The Johnny Bacardi Show

Good morning.

Got an email press release today from James Sime, he of Isotope Comics Lounge waaaay over in that fabled land of San Francisco. Since he was thoughtful enough to send it to me, who's kinda out there on the fringe of Comics Journalism, I thought the least I could do is pass it on to all of you. It's mighty damn long, and I sincerely hope I'm not violating some sort of rule of journalism by doing this, but here's an excerpt. If you want to read the whole thing, email me and I'll forward it to ya. Anyway, here's most of the pertinent parts:

SAN FRANCISCO (February 9th, 2005) Acclaimed San Francisco comics retailer James Sime, proprietor of Isotope - the comic book lounge, announced today that submissions for the much-celebrated 2005 Isotope Award for Excellence in Mini-Comics will be accepted until March 15th at midnight. "Alright mini-comic creators, it's time to fire up your printers and copy machines again," said Sime, "And it's time to score yourself some of the gold and the glory that is the third annual Isotope Award for Excellence in Mini-Comics!"

Established in 2003, the Isotope Award was created to celebrate the thousands of unique, hand-produced mini-comics that are created each year. Focusing on this often overlooked segment of the comic industry and the creators who make them, the Isotope Award for Excellence in Mini-Comics is known internationally for launching the professional comic careers of Rob Osborne (1000 STEPS TO WORLD DOMINATION) and Josh Cotter (SKYSCRAPERS OF THE MIDWEST)...

... The only fee for entry to this competition is five copies of your mini-comic sent to Isotope's Special Projects Director Kirsten Baldock at the Isotope address (1653 Noriega St San Francisco, CA 94122) before the March 15th deadline. As is tradition, the award will be given out at a grand ceremony during APE AFTERMATH at the Isotope in conjunction with San Francisco's ALTERNATIVE PRESS EXPO. San Francisco's APE convention has been a forum for small and independent publishers in the industry for many years. Because of the nature of this award, the winner will be contacted in advance and must be present at the Isotope at 9 PM on Friday, April 9th for the award presentation ceremony.

"These award ceremonies are a blast, and I don't doubt that this year's award ceremony to be the best one yet!" enthused Sime, "Our entire judging committee is going to be there to honor this year's winner, and both Osborne and Cotter will be in attendance to welcome the next generation of Isotope Award recipient into the winner's circle. And for those who attended APE AFTERMATH last year, you can expect our usual massive turnout of supporters and creators... but this year we're going to be having even grander superstar entrances for the Isotope Award winners!"
Like Sime and the rest of the Isotope Award Committee, Rob Osborne encourages all mini-comic creators to take a chance on their work and get their minis in before deadline, "Winning this award completely blew the doors of the comic industry open for me," said Osborne, "That step from the shadows of mini-comic obscurity to the limelight of big time published creator may be just one submission away, I highly recommend that you submit your mini-comic for the Isotope Award. You may be a mini-comic star and not even know it!"

The Isotope Award for Excellence in Mini-Comics could be yours, submissions of five copies accepted until March 15th at 1653 Noriega St. San Francisco, CA 94122. For more information contact the Isotope at (415) 753 - 3037 or at jamessime@earthlink.net.

And if you win this thing, remember your ol' pal Johnny B when you're rich and famous.