076 Here Are Some Books That Have Pictures In Them That I Bought at MoCCA

I had close to zero money at MoCCA. I mean like maybe sixty bucks, tops. That’s why I didn’t buy a ton of books I’d never heard of that looked interesting, or some of the books you’re reading about at other sites, proclaiming the “book of MoCCA”– I didn’t get to have that experience. Maybe I blew it because I bought books I could easily get other places, I dunno. But I wasn’t wasting my money trying out “Shit Stain Comix #7″ or “The Generic Tales of Angst Collection”, so I opted to pick up some books by creators I really love.

DEMO

Written by Brian Wood

Art by Becky Cloonan

DEMO, a twelve issue limited series by Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan, is a story of youth and the relationships we have with each other, shot through the lens of a superhero comic. To completely oversimplify it, as I’ve heard some do with this title, “X-Men with real people”. Originally released on AiT/Planet Lar, it was collected and reprinted by Vertigo in trade paperback format.

A huge fan of Wood’s newer work, from Local on to DMZ, the New York Four, and Northlanders, I’ve held off buying DEMO in its current version just on the quality of the trade. A flimsy cover, newsprint paper; I’m not sure if it’s going to fall apart, tear, or fade first. I knew the book would be excellent. Too many people I know and whose opinions I respected enjoyed it too much for that not to be the case. But come on, Vertigo, step up your game with these trades. You’re not even printing this in color, the least you could do is put it on some glossy paper. Alas, apparently only Grant Morrison and Neil Gaiman get the treatment (and not even all the time.) However, seeing Wood’s table at MoCCA I decided it was stupid to keep waiting and picked it up. I’m pleased to report that my decision was a good one: DEMO is fantastic.

Each issue of DEMO is the story of another kid with powers. Not linking them in any discernible fashion, Wood instead chooses to use each story as a character study on what it means to be young. As each chapter passes you’re convinced that Wood is putting a bit of himself on the page as well, with an emotional honesty that too few “mainstream” comics writers tend to put into their work. I’m sure the book is easier to relate to for younger generations but anyone willing to remember that time in their lives when they were at their most vulnerable will have an easy time relating to this work. Yes, the characters all have powers– but it’s not like they’re all standing around, wondering what to do with this great new responsibility, stopping crime and forming a superteam. There’s no supervillians to fight. The only real antagonists in each story is themselves, and their own demons. It’s just a bunch of people dealing with their own shit, who also happen to have extraordinary abilities. The abilities themselves aren’t what dictate the flow of the story, and at times the stories seemed void of superpowered individuals at all.

Becky Cloonan’s manga-inspired artwork accentuates these themes nicely, and each of the stories is different, stylistically, than the last. How much of this is Cloonan and how much is Wood’s direction I can’t be sure but I do know that she executes it to great effect. Some stories have quick, sharp lines giving a sense of urgency impelling us forward, while others have heavily inked, thick lines that give off a feeling of foreboding or mystery. There are some misses, but when she hits her mark (which is often) the results are gorgeous.

I find it hard to believe they won’t release DEMO in some super-deluxe-hardcover-whatever version, but until then, as someone who waited to read it, I say just go pick this up. Smart writing, nice artwork, and good, human storytelling.

Tales Designed to Thrizzle, Volume One

Written and designed by Michael Kupperman

I touched on Kupperman’s genius in my review of Thrizzle #5 , and getting the hardcover collection of his first four issues helps reaffirm my beliefs. What else can I say? This man is to comedy what Zappa was to music. A true visionary. Now, here is a picture he drew of a guy wearing a beehive for a hat.

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Mome Vol. 15

by VARIOUS

My birthday is in October. Buy me the rest of these.

Fantagraphics is one of those publishers who whenever they release a book I tend to have my eye on it. I mean the track record of this company speaks for itself. So, when looking for a book to have signed by Dash Shaw (I forgot my copy of Bottomless Bellybutton) I instinctively picked up this new Mome edition, showcasing a ton of great artists talented enough to fly under the Fantagraphics banner.

Shaw’s contribution to the book, entitled My Entire High School… Sinking Into the Sea! is probably my favorite. As you might imagine, it’s a story of his high school being engulfed by water which features the details of his teachers’ and students’ demise (“Mr. Brinson, math teacher grades nine to eleven– I had him in grade nine– head split open by the falling flagpole.”) and Dash’s attempt at saving his girlfriend. The comic is in color, but beautifully overlayed in two color shades. No figure is specifically filled in, but rather he breaks the page into two or three shaded, gradient sections of oranges and blues which create a rather striking water-color effect. As always Shaw shrugs off convention with his panels (can you call them that?), and the way the story is laid at times makes you claustrophobic, and at other times makes it feel as if the rushing water was coming after you directly. It’s really quite striking.

Some of the other standouts include Tim Hensley’s contribution Jillian in “Spoilers”, which is a great throwback-style comic; Delia’s Glove by Nate Neal, which has a great underground “comix” aesthetic; the beautiful linework of Robert Goodin’s Living Like a Pig; the always fantastic Paul Hornschemeier; Max’s mini-comic insert The Confederacy of Villains; and Noah Van Sciver, who apparently got the bulk of the storytelling talent in his family.

Mome is one of those real treats that’s equal parts entertaining, inspiring, and informative. A pleasure to read, and a great way to stay abreast of some of the best talent in comics.

075 MoCCA: Making Good Comics in a New Era (or, "And a Good Time Was Had By All")

The economy! It’s– it’s– NOOOOOOOOOO!

Right? That’s what I thought. I mean I work at a brokerage firm and all I hear about from everybody there is that we’re all going to fucking die and that there’s absolutely nothing any of us can do about it. Also, Obama is going to turn this country into [(CUBA+CHINA)*RUSSIA]/1950s. That’s what’s going on in the world. So how does this effect comics?

To find out I turned to the always interesting Heidi McDonald, and her panel at MoCCA: Making Good Comics in a New Era. With! Alvin Buenaventura (Buenaventura Books), Mats Jonsson (Gallago), Tom Neely (2007 Ignatz Winner for The Blot), Brett Warnock (Top Shelf), Julia Wertz (Fart Party), and Dylan Williams (Sparkplug Comics). So, guys– what are the struggles of making good comics in a bad economy???

Um… well, apparently there are none.

OK, so that’s not entirely true. Warnock mentioned that the economy has been hurting Top Shelf a bit, due to the high cost of producing their books. There was some talk of Diamond, but not really on how it effected anyone specifically on the panel.

So what gives? This is a strange claim to come from a panel full of small press creators and publishers; and yet the consensus was, ostensibly, “nope! We’re doin‘ fine!” As Heidi put it, “too small to fail”– that is, if expectations are kept modest enough, and you pro mote your work enough, there will be an audience. But even that seems unfair to tell a room full of people, some of whom are presumably interested in creating and marketing their own comics. Really, that’s it? Just try hard and don’t expect too much and everything will work out ok?

Perhaps it is a built in audience, though. My local comic shop, Bergen Street Comics, was given a shout-out by a couple of the panelists as an example of a small shop catered to fans of “independent” comics. These shops are easier to work directly with than soliciting through Diamond. But again, this seems overstated, and oversimplified; I mean, how easy can it be to directly contact any and all independent comic shops– forget about all over the country, even in just larger areas. Sure, I k now about Bergen and Rocketship and Desert Island in Brooklyn, but are there any others in NYC I don’t know about? How about in San Francisco? How about Chicago, or Detroit? One can argue that it would be my business to know these things if I was counting on making money through these shops, but this is the problem with the Diamond monopoly isn’t it? That is, if you don’t meet their minimum you’re having to constantly worry about shit like keeping a checklist of every store, as well as looking for new ones that pop up, all while trying to get your writers to keep deadlines and put your books out on time.

Enter Tony Shenton. You know I’ve never even heard of this guy but the way the panel spoke of him made it seem like he was some sort of folk hero, the kind of man who leads revolutions they make movies out about. Shenton, apparently, is a sales rep in contact with tons of small publishers (and I mean small; click that link above for a rather extensive list of tiny publishing houses) on getting their books circulated throughout the country. He even represents Drawn and Quarterly, though I’m sure not exclusively. Now from the few tales told about him at the panel I’m picturing a Johnny Appleseed type with a bag of comics and a smile on his face, travelling state-to-state spreading comics and joy as he goes along. I’m not sure how accurate this actually is, but he’s supposedly a pretty big deal amongst the smaller guys, and Wertz had the near audacity to take him to task for not starting his own distribution company. But then… if what he’s doing isn’t distribution what would you call it? Isn’t Shenton doing what Diamond’s doing on a smaller scale?

Speaking of Wertz, she also shrugged off the idea of the economy having any kind of real effect on good creators. “I do a little self-promotion, but not much”, she said. “If you have a good comic and you get a good reception from it you don’t really have to do all that much.” Then again, she may not have the typical small-publishing problems, as she pointed out to the unnamed publishers on the panel who rejected her: “Now my publisher’s actually Random House, so you guys can suck it.”

And everyone laughed. See you guys? The economy’s not so bad. Come on, let’s all grab some drinks down the street. Careful not to step on the struggling artists.

074 MoCCA! An Intro

Ah, MoCCA: the sights, the sounds, and oh! the heat. Yes, it seems the big topic of MoCCA this year was the complete lack of air conditioning. Just check the tweets:

RutaRascal: MoCCA, next year please be housed in a location with AC. Other than that, you are great.

lachendwolf: Yes, I kind of wish I’d spent more time at #mocca, but it was really wonderful despite the brevity and despite the heat.

LizSayles: MOCCA at the Armory- Luckily art doesn’t melt. It was very hot and there was SO much great art.

colorkitten: nice to see friends and fans at mocca…GLAD to be out of that steambath!! The new location is the ultimate buzzkiller.

AndyBelanger: Hey MoCCA you need some AC our fans have all melted and so has everything in our pockets.

And that’s just on a perfunctory search on the word “MoCCA” in Tweetdeck!

But overall the show was great. A lot of great panels, a lot of great people, and a lot of great comics. If I had walked in with ten times the amount of money I did I would still be broke right now. A big standout to me was Tom Gauld’s work, which I had previously only seen in Kramer’s Ergot 7, but which was on display in full at the Buenaventura booth. There he had his new book, The Gigantic Robot, as well as Hunter and Painter, Robots, Monsters, etc., and two volumes of tiny, packaged pamphlets entitled Three Very Small Comics. Looking at his site now I see that some of this stuff is sold out. I wish I would have known this before.

Some moments that stick out include meeting Brian Wood, who is just the nicest guy; buying books by, and subsequently getting signatures/sketches from, Michael Kupperman and Dash Shaw; finally meeting Ms. Karen Green (our interview was done over email); listening to Seth speak; and marveling at just how fucking cool Gary Panter is. More MoCCA coverage to come this week, including the girlfriend’s take on her first ever comics show. In the meantime check out my Twitter feed for random photos and what-have-you.

073 A MoCCA Preview

This weekend at the Lexington Avenue Armory is the 2009 MoCCA Festival, and for the first time ever I will be attending. As with New York Comic Con I’ll be handling as much coverage as I can, and will once again be looking for any help anyone might be able to offer, whether it be recapping a panel or taking some photos. In addition my twitter feed will be updated regularly throughout the weekend, and I’ll try to live update here if there’s any really relevant news.

Anyway here are some of the panels I’m most looking forward to:

Making Good Comics in a New Era

With Alvin Buenaventura (Buenaventura Books), Mats Jonsson (Gallago), Tom Neely (2007 Ignatz Winner), Brett Warnock (Top Shelf), Julia Wertz (www.fartparty.org), Dylan Williams (Sparkplug Comics). Chaired by Heidi MacDonald (The Beat).

 

How are small comics publishers and self-published cartoonists responding to the current comics market? What are the main challenges and opportunities for independent publishers in today’s publishing climate? This roundtable is cosponsored by Sparkplug Comics.

The Astonishing SVA Roundtable

With Nick Breutzman, Jessica Fink, Eric Feurstein, Tom Hart, Dash Shaw, Jennifer Tong

 

Some of the best known names in cartooning, from Will Eisner and Harvey Kurtzman, to Art Spiegelman and Gary Panter, have taught at Manhattan’s School of the Visual Arts (SVA). Current faculty member Tom Hart (Hutch Owen, Trunktown) will sit down with recent SVA grads to discuss the issues of learning comix, becoming an artist and navigating their careers after attending this landmark arts institution.

Comics Come in All Shapes and Sizes

With Jason Little, Fay Ryu, Jim Salicrup, Ken Wong

 

Comics come in a dizzying array of shapes and sizes – long, short, tall, wide as well as booklet, tabloid, zine, digest, mini, micro and more! Join panelists Jason Little (Shutterbug Follies, Cartunnel/Comix Ex Machina/Opolis) Fay Ryu (Hello, Heart and Brain), and Jim Salicrup (Amazing Spider-Man & Incredible Hulk toilet paper) along with moderator Ken Wong (Pandora’s Box, Schrodinger’s Cat) for a discussion of some of the more unusual formats ever used in the creation of comics.

Adrian Tomine and Seth in conversation

 

Adrian Tomine, the cartoonist of Optic Nerve and Shortcomings, and the editor of Yoshihiro Tatsumi’s A Drifting Life, will be in conversation with fellow Drawn and Quarterly cartoonist Seth, the author of Palookaville and George Sprott, and the editor of The Collected Doug Wright. Cosponsored with Drawn and Quarterly.

 

Gary Panter and Frank Santoro in conversation

 

Gary Panter (Jimbo’s Inferno, Cola Madness) and Frank Santoro (Storeyville) will discuss the crossover between cartooning and fine art, the anxiety of influence and the challenge of the marketplace in lively conversation.

 

Animation from Hell

 

A program of dark and twisted animation that will scare the fluffy bunnies out of any animation fan. This collection of disturbing shorts, past and present, has been hand-picked by Satan himself. With Peter Ahern, Danny Antonucci, Hisko Hulsing, Scott Kravitz, Arthur Metcalf, Nirvan Mullick, Bill Plympton, Pat Smith, and J.J. Villard.