Tobacco is Whacko (if you're a teen); NYCC 2013; Franks and Beans and more RANDOM NOTES!

We're back with another installment of "Random Notes!", the regular blog feature that cleans off my desktop of pictures and ideas that I feel like sharing with the Internets.  This is a long-running feature, dating all the way back to 1995, when this blog was hosted by GeoCities.  Fun fact: in 1995, it took seven days to upload a picture, and I passed the time in between typing in the cheat code to the original Sim City!  We've come a long way.

- Our first feature, coincidentally, comes from the '90s as well.  It's one of those comic book ads that I'll always remember...and hate.  At first glance, it seems like a perfectly reasonable and well-meaning advertisement, an anti-tobacco message that pushes back against the significant deleterious influence of big corporations.  The slogan rhymes, so why not, right?  But for some reason, the company that produced this ad decided to add the caveat "if you're a teen".  As if to say, "the minute you turn 20, bam!  Off you go to get your smokes."  So, smoking is okay if you're an adult?

That seems like such a cop-out.  Why would an anti-smoking ad qualify its message in this way?  The fine print reveals that it's produced by Lorillard, a TOBACCO COMPANY.  #$&^&*#%@!!!  A little more research reveals that the Lorillard tobacco company is based out of...McMURRAY, PA!  #&@^$&#%@&!!!!

Ridiculous.  These were terrible comic book advertisements that now seem like backhanded ads for the very thing it was supposedly warning against.  This must be like discovering that the Matrix is real.

- In less infuriating news, I recently got approved for a professional badge to the 2013 New York Comic Con!  That's exciting stuff.  It'll be the first time I've been to the show since 2010, when I went in a different capacity.  I believe that the FUBAR booth will be making an appearance on the floor, so look for me to spend a lot of time there.

- The "Man of Steel" movie is just around the corner, and the promotional push is in full swing.  Wal-Mart seems to be a big sponsor (I wonder if Ma Kent will be shown eating Great Value cereal?) as there's Superman-related merchandise littered throughout the stores.  Among the strangest tie-ins I've seen: Superman pizza!  I guess it's not exactly called "Superman Pizza", but what else would you say when asked to describe this item?  The pepperoni should be dyed red, blue and yellow.

- I've never been drawn to digital comics; I have nothing against them, I just prefer the archaic paper comics that I've always read.  But Brian K. Vaughan and Marcos Martin's "The Private Eye" pulled me in.  I'm a big fan of both creators and this digital comic does not fail to deliver.  It's a fantastic futuristic thriller and I couldn't recommend it more.  If you haven't read this yet, do yourself a favor at go to http://panelsyndicate.com.  I can't wait for the third issue to be released.

- A little while ago, I showed pictures of the Sideshow Tick statue that I bought.  I stumbled upon this image fairly at random recently, and it's obvious that it's a design for the statue.  Really cool!

- Last night, "Weird Al" Yankovic came to Washington, PA, on the newest leg of the Alpocalypse tour. It was a great show!  And it allowed me the chance to debut the newest shirt in the line, as modeled by Larry:

How nice!  The art on this shirt is by Pietro, and I got them printed up at Commonwealth Press in Pittsburgh.  We got a number of compliments on the shirt at the show.  I'm planning on doing a little website renovation over the next few weeks, and part of that will be, I think, opening up an Etsy shop for items that don't necessarily belong in the Teddy and the Yeti camp.

- Speaking of Larry, he's doing a lot of great things with his hobby/obsession, the Dukes of Hazzard.  Last week, I drove out with him past Columbus, Ohio to pick up a door to a '69 Charger General Lee!  If you haven't looked at his blog lately, make sure you check it out before he becomes all famous and people just think you're a bandwagon fan: http://dukescollector.blogspot.com

- I'm a fan of Beast Wars: Transformers.  And if you've ever seen the show, then you are, too.  Here's a great image!  From Twitter!  From Beast Wars Megatron!  You should follow this on Twitter: https://twitter.com/BWMegatron



- Lastly, here's the newest episode of Franks and Beans, in which I grow a beard and Larry and I talk about stuff.  It's episode 60: the Joke!

That's it for this installment of "Random Notes", sure to live on into the 22nd century, passed on from generation to generation like a precious family heirloom.

Commonwealth Press in Pittsburgh

I've written a few posts about the shirts I'd put together with the intention of taking to the San Diego Comic-Con.  Now that I've gotten all four designs finished and printed, I suppose it's time to talk about the experience I had with Commonwealth Press, a small shop on the South Side of Pittsburgh.

Before working on the four shirt designs for the show, I didn't (and still don't) have a lot of experience dealing with printers.  I wanted to work with a local printer, so I went around to a few different stores before settling on Commonwealth.  The other shops didn't seem to have the equipment or the know-how; if I wanted to get a little league shirt printed, the other stores would have been fine, but it didn't seem like many had a solid grasp on screen printing.  A friend of mine had shirts printed at Commonwealth in the past, and she recommended them, and that was pretty much it for the decision making process.

The shop itself goes for a trendy, "indy" feel, and I think it succeeds in that.  If you know anything about the South Side of Pittsburgh, you know that it definitely caters to a younger demographic, and also alcoholics.

Most of the shirts that Commonwealth Press prints seem to be sports related, and I suppose that serves them well.  I saw lots of prints related to the Steelers and Penguins, but since it is baseball season and the Pirates are, inexplicably, good, there were a whole lot of just-this-side-of-legal shirts with a Pirates theme, including the mega-popular "Zoltan" shirt, which is, also inexplicably, a reference to the movie "Dude, Where's My Car?".

They also have a pretty cool Dark Knight Rises shirt that I'm sure will pick up steam in the next few weeks.

I found that the people working at Commonwealth Press were skilled and knowledgable, which is, of course, what you look for when you're trying to get shirts printed.  And the end product results, as I'll show below, were very well done, so overall I'm pleased with the job that was done.  There were, though, a few frustrating instances that made me realize that Commonwealth Press is still in its infancy as a company.

On one occasion, I drove to the store on East Carson Street only to find it closed, even though it was within the hours of operation posted on CWP's website.  This was extremely annoying, because I drove into Pittsburgh, sat in mind-numbing traffic (there was a Pirates game that day, and people now apparently attend those again), and had to turn around a drive right back with blank shirts still in my car.  On another, I called ahead to make sure I could pick up a completed order, and was assured that they would be at the store.  When I got there, though, the shirts were nowhere to be found.  I ended up having to drive with an employee (who was very nice and helpful, by the way) to a warehouse to search for the mystery box, which we eventually found.

Overall, I'd say that this was a positive experience despite the few hiccups that occurred.  As I said, the most crucial part of all this was the end results, and I couldn't be happier with them.  This has a lot to do, naturally, with the blank shirts I bought from Next Level Apparel, which are very well made (soft, too!), as well as the initial artwork that was done by such talents as Duane Redhead and Leonardo Pietro.  Beyond that, though, the quality of work done on the actual printing was top notch, with the colors coming through exactly how I had hoped.  See for yourself!

My initial order was for three designs, but I was able to sneak in the last minute addition of Adrian "Bago" Gonzalez's Yeti artwork to round the group out with four great designs.

And people love 'em!  Just look at this happy customer:

Wow!  Great.

The question comes down to this: would I use Commonwealth Press again for future printing, and would I recommend them to friends looking to print shirts of their own?  The answer to both is "yes", with a little note of caution attached.  It seemed pretty obvious to me that the guys there still had some things to figure out - maybe not from the perspective of skill or talent, but in regards to running a standard "9 to 5" business.

You can visit Commonwealth Press online here: http://www.cwpress.com/
Or, if you're ever in Pittsburgh (and why shouldn't you be?), you can check out the store at 1931 East Carson Street.

Look for these shirts at Comic-Con, which starts in...holy crap, like two days!  Woo!

Comic-Con shirts from Wagon Wheel Comics!

At the risk of sounding like a broken record (does that metaphor still work?), preparing for Comic-Con is not for the weak of heart.  I've still got lots to do, but I'm starting to whittle down (does that metaphor still work??) the projects I've got to complete for the show that starts on July 11th.

I'm happy to say that one such project that is nearing completion is the long-planned t-shirt barrage.  I always thought that it would be fun to make up some shirts, and comic conventions seem to be the place to have them on hand.  The images you see on this post will soon adorn shirts (ready to buy, even!) at Comic-Con this year, thanks to the folks at Commonwealth Press in Pittsburgh.

The first image has been seen before - it's a Yeti-in-the-style-of-the-Thing shirt with art by Duane Redhead!  It's looking great, I think.

Next up we have an image by Leonardo Pietro!  It's...a fish.  But is it just a fish?  Oh no.  I considered for quite a while putting text on this shirt that gives the wordplay joke away...but in the end, I left it as just an image.  Who gets it?  Anyone?  I hope it's not too obtuse.  I hope that I don't have to explain it to everyone who looks at it at Comic-Con.  Any guesses?

Our next shirt is a little bit crude...but I couldn't resist it.  This was the first idea for a shirt that I ever had, and to see it on a shirt will be pretty fulfilling, even if I don't know that I would ever actually wear a shirt that is a play on words referring to, well, boobs.  But you, brave and ironic reader, you just might.

This design was made by Lisa and Vincent over at TeeMinus24.  They're local creators who make lots of shirts themselves!  Check out their site at http://teeminus24.com/.

Our last image isn't on a shirt mockup just yet, and that's because I don't have the blank shirts in for this one.  I'll be pushing it in trying to get this on a shirt for Comic-Con, but I think that I'll have just enough time!  I sure hope so, because this is a really spectacular image drawn by Adrian "Bago" Gonzalez (artist on the "Accordion Theory" comic strip).  So yes, I will have two Teddy and the Yeti-themed shirts for Comic-Con.  Gotta support the brand!  You may be wondering why the Yeti gets all the love and Ted doesn't have a shirt for himself.  The answer to that question is simply that I don't have any good ideas for a Ted shirt just yet.  We'll see.

All of the shirts for these are coming from Next Level Apparel, a California-based supplier.  Everyone I've dealt with from Next Level has been extremely helpful and easy to deal with.  Their shirts are top-notch, too!  They're all really soft and of good quality.  Once I get the finished shirts in (the first wave should be in next week, hopefully), I'll take pictures and post them up.  If you're at Comic-Con, check out the Wagon Wheel Comics booth in the small press section, row Q, table 11!  We'll have lots of things on display, now including shirts!