Mike Dawson Comics

It’s a special episode this week, as Mike finds himself on the PRO T.I.P.S. couch, talking to Alex about his new graphic novel, Troop 142. After Mike overcomes some initial un-comfortableness about answering questions, the Panthers settle into a rhythm, and have a pretty good chat about the origins of the book, Boy Scouts, drug use, autobiography, and male friendship. And remember, Troop 142 ships to finer comic stores everywhere on Wednesday, so keep an eye out for it, won’t you?

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Mike is back from APE, the Alternative Press Expo, and has all the updates you’d expect. What was it like renting someone else’s apartment for the weekend? Was he able to sleep there alone? Then, Alex has some complaining to do about Public Displays of Affection (PDA), and Mike talks about the most extreme example he can remember seeing. THEN, The Desert Panther, Tony Consiglio creeps into The Lair to tell us a story about how he bought a new mattress. That sounds boring, yes. But trust us, this is a good one.

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This week’s illustration of Inky the Domesticated Panther supplied by David King! Submit your own illustration of Inky to inkpanthers@gmail.com

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Things have been real busy with me since returning from the Small Press Expo earlier this month, as I set off on a whirlwind tour of my ancestral homeland (Scotland) with my family, which had me “off the grid” for quite some time. The pic above was taken on the Isle of Skye. See how healthy and not-chained-to-the-internet my daughter and I look. You can practically smell the crisp air and savory outdoors-ness. It was seriously great.

I didn’t do any drawing or writing or anything while I was gone, but that was OK, as I think I needed to just recharge my batteries a bit anyhow. I am not sure if they’re totally back at full power yet – I still haven’t had a chance to sit down at the drawing table since my return – so we’ll see. I have a pretty good idea of what I want to do next (I think) and I’m starting to feel amped once again.

But enough chit-chat, on with the announcements: This weekend I will be at the Alternative Press Expo in San Francisco. I’ll be representing Secret Acres, and will have all their fine books on hand, as well as copies of Troop 142 and old Heroclix figurines, of course. Here’s what the floor plan looks like:

On Saturday I’ll be appearing on this panel:

2:00 The Comix Claptrap . . . LIVE! – Co-hosts Rina Ayuyang and Thien Pham record an episode of their enlightening, riotous, and controversial podcast, The Comix Claptrap LIVE at APE! For four seasons, Rina and Thien have interviewed comics artists in the indie comics scene about their work, creative processes, and experiences in the industry. Each show has included New Comics Wednesday beat reportage from fellow cartoonist Josh Frankel, and new favorite segment, The Comix Cranktrap, where they crank-call a well-known cartoonist listed in their Rolodex. Also featured on the panel: Mike Dawson, Scott Campbell, Levon Jihanian, and Esther Pearl Watson. This panel promises to be total mayhem!

I’m looking forward to this. As everyone knows, I am a generally nice fellow, considered quite genial by many. However, for some reason this upstart podcast called The Comix Claptrap has historically been (what some might consider) unfriendly towards me and my own podcasts. In their most recent episode they call the incredibly talented Laura Park to task for the offense of appearing on The Ink Panthers instead of their show, as if TIPS wasn’t up-to-snuff enough for her to come on. Not nice guys, not nice at all…

So, perhaps some of that will come up, but hopefully we’ll talk about Troop 142 as well.

Anyway, hope to see some of you there!

Mike returns from his tour of Scotland to fill Alex in on all the news. First up: what is the ruling on regaling friends on all of the pleasant things that happened on a perfectly nice vacation? Yea or Nay? Also: Mike saw the movie CARS, and is outraged. Speaking of outrage, Alex is feeling it himself at New York 1′s lousy coverage of the Occupy Wall Street protests, and seriously considers heading downtown himself to throw some support to those kids in their Phish t-shirts with their hacky-sacks and Idealism.

One note: anyone in the San Francisco area this weekend should come see Mike at the Alternative Press Expo and get themselves a signed copy of Troop 142. Mike will also be appearing on a live recording of rival comics podcast, The Comix Claptrap. Come say hello, won’t you?

Comments welcome!

This week’s illustration of Inky the Domesticated Panther supplied by Matt Emery! Submit your own illustration of Inky to inkpanthers@gmail.com

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No real episode this week, as the Panthers are just back from the Small Press Expo, and Mike is scrambling to get ready to leave again, this time for Sunny Scotland. But, because we didn’t want to post absolutely nothing, here’s a mini SPX recap, and a couple other things. T.I.P.S! will be back sometime during the week of September 27th, and don’t forget if you’re in The Bay Area, you can come see Mike at the Alternative Press Expo on October 1st and 2nd, and get him to sign your copy of Troop 142.

Talk to you soon!

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Lots of great stuff in this episode: Alex returns from a trip to Las Vegas with a veritable ton of topics, thanks to all the oxygen they pump into the casinos and non-stop five-hour energy drinks. He’s on fire! A Beach Boy concert, vomit-bags on airplanes, celebrity-sightings, this trip had it all, and we discuss it at length.

And, a reminder: Alex and Mike will both be at the Small Press Expo in Maryland this coming weekend. Mike will be debuting his new book, and Alex will be headlining a spotlight panel. Come say hello, won’t you?

Comments welcome!

This week’s illustration of Inky the Domesticated Panther supplied by Danno Klonowski! Submit your own illustration of Inky to inkpanthers@gmail.com

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Mike and Alex crawled into The Panther’s Lair late Sunday evening, shortly after Hurricane Irene made her slow interminable crawl across New York City, and after two or three days of anxiety ridden anticipation, the Panthers were tired! But, ever reliable, they do their best to rally and get it up for a good show. And there’s lots to discuss: Natural Disasters, The Small Press Expo, Book Release Parties and Spotlight Panels. Mike and Alex reveal that they will be presenting one of the awards at the Prestigious Ignatz Gala at SPX, and brainstorm some ideas for comedic content.

Then! Just as the Panthers start to fall asleep, they welcome Gaz “Gary” Gretsky back into The Lair to settle some business. Astute listeners may recall last episode, where Mike confessed that he’d promised to ink a comic for his friend Gary, and had never followed through on that. Gary gets the opportunity to discuss the matter from his point of view. Plus: what is the worst Beatles song of all time, (Answer: Octopus’s Garden) and would you ever eat a bug? And not some halfway palatable bug, like a grasshopper, but some really nasty thing like a house “Eyebrow”.

Then things devolve into an argument about Novelty song, but the Panthers should be excused. We had two natural disasters in New York City last week!

Comments welcome!

This week’s illustration of Inky the Domesticated Panther supplied by Noah Van Sciver! Submit your own illustration of Inky to inkpanthers@gmail.com

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Alex and Mike creep into The Lair to discuss a number of things. There’s a whole lot of comics talk up at the front of the show: SPX, The Ignatzes, Alex’s spotlight panel, and Mike’s upcoming Book Release Party. But, once all that’s finally out of the way, the Panthers talk about more regular everyday life-type things, such as strip clubs and pole dancing, and the likelihood that civilization will eventually collapse not through weapons built by man, but by microscopic germs that will give us all Super-Colds, and we’ll just sneeze and look clammy until we all eventually die.

Comments welcome!

Illustration of Inky the Domesticated Panther supplied by Tim Hamilton. Submit your own illustration of Inky to inkpanthers@gmail.com

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We’re joined by incredibly talented MOME contributor and cartoonist Laura Park this week, and she tells us all about her recent trip to Wizard World Chicago. Hear about the celebrities spotted and the cosplay witnessed. Laura also lets us know about The Civil War, and comes down hard on the choice between Underwater and Outer Space. Additionally, the Panthers spend a good ten minutes or so in the beginning of the episode ranting about recent online discussions about Kickstarter. Sure to cause controversy!

Comments welcome!

Illustration of Inky the Domesticated Panther supplied by Rio Aubry Taylor. Submit your own illustration of Inky to inkpanthers@gmail.com

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This week it’s just Alex and Mike in The Panther’s Lair, discussing that new Rise of the Planet of the Apes movie (or, RotPotA) and how great it is. This leads us back into a familiar discussion about Animal Rights, and how all animals have them (except scallops). Then, a conversation about Parents and Comics, some interesting new announcements, and Alex calls out an cartoonist who Has Wronged Him, and asks for advice.

Accompanying illustration of Alex and Mike riding Inky, the domesticated Panther, by Daniel Spottswood.

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