In September, we’ll have our two regular monthly meetings (on Sept. 10th and Sept. 25th), but there are also two events happening in Maryland that you may want to take note of: Small Press Expo  (Sept. 10-11) and Intervention (Sept 16 – 18). Small Press Expo is an incredible 2-day expo featuring independent publishers of every type of comic and cartoon art imaginable. It’s really quite inspiring, and you’d be totally forgiven for missing the Early Monthly Meeting for September to attend it. Intervention is in its 2nd year, and 757ccc’s very own T Campbell (Penny & Aggie, Guilded Age, Fans, Widgetitis) and Ben McCormick (Reality Amuck) are creator guests at the convention (and several more of us will be regular attendees).

In addition to our regular meetings, we’re kicking off October with 24-Hour Comics Day on the 1st through the 2nd.

We’re also trying to parallel the UK’s The Big Draw with an event of our own: we’d like to make October Drawing Month in southeastern Virginia. What better way to kick it off than with 24HCD?

There are already at least two drawing groups in the area: the Norfolk Drawing Group and the Underground Portrait Society, who meet once a week (there’s also the Virginia Beach Drawing Group, but their status is unknown at this writing). Our own Juan Solorzano has even started an anatomy workshop for comic artists. So, between these regular events and our own 757ccc meetings, we already have 12 days of October covered with drawing events.

But if we’re going to pull Drawing Month off, we need 19 more days of events. They need to be drawing related – it can be an open doodling event, a hosted drawing session, any type of drawing lesson or activity, a discussion on the importance of drawing as both a medium and as a tool, …you get the idea. If this sounds like something you’d like to be a part of, please let me know (kev [at] 757ccc [dot] org).

As for other projects:

The Anthology is still coming along, albeit slowly. All the drawn pages are placed, but we still need a cover, creator bios (and portraits), and a foreword. Sorry it’s taken so long, but I’m flying solo on this one in what spare time I have, folks.

The comics from Mini Comics Day are awaiting a toner cartridge before I can print them and send them out. I apologize for the delay in getting these out — I really didn’t think things through before we set it up. We’ll have a better setup next year, and hopefully everyone will leave with copies in-hand.

I’ve launched COMICKR, which is just a tumblr blog that is open to submissions. It’s intended as a place to share work to serve as inspiration and/or motivation to others, as well as  invite critiques or feedback.

This website (as you can see) has been neglected for a while, but hopefully we’ll breathe new life into it as we go forward. If anyone has any web coding chops and wants to have a go at it, please let me know.

Also, I can’t let this status post go by without congratulating the folks over at Primal Paper Comics, including our very own Vince White, and our friends Drew Moss, Justin Cristelli, Mike Federali, and Bob Frantz. They’re making a pretty big splash on the local comics scene, and we wish them continued success!

Remember, 757ccc is first and foremost a community. We’re here to help each other, to bounce ideas off each other, to inspire each other and learn from each other. We celebrate our members’ successes, and we support them when they face challenges. Membership is free and is open to any creator who wants to participate.

More details to come (or really, just see the event page on our Meetup group page for more info).

Please let me know what you think, or (also important) if you know WP/BP and want to help with the site.