NBPM SeqArt: Not My Small Diary #15

Just about this time during last year's NaBloPoMo, I wrote an enthusiastic post about NOT MY SMALL DIARY (NMSD), a comics compilation curated by the lovely Delaine Derry-Green, encouraging readers to snap up copies of her hand-bound creations.

It's excellent timing that the newest NMSD project has arrived, this time with the theme "Brushes With Celebrity [15 Minutes of Fame]". Again it's a luscious two volume set featuring 54 comic artists (with a few writers mixed in) and their celebrity (and semi-celebrity) encounters, near-misses, and random embarrassments.


It's interesting to read what some contributors call celebrity encounters, people who are unfamiliar to those outside of comics. Most people probably wouldn't recognize Kevin Eastman, co-creator of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but Brad Foster drew a great comic about meeting him at a comic convention in the late-80s. Richard Krauss won a dinner with Nick Fury artist Jim Steranko. Geoff Vasile almost gets lucky thanks to Adrian Tomine. And indie artist Noah Van Sciver adds a comic about his brother Ethan Sciver, and how it was to table with him at a convention.

As usual, NMSD 15 includes contributions from many well-known indie artists. Lucy Knisley (French Milk) meets pornstar Ron Jeremy in a Krispy Kreme. (Boy, that just sounds dirty.) John Porcellino (King-Cat Comics) muses about meeting Robyn Hitchcock. Roberta Gregory (Bitchy Bitch) has a very brief encounter with the Dalai Lama. Carrie McNinch (You Don't Get There From Here) is charmed by Tammy Faye Messner (nee Bakker, pictured). Frederick Noland (also the cover artist) washed cars with Zachary Levi. Peter Conrad chauffeurs James Earl Jones (pictured). And you'll never believe who Ayun Halliday (East Village Inky) used to date in college!

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Are "unknowing encounters" like Kelly Froh unknowingly working beside an up-and-coming indie rock superstar, and Patty Leidy getting happy with "... such nice Boys! If not a bit Beastie!". Then there are those brushes with fame that fall into the category of Just Plain Weird, like Max Sparper playing a video game with Bo Diddley before a show (as drawn by Joel Orff), or Max Clotfelter realizing after many years that he really didn't meet Mr. T when he was a kid.

This issue of NMSD is another amazing collection from Delaine, and I'm hoping that her curating and editorial skills get her noticed by a publisher soon. You want this collection. Get it for $7 postpaid via PayPal using the e-mail delangel3@hotmail.com. It's also available through Atomic Books and Poopsheet.

(Full disclosure: I also contributed to NMSD 15, more of an illustrated essay than a true comic. However, trust me, there are 53 better reasons to pick up this collection than my contribution!)