Pia Guerra
#169 - 2416 Main Street
Vancouver, BC Canada
V5T 3E2
If you have any questions I'd like to ask that you check the FAQ first.
They really are Frequently Asked and this may save you (and me!) a lot of time.
Pia Guerra was working in comics for over a decade before becoming an "overnight" success with Y - The Last Man. She works hard for the money, so hard for it honey.
Thursday, July 09, 2009
So what exactly am I doing these days?
A few months ago I came to the realization that I needed to take time off from comics. I've been feeling drained of enthusiasm for the work for a while so in order to keep myself from never picking up a pencil again I decided to set the pencils aside and just do other things.
I've been writing, sleeping, walking, swimming, auditioning, picnicking, tending a sick cat, playing and experimenting and it's done a world of good. Those of you who follow the Remake/Remodel threads on Warren Ellis' site may have seen a few of those experiments, all digital. I'm finally trying out a medium I haven't had the time to explore until now... and totally digging it. I may even switch over completely, we'll see how it goes.
As for future stuff, Ian and I are heading out to London for the month of August. Canadian Content is putting on a sketch/improv show in Leicester Square and it's looking awesome. If you're in that neck of the woods check it out.
Where it gets interesting is around mid-August when I fly from London to Montreal to attend Worldcon (where I'll cross my fingers at the Hugo Awards ceremony, hee!) and then fly back to London for the remainder of the month. We're back in Vancouver in September, then out to New Brunswick for the Canadian Comedy Awards in October (Ian's been nominated!)... and I'm sure I'm forgetting things.
Oh yeah, San Diego. It's a bit too much this year so we're skipping. I know, it's killing me not to go (David Tennant is going to be there along with the Mighty Boosh and Miyazaki!) but... there's always next year. And hopefully I'll have a shiny new project to show off then.
For now, it's back to playing and prepping. I'm still working on sketch requests, a couple more went out the door this week (again, thanks for everyone's patience on those).
More soon.
Pia Guerra @ 10:23 AM
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Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Okay you cheeky monkeys!
I've been working on sketch requests this evening, got a dozen here ready to go out the door, and I'd like to request or reiterate a few things. First, DON'T SEND MONEY. Seriously. I don't do commissions right now and it won't make your request turn up any quicker. Thank you for the thought but I really don't want your 'donation' to get lost en route. Second, can we maybe limit the amount of characters per request to two or three at the very most? I just got one here asking for three sketches, two with doubles and a third with something like 5 characters in a group shot. Maybe I'm just cranky tonight but...nuhhhh. Third, please put in the name of the person the sketch is for. I've had a few requests tonight alone that asked for a sketch for their brother or wife or friend and then there was no name attached. And yeah, part of the reason is so that it doesn't end up on e-bay but the other is because, well if you're making it a gift, why not make it special and have it personalised? And last, for now anyway, if you want your sketch to turn up for a specific date like a birthday please write TIME SENSITIVE on the back of your envelope and in your letter let me know the date it needs to get back to you by. No abusing this now, I'm doing my best to get to all these asap.
Thanks everyone, and now back to the grind...
Pia Guerra @ 1:23 AM
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Pia Guerra @ 4:57 PM
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Thursday, April 02, 2009
I'm in a very Raumpatrouille Orion mood today.
More Y goodness!
Last month it was announced that Whys and Wherefores has been nominated for a Hugo Award and I've been in a happy daze ever since.
This week GQ magazine spotlights Y in an article about graphic novels to check out after you've read Watchmen. Coolio!
And the Y cameos continue on the very fun series, Chuck. Captain Awesome was spotted reading the first trade as Chuck lies in bed under a Y poster with a copy of the deluxe edition propped on the headboard. Wow! In another episode there was even more BKV love shown when a copy of Ex Machina was used to hide secret plans. This would be nice on any show but it's especially cool that it's one with such clear geek devotion to classics like Dune, Tron, Gotcha and countless other genre treasures.
Also, how neat was it to hear shout-outs for the book on the Chuck panel at Wondercon? Big hugs to the creators.
Getting ready for Emerald City Comic Con.
Pia Guerra @ 6:35 AM
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Thursday, February 19, 2009
A couple of Y sightings this week!
Lost, episode 316, featured Hurley reading a copy of Y El Ultimo Hombre, the spanish translation edition of Y The Last Man and over on Chuck in Chuck vs. the Suburbs we get a glimpse of the new deluxe edition sitting by the infamous Tron poster. Nice!
Pia Guerra @ 10:52 PM
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Saturday, February 14, 2009
Very, very bummed.
Thursday night I had finished packing for our trip to LA, was putting together tickets and insurance documents and noticed that my passport wasn't in the usual spot on the shelf. I looked in my bag, looked around the apartment but no luck. This had happened before, on the night of the Dublin trip and after a few hours of frantic running about we finally found it at the office. I wasn't going to fall into that panic again, it was probably next to the drawing table like before so at around 3am we headed down there to look. No dice.
We returned home to do a more thorough dig, turned the place upside down, but no passport. I kept at it through the rest of the morning, right up to our check in time when I had to admit that it wasn't happening and I called the airline to let them know. They were very nice about it, wished us the best and let us know the next available flight out. After a few hours of sleep we got back to it. Ian returned to the office for another round of searching while I did an umpteenth run at the apartment.
It's looking like it was lost out in the world. On Monday I'll have to apply for a new one.
And Ian and I don't get to have our geeky Valentine's Day amidst Daleks and Cosplayers.
Sucks.
Pia Guerra @ 5:31 AM
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Thursday, February 12, 2009
Okay, Wondercon is a go. I don't have any panels or signings scheduled but as always, feel free to say hi.
Projects: None. That is, I'm taking some much needed time off. While I don't mind people e-mailing to see if I'm available for their book/pitches/storyboards etc. I'll let you know right now that I'm not accepting anything until... next year? This also means I can't read proposals/plot outlines sent with your enquiries. I'm very sorry about that.
Looking forward to this weekend.
Pia Guerra @ 12:02 AM
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Thursday, January 29, 2009
Two things that go together surprisingly well: Buckaroo Banzai and Radiohead's Ok Computer. Try it sometime.
Pia Guerra @ 3:07 AM
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Monday, January 19, 2009
Con schedule so far... Gallifrey One, Los Angeles, February 13-15 at the Los Angeles Airport Marriot Hotel. Panel info to be posted soon. Wondercon... No idea yet, maybe? Emerald City Comic Con. Yep. If I don't have a table I'll be wandering about as a visitor so say hi either way.
San Diego... Very likely, but there may be a conflict. More as it gets sorted.
Sketch requests. More out the door today, more to come. If you've changed your address since sending one out, drop me an e-mail.
A spot on recommendation for anyone in Vancouver: Rekado's Restaurant on Main and King Ed. Awesome Filipino cuisine, friendly service, great prices. Best dishes: Tinikling Chicken, Curry piña Chicken and the Tokwa't Tokwa.
Pia Guerra @ 2:40 AM
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Sunday, January 11, 2009
Okay, that was a fantastic trip. Wow. Fantastic.
Yes, it took 7 days until we got our luggage, there was a lot of screaming over phones, angry e-mails and texts and much swearing to the heavens over the absolute suckage of Air Canada's handling of the whole affair. Yes, it was hard to shop for essentials during the boxing week madness of London's high street, yes it was colder than expected, yes the apartment and its management continued to be a huge pain in the ass over the next two weeks, yes we didn't get to see Tennant perform on Boxing Day...
But we did see his Hamlet on January 5th.
And it was incredible.
And we saw several other shows, Avenue Q, The 39 Steps, Bill Bailey in Tinselworm, Spamalot and Wicked (though I passed on those last two). We had a beautiful Christmas dinner complete with crackers, the Queen's address and Doctor Who. On New Year's Eve we got to witness a mind boggling sea of humanity make it's way towards Blackfriars and just missed getting hit by a champagne bottle thrown off the Millenium Bridge. We had a lovely New Year's Day meet up with Tony Lee and his beautiful fiancee Tracey at the Spice of Life. Diana found out her Zipcar membership worked internationally which resulted in a very fun day-trip to Stone Henge and Salisbury.
Vicky jetted off to Rome for 5 days to visit Hilary and see the sights. She came home with many cool stories. Mike hopped a train to Bristol to visit friends there and came back the next day with many photos.
I did stock signings at Gosh and Forbidden Planet (three trolley loads at FP!), visited Orbital and met a lot of nice people at all of them.
And now we're home. Mike and Diana are back in Toronto, Drew is in Thailand. We're getting many updates on their continuing adventures. It was great to see the cats again, Charlie has been glued to my legs since we got in the door. And though we missed most of the city's snow troubles and related outcries, there are still huge piles of leftovers all over the city and the new waves of rain are only adding to the problem. Presently we're dry and getting back to our routines (though Ian is battling a stomach bug, poor thing).
Oh, to those who may be wondering, I've finally started on sketch requests. A bunch will be going out this week.
Happy New Year!
Pia Guerra @ 10:11 PM
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Thursday, December 25, 2008
From Lying in the Gutter's Rich Johnston.
Hallelujah!
Pia Guerra @ 9:01 AM
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And here's an update on the Forbidden Planet signing. It's only a stock signing so if you're interested in picking up an autographed copy there will be plenty in the store come the new year. Sorry about that, we're juggling a lot of plans here and information is getting jumbled.
When we get back, time will be all open to tackle the huge sketch request pile in the office. I mean that this time! If you're looking for a personalised copy then check out the FAQ for details.
Still waiting on bags from Air Canada. Christmas dinner is cooking. Friends are all together. It's a great day.
Pia Guerra @ 8:37 AM
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Wednesday, December 24, 2008
That lovely round of snow we had over a week ago quickly turned into the biggest pain in the ass the city ever saw. Temperatures dipped to crazy low levels, the snow just kept falling and then wouldn't go away as the flight date got closer and closer. We watched the news each morning to see how aiports were handling the snow and it really did not look good at all.
But then, clear skies. For one day. Our departure date.
We missed a turn off on the way to the airport, largely due to the sun bouncing off the snow and blinding us from the signs, we wandered about Richmond's snow packed roads for a bit and made it within the recommended two hours prior to flight.
The terminal was packed with people bumped from flights due to the blizzards back east. Staff were scrambling, the system in place was all wonky and still we made it through check in, baggage drop and security in time for boarding. There were delays at the gate due to a missing flight attendant, but soon one was found and we were off.
We worried that the delay would lead to missing our connection in Calgary but as it turned out, the pilots for the Calgary to Heathrow run were on our plane so we would be alright. We still had a mother of a run to the next building, during which the combination of stress and cold, bone dry air and hauling ass prompted a mild asthma attack, something I don't get very often and didn't have meds for. Ah joy.
So anyway, on the plane, coughing and wheezing, there's an announcement from the pilot that a door indication light was on and had to be dealt with or we couldn't leave. We waited about a half hour until the all clear came through. Then it was de-icing. Then the slow taxi through frozen and freshly plowed runways. And off again.
I managed to sleep through most of the flight (melatonin helped) and despite all those delays we landed only a half hour after our original arrival time.
Breezed through customs, made it to the baggage claim... and no bags.
They never made it out of Calgary. They'd turn up in a day or so depending on the weather.
I had learned from past baggage incidents however and packed a change of clothes. Ha!
We did eventually make it to the apartment, no thanks to the driver assigned by the rental company who dropped us in the middle of a street market and pointed us to a building down the way that wasn't even the proper address. After some meandering without a map we found the place a couple of blocks over and got settled into a very hostel-ish apartment (there's a bunk bed in our room!) with a kitchen sink that immediately up an decided to vomit rank smelling water all over the floor. Alarming sure, but apparently not to the maintenance guy on the phone who said he'd come fix it in the morning.
Oh, and the fire alarm went off at 3am causing an evacuation of the building (management didn't think that was an emergency enough to show up for either, though the fire brigade did appear about a half hour later). One guest, after waiting about 15 minutes ran back in to 'save' a dish of sugar cookies she'd made earlier and passed them around. Delicious.
Back inside the apartment I decided to take a shower to warm up only to find the hot water being iffy on the prospect. It did get warm eventually but only when the cold water was turned all the way off.
I may be getting a bad feeling about this rental...
But we're still in London. Vicky made it from Montreal this morning (despite an actual fire in Laura's apartment building!). The maintenance guy showed up to fix the sink sometime in the afternoon (after a couple more nagging calls). We found a Sainsbury's and got the kitchen stocked for Christmas dinner and the rest of the crew are showing up tomorrow. Tennant is out of Hamlet but Jacobi is doing Twelfth Night *g* and Bill Bailey has a stand up show in town.
Also, I'm told that the Forbidden Planet Signing is on the 30th (Tuesday) but their site doesn't list it, not sure if that means anything. I'll post more info as it comes in.
Time for sleep. Sugarplums and all that.
Merry Christmas everyone.
Pia Guerra @ 1:30 PM
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Sunday, December 14, 2008
Lots to do before heading out next week but it's all coming along nicely. Vic, coolest sister in the world and fantastic office manager, is currently finalising details for a signing at Forbidden Planet. I'll post more info as it comes in, so far it looks to be the last week of December.
And we finally found a cat sitter! I can breathe normally again.
The only sour note so far is the news that David Tennant is off Hamlet due to a slipped disc. Now the press release says he won't be able to return 'before Christmas' and our tickets are for Boxing Day so there's still a chance at seeing him perform (albeit a teensy one). If he can't make it, the understudy is getting great reviews and Patrick Stewart is performing as Claudius in one of the best plays ever, it'll be a great evening out. Sending out plenty of good vibes to the Universe for Tennant's speedy recovery all the same. *g*
Last night Ian and I ventured into the first snowfall of the season to buy cookie supplies. It was incredibly beautiful outside, with huge snowflakes clearly defined in the crisp air, making the whole neighbourhood sparkly. When we got home we set to work baking and kept at it till dawn.
We're really looking forward to cooking on the trip. Many discussions on what to make and where to find ingredients. Can't wait.
Dealing with weird sleep again. Bleh.
Pia Guerra @ 2:17 PM
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Tuesday, November 11, 2008
As happy as last Tuesday was there was a cloud over California called Prop 8.
If you voted for this, if you supported the banning of gay marriage in California and in states where similar proposals made the ballot... well I pity you.
You are hateful and ignorant. You are backwards. You are part of a past that will be remembered with shame and regret and the sooner you disolve into that past the better. Love will always be the future.
Pia Guerra @ 1:07 AM
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Friday, November 07, 2008
Some of you may be wondering why I’m not doing the art for Doctor Who #6 so I’ll clear that up right now. If you’ve read past entries from September you already know that issues 3 and 4 were given to a fill-in artist while we were dealing with a personal crisis. When things had settled somewhat I slowly got back into working with the full intention of completing my commitment to issues 5 and 6. I was told that issue 5 would be due by the end of October and I paced it a bit slow, mostly so as not to hermit up after what happened. I made myself as available to others as possible while still getting pages in here and there knowing that I’d pick it up as I went.
Ian went to Regina for the Comedy Awards at the beginning of the month, lots of errands and distractions but no problem, still okay for time. I produced a handful of pages (tricky ones at that) and then the Scream Awards came up rather unexpectedly and though I was worried about the schedule Ian and I talked it over and decided it was important to go, primarily to promote Y and Doctor Who: The Forgotten, but also to hang out with Brian, something we didn’t get to do at SDCC this year. It was a great weekend, blew off a lot of steam, met some very nice people. I brought/dragged pages to work on but as these things often go there wasn’t a spare moment.
(Did I mention that I promoted the heck out of the Forgotten on the red carpet? Brian got in on it too, his brother loves the book.)
We got home and I hit the drawing table hard. It was going to be a tough slog but I was sure I could do it, maybe I’d go a few days over but not by much. I got an e-mail from the editor on the 22nd demanding a firm date or they’d be giving issue 6 to someone else. I was a bit surprised by this seeing as how the deadline was over a week away but okay, they run things tight and after looking at it realistically I told him “November 4th”, that was four days over the deadline, four days lost due to the Scream Awards. I got an e-mail back saying “…thanks for letting me know in advance that you won’t be finished by the end of the month. That helps us a lot with planning.” And I get back to work, send a few more pages to their server.
A couple of days later I get an e-mail from Tony asking why I wasn’t working on issue 6. What the fuck?! I thought this was sorted out already, but apparently not. I e-mail the editor to find out what the hell happened. Here’s what I get back…
“Pia,
First, I want to apologize that you heard this from Tony and not me. This was just decided yesterday and I'm not sure who he heard this from, but that ultimately falls on me. I'm very sorry for that.
Second, I want you to know that we had no choice.
Even if you were able to finish twelve pages by Tuesday (after taking three weeks for the first 10), this book would be five days AND a month late. That's not including the time it would take to finish inking, coloring and lettering the pages, and getting approval from BBC. That would put us at about five-six weeks late.
As I understand it, we're only at issue 2 on the stands because of your lateness from the start. If we were on schedule, #4 would be out next week. Despite having two fill-in artists working on 3 and 4 at the same time, we were able to recapture only a month on the schedule.
If we continued on the present course, #6 would be so late that it would become returnable. And that would be an unacceptable loss of revenue and likely cause the book to be canceled outright.
So the decision was made to find another artist to finish the series.
It is very unfortunate, but we had no choice.
I hope this doesn't affect your intention to complete issue 5. But if that isn't the case, please let us know.
Best…”
First off, thanks for failing to mention the month late business when telling me the book was due by the end of October. I thought I was producing in a timely manner.
Second, “Even if you were able to finish twelve pages by Tuesday…”
Don’t demand for a firm date, accept the date and then assume I won’t deliver.
Was I pissed? Damn straight. And I promptly locked myself in the office for the next week and did indeed transfer 12 pages into their servers by the 4th. Scanned in the last set while bawling my eyes out with joy over the election results.
And what sweet looking pages they are.
I’m very sorry it ended up like this, even more so for Tony who doesn’t deserve it in the slightest. I hope we get to work on something in the future.
So my vacation/sabbatical starts early. I’ll be spending the next year doing what I should have been doing when Y ended, taking time to learn new skills, play with back burner projects and just think.
Ta.
Pia Guerra @ 12:29 AM
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Wednesday, November 05, 2008
It's a beautiful day today.
The past week was a bit nuts, things happened in the studio that will be talked about, but for now... it's a beautiful day.
Pia Guerra @ 1:16 PM
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Monday, October 20, 2008
Okay, Los Angeles was a blast and I don't want to spoil things too much so go check out the Scream Awards broadcast on Tuesday if you want to see a certain couple of comics co-creators on a certain stage...
And did you know Ozzy Osbourne smells kinda spicy?
Hee!
I'm going to hole up in the office for the next little while in order to catch up on a LOT of late work. Bear with me y'all.
Pia Guerra @ 6:41 AM
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Thursday, October 16, 2008
Tonight I'll be doing laundry, packing, getting work finished on a couple of the McGann pages and with luck there'll be a little time for sleep before we fly out to LA tomorrow.
Oh and check out the gorgeous cover for issue six! By Ben Templesmith!
Lovely!
Also, plans are underway for a trip to London over Christmas. It all started last month when we miraculously snagged tickets to Hamlet (starring David Tennant and Patrick Stewart! Gasp!), then we got some friends interested in coming along (can't have Christmas dinner without friends to pull crackers with!). We've just now found a flat to house our group of six and the next challenge will be finding airline tickets. I've even started a scarf for the London weather. Found a nice alpaca yarn, a simple pattern and away it's gone.
Lots to do. Very excited.
Pia Guerra @ 7:47 PM
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Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Election Day! Don't forget to vote!
Pia Guerra @ 1:36 AM
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Sunday, October 12, 2008
This Friday Ian and I are heading off to LA to join Brian and Ruth at the Scream Awards for some goofy, ghoulish fun.
For those who'd like to increase our chances of actually getting onstage to collect a trophy, go over to the Spike website and vote for us! Think of it as a warm up for November 4th (October 14th for all you Canucks).
Pia Guerra @ 5:58 AM
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Thursday, October 09, 2008
If you have any hesitation about voting this time around please have a look at those who are voting and reconsider.
Pia Guerra @ 6:36 PM
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Wednesday, October 08, 2008
I fucked Sarah Palin By voting for Barack Obama.
Pia Guerra @ 3:33 PM
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Saturday, October 04, 2008
Ian called from Regina a little while ago to announce Canadian Content won Best Sketch Group at the Canadian Comedy Awards! I am so happy for him and the whole gang!
Currently working on 4 pages here, they're coming in slow but tomorrow I expect to make some good headway.
Pia Guerra @ 3:59 AM
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Sunday, September 28, 2008
There's this new trend in jeans I've seen a couple of times on my way to work recently: skinny jeans pulled down so the waistline is resting under the pelvic bone, sometimes lower, creating a giant sag off the ass.
For the love of god, stop it.
The look was silly enough with big droopy pants, especially on the white suburban gangsta kids flashing signs on their freshly mown lawns, but this... this is just laughable. One chick we had the misfortune of walking behind kept tugging her stud belted skinnies to mid-white-briefed-rump, like every 10 seconds just to keep them from falling off her ass entirely. The sag of the fabric swishing about her denim plastered thighs made it look like she had just had some sort of accident.
Main Street hipsters and darlings! I expect more of you! Don't fall victim to this goofiness!
Pia Guerra @ 6:40 AM
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Saturday, September 20, 2008
"When you are the moon, there is a person people say is the sun. I saw the sun once, and he came past me, really fast. And it was an, it was called, the, an eclipse. And he came fast! But as he came past, I, I licked his back. [sticks out tongue] And he doesn't know I licked his back! All in his yellow suit!... I'm the moon."
Oh but the Mighty Boosh makes me smile.
Detailing two pages this evening and I'm quite happy with them.
Pia Guerra @ 2:57 AM
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Wednesday, September 17, 2008
I’m going to write about what happened over the last few months. It’s a bit blunt, forgive me.
At the beginning of the summer we got a call from our friend Drew with bad news. Joanne, his fiancée had learned her cancer had returned after a lengthy fight over the winter and spring. This would be her third diagnosis with the disease, the first being four years ago with ovarian cancer. She beat that. The second bout began last year when a large tumour was found in her lung and required very risky surgery to remove it. There were complications and it looked bad but she came out from that a winner and we were all delighted, more so by their announcement that they would be getting married in October. And then that phone call. The cancer had spread to her brain and there was no treatment for it. She had six months. They wanted to keep it quiet so they could have as much normal time as possible and yep, they would still be getting married.
In July they went to Key West to stay with friends on the beach, and on our return from SDCC we heard they were back in town and wanted to get together with friends before flying off to Hawaii for the rest of August. We prepared ourselves for a solemn affair but it was anything but. Joanne looked fantastic and the night was a blast. They were going to a condo on the big island with two friends and soon we were talking about joining them mid-month to Labour Day.
I was running behind on Doctor Who by three weeks and as a result issue three had just been assigned to a cover artist. I was grumpy and tired from the push and the idea of jetting off to spend time with Drew and Joanne seemed perfect, especially since there wasn’t a lot of time to spend with them last year what with the crazy schedule on Y and then the equally crazy time right after Y that should have been spent doing nothing instead of jumping on a complicated short story and a couple of promo tours before jumping on Doctor Who.
Mid August, a couple of days before we were to be on a plane we got another call. Joanne was having some paralysis and bad headaches and had to come back immediately. The next day she had a seizure.
We visited them a couple of days later at the hospital. She still looked good and had high hopes about getting her pain regulation sorted so she could get the heck out of there. They were still set on flying out to Ontario so they could get married in October as planned. We visited again that week, had a sushi party in the lounge. Everyone’s hopes were up despite increasing incidences of seizures and issues with pain regulation.
The next two weeks were a blur, a steady downturn into awful and more awful. The doses of meds were needing to be stronger and stronger and in order to have the ceremony while still conscious the wedding was bumped up to September 2nd. The venue would be a friend’s restaurant in town, we were very happy to be invited to join them. On the Friday before, we got word that things had turned bad, that she might not make it past the weekend. Saturday, a text came in saying she was ‘fading fast’. We all rushed over and waited. She fought herself away from that brink but was pretty much out of it for the rest of the week, occasionally she’d wake up, ask about the wedding and drift off again. Tuesday, another text, another rush out to the hospital, more waiting. And still she fought. It went on like this for days, one spectacular sunset after another (as the lounge had one of the most amazing views of the city anywhere), it would have been funny if it weren’t so damn heartbreaking.
We read magazines, shared cookies and scones and fruits, passed around a back massaging machine picked up at the PNE that was quickly dubbed “Earl”, watched America’s next Top Model and then we’d go home, get some sleep and jump out of bed at every ring of the phone. Never have I held such animosity towards telemarketers.
On the morning of the 9th, a few hours after returning from a visit, we got a call that she had passed away peacefully.
Yesterday (Monday) was the memorial. Drew read the poem he had written to read to Joanne on their wedding day.
And y’know, comics just aren’t that much of a priority right now. I’m working on pages here and wondering why the hell I let so much of my life get set aside to do this. You hear it all the time among comic book artists, insanely long hours and very little time with family and friends, stress and more stress. It’s not healthy, not physically, not mentally. I’m very proud of the work I’ve done, happy as all get out at being able to reach as many readers as I did. I set a goal and achieved it to the best of my ability. I showed those who didn’t think I could do it that yes, I could. I gave those who suggested I was riding the coattails of my partner a big middle finger and it felt wonderful. And yes, it came at a cost. I see that now and need to address it.
Once issue five and six are done (Issue four has also been assigned to a cover artist), I’m going to take time off. If I do work on something it’ll be my own stuff or with friends and sure as hell won’t be on a deadline. I think I’m done with those for the foreseeable future.
Take care all, give a hug to those you love yeah?
Pia Guerra @ 6:02 AM
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Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Very sad to report the passing of a beautiful friend, Joanne, pictured here with Drew (who together knocked everyone's socks off at our wedding reception a couple of years ago). We'll miss her terribly and always remember and admire her fierce fighting spirit.
Pia Guerra @ 6:10 AM
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Monday, August 25, 2008
Passed along from Brian today. Holy crap!
Pia Guerra @ 7:03 PM
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Sunday, August 17, 2008
I would like the rains to hurry up and get here and smother the remainder of this spectacularly awful weekend.
Off to the hospital to visit a friend.
Pia Guerra @ 3:53 PM
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On The Stands
Y - The Last Man
Trade paperbacks and deluxe editions available in stores
Doctor Who - The Forgotten
Trade paperback available in stores
Appearances
Anticipation/Worldcon
August 8-10th, Montreal.
Biography
Pia Guerra was born in New Jersey in 1971.
When she was ten years old her cousin left a copy of X-Men #128 at her house and from there a love of the comics medium began.
Through the 1990s Pia worked on various independent titles including the Bruiser, Sinnamon, Slip, Weird Business, Asylum, and a series of gaming manuals for White Wolf's Masquerade, Changeling and Werewolf lines.
In early 2001 Pia got a call from Vertigo editor Heidi MacDonald asking if she would be interested in trying out for a book called Y - The Last Man written by Brian K. Vaughan. After submitting her samples Pia landed a job as penciller and co-creator on the massive project.
Since it's release in July of 2002 response to the book has been overwhelmingly positive. Y has been translated into several different languages for foreign markets including Europe, Scandinavia and Indonesia. Y - The Last Man has received praise from critics, numerous Eisner nominations, nominations for the Harvey Award and the Prix du Scenario at the prestigious Angouleme comic festival and was named Best Book of 2003 by Wizard Magazine. Pia won the Shuster Award for Outstanding Canadian Comic Book Artist of 2006, in 2008 she won two Eisners, one for Best Penciler/Inker Team with Jose Marzan Jr. and the other for Best Continuing Series as co-creator along with Brian and Jose. There is a movie option in the works.
Pia lives with her very talented husband, writer Ian Boothby (Futurama, Simpsons comics) and three mostly lovable cats August, Charlie and Kinsey. When not freaking out over deadlines Pia likes to work on her scale model Victorian dollhouse and hang out with her sister Vicky.
Y - The Last Man Newsarama interview with Brian K Vaughan and Heidi MacDonald by Matt Brady
Frequently Asked Questions
Has Y ended? Why can't I find the last trade?
Y went 60 issues, as promised. The trade will be coming out in June of 2008. We went bi-monthly for the last arc so that's why there's a delay, sorry about that. You can check with your local comic shop or bookstore to order a copy or to find out when they'll be getting them in.
Will you be selling any pages from Y?
Yes. Go to The Hellkitty Store to see them. We're doing a few pages at a time to allow for things like work. And no, we won't be taking requests for pages. What you see is what's for sale that week. Sorry.
Do you do commissions/sketches?
I'm not doing commisions right now due to scheduling on other projects so here's what I'll do.
If you send me a backing board I will draw a quick convention style sketch for you for free (you read right, free). It won't be fancy, just the same kind of sketch I'd do for anyone at a con.
Here's what you need to do.
Send your backing board and request (example "I would like a picture of Ampersand please") along with a self addressed stamped envelope to the following:
Pia Guerra
#169 - 2416 Main Street
Vancouver, BC
Canada
V5T 3E2
If you are from Canada please add a few stamps to the return envelope. People from the US or other countries can send me those international coupon thingies (NO MONEY!) if you can't get those don't worry, it doesn't cost THAT much for me to send boards in the mail. Of course if I suddenly become inundated with requests I may change that policy.
Please, please put a note on your package saying DO NOT BEND. The PO box I get my mail from will sometimes bend envelopes in order to cram it into that little mailbox and this will ruin your backing board. If you can, add a stiff board of cardboard in there that I include with the return art, just to be safe.
I promise to get these requests done as soon as posible. Those who have already sent stuff out I am currently working on them, sorry for the delay. If you've had an address change or need to contact me about your request you can drop me an e-mail at hellkitty3@hotmail.com and I'll do my best to get back to you asap.
Oh, and if your request is personalised please don't let me see it turn up on e-bay. It's incredibly tacky considering I've taken the time away from work to give you a free sketch. And those thinking of buying one on e-bay, come on.
What is a backing board anyway?
Backing boards are the acid free pieces of white cardboard you get with bagged comics to keep them from bending. If you don't have one of these you can send a sheet of bristol or art paper. 8x10 or thereabouts is a good size, it keeps postage low and reduces the chances of it getting mangled by the post office. Don't forget to add a piece of stiff cardboard for added security!
I think your blog is screwy, I can't see certain sections on my Mac.
I just learned of this glich, trying to figure it out but my coding sucks. Any Mac mavens who can figure out what's wrong please send me an e-mail letting me know how to fix it.
I saw an interview with you the other day and I really feel you'd be perfect for this book idea I have.
I'm currently attached to IDW's Doctor Who and won't be available until the end of the year. Sorry.
Can you give me information on submitting work to comic book companies?
The best advice I can offer here is to put together three to six sample pages (photocopies, no originals) of your BEST sequential art. The idea is to show off your range so make the pages interesting. Make certain you put your name and address on the back of each page in case the pages get shuffled about. The last thing you want is an editor discovering a random page, loving your work but having no idea who to contact.
Pick a title you feel best suits your style and look at the credits box, there you will see the name of the editor and possibly an assistant editor. Get the address off the disclaimer bar and send your samples c/o of the editor or assistant editor along with a brief letter stating your interest in submitting work and a self addressed stamped envelope. You won't be guaranteed a response but if they do have an interest the SASE will make sure you hear it.
Conventions are also a good way to get your stuff seen. It's a great place to talk to other creators and get feedback. You may also run into editors willing to look at work. If you do, keep it short, show only your best work and LISTEN. Take whatever critiques/advice they give you and WALK AWAY. You'll probably be running into these people again and again in the future and you want to be sure you leave them with a consistent, professional impression of yourself. Many newbies get overly defensive of their work and in the process make asses of themselves (believe me, I've done it myself). You can bitch and complain with friends about your interview later.
Remember, there aren't a whole lot of bridges in this business so don't go burning them all willy-nilly and then wonder why you're not getting gigs.
By voting for Barack Obama.
Very sad to report the passing of a beautiful friend, Joanne, pictured here with Drew (who together knocked everyone's socks off at our wedding reception a couple of years ago). We'll miss her terribly and always remember and admire her fierce fighting spirit. 
Currently working on 4 pages here, they're coming in slow but tomorrow I expect to make some good headway.