Crawling Out of My Cave

[UPDATED]
I need to get out of my shell more often. I've been distracted by my work load (amazing how that happens), and I haven't really been paying attention to other things in the world around me. I haven't been to a music show in almost two years, mostly because I haven't made sure to set aside the time to keep track of who's coming and then get the tickets. From time to time I'll notice a concert for the evening and think, "I would've considered going to that," but by then it's too late. Maybe I've got to check out the schedule to see who's coming and decide if there's anyone I should make an effort to see.

I almost missed an event tonight, although it was comics rather than music. I was browsing comics blogs today, and I'd come to Tom Spurgeon's Comic Reporter. Tom headlines his event posts as "If I Were in ---, I'd Go to This," and today he had "If I Were in Chicago, I'd Go to This," and as we don't seem to get a massive amount of comics events, I took a closer look. Eddie Campbell was appearing at Quimby's. No doubt best known for From Hell, he's created a wide breadth of excellent work over the years, including his Alec and his Bacchus stories (both "series" will finally be collected in one place over the next couple of years). Tonight he was talking about his latest book, The Amazing Remarkable Monsieur Leotard, which promises to be a sprawling epic of a tale but for some reason doesn't appear to be on the publisher's Website. Regardless, Campbell was absolutely delightful talking about his work, explaining how he built some of his images for his adaptation of Alan Moore's theatrical piece, The Birth Caul (which Campbell identifies as Moore's best work), describing some behind-the-scenes anecdotes that find their reflection in his published work, and expressing his enthusiasm for people who can put books together better than he can.

It was certainly an evening well spent, and I'm glad I saw the mention on Spurgeon's blog. If you're thinking that you might've made an effort to see Campbell if only you'd had the chance, if you're in or around Chicago, you've got a second chance. On Tuesday night, he'll be at the Hopleaf on Clark in Andersonville, sponsored by Bookslut, along with author David J. Schwartz. They'll be on the second floor. Even though I saw him tonight, I have half a thought to go to the Hopleaf, as well, because they have better beer than Quimby's does and I'm curious how much different the Bookslut crowd will be. I also have a vague memory of once having been on the Hopleaf's second floor, but I can't imagine when that would've been. I may have to show up just to prove that my previous visit hadn't been in a dream.

UPDATE--If you want more details about what Eddie Campbell talked about, surf over to this blog. As it happened, the blogger, Matthew Brady, was in front of me in the signing line, so the picture of him and Eddie Campbell was actually taken by me (without proper credit, unfortunately).