Unshelved Guest Strip

Hello!  To any of you that wandered over here from the wonderful Unshelved webcomic - welcome!  Here at the Fizzmont Institute of Rad Science, I work in the Auxiliary Imaging Division.  That means I try to visually capture the various experiments that go on here.  My first book depicting the unbelievable experiment that Dr Leo Geo undertook was just released:

There's a really nice review of my book that you can read here at wired.com.  This book is great for kids that love science, or look-and-find books, or monsters, or RAD-VENTURES!  The structure and format of the book are also really important to me.  I am very inspired by book artists (especially Julie Chen), and strive to create not only an interesting story, but also an interesting object that the reader can interact with beyond simply reading words.

I also recently did a guest strip for the Unshelved webcomic that you can read HERE.

You can pick up the book HERE!

Leo Geo Reading

It is confirmed!  In conjunction with the Fizzmont Department of Exhibitions and Glamor Shots, I will be doing a Leo Geo reading this Saturday as part of the Vermont Small Press and Comic Fair.  The reading will be held at noon!  Come on down to see my animated corpse jump around and give Dr. Geo the reading he deserves.

As a reminder, the comics show will be held THIS Saturday, the 24th, from 11am - 7pm at the Winooski Welcome Center:  25 Winooski Falls Way, Suite 317

I will also be doing portfolio reviews from 2-3:30pm.  Stop by my table to sign up!

Leo Geo Sighting! Con Appearance THIS Saturday!!

Hello faithful followers of science!

Leo Geo has been out in the world for a week now, and the most amazing thing has been hearing from people who have seen it out in bookstores!  I, admittedly, did not fully grasp the scope of the distribution of this book, and am tickled pink to see it popping up here and there.  Case in point, I was on a bike ride through beautiful Woodstock, Vermont, last Sunday and stopped into a book store.  What should I find but Leo Geo, lovingly sandwiched in-between the CCS Amelia Earhart book at a Calvin and Hobbes collection!  What good company!  Here's me lurking!

I'm not one to usually request this of the ever-busy internet, but feel free to spread the word about this book!  You can pick it up from Amazon HERE!

Also, in other news, I will be attending the Vermont Small Press & Comic Fair this Saturday (the 24th) in Winooski, VT.  It is a one day show going from 11AM-7PM.  I will be there with bells on, some Leo Geo's, and a few Leo Geo extras that will only be available at shows.  I might do a reading too; I haven't heard back about a projector.  I hope to see you there!

LEO GEO IS OUT TODAY!!!

Hello!  It is my greatest pleasure to let you all know that Leo Geo and his Miraculous Journey Through the Center of the Earth is out TODAY!  This book has been a part of my life for almost five years now, and it has come a long way from the one-hour zine, to minicomic, to finished book.  The goal of the project has never changed, though; present non-fiction with the framing of fiction in an interesting way.  It was also a formal experiment: create a long visually-continuous narrative that changes reading directions.  What's really interesting is that the concept of the book being an experiment in-and-of itself made the whole process cyclical; using an experiment to draw an experiment.  I'm really looking forward to these upcoming weeks and seeing the reaction to the book, especially from kids.

I've got tons of big things in the old Jon Chad book lab, but for right now, I'm enjoying having Leo Geo released to the masses.  Yay science!!

You can pick up Leo Geo from Amazon HERE

T Minus 5 Days?!

This is getting tense you guys!  Well, I promised treats for all my little science beasties, and here at the Fizzmont Institute, we keep our word (or else the Secrets and Secretions Division sends us grumpy notes)!  As some of you might know, I post illustrations on the blog for Stern Pinball (the only manufacturers of pinball in the world)!  Well, in celebration of Leo Geo being released NEXT TUESDAY, I decided to try my hand at designing a Leo Geo pinball machine.  I love the science, physics, and electronics behind pinball.  If I had my druthers, I would do a book about THAT someday, but I'll have to talk to the boys at the Applied-Physics-are-Phun Department.  I wouldn't be surprised if they already had a machine!  Without further ado, Leo Geo pinball:

Phew, that's a lot of pinball!  You can read the entire post on the Stern Blog HERE to get a little explanation of the game, and another image!  Yay Pinball!

T Minus 6 Days!?

EEP!  Things are getting pretty tense here at the Institute.  In less than ONE WEEK, Leo Geo and his Miraculous Journey Through the Center of the Earth will be out and ready for consumption by the scientific public!

The gallery talk that I gave last Friday went very well.  It was a lot of fun to articulate how I made the book, and the narrative and visual restrictions I put on myself.  It was also really interesting to compile the images for the talk and look at the early, EARLY drafts of LG, alongside the finished images.  Here is a pic of yours truly jabbering away!  I recorded my talk, but found out later that the camera I was using was sub-par.  Next time I'll get a good video, though!

Tomorrow I have a special treat from you all that will gingerly sit in the center of my venn diagram of interests.  Stay tuned!

My First Star: School Library Journal

Greetings from the humble halls of science!  We are officially in final countdown mode for when Leo Geo comes out, March 13; just a little more than a week away!  Things have been really busy here at the Auxiliary Imaging Division.  I will soon be posting a list of all the conventions that I will be attending this Spring once I get all of my genetically-engineered ducks in a row.

I recently got a really nice review from the School Library Journal.  Since all of the February reviews were heaped together, there isn't a direct link to the review.  Instead, I took a screenshot!

Thanks Catherine!  I was asked the other day what sort of response my work has gotten from kids.  Unfortunately, I don't know!  To hear that the format is easily digestible by kids is great!