Barry's Livejournal

Mirka’s school’s cafeteria

2009-12-14T03:55:59Z

I haven’t forgotten Hereville! I’m still working hard on the graphic novel.

Right now, I don’t have time to do much of anything but draw Hereville, which is one reason I’ve been posting so rarely. I should finish drawing the graphic novel in March, and after I’ll be a bit more active with posting.

Here’s a panel I just inked, showing Mirka’s school’s cafeteria. You can see Mirka and her sisters Gittel and Rochel, sitting at the table closest to the viewer (behind the girl with the spikey hair). Gittel is the one with glasses.

Click on the panel to see it bigger.

Originally published at hereville.com. You can comment here or there.

Hereville nominated for two Lulu Awards!

2009-10-08T22:06:39Z

I’m thrilled to announce that Friends of Lulu has nominated Hereville for two awards! “The Lulu Awards recognizes the the people and projects that helped to open eyes and minds to the amazing comic and cartooning work by and/or about women.”

Hereville was nominated for the Leah Adezio Award For Best Kid-Friendly Work, and Mirka was nominated for Best Female Character.

To vote for Hereville (or for the other nominees — swell folks, all of them!), go to Friends of Lulu and follow the directions there.

* * *

Hey, speaking of Hereville, whatever happened to it? I’m still working on it, believe it or not. Comics are slow!

The graphic novel will be coming out from Abrams in late 2010 (in time for Hanukkah!). I’m just finishing up the second draft of the pencils now, and I’ll begin work on the final art in a bit over a week.

Meanwhile, just to whet people’s appetites, here’s a penciled page from chapter one:

Originally published at hereville.com. You can comment here or there.

Sketch of Mirka’s siblings

2009-04-02T19:52:18Z

Although most of them don’t come up in the graphic novel (which I’m working on, really!), Mirka actually has a lot of sisters. Just one brother, though. Anyhow, I thought this sketch of all the siblings would be fun to post.

Originally published at hereville.com. You can comment here or there.

Barry will be on The Erika Moen show tonight

2009-03-31T19:32:53Z

I’ll be on Erika Moen’s weekly video podcast tonight — you can watch it here, starting at 7:30 west coast time. We’ll be talking about Hereville and whatever else comes up. And you can also type in questions for me live. (There’s an archive of Erika’s past shows here.)

Erika’s a terrific cartoonist, by the way; I’m a fan of her autobiographical comic strip “DAR: A Super-Girly Top Secret Comic Diary.” (But be warned that Erika’s comics include lots of nudity and jokes about genitals and farts, so willing adults only should check out her comics.)

Originally published at hereville.com. You can comment here or there.

The Church I work for is hiring for a part-time position...

2009-02-23T00:02:10Z

It's a mixture of computer work (including updating our website, word processing, Access, and Quickbooks), giving tours, answering phones and emails, dealing patiently with the public (even when the public is grumpy with you), and conducting wedding rehearsals. There's more information here. If you know someone who'd be right for it, and who lives in Portland, Oregon, please pass the link along.

More Hereville Title Page Sketches!

2009-01-30T02:20:53Z

Remember, you can own a paper copy of “Hereville” of your very own!

For folks that pay extra, I do a sketch on the title page. Each sketch is different. Here are three sketches I haven’t posted before; you can see a bunch more here.

Originally published at hereville.com. You can comment here or there.

Two positive mentions of “Hereville”

2008-12-26T06:17:14Z

The School Library Journal blog has a “best graphic novels of 2008″ post, in which longtime friend of Hereville Brigid Alverson is nice enough to recommend Hereville. Thanks, Brigid! (And reading through the rest of the post, I’m very jazzed to be in such great company.)

And the blog Jewschool, which I’ve liked for a long time, posted a very positive review, as well.

Beyond the thrill of a well-told story that is steeped in Jewish culture without feeling forced or condescending, it’s a pleasure to read a story with an Orthodox heroine who’s both a feminist and feminine without being, well, a cartoon.

Originally published at hereville.com. You can comment here or there.

I recorded a Peter Beagle short story for Podcastle!

2008-12-16T20:38:09Z

Head over to Podcastle to hear me read "Gordon, the Self-Made Cat," by Peter S. Beagle. I was a huge Beagle fan as a kid, so being able to record this was a major “squeeeee!” moment for me.

Originally published at hereville.com. You can comment here or there.

Anyone want to protest Prop 8 with me, Saturday?

2008-11-12T05:15:22Z

This Saturday, there will be a nationwide protest against Proposition 8. There are two protest sites in Portland, but the one I'm attending will be the downtown site, at SW Harrison and Broadway, starting at 10:30am.

So would anyone like to join me? I'd be into either meeting up beforehand for breakfast at around 9:30 (at The Roxy, perhaps?), or meeting at the site. Let me know if you're interested.

Box Turtle Bulletin has links for cities nationwide, and there's more info at Join The Impact.

Hereville in Publisher’s Weekly!

2008-11-12T03:38:21Z

On the website, at least. (There may be some spoilers there, so don’t click if you’re allergic!) Author Brigid Alverson was very patient with my babbling during the phone interview.

From Brigid’s article:

Hansen first saw Hereville at the Stumptown Comics Festival in Portland, Oregon, where Deutsch had a booth next to his friend Scott McCloud, acclaimed comics theory guru and author of Making Comics. “One of the first booths I saw was Barry’s,” she said. “He had this amazing banner, and he showed me his comic, and I thought it was delightful, but I don’t take new clients except by referral,” she explained. The next day she saw Scott McCloud, who is one of her clients. “The next day I went to see Scott McCloud,” Hansen says, “and he walked me to Barry’s table and said ‘You really should think about representing him.’”

After reading the comic, Hansen quickly agreed to represent Deutsch, but she told him the book needed to be filled out. Deutsch agreed, and the Amulet edition will be 130 pages long as opposed to the original 57-page story. The new edition will fill in the details of Mirka’s family and introduce some new characters, but it will end in the same place as the webcomic. […]

Although he signed a one-book contract with Abrams, the publisher has the option on future volumes, and Deutsch definitely sees Hereville as the first in a series. “I don’t know how many volumes there will be,” he said. “There may be comics focusing on characters other than Mirka who live in that community but I do know there will be several more Mirka stories, ” Deutsch says.

Originally published at hereville.com. You can comment here or there.

Buying a new desktop

2008-11-09T20:45:56Z

I'm thinking of buying a new desktop -- one that hopefully won't choke on huge photoshop files with dozens of layers. Does anyone have any advice or recommendations?

(From a budget point of view, I might have to stick with Windows, even though I know everyone loves Mac.)

Barry

The 2008 Presidential Election, critiqued as a bad work of fanfic

2008-11-08T07:46:45Z

Awesome. Thanks, Elkins.

Proposition 8 passes

2008-11-05T11:23:59Z

"Eight years ago, Californians voted 61% to define marriage as being only between a man and a woman."

As of right now (12:45am Pacific Time), it seems like 52% of Californians are voting to retain that definition.

Without a doubt, the vote on proposition 8 tonight was a victory for bigots. They've won. Today.

But still. From 61% to 52%. In eight years. That's stunning.

The speed of changing opinion on equal marriage rights is awesome, and though slower than we'd like, it's in the right direction.

They've won. Today. But Massachusetts isn't going away. Neither is Connecticut. And New Jersey will probably be next, and New York. And they won't be the last. And the skies will continue to fail to fall in those states, because there is nothing the least bit harmful about recognizing families as families. And I predict that in less than a decade, we'll take back California too.

They've won. Today. But we have two states with same-sex marriage, when very recently we had none. Civil unions, which seemed like a far-out radical idea so recently, is now the moderate position.

They've won. Today. But they're losing the war, and they know it. It's only a matter of time.

Press Release: Hereville Graphic Novel To Be Published by Harry Abrams

2008-11-04T22:11:46Z

Some good news that was finally publicly announced today. Here’s the press release:

Author Name: Barry Deutsch
Book Title: Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword
Category: Children’s / YA graphic novel

Book/Deal Description:

Amulet Books has acquired the publication rights to Hereville, Barry Deutsch’s fanciful adventure comic, currently scheduled for publication in Spring 2010.

Charlie Kochman Executive Editor of Abrams Comic Arts and Judy Hansen of Hansen Literary Agency negotiated the deal. Film rights will handled by Nick Harris of Rabineau Wachter Sanford & Harris for Hansen Literary Agency.

Hereville, portions of which initially appeared as a web comic on Deutsch’s web site www.hereville.com, chronicles the adventures of Mirka, an 11-year old Orthodox Jewish girl, whose dreams of slaying fairy-tale monsters conflict with her highly structured life in an isolated, religious town.

The Washington Post has described Hereville as "what you get when you cross Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Isaac Bashevis Singer."

About the Author:

Barry Deutsch grew up in Connecticut and studied under comics master Will Eisner at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Deutsch’s cartoons have won the Charles Schulz Award for college cartooning, and in 2008 Deutsch was nominated for the Russ Manning Award for outstanding new talent. Deutsch currently lives in Portland, Oregon, in a bright blue house with bubble gum pink trim.

Originally published at hereville.com. You can comment here or there.

I’ll be at APE in San Francisco This Weekend

2008-10-29T21:01:24Z

What’s APE? It’s the Alternative Press Expo, a indy-leaning comic book convention.

If you’re in San Francisco, please stop by and say “Hi!” I’m alllll the way in back, and if all goes well there will be a big “Hereville” sign behind my table.

Originally published at hereville.com. You can comment here or there.

Hey, I Turned 40 Today

2008-10-29T10:52:29Z

So far, so good.

Oregon election: How I voted

2008-10-24T04:05:17Z

For other Oregonians who are interested, I blogged all my votes, explaining why I voted how I voted. Might be useful for the more obscure candidates and measures.

(For those who don't know, voting in Oregon is sort of a marathon; lots of things to vote for.)

Hereville Title Page Sketches (moon edition)

2008-10-22T22:00:58Z

Remember, you can own a paper copy of “Hereville” of your very own!

For folks that pay extra, I do a sketch on the title page. Each sketch is different. Here are two sketches I did recently; you can see a bunch more here.

Originally published at hereville.com. You can comment here or there.

"In some circles, your cousin is well-known for his... uh...."

2008-10-21T20:29:07Z

Anecdote from Matt Shepherd:

The conversation drifted to what I did when I wasn’t in Wemindji, so I talked a bit about translating and, naturally, moved on to the fact that I write comics. I described Man-Man a bit, but didn’t really get into details on Dead Eyes Open — again, conservative Anglican minister, and I didn’t want to freak him out too much.

“Chris’ cousin does some sort of comic strip,” his wife said.

“Oh really?” said I. Figuring that maybe this was an Internet comic strip or something, or maybe he did a comic for his local paper, or whatever. Because, y’know, I’m sitting next to an Anglican minister in Wemindji. “What’s his name?”

“You probably haven’t heard of him,” Chris said.

“Try me,” I said. “I read a lot of comics.”

“David Sim,” Chris said.

I came 90% of the way to doing a spit-take, but caught the apple juice in my mouth. Swallowed hard. “Dave Sim? Your cousin is Dave Sim?!?”

“You’ve heard of him?”

I drew Wonder Woman for charity — please bid!

2008-10-20T09:11:12Z

Well, I sort of drew Wonder Woman. The drawing has a Wonder Woman theme, anyhow.

Wonder Woman Day III, a auction of Wonder Woman drawings by various cartoonists, is on! You can bid (via a silent auction) over email for the drawings; the money will be donated to two shelters for abused women, Raphael House of Portland and Bradley-Angle House, and also to the Portland Womens Crisis Line.

I have a piece for sale, and if nobody bids on it, that will be pretty humiliating. I’m just saying. Hint. Hint.

The piece itself is pretty large — 12″ by 16″, on a 13″ x 19″ piece of paper. Elements of Wonder Woman’s costume and possessions, as well as lyrics from the TV show title music, are tattooed on the figure.

And you can own it for a song!

Well, a song, plus $20 shipping. But it’s for a good cause!

You can see the many other Wonder Woman drawings on sale here, including drawings from Jamie Hernandez, Gilbert Hernandez, Dylan Meconis, Wendy Pini, Scott Morse, and many, many others. And for instructions on how to bid, go here.

Originally published at hereville.com. You can comment here or there.

More Hereville Title Page Sketches

2008-10-17T17:09:11Z

Remember, you can own a paper copy of “Hereville” of your very own!

For folks that pay extra, I do a sketch on the title page. Each sketch is different. Here are two sketches I did recently; you can see a bunch more here.

Originally published at hereville.com. You can comment here or there.

Internet, thou hast failed me: Wonder Woman season 2 lyrics

2008-10-16T21:37:43Z

So I'm drawing a Wonder Woman themed pinup for an upcoming charity auction. Naturally, the theme song to the 70s TV show is stuck in my head, and I've played it a few times on YouTube -- the original made of awesome opening, with tacky pop-art graphics and hippy-dippy ("stop a war with love") lyrics, not the later, boring opening.

What I hadn't realized until today, because despite this post I'm really not that interested in this show, is that there's an intermediate opening, which was played for some of season 2, which has different (but still terrificly overwrought) lyrics.

And although I searched extensively, I couldn't find the lyrics to this variant anywhere.

I ask you, how is that possible? The entire purpose of the internet is to make every pop-culture reference that people who were geeky children in the 70s and 80s might ever have heard not only available, but exhaustively cataloged. The system has failed.

Anyhow, to make up for this crucial failure in internety functionalitude, here are the variant lyrics used in season two of "Wonder Woman," as best I can make them out (there's a couple of lines I'm not certain of):

Wonder Woman, Wonder Woman
All the world is waiting for you
And the wonders that you do

In your satin tights
Fighting for your rights
and the old red white and blue -- ooooooooooohhhhh

Wonder Woman, Wonder Woman
All of us are counting on you
And the power you possess

Putting all your might
On the side of right
And our courage to the test

Wonder Woman
Get us out from under, Wonder Woman

Here you fight the force of evil
And your chance won't be denied

Woman of the hour
With your super power
I'm so glad you're on our side

Wonder Woman, Wonder Woman
You're a wonder, Wonder Woman.

UPDATE: And here's yet another variant opening, although the lyrics are the same. This opening features Debra Winger as Wonder Girl, a fruitless attempt to make Lyle Waggoner look tough, and Robert Hays (from the "Airplane" movies) cast as comic relief, or maybe that's just how he looks no matter what character he plays.

Syndey, by the way, is getting interesting in Wonder Woman, which I'm trying to encourage without overdoing it.

Mike and Margo's wedding reaches new plateau of awesomosity!

2008-10-02T06:20:30Z

Mike Russell's long-running journalism comic strip "Culturepulp" covers the wedding. Whooo!

Thanks, Mike! (And thanks to Dylan for thinking of inviting Mike!)

(If you have no idea what wedding I'm talking about, well then, read Mike's strip. But you can also read this blog entry.)

Mike and Margo's (Fake) Wedding -- A Report

2008-09-25T08:53:32Z

I've posted a report over on my blog.

List of Roles at the Fake Wedding

2008-09-17T22:35:48Z

Here are roles available to be played at the fake wedding I and some friends are planning. You can also make up your own role, of course. Remember, it's this coming Tuesday!

You can email me or leave a comment here to request a role. If you prefer for us to assign you a role, that's fine; let us know that. But either way, let us know if you'll be attending, and how many you'll have with you.

(If a role is already filled, the person playing the role is listed in bold).

Please note that I don't plan to keep this list, on my LJ, up-to-date; I'll be updating the list on amptoons.com, here.

WEDDING PARTY

The Very Pregnant Bride: "Margo" (Jenn) Goal: Get married before giving birth.

Groom: "Michael" (Dylan)

Wedding Planner (Barry)

Minister (Jake)

Maid of Honor. Bride's best friend from high school. Goal: Upstage Margo to avenge stolen boyfriend in high school.

Bridesmaid: The Bride's best friend from college who is a big shot movie producer now. Goal: interview guests to see if they will be the next big star. Secondary goal: impress everyone with all the big name stars they'vve worked with.

Best Man

Groomsman & Bride's brother. Goal:Impress as many women as possible with his job as Assistant Manager of the Beaverton Olive Garden

Competitive Sibling (can be either bridesmaid or groomsman). To find their
One True Soulmate and propose marriage. TONIGHT.

Ring Bearer

Flower Girls (Sydney and Maddox)

PARENTS

Mother of the Bride (who is convinced that the baby is Michael's and wants the marriage to happen no matter what. Goal: to get her daughter good and hitched.)

Father of the Bride (Goal: Out-macho the groom's father)

Mother of the Groom (Goal: Find a new boy toy.)

Father of the Groom (Kip - "Hemingway manqué")

Groom's disturbingly young blonde stepmother. (Rachel)

GUESTS

Groom's "roommate" Troy (Katie)

Bride's very critical spinster Aunt (Bean)

Scientist with white lab coat. Goal: To be asked questions about Science! Must also be ready to do genetic testing on the spot.

Toastmasters relative. Goal: find some way, any way, to give a speech

Junior Journalist at the Oregonian. Goal: find a story so compelling s/he won't get downsized

Confused Immigrants Who Speak Virtually No English. Goal: assimilate as much as possible by end of evening

Wedding crasher. Goal: tell as many divergent stories of how they know the bride/groom as possible without getting caught; sell '89 Honda Civic.

Wedding photographer. Goal: prove to the photography establishment that wedding photos can have artistic merit.
(Note: There's no limit on how many competing photographers/videographers we can have!)

Friend of the groom who is in charge of controlling the CD player during the wedding processional. His/her goal: Not to completely screw up the music. Secondary goal: get drunk after screwing up the music.

Michael's Only Ex-Girlfriend, From 6th Grade. Goal: find a Real Man.

Traveler from the future. His/her goal: To blend in while locating the person who will be the mother of the messiah and protect her from assassination.

Aunt/Uncle/Cousin who wants to be a photographer. Goal: To be mistaken for the real photographer, and sabotage them whenever possible.

Blackmailer who knows that the groom isn't the real father of the bride's forthcoming baby. Goal: Isn't it kind of obvious? This role could also be a bridesmaid or groomsman.

Uncle of the bride who is in the mafia. Has a bodyguard/thug with him. Looking to watch out for her best interests. Goal: to let the groom and everyone know that the bride is under his protection. Secondary goal: make deals with ninjas, etc while at the wedding.

Dog Breeder friend. Goal: Sell as many greyhounds as possible. (Can also be a groomsman, if you're willing.)

Bride's sorority sisters (as many as 3). Goal: Make up for lack of bachelorette party. (Can also be bridesmaids, if you're willing.)

Doctor in the house - goal: to be recognized for their brilliance as a Doc. Gear: happens to have a genetic tester kit.

Cousin of the Bride: huge crush on the best man. goal: take as many pictures of him as possible, whenever possible.

Uncle of the Bride: thinks the Groom isn't good enough for his Margo. goal: to get the groom sloshed so he'll show his true colors.

Aspiring wedding planner. Goal: To suck up to Barry and steal his secrets. And his job, if possible.

The groom or brides Civil War Veteran Grandfather (or someone re-enacting the role of the grandfather)

Infatuated former high school teacher. Goal: rekindle the passion.

Grade School Friend. Goal: To embarrass the bride/groom as much as possible with humiliating stories.

A Republican. Goal: Vote for McCain!

The Doctor and Companion. (Emily and Eppy) Goal: Save the world from something or other, probably. You know what the Doctor's like.

Assassin, or possibly ninja: after the child who is prophesied to be savior of the world.

Secret service agents: there to protect the child

Stranger who stumbled in, thinking this was their childhood friend's funeral: find a shoulder to cry on

Cousin who is an Amway sales person: sell, sell, sell

A Democratic booster to spar with the Republican: give out Obama stickers/get people to sign up to volunteer/fight with the Republican

Person who used to be a mermaid, but gave up her voice to a witch in
exchange for being able to walk on land. Goal: To find someone who can
undo the witch's spell and return him/her to the sea.

Person who thinks s/he is a spy. Goal: To find out information
-- any information -- and take copious notes. (Prop required: small
lined notepad.)

Various possible fathers of the child - goal: to be The One. subgoal: convince Margo to come back to him. (Note: This role can be combined with almost any other role.)