Tag: Comics Collectibles

Drink, Draw, Eat, Repeat…Our Upcoming Monthly MSCA Events

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Hey, gang- lots of opportuniities for you to attend an MSCA event over the next few weeks.

First up is the Sat-Art-Day at 901 Comics East out on Macon Road in Cordova.

We’ll be meeting in the back gallery room this Saturday, April 22nd from 10am – 2pm. This is a free/open to the public drawing event. Bring your latest art project to work on or sketchbook to draw in.

We’ll also have art supplies available for anyone who needs them- lots of markers, pens, pencils, paper, and more will be on hand.

All ages are welcome, but if you aren’t old enough to drive yourself to the event, have a parent bring you and hang out as well.

The following Wednesday, April 26th, we’ll have our next Drink-N-Draw at 901 Comics East.

It’s another free and open to the public drawing event, but if you’d like a beer (on tap or in cans), soda, water, chips, or pizza those all will be available for purchase fro 901’s “Bar With No Name“.

Again, we’ll be meeting in the back gallery room, but there’s plenty of room in the baming area and at the bar.

Then on Tuesday, May 2nd we’ll have our monthly dinner meet-up at Garibaldi’s Pizza near the U of M.  We’ll be there from 6-8pm in the bog dining room on the right.

You don’t have to be a member to attend any of our events like this or the ones at 901 Comics East, but you might want to bring a sketchbook and a few bucks to order off the menu.

Lots of great pizza, pasta, salads, and beverages available. We always meet on the first Tuesday of each month, but will pass on the July meeting which lands on the 4th.

Not one of our monthly meetings, but one of the upcoming events we’ll be a part of is the innagural Memphis Public Libraries Comic Con at the main library on Poplar Avenue. We’ll have an MSCA promo table at the evernt, and several of our members will have their own tables there as well.

The library comic con will have specialo guests artist and former MSCA member Mike Norton and comic writing legend (and “The Suicide Squad” movie star) “Uncle” John Ostrander.

It happens on May 6th, which is also Free Comic Book Day so the library will be giving away loads of comics, trade paperbacks, and graphic novels. Free Comic Book Day is the best day of the year, where comics from publishers like DC Comics and Marvel Comics are given away absolutely free to people at local comic shops. The comics aren’t free to the retailers, so if you can afford to buy something at one of the shops please do. Many stores will be having sales and other rewards for purching items that day.

All comic shops in the Memphis area (Comics & Collectibles/Poplar Ave., The Cellar/Barlett Blvd., 901 Comics/Cooper-Young, and 901 Comics East/Macon Rd.) participate in FCBD. To find a comic shop in your area check out FCBD’s comic shop locator here.

901 Comics East will have the Red Power Ranger, Steve Cordenas, in-store for a signing on FCBD. Steve stars in the recent “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always” which is currently showing on Netflix.

And don’t forget that MSCA member Peter Melonas currently has a one-man art show at Theatre Memphis in conjunction with their play “Sherlock’s Last Case“.

Oh, and while you’re at it, be sure to mark on your calendar our next group art show at Germantown Community Theatre – “Drawing Blood“. It will be a Halloween/Horror themed art show with bite this Oct/Nov.

Hope to see you there!

Our upcoming May Drink-N-Draw…

…and our June Sat-Art-Day.

Sketchy Details On Upcoming MSCA Events This Week

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If you’re free this Sunday, January 15th from 4:30 – 6 pm, go visit the MLK Day Celebration at the Withers Collection Museum and Gallery, 333 Beale Street, Memphis, TN 38103.

MSCA member Devin Hodges will be present with his comic book The Common Days of Cade!

He’ll also be set up and selling comics, zines, and prints at the Corinth Comic Con on Saturday, January 21st. The one day show will be held at the Crossroads Arena (2800 S Harper Rd.) in Corinth, MS

You can find out more about Devin and his comic on his stie at www.diastcartoons.com.

You can also find his comic for sale along with other locally created books at Comics and Collectibles on Poplar (near Colonial) and 901 Comics East on Macon Road out in Cordova.

And speaking of locally created and 901 Comics East, my hand-drawn sketchcards are now also for sale there- 551 Macon Rd, Cordova, TN 38018.

I have official artist returns for $100.00ea, and personal sketchcards drawn on my own custom blanks for $35.00ea. I’ll be adding more sketchcards and sketchcovers to the ones at 901 and The Cellar (in Bartlett) soon.

This Wednesday (Jan.18) the MSCA will be holding our first official Drink-N-Draw at 901 Comics East. It’s exactly what it sounds like- we’ll be drinking and drawing from 6-8pm at the Cordova location. 901 has a bar and gaming area and offers domestic and local beers on tap and in cans.

If you don’t drink beer, Lil’ Sweet says there are sodas, water, and some individual pizzas and snack items as well. So bring your art supplies and a few bucks to order something to drink/eat while you draw.

Later this month on Saturday, January 28ththe MSCA will be hosting our first “Sketchy Saturday” at 901 Comics East from 10am until 2pm. It’s going to be a free hands-on workshop that will focus on drawing on sketchcards, sketchcovers, and in sketchbooks. I’ll have some free MSCA sketchcard blanks to hand out, and lots of art supplies on hand for attendees to use and experiment with.

If you’re looking for art classes, the Wades and Team Toshigawa have The Comic Studio which are art classes with a comic book twist. The classes cover everything from photoshop techniques, to illustration techniques, to writing all from the perspective of comic book, manga and graphic design creation.

The Comic Studio meets virtually twice a week (Wednesdays at 12:00 noon and Thursdays at 5:00pm), and are for children ages 8-15. Look for more class times to be added soon. Know a child interested in manga and comic book illustration? Get them to the Comic Studio!

You can join The Comic Studio by clicking here!

Hope you can make it out to one or all our upcoming events!

Lin

“I’m Going To Midtown!” – Midtown Comic Con at Black Lodge and “Memphis Quarantine” at Crosstown Arts

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This weekend Nicki Workman and I headed over to midtown to do some running around and just get out of the house. It was just too pretty to stay indoors!

Our first stop Saturday was The Art Center over on Union Avenue. It’s been a while since I’ve been by the shop.

I had to check out their stock of Copic markers. I saw online that they had them, and I’m always looking for another source.

I was also happy to see they still sell sketchcard blanks and physical comic pages for creating comic books, manga, and comic strips…sweet!

I dropped off some swag for their customers, and I bought a few of their stickers and some other art supplies. (You can see more about my shopping experience here on my Lin Workman site.)

Our next stop was the MidTown Con at Black Lodge over on Cleveland. It’s was their inaugural mini-con.

When we first walked in it was obvious that many others had this event on their list of things to do on Saturday. The place was much bigger on the inside than I had expected, and definitely much more attended than I had expected as well.

The first folks we recognized were Gabriel DeRanzo and MSCA’s Greg Cravens with “Stoned Ninja” comics.

Apparently due to hunger Greg got one of his prints confused with the Stoned Ninja gummies!

I also ran into fellow MSCA member Jason Negan. Due to work and the pandemic it’s been too long since we’ve talked in person.

I also got to run into some other local artists at the show, such as Devin Hodges/DIAST Cartoons and The Common Days of Cade comics.

Billups Allen and Cramhole zine.

And artist/cosplayer Nora Childers, who is part of the Indie Artists Market (just around the corner from Black Lodge). She’ll be a part of the 901 Heroes Fantasy Wars cosplay fashion show at Black Lodge on Sunday, April 24th from 5-10pm.

I saw a lot of toys, comics, art, apparel and more. They even had a concession stand- and restrooms which I really appreciated.

Nicki brought along her new mirrorless Sony to play with at the show. Thankfully she only wanted to shoot me with her camera, and not what she’s usually packin’ when we go around Memphis..!

We ran into local cosplayer supreme Kelldar…

…as well as a couple other cosplayers like this Mando and Harley. We had to cut out just as their costume contest got underway.

More and more folks were arriving and we felt the need to create a bit of space for them. Really glad the MidTown Con was such a success. I don’t know if the vendors did well, but I did see a lot of folks buying and selling. Overall it seems like folks are ready to get back to attending conventions and events.

Since we had parked at the Crosstown Concourse and Nicki had her camera, we decided to visit it next. It’s on Cleveland just half a block up from Black Lodge. Again, the weather was extremely nice out so we enjoyed the short walk.

We grabbed a few drinks at Farm Burger and walked around the Concourse.

We enjoyed checking out all the artwork hanging around on the walls.

We headed up the stairs to walk around the Crosstown Arts section on the second floor.

We noticed that there was an photography exhibit going on. It was “Memphis Quarantine” by photographer Jamie Harmon, who photographed 800 plus dwellings and over two thousand people between March 13th and May 31st of 2020- averaging 13 photoshoots a day lasting between 15-30 minutes..! Each home/person/family received a private web link with edited images they could download and have at no charge. (You can read more about the photo shoot here.)

There were photos everywhere we looked- all around the foyer area and in the large galleries. Two things I didn’t realize until last night. One- the show ended the next day, Sunday April 10th (today). And two- Jamie was actually hanging out in one of the areas. Had no idea what he looked like, and he was talking with folks so we tried not to bother them. Wish I had known both then!

If you missed the show, check out the website where they are doing preorders for the Memphis Quarantine book at www.memphisquarantine.com ($70ea).

When we were at Farm Burger earlier I noticed the guy behind the register was wearing a Memphis Listening Lab tee on. I asked him what that was and he said it was upstairs.

Yep, it wasn’t here the last time I had stopped in at the Concourse. Here’s the scoop on MLL–

Memphis Listening Lab is a curated collection of music and music history, a forum for music-related talks and performances, and a music education, appreciation, and experimentation space located in Crosstown Concourse. The MLL mission is to provide the community with opportunities to study, research, and enjoy popular music by way of a steadily expanding catalog of resources that represent the rich musical heritage of Memphis.
You can find out more about MLL here and buy some merch here.

We headed back downstairs to turn in Nicki’s photo pass. This was the first time I’d seen someone behind the boards at the radio station. Usually I’m there a bit later, and I’m not sure if they were in the studio during the pandemic or not.

After we left Crosstown, we headed over to The Cellar in Bartlett, and then over to Comics & Collectibles off Poplar. It’s been about a month since we’d been to either shop.

I’ve got sketchcovers and sketchcards for sale at The Cellar – each hand drawn and done in markers. MSCA member Lonnie Easterling has some sketchcovers for sale there, and I noticed another artist had added their sketchcards as well.

I saw some copies of The Dragon Templar by Brad Starnes and MSCA’s Dale Martin, sitting next to a Fathom comic with a Skoot Starnes cover, and just above some of our MSCA The Good, The Bad, and the Sketchy zine on the shelf at The Cellar. Later at Comics & Collectibles we saw copies of Jetta: Tales of the Toshigawa by Martheus Antone Wade, Janet Wade, and Kevin L. Williams .

If you need acrylic stands for your collectibles be sure to check out Charles Ettinger‘s at The Cellar, or on his Etsy shop- www.etsy.com/shop/LaserheadStudios.

You can always find freebie MSCA and Drawing Funny podcast swag at Comics & Collectibles, The Cellar, and 901 Comics in the Copper/Young neighborhood.

Hope you’ve all had a great weekend. If you were set up at the MidTown Con I hope it was a success for ya!

Lin

 

Black Lodge Video
405 N Cleveland St.
Memphis, TN 38104
(901) 424-1514
blacklodgememphis.com

 

Crosstown Arts
Crosstown Concourse
1350 Concourse Ave #280
Memphis, TN 38104
crosstownarts.org

The Art Center
1636 Union Ave.
Memphis, TN 38104
(901) 276-6321
The Cellar: Tabletop Games & Comics
2737 Bartlett Blvd
Bartlett, TN 38134
(901) 382-8623

901 Comics (Cooper/Young)
2162 Young Avenue
Memphis, TN 38104
(901) 421-8819
901-comics.business.site

Comics & Collectibles
4730 POPLAR AVENUE #2
MEMPHIS, TN 38117
901-683-7171
memphiscomics.com

“What’s Goin’ On” – New “Drawing Funny” Podcast Episode

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New “Drawing Funny” episode is available for download.

Show notes: In this solo episode I have an update and details on the current MSCA art show at the Germantown Community Theatre. It and the play “The Complete History Of America (abridged)” can be seen February 17-27, 2022. This is one of our 35th anniversary events, and we’re working on a couple more (additional announcements coming soon).

BIG NEWS– after meeting virtually on Zoom for the last two years due to the pandemic, we’re happy to announce our return to in-person meetings at Garibaldi’s Pizza…we’ll be back on the first Tuesday in March! I also share some Mid-South Cartoonists Association history in our first MSCA Fun Facts segment, and unfortunately there’s some more sad MSCA member news.

If you have any ideas for ways for us to celebrate our MSCA anniversary, or would like to be on this podcast please contact me at podcast (at) drawingfunny (dot) com. I’d love to hear from you.

If you stop by The Cellar and/or our dinner meeting in person be sure to snag some free Drawing Funny podcast and MSCA swag. Lots of buttons, stickers and sketchcard blanks are available while they last. You can also find some at Comics & Collectibles and 901 Comics as well.

Stay well, stay tooned, and hope to see you in person this March..!

Ep. 37: “What’s Goin’ On”
www.drawingfunny.com/2022/02/15/episode-37-whats-goin-on/

(L-R) Lin Workman, Jack Cassady, Greg Cravens, and Kevin L. WIlliams.

Original flyer for our first meeting back in 1987!

Drawn Together- Next MSCA Meeting In Person

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It’s finally happening!

Only one week until our first in-person monthly MSCA meeting– in over a year and a half!

Tuesday, August 3rd- 6pm in Overton Park Formal Gardens.

Below is all the info from the MSCA President Kevin L. Williams:

Dear Ink Slingers, Digital Doodlers, Pencil Pushers, and Word Doctors,

IN PERSON GATHERING

The first IN PERSON gathering will be in the Overton Park Formal Gardens, Tuesday, August 3, 2021, at 6:30 pm!!  Bring your own chair, your own food and drink, artwork to share (I plan to have a table for us to put items on).  This area is under some trees and flowers, it’s wide-open so we can spread out.

CLICK HERE for directions. You can park in the road behind the Levitt Shell.

RULES: 

If you are fully vaccinated, masks are optional but not required.
If you are NOT fully vaccinated, masks are required.
We trust you to make the decisions that are safer for you AND our members, so do what is right and don’t be “that guy.”

You might want to bring some mosquito spray just in case…

RAIN OPTION:

If it rains, we’ll use Zoom* to gather and visit.

Future gatherings in person will be in the gardens of the Woodruff-Fontain House Museum, with more details to come!

Be Safe, Be Happy, Be Well!
Your Pals,
Kevin L. Williams
& Muley the Mule

*(You can email Kevin at midsouthcartoonists (at) gmail (dot) com for the Zoom link and/or to join the MSCA mailing list.)

Going into 2022 we are planning on being back at our usual monthly meeting joint- the U of M area Garibaldi’s Pizza. We’ll be meeting there on Walker Ave. the 1st Tuesday of each month- if all goes well! March 5, 2020 was the last time we all met there…wow!

There are a few other events happening around our area, and some within driving distance. Before heading out, be sure to check out our “Drawing Funny” Con Survival Guide episode for tips on attending and setting up at conventions and other events.

This week/weekend is the annual Superman Celebration in Metropolis, IL – July 30-August 1. The town festival is usually the second weekend in June, but like many events, it had to be cancelled in 2020 and moved this year because of COVID. It’s only about 3hrs north of Memphis, across the Ohio River from Paducah, KY.

Lots of artists, writers, celebs, events, vendors, costumes, and corndogs- plus a \S/uper-Museum and statues! Click here to see the full schedule.

‘INSIDE THE WALT DISNEY ARCHIVES’

July 23, 2021 – January 2, 2022. Graceland Exhibition Center, 3717 Elvis Presley Blvd. in Memphis, TN (just behind the Elvis Presley’s Memphis complex).

Elvis Week (Aug. 11-17) here in Memphis is just around the corner, but this 10,000-square-foot traveling  exhibit features Disney props, costumes and more will be in the M-town through January 2nd.

Tickets: $15 (adult); $8 (child, 5-10); free (4 and under). A $50 “Passport” allows a holder to visit the exhibit as often as he or she wants to during the six months. “VIP” tickets and other options also are available.

Numerous events will be held at Graceland in connection with the exhibit. For a full calendar and for tickets and other information, visit graceland.com/exhibition-center.

Comics & Collectibles has announced their plans for Free Comic Book Day, which is normally the 1st Saturday in May. It’s been pushed back to the middle of next month, and there’s a lot happening around town to celebrate this annual comics holiday.

Here are the details from C&Cs for this year’s FCBD…

Annual FREE COMIC BOOK DAY is Saturday August 14, 2021!
Due to the pandemic, this year will be a little different than previous events. Please see below…
1. MASK REQUIRED. No exceptions. This applies to ALL customers, including vaccinated individuals and children. Masks will not be provided, so don’t forget to bring your own. This is to protect everyone including those with weakened immune systems, our St. Jude patient customers, and children that are not old enough to be vaccinated. We appreciate your cooperation.
2. LIMITED NUMBER OF CUSTOMERS INSIDE THE STORE AT ONCE. We will have an employee at the entrance monitoring the number of customers in the shop, so there may be a wait to enter.
3. 20% OFF STOREWIDE – excludes, Sideshow Collectibles, new comics and previously discounted merchandise.
4. MINIMUM PURCHASE OF of $5 (before tax) required to obtain Free Comic Book Day books. Limit one copy of each book per person that makes a $5 or more purchase.
(Previous FCBD comics.)

901 COMICS EAST GRAND OPENING!!

SATURDAY, AUGUST 14, 2021 @ 10 AM CDT

FCBD will also see 901 Comics opening a 2nd location out in Cordova near the Wolfchase area- 8551 Macon Rd, Cordova, TN 38018. They have special guests Denys Cowan (Sat/14) scheduled for the grand opening (EDIT: Denys has had to cancel and the Grand Opening had been pushed back a week- will be doing FCBD both weekends), David Yost (Blue Power Ranger) on Sunday, August 15th from 12 PM – 4 PM, and more guest signings to appear later in the month.

They also have done some recent remodeling to their original Cooper-Young location. You can still find our MSCA zine, Watusi zines by Dale Martin, and Stoned Ninja comics by Greg Cravens there.

A new con has thrown its hat into the ring here in the Mid-South. The Covington Comic Con will be on FCBD- August 14th in Covington, TN. Bluff City Batman and his Batmobile as well as Eric’s Secret Stash toys/collectibles will be there.

Speaking of hats, congrats to our own Kevin “Nuggethead” Thorn. He’s wearing another hat around Hernando, MS moving forward. Kevin was recently appointed to the Hernando Planning Commission by newly elected Mayor Chip Johnson. Kevin will be helping the mayor and board of aldermen with the future growth of Hernando, which is the county seat for DeSoto County.

I (Lin Workman) recently just finished up some more ULTRAMAN sketchcards for RRParks Cards. These are the second batch I’ve done for this card set, and they will be randomly inserted in the card packs.

You can see my first set and some step-by-steps on my site- linworkman.com. I’ve got Zorro and Halloween/horror sketchcards on the drawing table next. I’ll have artist returns available for sale for each set.

I’ve got some of my Ultraman and other artist’s returns for sale at The Cellar over in Bartlett, TN. There are some sketchcovers for sale there as well.

Be sure to snag some swag while you’re there. Free stickers and buttons are available while they last.

Also, they carry copies of our MSCA Zine. You can also purchase some at Comics & Collectibles and 901 Comics in town and pick up some of the free swag, too.

That’s all for now- stay safe, stay hydrated, and stay tooned!

Lin

Stay Safe, Stay Warm, and Stay Tooned! New “Drawing Funny” Episode and MSCA “Winter” Zine Available

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It’s been a while since we’ve gotten to get out of the house and visit together at Garibaldi’s Pizza for our monthly dinner meet-ups. It was always one of my reasons to get out of the house, even if my wife had to push me out the door when I didn’t feel like being social. I always felt better once I sat down and started talking toons with my fellow MSCA members. Hopefully we’ll be able to resume our group dinners and drawing nights sometime in 2021, but until it’s safe to get together in person we’ll continue to do our monthly MSCA zoom calls on the first Tuesday of each month.

Available online now is the Drawing Funny Podcast, Episode 10 – “Procrastination”. It’s the Mid-South Cartoonists Association’s December Monthly Zoom Meeting– well, most of it. We talked toons, discussed what’s happening around the M-town, swapped ideas on self-promotion/increasing eyes on our artwork, and how to make money with it and commissions during a time with no (or few) in person conventions.

We also discussed a couple of our favorite art books.

This monthly video call happened back on December 1st, and honestly with everything that’s been keeping me busy since this one was recorded it now qualifies as a “Flashback Friday” episode..! This one turned out to be a long episode and clocked in at just under 1hr 55min. As usual it was weird to not go hang out in the Garibaldi’s parking lot and talk for another hour or two like we tend to do in person.

You can find website and social media links for many of our MSCA members on the group’s Members Directory page, and the “Winter” zine issue is now available for purchase in local Memphis area comic shops.

901 Comics (Cooper/Young) – 901comicsmemphis.com

The Cellar Table Top Games & Comics (Bartlett Blvd.) – comiccellaronline.com

Comics & Collectibles (Poplar Ave.) – memphiscomics.com/wps

Next issue will be “Memphis” themed, and there is no buy in costs for members to participate. If you’re not on our MSCA mailing list contact El Prez Kevin L. Williams and he’ll make sure you get all the upcoming club info.

Happy Holidays– stay safe, stay warm, and stay tooned!

Lin

#supportyourlocalartists

#supportyourlocalcomicshops

#happyholidays

#wearamask

“Is this thing on..?” New MSCA ‘Drawing Funny’ Podcast Is Live And New ‘Magic’ Zine Is In Stores

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Hey, gang- as of this month I am a podperson again!

It took a little doing, but the new MSCA podcast Drawing Funny is now available online and I’ve got 3 (and a half) episodes in the can.

Episode 0 is the pilot/introductory episode, Episode 1 was our last meeting Zoom call…

Episode 2 was an interview with the MSCA President, Kevin L. Williams, and Episode 3 was with local Memphis comic creator Matt Bowers.

I’ll be recording more episodes soon. As soon as it is safe enough for us to get together again in person I’ll be taking the show on the road to our dinner meet-ups, to comics shops, conventions, and other events to record.

Please be sure to “like” and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Breaker, Google Podcasts, Radio Public, Pocket Casts, and other places you can get podcasts.

You can also follow this show or contact us on social media:

Twitter- @drawingfunny1
Instagram- @drawingfunnypod

I’ll be recording our next monthly Zoom meeting, which is next Tuesday, November 3rd.  If you’d like to attend the virtual MSCA meeting please contact Kevin– midsouthcartoonists (at) gmail (dot) com, and be sure to put “zoom invite request” in the subject line.

Lots to discuss this month, including the latest issues of the MSCA Zine. Issue #3 “Magic” is in stores now, and #4 “Animals” (with a Jim Palmer cover) will be out in mid-November. Copies of issue #1 “Horror” and #2 “Space” are still available at Comics & Collectibles, The Cellar, and 901 Comics. Deadline for entries for the “Winter/Holiday” #5 issue is coming up soon, so be sure to get your art sent over to our editors Dale Martin and Jason Negan.

Speaking of 901 Comics, you can pick up Matt Bowers’ Memphis comic there. Issues #1 & #2 are available for sale there now. He had a singing at the shop last weekend. Matt was also featured in the October 22, 2020 issue of the Memphis Flyer.

Matt Bowers’ Memphis: Superheroes in the Bluff City
It’s Here: Matt Bowers Signs Copies of Memphis No. 2

BTW- if you missed the last MSCA Zoom Meeting, you can listen to it on DrawingFunny.com (Ep1 – “Calling All Cartoonists”)and hear some MSCA history by the man responsible for us all being drawn together- founding member Jack Cassady. I’m hoping to edit some of the video together to use for our new YouTube channel Kevin is putting together. We will be uploading some drawing/painting videos to it soon. Would love to see some of your work on there, as well as in the MSCA website’s Members Gallery I’m currently curating, too.

Kevin and Muley have been very active over on YouTube with their “Muley Reads” videos, where just like the title suggests, Muley reads some fun, entertaining, and educational books. Fond out more info over at MuleyTheMule.com.

 

Stay tooned!

Lin