sale.

Greetings from Cartoonia

This is a little late coming (considering the book came out in October), but Justin Giampaoli's review at Poopsheet prompted me to finally post about Greetings from Cartoonia.Published by Stripburger, the excellent comic anthology magazine based out of Slovenia, Greetings from Cartoonia brings together artists from all across Europe to create a new land, based upon cartoons, dubbed Cartoonia.

The editors of Stripburger/Cartoonia were nice enough to ask me to proofread all of the text for the book. It came about because Domen Finzgar, a Candy or Medicine contributor/friend, asked me to edit one of his comics that he translated into English. Domen is now a part of the Cartoonia team and must have put in a good word for me. It was a fun project and I was glad to be a part of it. I saw all of the artwork before it saw print, minus one comic, the awesome cover by Jure Englsberger and the fold-out map. It cool to see the finished project after seeing all of the individual pieces. The editors were also nice enough to send me a bunch of Cartoonia books as payment:

I'm not very good at writing reviews, so I suggest you read Justin's take on it. But make sure to read the comments (including my own) to get the full picture. It's translated to English, but still meant for an audience where English is their second or third language. I didn't translate the text, but in proofreading it, I decided to keep some of the colloquialisms. I'd highly recommend this book and all of the other Stripburger comics and books. There are a lot of great European artists that we never see much of (or at all) stateside.

There was also a traveling exhibit associated with the book. You can order the book through Stripburger's Web site and through Top Shelf Comix.

Free Comic Book Day 2010

It's not often I accomplish a task way before deadline, but this past Sunday, I picked up 500 copies of the Candy or Medicine Free Comic Book Day Special in anticipation of the May 1 event. I've celebrated Free Comic Book Day the past two years with free all-new, exclusive-content Candy or Medicine issues/PDFs, and this year is no exception. The only thing I'm doing different this year is 1) printing about 200 fewer copies and 2) distributing them to fewer stores. The reason being, of course, finances. I'd love to print a million of these and have them in every comic book/record/zine store in the world, but I can't. So I've decided to ship them to a few select stores that either a) already stock Candy or Medicine, b) are mini-comic friendly or c) are local to me.

Of course, if people want a copy, and they don't live near one of the listed stores, all they have to do is send me an e-mail and I'll drop one in the mail or they can download the PDF when it's available on May 1. Currently, the FCBD Special will be available at the following stores (about 10 more to come): Chicago Comics, Zanadu Comics (Seattle), Jim Hanley's Universe (New York City), Meltdown Comics (Los Angeles) and Clifton Comics (Cincinnati).

Here are the details of the comic: "Candy or Medicine presents its third annual Free Comic Book Day Special. All new, all ages, exclusive content for zero dollars. Featuring a cover by Indonesian artist Fami Faminas, a tired ghost by Josh Blair, punk rock/shark/tornado madness by Patt Kelley, a silent comic by Slovenian artist Domen Finzgar and two pages by the all-knowing Tyler Stafford."

I'm not one to brag, but every page of this comic is spot on. I'm really happy with the was this issue turned out, and I know everyone will enjoy it. It features the same quality of every Candy or Medicine issue (printed on nice paper). The only difference is that it's eight pages and, more importantly, it's free. 

Plus it features the coolest contributors page you've probably ever seen, courtesy of Tyler Stafford.

Alison Bechdel Makes Me Feel Stupid

I finished reading Alison Bechdel’s “Fun Home” the other day and I really enjoyed it. However, I noticed something stupefying while reading it – there was a plethora of words with which I am unfamiliar. Out of the 217 pages of story, there were 121 words I did not know. That comes out to about one word every 1 and ¾ pages.

Just for reference, I have a bachelor’s and master’s degree in journalism, so I have a pretty good understanding of the English language and I like to think my vocabulary is above average. But it is shocking to realize the amount of words in the book unfamiliar to me. Always having a thirst for knowledge, I decided to write down every unfamiliar word or phrase so I will no longer be dumbfounded upon reading them and so they might enter into my vocabulary.

To be fair: 1.) I put asterisks next to words that I’ve heard before, of which I think I know the definition but wanted to make sure or know the word or root word but am unfamiliar with its usage in this book; 2.) Some are proper nouns, such as characters from Greek mythology, which I’ve never studied, or types of furniture or home furnishings; and 3.) According to her Wikipedia page, Bechdel served, or at least was invited to serve, on the American Heritage Dictionary’s usage panel in 2006. So it can be argued that she has a vocabulary far superior than most of the English-speaking population. (She still makes me feel stupid.)

The list (sorry about the weird spacing):

Artificer Monomaniacal* Demur* Gilt Cornice* Legerdemain Daedalus Libidinal Scabrous Bargeboard Girandoles Hepplewhite Aesthete* Incipient* Simulacrum Chippendale Buss Pervasively* Suffusion Finial Consummate* Aplomb Obelisk Provincialism Urbane Luxuriant Vitalis Grimmsian Cook stove Evocative* Bactericidal Dessicated Existentialist* Gallic Aspersions* Doleful Edifying* Noblesse Chaste* Heady Tremulous

Tenuous Redolent Ardently Efflorescence* Twining Fecundity Sinew* Prestidigitation Demiglace Milieu Lexicographical* Succor* Cartilaginous Transposition* Post lapsarian Vexingly* Archetype* Nonduality* Lissome Maudlin Idolatrous* Crepuscular Precipitate* Hadrian Berm Rapt* Festoon* Stopgap Bathetic Solipsistic Autodidact Autocide* Mori Epistemological Gossamer* Onerous* Circumflex* Cursory Synchronicity* Juxtaposition* Protracted*

Elliptic* Moussaka Unencumbered* Martyrology* Incontrovertible* Overwrought* Lacunae Sanctimonious* Sauntered Reading gaol Repudiation Basest All-pervasive* Beatific Histrionic Orgiastically Tautology Cognitive dissonance* Archetypal* Selfsame Enumerate* Divagations Ministrations Anaphrodisiac Trepidation* Procuress Scylla Charybdis Triumphal* Joist* Solemnity* Libertine Derision* Equivocal* Predilection* Obtunding Beseeching* Renunciatory Consubstantial

Matt Feazell Convention Appearances

Matt Feazell, whose sketches appeared in Candy or Medicine Vol. 2, will be at the following comic conventions:

March 29

INTER-FAN JAM
Portage, IN
www.inter-fan.org/Interfan2

April 6

GEM CITY COMIC CON
Wright State University
Dayton, Ohio
www.gemcitycomiccon.com

May 16–18

MOTOR CITY COMIC CON
Novi, MI
www.motorcityconventions.com

Update from Kel Winser, cover artist for Vol. 3

Hi, there. My name is Kel and I drew the cover of Candy or Medicine Volume 3, due out April 15. I thought I'd stop by and let you all know a thing or two about what I do and where you can see it! I run a little comics organization called Linoleum Press (www.linoleumpress.com) where we (that's my cohort Rich Lillie and I) make little nuggets of comics goodness and post it on the site. You will find our portfolios with lots of great images for your eyes to drool at, online comic jams and information about our live comic jam events. The live events obviously only happen in the UK at the moment but we are looking into that! You can see pictures on the Web site though!

However, the online comic jam is open world wide and welcomes contributors from all over. The are
two plot lines currently running and feature some of the best UK small-press comics artists currently
running around the convention circuit here in the UK. Please go there, even if you draw a little, and
contribute the next panel in the ongoing adventures. All e-mailing details are on the site.

My own stuff is mostly slice-of-life or semi-autobiographical stories but I have also created a superhero
strip 'Jeff Legend' and his adventures can be read on Linoleum Press as well as on my blog
messyfingers.blogspot.com along with any art I may be creating at the time, please stop by and take a
look -  and don't forget to bookmark! Alternatively, become my friend on Myspace
(www.myspace.com/idrawcomics) and get all the updates there!

One of my goals in life is to become an educator in the field of comics storytelling and cartooning. I
currently work in a high school as an Art Technician and I teach comics at after-school clubs. I am
planning to go into Art and Design teaching in September 2008, but continue to create and draw
comics as my own method of communicating my dreams, fears and anxieties.

Thanks for reading and enjoying my stuff. See you in the funnies! 

Candy or Medicine blog now online

This blog will have regular updates about Candy or Medicine and its future and past contributors.

Candy or Medicine Volume Three will be out April 15. It will feature nine contributors from three countries and five states. The final contributor list is: Kostis Tzortzakakis, Dan Taylor, Kel Winser, Eric Meyers, Curtis Noel and Erik Dauplaise, Russ Walton, Molly Mullen and Colin Tedford. It will be 20 pages, black and white, quarter-sized (4.25" W X 5.5" H) and still only $1 (plus postage).

A preview and the cover will be posted soon. For more information, visit www.candyormedicine.com.