#0011: What’s Been Goin’ On, Februrary 2025

soooo…I should probably bother using this blog as a blog, huh

crazy shit, man. wild ideas up in here

Anyways, I’ve been up to a decent amount lately (feels good to finally be able to work through the mental cloud and darkened haze of the modern world after far too long in the depression Bad Lands!) and I want to share some of the fun places I’ve been and nice folk I’ve talked to with y’all.

We’re going to break this up into “photos I’ve taken”, “comics I’ve drawn” and “places I’ve been” for now, but you may end up seeing “music I’ve made”¹ and “things I’ve written” here in the coming months. We’ll see where the winds take us.

With that stated, here’s…

Things I’ve Been Up To

Photos I’ve Taken

• I was over in Lansing this month, covering the Trans Unity Rally for our friends over at Assigned Media. The trip was 24 hours on my feet and my dictaphone bit the shit during the trip², but it was well worth it and I’m very happy to have been able to bring the story to you fine folk.

• You can also check out an older photo of mine on the cover of this Riki Wilchins piece. I took this one during the DC trip, and I’m honored to have it featured beside the words of a legend like Riki.

• Finally, I took a nice photo of the sunset while out on a walk with Polly. No need to go anywhere for it (although you can if you want!³) It’s off to the left there.
  

Comics I’ve Drawn

• My six-page adaptation of the Lord Dunsany tale “Thirteen At Table” is finally done, and will be concluding in Fodongo Issue 14. You can snag the issue (no. 13) with the first three pages over on Geesegoose.
  
  It’s taken far longer than it should have to get down, but I think it’s one of the better pieces in my oeuvre thus far. Fellow Jectoons contributor N. Toyohito referred to it as “old school, vocalized jazz story telling, in a unique way”, which is I think the best summation of what I go for that I’ve ever heard.

• Clippings continues to roll on along, with this month’s Clippings up and ready to roll. You can also check out January’s installment here.

• Finally, I’ve been making slow but steady progress with Shoot The Photographer Issue 1, and while I’ve not got a release date for you I do at least have the preview image off to the right over there.

Places I’ve Been

• The Letterhack (better known to us ink slingers as Matt Strackbein, cartoonist behind Milagro and a recurring feature with Harvey J. Kaye on Common Dreams) had me on for a brief bit during his Friday Night Hangout stream. If you’re interested in hearin’ my Ozark drawl ramblin’ on about my love affair with visual storytelling, my childhood fascination with Dav Pilkey, and why I couldn’t stand Colorado, give it a listen. I’m on the air for about the first thirty-five of the runtime.

What’s Up Next

Commissions Opening Up

I’m about to finally open up commissions again.

We’re going to be doing this in waves this time around; hopefully that will make it more sustainable this time and lessen the likelihood that I’ll get overwhelmed.

I’ve got five slots open in this wave (two of which have already been filled by friends of mine before I’ve even opened them), and I won’t be opening them again until I finish everything up on those five.

So, if you’d like to snag one of my three remaining open slots, check out my rates and policies and then reach out via email and we’ll get something rolling.

(Once they do fill up, I’ll strikethrough this line here on the blog and send an update about it on both Bsky and Mastodon.)

BLACKWORK Lives!

It has came to my attention as of late that not only is a lot of my old work still out of print (an intentional decision, as I closed BLACKWORK’s web store last year after finally shipping out everything I was far, far behind on shipping) and that a lot of folk who are new to my work would like to read it, but can’t.

So, for the sake of everyone who’d like to get a taste of what I got up to in the first decade of my career⁴, I’ll be re-opening the web store this month, including every single comic I have ever released which I still have the files for and rights to, as well as a bundle of the complete nine-issue run of Tabula Rosetta for those of you wanting to shotgun the whole joint at once.

Again, batches of these older comics will be printed in waves, and I won’t be re-stocking until I’ve shipped everything out and am comfortable running a second press run. This should keep things manageable for me and expedient and accessible for all of you.

I don’t know how long it’ll be until Shoot The Photographer, Snakes, or Lilies On Acheron have anything to show for them⁵, but if you want to get your hands on physical copies of my work regardless of publication date, you’ll be able to soon.

(And, once the site is online, I’ll strikethrough this line here on the blog, post the link, and send an update about it on both Bsky and Mastodon.)

More Plans? Perhaps?

I don’t know! Again we’ll see where the wind takes us and how long I’ll be able to keep things rolling. I should have a few new surprises for you all soon, but they’ll mostly be for next month.

The Jazz Program and Talkie Time programs for this evening’s show should be up soon; until then, I hope you all have lovely days and enchanting nights.

You’re amazing and don’t let anyone tell you that you’re not. Have a good one.

–piper <3

Footnotes…