The Trees & Hills comics group will celebrate the end of a long winter this year by hitting the road for a spring tour.

   The 2008 SPRING THAW TOUR features the debut of several new comics by members of Trees & Hills and a chance to meet with local comic fans and other creators.

   Trees & Hills members will appear at two conventions in New Hampshire in May before trekking out to New York City for the MoCCA festival in June.

   First up is the Granite State Comicon in Manchester, N.H. on May 18. Trees & Hills co-founders Barlow and Colin Tedford will be on hand for the event while Mimi’s Doughnuts creator Marek Bennett leads the crowd in a massive comics jam!

   That convention also features the debut of $ELL OUTS #1 written by Barlow and Keith Moriarty, with interior art by Tim Hulsizer and a cover by Greg Giordano, the Burlington, Vt. artist who turned heads with last year’s Trees & Hills’ NEW STARS anthology cover. Tedford will also unveil his new comic, FOUR DAYS.

   Up next is Broke: An Affordable Arts Fair in Peterborough, N.H. on May 31. In addition to scores of comics by local creators, Trees & Hills will also be giving away copies of the first two installments of TWIG, a new monthly comics flyer that debuted in April.

   Finally, Trees & Hills will return to the MoCCA Arts Festival for a second year in a row. The group will debut its latest anthology – SWINGIN’ HITS – a new book that features comics about music by creators from across the three states. The comic will also come with a free CD of songs by local creators!

   Also debuting at that show will be MIMI’S DOUGHNUTS #15 by Bennett, BOOTY #21 by Anne Thalheimer and SQUARE DANCE #3 by Tedford.