Editions of "ish".

I just received my proof of "ish" in the mail. The folks at Silver Sprocket did such a beautiful job putting it together. Holding the book and reading through it, for the first time in a long time, it was hard not to feel a little wistful. The original "ish" is a collection of related short stories that I pumped out in the two weeks leading up to TCAF in 2017. It was a zine I learned a lot about writing from. It was the first comic I'd written that I was proud of. This iteration collects some peripheral sketches, a follow up zine, as well as a short "coda" I wrote this past summer. 

Reading it now, I was surprised by how much of myself I could see in the work. At the time, I thought i was burying my own feelings in vague prose and fictional situations but it seems as though the intervening five years has seen those emotions rise to the surface of the work. Making this book taught me a lot about writing. In most ways, it set the precedent for how I approach comics. Despite having written a lot of stories, I have a hard time calling myself a writer partially because my working method seems to spring from some nagging feeling that I have to bury in a fictional work. It feels less like writing and more like stealing. It feels like some finite resource and not something I can do without prompting like sketching. 

Ish was made quickly. It bloomed, as all of my comics have, from random sentences or stories I wrote in my sketchbook or phone. It fell together at a time when a lot of dramas and traumas were colliding. Looking at the book now, I can see how it reflects that but at the time I wouldn't of wanted to admit it. In a lot of ways, this book scares me as it feels premonitory; I was writing about death and grief when no one had died. The specter loomed but ultimately passed. Inevitably, suddenly, horribly, and unrelated, two summers later, a death followed. I don't know why that realization startled me. Life happens and continues to happen; all of it, whether you want it or not. 

When Silver Sprocket approached me about republishing ish I was shocked. I had made up my mind to let the zine fade with the 100 copies sold. I was comfortable knowing this book would forever exist at a small and personal scale. There's something startling thinking of this book sitting on the shelf in some far off comic shop in some far off state. What is this book outside of me? All of my work is personal but this one, in particular, feels like some sort of diary. Maybe others won't see it. Who cares in the end. the different between 100 and 1000 copies is almost negligible in the eyes of big publishing. 

Anyways, above are the three covers "ish" has had. The first is the initial cover from 2017, the second is from my reprinting of it in 2018. Finally, and as you are aware, the 3rd cover is for this years re-release. I can't believe it's been almost 5 years since I wrote these stories. 

If you're interested in pre-ordering a copy, the book is now available through most comic shops!

Thanks for the support,

Adam