2021 Birdcage Bottom Books publications will include a punk-themed anthology, a graphic novel, and four mini-comics.
We're having a big sale over at Birdcage Bottom Books, so I thought I'd give you a heads up!
Well, we got some unfortunate news from the printer we've used for over a decade. Because of pandemic-related issues, both TOO TOUGH TO DIE and Everything Is Super were going to be delayed for over a month. Since the release date of September 15th was already established with Diamond Distributors (and the orders through Diamond had been made), we had to scramble to find an alternative printer that could get it done quicker.
We asked our small press publishing pals for recommendations and landed on Kingery Printing Co. in Effingham, IL. There will still be a delay, but we should be able to have them by the very end of August if nothing else goes wrong.
Meanwhile, co-editor Haleigh has been having some medical issues, so I've done my best to mimic her drawing style to provide an extra inch of bleed around the front cover drawing and rework the title area, color everything and design the spine. I'm hoping it all looks like it was done by one person!
Now I'm rolling up my sleeves to get working on custom punk portraits. Talk to ya soon!
J.T.
We're in the homestretch now! I've sent everything to the printers except the TOO TOUGH TO DIE covers. Configuring Haleigh's cover art for the front cover, I realized that it doesn't have enough of a "bleed" (the part of the drawing that runs off the sides of the page). Unfortunately, Haleigh is having some medical issues, so I'm doing my best to continue her drawing for about 3/4" on all sides. She has a very different drawing style than I do (pens with tiny tips as opposed to brushes, highly detailed vs. uh, not so detailed), so it's a fun challenge. I'm also experimenting with some different title treatments. Once the drawing is done, I'll have a little recoloring to do. Haleigh just sent me the back cover drawing as well, so I'll need to color that and then it's DONE!
I'm leaving town for 8 days to visit my family for the first time in two years, but once I'm back I will start in on the punk portraits for those who backed my custom art reward tier. Eva Müller sent me some of her custom punkified pet portraits, and they are PHENOMENAL!
I'm sad that I won't see any of you at SPX in September this year (it's not gonna be in person), but we'll still be debuting all of this year's publications so keep an eye on your mailbox!
Thanks again for your support!
J.T.
John Porcellino was one of the first artists we invited to contribute to TOO TOUGH TO DIE. After all, he embodies everything we wanted represented in TTTD. He was greatly influenced by punk culture, has been self-publishing his zine, King-Cat Comics, consistently since 1989, and is extremely old (jk jk). He politely and regrettably dropped out of the project a while back because he wasn't able to think of a suitable comic and admitted that if he didn't have a clear idea in the past it would result in sub-par work.
Last week John awoke from a nap with inspiration and asked if there was still time to draw something, so we quickly shuffled some pages around to clear space for his contribution. We're ecstatic to have him back as a contributor!
In other news, we'll be sending out surveys shortly. We wanted to give everyone time to settle back in from the upheaval of this last year. We know many of you may not have had a permanent address throughout the pandemic, but hopefully things are a tad bit more stable now? In any case, after the surveys go out, we won't "lock them in" until August to allow for you to change your address if need be. We're using BackerKit to allow for add-ons should you wish to add on extra items from our catalog.
Speaking of, one of our publications from last year, Thomas Lampion's graphic memoir "The Burning Hotels" was nominated for an Eisner award in the "Best Single Issue" category! We're beyond thrilled at this recognition of Lampion's excellent work and implore you to vote if you're eligible (comics creators, historians, shop owners, etc.). You can see a list of nominees here and/or apply to vote here.
We'll leave you with a page from Gregory Benton & Mike Hunchback's comic for TOO TOUGH TO DIE:
Hello BBB backers,
I'm heartbroken to share the news that one of our artists, Patrick Dean, has passed away. It was not unexpected, as he'd been fighting ALS for over two years, but is a devastating loss nonetheless. Patrick was diagnosed with ALS while working on the graphic novel that became Eddie's Week. He continued to aggressively create artwork as his body failed him. Even after losing all muscle control, he drew using clunky eye gaze technology. Patrick was truly inspirational in his dedication to his comics community, his artwork and his family.
Due to our despicable healthcare system, Patrick's family has drained their savings to cover medical care, so if you're able to contribute to the GoFundMe campaign set up by his friends, please do. If you want to check out his book, know that $2 from each book will be donated to ALS Associations in Georgia and New York and half of each sale will go to Patrick's family.
In happier news, Haleigh and I are almost finished putting together the TOO TOUGH TO DIE anthology, I'm proofreading Everything Is Super, Lance Ward's FLOP SWEAT issues 2-4 are just about ready for print, and Robert H. Stevenson's Comfort Creatures is back from the printer and looks fantastic. All of these will ship out in mid-September (or, if SPX happens, you're welcome to pick up your rewards there).
I haven't yet sent out the Kickstarter surveys since the pandemic has caused a lot of housing turmoil and instability. I figured I'd wait until closer to the ship date so that you don't have to change your address if you're moving around. That said, I will send out surveys for those who chose rewards containing custom artwork so that the artists can get working on those!
Thanks again, everyone. Here's a few sneak peeks at pages from TOO TOUGH TO DIE along with a video about Patrick Dean's use of eye gaze technology to make art.
Be well, friends!
J.T.