Possum Press

Last summer Possum Press studios acquired a 1 1/2 inch button maker.   (So what is one supposed to do with a button maker you ask?……………)  Make buttons!!

Collect all 2!!  (There’s sure to be many more on the way soon!)

*Buttons are for sale at conventions only, at the moment.

Sergio Aragones at Wondercon 2010

Issue #5, page 1…….

Here’s a look deep into the bowels of the Possum Press studio.  Like the great tombs in ancient egypt, or the incredible catacombs in Rome, for those brave enough to explore the dark, enless pathways, a treasure awaits the few who make it to the end. 

And here it is…….. all the Possum comics one could imagine!  Behold, issues 1 through 4, all neatly boxed by Lebonfon printers.  It’s like printing your own money……. (at least that’s what I keep telling my wife.

Get your very own Possum comics here.

Here’s some photos from The Word on the Street Festival, that took place a couple weekends ago.  This is always a fun festival to exhibit at, because there are so many young kids that wouldn’t attend a comic convention, because their parents aren’t necessarily the type of people who would bring their kids to a comic convention (ie. nerds).  It’s always an entirely different crowd which is good, and it shows by the number of issue #1′s that were sold, compared to the most recent issue #4′s. (which means there are a lot more new Possum readers out there now)…….. which may or may not be a good thing for society as a whole:)

There’s Mike hard at work in the background

Mike Kitchen’s Spy Guy stand up! (above)  The stand ups were a big hit again, as we saw lots of kids getting their pictures taken with them, and even pretending to beat them up.  Most kids couldn’t walk by without stopping to take a look:) 

And now some sketches:

I must say, the view at this festival is much more relaxing than your average comic convention.

Terry Lenko informed me of this, this morning.  (Thanks Terry)

Possum Press and Ultraist Studios were in attendance at this year’s Word on the Street Festival in Toronto last Sunday, and the Spy Guy and Possum comics were a big hit.  (proof is below).

The caption below the picture reads: “Dante Petitti reads amid festival-goers at The Word on The Street literary festival, held in and around Queen’s Park. He was reading a comic called The Possum, by Blair Kitchen. This is the festival’s 20th year.”

The article is short, and is about digital books, but Terry Green’s comments in the last paragraph echo my thoughts on where digital fits in next to paper in the whole digital publishing debate.  Click here for the article on the Metro website.

There is nothing like the smell of a newsprint comic book, and the feel of it as you turn the pages, as all of your senses are engaged in the reading experience.  With paper, you can get close and study every detail on the page as you sit comfortabley in bed, on the couch, or in the grass at a book fair.  It feels more intimate and is a warmer experience to me.  I can’t explain it exactly, and maybe it’s just because it invokes memories from my childhood, but nothing can replace paper comics.  Digital comics are great for getting your stories and artwork circulated to as many people as possible, and peeking the interest of your readers, but it just doesn’t replace paper.  

I’ll be posting some photos from The Word on the Street Festival soon. 

UPDATE:  Chuck Palahniuk is asked about digital vs. paper here.  I like his answer.

Another Fan Expo has come and gone, marking the third complete year that Mike and myself have been attending conventions with our comics (our 4th Fan Expo).  Our table is looking a lot fuller, than 2006, when we had 3 issues printed between the two of us, and we are starting to see some momentum building over the last 3 years.  Here’s a few photos of us hard at work. 

Me sketching

Me not sketching

Mike hard at work

And now some of the sketches:

What happens in the first minute, when The Possum fills in for a vacationing Spider-man?

And now an endorsement from the Joker and Scarecrow:

See you at Word on the Street!

That says it all.

See you at the Fan Expo!, or if you won’t be there, be patient and I’ll have them up for sale at the Possum Press store as soon as I can.

Possum #4 Power Bar:

This weekend I inked the final panel of Possum #4!!  All 24 pages of the actual story are inked, which leaves me with the cover to finish, photoshop grey tones on the last 20 or so pages of comic, as well as a couple Captain Smith and Broccoli boy strips left to draw…….. (I was feeling pretty good with myself, until I typed that last sentence and realized how much work I still have to do).  Still, it’s a big weight off of my shoulders to have the actual comic drawn. 

I have to ship everything to the printers by mid July, so it leaves me with about a month to finish everything else which would be lots of time if I wasn’t working multiple jobs and didn’t have a family:)  Oh, well…. gut check time!!!  I’ll give you a sneak peak of the cover when it’s finished.

OTHER NEWS:  I noticed that the fine folks at Feathertale have their latest magazine up for sale on their website (issue #4), which has in it a 7 page Possum comic by yours truly (see previous post).  If you are interested in ordering one from them, you can do so here!

Last weekend, I attended the launch party for the release of the Feathertale Review #4 and came home with a small box of these! (see photos below).  The Feathertale Review is a magazine released annually (soon to be 2 times a year), and is put together by Brett Popplewell and Lee H. Wilson.  It includes art, poetry, and short stories by over 50 writers and artists.  (Each issue also has a 7 page comic section, which is where I was lucky enough to end up).  The Review is just over 60 pages in total, and is squarebound and printed on a nice classy thick paper stock.

Cover by Oleg Portnoy

I’ve got a stack of about 30 magazines that I will have with me at this year’s Fan Expo to sell ($10 each).   (I’ll also have Possum #4 ready by then as well….. God willing!!)

Back in November 2007, My brother Mike and I were flown down to LA, to be part of ‘Hero Con” – a fake comic convention for the “Superhero Movie”, which was released in 2008.  The Possum Press archives finally obtained a copy of the movie, after unsuccessfully waiting more than half a year to find it in a bargain bin for under 5 dollars.  Instead I broke down and ordered it used off of Amazon for 8 bucks (which included shipping).  Saddly, we missed out on an Oscar last year for ”Best Extra”, but at least Spy Guy and The Possum had a couple close ups in the film.  Get your magnifying glasses out, and see how many times you can spot the shmuck in the purple Possum T shirt (A.K.A. me), and the bald guy in the black Ultraist T shirt (A.K.A. Mike)! 

You can read earlier posts about our trip to LA here, and here.

A friend of my brother, Jeff’s, was in St. John’s, Noufoundland and visited Downtown Comics, on Duckworth St. , where she spotted some Possum comics on display, and snapped this fancy picture (above).   Distribution for the Possum is very limited at present, as the only way for a shop to obtain copies is directly through me.  That will hopefully change in the future, but for now, if anyone knows of a comic shop that might be interested in carrying comics by Possum Press, and would like to be part of Possum Press’ street team (maybe I’ll have to make some ‘official’ badges or something), all you have to do is talk to the owner of the comic shop nearest you, and direct them to this sight, or tell them to email me at blair@possumpress.com and I can talk to them about shipping them some comics at a retailer’s discount.

Currently, The Possum can be found in select comic shops in California, Michigan, Toronto, Ottawa, Halifax, Newfoundland and Brockville.  I’d love to see that list get bigger over the next year, and the best way is by word of mouth, and by having people who enjoy reading The Possum to urge their local comic shops to contact me, and order comics.  Bring in your Possum comics to show them, so they can see them before they make a decision.  Chances are, that if you enjoy reading these comics, then other people will too.  And if that doesn’t work, get down on your hands and knees, and cry like a little girl, until they agree to order some Possum comics.    

Due to script delays for the cartoon show that I’m currently storyboarding on, I found myself with a 3 week break between storyboards.  Much to the disaproval of my bank account, rather than panic and try to find work to fill the gap, I’m going to try something that I haven’t really done before….. I’m going to focus on some projects of mine that I have been neglecting.  (One of those being The Possum #4). 

So that means for the next 3 weeks I will be attempting to get as much inking done on The Possum as is possible, as well as begin animating a little 30 second pitch for an educational childrens cartoon that could be pitched as interstitials.  (I’ll also be flooding the rink that I have made in my backyard, and taking the odd skating break:).  

Usually when I set goals for myself, they are totally unrealistic, but if I get half of what I wanted to get finished, completed, then I’ve exceded any sort of realistic expectations.  With that said, I don’t usually make New Years resolutions, but I do hope to focus more energy on my own projects in 2009.  I feel like I hit a brick wall in 2008, as my focus shifted from comics that don’t pay, to storyboards that do pay, so I could attempt to pay off some debts that I aquired from moving, having babies, and buying new cars in 2007.   I’ve gotta find a way to transition out of mindless work for hire, into doing my own work, which is much more fulfilling.  I need to make drawing fun again. 

Stay tuned…….

My brother Mike was at the Snail the other day, and took this undercover photo.  The Possum has graduated from the “Indy” shelf in the back corner, to the “real” comic shelves (alphabetized and everything).  I guess it has been selling fairly well, dispite being hidden in the back of the store, so the fine folks at the Silver Snail decided to give it a chance and put it on display for all to see. 

Seeing it up on the shelf, makes me think the title could use a little bit of tweeking to make it stand out a bit more.  What do you guys think? 

Apparently, Mike said last week that they had them spread out, and issues 1, 2 and 3 were all visible.  I guess now is a good opportunity to thank all of the Comic shops who have agreed to carry The Possum!  Hopefully it will be popping up in more and more comic shops as time goes on, and maybe some day it will even be a normal occurance to walk into your local comic shop and see The Possum on the shelves.  If that’s going to happen, I guess I better get issue #4 finished!  (I’m almost finished all of the pencils, and half of the inks!)….. almost time for the big push.

Once again, Possum Press and Ultraist Studios spent Sunday, September 28th, at the Word on the Street Festival, in Toronto. This is an annual event, and our second time attending. We were blessed with two consecutive years of nice sunny weather, and lots of people visiting our table. I always love this event, because it brings out a lot of young kids, which is always fun.

This is the first show that we brought out our life size cardboard cutouts of Spy Guy and The Possum, which were used for the “Superhero Movie”, which came out last spring I believe. (I’ll have to do another post about that soon, as the stand-ups and my ugly mug made it into the movie)…….

A big thanks to everyone who came out, and spent a little bit of their hard earned money supporting our comics! (or their parent’s hard earned money). Maybe we can do it again next year!