Vinny and Bud Comix

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BOOK SIGNING - COLE'S BOOKSTORE IN THE LIMERIDGE MALL - 2011

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UPCOMING BOOK SIGNING

June 18, 2011

11 am to 3 pm

Indigo Bookstore

Heritage Green Shopping Centre

Stoney Creek, Ont

About Me

VINNY & BUD COMIX: I have been drawing for fun my whole life. I have done murals for the school boards,businesses,and private homes. As long as I can remember I have wanted to publish a comic book like this one. I am basically a self taught artist. I was lucky enough to befriend a few tattoo artists that taught me a lot about shading and dimensions etc. etc.. With these added skills I was able to create characters to look the way i wanted them to look and make some really cool backgrounds as well. Vinny & Bud comics are all hand drawn and written by me. Hope you enjoy them.

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Falls cartoonist goes back to '70s with Vinny & Bud

Vince Thompson is proud to live in a cartoon world.

He relives his youth in panels. He spends every spare moment doodling. He even dreamed what his first collection of comic strips would look like - a big yellow cover with red lettering, to catch any kid's attention.

On Saturday, the Niagara Falls writer/artist will be at the Niagara Falls Public Library signing copies of his first graphic novel, "Vinny & Bud."

With its big yellow cover and red lettering.

"My whole life, I've loved comics," he says. "I was a big fan of Archie, Mad, a little later on Calvin & Hobbes."

His influences are everywhere in "Vinny & Bud," an amiable coming-of-age comic about two kids growing up in 1970s Niagara Falls. From the mischief of Calvin to the melancholy of Charlie Brown, Thompson collects several tales from his youth for a book aimed at, and inspired by, kids.

And their moms. And their weird uncles. And their senile grandfathers. The world of "Vinny & Bud" isn't just about friends but family, with room for school girl crushes, brushes with the law and skateboard culture.

"It's bits and pieces of my life," says Thompson, sporting a KISS t-shirt like he did in the '70s. "It's just a collage of many things that keep the story going."

Thompson has been working on the strip for five years, and originally hoped to see it syndicated in newspapers. He pitched it to two syndicates - one never replied, the other sent a rejection letter.

He then went the self-publishing route using independent publishing firm AuthorHouse.

Printing them as needed, he has sold 400 copies so far. Many of them through the tattoo parlour he hung out at, and through word-of-mouth at White Oaks Resort & Spa, where he's a maintenance worker.

He's so confident "Vinny & Bud" will strike a chord, he's already working on a movie script about the two friends going on a cross-country search for Bud's dad. He even has the soundtrack picked out.

"Doing this … it's like a release to me."

The book begins with 10-year-old Bud moving to a new neighbourhood with his recently-divorced mom. He meets Vince and his eccentric family, resulting in adventures any kid can relate to.

At one point, Vinny and Bud want to see "Star Wars" but can't afford it. They eventually sneak in, then feel guilty afterwards.

A lengthy tale about the Blizzard of '77 was based on Thompson's own harrowing experience when his school bus driver dropped him off four blocks from home as the storm raged. Stumbling through the snow, he fell chest-deep into a sinkhole and couldn't move. His alert pastor eventually found him.

"I almost died in that blizzard," he says.

Though Vinny is based on himself, Bud is completely fictional – his look was inspired by a skateboard kid Thompson saw years ago.

As the tale continues, Thompson will show Vinny and Bud in the '80s and '90s, becoming teens and eventually adults. For now, he's having fun revisiting the '70s.

"When I imagined doing this strip, I always imagined doing it on the era I grew up in," he says. "A lot of kids I knew back then have made their way into the strip, but I'ved mixed it with a lot of people that I know today."

Thompson signs copies of "Vinny & Bud" at the Niagara Falls Public Library (Victoria Avenue) Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. By John Law

Book Signing #2 - December 2009

Welland native pens first graphic novel

NIAGARA FALLS — Life is a time warp for Vince Thompson.

Not only does he bring back the '70s big time in his recently published graphic novel Vinny & Bud, he also lends his personality to the story of friendship between two pre-teen boys whose challenges include girls, growing up and keeping Vinny's grandfather (a veteran whose Second World War flashbacks often lead him into trouble) at home, despite his senility.

Thompson's first effort at a novel is geared to readers in Grade 5 to adulthood, who can relate to the rites of passage every 10 year old encounters.

His work is inspired by kids, for kids.

In the novel, Bud, 10, lives with his newly-single mom, while Vinny, also 10 (and moulded from Thompson's personality), lives with his grandfather and 16-year-old brother Bill. Many children today who have great grandfathers or uncles who fought for their country can relate to the boys' plight with Vinny's grandfather.

Finding humour in such a serious situation "takes away the sting," says Thompson, whose "passion just lives in that story telling."

Thompson has been doodling and drawing since he was three years old. The Welland native moved to Niagara Falls at age seven and became a self-taught artist. Throughout his high school years, Thompson wrote a comic strip titled School Daze for the Niagara Falls Review's youth page. Years later, he got his break in arts by painting murals on the walls of Niagara schools.

Later, he drew comic strips that were seen by some tattoo artists at Niagara Falls' Heads Tattoo Shop, who taught him to give his drawings more shade and dimension, and bring life to his characters.

Thompson garnered a "cult following" after some young customers of the business began to take interest in his work. Armed with an appreciation of design and ideas, he took inspiration from the retro popular culture of 30 years ago to earn a wide fan base.

"Everything comes back in time, (from) bell bottoms to straight hair," he says, adding many of his story lines are influenced by his own life experiences, such as getting stuck in the blizzard of 1977 — a memory that he says "is a part of me. It was almost the end of me."

These days, Thompson is a maintenance worker at White Oaks Resort & Spa and hopes feedback from this novel will justify investing more time and money into writing.

"I want to give it a fair chance," he says.

If the novel doesn't find an audience, "I don't want it to be for lack of trying."

Thus far, a future for Vinny & Bud looks bright, says Thompson. He has had young readers ask when the next installment will be released. The potential for character development, a sequel to this novel or even a movie (which he's already writing) lays ahead should readers desire more than this book, he says.

About 500 copies have already been sold. After interest and sales began to trickle in, Thompson's confidence grew.

Now, he says, is the time to get Vinny & Bud "out to the masses."

Thompson is looking forward to meeting fans and promoting his work at a book signing at Coles book store in Welland's Seaway Mall Sunday from noon until 6 p.m. By ALLISON SMITH

Book Signing #3 - December 2009

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