Isotope - the comic book lounge

This glorious original art by Becky Cloonan could be yours...

Our amigos at iFanboy are hosting a fundraiser to help out Michigan retailer David Pirkola who was shot during a robbery at his store this last weekend. As of Tuesday he was in stable but critical condition, but regretfully has no heath insurance to cover expenses.

When the iFanboys turned to us for some help I jumped at the chance. But rather than just blast entire my contact list I sent out just about 20 emails to the Isotope's friends and family, all folks who I think have had a significant impact on my business and people I came up with in this industry. And the response has been overwhelming!

In the next couple weeks they'll be putting up these fundraising auctions from kind hearted folks like Warren Ellis, Ed Brubaker, Jim Lee, Ben Templesmith, Eric Powell, Tom Beland, Darwyn Cooke and many more. But in the meantime... I just had to share this jaw-dropping piece the amazing Becky Cloonan donated for this cause.

If you'd like to drop a donation in Mister Pirkola's PayPal account you can do that at the following link (and I'll keep you posted when the fundraising auctions go live). Our hearts and prayers are with him.

Click here for more information

Matt Scores a Huge Special Recognition Nomination
Join Us In Celebrating This Homegrown Hero

The Isotope's own Wednesday-man-of-the-hour Matt Silady has been nominated for the single most prestigious award in the comic industry! That's right, the 2008 Eisner Award nominations are out, and Matt is rocking the Special Recognition category for his fantastic original graphic novel THE HOMELESS CHANNEL.

Considering how many of the Isotope's regulars are new to the world of comics I realize there are probably quite a few of you who might not be aware of the Eisner Awards.

The reason I'm so giddy about this news is this. there really is no higher honor that can be bestowed upon a creator. The Eisners are essentially the comic industry's Oscars complete with star-studded award ceremony full of comic rockstars, famous authors, and lots of comic-loving movie and television folks. Getting nominated for these awards is a career changing moment and it's pretty astounding for Matt to get nominated for one of these awards so early in his career.

But let me tell you, he deserves it.

I've been a huge fan of the man, and his work, for many years now and it's been a thing of beauty watching his career develop. From back when this book was just a single xeroxed chapter that Matt brought in to show me, to the painstaking months of refining his craft to make chapter two outshine the first, to the news his book was going to be getting picked up by publisher AIT/PlanetLar, to those days before he had an office and was diligently inking pages on the Isotope's drafting table trying to hit his self-imposed deadlines, to the weeks of tweaking and refining before it went off to press, to the books subsequent launch and packed after-party, to the excellent reviews and what seemed like weekly affection of both on-line and print press, to the joyous look on Matt's face when he said he was going to submit his book to the judges for Eisner consideration. It's really has been amazing to witness Matt's hard work, single-minded dedication, and raw talent make his dreams come true.

I've always felt a real kinship to his work ethic and his passionate devotion to bringing his vision to reality, and I also really like the guy, which is why I asked him if he wanted to come and work with me here at the Isotope six months ago. He's been a wonderful part of my family and a true comrade through both the hardships and the times of pure glory. One look at the events we've thrown the past few months and how smoothly it's all gone and you can clearly see what a great addition to our family he's been. But even so, both Matt and I want his first dedication to be following his dream of making comics. Because he's got the talent, and he's got the drive, he's got the momentum, and he's got a brain jam-packed with ideas for books I really want to read! The Isotope is just here to help lift him up and to be a place where he can have fun along the way. Like our staff members before him, we're going to treasure his contribution while we have him, and hope he can work us into his schedule for as long as possible.

But I digress..

I'm sure that time will show that the Eisner nomination this morning will be a wonderful life-altering event for Matt, and will have a huge impact on his future in the comics industry. You can bet that right this minute an entire industry is sitting to take notice of his work, click through to his website, and order his wonderful book through their local comic shops and places like Boarders and Amazon.com. If you're thinking about doing the same, here's Matt's site which includes a first-chapter preview of THE HOMELESS CHANNEL as well as a bunch of other fun stuff (including a day-in-the-life of an Isotope employee!). Feel free to drop him a note of congradulations, knowing Matt he's probably sitting at his studio using the excitement of this great news to fuel his pen-to-paper on his next book (which looks gorgeous, by the way):

http://www.mattsilady.com

And, of course, the Isotope has plenty copies in stock!

So... who else thinks we should throw Matt an Eisner Nomination Bash?!

Matt Silady Eisner Nomination Bash

Wednesday, April 16th 2008
7pm - 11pm

Come out and show Matt some love this Wednesday, won't you? Personally, I'm so thrilled about this news I'll be coming out of a 7 year bartending retirement to sling cocktails in honor of Mister Silady's Eisner nomination with a full complement of Homeless Channel signature drinks... will I still have the mojo to rock the shakers like I used to? (crosses fingers) Oh, I hope so!

Hope to see many of you then!