AARON ALEXOVICH – Page 2 – Art + Comics by Aaron Alexovich

BROKE YOUR STUPID HEART

by AARON on November 28, 2013 at 12:14 am

I just posted the last page of Serenity Rose.

My head is kind of swimming from what’s happened this last month, so it hasn’t quite hit me yet. I mean, I know I’ll be doing more with Serenity and Crestfallen in the future, but this is still the end of a chapter in my life. It’s big. I have a lot to be thankful for today, and I really appreciate all of you coming along with me on my rickety old stop-and-go comic cart. I hope not too many of you fell off along the way, but you’re always welcome back. We’re going FORWARD.

The big book is more or less completely done now. The only major chunk missing is the introduction, and I’m going to write that this weekend. Right now I’m in Tucson visiting Ami’s family for Thanksgiving, and man, it is super quiet. The last time I was here enjoying this quiet, I finished thumbnailing Break Your Stupid Heart. Did a little scribble of those mountains over there, right on the page next to Crawlsie smiling. This means something. What, I don’t know. But SOMETHING.

I gotta think about it.

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FROM THE VAULT

REMINDERINGS: Two days left and a few thousand away from unlocking the FIRST Serenity Rose student film, “Serenity’s Plot.” WE CAN DO IT! Spread the word, get as many people involved as you can, and all can see this terrifying relic of a bygone age. A TEASER:

WHO THE HECK IS THAT? I dunno, but there are two versions of it, one realistic and one cartoony. If we hit $55,000, the Kickstarter backers will be the first to find out!

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CRESTFALLEN MEET YOURSELF

Might be the last time I do this, so let me push a few more talented Crestfalleners in the spotlight… starting with SLINKER. Joakim Jonsson is a longtime Serenity Rose fan (and its Swedish translator!), as well as a cool webcomic artist and animator. He’s got a fun style! Check it out:

http://www.deviantart.com/film/366376683/

Looking for more sweet webcomics by your fellow Crestfallen residents? Try the very funny Em²a Cartoon by Emma Lysyk and the curiously abstract world of Imago by Tyrel Pinnegar. I like these super-stylized little guys:

Thank you again, everyone! It’s been a long month, but we’re almost there…

TWO DAYS LEFT.

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FINAL CHALLENGE!

by AARON on November 25, 2013 at 11:35 pm

Posted In: kickstarter

Over a thousand backers. My wrist is already in agony, and I couldn’t be happier. You guys ROCK.

I’m off from my work at the cartoon factory this week, so I’m finally putting the finallest final touches on all the special features for the book. We should be good to go as soon as the last bits of guest art roll in and I collect all the “Thank You” page info (SLIPCASE. Gotta figure out the slipcase!). I’m still hoping to get the books shipped by the end of January, but honestly, with everything that’s happened this month, I might want to take an extra couple weeks and be extra-fussbudgetty with the details. With the support you’ve shown, this REALLY needs to be the coolest book ever… And I think that’s worth pushing the date into February and driving the printer into gibbering madness.

I’ll keep you informed!

Okay… We’re down to the wire now, and I’m gonna throw one final challenge at you. Might be a tough one, but I know you can do it. It’s a really simple one…

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“SERENITY’S PLOT”

You remember my student film, right? “Good Guys Wear Black?” The non-Chuck Norris version?

Well, that’s actually the SECOND Serenity Rose film I made at CalArts. The first one is called “Serenity’s Plot,” and it’s sitting on beautiful, archival VHS tape right behind me right now. Would you like to see it?

If you get this campaign to $55,000 by SATURDAY, NOV. 30 at 5 PM, I’ll show you “Serenity’s Plot.” I’ll send the link direct to Kickstarter backers ONLY as soon as I get the tapes digitized. The film is kind of embarrassing, honestly. But it’s a big part of Sera’s history, and here’s your chance to see it first.

Why $55,000? Well, I just think “1000% of the target” sounds neat. Can you do it?

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FROM THE VAULT

Today’s image from the Serenity Rose vault was hanging outside my cubicle wall at CalArts in the year 2000 (SO OLD). It was a very early attempt at “marketing.” I have not gotten any better at it over the years…

If I remember correctly, there were giant xeroxed images of Hayao Miyazaki, Noam Chomsky, and En Esch (from KMFDM) next to Sera. We… we had a very strange cubicle.

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CRESTFALLEN MEET YOURSELF

Since we’re talking short films this week, why not head over to SICKENING THUD PRODUCTIONS where Crestfallen’s own WEDGE WEGMAN is a producer/director/actor/pretty-much-everything-person. They’ve already built a monstrous heap of cool horror/sci-fi/humor/pretty-much-everything shorts, and are currently raising funds for a feature film (go team THUD!).

SICKENING THUD PRODUCTIONS: “Giving the Philadelphia film industry a punk rock style KICK IN THE BALLS!” FINALLY.

And… I’m only going to do this one or two more times this campaign, so let’s spotlight one more artist: JACE MATTHEWS.

It’s SERA! And she’s only $25 in Jace’s store RIGHT NOW. Lots of other cool sculptures in there, too (Ash! Cthulhu! ZOMBIES!), so check it out!

Thanks again, everyone!

4 DAYS LEFT. AAAAAAHHHH.

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CRYPT RAIDED

by AARON on November 20, 2013 at 11:34 pm

Posted In: kickstarter

Wow, I should go digging for corpses more often! (“Treasure,” I mean. Not corpses. “Treasure.”)

Since I broke open that crypt full of old Serenity Rose treasures and issued the NEW CHALLENGE, this campaign’s gotten over a hundred tweets, posts, and pins. Thank you! I really appreciate your help spreading the word as we roll into the final week of Kickstartin’. Keep it going! Let’s let everyone outside the borders of our beloved Crestfallen know just how lovely/horrible things are on this side of the Inconsolable Wood.

Not much to report since Tuesday (other than the BADASS guest art I just got from Blue Delliquanti and can’t wait to show you), but I’ll have a LOT more to say in our last week. On with it!

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FROM THE VAULT

From out of the CalArts vault this time comes what I THINK is the very first-ever firstiest first-time sketch of Ms. Vicious Whisper. Or, uh… “Jessica Hold,” I guess.

Yeah, take THAT, “Negative Spin!” Big cross-out right through your dumb name! “VICIOUS WHISPER” RULZ!

Nah, nah, “Negative Spin” isn’t such a bad name, actually. Probably save it for when I’m DJing EBM club nights downtown, though.

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CRESTFALLEN MEET YOURSELF

Speaking of music, I got a SONIC contribution from Serenity Rose fan 5e7h0m4s. Check him out HERE. Eerie! I’d like to hear more eerie sounds here over the next week, so musicians: SPOOK ME.

I also want to apologize to MAXWELL VEX for somehow destroying his link in the last post. You know, you can double, triple, quadruple check something, but if you’re not willing to check it at least forty times, you just don’t deserve a Kickstarter. Take a look at Mr. Vex’s comic below:

If you’d like to have your work featured in CRESTFALLEN MEET YOURSELF, send me a message! I’ll try to post as many as I can over the final week.

Thanks again, everybody! $42,000… Good god… I wonder what we could do to push it over $50…

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UNEARTHED

by AARON on November 18, 2013 at 11:13 pm

Posted In: kickstarter

AWGAHD WHAT DAY IS IT?

Where am I? What… Oh… I’m in my new apartment here in Pasadena, surrounded by cardboard boxes full of old LIFE. It’s amazing the things you unearth when you make a move like this. Like doing some light tomb raiding through a big crypt of YOU.

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NEW CHALLENGE

THIS particular sarcophagus might be of particular interest to you:

That’s right: A VHS copy of Morrissey’s “Hulmerist” video collection! You spotted it! (Also: “Outlaw of Gor.”)

But no, what I’ve unearthed here is a box of old Serenity Rose treasures I thought I’d NEVER see again. All this stuff goes back to the original print run of Serenity Rose Vol. 1 in 2003-2004. We’ve got…

1) Lots of issues 3, 4, and 5 (1 and 2 are long gone, sadly)

2) A small batch of special posters SLG printed to advertise Issue #1

3) A stack of “SLG Stories” from Free Comic Day 2004 featuring an original 2-page SR story. Also some cool stuff by Evan Dorkin, Tommy Kovac, Jim Rugg and others (Oh wow, Little Gloomy!)

Why am I showing you all this? Well, because it is now YOURS.

If you’ve already pledged or plan to pledge, TWEET or FACEBOOK a link to the campaign (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1445954278/serenity-rose-10-awkward-years). Make sure to tag or “@essrose” me so I don’t miss your post, and I’ll send you something from the sarcophagus here, FREE. I only have about 50 objects to give away, so I’ll keep a list and do a random drawing at the end of the campaign to see who gets what.

The Serenity fans came out STRONG for this book, and you’ve made it into the most gorgeous thing there is. I owe you a lot already. But for the rest of our time here on Kickstarter, I could still use your help EVANGELIZING. Let’s get as many cool people as we can to come and check out our comfy little world. (I promise not to let in any of the super-loud ones.) Should be fun!

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MEDIA STUFF

Speaking of evangelizing: There’s a new interview with me this week at the brilliant comic blog ROBOT 6. Thanks, JK! Get ready for golden robots, everyone!

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FROM THE VAULT

In OTHER vault news, here’s my favorite old Serenity character design sheet from CalArts, ca. 1998:

So weird to see her with eyebrows… And I guess I was really into giant Megaman shoes back then? Dunno. Her rings and pendant were already there, but the heart-shaped skull was still years away. NEXT TIME: When Vicious was not Vicious.

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CRESTFALLEN MEET YOURSELF

Today’s Crestfallen resident in the spotlight is MAXWELL VEX (or “Jimmy Misanthrope,” as he used to be called back in the war). Vexxy has been a webcomic artist for a long time now, and recently completed his horror/sci-fi/humor/pure-lunacy series Agents of the Endtimes earlier this year. That deserves a celebration.

Thanks for submitting, sir! If you’d like to see your music, comic, paintings, writing, etc. featured in Crestfallen Meet Yourself, send me a message! At least 3 more spaces left.

Thanks again, everybody! 11 DAYS LEFT.

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HALFWAY THERE

by AARON on November 13, 2013 at 11:39 pm

Posted In: kickstarter

Wow, has it really been two weeks already? Halloween was THAT long ago? This has been, without hyperbole, the most overstuffed month of the most overstuffed year I’ve ever experienced in all my 478 centuries on earth. NO HYPERBOLE.

Did I mention I’m moving this weekend? (#PROTIP – Do not switch apartments in the dead center of a Kickstarter campaign.) In the process of packing up about six years of stuff and life, I came across a very interesting box that ties directly into what we’re doing here this month. Totally forgot it existed. Come back Tuesday to see what it is!

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MEDIA STUFF

HOORAY! The Serenity Rose Kickstarter got a mention on one of my favorite pop culture websites, STRANGE KIDS CLUB. Strange Kids is a lumpen, oozy paradise for 80’s-kid weirdos like me (The “Garbage Pail Generation”), and Rondal has been a big supporter of my stuff for the past few years, particularly my last book, ELDRITCH! (with art by the legendary “Devil-May-Care” Drew Rausch). Check out the rest of the site below!

If you’ve got a link to the Serenity Rose Kickstarter (or just SR in general), please pass it along! I like sharing.

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FROM THE VAULT

Okay, so last time I mentioned Sera was originally conjured up as a character to use for animation tests in art school. HERE IS PROOF. It’s a sheet of poses for an old “attitude” assignment… Back then I had two versions of her, one super-cartoony and the other slightly more realistic like this one. Of course, even “realistic” Sera looks pretty squirrelly… Her eyes are so weirdly close to each other… Almost… GARFIELD close.

“Just got a compliment and isn’t sure how to respond.” Boy, I know how that feels lately…

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CRESTFALLEN MEET YOURSELF

Today’s featured resident is PHILLIPA! Phillipa “Seedlet” Robinson, even. Phillipa is another very talented painter and multi-media artist who’s been sending fan art for long time now. ELDRITCH! fans might remember her awesome Anya painting from a while back:

With a Birthday Massacre belt buckle, even!

If anyone else would like to be featured in CRESTFALLEN MEET YOURSELF, you still have time! Artist, writers, musicians… Just send me a message and I’ll try to share as many of your links as I can (AT LEAST four more, anyway).

Thanks for all your support, everyone! Keep spreading the word! Remember: SLIPCASE EDITIONS are for you Kickstarter backers ONLY. Just think of your friends’ fury if they miss out!

FURY.

-a

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