On Thursday, 200 lucky comic enthusiasts were treated to a very special event at Meltdown Comics: an evening with renegade author and culture analyst, Grant Morrison.
The heart and soul of an event lies in the passion of it’s people… Check out a selection of the characters that made this year’s Comic-Con special.
The heart and soul of an event lies in the passion of it’s people… Check out a selection of the characters that made this year’s Comic-Con special.
The heart and soul of an event lies in the passion of it’s people… Check out a selection of the characters that made this year’s Comic-Con special.
There was a long line outside the door of the Society of Illustrators in the Upper East Side of Manhattan that stretched to the corner subway station.
The attraction was a retrospective for Robert Crumb, the gangly pioneer of the underground comix movement. Crumb produced his first comic book, Zap #1, in 1968, selling them on the streets of San Francisco; later books were sold at head shops.
Crumb drew and wrote about the hippie lifestyle, chasing women and sex, and marketed his comic books for “intellectual adults.” They were an instant hit.
Also known for living on his own terms, Crumb, who once turned down an offer to illustrate an album cover for the Rolling Stones because he hated the band, now lives in the south of France with his second wife, Aline Kominsky-Crumb, with whom he is working on a new book.
Tony Trov and Johnny Zito have been garnering attention for their collaborative efforts in comics since their Harvey Award-nominated webcomic Black Cherry Bombshells, which was first published by DC under their Zuda Comics imprint back in 2008 and won Zuda’s competition that year for Best Comic. Now, with Bombshells, The LaMorte Sisters, D.O.G.S of Mars (which is being developed into a film by High Treason Pictures), and the recently-released Moon Girl (Red 5 Comics) out in the world, their company, South Fellini seems to be setting the stage for global domination.
I had the chance to speak with Philadelphia natives Trov and Zito about their plethora of projects, why they are so drawn to female protagonists, and how sometimes, starting a company is entirely dependent on finding the merchandise first.
Breakfast is fun, especially when it’s served in the form of a cartoon. If you enjoy animated pieces of lightly charred bread put into sticky situations, then make sure to check out the work of Mr. Toast.
Dan Goodsell is the imaginative mind behind Mr. Toast and his cast of mischievous sidekicks: Mr. Glue, Joe The Egg, Shaky Bacon, Clem Lemon, etc. The cartoon guru recently visited Culver City’s Royal/T to host a drawing class. Fans of all ages had the chance to sit down with the comic mastermind and learn the secrets to sketching some of his most popular characters. A variety of Mr. Toast artwork and paraphernalia was also available for purchase in the pop up shop.
Blackline Comics’ Misery City #1 follows the film-noirish tale of gumshoe Max Murray, sort of a cross between a supernatural Sam Spade and William Burroughs, and one who doesn’t have to go looking for trouble: merely whore-hunting or even crossing the street unleashes the undead upon him.
But best of all is Detective Murray’s ornery, matter-of-fact narration as he confronts a 50-foot tall zombie skeleton that bursts out of a desolate city road: “If I wasn’t shaking like my wife’s vibrator, I would’ve seen its weakness sooner.”
A clear sign that the geeks have inherited the Earth, and that mainstream culture is embracing genres like horror, sci-fi, and fantasy is the prevelance of zombies in pop culture. From The Walking Dead to 28 Days Later (I’ll let you all debate whether you think the things in that movie actually qualify as zombies), from Pride and Prejudice and Zombies to World War Z, zombies are everywhere, and it isn’t only geeks who are signing up to prepare for the zombie apocalypse. As Adam Miller of Terminal Press points out, “Well, the thing about it is that I don’t think it’s so much a fad anymore. I think it’s really become its own genre. It think it’s like The Western. I don’t think it’s going anywhere.”
Adam Miller and Rich Woodall honor the zombie genre through an anthology series they edit for Terminal Press called ZombieBomb! Currently on its third issue, ZombieBomb! assembles a broad range of talented artists and writers to create new zombie stories for each issue. What makes this zombie anthology special is the diversity of the storytelling brought to the zombie-loving public by artists with diverse backrounds – it boasts comics professionals, children’s book illustrators, photographers, and even a heavy metal musician! – which allows the books to offer stories in a range of styles from different points of view.
I’ve been a creator at New York Comic Con since 2005. From first fateful NYCC, during which I dealt vodka shots and launched my sequential art career, to last week’s Javitz Center insanity, I’ve seen the sweaty highs and lows of The Second Greatest Comic Con. Here are the lessons I’ve learned.
1.) Comic Con happens at Afterparties
Every year I go to the Javitz Center, I marvel at the solid crush of humanity. Cross-dressing Hit Girls, aged Lolitas, the omnipresent storm troopers. The convention floor is a perfect theatre of geek awesome. But, for a creator sans table, its not where the con is at. Comic-Con for us has more to do with the 72 hours of drunkenness that start at the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund’s legendary Thursday night bash, progress through Friday and Saturday’s boozing (often sponsored by DC, MTV, or Darkhorse), and end with us pouring our woes to raconteur and alcohol connoisseur Jimmy d’Aquino of Comic News Insider.
While free top-shelf liquor is a potent lure, afterparties are the best chance to get an honest appraisal of the industry one works in. You find out which imprints are being gutted, which writer got his book optioned. Sometimes parties even give you the only proper food you’ll eat all weekend. Which brings us to point #2
