Here's a quick morning run-down of SLG-related newsies with visual aids!

• The Electric Playground gives us a quick interview with Chumble Spuzz creator Ethan Nicolle. It's the first story after the intro:

• Michael May reviews Captain Blood #1 by Matthew Shepherd and Michael Shoyket at Robot 6*. He's not a fan of the in medias res approach the adaption takes, but still writes, "Having read the first issue now, I’m anxious for the second and that’s a great indicator of a successful series." He also warns that our trailer spoils the ending of the first issue, but I'm not sure that revealing that a character named Peter Blood in a series called Captain Blood becomes a sea captain is much of a spoiler. Oh, crap, I did it, too. Well, now you have no reason not to watch the trailer:

*Disclaimer: I do freelance work for Robot 6.

- JdG

Dan, who has been Tweeter-in-Chief while I fulfill my civic duty, congratulated Ethan Nicolle for Chumble Spuzz being nominated for an Eisner in the Best Humor Publication category already, bu I'm going to expand on it, since I'm here today. First of all, I repeat the congratulations -- I had the honor of telling Ethan the news last week. Remember when I said you might be feeling a little silly if you've overlooked Chumble Spuzz? This is what I was alluding to.

The nomination covers both volume of Chumble Spuzz -- Kill the Devil and Pigeon Man, both of which are hilarious in a way that is sometimes subversive but mostly just crazy silly in the very best sense. (Jhonen Vasquez called it "brilliantly executed stupidity.") They were also critically acclaimed.

If your retailer doesn't carry Chumble Spuzz, ask them to -- you can say something that's a non-combative version of "Hey, what kind of store doesn't carry an Eisner-Award-nominated book, huh?!" But if you don't change that wording and end up getting kicked out, you can always try our website or Amazon.com.

- JdG

Indy Comic Review has reviewed Chumble Spuzz Volume Two: Pigeon-Man by Ethan Nicolle: "[The humor in Chumble Spuzz] goes a bit deeper into the more bizarre recesses of the human psyche, dredging up centuries of repressed badness, grossness, and...  something else that ends with -ness and has a negative connotation.  ...Alright, perhaps that's a little strong.  Still, nothing is sacred in Chumble Spuzz."

Are you feeling silly for having overlooked Chumble Spuzz yet? No? Well, maybe you will soon. (If in fact you have overlooked it; if you have not, prepare to feel smug, my friends.)

Graig Kent at Rack Raids reviews both volumes of Ethan Nicolle's funny book Chumble Spuzz -- "Kill the Devil" and "Pigeon Man" -- at Rack Raids. The opening to his review is interesting, as it shows us what we're up against as independent comics publishers but also why we have the tiniest of advantages in certain, few circumstances: "It’s easy to stick with DC and Marvel, comics companies that I’ve invested time and years in, but I’m getting to the point where they’re comfortable fluff (for the most part), and sometimes I want substance, or something different."

For Kent, Chumble Spuzz falls into the "something different" category. Oh does it. He is middling-to-reservedly-positive in his opinion of "Kill the Devil"*, but it is very interesting to see how Ethan's development as a writer and artist are apparent when one considers both volumes of Chumble Spuzz together.* The second story in "Kill the Devil," "Salmonella," is what hooked Kent: "It was this second tale in which Nicolle’s art and words really came together, and for me warranted keeping an eye out for his future work."

"Pigeon Man" is that future work, and here Kent finds a literal menagerie of humor: "The sheer variety of feral men, illustrated in Nicolle’s impeccably funny-yet-disturbing style, is the big draw here, but with his brother the pair have a tighter, funnier script which keeps the laughs and even a few knee-jerk 'icks' coming (the 'mangaroos' have to be seen to be believed)."

Once again, the second story in the volume, "Death Sings the Blues," allows for Ethan (and Isaiah) to stretch different storytelling skills. "Condensed to 27 pages, this rich story moves at an incredible clip and is all the more impressive for it. Unlike previous tales, where Nicolle’s art takes the spotlight, here the script is actually the essential ingredient, fully engrossing and funny."

Now, I know what you're saying. The reviews of his work over the past few months have convinced you that, yeah, Ethan Nicolle is a funny and talented guy. But just how funny and talented? Can someone give you some names so that you can know at what level he is funny and talented? Why, yes, someone can: "Ethan Nicolle is an incredible artistic talent whose comedic chops have now officially flourished, and will no doubt be considered in league with other top cartoon humor talents like Kyle Baker, Evan Dorkin, and Jhonen Vasquez."

So there.


*I do wish reviewers would be more specific when they say something like "a lot of the comedy also fell flat" -- where specifically, just one example? It would help creators, if they choose to pay attention to such things, if there were specifics. Of course, where one reviewer says the comedy fell flat, another will proclaim that the first volume of Chumble Spuzz is "the funniest comic book material I have ever read," so who knows how to take these things? It's a cop-out to say it's so subjective, but there you have it. I'm sorry. I've gone off on a tangent. I'm recovering at home from a migraine attack and I'm feeling kind of contemplative. And now my footnote has made me think of David Foster Wallace, and I'm sad.

So I was just reading something aloud to Dan (yes, something -- I'm withholding information for the sake of suspense), and he stopped me, saying, "Wait... This is who writing this?"

"Jhonen," I said.

A pause. "Jhonen Vasquez?"

"The very same."

"Our Jhonen Vasquez."

A nod.

Another pause, a shake of the head, a smile and a verdict: "The kid's all right."

So what was that something? Go, read it: Jhonen's post on Chumble Spuzz by Ethan Nicolle, the joy of creation, the artist as the master of control (even if what he's creating is seemingly chaotic and about naked old men) and painful regrets. And laughing.

I actually can’t recall the last time a comic made me laugh as hard as this one did as well as immediately fill me with an immense respect for what Ethan Nicolle has done in these works of brilliantly executed stupidity.

What's this? Another interview with Ethan Nicolle, creator of Chumble Spuzz, and man-to-be-interviewed. That's him, on the far left, with his brother Isaiah and Andy Ristaino. JK Parkin at Blog@Newsarama gets to do the asking this time. Ethan covers a lot of subjects:

On the Comic-Con experience: "The crowds at comic con bring out the primal side of me, I have never come so close to actually clocking a complete stranger in the back of the head, so I try to stay out of them as much as I can."

On Reverend Mofo and the evangelical temperment: "I actually came up with the idea when I saw a really loud preacher giving a rabid sermon, and if he had been speaking in a language I did not know, I would have thought he was cussing out the crowd. I decided to create a preacher who cusses in a righteous way."

On rejection: "I had been turned down by them a few times in the past and I didn’t think they liked me."

(Awwwww, man. I feel the same way about Howard Junker, editor of Zyzzyva.)

On collaborating with his brother Isaiah: "We’d take each plot point and brainstorm a page of ideas for jokes, dialog, and situations. When I eventually went to write the script, I had notebooks full of our brainstorms to sift through. A lot of poop jokes were in those pages."

Hey, I'm giving away the milk. Go read the whole interview at Blog@Newsarama and buy the cow already.

Link
blog.newsarama.com/2008/08/21/blog-qa-ethan-nicolle/

Something really wacky went on with Chumble Spuzz Volume Two at Comic-Con. And it wasn't that it's about a feral old man who was raised by pigeons. (My husband just learned that it's not exactly a book you can read on a plane without getting some funny looks.) No, what happened is that we sold about as many copies of that book at Comic-Con as we pre-sold to the entire direct market. Weird, right? Not just in that the comic book stores weren't so kind to this hilarious book, the follow-up to a well-reviewed and decently-selling graphic novel that was released only about seven months before, but also in that we sold so danged many of them at the convention.

If only every comic book store could have its own Ethan Nicolle to sell his book! He's a master at it. And once people are hooked by his clever signs, friendly demeanor and succinct description of his work, I don't think they're disappointed once they read the book. Since you can't have your very own Ethan Interaction Experience™, the next best thing is an interview with him. Here's one at Midnight Slice of Pie, in which he talks about the new volume of Chumble Spuzz, which includes the "Pigeon Man" story as well as "Death Sings the Blues," which he collaborated with his brother Isaiah to write.

A taste:

MIDNIGHT SLICE OF PIE: And where does this zany humor come from? Because you roll out the funny like a bus tour full of comedians.

ETHAN NICOLLE: It's hard to pin point, I guess I'm like anyone who likes to be funny. I try to find the humor in anything. I try to push boundaries. One thing for me is that it has always been essential to me that my work generally causes people to laugh out loud. A lot of comics don't seem to have that goal. They are looking for more of an inward "oh, that's so true, I can really relate to that" kind of humor, which is fine, but I think my insecurity has always required that, if someone sees my work and involuntarily laughs awkwardly hard, I have done my job. Of course, as with all works of comedy, every joke is hit and miss, but I always try to test my stuff out on others before it sees print.

I've been pretty distracted with preparing for Comic-Con, and in all the hubbub, I've neglected posting about our new releases. Sorry! But here they are:



The Cemeterians by Aleister Gilgrim
Who better to fight monsters than monsters? Nobody, that's who! A rag-tag group of monsters and misfits led by a sexy mad scientist, the Cemeterians must keep the world safe from evil-doing baddies. But will they drive each other crazy in the process?




Fat Chunk Volume One: Robot edited by Jame Smart
FAT CHUNK is a collaborative comic book featuring a collection of different artists, each contributing work based on a theme. We find artists from all over the world, based in any discipline, from well known comic titans to fresh new webcomic talent, from influential street artists to custom toy designers, and throw them together to make one hefty and exciting comic. The aim of FAT CHUNK is to produce a great comic book featuring diverse approaches to the theme, and to open up each artist's work to new audiences. To shout the word about artists we love, and show off some great untapped talent.

And new this week:



Chumble Spuzz Volume Two by Ethan Nicolle and Isaiah Nicolle
Gunther and Klem return in two new tales from the warped and endearingly disturbed world of Chumble Spuzz. In their first adventure, Pigeon Man, Klem befriends a man who was raised by pigeons,but Gunther sells the pigeon man out to a local zoo for Feral Humans to buy himself a new robot. When Klem discovers that the zoo is only a cover up for an illegal underground feral-human fighting operation, he'll do anything to rescue his new friend from the inhumane zoo's cruel death matches. Also included is the tale Death Sings the Blues, starring the Grim Reaper himself. After a conversation with Klem about his recently deceased pet sea monkey, Death realizes all of the pain and suffering he has caused the world through taking away life, and he can't bare the pain anymore, so he kills himself. When Death commits suicide, everything that has ever died begins to reanimate. Can Gunther and Klem stop the massive outbreak before the world expires from zombie overpopulation? With the help of Reverend Mofo, General Woodchuck, and Kernel Corn Nut, they'll try their damnedest.




Halo and and Sprocket Volume Two: Natural Creatures by Kerry Callen
Welcome to the further adventures of an angel and a robot who live with a young, single woman! Why are clowns scary? Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Why do women shave their legs but not their arms? Is it a good idea to play a practical joke on an all-powerful angel? Find out the answer to these questions and others you’ve never even wanted to ask! Logic, metaphysics and human nature collide in these quirky, short stories about the idiosyncrasies of life. Discover why HALO AND SPROCKET is a favorite among fans and critics alike with these all new stories and 4 pages of little seen newspaper strips.

Chumble Spuzz, Ethan Nicolle's brilliantly funny graphic novel series returns this July with a new installment, and MYSPACE COMICS has a 26 page preview of the new book. Chumble Spuzz Volume Two: Pigeon Man and Death Sings the Blues contains two new stories featuring everyone's favorite idiots Gunther and Clem. In the first story Klem befriends a man raised pigeons. In Death Sings the Blues the Grim Reaper feels guilty about all of the pain and suffering he has inflicted on the world and cals it quits.

Chumble Spuzz Volume Two will be available this July, Volume One is available now, as is the just released Reverend Mofo T-shirt. Pick a copy up today and find out why Wizard Magazine named Chumble Spuzz its Indie Must-Read of 2008.

Chumble Spuzz Volume Two is coming out next month (Next month is July?! JEEZ. My slogan for 2008 is "You Will Never Have Enough Time, Bitch!"), and creator Ethan Nicolle has been making the rounds at the comics podcasts. He sent me an email containing his blog post about it, and instead of just taking the links and writing my own surrounding words, I am just going to paste his words because they're perfectly good words, and I believe in reducing, reusing and recycling.

If you missed the Planet Comic Book Radio interview, it's now up to download.  You can hear the first part of it here.  Part two is here.

This was a long interview, very in depth.  It was a lot of fun and the interviewer, Javier Hernandez, is a good friend of mine, so it was a very comfortable interview.  Thanks Jav for letting me be on your podcast!

The other one is on The Comic Book Page podcast.  These guys gave my book a good review when it came out, you can hear that if you missed it on this episode.  They wanted to know about the upcoming volume 2, so they interviewed me about it in this new episode.

It's weird hearing myself being interviewed, I notice all my flaws in how I communicate with people.  I think it's good for me though.
--

The interview at The Comic Book Page starts at 19:40.

A two-part interview with Ethan is also up on Broken Frontier. Part two is here.

Once again, a Chumble Spuzz double-punch, a review and interview with Ethan Nicolle at ComicCritique.com. Kevin Agot gives Chumble Spuzz: Kill the Devil four out of five stars: "The humor comes at you with so much rapid, machine-gun patter that if you’re not ready to receive it, you may miss much of the smartly placed visuals as well as the cleverly crude jokes filling up the word balloons."

Ethan comments on pacing the funny in a funny book in the interview: "I think that the best way to work your timing in a comic book is to try to, in some ways, make your gags happen in as few panels as possible — one panel jokes are great, sort of like the Far Side, if you can fit them into the chronology of the story.  If I need the person to get to the end of a page, I try to make each panel move quickly to the punchline, hoping that I’ll build enough tension to keep them reading."

Chumble Spuzz is reviewed by the guys on the podcast The Stack, too. The review starts around 8:08. The guy with the goatee and glasses (sorry, I can't find their names) says, "Absolutely hilarious! I laughed out loud a number of times."

Then they say it's in the tradition of Johnny the Homicidal Maniac (yeah, what?) and get in a slappy fight about Squee.

I'll say it again: I don't think watching these podcasts is good for my attitude, but I'll do it for your sake.

Another review-interview one-two for Chumble Spuzz and its creator Ethan Nicolle.

A person named "Zoom" reviews Chumble Spuzz at Project Fanboy, noting, "This book borders on the insane, but strangely kept my attention the entire 120 pages, making me wonder, what the heck can possibly be coming next?" (Volume two, that's what, featuring Pigeon Man!)

What I find interesting about the review is the reviewer is a recovering only-Big-Two comics guy (I assume it's a guy); he still doesn't have a taste for black-and-white art, but I applaud him for broadening his horizons in the medium.

Zoom also interviews Ethan at the same site. Ethan talks about what it takes to get into the comic book industry:

I always used to think this industry was really hard to break into- but the moment I had a book with an appealing style and content that people were interested in everything changed. The day I took Chumble Spuzz around at Emerald City con was so different from any other time I'd taken other work around- not just SLG, but every publisher I went to treated me like a professional, they were interested in what I was doing and wanted to trade info. This was all because my art "crossed the line" and they were impressed. I learned that day that if you have something good, this industry is not hard to get into- what'd hard is making something good. I estimate I'd drawn over 500 pages of comics before Chumble Spuzz.

and

This is what I tell people all the time who want to make a graphic novel, but they saturate themselves on one idea, thinking it's their golden ticket. Get the sum' bitch done, and get to the next one. Don't worship your work, and know that whenever you finish something you'll hate it, but you'll love the next project even more.

Ethan should be the one with an advice column!

This exchange was kind of funny, and interesting as a look at the expectations of someone who has mostly read superhero comics:

PF: Chumble Spuzz is definitely the longest comic I've reviewed so far, did the fountain of creativity just get stuck open position?

EN: Haha, well I should have warned you it was a graphic novel. The way the market has gone, especially for indy books, is the way of the bookshelf. People who aren't into superheroes aren't as into serialized comics either.

I've been really busy lately and have fallen behind on posting reviews. I will try to pick up the pace. Here we go, starting with a review of Chumble Spuzz, plus a contest from its creator, Ethan Nicolle.

The Evil Genius Comics Blog tells us, "I can’t tell you everything that’s funny, because that would just ruin the experience. But I don’t have to convince you…just do the math…"

Math? Doesn't the Evil Genius know that I'm a girl and, thus, completely befuddled by math? I'll just believe the Evil Genius when he says, "Nicolle’s humor is wonderfully dark" so I don't have to do any adding or subtracting or quadratic equations.

If you've already been convinced of the quality of Chumble Spuzz's hilarious dark humor, you might want to enter the "Chumble Spuzz Zombie Whore Contest."  Here's the lowdown from Ethan's blog, where you should go to get the full instructions:

"How does it work?  You earn points by whoring Chumble Spuzz in various ways, and on the contest deadline (march 18th) the TOP 5 winners will be put into my next book as zombies.  The 1st place winner will ALSO win an original drawing on paper of them as a zombie being killed by Reverend Mofo!"

Wow, I just looked at that last post again. Sorry to be such a downer.  I finished my tea, and I'm feeling a little better now.

So it is time for Chumble Spuzz reviews. In podcast form!

The first is from The Comics Page. You can download it here, and the review of Chumble Spuzz is at 25:35.

Indie Comic Book Noise reviews Chumble Spuzz at 8:36.

And Ethan Nicolle is interviewed at Comic News Insider, at 22:36.

I thought the HorrorYearBook review Chumble Spuzz by Ethan Nicolle received was going to be the craziest, most awesome review of the new graphic novel, but then Broken Frontier, always a source of quality reviewing, crashed through the gates with this gem of a review by Dave Baxter: "a gargantuan ... graphic novel, a thing crafted with complete devil-may-care abandon, a commensurate pouring out of the hodgepodge that passes for Nicolle’s (seriously twisted) mind, unfettered onto paper. The result, then, is this: the funniest comic book material I have ever read, bar not one past none."

And, oh hey, Baxter links to the free 22-page PDF preview of Chumble Spuzz that I totally forgot about. So go read the review, download the preview, and then get the whole book! It's 10% at the SLG Store now!

Ethan is interviewed at Animation Block, too. He talks about his art background and process -- did you know that Chumble Spuzz is drawn digitally? You totally wouldn't know from looking at it. Neat, hunh?

Here are a couple reviews of SLG's new horror funny book, Chumble Spuzz by Ethan Nicolle -- who has just been added to our Wondercon attendee list, so if you're coming, be sure to stop by. I think we still have some free ashcans of Chumble Spuzz #1, and you'll want to meet him and get one signed because Ethan -- or "eef," as he signs his emails, but for some reason I can't bring myself to call him that because I'm turning into someone's mom even though I'm one of those selfish childless types -- is a hilarious, friendly guy.

The first is at Flippersmack: "this books brings freshness and style to the word bubble medium. After gazing through so many “funny” comics that try to hard to cater to the hip and trendy or emo sterotypes (enough with the dead people), a talking Satanic Pig, Reverend Mofo and their amazing friends are all the fresh air I need."

(An aside: What are these emo comics about dead people?)

And a rave review from HorrorYearBook.com, where the reviewer gives it an A+: "If you ask me, this is the start of something big because for over 100 pages folks, the writing had me burst out laughing like a fart at a slumber party." Yeeeeeah, that's the good stuff. Here, try this one, too: "I tell ya right now folks, Chumble Spuzz is one of the best books of 2008. It glimmers in comedic excellence [...]. Folks, if you need a laugh that will drop you to your knees, then Chumble Spuzz is your lord savior Jeebus Christ. Amen."

We have two new graphic novels in stores today:



Chumble Spuzz Volume One: Kill the Devil by Ethan Nicolle

When two idiots named Gunther and Klem enter a pig race at the local carnival, neither of them realize that the pig they've won is possessed by the Dark Lord: Satan. They consult with Reverend Mofo, a foul-mouthed southern baptist preacher monkey who concludes that the only way to repair the possessed swine is to go straight to the source. Calling upon the help of the trigger happy General Woodchuck and his sidekick Kernel Cornnut, the gang heads into hell to Kill the Devil.




Little Scrowlie Volume Three: Apocalypse Scrowl by Jen Feinberg and Todd Meister

The final chapter of Little Scrowlie is a descent into madness and banality, as Scrowlie and friends embark on a quest that takes them, first into the outer suburbs, and finally to Hell's representative city on earth — Las Vegas. Suburban occultists, panicked christians, vegan vampires, pirate punks and the ever-hungry Moloch alternately help and hinder Scrowlie on this, her last adventure.

ComicMonsters.com features a review of Chumble Spuzz: Kill the Devil and an interview with its creator Ethan Nicolle. SLG's new horror comedy graphic novel is scheduled to be released in January.

Chumble Spuzz: Kill the Devil tells the story of Gunther and Klem, who win a pig at a fair and discover that the swine is possessed by Satan. Not wanting to relinquish their porcine pal, they decide to journey to Hell and kill the devil (get it?) and release Jackson Five (as the pig is named) from the clutches of evil. ComicMonster's reviewer sums it up: "This book is hilarious and a great read if you are looking for a horror/comedy mix. Zombies, Demons, Vampire Chickens, Satanic Pigs. Ethan Nicolle puts together a book that you will not want to miss!"

The individual issues are available for download at SLG's digital comics site, www.slgcomic.com, for only 89 cents each! You can download a free PDF of the first issue and view a video trailer for Chumble Spuzz at SLG's website, here. The graphic novel is available for pre-order now, at www.slgcomic.com and comic book retailers.

Chumble Spuzz #3 by Ethan Nicolle is now up on SLG's digital comics site Eyemelt.com! It's the final installment, but don't fret -- it's extra-long at 40 pages, and the whole series will be collected with an extra story in January 2008! If you haven't read Chumble Spuzz yet, you should know it's about a dimwit named Klem who adopts a pig who happens to be possessed by Satan. Click on the "chumble spuzz" tag on this entry to learn more, or, ever better, watch this trailer that creator Ethan Nicolle made.

Didn't I tell you I'd be updating Eyemelt.com? I am nothing if not a woman of my word.  Chumble Spuzz #2 by Ethan Nicolle is now up at Eyemelt.com.

There's something... odd about the pig that Gunther and Clem won at the fair. Something... evil. Fortunately, Reverend Mofo's Livestock Revival's in town. Will the foul-mouthed reverend be able to drive the demon out of Clem's beloved Jackson 5 (as he has named the pig) or will Gunther need to bring in a Higher Power? This can only end badly. Read the second installment of Chumble Spuzz to find out just how badly. Plus, clueless death metal fans and a demonic duck!

If you were at Comic-Con you might have been lucky enough to get one of the Chumble Spuzz #1 ashcans? If so, thanks for stopping by and we hope you enjoyed it! We'll be collecting all four installments in January!

More Eyemelt.com updates to come soon. For those not in the know, Eyemelt.com is SLG's digital comics site, where you can buy comics in PDF format (some in CBZ) for low-low prices, starting at just $0.69!