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.
Allan Amato is a well-known photographer in LA. His impossibly slick, surreal photos have captured everyone from world-renowned celebrities to the hottest girls and boys of the underground. I first fell in love with his portrait of Selena Luna (the legendary 3-foot-tall “pocket Venus” of the burlesque scene) that graced the cover of Coilhouse.
When Allan’s best friend Becky was diagnosed with Parkinson’s at the young age of 29, he decided to use his camera skills to help.
Spoiler Alert: This is nothing more than pure geeking-out over two of the comic industry’s (random) best and brightest talents, and a somewhat inhibited attempt to delve more into their demented minds (or as far as they’ll let us, considering audience question time is limited and we were jumping from one event to the other). We were able to get a few words with Stan Sakai, the legendary writer and artist behind a lethal and cunning bunny rabbit living in 17th century Japan, Usagi Yojimbo. It’s is an ongoing, 23-year serial that follows a floppy-eared samurai warrior as he wanders the earth, earning his living largely as a Ronin, or mercenary, and chopping into tiny animal parts anyone who wrongs him. Read on below.
Meltdown Comics and Collectibles claims to be the largest comics shop on the West Coast. Though I haven’t busted out the measuring tape to personally confirm this, I can say with complete certainty that it’s my favorite. In addition to thousands of mainstream comic books, an always-impressive array of indie comics and art books, the store is filled with tons of toys. I spend hours here regularly, ogling the extensive menagerie of everything from plush Ugly Dolls to the vinyl art dolls by Camille Rose Garcia to vintage Godzillas and MegaMen. The store’s back room has been turned into a gallery, with special events along with art openings held here thus continuing the visual wonderland. Recently, Scottish writer and counter-culture guru Grant Morrison made a special appearance – a conversation with legendary author/artist/filmmaker Clive Barker and a signing of his latest: Batman and Robin plus a new hardcover book. You can read about and watch the event on Meltdown’s website, here.