San Diego kicked ass.

But what else could I have been expecting?

Cons are always like big extended family reunions, but this year in particular because I got to catch up with Joe, Mindy, James Sime, Jamesnotjamessime, Kirsten, Ian, Jared, Josh, et al. I love and miss you guys.

The only thing that kinda sucked was that I didn't get to walk the con as much as I usually do, so I didn't get to stop by everyone's booth to really say hello.

Ok, ok, here are the pictures...

My dad, Jeff Amano, with artist Craig Rousseau.

Jim Mahfood of 40 Oz. Comics and kick-ass live art-party fame.

Mark Sable, writer of GROUNDED (do I really need to tell you guys AGAIN that you need to get this book?).

Dave Crosland, who is totally whipped, but by the coolest girl ever -- so it's all good. ;)

My dad with Jimmy the Greek of Image Comics.

With Mark Sable, who I am stalking:



Napoleon Dynamite, bitches!

My dad and stepmom, Claire, with one of the Bendis Board-provided "I love Jeff Amano" tank tops.

Dad with Ivan Brandon, writer of NYC Mech and the upcoming Cross Bronx.

With Jose, Dave, and Gareb at the Hyatt bar, Redfield's.

My brother, Brandon, with David Mack.

The Mahfood skirt

Dad and David

THE LIVE ART PARTY - Saturday night at the Beehive

GROUNDED out July 20th

So a bit of a delay, but never fear -- you will all get to go buy it soon enough. =)

And some good news: the AMAZING JOY BUZZARDS trade paperback is out today! Wahoo! So go buy the AJB trade - and while you're at the shop, check to make sure the retailer is going to reserve a copy of GROUNDED for ya!

GROUNDED OUT THIS WEEK!!!

For those of you who have been living under a rock for the past six months and thus did not know to pre-order GROUNDED, make sure you pick it up this week at your local comic shop. (Don't forget the holiday pushed new comic day to Thursday instead of Wednesday.)

GROUNDED, the hottest new book from Image Comics, is a miniseries written by Mark Sable, and with art by Paul Azaceta. I've already seen the first issue (but without the sure-to-be-awesome lettering by Kristyn Ferretti), and even without the dialogue, it rocks. The colors, done by Nick Filardi, are simply amazing. Plus, it's got a cover by none other than Mike Fucking Oeming. I mean, come on -- how can you not just go buy ten copies? It's just a great book all around, so everyone should pick it up on Thursday and then add the rest of the series to their pull lists.



Read the GROUNDED article in The Pulse here.

Read The Fourth Rail's rave review here.

Read the GROUNDED article on Newsarama here.


AND CHECK OUT THE GROUNDED MESSAGEBOARD!

myspace.com

what craziness. so many people told me i should join that i finally did yesterday and i filled out all the personal info stuff while my dad was getting the 4th of july stuff ready... and damn, it's amazing who you find and who finds you. people i haven't talked to since ninth grade to people i just went out with monday night are all on there.

it's good because i think i'm starting to get depressed from being in dallas -- but at the same time i'm happy to see the people i've been hanging out with here. i don't know... i guess i'm in culture shock still after leaving san francisco. part of me wants to just stay out on my dad's deck by the lake forever and read and listen to music (currently: The Secret Lives of U.S. First Ladies and Juliana Hatfield, respectively), and part of me wants to leave for new york now, and part of me wants to just go back to my apartment in san francisco and watch the fights break out in front of L.A. Gals across the street.

it'll be nice to go to san diego next week.

i left my heart in san francisco...

Joe, James, & Nora
(jimmyboy - i hope albuquerque is treating you well)

Josh Richardson
(i'll keep up with you 'in the trenches')

Pepper & Sean
(you guys are so adorable - i wish the picture was just of you two)

Mel-Mel
(every heartbeat bears your name... hahaha)

James Sime
(i'll be looking for a guy with tall hair, a zoot suit, and a briefcase in san diego)

Joe, Sean, & Josh
(i just realized i might never see your drunken streetfights again... *sigh*...)

Reuben, Mary, & Pepper
(god, mary, who am i going to listen to indie music with now? who will i smoke with? this is so depressing.)

Joe
(don't worry about it, it's totally cool - we'll see each other in san diego... no actually, this sucks because then i won't see you again for a long time. dammit.)

Brian
(i don't know what to say here... i can't imagine my life without you being some part of it. come visit me in nyc and i'll take you to joe's pizzeria!)

Mindy
(defend comics, baby. and don't forget me, or that for a brief but glorious moment, i was an isotope grrrl right with ya!)

Josh, Danger Bob, et al...
(what can i say? my tope buddies, drinking buddies, dancing buddies... if i make it to wondercon or ape next year, we are all going drinking and dancing until dawn.)


i miss you guys every day.

much love,
kat

my favorite comics

since blogger doesn't have a "what are your favorite comic books?" question in the profile, i'll just list *some* of my favorites here...

100 bullets
bone
sin city
ronin hood
fade from grace
hero camp
stray bullets
grounded
powers
amazing joy buzzards
grrl scouts
nyc mech
strange girl
street angel
girls
batman: year one
queen and country
walking dead
invincible
strangers in paradise
dark night returns
y: the last man
stupid comics
ruule
ex machina
teenagers from mars

...and pretty much anything by seth (it's a good life if you don't weaken), marjane satrapi (persepolis, poulet aux prunes), joe sacco (palestine, safe area: goradze), paul pope (heavy liquid, 100%), art spiegelman (maus, in the shadow of no towers), and craig thompson (blankets, goodbye, chunky rice).

and a lot, lot more.