I’m happy to say that Water Column 3, the dead fish issue, has been nominated for an Ignatz Award in the category of Outstanding Mini-Comic! Exciting! The Ignatz is a festival prize awarded at the Small Press Expo in Bethesda, Maryland. See the full list of awesome Ignatz nominees here.

Otherwise, here’s a beast I sketched at lunch yesterday with two random drawing implements:

–JF

Hey, I started a Facebook page for Water Column.  I’ll be posting reviews, places where you can get the books and interesting marine biology stuff.  LIKE IT!

This is what a complete Water Column trilogy looks like:

Issue #3 is now available here.

Hey, I’ll be at the big ol’ San Diego Comic-Con from Thursday, July 22 through Saturday. I’m sharing a table with force of nature Tammy Stellanova, and if the last few stars align I’ll have:

So, come by our table, won’t you? It’s M04 in the small press area, around aisle 1600, listed in the official guide as Tammy Stellanova Comics. I’m warming up a smile for you.

What should you do Thursday night? THIS:

Should be good.

… and for the rest of the rest of the Name Forge story go here.

Here’s a new drawing of an old fish, brought to you by my new scanner. Now that I am equipped I expect to be posting many drawings.

And if you need something to listen to, season 2 of the Comix Claptrap podcast rolls on with a new episode featuring Lark Pien.

Later dudes!

—JOSH

First, the new Comix Claptrap podcast is up. I jaw with Rina and Thien about comics and babies for a while, then they get down to the business of interviewing Prison Pit and Angry Youth Comix creator Johnny Ryan. Get caught up in the Claptrap.

And here’s a comic tribute to Sacramento Kings rookie Tyreke Evans. I posted this to Garbage Time All-Stars.

OK, so I’m gonna have to draw you a picture with words here, because I just had to bury my scanner in a hole in the back-yard. A new scanner will be in place soon, to be followed by a smorgasbord for your eyes. Meanwhile, here are some items.

REVIEW: Awesome Portland shop Guapo Comics & Coffee now has a blog! And John Isaacson wrote a nice round-up review of some recent nature comics, including Water Column #2.

TUNA NEWS: A 232 kg bluefin tuna sold in a Tokyo fish market for ~$175,000.

Meanwhile, Monaco has petitioned to have the Atlantic bluefin added to the U.N.’s Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species Appendix 1, which would halt international trade in the species. The ban would specifically target the flow of Atlantic bluefin from poorly-managed Mediterranean fisheries to Japanese restaurants. The U.N. group meets to discuss and vote on the issue in March.

COMICS I’M READING: I do a little segment on the Comix Claptrap podcast where I talk about what I’m buying at the comics shop. I happen to know that a new episode of that will be “dropping” soon, but here’s a quick list of new comics I’m reading: Footnotes in Gaza by Joe Sacco, Alec: The Years Have Pants by Eddie Campbell and Age of Reptiles: The Journey by Ricardo Delgado. Read those!

—JOSH

I’ll be hawking my books (plus the few remaining Forbidden Love shirts) this Saturday and Sunday in Sacramento at Indy Euphoria 2010. Take a look at that site and you’ll see that a whole bunch of Bay-ish Area comics people will be at that Scottish Rite temple alongside state-line crossing badasses like Andrice Arp, Jesse Reklaw, Jim Woodring and Jeffrey Brown. Seems like you oughta check it out, huh?

Ah Sacto … such memories of fast-food bloated youth. I’m looking forward to at least one random encounter with someone I haven’t seen since high school.

–JOSH