Dear Blogspot...

You have been great for many years, but now I finally have a website:

mariswicks.com

Please look there, and on Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram, to see more of my work and to follow my adventures!

Cheers,

Maris

In less than a month, Human Body Theater will be making its debut(t)!  Have you ever wanted to read a 240-page comic book about your very own fantastic human body?  Well, now you can.  This book includes classic hits like “Why Do We Yawn?”, “How Does a Cut Get Infected?” and “Where Do Farts Come From?”.  There are elaborate dance routines by oxygen molecules in tutus and a chorus line of infectious diseases (because I though everyone would want to see a bacterium in fishnet stockings).

I’ll be posting some teasers from the book over the next few months, so stay tuned!

Look for Human Body Theater on Oct 6 (or you can pre-order it here)!

Greetings, meat machines!  Happy (belated) Valentine's Day.  While I do not condone a holiday filled with waxy, cheap chocolates, chalky candy hearts, and sappy poems, I DO fully support cardiovascular health!  BOOYEAH.  So, take your heart on a date.  Personally, I took mine for a brisk two-hour shoveling of snow, followed by a 5-mile walk in said snow.  It sure beats (ha!) staying in and eating bad chocolate.

The above image is from my next book, Human Body Theater, coming out this October from First Second Books!

The Twelve Days of Fishmas

Sorry, blogger ol' pal, I've been neglecting you!  Here's a little link to a guest post I made for the New England Aquarium's Dive Blog...it is fishily festive.

Comics Talk TONIGHT!

That's right!  Zack Giallongo and I will be chatting about comics at the Framingham, MA Barnes & Noble!  Tonight (July 30, 2014) at 7 PM!  More info and directions here.

DISCLAIMER: WE WILL NOT BE DRESSED AS EWOKS

Bravest Warriors and the Catbug of DOOOOOOOOM

Boom! Studios just announced issue #25 of the Bravest Warriors comic, and I got to do one of the back-up covers!  The book is written by Kate Leth and drawn by Ian McGinty, with an incentive cover by Chip Zdarsky.  It'll be out in October, but why not feast your eyes upon it now?  More info over on Kate's tumblr.

2014 Hourly Comics

Hey all!

I gave in to peer pressure and drew some hourly comics this year!  Here they are:

Going across the pond...

Hi internet!  I'm going to Europe!  TOMORROW!

Joe and I are going to be at Thought Bubble in Leeds; if you'll be at the show, please come say hi!  I'll have copies of Primates and Yes Let's for sale, as well as prints (pictures HERE).

I will also be taking commissions; here's a look at my rates:

9"x12" bristol board black and white drawing - $20
9"x12" bristol board color drawing (watercolor and/or marker) - $40

$5-10 for additional characters

You can order them ahead of time from me (for pick up only at Thought Bubble), and pay via Paypal.  I can be reached at maris(at)dotforforeyes(dot)com.  I'll also be taking commissions at the show.

ALSO...Ming Doyle, Joe Quinones and I will be doing a signing at Big Bang Comics in Dublin Friday November 29 from 6 - 8 PM.

Boston Book Festival!

Hi all!  I'll be on the 4:30 PM "Middle Grade: Graphic (Non)Fiction" panel at the Boston Book Festival today!  All the events are FREE!

Updates, updates, updates...

Well, 2013 sure is flying by.  Apologies for the lack of posts...here's a quick update of what's been going on:

Stuff that came out:

Batman Black and White #1
I wrote an 8-page story (drawn by Mr. Quinones) in this amazing anthology!

Batman '66 #3
I was the colorist for Joe Quinones' Joker story (written by Jeff Parker).

Stuff that happened:

M.I.C.E. was AWESOME!  I love that we've got a great little local comics expo in the Boston area; thanks to everyone who stopped by to say "hi" or came to my panel/workshop!

What's up next:

I got to color this sweet RoboCop cover that Joe did for NYCC (we've been collaborating a bunch recently, can you tell?):

New York Comic Con!  I will be there Thursday and Friday!  I don't have a table in Artist's Alley, but I will be doing signings at First Second and Boom! Studios.  Here's the schedule:

Thursday:
Boom! Studios ---- Booth 1344
5:30 - 6:30 signing with Joe Quinones

Friday:
Boom! Studios ---- Booth 1344
1:00 - 2:00 signing with Joe Quinones

First Second Books ---- Booth 2237
3:00 PM signing

Other than that, I'll be walking around the con on those two days...

And a big giant thanks to everyone who has bought/read Primates!  I'll have some news about the next big project I'm working on soon (along with some updates about some fun little projects)!  Okeedokes, I think that's it (for now)!

MICE!

(poster by the ever-awesome Bob Flynn!)
The Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo (MICE) is this weekend!  I'll be there selling my wares (including "Primates" and "Yes, Let's")...I will be on the panel Educating With Comics at 11 AM on Saturday and running a workshop called Super Science Comics! at 2:30 PM on Sunday.  Please come by and say hi!

BOSTON COMIC CON!!

Happy Friday everyone!!  This weekend is Boston Comic Con, and I got to do a 3-cover variant for the show!!  It’s the Newbury Comics special connecting cover, and it’s chock full ‘o’ Adventure Time and Boston things!  I’ll be selling prints and copies of Primates and doing commissions!  I’ll be at table AA330 and surrounded by awesome New England folks like Joe Quinones, Ming Doyle, Erica Henderson, Randall Trang, Emmy C…so stop by and say hi!

Floating World signing!

Hey internets - just a reminder that I will be signing copies of Primates at Floating World Comics from 4:30 - 6:00 PM in Portland, OR!!  Come by and say "pant HOOT"!

A hoot, a hello, and a big THANK YOU!

It's been almost two weeks since Primates came out, and what a wild two weeks it has been!

A HUGE gorilla-sized thank you to all the incredible folks at Heroes Con, Brookline Booksmith and Hub Comics...and everyone who has bought, borrowed or read Primates so far!

An orangutan hug to all the bookstores, comic book stores, libraries, bloggers, journalists and everyone one else who has helped to get the word out about Primates.

Here's a little media round-up:
Wired
DigBoston
Largehearted Boy
Dear Teen Me
ComicBookResources
LA Times

A chimp salute to all my friends, neighbors, family and co-workers for their ongoing support. You guys and gals are the best!

And a Great Ape applause for Jim and all the wonderful folks at First Second Books!

PRIMATES IS OUT!!!

Hi there!

Primates is officially out!  If you like science, or comics (or both), please check it out.  I've been working on this book with Jim Ottaviani and First Second Books for 5 years, so I am very excited to finally welcome it into the word.

All this week, I'll be posting Primate-related things.  So bear with me.  Or rather, "ape" with me.

If you have any questions about the book, feel free to ask!

Here's an excerpt, courtesy of one of my favorite sites BoingBoing.

NY Times Book Review

Primates is in the NY Times Book Review today!  It's reviewed by Carl Zimmer, one of my favorite science writers!  Read the review here.

Countdown to Primates!

Primates' release date - June 11th - is just a few short weeks away!  I've added a list of events on the side, and I'll be posting a lot about the book.  Jim's got fun stuff over on his blog (with more Michigan-centric events).  So, I sure hope you all like Great Apes.

Here's a piece that both Jim and I wrote for Orion Magazine's blog.  Look for more Primates-related articles soon!

And here's a banana, just for you:

TCAF!

I'll be at the Toronto Comics Arts Festival this weekend!

It's my first time in Toronto, and I am EXCITED!  Joe Quinones and I will be hanging out at TABLE 216.

Primates isn't officially out yet, but I have 10 copies of the book that I'm giving away for free.  There's a slight catch; if you want a book, you have to do a little work (I promise that it's FUN work).  Come see me for more info!

And I'll have a bunch of other stuff (books and prints):

Free Comic Book Day: Acme Comics-style

Tomorrow (Saturday May 4th) is Free Comic Book Day!  Joe and I (along with a bunch of other cool comics peeps) are celebrating this joyous occasion at Acme Comics in Greensboro, NC.  If you're in the area, stop by anytime between 10 AM and 5 PM for a free sketch!  I'll also have prints for sale, as well as a preview copy of Primates for you to lay your eyeballz on.

If you're not in the area, be sure to pick up the Free Spongebob Comic!  It's got a one-page comic about camouflage (by yours truly).

Sneaky Peek (courtesy of Boing Boing!)

Here's an excerpt from Primates; it's got my favorite part.  I bet you can guess what part that is...