Journey Into Her Story Soundtrack

My next Heaven Forbid graphic novel, "Journey Into Her Story," comes out next month.  Included with the book is a suggested soundtrack.  It includes songs which fit the story or were influential to me while I worked on the book.  I tend to put the logos of bands I'm listening to on the shirts of characters.  I figure that it's a nod to people who also like the bands or it may introduce people to them.  Most of these bands are featured on shirts in the comic.

Here is a list of the songs and links to where you can buy/download them:

1. Destroy Nate Allen- We Talk Occasionally On The Internet
Band Camp "With Our Powers Combined" by Destroy Nate Allen

2. Huntingtons- She’s Alright
3. Huntingtons- Rock n’ Roll Girl
4. Huntingtons- She’s Comin’ To The Show
5. Huntingtons- She’s Probably Over Me
Amazon MP3 "1-2-3-4 The Complete Early Years Remastered" by Huntingtons
or for different recordings of these songs
Amazon MP3 "Rock and Roll Habits For the New Wave" by Huntingtons

6. Watashi Wa- Tumalo
Amazon "Lost a Few Battles... Won the War"
[out of print, but you can get the record used]

7. Halo Friendlies- Don’t Wake the Cat
8. Halo Friendlies- Hush
Amazon "Acid Wash" by the Halo Friendlies
[out of print, but you can get the record used cheap]

9. Jump Ship Quick- As We Overcome
Amazon MP3 "Where Theives Cannot Tread" by Jump Ship Quick

10. Outer Circle- Manifesto
Amazon MP3 "Outer Circle" by Outer Circle

11. Blaster the Rocket Man- Tundra Time on Thulcandra
12. Blaster the Rocket Man- Venus at St. Anne’s
Amazon "The Monster Who Ate Jesus" by Blaster the Rocket Man
[out of print, no mp3's, but you can get the record used]
or Amazon MP3 "The Anatomy of a Monster" by Blaster the Rocket Man has a live version of "Tundra Time on Thulcandra"

13. The Dingees- World’s Last Night
Amazon MP3 "The Crucial Conspiracy" by The Dingees

14. Wonder- Surrender
15. Wonder- The Journey
Band Camp "Stroke of Difference" by Wonder

16. Stryper- Carry on Wayward Son
Amazon MP3 "The Covering" by Stryper

And now a bit about the songs.

I saw Destroy Nate Allen play a show in Denver during the time I was working on the book.  I really enjoyed the show.  It was a lot of fun and Nate and his wife Tessa have a great fun punk diy aesthetic.  This song is an especially fun one and is also on their split 7" with Blaster the Rocket Man [more on them].

Huntingtons- I said in Heaven Forbid vol 2: Awkward for Everyone that Huntingtons are the soundtrack to Heaven Forbid.  They may also be the soundtrack to my life, at least my teenage years.  Their sound is classic and all of their records are solid.  I opted to choose four songs which I thought thematically related to "Journey" the most.  I think it is a lot of songs by one band, but they're short.  You can get a few collections at great prices.  "Rock 'N Roll Habits for the New Wave" is one of their best and features re-recordings of their early material which had become quite rare.  The re-mastered "1-2-3-4" made the early recordings more readily available.  All songs but, "She's Comin' to the Show" [which is only on 1-2-3-4] are on both.  Also: I especially picked songs with "she" or "girl" in the to fit with the theme of the title of "Journey."

Watashi Wa was a band that released a number of successful records.  I really dug their first one, which was on Bettie Rocket Records.  It had great comic like album art.  I think the feel of that record relates to how the characters in "Journey" feel during the book.  "Tumalo" is a great pick from that one.  I like the lyrics of many of the songs, especially this one.  They have a youthful boldness to them, including anti drinking/drug themes.

Halo Friendlies- I dug their first record and never heard too much of their last one which was on Tooth and Nail.  But, my favorite of theirs was "Acid Wash" from Jackson Rubio Records [more on them later].  I tend to like EPs by bands a lot, because they often times have a small amount of solid songs.  I chose two tracks off of this one because I really like them both and I think their feel also relates to some of the less happiness in "Journey."  They were also featured on the 2003 Freaky Friday soundtrack.  I had forgotten about that.  Apparently one of their members also joined the Smashing Pumpkins.

Jump Ship Quick is a band I suppose I don't know too much about.  They are getting a fair amount of press in diy Christian punk circles, although I don't believe they play live.  Their lyrics are bold, espousing straight edge values, and other hard core truths I don't hear too much in punk anymore.  Listening to their record reminds me of music of my younger years.  This is good for me, since I tend to not like too much new music.  [more on that to come]

Outer Circle is one of multiple bands fronted by Mark Salomon.  The Crucified and Stavesacre are probably more well known, but I may enjoy Outer Circle the most.  I've dug their record for years and this track is one of my favorites.  I like the energy of the music and challenge of the lyrics.  "I've heard your speech, it didn't tell me anything I haven't heard before.  You've gotta give me something more, something more."  I think that's how Chelsea feels much of the time.  A couple years ago I found a new band whom I liked a lot.  They were called Neon Horse and were kind of eclectic and kind of new wave.  I thought [one of the] vocalist[s] sounded familiar.  It turned out Neon Horse was another band fronted by Mark Salomon.  I finally had found a new band to like and then realized that it was just another reiteration of a singer I'd been listening to for years.  What are you gonna do, right?

Blaster the Rocket Man are another group who was on Jackson Rubio.  Their record "The Monster Who Ate Jesus," may be the best Christian punk record.  Their lyrics are great and so is their music.  I chose two of the songs which I thought fit the book best and also ones I like a lot.  They are some of their calmer tracks, actually and I really dig their lyrics.  I've been able to be in touch with their vocalist/lyricist on facebook lately, which has been really cool, too.  Also: "Thulcandra" relates to the Space Trilogy by C.S. Lewis, a common theme on "The Monster Who Ate Jesus."  The Turkish Delights band name is a reference to the candy in the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, so that is another connection.

The Dingees have been one of my favorite bands for many years.  I've never seen, or had the opportunity to see them play, however.  I especially love their third record, "The Crucial Conspiracy."  [Actually, I especially love all of their records, all for reasons unique to each one.]  My favorite track on that one is, "World's Last Night."  The music is glorious.  The lyrics are great.  I've heard people say that the Dingees were not Christian enough or whatnot.  I never understood that.  What I found with the Dingees when these records came out was that they were singing biblical lyrics that many folks probably didn't know.  They were singing out of Isaiah and Revelations and references that many Christians probably didn't even catch.  They have a newer record which you can download for free from Jamendo called, "Rebel Soul Sound System."  It's really good, too.  It is free and I believe it was self produced.  So cool.

Wonder is awesome.  These are the only rap songs on the soundtrack.  I'll admit, I've never been too much of a rap fan.  But, I love the music of Phil "Wonder" Porto.  I don't know much about the beats of rap music, but I find his to be more interesting than most rap I hear.  Beyond that, his lyrics are amazing and incredibly encouraging.  You're pretty much listening to a Bible study with very clever wording.  He espouses straight edge values, too.  I love it.  I came into contact with him when he asked me to do some designs for him and I was thrilled to do so.  In fact, if you go to the bandcamp link above, you'll see my artwork on display.

"Carry On Wayward Son" by Stryper may be a weird choice.  I'll admit that I may like the original Kansas version better, but I also like Stryper.  I had already used a Stryper shirt which Carter wears in the book.  When I was trying to decide which Stryper song to include on the soundtrack, I remembered this cover song.  So, this song plus Stryper= win win.  It is also quite rocking.  My daughter really likes when we play this song [the original] on Guitar Hero [although she thinks the lyrics are "baby son," instead of "wayward son"].  Plus, the song [again original] is in the movie Gentleman Broncos which is a movie I've enjoyed while working on "Journey."

In many ways, this is a soundtrack to me.  I've picked songs which I've enjoyed for years and new ones I've liked. There are other favorite bands of mine I could have included, but didn't have specific songs to include which related to the book.  I already have plans for some of these for future stories.

It's November!

Wow! My last post was the day before the shooting in Aurora.  I was going to post more about San Diego Comic Con, but after the shooting and some other national things, I wasn't feeling in the place to do so.  I've also been exceedingly busy, since then, but things have been good.  Here are some artwork pieces with which I've been pretty happy.

 

If you get this, let's be best friends, okay?

 

Done for Scum of the Earth Church's Halloween event.  It was awesome!

"Journey Into Her Story" is the title of the next Heaven Forbid book. Of course, this image pays tribute to the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1.  I might do a print of this.

I was going to use this for the cover of a giant size comic preview of "Journey..."  I've not printed it yet.

Another Halloween image.  When I was real young, I called merged the names of the holiday and the pumpkin.

And there you have it!  Enjoy!  I have a few pieces in an art show in December at Sojourner's Coffee shop in Denver.  I'll probably post those here as well as some other things.  Happy holidays!

SDCC 2012, review #1

Hey Friends!
San Diego Comic Con was great and I definitely came back inspired to do some work.
Here are some sketches I've done this week:
They are fan art.  Copyrights are held by respective copyright holders.

This last one was me preparing for doing something for Aw Yeah Comics!

Also: for good measure, here are the official designs I did for Five Iron Frenzy.  I've not posted them here, so I might as well:

This one is a wallpaper.  It comes in three formats [including Facebook Timeline banner] at http://fiveironfrenzy.com/site/2012/07/wallpaper-wednesday-8/

This is a sticker, now available from http://fiveironfrenzy.storenvy.com/

I'll do a "narrative" review next.

July Book Tour! SDCC! Charles Schulz Museum!

What’s that? Another Blog post in the same day!?!  Basically, I have a bit to express and didn’t want it to be too long.

So after Denver Comic Con, what’s next?  I guess I’m kind of doing a “book tour” in July.   Kind of, but not really, but kind of.  Here it is:

July 6, 2012= Art show at Scum of the Earth Gallery in Denver, Co.  I’ve been going to this church for much of this year and it’s been pretty great.  Oddly enough, since the curator is at Cornerstone Festival, I’m kind of managing the night.  I have one ridiculous painting of a “catfish” that’s up.  It’s $100 and you could theoretically buy it with paypal if you can't make it to the show.  [I'll post pictures after it debuts.]  Friday, the show is from 7-10 pm and has lots of other artists.  This should be a great time.  I’ll have special book plates of my painting to go in HF2 and my usuals for sale, including paintings that aren’t on the walls.  This show will be displayed through July.  Come if you can!  http://scumoftheearth.net

July 11-15= San Diego Comic Con International!  I’ll be with my publisher, Lamp Post, in Small Press Q-01.  That’s, in my opinion, one of the best spots for the convention.  We’re against the back wall, but perpendicular to the first row of Small Press.  We’ll be on a corner and actually have a lot of space in front of us.  You can enter at Hall B at the Mile High Comics display, continue past DC, Oni, and others and get right to us! 

I’ll be doing the free crayon sketches all weekend.  If you mention this blog, I’ll give you $5 off of HF2.  I’ll have the hardcover versions of HF2, also! [Hardcover= $20.  Softcover= $15]  Both will have a free exclusive SDCC 2012 signed/numbered bookplate!  Plus! I’ve got a new set of buttons and a banner featuring art from HF2. 


We’ll be debuting other new books I worked on as editor, like The Cardinal Adventures and  Pakkins’ Land vol 2.  If you buy either of them, I’ll also give you $5 off of HF2 [not to be combined with $5 off for mentioning this blog].

I’m a sell out since I finally bought a banner, as I’ve always said that I like creating a unique display for each show.  But I’m finding that these take me too long and for out of town shows, this is more practical.  Also: I got it for like $75, with shipping.  So, I guess that’s not so bad.  After hours, I’m looking to hang out at Trickster and meet up with old friends!  It should be great!  Also: I want to eat at El Pollo Loco at least once…

July 21= I’m a guest artist at the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, CA!  How about that?  Pretty crazy, right?  I’m super excited about this.  I have an exclusive, free, signed & numbered mini comic specific for this show.  Limited to the first 20 who attend.  It’s not available or for sale anywhere else and will never be available in this format ever again.  I won’t even be selling them at San Diego [still wondering if I made the right choice on that one]!  This will be from 1 to 3 pm and is one of my best opportunities, ever!  I can’t describe what a blessing this is!   www.schulzmuseum.com

July 25 or so [TBA]= I’m hoping to get a signing scheduled in a Bay Area store.  Hasn’t been nailed down.  I’m sure something will be.  If you have any other leads, please let me know!

Also! Don't forget to like the new facebook page=  
www.facebook.com/HeavenForbidNotWorstComic

What a great experience this all is!   Thanks, everybody!

Denver Comic Con Review!

In case you didn’t realize it, convention season is upon us!  We just had the first Denver Comic Con a couple weeks ago and all the press has  been pretty much amazing.  Everyone had a great time.  Over 20,000 tickets were sold!  That doesn’t include kids [who were free], press, volunteers, staff, or any vendors, artists, guests or the like.  So that is thousands more who were there!  I hear the numbers were that about 1.3% of Denver’s population attended the  convention.   [of course, many people were not from Denver.]  But, think of it this way.  That means that more than 1 out of every 100 people in the city and county of Denver went to a convention about comic books!  For comic books?  What!?!  Just think about that for a moment…

Okay. back again...

One complaint I heard second hand and am probably mis-interpreting, was of a person who was not a comic book fan, who went to the show and said there was nothing for him to do.  Okay.  I get that.  If you’re not a comic book fan and you also don’t get into meeting or going to panels with pretty big names in movies, television, and animation, playing or seeing rock band competitions, stylish cars, gaming, people in costumes, a non-profit convention that gives its proceeds to work with individual kids in free after school programs to support their literacy, or meeting and supporting local art and people in general, there probably wouldn’t be anything for you at the convention.  I kind of see it like me going to a Bronco’s game and being like, “There’s no comic book stuff here!  There’s nothing for me to enjoy!” Or, going to the grocery store and being like, “There’s no comics here?  Forget King Soopers!... Oh wait… there’s Mad Magazine with Noah Van Sciver in it.  Scratch that…”  Either way, it was a great time, I could describe how awesome it was for a while, but you’ve probably seen all of that on my other social media outlets.

Best occurrence, however, was getting in contact with Allen Bellman.  I was one of a couple people who actually had one of his original comics to get signed.  He is credited [which was unique since lots of artists went uncredited at the time] in one of my favorite comic books that I own, Boy Meets Girl #4 from 1950.  This was already one of the prized pieces in my collection.  Now, not only do I have it signed on the title page of his story and the cover, but an amazing memory of the experiennce.  We’ve kept in pretty good contact on Facebook, too.  If you go to the  new Heaven Forbid “fan” page, you’ll see how he described HF as “Work of a real pro.”  And this was by an actual professional who’s been in the industry for 70 years!  What!?!  I would call this a “dream come true,” but I would never have dreamed of this… Guess what quote’s going on the back of my next book?  There’s a good video of Allen looking through my copy of BMG #4 on youtube that’s really well put together by my friend Rio Herrera.

Check out the Youtube Video!

The Comic Book Classroom Corral was amazing.  Period.  I was very blessed to be a part of it.  Also, the Religion and Spirituality in Comics panel was top notch!  I have video of it, too, but I need to format it for the web.  I think I may just post the audio as like a podcast or something.  We got to have Mike Allred, Bob Luedke, Scorpio Steele, and me together for it.  This was awesome since I’m a big fan of Mike, have known Bob for a little while, and am pretty good friends with Scorpio.  It was pretty great!

The preview night at Mile High Comics before the show was amazing, too!  And throughout the weekend sales for Heaven Forbid 2: Awkward for Everyone were great.  Best book debut ever!  At MHC, the row of artists was: Neal Adams, Me [and Riki], James O'Barr, Michael Uslan.  Which one of these does not fit in?  The artists continued with my friends Jaysen and Jessi from the Class and I believe Angi Mauri was there, too.  What a weekend!  Thanks to  everyone!

Now Order Heaven Forbid vol 2: Awkward for Everyone!

Pre-Order at http://crazygoodcomics.com/store/HF2.html 
 
Check it out!  The second Heaven Forbid book is about to be released!

Heaven Forbid vol 2: Awkward For Everyone is the comic you didn't know you were waiting for!  Join Chelsea Checkers and her crowd as they live lives as awkward as yours!  Holidays, dates, pets, horrible music... It's all here as stories from Conner's webcomic and sold out mini comics are collected with tons of added material!  At 170 pages, it's 50% larger than volume one!

There’s also a guest art section with pieces by artists from all levels of the comics industry, including:

Fred Perry [who even drew a whole story!], Art Baltazar, Mary Bellamy, David Duarte, David Hutchison, Janak, Katia Lara, Nami, Jake Roth, Lonnie Allen & Ted Intorcio, Sam Spina, Noah Van Sciver!

You can choose different pre-order packages with items like paintings and HF vol 1.

There's even an option to with a Five Iron Frenzy sticker, designed by Dan Conner, that is only available at the few live shows they're playing this year!

You can get an instant e-book [Adobe .PDF] download if you preorder the print copy!  You can also pick up your printed book at Denver Comic Con, instead of having it shipped! Get tickets at www.denvercomiccon.com

There will even be a free Pre-Release Party at Mile High Comics in Denver, CO the day before Denver Comic Con, at the biggest comic book store in the world!  This will be part of a HUGE pre-con party will be held on Thursday, June 14, 2012 and includes live wrestling and tons of free food at the Jason Street Megastore!  http://www.milehighcomics.com/information/maps/  

Praise for Heaven Forbid includes:

“It’s real, relatable, and funny.”-Kris Bather, Sight Magazine and ComicbookJesus.com

 

“This could be the Scott Pilgrim of the Christian set.” –Ben Dunn, creator of the Marvel Mangaverse and How to Draw Manga by Antarctic Press

“You don’t have to be Christian to like it.” –Tiffany Young, Hercomics.wordpress.com

You’re going to want this book, anyway.  So, why not order a copy with a free sketch, limited edition tip-in plate, and at a good deal with bonus items?

Pre-Order at http://crazygoodcomics.com/store/HF2.html

Crazy Good Publicity!

Hey ya'll...

There's been so much going on lately, it's hard to keep on top of things! I haven't done a blog post since December! I've been thinking about how I'd like to do a new page on my site with some recent publicity I've been getting [and add some previous ones, too]. Not sure when I'll get to it, so I think I'll post some here:

Most recent, photo by Javid Rezvani www.TheRezvaniProject.com as featured on the Westword Blog http://blogs.westword.com/showandtell/2012/03/photos_denver_comic_cons_second_saturday.php

This one is from the 2nd Saturday event at Wazee Union on March 10, 2012. It was an awesome show! I love this photo and it is on the front page of the link above! I think a glimpse of me is in a few other pictures in the series, too. I really like how this picture captures me and some of my new paintings and pretty much all my books!

And just over a month ago, here was my first time in the Westword [online version], at the debut of my artwork featured at the Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave! If you didn't know about it, I did the focus piece of the new 2012 exhibit called, "Buffalo Bill Super Hero." It'll be up through January 2013 and features some up to 100 year old pulps, dime novels, and comics as it analyzes how Buffalo Bill influenced the modern super hero archetype.

http://www.westword.com/slideshow/buffalo-bill-superhero-exhibit-opens-36222700/#2

http://www.buffalobill.org/Exhibits%20Events%20at%20the%20Buffalo%20Bill%20Museum/temporary_exhibits.html

If you've talked about comics with me personally [or seen much of my art...], you probably know that I'm a big Blindwolf Studios fan! I love the comics by Art Baltazar and Franco, especially Tiny Titans and Patrick the Wolfboy. It seems that year after year, my favorite comic of the year turns out to be one of theirs. Their Aw Yeah podcast is also my favorite podcast! Anyway, I wrote a letter to them, which they read on the air, gave me a shout out, complemented me and my art [see above- Art even said he'd pass it on to his editor at DC Comics!], and discussed my questions for like 20 minutes! John Siuntres even called it the "Dan Conner segment of the podcast!" If you've not listened to their podcast before, you should check out that Episode, #39 "Grab Your Hammers!"
They also just released the last issue of their landmark series, Tiny Titans #50, so make sure to pick up your copy before they sell out!

http://awyeah.libsyn.com/webpage/aw-yeah-39-grab-your-hammers-

If you've missed them, check out these others:

I was on a clip about Comic Con last summer on Denver's NBC 9 News, you'll see me on this link, about two minutes in. Just a photograph, not video of me, still cool:
http://www.9news.com/video/default.aspx?bctid=1073829904001&odyssey=mod

http://www.facebook.com/wonderhiphop
Phil "Wonder" Porto is an awesome rapper from Florida. He contacted me last year about doing some artwork for him and has been displaying it online for a while. It always makes me happy to see on his profile.
I'll admit, I've never been much of a hip hop fan, but when he sent me a couple of his records, I couldn't stop listening to them! Listening to one is pretty much like hearing a Bible study on top of beats and samples that sound better and more diverse that what I hear in mainstream rap, while also dropping tons of fun references. Even if rap isn't your thing, I promise you, checking his stuff out will leave you encouraged!

I've had it linked on my site, but in case you've missed it, R-Squared Comicz ran a really fun interview with me last fall, where I pretty much got to talk about everything about me and comics! More than you'd ever want to know! Make sure to check it out!
http://www.rsquaredcomicz.com/2011/09/27/c-3-interview-21-dan-conner/

http://www.milehighcomics.com/newsletter/103111.html
http://www.milehighcomics.com/newsletter/010612.html
Do you subscribe to the Mile High Comics newsletter, which typically gives you a promo code for steep [up to 60% off!] discounts of their massive inventory? You should [I have a hard time not spending all my $$ because of those deals!] If you do, you may see me mentioned now and then. The first link is a photo from the Halloween party 2011, where I debuted an exclusive mini comic. I’m technically in a cowboy costume, but the only difference is the handkerchief and how I trimmed my beard into awesome sideburns connecting to a mustache!
The second one has info about the dream-come-true deal-of-a-lifetime signing we got to do with Chris Claremont! It was so cool! I think I was the next closest artist to him!
I do regular signings and events at their stores, where I typically give free sketches and make new friends. Their new mega store is amazing and you need to give them your business if you buy comics, and you probably do, if you’re reading this.

From March 2011, Kris Bather provided a very encouraging review of Heaven Forbid vol 1 with Sight Magazine in Australia! Check it out here:
http://www.sightmagazine.com.au/stories/comics/heavenforbid14.3.11.php

This one is actually from a couple years ago, but Her Comics continues to show support of my work online. I really like what they're about. They gave a very encouraging Heaven Forbid review before the first book even came out! Check out this link and keep up with the Her Comics blog!
http://hercomics.wordpress.com/2010/06/23/heaven-forbid/

I was featured in article in the Spring 2010 issue of Gateway Magazine. I even got to draw a full color comic for them!
You can read a pdf of it at http://www.ggbts.edu/about/gateway.aspx

Before these, I was featured on the Geek Tragedy podcast while I was exhibiting at APE 2009. They were really cool and you should listen to them! Check it out, here:
http://www.npccomics.com/geektragedy/?p=208
Batton Lash, I believe, was on that one, too!

That’s it for today, friends!