Welcome, fellow mutts! Despite the awfully crazy weather, I hope everyone is making the most of summer and looking forward to a beautiful, cool, fall. The Dalai Lama’s Heart to Heart environmental message is becoming more important each day.
Speaking of fall: September 26 is the official pub date of my new Marvel Comics graphic novel, The Super Hero’s Journey. I'm happy to announce you can pre-order it here starting today! I will be signing the bookplates for any books ordered from www.the-mutts.com, and everyone who pre-orders will be able to get a free 8”x10” print.
This book is something completely new from me and the Marvel Universe. It’s part autobiographical, a memoir of my childhood fascination with comics — and it’s a tale of discovering the super being inside us all.
It’s a mashup of my art and paintings with the classic ’60s comic pages of the great Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Steve Ditko, telling a new story for a new audience. It features The Avengers, The Fantastic Four, The Hulk, Doctor Doom, The Black Panther, The Watcher, and your friendly neighborhood Spiderman. It was a boyhood dream to play with these time-honored characters. I hope you love reading it as much as I loved creating it.
And speaking of super hero comics: San Francisco's Cartoon Art Museum is having an auction of original tribute art in honor of the late Dave Stevens and his creation The Rocketeer. The proceeds will help the Museum and the Hairy Cell Leukemia Foundation. My contribution goes to auction on ebay on August 21. I'm really happy with the piece and it was a lot of fun to draw.
And speaking of auctions: The National Cartoonists Society is having an original comic strip art auction on September 7 to benefit the NCS Foundation. The NCSF supports cartoonists in need, funds education initiatives for cartooning, and does community outreach including children’s hospital visits. I've donated a classic MUTTS daily from 2013 starring Earl, Mooch, Millie, and Ozzie and added watercolor to shweeten it up a bit. As you know, I don't let go of many MUTTS originals, so this is a unique opportunity to have a MUTTS of your own. When the auction goes live at 4pm(ish) on September, you can bid here. Good luck!
And speaking of good luck: Last month I had the honor of visiting New Mexico and meeting up with poet / Rumi translator (and dear friend) Daniel Ladinsky. What a joy — just being in his presence was inspiring. You may recall that, a few years back, we collaborated on Darling, I Love You (Poems From the Hearts of Our Glorious Mutts). Daniel’s poems go straight to your heart. I recommend that you spend quality time with any of his books. Love Poems From God is a personal favorite.
And speaking of love: August is Clear the Shelters Month. Our shelters are full, so please, please consider adoption. And I have a personal request. Perhaps you saw two bonded real-life cats on the MUTTS Instagram page a while back. My wife and I helped a neighbor trap a fluffy black cat, and the shelter staff named him Little Earl. He soon found a shelter buddy named Saxon (aka Mooch). They are still at SAVE Animal Shelter in Skillman, NJ … waiting, waiting, waiting. If you're thinking of getting a pair of kitties, please think of them. And if you adopt them, I'll thank you with a drawing of the pair with Earl and Mooch to hang in their new home.
That's it for August, but September's going to be a very busy month for me, starting with the first stop of The Super Hero’s Journey book tour at Baltimore Comic Con on September 9-10. It will be the first of many appearances. We'll keep you informed wherever my super hero journey takes me next.
Stay safe and leave out some water for our wildlife friends.
Patrick
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