Evening, slackers. While you were picking lice out of your neighbor’s hair, I completed a new painting. It’s for the annual I AM 8-BIT gallery show out in sunny Los Angeles. All of the pieces deal with 80s video games in some respect. Mine’s about Bionic Commando, a game I loved but paradoxically never purchased. The show runs from 8/14 to 9/7 at the World of Wonder Storefront Gallery in Hollywood. Check it out if you get a chance. It’s going to feature work from fellow MAMMALS Devin Clark and Ben Marra, and it’s been organized by our friends from NERDCORE publishing.

Wig out,

THOMAS

For those who are about as poorly versed as I am with the vernacular of hedge funds, brokerage firms and the language of modern finance, I learned this week that hedge funds don’t get along so well with big firms like Bear Sterns (R.I.P) and Lehman Brothers. This is primarily because hedge funds (which are smaller and in some respects quicker than the big guys) contributed in some small part to Bear Sterns’ bankruptcy earlier this year.

Now, Mr. Mad Money himself, James Cramer, is suggesting that the same fate could become of Lehman Brothers and its CEO Richard Fuld on roughly similar terms. He explains it in depth in New York Magazine this week and I simplified it in the pictorial warning sign above for the magazine.

-Matt

Here’s a couple of drawings I did for the upcoming issue of Comics Comics, the comic book review newspaper put out by PictureBox.
- Benjamin

This spot was just completed for one of Kurt Andersen’s Imperial City articles in New York Magazine about objectivity in cable news and what we stand to lose and gain in the wake of Tim Russert’s passing. The article (which is well worth your while) is here, and other sketches I did for the spot can be seen here.

-Matt

Dudes over at Street Boners and TV Carnage gave me a shout out on their site. Check it out here. Awes … that’s a crazy site. Streetboners. Dag. - Benjamin

The fine folks over at the PictureBox blog, called Comics Comics, did a review of the promotional copy of Night Business I handed out at MoCCA. Check it out here.

From the review:

The story of a stripper who won’t be bought and a killer on the loose, Night Business trucks in noirish genre tropes but renders them with such detail and conviction that the woody dialogue and relentlessly stark lighting go down smoothly and enjoyably. I like the overall feeling of the comic and feel as though Marra is trying to single-handedly restore some “order” to comics. Marra’s layouts do most of the work, providing a structure for his detailed scenes — murder, XXX dancing, fights with a capital ‘F’ — and it sports one of the coolest covers I’ve seen in awhile. It’s totally over the top and worth checking out.

PictureBox publishes — and their blog, Comics Comics, reviews — high-end, smart, intellectual comics marketed toward the literary, educated and cultured corner of the comic book readership. So it’s weird that they dig Night Biz. Har! Thanks so much to Frank Santoro, Tim Hodler and Comics Comics. - Benjamin

What’s hot, true believers? I just completed an illustration for BUST Magazine about the trials and tribulations of Miley Cyrus. Given my advanced age, I know little about her except that I think she slept with her dad. Or something. And he was in MULHOLLAND DRIVE, which was unsettling. Anyway - - - Here is the finished product and a sketch that did not fly. Enjoy in good health!

Charge it to the Underhills,

THOMAS

It’s here. It’s finally here. The beard shirts have arrived! It was a tough call picking one of these strange characters, but in the end boombox won out. So, what are you waiting for? Go get to the Mammal Store and get yourself one!

-mr.clark

We won’t lie. We’re pretty damn excited about our forthcoming Machismo issue over here. So much so that we had the fine craftsmen at Kayrock and Crown Prints (respectively) screenprint some beautiful posters for us honoring both the demented spirit of our forthcoming book (above), as well as the raw power of the book’s patron saint, Grace Jones (below). All 3 posters are 18×24 and will debut for purchase at MoCCA on June 7th & 8th. Online orders will be available immediately afterwards. As an FYI, although the posters do serve as superb wall decoration, we promise no guarantees as to how successfully or unsuccessfully they may serve to harvest thicker chest hair. We’re simply not prepared to make that claim.

-Matt

My dad once said, “the harder I work, the luckier I get.” We took this sentiment to heart at Mammal and as a result, cooked up a labor union t-shirt to celebrate the 2 months out of the year when we’re in full-bore production mode. It’s available for purchase in the store right now, but if you plan on swinging by the MoCCA festival/fundraiser at the Puck building on June 7th/8th, you can buy from us directly and even get in on the secret union handshake. Dog not included.

-Matt