P.A.C.C. it up, P.A.C.C. it in, let me Begin

WE’VE GOT P.A.C.C. MAN FEVER (It’s driving us crazy). Now the long, hot summer has an actual reason to exist. We often wind up going stir crazy in June and July, which are our deadish, showless months. If you happened to read our 2010 wrap-up (odd that this has come up in the last two Acres blog posts), we were losing our minds this time last year for several fancy reasons and it was P.A.C.C. that was the turning point for us. Rest assured, we’ve been having more fun this year, but, again, P.A.C.C. is sweet relief from this awful quiet. Maybe we should gather ourselves for an SDCC trip. At least then we’d be in mortal terror in July instead of just sitting around.

We haven’t been doing nothing. We’ve been coding (hint, hint). We built a new, little home office that wouldn’t be lousy Shelf Porn material at all. We’ve added two new minis from gay genius Edie Fake, which are in the Emporium here and here. Ryan Cecil Smith’s minis are all in the store and ready to blow your minds. There’s been some brand new comics on Small Plates from Master of Horror, now Man of Action (Horror), John Brodowski. We’ve been terrorizing Sean Ford, who offers proof of such terror here. We’ve even got some nice Troop 142 patches all ready for mailing (see below) and handing to the early birds.

The rest of the Acres gang has been having a grand ol’ time. If you have not been reading the new Ken Dahl aka Gabby Schulz webcomic, Sick, do so immediately. You may be the last person you know to read them. He’s gotten shoutouts from Boing Boing (for ye olde In Which We Betray our Gender) and Meathaüs, among many others. Samuel C. Gaskin received perhaps the best review for a Secret Acres book that we will ever read from the Factual Opinion’s Virgin Reader for the wonderful 2012. Joseph Lambert was the recipient of another lovefest from Comix Cube’s Kevin Czap. Edie’s been feeling the love with interviews on Nothing Major and Bad at Sports a gorgeous contribution to the Hooded Utilitarian’s Illustrated Wallace Stevens project and a not-too-shabby-at-all review from the Gay Comics List, not to mention the Schulz blog. The Regular Show, employer of one Minty Lewis, got an Emmy nomination. A real Emmy. No kidding. There were some very complimentary thoughts on  Eamon Espey’s mini, Ishi’s Brain, from Rob Clough’s High-Low.  Shy guy Mike Dawson has not been able to shut up, either. He’s had Jason Lutes and Nick Abadzis in the TCJ (sigh) “Talkie Hut,” and just celebrated the 100th episode of Ink Panthers with his friend, Alex, which got a nice mention on Whitney Matheson’s Pop Candy on USA Today. A hundred anything is a lot these days, so congratulations to all you Panthers and Fanthers for making the best of a crap economy.

Speaking of Mike Dawson, while we are dying to drop Troop 142 on SPX, it seems someone, somehow, got a copy way soon. Troop 142 is available for pre-order on Amazon right now, emphasis on pre. Anyhow, congratulations to you, lucky person. Doubtless you will enjoy it. You New Yorkers will get your first shot at picking up Troop 142 ahead of the SPX crowd even. Save the date, for we will be throwing down at Bergen Street Comics on September 2nd at 8PM until dawn! You’ll wonder what the hell happened to your Labor Day weekend.

But that’s September. P.A.C.C. is happening this weekend. For the first time ever (unless we very drunk or something and don’t remember), P.A.C.C. will be having a pre-show party this Saturday, starting at 6PM at Cha-Cha’Razzi in Philly with bands playing music and everything. That sounds fun enough, but they’re upping the ante with the presentation of the inaugural Grawlix Awards. Oh, how we would love (and deserve!) to win one. We will not be in attendance, sadly, but we will be there bright and early with the entire gang from last year, namely Sean Ford, Eamon Espey and Ken Dahl of Gabby Schulz fame. The guest list appears to be expanding every minute, so these guys will have plenty of company.

We will return with the gory details of our lightning attack on P.A.C.C. and maybe we’ll even include a picture or two (though we hate pictures, so they have to be good). We’ll be skipping the Chicken of Doom on the way home this time and we promise Gabby won’t catch anything.

Your Pals,

Barry and Leon

---