Yes, I'm still alive. Barely.

This has been one of the toughest two-week stretches I've ever been through. Of course, in a cartoonist's world, "tough" is a relative thing. However:

A week ago Monday, we arrived home late (like, 11 pm) after an exhausting four days at KublaCon and DorkStock West.

Tuesday I was actually able to get some work done.

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were taken up with all-day Out Of The Box meetings.

Saturday was an appearance at the Chicago Book Expo (and an almost three-hour signing session).

Since then, it's been nose-to-the-grindstone (or at least Bristol Board) work.

But some good stuff's been going on in the background.

• Chez Goth and the Star Munchkin roleplaying game have shipped.
• Dr. Blink #0 and the Dork Storm Free Comic Book Day comic have printed and are shipping. I am almost giggling with delight that Dr. Blink #0 is now a reality. I have two copies on hand (one of which I'll be mailing to Chris and Melissa today).
• Attack of the Political Cartoonists is also shipping. This is the largest project I've ever undertaken. The initial print run is 15,000 copies, most of which are already spoken for. The book contains the work of 150 editorial cartoonists, and is published in conjunction with the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists. Every cartoonist has a page, and more than a dozen Pulitzer Prize Winners are included. I haven't talked much of this project as - frankly - I've been worried sick about it. I think it will do VERY well (all the major chains have glommed onto it in major ways). But the costs have been far larger than the usual 4-6,000 print runs of the average Dork Tower trade. I'm not a big fan of writing checks for many multiple thousands of dollars. More on this later, but it should be in stores by the middle of the month.
• I'm starting a new comic strip for Amazing Stories (the first issue of the relaunch goes to press soon). It's called "Redshirts." I was happy with the first couple of strips I drew up, and it's been an enjoyable project. The last time I started a new comic strip on my own was this little thing called "Dork Tower"...
• The reprints of Livin La Vida Dorka (now listed as the collected Dork Tower Volume IV) and Heart of Dorkness are finally back from the printer.
• Dork Tower 28 goes to press this week. Knock on wood.
• Dave Arneson (I'M NOT WORTHY! I'M NOT WORTHY!) has written a wonderful introduction for a new, full-color Dork Tower e-book collection that will be available soon. It contains ALL the cartoons that have ever run in Scrye and Dragon magazines. But damn, Dave (one of the original creators of D&D) is one of my favorite people in the gaming world. One of the biggest thrills I've ever gotten in my brief Gaming Pro career was returning to the Dork Storm booth one GenCon to see Dave trying to buy some Dork Tower stuff. I say "try" because as soon as I saw him there, I ran to the booth and told him his money was NO good there: he could have ANYTHING he wanted, on me! I was flying for the rest of the day.
• Wil Wheaton asked me to illustrate his new book, "Just a Geek." So I came up with a Cartoon Wil (not so much a caricature as Wil done in Munchkin style) that he and his publishers seem very happy with. Yay!
• I've signed a contract with a top-notch manufacturer of plush products that you probably know. The first two items will be a plush Gilly doll, and an Igor plushie that will double as a dice bag. (Don't ask me where you have to reach to get the dice...I honestly don't want to think about that).