'LIES' roundup + upcoming September events!

September has been very hectic, so I’ll catch up— here’s a little more praise for my adaptation of James Loewen’s Lies My Teacher Told Me (available everywhere from The New Press, distributed by Ingram and Diamond— please ask your comics shop or bookstore to order some!):

I’m back from a whirlwind trip to SPX, in which I sold out of both new books and sold all remaining copies of the now-very-out-of-print Come Again within two hours. A highlight was getting to meet and share a panel discussion with the talented & haunting cartoonist Laura Perez— I highly recommend her books Ocultos and Totem from Fantagraphics!

I’ll be doing several events in the next two weeks:

  • This Sunday, September 22nd at 3pm ET, I’ll be on a virtual panel for Brooklyn Book Festival titled “The Sounds of Subversion,” discussing Fall Through alongside Bianca Xunise (Punk Rock Karaoke), Walter Greason & Tim Fielder (Graphic History of Hip Hop), moderated by Whit Taylor! Register here at the link.

  • I’ll be back in Little Rock, AR for the Six Bridges Book Festival on September 26th, discussing my two new books Fall Through and Lies My Teacher Told Me in a joint author interview with illustrator Sally Nixon, moderated by Omaya Jones. It’ll be at Ron Robinson Theater (100 River Market Ave.) at 7:30pm, with a signing to follow. Register at the above link— See you there!

  • I’ll be returning to the beloved Cartoon Crossroads Columbus this year as a special guest— selling my usual jams at table 47 all weekend.

    Panels & special signings:

    Saturday 3:30-4:30pm: “Processing Our Modern World Through Comics and Activism” panel w/ Ben Passmore and Cole Pauls (moderated by Rob Lee), 1st floor auditorium.

    Sunday 2:00-3:00pm: “Nonfiction Comics & History: Youth Explosion” panel w/ Derf Backderf and Chris Oliveros (moderated by Andy Kunka), Room 1A on the first floor.

    Sunday 3:00-3:30pm: I’ll be signing at the official CXC signing tables (107-108), then back to my booth for the rest of the afternoon.

That’s all for now— much more brewing behind the scenes, and many more events throughout the fall here. See you out in comicsland!

Soophie Nun Squad's unreleased 1993 demo now available digitally!

Behold, perhaps the last remaining still-unheard recordings by Soophie Nun Squad: our very first “real” session for an August 1993 demo tape, recorded on 4-track by Joe Cole at his house! It’s free/pay-what-you-want at my Harlan Records archive on Bandcamp.

Why was it unreleased? Because only one of our two vocalists is on the recording: the previous night, we played our third show ever (and track 7 is live from a VHS recording of that show) and I got in trouble for coming home super-late at night. I had just turned 15 years old. My parents found out I was gonna skip out on a trip to Hot Springs with a friend in order to record the demo, and being suspicious of our punk band's activities, threatened to ground me if I still chose to record. Should I have just skated away and gotten in more trouble? YES. But I didn't. So I missed the sesh.

Anyway, this recording features only Mike Lierly, Mark Lierly, Eli Milholland, and Dustin Clark, plus some bonus verbage by Corey, known in Little Rock's hip hop future as 9th Scientist. This demo shows some of the often-lost early musical influences on Soophie: "PJ Sod" distinctively drawing from Downcast, and "Paula" being an explicit nod to Chino Horde, with a kinship to Moss Icon as well.

Unused cover art by Mike Lierly, who also made up the undiscussed demo title in real time while drawing! This was only a couple of months after we self-published our first five comic books. All of this was happening at the same time!

'FALL THROUGH' featured in New York Times + weekly roundup

It’s great to see a write-up of Fall Through in this week’s New York Times, in which it’s referred to as “devastating and gorgeous”— the print edition will be published on the 18th!

Also from this week: a Fall Through video review from Graphic Policy, a very thoughtful piece about the book from Matthew Teutsch via Medium, a write-up of my book release talk at Indiana Daily Student, and an interview about the book at Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s Northwest edition.

Thanks for supporting my work— and I have yet another new book coming out April 16th from The New Press: my full comics adaptation of James Loewen’s Lies My Teacher Told Me. Final copies just arrived at my house, and they look fantastic!

I’ll be doing talks, signings, and slangin books here in the next week or so:

Feb. 17th: Indianapolis IN @ Chapstick Zine Fest, Ujamaa Bookstore (2424 MLK) @11am-5pm

Feb. 18th: Bloomington IN @ Monroe County Public Library, downstairs Room 1B @ 2pm

Feb. 22nd: St. Louis MO @ Left Bank Books (399 N. Euclid), in conversation with Steenz @ 6:30pm

Feb. 23rd: Little Rock AR @ Wordsworth Books (5920 R St.) @ 6:30pm

Feb. 24th: Fayetteville AR @ Fayetteville Public Library @ 2pm

Feb. 25th: Evansville IN @ Your Brother’s Bookstore (504 Main St.) @ 4pm

See you there!

Lynd Ward, the invention of the graphic novel, Five-O & 'FALL THROUGH'

Here’s a little dive into imagery throughout Fall Through (out next Tuesday!):

A major reference point that binds Fall Through is the stellar work of Lynd Ward, who arguably invented the graphic novel in 1929 (four years before the invention of the comic book!).

His expressionist visions strike me on a primal level, and the haunted looks of Diana & showgoers as they experience transcendent moments of gravity are a direct nod to a panel in Madman’s Drum (1930).

Diamond Mine’s interdimensional skips are indicated by the falling star in Song Without Words (1936).

In a profound coincidence, years ago I realized that the artwork used for Little Rock band Five-O’s “Fall Through” 7” was Lynd Ward’s work from both Madman’s Drum and Wild Pilgrimage (1932).

February events for FALL THROUGH

Fall Through will be released everywhere on February 6th, and here’s my first round of kickoff events in the midwest & mid-South:

Feb. 9: Bloomington IN— talk & signing @ Morgenstern’s Books, 6:30pm

Feb. 17: Indianapolis IN— tabling at Chapstick Zine Fest, 11am-5pm

Feb. 18: Bloomington IN— discussion & signing w/ “Coffee With Friends” @ Monroe County Public Library, Rooms 1B-1C, 2pm

Feb. 22: St. Louis MO— talk & signing @ Left Bank Books, 6:30pm

Feb. 23: Little Rock AR— talk & signing @ Wordsworth Books, 6:30pm

Feb. 24: Fayetteville AR— talk & signing @ Fayetteville Public Library Community Room, 2pm

Feb. 25: Evansville IN— talk & signing @ Your Brother’s Bookstore, 6:30pm

You can also order signed/sketched copies of Fall Through (and all my books) directly from me here— and you’ll get your copies of Fall Through before its release date. I also suggest ordering a copy of Come Again if you haven’t read it yet— it’s interconnected with my new book and features the debut of our protagonists!

More dates as they roll in. Thanks for your support!