| My 3 Dads! |
[Jun. 21st, 2009|03:51 pm] |
My Dad is pretty awesome. It's cool that we're like friends and enjoy hanging out, talking about Pixar movies, the occasional videogame, and taking each other to our favorite local restaurants. I also have the friendliest Step-Father in the world...and a fantastic Father-In-Law! So happy Father's Day to all three dudes! |
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| MoCCA 09: Too hot to handle |
[Jun. 8th, 2009|04:34 pm] |
Evan Dorkin pretty much summed up my feelings on this year's MoCCA Art Fest:
http://evandorkin.livejournal.com/195578.html
I'm a huge fan of the event and also a strong supporter of the MoCCA organization, who puts on the festival (as well as other great events in NYC throughout the year). It's a thankless job run by hardworking volunteers. It's easy to complain about what goes wrong, and not enough people stop to appreciate all the things that go right. Considering how many new people are running things this year, and since I generally like the people involved, I was ready to give the MoCCA crew a free pass. The show opening an hour late and all the panels getting shifted around certainly sucked. But there is a learning curve, and I assume the volunteers scrambled to right any wrongs.
But by mid Saturday, for the first in 15 years of exhibiting at cons, I seriously contemplated packing up my stuff and going home. Granted, having just found out that Nick Mag [the best job in the world] was coming to end, did not put me in a great mindset. But I seriously tried to embrace the changes and enjoy myself. As an SVA grad, I have fond memories of the neighborhood, and thought the historic significance of the Armory was cool. But once you are inside, you might as well be in any old warehouse. The inside of the Armory has none of the charm that made MoCCA feel unlike any other convention. I truly believe the Puck Building location helped people rethink comics! Is it a coincidence that the start of the MoCCA Art Fest coincided with the NY Publishing world suddenly becoming more interested in graphic novels and comics in general?
Once inside the gymnasium-layout of the Armory, you might as well be inside a drab room of the Jacob Javits Center. And without air conditioning, we might as well have been in a death camp. There were several points were I was ready to collapse from heat exhaustion. I literally started seeing color blurs and zoned out completely while talking to people (sorry if that includes YOU!). Stepping outside was like going to heaven--but as soon as you stepped back in, your soul was sucked back to hell. The inability to breathe lowered my tolerance for everything. I felt like I could be mugged and not even notice.
I know the Puck building had its problems. But at least you knew there was an air-conditioner SOMEWHERE. And as already stated, it was classy and memorable in ways that people will talk about nostalgically forever. But I know the con outgrew it, and NYC doesn't have a lot of great options for events of this kind. I imagine it's mostly people like me who honestly had great locations at the Puck's MoCCA that will complain the loudest about the Armory. And I totally sympathize with my friends who used to get stuck on the 7th floor or a random corner at the old location. At least now everyone has to suffer together equally!
On more positive notes...
The room for the panels and the bathrooms were definitely superior to the Puck.
Turnout was strong, sales were decent (especially considering we had nothing new) and it is ALWAYS great to see so many friends, amazing books, and creativity. There was a lot of new talent added to the mix.
Marion Vitus has lots of great photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/98236486@N00/
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| REMINDER! |
[Jun. 6th, 2009|07:05 am] |
| [ | music |
| | Information Society: HACK | ] |
John Green, Dave Roman, Raina Telgemeier and Marion Vitus will be at the MoCCA Art Fest June 6th and 7th.
We also have a panel on Saturday at Noon-12:50 pm!
Comics Bakery Roundtable
A discussion on the “benefits” of collaboration with two sets of comic-making couples, who combine to form a giant robot.
NEW LOCATION THIS YEAR: 69th Regiment Armory, 68 Lexington Avenue, between 25th and 26th Streets (not far from SVA!) |
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| Cool fan video of cool fan video! |
[Jun. 3rd, 2009|03:22 pm] |
Sarah Newhouse, ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) 3x1minus1 made a fan video for the band Phoenix using clips from The Breakfast Club and other 80’s movies starring the Brat Pack...
And now a local filmmaker produced a recreation of her video on brooklyn rooftops that matches her edit shot for shot. It is pretty cute with the dancing!
**If you can get the two videos to synch up and play at the same time it's extra neat. |
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| Cybert Plushie |
[Jun. 1st, 2009|05:29 pm] |
Check out the great present Raina got me!
A fully posable toy of Cybert from Astronaut Elementary!
It was handmade by the ultra-talented Megan Baehr, whose website is friedwontons.com . Megan totally takes commissions for her beautifully made plush toys and will be showing them off (along with her comics) at the MoCCA art fest this weekend! She also has an etsy shop.
Thanks Raina! And thanks Megan! |
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| (no subject) |
[Jun. 1st, 2009|10:50 am] |
Crossposted to ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) comicsbakery
John Green, Dave Roman, Raina Telgemeier and Marion Vitus will be at the MoCCA Art Fest June 6th and 7th.
NEW LOCATION THIS YEAR: 69th Regiment Armory, 68 Lexington Avenue, between 25th and 26th Streets (not far from SVA!)
We won't have any new books debuting at this show but we will have lots of our CLASSIC stuff plus assorted snacks and extra goodies. Free X-Men manga key chains to one and all.
We also have a panel on Saturday at Noon-12:50 pm!
Comics Bakery Roundtable
A discussion on the “benefits” of collaboration with two sets of comic-making couples, who combine to form a giant robot. |
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| Taste of my childhood |
[May. 21st, 2009|10:57 pm] |
For our birthdays next week, Raina and I are heading to Puerto Rico! It's where all my family is from, but I've never been!
I'm hoping to find some Coco Rico, which I used drink at my Grandparents' house!
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| We're a couple of Misfits. |
[May. 21st, 2009|10:08 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | x-men | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Mindless Self Indulgence: You'll rebel to anything | ] |
Here is an interview with Raina and I talking about X-Men: Misfits, the book in which Kitty Pryde enrolls in a school for very very pretty boy mutants.
http://www.shojobeat.com/features/48/010.php
This interview also appears in the second to last issue of the Shojo Beat magazine. I was very sorry to hear about the magazine's demise. It's hard for comics magazines to survive out there! |
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| MoCCA poster |
[May. 14th, 2009|12:31 pm] |
Check out Molly Crabapple's cool poster for the MoCCA Art Festival
My name is in one of the bubbles so that would rightfully imply I will be there! In fact, I'll be sharing a table with some of the other people in the bubbles and doing a panel of some sort (more info as it becomes available).
The show is at a new location this year and there is a lot of excitement about how great it will be. So let's make it happen! |
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| Avatar comics trailer! |
[May. 11th, 2009|01:24 pm] |
crossposted to avatar_fans
This brilliant trailer for upcoming Nick Magazine Avatar comics was assembled by comics writer, Alison Wilgus (that’s her and her husband doing the voices in the beginning). It plays off the killer videos the show's creators made for past Comic Cons. The trailer made its debut this past weekend at Anime Central as part of the "ATLA: Beginning and Beyond" panel organized by Avatarlegacy.com.
Featuring the art of: Justin Ridge, Elsa Garagarza, Johane Matte, Gurihiru, and Tom McWeeney...and of course awesome music by the Track Team! |
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| Rock the library |
[May. 6th, 2009|10:57 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | appearances | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Andrew Lockington: City of Ember soundtrack | ] |
Friday I'll be at the Massachusetts Library Association's Annual Conference, in Springfield, MA as part of their Graphic Novel Mini-Conference. I'm on the Creator Panel from 3:30 - 4:45 PM, with the likes of Raina Telgemeier, Stan Sakai, Chris Schweizer, and Gail Simone.
I'll also be on a panel about the state of the comics industry, from 10:45 - 12 PM, with Ali Kokmen, Mark Siegel, Brigid Alverson, and John Shableski.
Raina and I will be around all day, for signing, sketching, and discussion, so if you happen to be a librarian from Massachusetts, or are tagging along with one, maybe we'll see you there!
And sadly, we won't be at TCAF this year. But I hear it's going to be insanely awesome so I highly recommend everyone head to Toronto this weekend if they can! I've gone the past 2 shows and I still have the left over warm feelings. |
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| Agnes review |
[Apr. 28th, 2009|12:18 pm] |
I'm glad that people are still discovering Agnes Quill. Makes me feel less bad about how behind schedule the second book is!
http://groovyageofhorror.blogspot.com/2009/04/agnes-quill-anthology-of-mystery-by.html
"This is something I found and bought from browsing a comics shop, only to find it originally a webcomic. Well, it's worth owning in book form, even apart from the bonus text and gallery...
...A Dickensian girl sleuth who can see ghosts takes on occult-related cases in a haunted metropolis. If that doesn't sound too original, honestly, it doesn't have to be; this hits all the right notes for any fan of that sort of thing, and writer Dave Roman has a fine array of artists bringing his stories to life...The details of the "cases" only matter to the extent that they give our heroine Agnes Quill a reason to venture forth into the atmospheric city of Legerdemain and a mystery to be sleuthy about....Highly recommended!"
I also love it when writers scan their favorite panels and include them in their reviews.
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| (no subject) |
[Apr. 24th, 2009|11:19 am] |
Tomorrow (Saturday April 24th) is the Kids' Comic Con at the Bronx Community College in NY. It is free to anyone 17 or younger (over-17s, it's only $5 for you to get in). Look for the flyers around campus to lead you to the event!
The Comics Bakery won't have a booth or be selling any books, but Raina and I are doing a drawing workshop...
2:00 PM – 2:45 PM: Youth Workshop D – Creating Comic Characters and Art With Style.
Dave Roman (Nickelodeon Magazine) and Raina Telgemeier (Baby-sitters Club) lead a drawing workshop that focuses on how the comics we grow up reading can affect how each of us draws. They'll help young artists break down drawings into basic shapes and use them to create fun new characters!
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| Toon Yearly |
[Apr. 8th, 2009|03:21 pm] |
Crossposted to nickmag_comics
One of the most fun things to work on these past few years has been TOON WEEKLY, an annual "prank feature" that appears in the April Cartoon themed issues. It's an over the top parody of celebrity gossip magazines with a mix of cartoon stars from all sources. It is always one of the most controversial pieces because lots of fans of the shows (especially Naruto!) don't like to see their favorite characters out of context. And they don't realize that we make fun of things we love! It's great fun imagining what cartoons do when they don't know they are on camera! And to create cross-universe relationships that are both insane and maybe make a bit of sense in their own way.
Here's some samples of this year's feature:
( More behind the cut.. ) |
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