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The Michael Roden Benefit Portfolio cover

May 17, 2008 Blog Entry
Midnight Ramblings

The Michael Roden Benefit Portfolio
Jim Main and Dan Taylor have completed printing and assembling The Michael Roden Benefit Portfolio. You can read the Artist's Statements from each of the contributors and preview their artwork here on MF.com. Please support this limit-edition portfolio available from Main Enterprises. All sales proceeds go to the benefit of Michael Roden's widow.

Cruse News
Howard Cruse issued the eighth fun-filled issue of his Cruse Art Newsletter. To subscribe send him your email address via the link on this page of his website.

Are Some Monsters Necessary?
Sean Azzopardi and Daniel Merlin Goodbrey announced this week that they're collaborating on a new project called Necessary Monsters. You can learn more it and subscribe to their RSS feed on their website.

What It Is by Lynda Barry
It was great to see all the news blogs noting the release of Lynda Barry's new book this week: What It Is from Drawn & Quarterly. I've been a Barry fan every since her Poodle with a Mohawk cartoon broke through the information floodgates years ago. Her recent collection One Hundred Demons was incredible, and the blurb about What It Is sounds compelling. Warning: the PDF preview from D&Q will only make you want it more.

Free Pulpy PDFs
Two new issues of pulp-inspired virtual magazines hit the ethereal newsstand this week. John Donald Carlucci and Tim Gallagher have published the third edition of Astonishing Adventures Magazine. You can download a PDF from their website—or if you'd prefer not to print it yourself, they've done it for you and made it available from amazon.com for a modest fee. (If you order from amazon be sure to click through from the Ad on their site so they earn a referral fee on your purchase.)

Publisher Wm. Michael Mott, released the fifth issue of his Lost Continent Library. You can download the 113-page PDF from his website, which also offers previous issues and books.

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May 10, 2008 Blog Entry
Midnight Ramblings

Joanna Priesley's PrimoPix
Portland filmmaker Joanna Priesley has produced, directed, and animated 19 award winning films about subjects dear to her heart: relationships, abstraction, plants, magic, menopause and prison. Bill Plympton named her "The queen of independent animation."

She's had retrospectives at the Museum of Modern Art (New York), Center for Contemporary Art (Warsaw, Poland), American Cinematheque (Los Angeles, CA) and the Stuttgart Animation Festival (Stuttgart, Germany) and has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the American Film Institute, the MacDowell Colony, Fundación Valparaíso and Creative Capital. Director Gus Van Sant called her, "One of the most interesting and adept personal animators and filmmakers. I have enjoyed her work for years and been amazed at how she gets into her own thoughts onto the screen in a very elegant and focused way."

Priestley teaches animation workshops worldwide, was founding president of ASIFA Northwest and has been a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts since 1992. Her films are available on DVD from Primopix or Microcinema International.

Her latest work, Streetcar Named Perspire is a thrill-filled roller coaster ride through the mood swings, brain fog, pimples, rage and confusion of one of life's big transitions. Computer animation drawn with Flash Pro 8.

Steiner Starts Blogging
Indie cartoonist Steve Steiner has started a new blog loaded with his comics. It includes finished work, sketches, and previews of material in development. Steve is best known for his zine, Nobody Can Eat 50 Eggs. Check out his new blog (he posts often).

Raised By Squirrels #12
The new issue of Raised By Squirrels, which begins a new story arc, is now available for download in PDF format. When last we left Rose and Tyler, they planned to turn the fiasco at Reginald's to their advantage. But how will it stand up to opposition?

The Bat Segundo Show
Former radio DJ, Bat Segundo interviews contemporary authors and artists on his show. Among his recent guests are director/animator Bill Plympton, who talks about his latest movie Idiots and Angels (Show #190). All of these great shows are available for download in MP3 format.

Imaginary Civilizations
Peter Hamlin has created a beautiful animation for the Imaginary Civilizations show at the Pony Club Gallery in Portland. Check out his website to view it.

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May 3, 2008 Blog Entry
Midnight Ramblings

Free Comic Book Day
May 3rd is Free Comic Book Day and the celebration is happening on the ground and in cyberspace. Tom Heintjes at Hogan's Alley is offering to send a free copy of his excellent small press cartooning magazine to anyone who emails a request on May 3rd.

Josh Blair is offering a free PDF file of his Candy or Medicine mini comic on his website beginning today.

30% Off Mini Comics Sale
Rick Bradford is running a 30% Off Sale at his Poopsheet Shop's eBay store. The sale runs through the end of May. You can see the original and sale prices here

Fan-Atic Press
Small press publishers Cosmic Moustache Comics and Fan-Atic press have teamed up for The Cosmic Norseman versus Morgana X #1. This new comic by Clint Basinger and Allen Freeman is available from the Fan-Atic Shop. For an interview with Allen Freeman conducted by Karen O'Brien for The Comic Buyer's Guide, check out their podcasts here.

Midnight Times
The e-zine Midnight Times provides stories for fans of weird fiction to read online or print out from PDF files. The Spring 2008 issue's theme is vampires.

New Links
So many new links were added to the Links page this week, that I won't try to highlight them all here. Suffice to say it's somewhere between 50 and 100 news ones. However, in the category of free PDF files, but sure to note the addition of Age of Aces Pulp Fiction and String #1 & 2.

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Midnight Fiction Shop
• 2008 Desk Calendar
• Self-published comix
• Movie Magazines
• Illustrated Fiction