I’m so excited to be a part of the Kids Read Comics! festival this weekend in Ann Arbor, Michigan! I’ll be taking part in a couple of drawing events, conducting a workshop at 826 Ann Arbor, and meeting fans and signing copies of Giants Beware! at the Artist Alley.
Here’s a link listing all the events. There’s great stuff going on Friday through Sunday:
http://mlatcomics.com/krc/programming
Hope to see you there!
-Rafael
A little over a year ago GIANTS BEWARE came out. Around the same time, my papi was getting very sick with cancer and would eventually pass away in October.
My papi was old school, and was never very quick with the compliment.
I remember years ago, over dinner, we were talking about my career and he said, “Well, I guess leaving law school was not as big a mistake as I thought you’d made.” That was his way of offering a compliment, and of course I took it.
Last year, I flew into Columbus to see him. Coincidentally, Rafael was doing an event at
Cover to Cover with our colorist and friend, John Novak. I was reluctant to go. At that point, my dad’s cancer was affecting his coordination and it was difficult to get him in and out of the car, and he tired quickly. Rafael encouraged me to join him and when I asked my dad if he wanted to go he just said, “It sounds interesting.”
@ Cover to Cover Event, Columbus Ohio
It took some work getting him there, but we went and the event was amazing. It was packed. Old friends from Columbus were there, college professors, family friends. My dad was in the front row watching with his usual inscrutable expression. It was the first time my dad had been at an event for one of my creative endeavors. He got to see kids and adults who had read our book, enjoyed it, and were happy to have us sign their books. He got to see the joy our book was bringing people.
Afterwards, I asked him what he thought of the event. “It was interesting,” he said. I went fishing for a compliment, “But what did you think of all those people there, for our book? Neat, huh?” He responded. “Yes, it was interesting.” I pushed him even further, “But papi, isn’t it pretty cool to see a book your son wrote, out in the world and people seem to like it?” He thought about it for a moment and said, “It was VERY interesting.” For him, that was high praise, and I took it.
(Thanks to Darlene Rosado and Chip Kocel for the photos)
Rafael and I work in TV so we’re used to getting comments. I’m always getting notes from Head Writers, Executive Producers, Network Executives, Animators, other writers, research consultants, my wife, my children, random people I meet on the subway. I’m used to it. No big deal.
But Claudette is a little different.
We sent the rough pages of our second book to our wonderful, talented editor, Mark Siegel. I’ll confess, I was very nervous. Here’s why: when Rafael and I are working together, once everyone’s on board with the outline, we don’t share much of what we’re doing with anyone else as we write and draw the book. I’m writing for Rafael and he’s drawing for me. We’re completely wrapped up in the world of Claudette, but there’s always a nagging question in the back of my mind: are we on the right track or wrong track? Waiting for Claudette comments can stress me out more than anything I write for TV.
So this week we talked to our editor after he’d seen our pages. He had comments, all very useful, insightful, and will make the book far better, however, most importantly for me — it’s looking like we’re on the right track.
Whew!
– Jorge
Rafael’s made a few really cool stop-motion films, and this one’s probably my favorite. It’s beautiful, melancholy, stark, entrancing, weird, and short. Our friend, Chip Kocel plays the clown
This Tuesday, Rafael and I will be on the Sharp-Schu Book Club meeting on Twitter hosted by Librarians extraordinaire John Schumacher and Colby Sharp!
Tuesday May 21st, starting at 7:00 pm, CST time. Follow hastag #
http://mrschureads.blogspot.com/2013/04/may-sharpschu-book-club.html
(Raf and I hop on around 715 Central time)
Hope to see you there!
Dave Roman’s Astronaut Academy:Re-Entry is out today!
The Comics Are Great site is hosting a series of contests and giveaways to celebrate its release: http://comicsaregreat.com/aaday
One of the prizes is an original sketch of Claudette and the gang by Rafael:
So what are you waiting for? Go get the book, join the celebration!
Rafael will be a guest at the Kids Read Comics Celebration in Ann Arbor, Michigan this Summer, June 22-23 rd. Here’s the lovely poster for the event by this year’s guest of honor, Ben Hatke.
Come by and say hi if you’re in the area. More details at http://mlatcomics.com/krc/
