Watusi: 15 years and hasn’t stopped talking yet!

It was 15 years ago this August that Watusi made his first print appearance, inside my Larry’s Kitchen zine in APA-5 #308! Little did I know what impact that tossed-off concept would have on my career, becoming not only the character I’m most associated with, but one that has helped me make collaborative connections with artists all over the country, some that go well beyond one panel in one of my jam comics. Best of all, Watusi is a character that I’ve not grown bored with, and I feel like there are a lot more stories I can tell using Watusi and the cast of characters that have developed around him! Here is the very first Watusi one-pager I ever did:

Hot off the press: Watusi #29!

I’m excited to be appearing at this weekend’s Project: Comic Con in St. Louis, and am even releasing a new Watusi digest in celebration! Here’s the scoop:

It’s an old-school collection of Watusi jam comics as Dale (finally) works through some of the strips that backlogged in his studio over the last few years. The issue showcases the talents of Joel Pfannenstiel, Ivan Martin, Brian Payne, Mark Morehouse, Drew Boynton, Owen Egan, T. Avery, Aaron T., Brien Wayne Powell, Tom Cherry, Larned Justin, Keith O’Brien, and Mike Leuszler in a variety of improvised one-page comics. 16-page black & white digest w/full-color cover for $3.00 postpaid in the US.

If you can’t make it to the show, you can find copies at Astrokitty Comics & More in Lawrence next Wednesday, or at my table during the upcoming Free State Comicon. Of course, I’m also not averse to readers contacting me directly to get a copy…

(Don’t fret– contributor copies will be shipping in the new week, too)

From the Back Issue Bin: “20 From 920”

While jam comics are fun to help create, they don’t usually hold together as logical stories. Case in point, 20  From 920, a collection of jam comics produced at SPACE 2005. Contributors include Aaron, Tom Cherry, Gynn Silva, Rick Silva, Michael Munshaw, Drew Boynton, Larned Justin, Brien Wayne Powell, Adrienne Westmoreland, Ian Shires, JB Winter, George McVey, Matt Feazell, Chris Garrett, Mike Leuszler, and me.

I was reminded of this book recently while I was cleaning my studio and pondering what to do with some of my back issue stock. Over the years I’ve created a number of comics, many of which have little or no connection with my current work. I find it difficult to talk up old items that don’t fit in with the new work I’m excited about, especially in the limited time available at conventions or other events. Still, they’re often– like 20 from 920— fun little comics … so I think I’ll make this available as a downloadable .pdf e-book. Hope you enjoy!

[May 2022 UPDATE: the .pdf version of this collection (still FREE) is now available from my Gumroad store!]