Today is Free Comic Book Day! Be sure to stop by your local comic shop and get your free comics! Not sure where your local comic book shop is? Use this fancy comic shop locator to find out. Did I mention that my vampire character, Harold, has his own four-page story in Top Shelf’s free … Read more
Category COMICS, EVENT, FREE, FREE COMIC BOOK DAY, UPSIDE DOWN · Tagged with comic, comic book, free comic book day, free comics, jess smart smiley, Provo Utah, top shelf productions, upside down, vampire comic
Posted by Jess Smart Smiley on December 21, 2012 · 1 Comment
2012 has been an exciting year! My first graphic novel, Upside Down: A Vampire Tale, was published by Top Shelf Productions, and took home an Arty Award for best graphic novel. I also had my hands in a number of really fun projects and I survived the Mayan apocalypse! Scroll down to check out a few highlights from … Read more
Category BOOK, COMICS, DESIGN, FREE COMIC BOOK DAY, GRAPHIC NOVEL, UPSIDE DOWN, VIDEO, WRITING · Tagged with comic, Dwight Schrute, Emanata, free comic book day, jess smart smiley, jess smiley, kid president, Rainn Wilson, ron swanson, Space Shuttle, upside down, vapire
Posted by Jess Smart Smiley on October 31, 2012 · Leave a Comment
Get your FREE HALLOWEEN COMIC, today only! Stop by your local comics shop and ask for “Tricky Treaters” from Top Shelf Comix. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Category COMICS, EVENT, FREE, FREE COMIC BOOK DAY, UPSIDE DOWN · Tagged with comic, free, Halloween, jess smart smiley, top shelf, upside down, vampire
Posted by Jess Smart Smiley on October 24, 2012 · Leave a Comment
Meet Johnny Boo & Harold in TRICKY TREATERS: Free at Your Comic Shop! This Halloween, Top Shelf’s spookiest and silliest all-ages characters are teaming up for a FREE mini-comic of all-new stories by James Kochalka and Jess Smart Smiley! We’re joining Diamond Comic Distributors’ Halloween ComicFest to bring you Tricky Treaters, a 12-page full-color comic book available at your local comic … Read more
Category BOOK, COMICS, EVENT, FREE, FREE COMIC BOOK DAY, GRAPHIC NOVEL, PREVIEW, UPSIDE DOWN · Tagged with comic book, Diamond Comic Distributors, Halloween, James Kochalka, jess smart smiley, johnny boo, Minicomic, top shelf productions, upside down, vampire comic, vampire tale
Posted by Jess Smart Smiley on August 20, 2012 · 12 Comments
With my very first graphic novel coming out in just a month and a half (so exciting!), I thought it would be fun to have a little getting-to-know-you of sorts, right here on the blog. So, without further ado, meet Harold: Harold is the main character in Upside Down: A Vampire Tale–my first graphic novel, coming this … Read more
Category AWARD, BOOK, COMICS, FREE COMIC BOOK DAY, GRAPHIC NOVEL, PREVIEW, PROCESS, UPSIDE DOWN · Tagged with character design, Graphic novel, Harold, jess smart smiley, top shelf, top shelf productions, upside down, vampire, vampire comic, vampire tale
Posted by Jess Smart Smiley on May 8, 2012 · 9 Comments
If you didn’t set foot into a comic shop on Saturday, May 5, then you missed out on comics’ biggest event of the year: Free Comic Book Day! The first Saturday in May is and has been designated as Free Comic Book Day, for the last eleven years. Participating comic shops in North America and … Read more
Category BOOK, COLORING BOOK, COMICS, EVENT, FLYER, FREE, FREE COMIC BOOK DAY · Tagged with andy runton, christian slade, elio, fcbd, free comic book day, interview, James Kochalka, jj harrison, johnny boo, Korgi, lance schaubert, ninja chicken, okie dokie donuts, owly, pirate penguin, ray friesen, top shelf, vampire
Posted by Jess Smart Smiley on January 5, 2012 · Leave a Comment
If you’re an indie comics fan, then you’ve probably already noticed the great lineup Top Shelf has in store for 2012. If you haven’t had a chance to check it out yet, you can see all their upcoming titles here. Here’s everything Top Shelf has planned for 2012 (so far!) listed in order of release … Read more
Category BOOK, COMICS, EVENT, FREE COMIC BOOK DAY, GRAPHIC NOVEL, PREVIEW, UPSIDE DOWN · Tagged with alan moore, any empire, Blankets, blue, brendan leach, cleveland, comics, Craig Thompson, eddie campbell, free comic book day, Graphic novel, harvey pekar, homeland directive, infinite kung fu, kids club, league of extraordinary gentlemen, leff lemire, lost dogs, lovely horrible stuff, lucille, ludovic debeurme, nate powell, new books, new comics, pat grant, pterodactyl hunters, robert venditti, top shelf, top shelf productions, upside down, wizzywig
Posted by Jess Smart Smiley on November 15, 2011 · 1 Comment
Top Shelf Productions just announced the release of their Kids Club App (available now on iTunes). “It’s a completely free app that lets you browse and purchase digital versions of our all-ages graphic novels – including several titles at launch, and many more coming soon!” You can also download a free copy of this year’s … Read more
Category BOOK, COMICS, EVENT, FREE, FREE COMIC BOOK DAY, GRAPHIC NOVEL, PREVIEW, STORYTELLING, TECHNOLOGY, UPSIDE DOWN · Tagged with a vampire tale, chris elio, comic book app, comic books, comics, comics on ipad, free comic, free poster, Graphic novel, iTunes, James Kochalka, jess smart smiley, jess smiley, kids club app, Korgi, ray friesen, Top Shelf Kids Club, top shelf productions, upside down
Posted by Jess Smart Smiley on June 10, 2011 · 1 Comment
Had these babies printed a while back for Free Comic Book Day. I’ve been passing them out at schools and library presentations, and the conventions and symposiums I’ve been presenting at. What do you think?
Category BOOK, COMICS, FLYER, FREE, FREE COMIC BOOK DAY, GRAPHIC NOVEL, UPSIDE DOWN · Tagged with a vampire tale, Arts, bookmark, Collecting, comic, comic book, comic books, creating, Design, free, graphic design, Graphic novel, illustration, jess smart smiley, pre-order, preview, top shelf productions, upside down, vampire
Posted by Jess Smart Smiley on June 1, 2011 · 5 Comments
Dungeon Crawlers Radio is Utah’s source for all things geek. They have a weekly podcast covering topics like gaming, movies, and comics, and frequently interview authors and artists of science fiction and fantasy on their show. Revan and Nivi were kind enough to invite me to their podcast table at Conduit this past Saturday to ask … Read more
Category BOOK, COMICS, DRAWING, EVENT, FREE, FREE COMIC BOOK DAY, GRAPHIC NOVEL, INTERVIEW, NOVEL, PREVIEW, PROCESS, STORYTELLING, UPSIDE DOWN, WRITING · Tagged with artists, Arts, authors, Brandon Mull, comics, Conduit, dungeon crawlers radio, Dungeons & Dragons, fantasy, gaming, Geek, geeks, Graphic novel, interview, Kevin Wasden, movies, nivi, podcast, radio, revan, sci-fi, Science fiction, Utah
