The Love and Capes Valentine's Day Giveaway!
Valentine's Day is coming up, and since I write comicdom's most romantic superhero book, I figure I ought to do something to celebrate. So I am. I'm doing a giveaway.
Love and Capes is the perfect Valentine's Day present for the comics fan, or someone you want to introduce to comics. No Valentine? Enter the contest and maybe Love and Capes will help you win over that special someone. Sign up using the form below.
- You and your valentine could win:
- All nine issues of Love and Capes, signed by the author
- Two matching Love and Capes t-shirts
- A set of Love and Capes pins
- A box of Ghirardelli chocolates. (No endorsement implied. They're my chocolate of choice, and I think you'll like them too.)
- Your name in the Free Comic Book Day 2009 issue of Love and Capes.
No purchase necessary. Winner will be chosen by random drawing on February 2nd, 2009. Winner will be notified and prizes will be sent immediately thereafter.
And, if you haven't already picked out a present for your special valentine, may I suggest the new Love and Capes TPB? It's available at better booksellers nationwide or you can pick up a copy here.
And, as an added bonus, download a printable Love and Capes Valentine to give to your sweetie here!
Love and Capes #9 in stores next week!
According to Diamond, Love and Capes #9 will be in stores next week, January the 14th. It's the conclusion of the first (and hopefully only) cliffhanger. I can promise that the FCBD issue is not continued.
In it, we'll see a resolution to the Psi-Clone storyline, the search for Mark's Best Man, and Abby makes a big decision. Most importantly, we'll see two of our characters sitting on a couch watching Battlestar Galactica. How awesome is that?
It's available from better retailers everywhere for just $3.95. And if you didn't ask for it, tell your comic shop to order it. You know you want it.
In Which Thom Goes to New York and Does a Panel
Hey! I'm going to be doing a panel at the New York Comic Con! Douglas Wolk asked me to be on the panel, and I was jumped at the chance. It's great to be on the other side of the panel more and more.
Panel info follows:
Her Face Was an Open Book: The Art of Character
How does character design play into a cartoonist's working process? Does a creator's idea of who a character is ever change after that character appears as an image? How hard is it to draw a character that fits a prose description? We'll discuss these questions and more with Christine Norrie (Breaking Up), Dash Shaw (Bottomless Belly Button), and Thom Zahler (Love & Capes). Moderated by Douglas Wolk (Reading Comics).
Friday 6:00pm Room 1A24
Yeah, I Just Like Seeing My Name In Print
The Kubert School runs ads in comic books. It's one of the ways I heard about them. They've put together their ads for the new year, and look who's on it… me! Yeah, it's an ego stroke, but it's also just kind of cool to be recognized by your alma mater for the work you've done since graduation. I'm pretty proud of it.
It's too small to see here in the full page, so I've reproduced it, color added for clarity.
Now, if I could just get Lake Catholic to build that statue of me, everything would be perfect.
It's an Honor Just to be Mentioned
Publishers Weekly has their Comics Week Third Annual Critics' Poll. And guess what perfect-for-Valentine's Day collection made it on the list of Honorable Mentions. If you guessed Love and Capes: Do You Want to Know a Secret, you're right. If you guessed anything else, you probably landed on this page by mistake.
I'm mentioned alongside Joss Whedon and John Cassady's Astonishing X-Men, Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson's Astro City, and Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips' Criminal, among others.
Anyway, it's great to be noticed. And yay, me!
Look What's Done!
Ah, if only pressing that Easy Button made issues of Love and Capes fall, fully-formed, from the sky.
Still, they're printed and look wonderful. They'll be in stores soon!
And yes, the Mocha of Victory will soon follow!
A Man's Gotta Do What a Man's Gotta Do
Guess who won the Doctor Horrible fansite gift tag design contest?
Yup, it's me. So now I get fame and accolades, as well as a copy of the spiffy Dr. Horrible DVD set, which is of the awesome. Thanks to all who voted! I was up against some stiff competition, which you can see on the site here.
Sign My Name… Across Your Book
Sunday I was honored to do a book signing of Love and Capes: Do You Want to Know a Secret? at the Mentor Barnes and Noble. It was pretty awesome. I'm from the area, so a lot of friends came to the signing and it's always good to see them. But the people I especially 
appreciate are the people I don't know. There were more than a few people who had seen the News-Herald article about me and come specifically to talk to me and buy the book. That's really important.
The crew at Barnes and Noble is always aces, too. They're great people and really take care of you and make you feel comfortable, which is really nice when you're sitting in the middle of a bookstore during the Christmas shopping season. Hopefully, there'll be a second trade, and I can come back and promote it.
The One Where I'm Interviewed by The News-Herald
It's a pretty good article, underneath the obligatory sound effects headline. I don't think I said anything too boneheaded, and it does a good job representing Love and Capes, which is always important. Hopefully it will both spur some sales, and drive people to my appearance at Barnes and Noble in Mentor this Sunday.
Here's the start of the article:
During the easy days of summer, some kids sell lemonade as a fun way to earn a little change. When Thom Zahler was a youngster, the commodity he peddled to neighbors was his artwork. “I can’t remember not drawing,” the lifelong Timberlake resident said from his art studio, which is lined with hundreds of colorful action figures. “When I’m drawing, I just know that’s what I’m here for. It’s that perfect feeling that goes along with it.”
It's true. My Mom wouldn't buy us Kool-Aid or Lemonade, so I set up a little drawing stand. I made $1.35 one day. That was a pretty good haul. It was four comic books at the time.
Read the full article here.
It's Like Chocolate and Peanut Butter, I Think
If there's two things that go together, it's Love and Capes and the Punisher.
The guys at Comixtreme.com have done another podcast, this one focusing on Frank Castle and his war on crime. But, in their picks of the week is a book of my acquaintence, Love and Capes: Do You Want to Know a Secret? Blake says some very kind things about it, and I'm very appreciative of them.
What, you want to check out the podcast? Well, make with the clickety-click here.