Forever Nuts is getting press not only for its latest Bringing Up Father collection but also for Happy Hooligan.

Andrew “Capt. Comics” Smith of the Scripps-Howard newspaper chain says:

“Bringing Up Father” was a much copied strip, not only for its simple and engaging premise, but also for creator George McManus’ beautiful art.
This is the third “Forever Nuts” collection I’m aware of, the other two being Happy Hooligan” and “Mutt & Jeff.” I’m eager to support these collections of rarely reprinted comic strips, which are meticulously restored by NBM and should be in every library in America. They’re certainly in mine!”

[see the full review on one of the papers running his column]

Amongst other press, Jazma Online also reviewed this, giving it 4 out of 5 stars.

And Rob Clough, on Comic Book Resources said of Happy Hooligan:

“This volume is a “best of” from 1903-1913 and is a must for any fan of humor comics.”

The hugely popular site about all things movies IMDb picked up a recent review on ComicMix about Geary’s latest Treasury of Murder: Famous Players:

“No one does murder like Rick Geary. He is one of the quiet treasures of comics, and Famous Players is another great book – a wry, thoughtful, meticulously researched investigation into an intriguing historical mystery, enlivened by his always perfectly-worded narration and his wonderfully evocative art.”

This is a page from my new book THINGS UNDONE, that’ll be in comic stores August 26th. It’s funny because I’m kind of going through another “personal renaissance” of sorts and hoping the change is for the better. That’s really what the book is about: accepting change and letting go of our old selves in the gamble for better growth and development.

As artists and comic creators we’re always seeking for change and improvement. I don’t know why anyone would not. Sometimes one has to isolate themselves from everything to get a better perspective. Any self-motivated person will certainly find a way if given the time and space to do what is needed.

It’s projects like this that sometimes inform me of where to go next. Maybe it’ll do the same for you.

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The review blog Highlow comics has a review of our Forever Nuts’ most recent two collections, Happy Hooligan and Bringing Up Father.

Heavy praise went to Happy Hooligan:

“Every fan of gag cartooning in particular needs to read HAPPY HOOLIGAN.”

“The panel-to-panel transitions, the way he drew action and violence, the way he layered gag on top of gag and the way he gave the reader something to look at in every panel was a direct progenitor of both classic animation and artists like Milt Gross, Harvey Kurtzman, Will Elder and Al Jaffee (for starters). ”

If you missed our Happy Hooligan collection, it’s still available, take a look.

So this is a sequence from Joe and Azat that I decided to redraw. The sequence on top is the original drawing that I didn’t like, and the one on the bottom is what appears in the finished book. This sequence takes place inside a video game that Joe and Azat are playing and I thought it would be better to keep it static with the two fighters staying the same size and the viewed from the same angle.

I don’t read or draw superheroes too much anymore, but this sequence was a fun little digression from the rest of the book. The character who is winning the fight is one that I came up with in high school named General Eric (which abbreviates to Gen. Eric)(I thought I was so clever). He had no powers or anything. He just went around causing mayhem. The comics I drew with him in them were really really really bloody. 

Eric also made a cameo in my first book Flower and Fade. He shows up at a costume party, but it’s just somebody dressed like him so no one gets killed.

Joe and Azat should be coming up sometime in the next month. Pick it up.

Check out my blog too.

It’s official, folks — the reviews are in, and THE BIG KAHN is the sleeper hit of the season. Aside from the great reviews we’ve already had, three new ones popped up today.

Before we even get to the reviews, head over to Comic Book Resources where Kiel Phegley interviews me up proper about THE BIG KAHN, my work and Jewish comix.

Publisher’s Weekly included the book in today’s book reviews saying that “The Big Kahn is not an easy book to read, especially given its underlying religious questions, but it is gripping”

Michael C Lorah reviews us for Newsarama’s Best Shots today, flattering us by saying “Kleid’s done some good comics work in the past, but The Big Kahn is his new gold standard”, “Cinquegrani’s visual storytelling is good. Sticking to clear grids, he clearly moves the narrative forward and does a good job with backgrounds and layouts” and that “it all adds up to something that resembles a great American novel.” He ends with “The Big Kahn is going to make some Best Of 2009 lists, and it deserves to do so… handles the complications of family with a caring and intelligent touch, giving closure without providing easy or pat answers. The Big Kahn is a good, good comic, and you should read it.”

Finally, retailer Ralph Mathieu at Alternate Reality Comics reviewed the book at his blog, Ich Liebe Comics, and got us thinking when he finished with “I’m sure that Hollywood option people will be calling in short order to try to secure the rights to film The Big Kahn.”

So I thought I’d really jump the shark here and get all bizarroworld on you! My Mom saw this blog for the first time today. It made her laugh. So hopefully this will make her embarrassed.

So this is kind of weird thing for many reasons. You ready TRUE CONFESSION: I used to buy Teen Beat and Tiger Beat magazine…well, my Mom would buy it because I was insane about a band called KISS. If you don’t know who they are…they’re the comic book equivalent of hard rock from the 70s. The album covers (music discs that measured 12″ x 12″) were the bomb! Ken Kelly’s DESTROYER cover was one of the best covers for one of the best albums in their canon of work. Love Gun was pretty snazzy too, but nothing compared to its predesessor.  Anyway, I wall-papered my walls with their images, I redrew the album covers, and I would listen to their music like any crazed middle-school kid can get about something that they can call all their own.

Then they broke up. I think that’s when the innocence was gone and I realized there were men behind the costumes and make-up and they didn’t like hanging out and rocking. So I tore down all the ephemera, gave it away and was left with a blank wall to ponder upon. I think it was about that time I started getting serious about art.

Another reason this is weird is my book THINGS UNDONE a dark comedy about a guy who turns into a zombie because his life is starting to avalanche, comes out 2 days after my birthday on August 26th! Yay me, <snore>zzzzzzzz.

Next…the header is appropriate because what better way to present creator information and inner workings of the mind than through an interview that I did at ComicsCareer.com earlier this year. Generally this is pretty cheesy stuff, but if you can bear it there might be something worth a damn in there.

Finally it is true. If you order 1000 of THINGS UNDONE for your store, I will make you a Special Love Calendar out of dried animal pelts, glue and tchotkes. I’ll even personalize it for you…whatever that means.

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I’ve already confessed my love of all things blaxploitation in these posts. I’ve also listed some of the great blaxploitaion characters I was thinking about when I created Boss Karate Black Guy Jones. So it should come as no surprise that the one homage that I included in Vatican Hustle is to a scene in the iconic film “Shaft”.

After taking his famous stroll through the mean streets of New York (accompanied by the phenomenal “Theme from Shaft” by Mr. Isaac Hayes), John Shaft enters his office where he is confronted by thugs who have been sent to bring him to see their boss, Bumpy Jonas (played by the fabulous Mr. Moses Gunn- with whom I once had dinner and by that I mean we ate at different tables in the same restaurant one night. Still a thrill).  Upon dispatching the thugs, Shaft goes to see Bumpy on his own.

In Vatican Hustle, BKBGJ is saying goodbye to a lady friend when a thug, Scurvy Joe McGinty, kicks in his door and demands BKBGJ go with him to see his boss, Lumpy Fargo. BKBGJ does go to see Lumpy but, alas, not the way Scurvy Joe had planned. This sequence also features my favorite line in the book (”my shorty robe!!”). Take from that what you will.