The OctoPost: New Comic Book Edition & Conference Notes
I just got back from the Cephalopod International Advisory Council (CIAC, pronounced “kayak”) meeting in Okinawa, Japan. The trip was amazing and exhausting; I’m so grateful I could go and so glad to be home!
Cephalopod News
October was Octopus Month, and OctoNation (the world’s largest octopus fan club) went all out. Check out their videos on octopus scientists, drawing octopuses, and octopus intelligence.
CIAC was packed with fascinating presentations and conversations. I’ll slowly be turning my many pages of notes into writing and drawing to share; meanwhile, here’s a peek at the raw material.
It was a joy to reconnect with scientists I haven’t seen for more than a decade, as well as meeting some wonderful people for the first time. A highlight of the conference was the student who told me they started a career in cephalopod science as a result of reading Monarchs of the Sea! I think we were equally thrilled to meet each other.
I’d brought copies of Monarchs and my other books to sell—and promptly sold out. Many thanks to everyone who bought a book, and apologies to those who wanted to but couldn’t. And colossal kudos to conference organizer extraordinaire Ryuta Nakajima!
I wish I could have brought more copies of everything, especially the new edition of How the Octopus Lost Its Shell.
My News
On that note, yes, there’s a new edition! Over the summer, this educational comic book sold out of its first run, so artist Sam Julian and I decided to reprint it bigger and better. As Sam explains:
How the Octopus Lost Its Shell (Second Edition) is over twice the original page length! I’ve illustrated a bunch of brand new panels, enhanced others, and Danna has updated the text to reflect the latest cephalopod research and observations. Even those who enjoyed the first edition will enjoy this new printing, and the enlarged/expanded pictures will make it much more accessible for young readers.
You can buy it on the Octopolis Shop or from me in person.
Funny Pages
As you may or may not be aware, October is packed with drawing challenges as well as octopuses. The original was Inktober, a list of 31 art prompts for each of the month’s 31 days, but the infinite variety of humanity now provides prompt lists on any theme imaginable. This year I combined prompts from multiple lists: Inktober (classic), Invertober (my favorite), Spacetober (spaaaace!), and OC-tober (original characters). On the day before I had to stop drawing to focus on the trip, I also added Paleoctober (the prompt for that day was my beloved early cephalopod Plectronoceras).
All 15 drawings are posted on Bluesky. Below is the most educational one! The four prompts for this day were heavy (Inktober), flamboyant cuttlefish (Invertober), nebula (Spacetober), and angst (OC-tober).
See, flamboyant cuttlefish are heavier (less buoyant) than other cuttles, which is why they "walk" on the sea floor most of the time instead of swimming. This poor little pal can't float up to visit the nebula! Maybe someday a spaceship can help.