I’d never thought of it before until I saw the above video posted on Boing Boing about a month ago, but since a lighter-than-air gas (like helium) makes your voice higher, a denser-than-air gas makes your voice lower. Neato!

Every January, the Japan America Society of Minnesota has a Shinnenkai, or New Year’s Celebration. It’s the group’s big event of the year, with Japan-related demonstrations and performances and a bunch of other stuff. It’s a good time.

This year’s Shinnenkai takes place this Sunday, January 16th 2011.  I’ll be there with a booth, selling my comics… maybe. It takes place way out in Hopkins, and buses aren’t an option since I’d be lugging a bunch of books (and it’d take two hours one way). So if I can get a ride, I’ll be there. If not, not. :-)

But you, dear reader, should go anyway! It’s a lot of fun.

Event Details
What: JASM’s Shinnenkai
When: Sunday, January 16th from 4-8pm
Where: Eisenhower Community Center, 1001 Minnesota 7, Hopkins, MN 55305 [Google Maps]
Admission: $12 adult ($17 for non-members), $12 college student/senior, $7 for children (6-17 years), children 5 years & under free

More details can be found on JASM’s website

*UPDATE* Looks like I’ll be able to make it out there. See you there, folks!

Watch on YouTube

Living in a foreign country is a premise that is ripe with dramatic & comedic potential. Many prose books have tackled the subject, but not so much in the realm of visual narrative (i.e. movies, tv shows, and comics). One of the reasons I created my graphic novel series Tonoharu was to try to fill this baffling gap. I’ve never understood why there are dozens of mediocre medical dramas and cop shows on tv, but not really any that depict the unique & exciting experience of life abroad.

A notable exception debuted late last year, in the form of the web series entitled English Teachers. Each of the eight episodes is about seven minutes long, so the whole run can be watched in less than an hour.

I have mixed feelings about the show. For one, the characters are written a little too broadly for my tastes. Also, the stories feel a bit rushed; they try to cram in standard sitcom plots into a third the running time, so conflicts are often introduced only to be immediately, unsatisfyingly resolved in the next scene.

But hey, it often takes a while for a show to hit its stride. And overall, I like English Teachers, and think it has potential. The casting and acting are good, as are the production values. And while there are aspects of the writing that frustrate me, I have to admit I want to keep watching. Here’s hoping the series is popular enough to warrant a second season.

Official Site: http://englishteachersseries.com
YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/englishseries

(Thanks to Adam Pasion for introducing me to the series)

Just a reminder that I have two presentations that are just around the corner:

This Friday, January 28th, 2011, I’ll be speaking at the University of Minnesota about Japanese Calligraphy and how it has benefited me as a cartoonist. All the details can be found here.

Then just a few days later on Tuesday, February 1st, 2011, I’ll be talking at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design about my comics, and my experiences with self-publishing. Details for that one can be found here.

So if you’re in the Twin Cities area, come out if you can!

(Note: I’m running myself ragged trying to finish up these presentations, so there will be no new blog entry this Friday.)

Pictured: Detail of an self-portrait done for Fukuoka Now

I had planned to skip this week’s blog entry because I’m busy preparing presentations, but coincidentally two interviews with me just went live yesterday, so I figured I could link to them in lieu of my weekly entry:

First off, the Minneapolis weekly mag City Pages named me as one of their top 100 Creatives in the Twin Cities. Neat! An interview with me can be found over at their “Dressing Room” blog:
http://blogs.citypages.com/dressingroom/2011/01/lars_martinson.php

Secondly, Fukuoka Now, the monthly magazine for expats living in Fukuoka, Japan, named me as their “Gekkan Gaijin” (i.e. “foreigner of the month”) for February! A lengthy interview with me can be found over at their website:
http://www.fukuoka-now.com/articles/show/4535

Thanks to Jessica Armbruster at City Pages, and Nick Szasz & Alanna Schubach at Fukuoka Now for the coverage, and the great interview questions!

The Star Tribune, Minnesota’s biggest newspaper, recently ran an article about Twin Cities cartoonists, and yours truly was among them! You can read it online here:
http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/114758329.html

Accompaning the article was a list of “10 Essential Minnesota-made Graphic Novels”, and Tonoharu was among them! You can see the full list here:
http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/114758319.html

Annnnd finally, there’s an image gallery, which includes self-portraits of MN cartoonists and examples of their work, with my humble contribution among them:
http://www.startribune.com/galleries/114671784.html

Many thanks to Star Tribune reporter Tom Horgen for the excellent writeup!

My work was recently profiled in a couple of big English language publications in Japan:

Metropolis, an expat magazine serving the Tokyo area, just put up an article entitled “Hymn to the Lonely Man”, which can be found here:
http://metropolis.co.jp/features/feature/hymn-to-the-lonely-man/

And the Japan Times recently ran an article about profiling me and cartoonist Adam Pasion, which can be found here:
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20110205a1.html

*****

My sincere thanks to Metropolis editor James Hadfield, and Japan Times writer Gianni Simone for the coverage! Also, check out Adam Pasion’s comic about living and working in Japan: http://sundogscomix.blogspot.com/

A few months ago, I gave a presentation about self-publishing graphic novels at the Loft Literary Center. Daily Cross Hatch correspondent Sarah Morean taped the whole thing, and recently assembled it into a series of web videos, which can be found here:
http://thedailycrosshatch.com/2011/02/04/self-publishing-with-lars-martinson-parts-1-8-of-8/ 

Thanks again to the Loft for having me, and to Sarah for making the presentation available online!

I recently had the opportunity to appear on Tim Young’s Deconstructing Comics podcast. You can listen to/download our conversation at:
http://deconstructingcomics.com/?p=937

Or a search for “Deconstructing Comics” in iTunes should lead you to it as well.

My thanks to Tim for the letting me come on!

I’ll be giving a presentation and do a book signing on Monday, March 7, 2011, at Magers & Quinn here in Minneapolis.

The event is part of a joint venture with visiting author/artist Ron Tanner, who will be presenting about his new book Kiss Me, Stranger. Information about Ron and his work can be found on his website: http://www.ronaldtanner.com/

This’ll probably be the last presentation I’ll be giving in the Twin Cities for a while, so if you want to hear me babble on about my work, this is your chance!

Event Details
What: Presentation/ Book Signing with Ron Tanner and myself
When: Monday, March 7th, 2011, 7:00pm – 10:00pm
Where: Magers & Quinn Booksellers, 3038 Hennepin Ave S, Minneapolis, MN, 55408 [Google Maps]

Facebook Event Page

Hope to see you there!

Tonoharu received a nice little write-up in the Park Bugle, a community newspaper. You can read it online here: http://bit.ly/h6KPgx

My thanks to reporter Ruth Weleczki for the thoughtful coverage!

*****
Also a quick reminder: I’ll be doing a book signing here in Minneapolis this Monday, March 7th, 2011. Details here. Come out it you can!

******

March 11, 2011 UPDATE: No blog entry this week. My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone in Japan!!

As you all know, Japan was recently hit by its worst earthquake since they started keeping formal records a century ago. The places in Japan where I have lived have escaped the worst of the devastation, and I’m happy to say that none of my friends & colleagues have been injured. But it breaks my heart that Japan, a country I consider to be a second home, is hurting so much right now.

As an artist of limited means, I don’t really have the money to make a big donation, so I’ve decided to try something else. For the rest of the month of March, 2011, I will donate all profits from sales of Tonoharu: Part One and Tonoharu: Part Two to the Red Cross. (This offer only applies to orders placed through my website, not books bought in bookstores or at Amazon.com; I don’t have any control over those sales).

Just so this is completely on the up-and-up, here’s a breakdown of where your money would go. (This example is for U.S. orders; international orders will pay more for postage, but the final donation amount will be the same.)

What you pay me: $22.33
Minus Postage, Paypal Transaction Fee, and Book Production Cost: ($2.38, $0.95 & $3.50, respectively)
Equals: $15.50 donated to the Red Cross per book sold.

To order, please visit my store:
http://larsmartinson.com/buy/

Or if my books don’t interest you, please consider donating what you can directly to the charity of your choice.

Book orders have slowed down to a trickle recently so I can’t say how much money I’ll raise, but I figured I’d give it a shot. If you’ve been thinking of buying a copy, now’s the time! Thanks!

Note: My inspiration to do this came from fellow cartoonist/friend Adam Pasion, who is also donating profits from his book sales to charity for the rest of the month. Check out his offer on his website: http://sundogscomix.blogspot.com/