Gerhard: So long and thanks for all the bricks!

Hi, Everybody!

So Gerhard posted on his blog:

And people have wondered if he means it. So I asked. And he answered:

Gerhard:

Re: Retirement...

Turned 65 and feelin' every inch of it.

I've had it with the Internet; websites, blogs, social media other things that are a total waste of my time.
We've heard that a million monkeys at a million keyboards could produce the complete works of Shakespeare; now, thanks to the Internet, we know that is not true.

I'm looking forward to being 'retired' and keeping well away from the Dreaded Drawing-board of Doom. I can't sit for very long before my legs swell up (not good for drawing), can't stand for very long before my legs swell up (not good for drawing standing up), my doctor told me to lie down with my feet raised (not good for drawing in general), the government is gonna start sending me my Canada Pension and Old Age security (not enough to live on, but it helps), and I finally, and for the first time, caught up on and finished my commission list!

Seems like a good time to step back a bit.

I've had it with sittin' for endless hours at the drawing board struggling through work that I have no interest in doing if it weren't for the money (which is never enough) while my stomach acid erodes my esophagus and my legs swell up.

My favourite line from 'Beetlejuice':
"That is why I won't do two shows a night anymore, babe, I won't."

Also... it's been three years now since my best friend, Tim, died of cancer and another friend, has MSA (multiple system atrophy) similar to Parkinson’s disease but worse. She worked for many decades at the same job, her first full-time job after high school. She started to show symptoms a year or so before her retirement and is now pretty much bed-ridden.

I ain't dyin' at the drawing board, babe... I just won't do it.

Everybody seems to think that I'll never stop drawing but I get no joy out of it anymore and the doctor did tell me to put my feet up.

I'm not sayin' that I'm NEVER gonna draw again,

we'll see how it goes, and then we'll see.

So, mostly, it means I'm just gonna only do things that I REALLY want to do.

Like, for instance, going to OAX 2025!
(Florida is for retired people, right?)

I think I'll get a t-shirt made:

RETIRED GUY
give me my discount!

...and that's all I have to say about that.
-Ger

I mean, can you blame him. Anything he does after THIS is gonna be pretty anticlimactic:

Click for bigger.

Rigamarole:

Get an Albatross #1!

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NEW Spawn 10 Lenticular covers from the The Waverly Press.

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The Strange Death of Alex Raymond Go Fund Me.

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Heritage has stuff. Including Narutobus page 11

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The AMOC TeePublic Shoppe: up to 35% off:

Your store will be up to 35% off

April 27-28.*

*Sale dates are not final and therefore subject to change.

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The Help Out Bill Messner-Loebs Go Fund Me, or buy Rodney Schroeter's book with proceeds going to Bill. 

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The Last Day Without nothing.

   "      "     "        "  Dave's signature.

   "      "     "        "  an Old Cerebus Remarque

   "      "     "     Auction catalog for the Panoramic Remarques. 

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Oliver' Simonsen's Cerebus movie: The Absurd, Surreal, Metaphysical, and Fractured Destiny of Cerebus the Aardvark it's currently available on "Plex", "Xumo", "Vimeo On Demand", "Tubi". If you're in Brazil..., "Mometu", "Nuclear Home Video".

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Next Time: Dave answered the mail, and faxed me a dozen times about it. So Faxy goodness...

Gerhard and the Best. Show. Ever!

Hi, Everybody!

Before we do it, Dave checked in with AKIMBO/CAN10 news:

Yeah, I'm not running Bill's fax. I asked him, and he said, "Nah dawg." So, if you REALLY need to see it, send three bucks to me.

Anyway, Gerhard emailed me:

Hey Matt,

Hope you're doing well.

I just got back from the Orlando Comic Art Expo. It was the best show ever. Period.

I had done a whole bunch of drawings ahead of time. I don't like sketching at shows.
I'm too slow. I spend most of the show with my head down, drawing.
I can't talk to anybody while I'm drawing because I use my hands when I talk.
So I blatantly ripped off--- I mean... "lovingly recreated and reinterpreted" panels from the book.
I call them Moments of Cerebus. I sold each and every one of them.
Like I said: Best. Show. Ever.

You can post them all at once, or one a day, or whenever you need some actual Cerebus content.

Best wishes,
Ger

 Ger sold all of these, but if you want/need one, he DOES do commissions.

Alright, I'ma watch the Tremendous Bowl.

Next Time: Monday.

VIVA FERNANDO! I mean, really, VIVA FERNANDO!

Hi, Everybody!

32 more sleeps until the Remastered Teenage Mutant Ninja

NINJA!

Turtles #8 from The Waverly Press Kickstarter launches:

Man, that's coming up pretty quickly. How quickly? There's a pre-launch page. THAT quickly!

So the other day, when I talked about the origin of Fernando, I ended with:

If I had the money, I'd pay Gerhard to do a Gerebus of Fernando riding a Vespa around the Italian seaside in a little beret.

Well, you are NOT going to believe what showed up in the ol' AMOC Mailbag...

VIVA FERNANDO! And VIVA GERHARD!

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If you have not purchased one of these:

You totally should.

Here's how to get yours:

1. Go to www.paypal.com and PayPal Bill directly at - billmessnerloebs@gmail.com if you don't have PayPal, or PM me (Mike Jones).
2. The amount is $50 each (we pay postage in the U.S.)
3. Pay all Paypal fees or use "friends/family" to avoid fees.
4. IMPORTANT! Include on PayPal, your mailing address.
5. Sit back and wait for your print....maybe get a frame ready.
6. First come first serve until all prints are gone. All money goes directly to Bill.

Thanks for your support.

Come on! Don't be *THAT* guy...

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Cerebus in Hell?

CIH presents: New Varks #1 & New Varks #1 Signed:

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Physical copies of Cerebus Archives on CerebusDownloads.com

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Oliver's Cerebus movie: The Absurd, Surreal, Metaphysical, and Fractured Destiny of Cerebus the Aardvark it's currently available on "Plex", "Xumo", "Vimeo On Demand", "Tubi". If you're in Brazil..., "Mometu", "Nuclear Home Video", "AND AN AARDVARK IN A PEAR TREE!!!" 

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Heritage has a bunch of neat original art.

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The AMOC TeePublic Shoppe

Up to 40% off site-wide:  

January 28-29.

Tell your fans! Remind them that everything will be up to 40 35% off 

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Next Time: Ninja!

A Moment of Gerhard!

Hi, Everybody!

I got an email from my buddy Steve Swenson:

CGC Announces a Private Signing Event with Cartoon Artist Gerhard

CGC is proud to announce that we will be hosting an exclusive Private Signing event with the highly renowned artist Gerhard! He is best known for his detailed and diverse illustrations in the comic series Cerebus the Aardvark. In addition to signing, Gerhard will also be offering his illustrated Remarques for purchase. See pricing and more details below. For 20 years, Gerhard worked as a background artist, environmental designer and cover colorist on the Cerebus graphic novel which has been hailed as, “one of the most sprawling pieces of visual fiction ever created.” Since then he has been exploring other creative endeavors including doing commissioned work through his website, GerhardArt.com; contributing to the awesome Winsor McCay tribute book: Little Nemo, Dream Another Dream; working on a variant cover of The Walking Dead; illustrating a Grant Morrison story Smile of the Absent Cat and most recently, coloring Becoming Frankenstein. “The Signature Series team and I are beyond excited to be given the opportunity to host such a talented and influential artist,” said Brittany McManus, CGC Signature Series Director. “Gerhard has contributed and created numerous astounding pieces such as Cerebus’ popular crossovers in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. We cannot wait to see all of the submissions that we will be receiving for this event and we are thrilled to be able to offer fans some of his fantastic Remarques for purchase!” For this exclusive event, ALL CGC members, including free CGC members, can submit books directly to CGC headquarters in Sarasota, Florida. CGC must receive all submissions for this event by Friday, February 11, 2022. If the Private Signing needs to be rescheduled, CGC will securely store all submissions in its vault until the event can be rescheduled. After Gerhard signs the submitted books, CGC will grade and encapsulate them with an estimated turnaround time of six weeks. If CCS pressing is also requested, the turnaround time is estimated at eight weeks. After grading and encapsulation, the collectibles will be shipped back to their owners. The CGC Private Signing fee for Gerhard is $70 per item and includes: Gerhard’s signature Estimated turnaround time of six weeks for CGC grading Estimated turnaround time of eight weeks for CGC grading and CCS pressing (an additional $20 fee applies for CCS pressing) Encapsulation with the iconic yellow CGC Signature Series label  The CGC Private Signing fee for a Gerhard Remarque is $160 per item and includes: Gerhard’s illustrated Remarque. Submitters may request the desired Remarque. Important: The final design and subject matter of the Remarque is at the artist’s discretion. CGC cannot guarantee Remarque requests. Gerhard’s signature Estimated turnaround time of six weeks for CGC grading Estimated turnaround time of eight weeks for CGC grading and CCS pressing (an additional $20 fee applies for CCS pressing) Encapsulation with the iconic yellow CGC Signature Series label Gerhard's Submission Details

Oliver shared it on the FaceItBooks (and maybe on the tweeters too...)

Anyway, "neat." "wow." "cool."

The ACTUAL Neat. Wow. & Cool. part is the email GERHARD sent me:

Hi Matt,
Hope you and the family are doing well.

As a bit of an experiment and because they seemed very eager to do so, I'm participating in a "CGC Private Signing" early next year (and in their announcement I get called "legendary" again).

I've attached a link to the CGC web-page and, as an "AMoC Exclusive", I've attached a jpeg showcasing the results of me trying to figure out what to do for some kind of "Remarque", a quick sketch that I'll be able to draw freehand with no pencilling and with crappy Sharpie and/or (shudder) metallic markers.
I got off to a pretty shaky start since it's been a VERY long time since I drew a "Gerebus". But soon I settled on a design that I could reproduce fairly consistently and in a reasonable amount of time.

So... as I understand it: someone picks one of their valued, pristine issues of a comic book that they'd like me to deface, they send that in to CGC, I scribble on the cover, CGC grades and slabs it with the "...iconic yellow CGC Signature Series label...", then CGC sends it back.
Sounds like it'd be a great Christmas present (that you get until March or April) for someone's favourite "Cerebus Geek".
(Or a Cerebus Geek's present to themselves.)

Thanks for your time and consideration and I wish everyone a safe and happy Holiday Season and all the bestest wishes for a Better New Year.
-Ger
https://www.cgccomics.com/news/article/9723/gerhard-cgc-signing/

Click for the biggers...

NEAT!

WOW!

COOOOOOOOOLLLLLLL!!!!!

Next Time: Oliver tells you what I JUST posted... (Along with a whole bunch of other stuff...) ((And without the EXCLUSIVE Gerhard art...))