For those of you in Seattle, come see cartoonist Henry Chamberlain at the HotelHotel PizzaBar on Saturday, October 3rd, drawing all night long for 24-Hour Comics Day. Ask and he’ll draw you into the comic.
Hotel Hotel is one of the best boutique hostels in the world, located in the heart of the quirky Seattle neighborhood, Fremont, also known as “the center of the universe.” This will be another great 24-Hour comics. We thank the sponsorship of Comics Dungeon. If you’re looking for the best comics selection and knowledge advice, visit our friends at Comics Dungeon right here.
What can be better than an exciting locale, a comfortable and hip environment, and good company all around. If you’re a local, you’re always welcome at the HotelHotel PizzaBar. And, if you’re planning a visit to Seattle, check out our friends at Hotel Hotel, located at 3515 Fremont Avenue North, right here.
“A Night at the Sorrento and Other Stories” is now available at Comics Dungeon in Seattle. It is a collection of comics, short works and one long form work, all about people searching for something: clues, treasure, the meaning of life. It holds up well, even invites, multiple readings. It is offbeat and alternative in the best sense of those terms. Let’s say that, if you enjoy the weird, intense, and quirky world of Charles Burns, then you will find a lot to enjoy in this book, my first book collecting some of my best work in comics.
There’s a new video introducing the Kickstarter campaign for A NIGHT AT THE SORRENTO AND OTHER STORIES and you will definitely want to see it. The video takes place at Comics Dungeon, the leading comics shop in Seattle and beyond. The campaign ends May 6 and your support is greatly appreciated. Visit the campaign here.
Oh, yes, we are at the final days of the campaign for the graphic novel, A NIGHT AT THE SORRENTO AND OTHER STORIES. This is a book with quirky and offbeat stories that follow various characters on journeys of self-discovery. Think of the original television series, “The Twilight Zone,” and that’s the sort of spirit and quality to this work.
We’re coming up on Free Comic Day this Saturday, May 4, and that kind of energy will be most helpful in the final push of the campaign. A NIGHT AT THE SORRENTO will be promoted at Comics Dungeon, the leading comics shop in Seattle, and that’s very appreciated.
A NIGHT AT THE SORRENTO AND OTHER STORIES is a 200-page graphic novel that seeks funds for a print run. It brings together a variety of offbeat and urbane stories for the sophisticated reader. You’ve got everything from a man running for his life from a bear spirit to a quarrelsome couple with supernatural powers to a dog with an acerbic wit who has been launched into outer space. Plus so much more. View the campaign here. Thank you.
And for a more in depth look at the whole process of putting this book together, you can take a look here.
EDITOR’S NOTE: It is now launched and you can view it HERE.
This is an idea that has been gathering steam and now we’re about to embark on a special campaign.
This is my plan: to create a quality edition of a collection of short stories plus a graphic novel. This project is all completed and entitled, “A Night at the Sorrento and Other Stories.” The stories come from three years of 24 Hour Comics Day challenges. I put them together during the challenge and then refined them over time. These challenges occurred in Seattle: at the Phinney Neighborhood Center in 2010 and 2011; and at the Sorrento Hotel in 2012. Each year has been generously sponsored by Comics Dungeon, one of the best places you can go for comics anywhere. All the staff there are knowledgable, friendly, and eager to help. The book includes the graphic novel, “Alice in New York.”
We’re past the witching hour. It’s now a quarter past three in the morn’! Here’s more Sorrento observations. There probably are ghosts among us here at the Sorrento. I was told of one interesting story. A delivery man was talking to one of the staff up until that person walked through a wall. The delivery man never came back. Well, it’s a good tale, what can I say. On a lighter side, I like the mats with the days of the week on them.
I like the french press. I like all the little details. And I’m getting work done too! To all you readers out there, this is what a 24 Hour Comics Day is all about.
The trick to a successful 24 Hour Comics Day is to be a truly bad mofo. You’re into staying awake and drawing like crazy.
There is no easy way about it. You can’t cram for this. You can’t try to do this ahead of time. You just do it.
So, if you’re in a venue with a variety of possibilities, you stake your spot and go from there. I chose to spend a good bit of time at the Sorrento’s Hunt Club.
I also made sure to visit to legendary “haunted” fourth floor. There’s something about room #408. Let me know if you find out. Something happened in there, at least in urban legend.
And, of course, your feet get restless. You get itchy feet and need to wander about a bit. The soles of your feet are crying for stimulation, right? I chose to try the nearby watering hole, The Hideout. Here are a few photos of the men’s room artwork. Pretty cool, huh? Well, definitely above average. Must be the local artist element at work.
The Sorrento Hotel is a wonderful experience from the moment you walk in the door and you’re greeted at the front desk. I think the staff are very courteous and friendly and I find the Sorrento to be so full of character. I love my room. It has a nice view that provides me a catbird’s seat to new arrivals and the activity down below. There’s plenty of room to settle into and a big fancy desk to get to work on.
I’ll have to get some dinner soon. And I’ll settle into the Fireside Room later on and listen to some jazz. I have a good layout already under way with plenty of room for changes and additions, just the way it should be for a 24 Hour Comics Day. And thanks always to Comics Dungeon for their sponsorship. And expect an awesome book to come from all this. You can see some of my previous work here. A page from “The Dog Who Would Be King” was auctioned off this year at the annual Artist Trust Benefit Art Auction.
It is my honor to be a guest at the Sorrento Hotel for my participation in the annual 24 Hour Comics Day this weekend, October 20 -21, sponsored by Comics Dungeon. Here are some facts about what was going on when the Sorrento Hotel first opened, courtesy of the University of Washington. The biggest event in Seattle in 1909 was its first World’s Fair, the Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition.
By 1910 many Seattle homes and factories have electricity. However, electric home appliances won’t become available until 1911.
In 1909 women can’t vote. Washington women got the vote in 1883 but lost it in a State Supreme Court decision in 1890. In 1910 they were again given the vote, 10 years before the US Constitution was amended.
In 1906, there were 763 cars in Seattle. Speeds are limited to 4 mph downhill and 8 mph uphill. Vehicles are first licensed in 1909 although license plates won’t appear until 1915. Shell will bring the first gas station to Seattle in 1912.
The Sorrento Hotel, on Madison in Seattle, opens in 1909 – the first guest was President William Howard Taft.
L.C. Smith, who amassed his fortune from his Smith typewriters, starts plans in 1909 to build the 21-story Smith Tower to hold 600 offices on Second and Yesler in downtown Seattle.
Average US annual salary: $750Hourly wages: 29-45¢Milk: 32¢ gal. Eggs: 29¢ doz.Sugar: 6¢ lb.
Whiskey: $3.50 gal.
Average U.S. House: $2,650
The Nation & the World
Ernest Shackleton’s expedition finds the magnetic South Pole
Robert Perry and Matthew Henson reach the North Pole
National Association for Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is founded
First Federal legislation prohibiting narcotics (opium) passes
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is established
16th Amendment passes to introduce Federal income tax
Karl Landsteiner isolates the poliomyleitis virus
John D. Rockefeller gives $530 million for worldwide medical research
Nobel Prize for Physics is awarded to Guglielmo Marconi and Carl Ferdinand Braun for the wireless telegraphy (radio)
Henry Ford introduces his “universal” car, the Model T in 1909, priced at $850 and “available in any color as long as it was black”
Wall Street Dow Jones Industrial Average closes Dec. 31: 99.05
Shine On, Harvest Moon by Ada Jones and Billy Murray hits #1 in US
Ty Cobb steals home in World Series game
Wright Brothers test and deliver the first military plane to US Army, it seats 2, max speed 40 mph
Panama Canal’s first concrete is poured
Japanese forces begin a 36 year occupation of Korea
Construction of Navy base at Hawaii’s Pearl Harbor begins
Serbia mobilizes against Austria-Hungary
Italian school teacher/physician Maria Montessori, 39, publishes Motodo della pedagogia scientifica
I am doing a special 24 Hour Comics Day event at the Sorrento Hotel this year which takes place October 20 – 21. I am proudly sponsored by the leading comics shop in Seattle, Comics Dungeon. In the same spirit as Molly Crabapple’s solo performances, I have booked a night at a marvelous hotel where I alone will create art throughout the night. This is not just any hotel. This is the landmark Sorrento Hotel that has been providing Seattle with its old world charm since 1909. It is regal. It is sophisticated. And it has stories to tell. My goal is to tell a story, or more, that do justice to this beautiful treasure of a hotel.
The goal of the 24 Hour Comics Day event, observed world-wide, is to complete a 24-page comics narrative during 24 hours. That’s what I will be doing. I will be drawing my heart out. In the process, I will have not only my comics project but any number of drawings that I will be able to work up into paintings at a later date. I will complete a 24-page narrative which I intend to build up into a graphic novel. Basically, I will make the most of this wonderful and exciting opportunity for any writer, artist and cartoonist. I will be discreet, respectful and play it by ear as to whether I’m at the bar in the Hunt Club or lounging at the Fireside room. Essentially, you’ll find me somewhere in the Sorrento Hotel while I am a guest at the hotel, from the time of check in at 4 pm on Saturday, October 20, up until check out the next day at noon. So, if you happen to spot me drawing, feel free to say hello. That same day, October 20, Comics Dungeon will host two amazing talents, Erika Moen and Jeff Parker who will be signing their collaboration, the graphic novel,”Bucko,” a very sexy and funny murder mystery.
