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After a long absence, Hollywood screenwriter and Friend of Venture Todd Alcott is back at his old game of analyzing episodes of The Venture Bros., and, completist that he is, he's hell-bent on catching up with everything he missed. Starting with, weirdly enough, 2003's pilot episode, "The Terrible Secret of Turtle Bay." Check out his website HERE.

We Love You,
JP

P.S. Shirt Club. Soon...

藤

In May, the wisteria flowers bloom in Japan.

Wisteria is a flower that grows like a vine and wraps itself around whatever it can find. The flowers grow in strands and hang like grapes. They're quite beautiful and smell heavenly. I don't think I'd ever seen them before coming to Japan, but my pre-Japan memories are becoming a bit blurry around the edges.

Some people have taken to building wisteria tunnels. The one below is in a park near where I live. I snapped that picture when we first arrived, but I must've taken dozens more.

My friends and I were about a week early. Had we waited, the flowers would've bloomed completely, become thicker and greater in number, and hung down even further. They probably would've blocked the sky entirely. But! The day we went happened to be gorgeous and sunny.

And the flowers were still beautiful.

In Japanese, wisteria is "Fuji." The kanji character for wisteria is 藤 and it's one of my personal favorites. Like the flower it represents, it just looks pretty.

I’m hanging out in Syracuse, NY right now after an awesome few days in New York City. I had the pleasure of visiting the MAD Magazine offices and the First Second Books offices. I’ll write more about all this stuff later - right now I need to tell you that I’ll be in Toronto this weekend for the Toronto Comic Arts Festival! Lots of great things will be happening at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival (aka TCAF)!

First thing: My book, CRYING IN FRONT OF YOUR DOG AND OTHER STORIES, will be debuting at the festival! I’ll be spending most of my time hanging out and signing copies at the Grimalkin Press booth. This is the first place anyone will be seeing and buying and reading actual copies of this book. It’s very exciting.

Second thing: Benign Kingdom will also be at TCAF! I’ll be visiting the Benign Kingdom booth to sign copies of my art book from time to time as well. I don’t know the official signing schedule yet, but keep an eye on my twitter feed for that info.

Third thing: I’ll be participating in a couple of events at TCAF! First, on Saturday, my friend David Huyck and I will be hosting a drawing workshop for kids at 10:30 am. Here’s a little info from the TCAF website:

Join children’s illustrator David Huyck (That One Spooky Night) and Mad Magazine cartoonist Phil McAndrew on how to make a face that sticks. Learn how to show emotions through facial expressions and body posture - make your characters pop off the page! What do the eyebrows say? And why the heck are the eyebrows talking in the first place?

Then, on Sunday at 4:00 pm, I’ll be one of several cartoonists participating in a live drawing event. Here’s the info on that:

Four creators enter, one creator leaves! Come watch four artists draw for their lives - and for your entertainment. Winners will feast on the souls of the losers (vegetarian option available). Featuring Phil McAndrew, Lucy Knisley, Jim Rugg, and Scott C.!

Both events are going to be awesome, I am pretty darn sure!

Fourth thing: I’ve got a comic in The Hic & Hoc Illustrated Journal of Humor, which will also be debuting at the festival!

I hope to see you in Toronto!

Originally published at Phil McAndrew Illustrations & Comics. You can comment here or there.