Below is the scoop on the wonderful MIX festival I will be attending this weekend. If you are around the Twin Cities, I hope to see you there!

Minneapolis will soon have its first independent comics festival! It’s called the Minneapolis Indie Xpo and it’s happening on Saturday, August 21, from 9am-5pm at the Soap Factory. We’re offering free admission, prizes, radical donuts and access to independent exhibitors and publishers from across the nation. Hope you can join the fun! For more information please visit our website: http://mplsindiexpo.com

And don’t forget about the awesome SCOTT PILGRIM screening!

And don’t forget about the awesome pre-party!

And don’t forget about the awesome after party!

You’ll never forget how great the inaugural MIX was if you attend any and all of these events!!!

The comic I have featured in Lutefisk Sushi Volume D bento box (opening Friday… more info here) is a collection of dinosaur comics I drew for my daughters called EEK! DINOSAURS! It features a 3D cover, which you can see below.

The Lutefisk Sushi Volume D bento boxes include work by over 50 Minnesota cartoonists, have a hand-silkscreened 3D cover by featured artist Danno Klonowski, are limited to 150 copies, and sell for only $25. Hard to believe we have put together four of these monsters already.

3D and dinosaurs are like chocolate and peanut butter to me.

Here is a version with the art moving to give a glasses-free 3D effect.

I’ll also have a 2′x3′ digital print of the piece hanging on the wall at the gallery (there will be plenty of 3D glasses around to view it with, and there are glasses included in the boxes). In the event anyone wants to own one, I’ll be selling them for $40 (frame not included).

In addition to this, I printed six issues of little funny up for the show, which will be in the small boxes from the vending machine along with comics by many other artists (I’ll have a gallery of photos of all of them up sometime soon). The ones I printed include one by my oldest daughter, two I made with my good friend, Lutefisk Sushi featured artist Danno Klonowski, and three that are solo books. The little funny boxes each include a dozen or more micro-comics by different artists, and sell for $4 each… there are around a hundred of them this time around, and they will go very fast, I think.

Hope to see you there! Please tell your friends!

I made the below cover and a strip inside my friend Dan Olson’s latest SUPER-FANTASTICA anthology… more information here. I also had a 4-page piece in the first issue. The strip I have in the current issue is the same one I had in this year’s City Pages Comix Issue which I mentioned previously. Other contributors include Amado Rodriguez, Ben Z, Bob Lipski, Brian Bastian, Bud Burgy, Daniel J. Olson, Danno Klonowski, Ray N., Ryan Dow and Vanesa Littlecrow. You can buy all issues of Super Fantastica here!

I haven’t posted in way too long, and I’ve decided to take a break from the strip to work on a children’s book for a while… the strip will be back sooner or later continuing from where it left off, but I figured I’d give anyone who still is reading this an update. To tide you over in the meantime, here are some cartoons I’ve done recently at my day job as a flash developer/animator…

I’ve been having some fun recently building a holiday site called NOSLO.com for the company I work for (OLSON)… NOSLO is the holiday of the future where you send “Sacks of Joy” to your friends and loved ones to spread the joy. Here are the “Sacks of Joy” I’ve animated so far.. send ‘em to your friends and spread the joy, if you’re inclined:

Sack of Joy #1: Joyous NOSLO Song

Come spread the spirit and sacks of Joyous NOSLO, the holiday of the future, with this rousing NOSLO carol.

Sack of Joy #2: The Soul Seal

No one can resist the charms of The Soul Seal. Joyous NOSLO!

Sack of Joy #3: Snowcat

The flying feline of the frozen frontier. Joyous NOSLO!

Sack of Joy #4: Come Take a Trip in My Airship

An animated plea for aerial romance from a more innocent era. Joyous NOSLO!

Sack of Joy #5: The Mustache Game

Are you man enough (or facial-hair-challenged woman enough) to triumph over the challenges of the mustache game? Only one way to find out. Joyous NOSLO!

Sack of Joy #6: Fuzzy Love

An animated fuzzball expresses affection in a manner congruous to his deeply damaged fur-lined psyche. Joyous NOSLO!

Sack of Joy #7: In Space No One Can Hear You

An animated astronaut explores the aural possibilities of deep space exploration. Joyous NOSLO!

Sack of Joy #8: The Magical Unicorn

Magic! Sparkles! Fancy! The delirious joy that can only be expressed through a unicorn and a rainbow, or through inhaling fumes of magic glitter glue in a confined space. Joyous NOSLO!

Sack of Joy #9: The Fractal Weasel Tree

Traditions! No Joyous NOSLO holiday would be complete without summoning and chopping down a Fractal Weasel Tree. Joyous joy! Joyous NOSLO!

Sack of Joy #10: The Marshmallow-Loving Chihuahua Vs. The Teacup

Whether you lean towards oolong, jasmine or mint you’ll feel compelled beyond your own will to help this marshmallow-loving chihuahua defeat the sinister teacup. Joyous NOSLO!

Sack of Joy #11: The Little Blue Bird of Joy

Sometimes it takes a little blue bird to remind you that, in spite of life’s hardships, joy can be found regardless of circumstance. Joyous NOSLO!

Poor Soapy is really getting neglected these days as my life is getting in the way… I’ll post more strips eventually for the patient among you, so if you are enjoying our ongoing serial, do not despair… it will continue some time soon.

I have pictures of Soapy at the state fair to post as well, but they are currently on my wife’s computer… those should be up soon as well.

In the meantime, I just finished laying out and scanning my >23 and <25 hour comic from this year's festivities... here it is for your reading pleasure (750k PDF)...

The guest Bean Men strip I drew got posted today… check it out here.

While many of you may have noticed that this comic strip has no fear of corny (or even outright bad) jokes, my friend David Steinlicht is going to great lengths to create the corniest Soapy ever. In addition to being an excellent cartoonist, David is also an enthusiast of “crop art.” What is crop art, you may wonder… why it is elaborate art made from seeds! For a more involved description of crop art, see the rules of crop art here.

Here is David’s amazing gallery of crop art, featuring many of the stars of Hong Kong cinema (another of David’s passions… he once went to Hong Kong to meet Jackie Chan… his crop art rendition of Mr. Chan won third place in the amateur category in 1997. I think David has gone professional now).

David is honoring us by choosing to make his next crop art project Soapy the Chicken! And he is blogging about it while he builds it! Hopefully we’ll all be able to check out the finished Soapy at the Minnesota State Fair this year.

Today’s strip is not a Soapy strip… it’s a strip I just did to submit to the upcoming Spout Press Lush Cocktail Guide and Poetry Anthology.

Cartoonists, there is still a little time to submit to the anthology, and they are actively looking for cartoons… drinking and drawing is encouraged.

There’s a great comic strip by David Steinlicht and Julio Ojeda-Zapata in the St. Paul Pioneer Press today about Free Comic Book Day… you can see the whole thing here. Best of all, it shows a bunch of characters from local cartoonists, and makes a nice mention of the Cartoonist Conspiracy in the panel shown below.

Pictured in the panel, clockwise from left, would be the little girl in Zander Cannon’s “He Becomes Who Kills Him: A Horror Story” mini-comic from the Lutefisk Sushi Volume B box, one of Sean Tenhoff’s Bean Men, Bob Lipski’s Uptown Girl, Soapy, and one of Ken Avidor’s demons.

The strip also mentions Twin Cities locals Sam Hiti, Ryan Kelly, Dan Jurgens, Patrick Gleason and, of course, Charles Schulz.

Thanks much to Conspirator Steinlicht and Mr. Ojeda-Zapata for the plug!