C.Cilla Crashes Into Swamp

Feast On This

2012-01-26T13:24:00.000-08:00

I have a drawing up on the wall at Giant Robot in Los Angeles for their Year of the Dragon show! Giant Robot has great art shows, lots of comics artists. Go check it out!

Puck Comic Party!

2012-01-24T14:12:00.000-08:00

Now available! The Italian underground comics magazine PUCK has pulled together 170 artists to draw an exquisite corpsey type jam, and it's done! I am thrilled to follow Rick Altergott & Onsmith, and to have my panels taken after by the legendary Denis Kitchen! The whole book is filled with great gross stuff, not for the easily offended, and all in Italian! I did my own lettering for the translation, no computer fonts for me. Below is a sample of the anteprima booklet that accompanies the magazine; I'm proud to be in such good company.

1995

2012-01-19T13:49:00.000-08:00

Back cover to The Diplomat #2, 1995. My copy of a Chinese version of Oh, Wicked Wanda!

1991

2012-01-17T13:53:00.000-08:00

Man of the Year

2012-01-16T13:56:00.000-08:00

Kiss

2011-12-11T23:59:00.000-08:00

Time Set Up Later

2011-12-07T13:55:00.000-08:00

I have contributed a bunch of Post-it drawings to the Giant Robot Post-it Show 7, opening this Saturday night (Dec. 10th) in Los Angeles, go check it out!
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Also: Studygroup Magazine is now available! I drew a page in this large 2 color art comics magazine, you should pick up a copy. I'll be at the launch party for a short while, and I'll have some original art on display, at Floating World Comics, tonight!

Planetary Motion VII

2011-11-17T22:44:00.001-08:00

Planetary Motion VI

2011-10-22T01:10:00.000-07:00

Planetary Motion V

2011-10-16T00:07:00.000-07:00

Planetary Motion IV

2011-10-14T01:00:00.001-07:00

Sexquatch in "Footprints"

2011-10-05T19:04:00.000-07:00

This is a cropped close-up of my contribution to Pony Club's Monsterbation II show, curated by Jason Jfish Fischer. It will be full of great dirty artwork! If you are over 18, go check it out, opening night is Thursday Oct. 6th, 6 til 10pm.
You will finally be able to see Tim Goodyear's exploration of Neil Diamond's Hot August Night! Also, get the new issue of Junqueland by Jfish & Robin Bogert!
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I have been interviewed by the Comix Claptrap! Click & listen to me talk about The Heavy Hand, Kramers Ergot, Sparkplug Comic Books, Portland, and my continuing interest in old comics & fresh tacos.
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My old friend Trevor Blake has put together a print-on-demand collection of the best of his long running zine OVO, including a couple pages of my work, one from 1989 (!) and one from 2005 (Sperm Trek). Click & get it, and while you're at it, grab his exhaustive book on Portland Memorials!
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The Heavy Hand is now available from Wow Cool! Check out their website for choice comics gems.
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Thanks for looking at my blog, please contact me for original artwork, comics, t-shirts or whatever!

Planetary Motion III

2011-09-24T01:13:00.000-07:00

Planetary Motion II

2011-09-18T14:00:00.000-07:00

Planetary Motion I

2011-09-17T02:20:00.000-07:00

Nice To Meet You

2011-09-08T21:59:00.000-07:00

Hello blog followers! I'd like to remind everyone that is attending the Small Press Expo this weekend to consider voting for my book The Heavy Hand in the Ignatz Awards (category Outstanding Graphic Novel), I would appreciate it!
Also, The Heavy Hand will be for sale at Tom Neely & J.T. Dockery's table, H10, along with other Sparkplug Comic Books Ignatz nominees.
The Expo website has added previews of the Graphic Novel nominees if you'd care to take a look.

Guitar Solo

2011-08-31T14:20:00.000-07:00

I have contributed a painting (not pictured here) to the September show at Pony Club gallery in Portland. The show is curated by Emily Nilsson, and the FaceBook page for the show is at this link. The opening is Thursday Sept.1st, from 6 to 10, please come down and take a look, you won't want to miss Tim Goodyear's Neil Diamond triptych!
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The Heavy Hand was selected as a Midnight Fiction Favorite for 2011! There is also some mention of Tim Root & myself tabling at the Portland Zine Symposium in the regular part of the website. Thanks Richard Krauss for the write up!
Over at the Comics Journal blog, Dan Nadel gives an endorsement to The Heavy Hand in his list of recommended Sparkplug Comic Books to purchase. He calls The Heavy Hand "One of my absolute favorite graphic novels of the last few years. Fucking brilliant and damned brave. Essential to any comics library. Seriously." Thanks, Dan!

Please Lend a Helping Hand to Dylan Williams

2011-08-28T14:52:00.000-07:00

photo of Dylan & myself by David Lasky, taken at the Olympia Comics Festival 2008, maybe?
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My good friend (& publisher of The Heavy Hand) Dylan Williams is currently in the hospital fighting cancer. Please consider making a purchase from his Sparkplug Comic Books store to help him pay his considerable medical bills. He has published an excellent catalog of offbeat art comix, and has a love for the medium that is deep & well informed. He is both an intelligent and idiosyncratic cartoonist and a thoughtful publisher with a commitment to his unique vision of comics and art, in many forms.
A few of my personal favorites in the Sparkplug catalog, if you need some encouragement, are listed below.
The Airy Tales by Olga Volozova
The Hot Breath of War by Trevor Alixopulos
Edison Steelhead's Lost Portfolio by Renee French
Windy Corner edited by Austin English
Asiaddict by Mats!?
I could go on and on, he publishes so much good stuff, you should really go and browse their online catalog, I'm sure you will find something that you will love.
I'd also like to recommend his own comic book series Reporter, one of my favorite issues is Reporter #5, a crisply drawn Korean war ghost story.
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Portland's Floating World Comics is having a benefit sale on Monday & Tuesday, donating 100% of their profits to help pay Dylan's medical expenses. Stop by and get that book you've been eyeing, check out their new space, and help a terrific guy with some ugly hospital bills.

Space Legs Half & Half Junk Odyssey

2011-08-18T13:33:00.000-07:00

Long time no blog; I was on vacation & came home to some comics deadlines, but now I'm back, with some good news! My book The Heavy Hand was nominated for the Ignatz Award for Outstanding Graphic Novel! I'm truly excited to be selected from among all the great comics out there these days. Thanks to the nominating committee, and if you attend the Small Press Expo, please vote for The Heavy Hand!
Also, check out a couple of links: Sean T. Collins reviews The Heavy Hand on his website, and Brett Warnock gives his thumbs-up on the Top Shelf blog! Thanks a lot for the good words, guys.

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UPDATE!
My friend Jacob Schraer has posted a notice of my Ignatz nomination, and I gave him a Hot Dog Holiday strip to accompany the promotional linkfest, click & check it out!

Idertification Card

2011-07-06T01:52:00.000-07:00

Henry Chamberlain has reviewed The Heavy Hand at the GeekWeek site, go check it out!
I am going on vacation, so no posts for a short while, and orders will be on hold temporarily. Thanks to everyone that has been checking the blog & ordering my stuff! Above are some sketches from my last trip to Japan in 2007.

Faque Cartunez at Guapo Comics

2011-06-22T13:55:00.000-07:00

The great John Isaacson has organized an art show for Guapo Comics featuring artists creating fake animation cels, in imagined scenes from non-existent cartoons.

He's rounded up a bunch of great artists including Amy Kuttab, Patrick Keck, Elijah Brubaker, and more!
I drew one, excerpted above. I drew on transparent plastic & pained the back with acrylics & attached it to a mixed media background; it was fun! Now I just need to do 50,000 more drawings to make my own animated short film.

The opening reception is this Saturday, June 25th 6-9pm at Guapo Comics and Coffee, 6350 SE Foster, Portland, OR. If you are in Portland, go check it out!

“Forget about half-hour time slots and commercial breaks or product placement; This is a parallel universe of infinite channels where your imagination is the limit. Welcome to fake cartoons; dreams that made you regret waking up are now real”

Worm Come

2011-06-20T02:12:00.000-07:00

Another Day at the Cilla Factory

2011-06-08T13:38:00.000-07:00

Hey faithful blog-checkers! I have a new special offer in my "store" here. Any new orders for The Heavy Hand, prints, or T-shirts will receive a bonus Post-it drawing, while supplies last! These will be selected at random by me, some of the pictured Post-its have already sold. I'll throw in an issue of Stun Nuts also!
Thanks for looking at the blog sketches & reading the promotional materials. Email me with any questions.

Ultram*n Vs. Big Eyed Bean

2011-06-07T12:58:00.000-07:00

Not

2011-06-05T11:56:00.000-07:00

Canteen Wine

2011-06-04T00:06:00.000-07:00

There's a new review of The Heavy Hand on The Comics Journal website by Rob Clough, go check it out, he has an interesting take.

Stink

2011-05-23T01:00:00.000-07:00

Olympia Comics Festival

2011-05-15T17:25:00.000-07:00

This upcoming Saturday, May 21st, I will be at a table with Tim Root at the Olympia Comics Festival, between Kelly Froh & Max Clotfelter's table and the Sparkplug Comic Books booth. It looks like we'll have our backs to Jim Blanchard, so we'd better be on our toes! We will have our assorted comics & T-shirts for sale, The Heavy Hand, can koozies, who knows what else! Come by and say hello!

The Merch Booth

2011-04-27T17:59:00.000-07:00

I have some new T-shirts for sale! This is a four color eyeball design, printed by AOK Screenprinting in Portland! Available in Men's Medium, Large, and Extra Large. These are on "natural" shirts, all cotton.
I also have ladies size Large, which is a regular white V-neck in three styles.
1: V-neck goes into the pink pattern, eyeball centered.
2: NO pink pattern at all, eyeball centered.
3. Eyeball on right chest, no pink pattern.
They all look good! Please specify which type you'd like in your order. Shirts are $15 plus shipping, Paypal buttons on the right side of this blog.

Also, I am selling a four-color print that I made in my basement. Edition of 36, signed & numbered. $20 plus shipping.
I'll be adding some more merchandise as I get it together, including minicomics, original art, & can coozies! Please email with any questions or comments.
Thanks for checking this stuff out!

Who Are These Goofballs?

2011-04-14T03:00:00.000-07:00

Portland all-comics weekend!
The above drawing is one of my contributions to an art exhibit at Guapo Comics opening Friday night April 15th. There's a party featuring readings, awards, and refreshments. I'll be projecting some pages from The Heavy Hand with live & taped audio accompaniment.

Saturday & Sunday I'll be at the Stumptown Comics Fest, at table E-18 with Ian Sundahl, John Isaacson, & Tim Goodyear, and I'll also be spending some time at the Sparkplug Comic Books table.

I'll have some new t-shirts & Stun Nuts #8, as well as The Heavy Hand, some new silkscreen prints, various zines and some surprise promotional items.
We'll also have copies of Tim Root's new comic!

Also, don't forget to check out my artwork at the Pioneer Place Mall, there are reception parties both Friday & Saturday nights.

See you this weekend!

Your Planet

2011-04-09T00:40:00.000-07:00

I have a bunch of original art in a group show opening Friday the 15th at the People's Art of Portland gallery Suite 4005 on the Third floor at the Pioneer Square Mall, 700 SW Fifth, downtown Portland.
There are receptions with refreshments on both Friday & Saturday nights, April 15th & 16th, from 5 until 10pm. Go check it out!
It is a pretty random assortment of comics-type artists, include Portlanders James Michael Williams, Farel Dalrymple, and Aron Nels Steinke, as well as (according to the flyer image) the greats Rick Veitch and Ramona Fradon!

CD/FM Radio

2011-03-24T14:25:00.000-07:00

Hey blog-readers, do you have a CD player? What about some computer thing where you can play music files? Great! Now click on this link to my friend Nicholab's great Ghostcapital blog, where I have contributed a mix disk, including cover artwork!
This is not an official Heavy Hand soundtrack, but it would probably be good to listen to while reading comic books, or drawing, or washing dishes.
If you had asked me to make you a mix disk while I was drawing The Heavy Hand, it would have sounded a lot like this one.
Ghostcapital has all kinds of choice music info & stuff, you should spend some time browsing the archives...

Walking & Looking vs. Standing Still & Staring

2011-03-17T14:43:00.000-07:00

Choose Only One

2011-03-16T12:48:00.000-07:00

Commando Duck

2011-03-09T11:41:00.000-08:00

How's this for endorsements?
Sammy Harkham gives The Heavy Hand a good look and a decent review at the Family store blog, and Kevin Huizenga suggests a visit to your local comics shop to pick up his latest contribution to Marvel Comics in addition to The Heavy Hand.
Thanks hombres!
In case you haven't already noticed, these guys' latest comics are terrific (Sammy's Crickets #3 and Kevin's newest version of The Wild Kingdom), go buy them, support your local comics dealer.

Running Water

2011-03-08T09:47:00.001-08:00

I drew a guest strip for Jesse Reklaw's Slow Wave, go and take a look! Jesse colored my black & white artwork, and it looks good. The strips have a continuity, however bizarre, so go back into the archives and start reading, uh, somewhere...
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Thanks to everyone at STAPLE in Austin that came by the Sparkplug table & picked up The Heavy Hand! It was great to hear Mack White & Al Frank talk about comics, Texas, and their years in both.

Barracuda Shark With Bendy Tail

2011-03-02T12:00:00.000-08:00

Hello internet enthusiasts! This weekend I will be attending the STAPLE comics convention in Austin, Texas, I'll be at the Sparkplug Comic Books booth, selling minicomics & The Heavy Hand. Please stop by and say hello. Saturday afternoon I will be at a panel featuring the great underground cartoonistsMack White and Al Frank!
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I participated in a round table interview about Bound & Gagged, the single-panel anthology edited by Tom Neely which I drew the cover for. Tom & I answer questions alongside Anders Nilsen, Dylan Williams, Chris Wright & Michael DeForge. Click & read, I use one of my patented food metaphors for talking about comics; I employ this strategy often, because when I am thinking about comics I am usually daydreaming about eating food.
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Why don't you buy a copy of Wet Paint #2? The above sketchbook image was used by editor Jason T. Miles in his assembly of this anthology magazine.
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Thank you for checking out my links. Please contact me if you'd like to purchase original art or minicomics, my email is on this blog somewhere.
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Worth Living

2011-02-28T09:36:00.000-08:00

Inside Out

2011-02-27T12:41:00.000-08:00

Kristy Valenti of The Comics Journal has written an overview of my comics work prior to the publication of The Heavy Hand. Click and read about my futile attempts to stave off entropy.

Click On Blob Linx

2011-02-20T22:42:00.000-08:00

All right, here are some more links promoting The Heavy Hand, click & waste time on the internet!
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I have been interviewed by Kristy Valenti at the Comixology website, she also wrote a short article about The Heavy Hand, click and read!
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Matthew Dick wrote a good review of The Heavy Hand at the Exquisite Things blog, go check it out!
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On The Comix Claptrap podcast featuring an interview with the mighty Zack Soto, Josh Frankel recommends The Heavy Hand during his comic shop chat segment, and the hosts agree that it is a noteworthy new release! Thien, Lark, call me for an interview!
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The Heavy Hand shows up on an image-based best of 2010 list from the enigmatic "Sammy" at the Family store blog, and the book is for sale at their store, too!
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The legendary Paul Gravett notes the upcoming arrival of The Heavy Hand in his preview catalog blog post, he says "C.C. Cilla is an emergent talent with a knack for off-kilter oddness". Thanks, Paul!
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If you are into the book-based social network websites, why not click on some stuff about The Heavy Hand at Goodreads?
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Thanks for clicking on my blog linx, and for checking out my artwork.
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Video Jukebox Slime

2011-02-01T13:42:00.000-08:00

Here is my contribution to the February show at the Pony Club gallery, curated by Emily Nilsson, featuring work representing various scenes from A-Ha's 1985 "Take On Me" music video (?!). The opening night reception is this Thursday, 6 to 10, come take a look Portland, and try not to fall into a parallel dimension of 80s pencil comic book drawing danger.

Fruit Brute & the Cinnamon Toast Chefs

2011-01-29T00:01:00.000-08:00

I drew a page of Brendan Douglas Jones' script for the complete print collection of his weird webcomic Breakfast of the Gods, available for purchase at his website. My page includes Fruit Brute and the Cinnamon Toast Chefs. Brendan colored my black & white artwork, it looks good. Click the link & buy a copy now!

Heh Heads On Poles

2011-01-26T18:48:00.000-08:00

I have contributed a drawing to this book assembled to compliment the Heads On Poles exhibit at Western Exhibitions gallery in Chicago organized by Paul Nudd and Scott Wolniak.
Order it from Quimby's with this link!

The Last Spray

2011-01-23T13:42:00.000-08:00

Puppet Playhouse

2011-01-20T09:33:00.000-08:00

Swamp Link Blob

2011-01-05T18:06:00.001-08:00

Hello blogketeers! I have been meaning to compile a link blob for awhile, and here we go...
The Heavy Hand is in the new Previews catalog this month!
Order code number JAN111311
Please let your local comics shop know that they need to order plenty of Sparkplug Comic Books!
In the Previews Indie Edge feature, Fantagraphics' Jacquelene Cohen recommends The Heavy Hand among other new releases; thanks Jacq!
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Alan Cranis at Bookgasm posted a good review of The Heavy Hand, click & read if you are so inclined...
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Justin Giampaoli has included The Heavy Hand in his best small press comics of 2010 list over at the Poopsheet Foundation, along with Bogwitch #3 & Bound and Gagged.
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At The Daily Crosshatch, the great Eric Haven selected The Heavy Hand for his best 5 books of the year; thanks a lot Eric!
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Matt D. at the Exquisite Things blog has The Heavy Hand on his ten best of 2010, and Bound & Gagged, too!
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Dangerous bibliophile Brian Booty has listed The Heavy Hand in his top five books of 2010 at the Powells website. You can also find my hastily selected top 5 on that same page.
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I am very happy to be represented on these lists! Thanks to everyone who has ordered and/or read my book.
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A special shout-out to Zak Sally, who performed at the Medieval Thinkers show in Seattle last month, and who recently published an incredible collection of drawings by Kim Deitch, go buy a copy before they are all gone!
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Thanks for checking out these links, feel free to contact me if I've missed a good write-up, or link, or blob.

Shopping Season

2010-12-24T10:05:00.000-08:00

Hey, last minute (too-late) holiday shoppers, you can still buy one of my 4-color screenprints online from Giant Robot for a couple more weeks! Also, they have set up an online Post-It sales catalog! Give in to the consumer frenzy!

A Pancake House That's Like a Lighthouse on a Bridge

2010-12-22T22:21:00.000-08:00

I Like Porky Pig

2010-12-14T13:17:00.000-08:00

I have recently been interviewed on the InkStuds radio podcast out of Vancouver, B.C. Listen to me mumble about crap. Caveat emptor.

Medieval Thinkers

2010-12-09T09:51:00.000-08:00

All right! I have an original drawing (detail above) in this exhibit at the Fantagraphics Bookstore in Seattle! I'm honored to have my work up on the wall alongside Bruce Bickford, Gerald Jablonski, Justin Green, and all these other great artists. I will be there in person, and so will the brilliant Jim Woodring, plus Jason T. Miles, and other special guests. Please come down and take a look at some excellent cartooning, and get some X-mas shopping done at the Bookstore.

Duck Shit

2010-12-08T13:17:00.000-08:00

Here are some more of my Post-Its from the current show at Giant Robot L.A. Hit it up on your L.A. X-mas shopping spree!

Printed Matter IX

2010-12-03T00:16:00.000-08:00

I made some four-color screenprints for the new Printed Matter show at Giant Robot in San Francisco. The show opens Dec. 4th at 6:30, hey, that's tonight!
This scan is from a fudged-up print that I thought looked good (cropped & enlarged), so here it is, in the swamp.

Post-It Show VI

2010-12-01T13:40:00.000-08:00

Hey blog-readers! I have been busy drawing stuff, and will be adding some new posts soon. I also put some of these tidbits on FaceBook, check it out on The Heavy Hand page. I have drawn on a bunch of Post-It notes & mailed them to Giant Robot in Los Angeles. They will be up on the wall with many other crazy little drawings, opening December 11th. Go check it out, L.A!

Face Melterz

2010-11-04T09:41:00.000-07:00

Opening tonight, 6pm Floating World Comics, Portland!

The Heavy Hand Release Party and Facemelterz

2010-10-30T13:18:00.000-07:00

This Thursday (Nov. 4th, from 6 til 10pm) is the official release party for The Heavy Hand! I will be at Floating World Comics, signing books and celebrating the publication of my full length book, as well as the release of Zack Soto's anthology Studygroup 12 #4 (including some pages by yours truly), and everything will be drenched in liquid face drippings from the Tim Goodyear curated Facemelterz art exhibit (check out this list of artists: Brian Skiff, Cameron Hawkeye, Jose Angeles, Birch Cooper, Jason Leivian, Tim Root, Bobby Madness, Tony Remple, Jason Overby, Sean Aaberg, John Orloff, Jon Vermilyea, and of course, more C. Cilla stuff...eyeball overload); please come down, buy some books, have a drink, and let the flesh flow off your skull.

Ghostwood Forest

2010-10-27T22:27:00.001-07:00

I have drawn some Twin Peaks inspired pages for an art show at Guapo Comics & Coffee, opening this Friday the 29th, curated by Sean Christensen. I'm sure you'll want to see these local artists' tributes to a great TV show, & check out a top comics shop, plus, they are showing the pilot episode!

A.P.E. in S.F.

2010-10-14T21:31:00.000-07:00

All-right! I am heading to San Francisco this weekend for the A.P.E. comics convention. I'll be selling The Heavy Hand at the Sparkplug Comic Books booth #118. I will also have a new issue of Stun Nuts (#7) & some other minicomics, Dylan Williams, Renee French, Julia Wertz, Tim Root & Tim Goodyear will be there, so please stop by and say hello & buy some comics!
I will also have comics in two anthologies debuting at this show: Pictured here is the wraparound letterpress cover of Tim Root's zine Barf Water, including work by Jason Overby, Tim Goodyear, Bobby Madness, and other weirdos, including a centerfold by Jim Blanchard and some bonus stuff! You can't miss this!

The second anthology is Zack Soto's long awaited Studygroup 12 #4! I'm excited to see this book, full of art by Farel Dalrymple, Vanessa Davis, Amy Kuttab, Ian Sundahl, Blaise Larmee, hell, too many to list, just click on the link & check it out! Zack will be at booth #420, of course...

Gass Fumes

2010-10-08T12:26:00.001-07:00

More Human Pile Please

2010-10-01T13:04:00.000-07:00

Whoot There It Is!

2010-09-27T09:37:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone that came by the Sparkplug Comic Books table at the Jet City Comics Show, it was a good time! Lots of dealers selling back issues, quarter boxes, and the incredible Jim Woodring! I hope this show continues and grows in attendance in the coming years...

Jet City Comics Show

2010-09-23T23:16:00.000-07:00

Hey blog-readers, here's a new batch of sketchbook scans! Saturday I will be in Seattle at the Jet City Comic Book Show at the Seattle Center. I will be at table #102 with Sparkplug Comic Books and Teenage Dinosaur. I'll have some minicomics & The Heavy Hand. Stop by & check out all of our books & magazines & comic books!

I had a great time in San Francisco at the Zine Fest, tabling with Tim Root! Thanks to everyone who came by & bought our stuff, and for the trades & comics & zines.

I'm trying to promote my new book, so I started a FaceBook page. Check it out and click that you like it if you know what I'm talking about...

San Francisco Zine Fest

2010-09-02T00:32:00.000-07:00

More zine madness! This weekend Tim Root & I will be at the SF Zine Fest with our minicomics, t-shirts, prints and books, including the brand new Bound & Gagged! The SF Zine Fest website recently ran a short Q & A with me on their blog, check it out, and be sure to come by our table, buy some comics and say hello.
The SFZF posters & ads were drawn by my friend (& Fest special guest) Jesse Reklaw! Go buy his new book, Ten Thousand Things To Do (I have a single page guest strip in there somewhere...)

Bound & Gagged

2010-08-31T13:45:00.001-07:00

Oh yeah! Tom Neely's great gag cartoon show opens this Friday, September 3rd, from 8 to 10 pm at The Secret Headquarters Comic Book Shop in Los Angeles. Please go if you are in the area!
I Will Destroy You has also published a book collection of artwork from the show, and I drew the cover; take a look and buy a copy!

Portland Zine Symposium

2010-08-27T12:31:00.000-07:00

Hello there, fans of homemade booklets! I will be at the Portland Zine Symposium this weekend (August 28 & 29), look for me next to the amazing Tim Root. We will have lots of xeroxed comic books and other stuff (like Crappy Comics t-shirts & The Heavy Hand), so dig in your couch for some spare change & come by to see us!

Hillbilly Health Club

2010-08-25T14:39:00.000-07:00

These are sneak previews of some of my artwork for the upcoming Bound & Gagged show (and book), curated by Tom Neely. More news coming soon!

Eyefull

2010-08-01T13:08:00.000-07:00

I'm back from San Diego, and I had a great time. Thanks to everyone that came by and bought a copy of The Heavy Hand, and thanks to my friends for good meals & funky conversation.

These images are from my contributions to the August show at Pony Club, curated by Amy Kuttab. The opening night is Thursday, August 5th from 6pm until 10. If you are in Portland, please come downtown and take a look at this show.

My full length book is now available to order from the Sparkplug Comic Books online store, and if you need some convincing, here are some thoughts copied from the Sparkplug blog comments section:

"It was a delight to read, on the way back from the Comic-Con, "The Heavy Hand" by Chris Cilla. The level of high classics of the grotesque - do all of you feel it, too, don't you? - the flavor of pure fun clarity at the edge , the ease to create an amusing, awkward, uncomprehensible, familiar world , echoed in our mind as a bunch of strange vibrations that is reality. Hooray to Chris Cilla." -Olga Volozova

And here is a review from the Poopsheet Foundation's Justin Giampaoli.

Thanks again to everyone who is interested in this book!

The Heavy Hand in San Diego

2010-07-19T12:51:00.001-07:00

My full-length book is done! It will be debuting at the San Diego Comic-Con at booth 1630, Sparkplug Comic Books. I will be there signing copies Thursday, Saturday & Sunday from 2 to 6pm. I will also be selling minicomics (including Hott Schlitzz!) and original art. Please come by and say hello, and pick up a copy of The Heavy Hand. This book came out exactly as I had wanted, I am excited to have them in the real world at last! I will post more news as it develops.
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The Heavy Hand is now on sale at Floating World Comics in Portland, OR!

Sparkplug Comic Books

2010-07-02T00:21:00.000-07:00

presents The Heavy Hand, coming soon.

Cloud Experience

2010-06-29T13:26:00.000-07:00

T.V. Dinner

2010-06-27T12:02:00.000-07:00

Clownin'

2010-06-26T13:03:00.000-07:00

Nome & Wet Paint

2010-06-23T19:20:00.003-07:00

All right! I have some artwork in two new publications now available from Profanity Hill: Nome, a sequential arts journal edited by Jason T. Miles & Tony Remple, and Wet Paint #2, a humor magazine edited by Jason T. Miles. Both are highly recommended! Click on the links for purchase info.
Photos stolen from Profanity Hill

Coming Soon

2010-06-17T09:09:00.000-07:00

Hot Shlitz

2010-06-03T00:23:00.001-07:00

I will be at the Olympia Comics Festival this Saturday, June 5th, sharing a table with Tim Root! We will both have a bunch of mini-comics for sale, including our new split comic book, Hott Schlitz. We are next to Max Clotfelter & Kelly Froh, Theo Ellsworth, Teenage Dinosaur, & Sparkplug Comic Books, whoa! And that's just one aisle, so bring your change jar & buy lots of comics!

The Latest Swamp Link Lump

2010-05-31T00:39:00.000-07:00

Hello! I'm posting a link round-up to help you check some of my stuff out.

My pieces for the GRSF Tree Show are currently for sale at the Giant Robot website, along with plenty of other cool art, so click & buy! Time is running out!

Bogwitch #3 is available from Patrick Keck's Sinus Problem; I drew the full-color back cover and a couple of black & white interior pages in this freaky anthology, click & order now!

Also, the Funny (Not Funny) catalog is now available at Powell's City of Books, so if you live in Portland, come down & buy a copy!

Thanks for reading all this self-promotional jibber jabber, and thanks for looking at my blog. I've recently added the helpful tag system to the sidebar over there, to help you find the entries you are interested in. The bulk of sketchbook & other drawings & paintings are labeled SWAMP, so click on that for (mostly) news-free viewing & fun.

Tree Show VI

2010-05-13T20:24:00.000-07:00

This is one of two pieces that I have contributed to the Giant Robot SF Tree Show VI, opening Saturday May 15th. It looks like a good lineup of artists, including fellow Portlanders Andrice Arp, Blaise Larmee, & Scrappers. If you are in San Francisco during the next month, you should go and take a look!

Coming Soon

2010-05-12T12:24:00.000-07:00

New Nervous Neighbor

2010-05-09T12:28:00.000-07:00

The Archives

2010-05-05T14:00:00.000-07:00

Grand Reptile 1990

2010-04-30T12:42:00.000-07:00

StumpTown Comics Festival 2010

2010-04-21T13:30:00.000-07:00

Hello blog readers! It has been busy here in The Swamp, I'm getting ready for the Stumptown Comics Fest this coming weekend (April 24 & 25). I will be sharing a small table (#77) with the incredible Tim Root; we will be debuting our split mini-comic Hot Schlitz! I will also have a new issue of Stun Nuts (#6) and a new mini-sketchbook titled 20,000 Island, assorted older mini-comics, a handful of free (Stun Nuts #5) previews of The Heavy Hand, some reasonably priced original art, prints and whatever else I can dig up. Mr. Root will have a bunch of mini-comics & the rocking new Crappy Comics t-shirts for sale, plus fun surprises, I'm sure. Please stop by our table, say hello & get some comics!
Also (hopefully) debuting at this show will be four anthologies featuring my contributions: NOME (top jpeg on this post) edited by Tony Remple & Jason T. Miles, Wet Paint #2 assembled by Jason T. Miles, Bogwitch #3 (above jpeg) from Patrick Keck, and Studygroup 12 #4 (jpeg below) edited by Zack Soto. These folks will all be at the comics fest, look for them & buy some comics!I also still have art on display at both the Pony Club & the Portland Center for the Performing Arts, so check them out while you are enjoying the all-comics weekend in Portland. There is a post-show party at Pony Club Sunday night after the convention closes.

This Shit Is Happening

2010-04-08T01:46:00.000-07:00

The catalog from the Funny (Not Funny) show in Detroit is now available directly from the publisher, Rotland Press.
It is also on Amazon.com and at some comics retailers, ask for it, isbn 9780615348711
It's a nice looking book, and includes my little-seen page This Shit Is Happening Right Now, and great stuff from David Sandlin, Tom Neely, Tim Hensley, and all of the other artists featured in the exhibit.

Grand Reptile 2009

2010-04-05T02:00:00.000-07:00

Meep

2010-03-28T23:15:00.000-07:00

Hello, comics art enthusiasts! I will have some original art at the Portland Center for the Performing Arts during April & May, as part of the 6th Annual Stumptown Comics Fest Art Show. My original black & white (& zipatone) pages for "Sweet Cheap", as seen in Typhon Vol.1 will be on display, alongside art by Tom Lechner, James Michael Williams, Farel Dalrymple, and many others. The opening night reception is Thursday April 1st from 6pm to 9; be sure and get there in time to see Mayor Sam Adams proclaim April to be Portland's Official Comic Book Month! The full press release can be seen at the Sequential Art Gallery's website.
I will also have some drawings in the new Pony Club show, also opening First Thursday night, April 1st. This show should be chock full of great Portland comics artists, and should be up for the Stumptown Comics Fest closing party. If you are in Portland, please come down and take a look!

Coming Soon

2010-03-13T01:26:00.001-08:00

Laser Beam Decapitation

2010-02-20T16:35:00.000-08:00

Funny (not funny)

2010-01-19T12:58:00.000-08:00

This drawing (& three others of mine) will be shown at the Work Detroit Gallery in the Funny (not funny) exhibit curated by Ryan Standfest, opening Friday January 22nd. I'm excited to have my work included alongside such a great selection of artists. If you are in the Detroit area, please go, look, laugh, cry, etc.
Here's the official press release:

FUNNY (not funny)
Recent Comic Art Exhibiting Signs of Black Humor
Curated by Ryan Standfest

January 22 – February 26, 2010
Reception: Friday, January 22nd, 6 – 9pm

The University of Michigan Work : Detroit Gallery
3663 Woodward / Suite 150
Detroit, MI 48230

Participating Artists:
Ivan Brunetti
Chris Cilla
Sue Coe
Lisa Hanawalt
Glenn Head
Tim Hensley
Ian Huebert
Ben Katchor
Michael Kupperman
Mats!?
Daniel Maw
Taylor McKimens
Travis Millard
Tom Neely
Mark Newgarden
David Paleo
Jonathon Rosen
David Sandlin
Rob Sato
Jon Vermilyea

The "FUNNY (not funny)" exhibition seeks to elicit uncomfortable laughter in the realm of black humor-- a place where the serious and the taboo are fodder for comic provocation. Artists in numerous media have long sought to overturn convention and challenge what is funny with what is not as a means of producing humor out of the unlikeliest of situations. Work by the twenty artists that will be on view in “FUNNY (not funny)”, demonstrates that cartooning is keeping the tradition of black humor alive and flourishing. The very form of the comics page itself is as relevant a vehicle as ever, freed from so many of the commercial restrictions placed on other art forms, to effectively deliver potent images and narratives that carry with them a very immediate and accurate measure of the absurdity of our age. A catalog of the exhibition is forthcoming.

All The Time

2010-01-13T23:12:00.000-08:00

Cartoon Avalanche!

2010-01-03T00:33:00.001-08:00

Organ Donors

2009-12-18T13:19:00.000-08:00

Beware The Blob

2009-12-14T09:28:00.000-08:00

Smile You're On Candid Shark!

2009-11-28T01:01:00.000-08:00

These are three of the many Post-It Note drawings I have submitted to the Giant Robot Post-It Show 4, opening December 5th in Los Angeles. If you are in the area, you should stop by & take a look at a million crazy Post-It Notes, until January 13th.

Flesh Today

2009-11-25T12:24:00.000-08:00

Head Bowl

2009-11-22T23:55:00.000-08:00

Astro Travelling

2009-11-21T01:21:00.000-08:00

Banana Daiquiri Recipe

2009-11-15T22:22:00.000-08:00

Back Patch Fever

2009-11-14T00:42:00.000-08:00

Inside The Hip Fads Rip-Off

2009-11-13T01:20:00.000-08:00

Piggy Bank Attack

2009-10-14T00:57:00.000-07:00

Greetings comics blog readers! You can buy this drawing from me at the A.P.E. in San Francisco this weekend, Oct. 17th & 18th. I will be at the Sparkplug Comic Books table sometimes, selling homemade comics. I'll have some free copies of Stun Nuts #5, so stop by!

Knifed! at Organ Pipe

2009-10-12T09:41:00.000-07:00