On September 19-20, I will be displaying two original Kenny Chronicles comics at Toonfest in Marceline, MO. One of them will be the Lardy’s Jr. one, and the other one MIGHT be a comic that will be posted AFTER Toonfest(a sneak peek!).
Also showing up at Toonfest will be Jerry Scott(Baby Blues & Zits)(Read new post for update), Jan Eliot(Stone Soup), Dave Coverly(Speed Bump), and Greg Evans(LUANN). They will be speaking at the theater AND their original art will be displayed alongside mine! Or, mine displayed alongside theirs, more accurately.
I will keep you updated on this. I hope to see you there.
(Update: Tom Richmond will be speaking)

Jerry Scott is unable to make it to Toonfest in Marceline, MO, so the nice people of Toonfest have asked Tom Richmond to take his place. Tom spoke there in 2005, and I’ve got to say he’s a very good speaker. Very interesting and fun guy. He was also going to be there anyway this year, so he was a natural choice to emcee the thing.
Source: Tom Richmond’s blog and the official Toonfest website.

For your enjoyment, here’s the photo gallery from last year’s Toonfest.

My trip to Toonfest 2008 will be fun, and I’ll bring back more photos, but it’s also hard on the wallet, being a 5-hour drive with cargo. Therefore, here are some affiliate links for things I’m sure you’re gonna like, starting with my own stuff(in images). A portion of the proceeds goes toward making the artist happy.

DVD’s
Tiny Toon Adventures – Season 1, Vol. 1
Mickey Mouse in Black and White
The Adventures of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit
Animaniacs, Vol. 1 also Vol. 2 and Vol. 3
A Night at the Opera(Marx Brothers)
Freakazoid – The Complete First Season

Books
The Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book
The Tales of Beedle the Bard, Standard Edition

For artists
How to Make Webcomics
Graphic Artists Guild Handbook: Pricing & Ethical Guidelines
Bamboo Fun graphics tablet

Also, if you have a webcomic, advertise at the top of KennyChronicles.com for pennies a day! It’s not much, but every cent I earn on that goes toward advertising.

As is my habit, I’ll be making the long trek up to Marceline, MO(boyhood home of Walt Disney, and me as well) for Toonfest. The main events will be Saturday, September 19th, but I do urge you to walk around the day before, too.

This year’s cartoonist guests include editorial cartoonist Mark Fiore; creator of the comic strip Non Sequitor Wiley Miller; Hallmark Cards cartoonist David Mowder; and MAD Magazine art director Sam Viviano.

There’s a great parade in the morning with the cartoonists as the grand marshals. Plenty of events throughout the morning/afternoon. The highlight for me is when the cartoonists talk about their work at the Uptown Theater. VERY insightful, and so awesome to meet famous cartoonists. If you’re a cartoonist, this will be of very special interest to you. They also do free sketches!

Other cartoonists come to join the fun, many including original art in the gallery across from Ripley Park. I’ve had art there twice, and I might have some there this year, too. Since all my comics are now digitally-drawn, I don’t have many originals to choose from.

Big thanks to Tom Richmond for mentioning the lineup in his blog. I didn’t know that was announced yet.

Toonfest Website.

Galleries of my past Toonfests.

Next week, I’m going to Toonfest to chat it up with other cartoonists, including the art director for MAD Magazine. I’m also visiting family there.
Since I’ll be so busy, I won’t be drawing any comics for the 14th and 17th. I do plan to update some, but no comics. One update will be the announcement of a new resource for cartoonists I’m putting together.

Toonfest happens every year in Marceline, MO. This year it’s the 18th & 19th, with most things happening on Saturday the 19th. This year’s lineup of speakers are Wiley Miller(Non Sequitor), Mark Fiore(political cartoonist), Dave Mowder(Hallmark illustrator), and Sam Viviano(MAD Magazine art director). For more information, visit Toonfest.net.

I’ll be there, walking around, fanboying around the cartoonists. Jeff Keane, the cartoonist of Family Circus will be there(He’s also the inspiration for little Jeffy, seeing as his father, Bil Keane, is the creator of the comic), as well as a few other cartoonists I’ve never heard of.
More information at Toonfest.net. Full list of artists is here.

I meant to post this a full month in advance, but I just now looked at the calendar and realized it’s only TWO WEEKS AWAY! Yikes. Better late than never.

I went to Toonfest in Marceline, MO on September 17th. Got to talk to Jeff Keane(The Family Circus), as well. Here is video from the parade, followed by a gallery of photos I took while there.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7nHsSq1VM0

I just found out that Bil Keane, the creator of Family Circus, died yesterday of congestive heart failure at the age of 89. I met his son, Jeff Keane, at Toonfest in September of this year. He was on stage, talking about the comic and his dad. With the number of comics in the newspaper that were created by people who have since passed(Hagar the Horrible is now drawn by the creator’s son, whom I’ve met also), I was surprised that Bil was still alive as Jeff talked about him, so that was nice to hear.

While there, I made sure to get a sketch of little Jeffy from Jeff Keane, who as you might have guessed is the inspiration for that kid:

I had told him that I was going to jokingly ask for a sketch of Not Me, and he said there wasn’t much to that character. To my surprise, he added Not Me as well, LOL!