TYPE ILLY PRESS, GIVING BACK

TYPE ILLY GIVES BACK



Yeah y’all:



First off, this update is to let my friends and fans know that I am very much STILL ALIVE and working hard. TYPE ILLY press is still chugging along, changing the game for hip hop comics everywhere. BIG UP to innocentboy productions, making big strides with their comic SONG OF SONGS



[link]



and my man FELIPE, the author of MBQ. Check out his myspace page @



[link]



I’m a big fan of their stuff and I’ve always felt like the more other hip hop comics blow up, the better it is for me. So, if anybody gets a sec, check out them sites.



As for me, two big things on the horizon.



FIRST, I was recently contacted by a local inner city library in Raleigh. The folks at the Richard B. Harris library saw the article on me in the Raleigh News Observer and they thought I’d be a good person to talk to about my comics.



To read the article, go here: [link]



I met with them recently, and they liked me a lot and are very excited. I’m going to speak to the kids, give mini-tutorials on how I make my comics, and oversee a art contest they are having with the kids down there. They said they expect a lot of turnout, because they always have folks reading in their graphic novel section and they know for a fact that MANY are comic book fans.



This is a very positive development. I have always wanted to use TYPE ILLY not only as a money making venture, but as a way to promote visual art in our community. I was very glad and eager to work with the folks down at the library – my artistic development was encouraged at places like Richard B Harris when I was young, so I think its only right that I give something back.



So that’s the altruistic angle.



BUT…



This will probably turn into a good way to market, too. (Props to my brother-in-law Mark Nelson for suggesting something like this to me months ago. BIG MARK!!!) Terry, the librarian who contacted me, made a point to tell me to talk as much as I wanted about my comics, especially NEFERTITI JONES. (Everybody likes her yall, it’s a trip!) Folks who have never heard of a black guy actually doing comics will get to see a black female superhero for the first time, and I get to say ‘if you like this, hit my site @ [link].’



I told the library folks that I wouldn’t turn the event into a sell-a-thon. (I still gotta keep it classy!) I will be handing out cards and giving away comics to the kids, though. Again, that’s partly altruistic, but also partly marketing.



Like drug dealers say ‘the first hit is free.’



The other big thing? Trying to get ready for the SAN DIEGO COMICON.



It’s a huge deal, the biggest collection of comic folks in America. Hollywood is always there, too, lurking in the background to trick folks into signing their lives away for a few pennies. I’m going to network and meet more industry folks, and to see if there are any decent deals to be had for my comics.



D-Day is the third week in July. I’ll keep y’all posted as things develop.



‘Til then? Browse the art gallery on my page (there's a new deviation)
OR hit up the site

[link]

Hollback y’all



~ M