GR2700 R.I.P.

Hey Oilers,

See this lovely machine? That is Oily's new (used) Risograph. I had to plunk down a hefty chunk of change to get it. Last week, the old risograph malfunctioned and it was beyond my know-how to get it back up and running (if anyone wants a GR 2700 for parts get at me). So luckily there was a machine for sale a couple hours away and I jumped on it. Why am I annoying you with this? Well, this really ate into Oily's budget for the rest of the year so, so I have decided to keep the subscription offer open until the end of July. Since I have had to push back printing since my old machine broke, I have more time to let more people in. I didn't hit my goal of 200 subscribers this time out. Currently, we have about 150. If I can get 50 more, I would be a happy camper. Maybe I didn't push this subscription campaign as hard as I could or maybe you all are just sick of Oily. I don't know. So yeah, if you want to subscribe to some cool comic books, now is the time. Get 5 comics in the mail every month. Quality shit. Some names I of cartoonists, I have coming down the pike are: Leslie Stein, Sam Gaskin, Melissa Mendes, me, Michel Fiffe (interview zine), Ben Urkowitz, Darryl Seitchik, and more.

Thanks for reading. I never take your support for granted. 

Chuck

SUBSCRIBE NOW

Snake Oil 8 Party at Bergen St Comics

Okay, we are having a thing. I just drew this flier for two nights of comic book parties at Bergen Street Comics in Brooklyn. Thursday, Nov 8th is Koyama Press with Deforge, Patrick Kyle and Jane Mai. And then on Friday, Nov 9th, Spaceface Books/Oily Comics bring a whole bunch of artists and their new books. I will be debuting my new issue of Snake Oil (8) published by Space Face and I will be signing people's foreheads. Oily will have a bunch of early releases there with the artists present. Look at the flier. Lots of names.

And then the next day is of course Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival where Koyama, Space Face, and Oily will also be exhibiting. 

Bergen St Comics is a great shop. If you haven't been there then make your first time there one of these nights and rub elbows with some sweaty cartoonists.

Oily October

Hey Oily Fiends,

Anybody still read this thing? Just want to say I have 5 new fresh Oily Comics ready to go this month.
Very exciting batch. I have so many good comics coming soon. And it isn't too late to get a 3 month subscription. Also want to give thanks to Rachel Dukes for being the very first Oily intern and helping me put these books together. Rachel is a student at The Center for Cartoon Studies and is no stranger to the comic books arts.

TEOTFW 12 by Charles Forsman
http://oilyboutique.bigcartel.com/product/the-end-of-the-fucking-world-part-12

Moose 12 by Max de Radigués
http://oilyboutique.bigcartel.com/product/moose-12

Lou #7 by Melissa Mendes
http://oilyboutique.bigcartel.com/product/lou-7

Close Your Eyes When You Let Go 3 of 3 (concludes series)
http://oilyboutique.bigcartel.com/product/close-your-eyes-when-you-let-go-3-of-3

Elizabeth of Canada #1 by Michael DeForge (NEW series)
http://oilyboutique.bigcartel.com/product/elizabeth-of-canada-1

SPX, Pennsylvania, and life

Every year, Melissa and I load up the car with comics, drive to Bethesda, Maryland to sell comics. After that we load whatever is left into the car and drive to my mom's house in Pennsylvania where we see family and friends for a few days. Then we drive back to Massachusetts.

SPX is sort of the closest thing to a hometown show for me. It was the first show of its kind that I ever attended in 2004 or 5. This year, as you probably know, was quite good. The guest list was golden, the money and alcohol flowed, and the internet became tangible.

For me, this year felt like a solidifying of Oily Comics as a project and force in my life. In my head I am always arguing whether or not to retire it at the end of the year or to keep it rolling. I think enough people coming up and talking to me about it has made me realize that this thing is a thing. So I've decided to keep this ball rolling and see where it goes. See what colors I can print in. See how long my risograph will run.

I'm a fan of Tom Spurgeon's list of thoughts about shows so I am going to try that. Here we go.

• Meeting a handful of FOOCers and seeing membership cards in their wallets. Ridiculous and great
• I've noticed a lessoning of my usual starstruck paralyzation. I talked to people I was previously scared to. Hey, people are nice. Give them a chance.
• Having comics be put into the the Library of Congress and the Dylan Williams collection at OSU.
• North Bethesda is still a scary place. At one point I was standing in a parking lot waiting for my lunch all alone, blackbirds were eating trash, Bad Company was playing out of a car stereo and Francoise Mouly was walking down the Rockville Pike with a drug store bag in her hand.
• Michael DeForge and Patrick Kyle are a like a quiet beavis and butthead. Not sure what this means but I am saying it.
• I drank bourbon all weekend and stayed away from beer. This was a good choice. Beer makes me feel gross inside.
• One guy came up to the table and bought every single Oily comic on the rack. I am pretty sure that there was someone or two or three sending a lot of people my way. I heard it a million times over the 2 days. So thank you to whomever was doing the sending. My money is on Annie Koyama.
• I bumped into Matt Seneca, Chris Mautner and Jog of Comic Books are Burning in Hell and thanked them for talking about me on the air. Those are some nice boys. I can't wait to read Seneca's Daredevil comic.
• Thanks to table mates Melissa Mendes, Alex Kim, Sean Ford, and Joe Lambert for always being perfect.
• Loved talking shop with Rich Tommaso. I hope I can be half the cartoonist this guy is when I grow up.
• I got to listen to Noah Van Sciver gripe which is always a pleasure.

Alright, I've run out of things to say. I'm tired. Time to crash. Here are a few more pictures from the trip. Stay tuned for new Oily Comics. Will get the September releases up on the store by the end of the week. Shipping subscriber copies tomorrow.

Birthday pie from mom.

Birthday present for my brother. Dan Zettwoch Cardinals print. 

Oh BTW Here comes F.O.O.C.

Oily Comics is now entering into a subscription experiment called F.O.O.C. (Friends of Oily Comics).  I am offering a subscription to ALL of Oily Comics releases for a limited time. Your choice. $30 for 3 months and $50 for 6 months. I hope this isn't too steep a price but I feel like I will make it worth it. I'm giving out extras like an Oily Comics button, a Friends of Oily Comics membership card designed by Michael DeForge, a hand embroidered "O" patch by Melissa Mendes and whatever else I feel like throwing in there. Consider this sort of a fund drive as well. I really want to keep making and publishing mini comics and possibly some bigger productions down the line.

I recently acquired an old Risograph printer which is already making my like with Oily Comics easier. But that thing can also print color but I need some dough to make that happen. When subscribing you are really helping me get to that next level where I can make some cool stuff with talented young cartoonists as well as some more established ones.

So yeah, in other news. Summer is going well. Really getting used to living way out here in the mountains. It's not so good for my verbal skills, though. I'm working away on TEOTFW and a new comic I hope to have at BCGF in November. Thanks for stopping by.

c

UPDATES

Lot's happening here:

• New Oily Comics are available in the shop by Melissa Mendes, Max de Radigués, Jessica Campbell, and myself. Please order some. We need to buy ice cream and cat food. Just kidding. We are fine.
• I made a very simple Oily Comics site and bought the domain of oilycomics.com. Go there and look. It's B & W.
• CAKE is happening next week. We are driving all the way to Chicago. Come buy some comics from us. I'm on a panel as well. Gross.
• I went to the Albany Comic Con today and just made a ton of posts on my tumblr about it and all the crap I bought. Go look! Speaking of which, if you don't follow my tumblr, please do. I feel like I use it a lot more than this blog now. While I don't want to abandon blogger just yet, Tumblr is just so sticky and fun.
• Melissa and I saw a white spider eating a fly. No pictures. Sorry.
• We saw Prometheus. We were entertained.
• You can now buy The End of the Fucking World in digital form (PDF, ePub) and read it on your iPad, Android thingy, or your computer. I'm serious. I love technology. If I had an iPad I would be reading comics on it. 

OILY at TCAF 2012

Table 102 between to Secret Acres and One Percent Press is where you can find Oily Comics Books and friends such as Alex Kim, Sean Ford, Melissa Mendes and Joseph Lambert. New stuff we'll have at TCAF are The End of the Fucking World #7, Lou #3 and an interview zine with Noah Van Sciver.
Also, we'll have the brand new Sundays #5 edited by Sean Ford who will be signing his new tome, Only Skin at the Secret Acres table. We'll also have copies of the brand new Snake Oil #7 published by Retrofit Comics who will also be at the show with a ton of great comics. We'll also have some prints including a brand new Tyrant print by Steve Bissette and colored by me (chuck forsman).

We've noticed that ever since we started signing our comics "Charles Forsman" that people are now calling us that as opposed to "Chuck." That is totally fine but I really don't care. If you called me Chuck before then keep doing so. Only my mother and the state of California call me Charles.

I have a cold as I type this. I really hope I recover by this weekend. Nothing worse then travelling and selling comics while ill.  Despite that I have a ton of enthusiasm going for this trip to Toronto. I can't wait to see new and old friends. These shows means lot more to me ever since we moved out to the country. It's pretty amazing to get all these like-minded folks together. Makes me feel okay.

See you this weekend in Toronto.

-c

TEOTFW #5

Hi Friends of the Snake Oil Comics Society,

I have completed issue 5 of The End of the Fucking World. It is on its wat to several comics shops and available in the Oily Shop right now.  Thanks to everyone that is reading along. Thankfully this comic is still fun for me to make and hasn't become a 'thing.'  That was the goal when I did the first issue. I just wanted to play and not worry about it so much.  so yeah. This summer is looking to be full of conventions and fun. I am also working on Snake Oil #7. I am about 20 pages deep. That will be published by good 'ol Retrofit comics this summer. By y'all.

7 new comics in the Oily Shop

7 new comics in the Oily Shop today!  Yeah! SEVEN!
We have Moose #1-6 from Belgium's own Max de Radigués.  I've been enjoying the hell out of this comic since Max started it last summer. Max is so good at cartooning teenagers and their awkward lives.
And then we have the debut of Melissa Mendes's follow up to her fantastic Freddy Stories, Lou #1. Lou is about a 9 year old tomboy and her kind of messed up family. We are excited for this new ongoing comic from Melissa. She connects to the live of kids like as if she still was one.
We love kids and teenagers at Oily.
Coming soon...The End of the Fucking World #5.