Last Kiss has been appearing in Germany since late last year and last week we passed a bit of a landmark: over 100 Last Kiss strips have now been translated into German.

Why German?

Well, I’ve been writing Disney comics for over 20 years and Disney comics are still very popular in Europe. So my name was known there even before I started Last Kiss.

One German site even devoted a whole page to my life and work. The site’s owners (Gerd Syllwasschy and Peter Kowalewski) eventually became big fans of Last Kiss and…well, suddenly I’m in German–three times a week!

My thanks to Gerd, Peter, Joachim Stahl, Constanze Maier, and the other translators for making me (possibly) funnier than I am in English!

Last Kiss art is unofficially endorsed by Superman--both of them--at Comic-Con.

I had a super time at Comic-Con International. In fact, from a professional standpoint, it was easily my best show ever!

Nothing is ever a done deal until you’ve signed the contracts and cashed the checks, but I had some incredibly encouraging talks with editors and publishers. I’ll know more in a few weeks, but frankly–short of shoving money into my hands–I couldn’t have gotten a better response from the editors I talked to.

L to R: Me, Stasia Kato, and Kevin Boze at the Last Kiss/Virgin Project table.

Actually, I did have a lot of people shoving lots of money into my hands back at the Last Kiss table. Despite the economy, sales were extremely good. My two biggest sellers were the Last Kiss tote bags (see below) and the unmatted Last Kiss art prints.

My table mates and friends Kevin Boze and Stasia Kato were both delighted and dismayed to sell every single copy of their books, The Virgin Project & The Virgin Project 2 by early Sunday. (Next time they’ll bring a lot more.)

New Last Kiss fan Steampunk Rogue (Tanya Cyr) clearly needs "something" extra to make her costume work.

Ahh! Problem solved. Tanya shows off her new Last Kiss tote bag.

More to come when I’ve got a bit more time…

Things have officially gotten weird. My cat (Cous Cous) is now starring in an episode of Mark Monlux’s webcomic The Return of Stickman!

Or rather Mark informs me that “your cat inspired this strip.”

Close enough, pal. Personally, I’d never consider suing you for libel. I’m not so sure, though, about Cous Cous.

Worship me or I'll crush you!

Many thanks to everyone who saw my recent post about my cat Cous Cous and commented here or on Facebook about how beautiful/adorable/magnificent she is.

For those of you who expressed concern about her size. Well…

She’s not quite as heavy as she looks. She weighs 15 pounds (down two pounds from a couple of years ago) and she could probably stand to lose another pound. But according to our vet she isn’t actually obese.

She’s almost certainly part Maine Coon and those cats are huge. Bigger than some dogs. Smaller than your average tractor trailer.

My schedule at Comic-Con will be in flux each day, but here’s what I know so far:

Friday: I’ll be mostly at the Last Kiss table #E8 (between the 600 and 700 aisles) except for my signing at the World Famous Comics booth #5660 from 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

Saturday: I’ll be mostly at at the Last Kiss table #E8 (between the 600 and 700 aisles) except for my signing at the World Famous Comics booth #5560 from noon-2 p.m.

Sunday: I’ll be mostly at the Last Kiss table #E8 (between the 600 and 700 aisles) except for my signing at the World Famous Comics booth #5560 from 11:30-1 p.m.

Because of a glitch that I can’t fix until I get home from Comic-Con International, I’m temporarily posting new comics in my main blog instead of my comic archive. All will be back to normal by Wednesday (July 28, 2010.)

I’m going to be out and about a lot this year–hoping to meet lots of fans. So please join me if you can for some Last Kiss fun. –John Lustig

Jet City Comic Show, Sept. 25, Booth 78, Seattle, WA

New York Comicon, Oct. 8-10, 2010, NYC. Artist Alley.

Long Beach Comic Con, Artist Alley Oct. 29-31, 2010, Long Beach, CA.

Bellingham ComiCon, Nov. 6, 2010, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Bellingham, WA.

Portland Comic Book Show, (New Date!) Nov. 21, Portland, OR.

A hoarder runs amuck! (A scene left out of my review of STUFF.)

Over the years, my pals Bill Barnes and Gene Ambaum have snookered me into doing two fill ins for their witty webcomic Unshelved. In both cases, I contributed wacky, comic strip-style book reports for their once-a-week “Book Club” feature.

The latest was my report about Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things by Randy O. Frost & Gail Steketee. Maybe that doesn’t sound like a fun read, but it was like being plopped down in the middle of a reality TV show where all the participants are clearly out of control.

The book tells the stories of people whose obsession to collect “stuff” has filled their homes and left little room for family and friends. Sad, scary, tragic stories.

And disturbingly funny when you take them to extreme and put them into a comic strip book report.

Oh, in case you’re wondering, the other “Book Club” report I did was on P.G. Wodehouse’s comedic classic Summer Moonshine.

Next up–as soon as I get a sane minute–I’m doing a report on Larry Beinhart’s Salvation Boulevard. Read it now. Read my book report later!

Kansas City, Mo. and Seattle, Wa. (May 13, 2010) – Last Kiss creator John Lustig is paying tribute to comics legend Dick Giordano with a special three-week sequence of his Last Kiss webcomic.

Starting May 17, the series will begin appearing six times a week instead of the usual three at both GoComics.com/lastkiss and lastkisscomic.com. Instead of his regular one-panel gags, Lustig will feature a multi-episode Last Kiss story which he and Giordano created together, entitled “Widow Miss Muffet.”

The “Widow” storyline will appear Monday through Friday. On Sundays, Last Kiss will feature special, standalone comics unrelated to “Widow,” but featuring Giordano art. The “Widow” story will wrap up on June 4.

“Dick drew ‘Widow’ for my Last Kiss comic book series and it hasn’t been reprinted since it appeared in 2001,” said Lustig. “For Dick it was a chance to have fun—returning to his romance comic roots. And it was a funny romance story—which I think was a first for him.

“It’s the story of a little girl who wants to grow up and become a rich widow. Of course, things don’t go quite as planned.”
(more…)

Although it’s surely a sign of the Apocalypse, I’m semi-happy to announce that I’ve launched a Last Kiss YouTube channel. So what can you see?

–A short Last Kiss animation by the wonderful Christopher Martin. (This has been around for a few years, but it’s still very funny.)

–A link to a brand new video interview with me by John Berry at Metropolis Comics. (I take the art of muttering incoherently to amazing new levels, but tune in anyway because John Berry makes me laugh!)

–A link to a 2007 video interview with me by Ron Austin and Bruce Wolcott of Bellevue College. (Have a drink for every time I say something coherent!)

That’s it for now. But this summer we’ll be posting at least two new animations–one of which has been in the works for three years. So you know it has to be great–otherwise we’ve just been wasting our  time!