Entries for February 2006:
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Here's a new review by our guest reviewer Tina.

Just got this call for submissions for the upcoming second volume of Prism's Unsafe for All Ages. Information for the first volume can be found here. Here's  the editor's message:

UNSAFE is our once-a-year departure from the usual teens-and-up rule for more mainstream convention appearances and Guides and a chance to celebrate some good old fashioned naughtiness. Just like last year's book, we'll debut it at the Prism booth at the Alternative Press Expo on April 8th and 9th in San Francisco.

Our opportunity for you, should you choose to accept it, is this: select a 2- to 8-page preview of a book of yours that's coming out in May or later, or come up with an entirely original piece that's never seen print, if you're so inclined. Let your imagination run wild, secure in the knowledge that you're not being asked to serve as a surrogate babysitter while a parent stops off to get a slice of pizza at the concession stand. Make your submission dramatic, funny, political, personal, scary, sexy or all of the above, but make sure it contains lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered content. (We have a reputation to uphold, after all.)

If you're interested in going the extra mile and providing full color artwork for consideration as the cover, don't hesitate to ask! (There's every chance we'll do two covers like we did last time.)

DEADLINES:
- Contact me to express interest before March 1st -- email me at zan@prismcomics.org
- Final artwork must arrive before March 24th.

THE SPECS:
- The book measures 6"x9", a bit larger than last year to better serve the art.
- Artwork should be black-and-white or grayscale, and ready to print. Your humble editor will not be coloring, inking, lettering, editing or otherwise altering your work in any way.
- Digital files or final clean B&W photocopies (we also welcome donations of original artwork) must arrive before March 24th.
- The final book will be a professional-quality, print-on-demand piece with a full-color cover produced in limited quantities for APE, our online store and other conventions.

OTHER IMPORTANT STUFF:
- Include a two- or three-sentence bio with a website or postal address so that interested readers can find out about and buy some of your work. We want to promote you!
- All submissions are unpaid, but all copyright is retained by the creators
- We may use your artwork online or at APE to promote the book
- We cannot guarantee that all submissions will appear in the book, due to space considerations.
- All creators will get two copies of the book!

This was a really fun project last year. I hope you'll join the fun this time around!
Thanks for your continued support of a non-profit organization that exists to support you!

Charles "Zan" Christensen
Editor, UNSAFE FOR ALL AGES

Two blogs have recently been brought to my attention, and both are worth regular visits: first, there's Howard Cruse's blog, where the author of Wendel and Stuck Rubber Baby seems to intend to talk about, well, everything. That's good news, in my opinion.
Then there's J. Bone's blog, where the artist of Paul Dini's Jingle Belle and inker of Mike Allred and Darwyn Cooke on Peter Milligan's X-Statix posts his drawings of men, from comics or not. Very sensual and elegant.

Batton Lash has been writing and drawing his Wolff & Byrd, Counselors of the Macabre series (titled Supernatural Law, now) for years.
With its emphasis on monsters rights and the way it takes the side of creatures usually considered as a threat to "normal" people, the series has a certain queer attractiveness. The latest completed storyline, The Life-Partner of Frankenstein, takes it one step further: the modern descendant of Dr Frankenstein creates yet another creature, as well as a mate for him - this time, no bickering between creator and creation. But when the two monsters are denied a marriage license by the local clerk, all hell breaks loose, and the special lawyers Wolff and Byrd are called in to defend the monsters' right to marry. Lash has a lot of fun drawing parallels with the fight for same-sex marriage (for example, at one point, one of the lawyers tells the court "they're here, they're weird, get used to is"), and the real-life situation, coupled with the fantasy elements, makes for an entertaining but also clever story.
You can read the whole strip online on Batton Lash's site.

Yaoi Press, publisher of Pinned! and Prisonner of the Immortal, has announced an upcoming volume set in the old West, titled Stallion and created by Spanish studio Kôsen. Here's how the publisher describes the story: "The Native American Stallion is out for revenge on the cowboy who ruined his life, but he has competition from Josey, another one of cowboy Bill's victims. Enemies at first, they unite to fight against their common adversary. They find they share a bond due to the horrible thing Bill did to both of them. Stallion and Josey are both damaged, both suffering. They find comfort in each other, and hopefully, satisfaction against their enemy Bill."
I'll review the book when it's available, next summer.