Preorder Fickle Bean No. 3!

Mailing December 6th 2025 and debuting at Denver Comics and Arts Fest (DeCAF)

Hi everybody! It’s now two weeks until the 3rd installment of Denver Comics and Arts Fest (DeCAF) on December 6th. I’m excited to announce that I will be debuting Fickle Bean No. 3 at the show. I’m taking preorders now which will hit the mail on December 6th as well.

Cover design for Fickle Bean No. 3 “Busy Little Town”

Preorderers will get a free copy of the latest process zine (while supplies last), so don’t miss out.

A page from “FISK’S BROADWAY: YARD DICE” a 6 page comic

The theme of this book is “Busy Little Town”, the idea was to do a book that flexes the one-person anthology genre a bit further with a wider variety of shorter comics. The first and second Fickle Bean books had two medium comics each and some accompanying art. This time the book with have 32 interior pages comprising one medium story and several short comics, one page comics, and even a small collection of 4-panel newspaper style strips. I thought it was fitting to create a Richard Scarry inspired cover showing a town full of lots of hustle and bustle. There’s something for everyone in this industrious illustrated town!

“FISK’S BROADWAY” treehouse page

I live in South Denver, almost in Englewood, it often feels to me like an in-between space, not quite totally urban and also not strictly suburban. When I started writing the stories for this book I was interested in depicting that space. I have a lot of nostalgia for the world imagined in vintage comic strips, children playing outside, houses on a grid with fenced in lawns. A lot of what I see in comics today are dirty streets, telephone wires and gas station signs. I hoped I could show another side of Denver that comic readers would recognize; think more trees and neighborhoods and parks, less neon signs and high-rises.

A page from “ANTHONY”, a 16 page comic

Making this book was a challenge for me— continuing to make comics at all is a challenge. Trying to create a product that I’m satisfied with is very time consuming. It’s rewarding when it’s done, but I have to make a lot of sacrifices on the way. Now that I am working full-time again, that can mean going to bed and waking up early to work, or forgoing weekend plans with my wife and friends so that I can finish inking pages.

“MONOLOGUE” a comic note from the author in the foreword

I keep coming back to put more in print because it excites me to have something new for my readers. I’m optimistic that continuing to do this work by hand will push me to be better and faster so that the next book will be even fuller and richer, and you won’t have to wait so long. Until then, you have this one!

Thanks always for the support. Be kind.