April 8, 2016
Go, Look Alexandre Kha
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Go, Look: Sea Devils Images
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Festivals Extra: One Thing About SPACE In Columbus
SPACE, the comics convention that's seven minutes from my house, takes place this weekend. I spent about a dozen years living in a town where the nearest comic book shop was two hours and 20 minutes away, so I will never take for granted having a full-on small-press convention close enough that if necessary I can use the bathroom in my home.
If my wish for ECCC is that more comics professionals become attuned to and make use of that great city's downtown -- a downtown slightly unfamiliar to me these days -- my wish for SPACE is that people take at least one of their meals away from the lovely food trucks provided and hit one of the restaurants on nearby Morse road. It's easy to find a half-dozen worthy places to chow down where one can easily imagine comics people at every table, although only one -- the Vietnamese of those I'm about to list -- has ever found any traction with the post-SPACE crowd.
*
African Paradise Restaurant -- although one review says they have gender-based seating? I've only had carry-out and I did not do the carrying out, so I could not say.
*
Dabakh Resturant -- this site is
really freaking loud, so turn off your sound.
*
Huong Vietnamese Restaurant
*
La Michoacana -- a restaurant within a grocery store, sporting a full bar.
*
Little Dragons Chinese Restaurant
*
Namaste Indo-Nepali Cuisine
One thing about which I occasionally talk with all my other old friends that work in comics is that the shows are really crowded now, with programming that stretches from early in the morning well into the night and intense pressure to do work-related dinners and see everyone you can possibly see in a hotel bar that looks like all the other cons' hotel bars. It's hard to think back to 20 years ago when San Diego con-goers might decide to go to Tijuana and see some wrestling -- and then go and do it. In 1996 a few of us went across town to a seaside comedy show recommended by our dinner waiter. It takes me 40 minutes to cross the street there these days, and I already know where I'll be each night in July.
I love all the camp-comics stuff, I really do, and when I was in my mid-twenties there was a genuine thrill to being in the same room as all the super-established pros and feeling like I was part of the village and maybe not even the idiot. Still, there's a joy to be had in striking out on your own, pulling a half-dozen people with you, and seeing something within the town you're visiting: a restaurant row, a brewery back-garden, a coffee-house owned by a guy who remembers brick streets and buying Jack Kirby Fantastic Fours from a spinner rack. It's one way to forge relationships with the human part of the artists you're meeting, as opposed to their public personalities and professional profiles. If you're going to be around for a while, it can help.
posted 7:55 am PST |
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Go, Look: Adam Meuse
posted 1:30 am PST |
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Assembled, Zipped, Transferred And Downloaded: News From Digital
By Tom Spurgeon
*
one of the grand old gentleman sites of the comics Internet returns.
* I hadn't noticed that
Dustin Harbin was doing diary comics again until the other day when I ran across one in my Facebook feed. I think those comics are well worth reading, and I particularly enjoy that he's not sticking to a rigorous schedule and thus seemingly letting the work dictate its own creation.
*
The Beat has a report up from a digital comics roundtable at the recent C2E2 show.
* finally,
TopatoCon 2 will be free. I think that show has a chance to do extremely well over the next decade.
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If I Were In Seattle, I'd Go To This
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If I Were In Madison, I'd Go To This
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If I Were In Seattle, I'd Go To This
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If I Were In Florida, I'd Go To This
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Go, Look: The Skull Of Silence
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Random Comics News Story Round-Up
* Alex Dueben finishes up his oral history of
Wimmen's Comix with
a second part. Part one is
here. Hard to imagine anything more fun if there's some Friday afternoon downtime at work today than to dig into those two giant and welcome posts.
*
here's an awards program about which I know nothing; there are a lot of good cartoonists on their short list, though.
* Aug Stone profiles
Hanco Kolk. Evan Narcisse profiles
Ta-Nehisi Coates. J. Caleb Mozzocco talks to
James Sturm.
* Chris Arrant profiles
Comic Book Women.
*
I hope things turn out well for this guy. I sometimes wonder about the karmic debt comics owes all those people lied to about the medium's collectibility.
* I don't know how I ended up there, but
these kind of platitude-driven articles about a damaged industry like publishing fascinate me because they make profit from a banal pivot away from real pain.
* finally, Matthias Wivel on
that horrible Charlie Hebdo editorial.
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Happy 38th Birthday, Kazu Kibuishi!
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Happy 46th Birthday, Andrew Langridge!
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April 7, 2016
Go, Look: Rachael Smith
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Go, Look: Various Mark Schultz Cover Images
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Go, Look: Trungles
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The Never-Ending, Four-Color Festival: Shows And Events
By Tom Spurgeon
* one of the final "first events" of the calendar year,
Emerald City Comicon dominates downtown Seattle. That's a fine show, well-run, and with some smart administrative touches like mostly separating the comics stuff from the Hollywood stuff in a way that allows the comic book stuff to feel like its own thing.
* I don't know what downtown Seattle is like anymore, not really, but I know that Seattle's history as an urban center has been in some ways about finding a balance between corporate/national and local businesses. Do yourself a favor and don't eat anything in a mall, or anything you know also has locations in a mall. Don't drink chain coffee -- get your hotel people to direct you to something a bit more homegrown, even if it's only a bit. There are things within walking distance that are as close to real Seattle things as anything that was there in 1989, you just have to look a bit. That's way too great of a city for there to be a convention/city disconnect at its big comics show.
* I heard
this show had good energy in 2015 and the video would seem to confirm it. That's an interesting part of the country for artists to visit right now, too. I hope I can go this year.
*
the Chicago Zine Fest just did their big press e-mail in terms of "here we are/he we come" so the web site for the late April show might deserve some special, recurring attention from those interested.
* this is great:
Steve Bissette found an advertisement for the 1997 Comic-Con International.
* finally, I went to
PIX over the weekend. I thought the show was pretty strong, but the crowds were not all that great. I got to see Bill Griffith teach a 90 minute class and enjoyed that a great deal. I even got to meet Kaz! I'll try to upload some photos in the space below later on this morning.
posted 1:25 am PST |
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If I Were In Montreal, I'd Go To This
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Forthcoming Comics-Related Events, Through May 2016
*****
April 8
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If I Were In Seattle, I'd Go To This (Emerald City)
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If I Were In Madison, I'd Go To This (Wizard World Madison)
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If I Were Near The Pyrenees, I'd Go To This (Festival BD Pyrenees)
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If I Were In Seattle, I'd Go To This
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If I Were In Florida, I'd Go To This (Transnational Comics)
April 9
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If I Were In Seattle, I'd Go To This (Emerald City)
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If I Were In Columbus, I'd Go To This (SPACE)
*
If I Were In Madison, I'd Go To This (Wizard World Madison)
*
If I Were In Iowa City, I'd Go To This (Ice Cream)
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If I Were Near The Pyrenees, I'd Go To This (Festival BD Pyrenees)
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If I Were In Los Angeles, I'd Go To This (LAT Bookfest)
*
If I Were In Florida, I'd Go To This (Transnational Comics)
*
If I Were In Muncie, I'd Go To This
April 10
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If I Were In Seattle, I'd Go To This (Emerald City)
*
If I Were In Columbus, I'd Go To This (SPACE)
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If I Were In Madison, I'd Go To This (Wizard World Madison)
*
If I Were In Toronto, I'd Go To This
*
If I Were In NYC, I'd Go To This
*
If I Were Near The Pyrenees, I'd Go To This (Festival BD Pyrenees)
*
If I Were In Los Angeles, I'd Go To This (LAT Bookfest)
*
If I Were In Florida, I'd Go To This (Transnational Comics)
April 12
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If I Were In London, I'd Go To This
April 13
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If I Were In Berkeley, I'd Go To This
April 14
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If I Were In South Carolina, I'd Go To This (ICAF)
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If I Were In SF, I'd Go To This
April 15
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If I Were In Vancouver, I'd Go To This
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If I Were In South Carolina, I'd Go To This (ICAF)
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If I Were In Santa Monica, I'd Go To This
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If I Were In LA, I'd Go To This
*
If I Were In London, I'd Go To This
April 16
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If I Were In South Carolina, I'd Go To This (ICAF)
*
If I Were Near The Meadowlands, I'd Go To This (East Coast Comicon)
*
If I Were In Seattle, I'd Go To This
*
If I Were In Durham, I'd Go To This (ZineMachine)
April 17
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If I Were Near The Meadowlands, I'd Go To This (East Coast Comicon)
April 20
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If I Were In Toronto, I'd Go To This
April 22
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If I Were Near Juneau, I'd Go To This
April 23
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If I Were In Birmingham, I'd Go To This (The Birmingham Comics Festival)
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If I Were In Athens, I'd Go To This (FLUKE)
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If I Were Near Juneau, I'd Go To This
April 24
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If I Were Near Juneau, I'd Go To This
April 25
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If I Were Near Juneau, I'd Go To This
April 26
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If I Were Near Juneau, I'd Go To This
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If I Were In NYC, I'd Go To This
April 27
*
If I Were In DC, I'd Go To This
April 29
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If I Were In Indiana, I'd Go To This (Indiana Comic Con)
*
If I Were In Chicago, I'd Go To This (Chicago Zine Fest)
April 30
*
If I Were In Indiana, I'd Go To This (Indiana Comic Con)
*
If I Were In Chicago, I'd Go To This (Chicago Zine Fest)
*****
May 1
*
If I Were In Indiana, I'd Go To This (Indiana Comic Con)
May 3
*
If I Were In Winnipeg, I'd Go To This
May 6
*
If I Were In Minneapolis, I'd Go To This (Wizard World Minneapolis)
May 7
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If I Were Near A Comic Shop, I'd Participate In This (FCBD)
*
If I Were In Minneapolis, I'd Go To This (Wizard World Minneapolis)
May 8
*
If I Were In Minneapolis, I'd Go To This (Wizard World Minneapolis)
May 13
*
If I Were In Des Moines, I'd Go To This (Wizard World Des Moines)
May 14
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If I Were In Toronto, I'd Go To This (TCAF)
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If I Were In Des Moines, I'd Go To This (Wizard World Des Moines)
May 15
*
If I Were In Toronto, I'd Go To This (TCAF)
*
If I Were In Des Moines, I'd Go To This (Wizard World Des Moines)
May 21
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If I Were In Portland, I'd Go To This (Linework NW)
May 22
*
If I Were In Portland, I'd Go To This (Linework NW)
May 26
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If I Were In Erlangen, I'd Go To This (Internationaler Comic Salon Erlangen)
*
If I Were In Montreal, I'd Go To This
May 27
*
If I Were In Erlangen, I'd Go To This (Internationaler Comic Salon Erlangen)
*
If I Were In Toronto, I'd Go To This (Anime North)
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If I Were In Montreal, I'd Go To This (Festival BD de Montreal)
May 28
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If I Were In Erlangen, I'd Go To This (Internationaler Comic Salon Erlangen)
*
If I Were In Toronto, I'd Go To This (Anime North)
*
If I Were In Montreal, I'd Go To This (Festival BD de Montreal)
May 29
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If I Were In Erlangen, I'd Go To This (Internationaler Comic Salon Erlangen)
*
If I Were In Toronto, I'd Go To This (Anime North)
*
If I Were In Montreal, I'd Go To This (Festival BD de Montreal)
*
If I Were In London, I'd Go To This (DIY Cultures)
*****
Events For June 2016 Onward Listed Here
*****
*****
*****
posted 1:15 am PST |
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Go, Look: Cimmeria
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Random Comics News Story Round-Up
* JA Micheline talks to
Ta-Nehisi Coates. I haven't read all of the Coates coverage, but I really liked that piece. I'm glad for the rest of the
Black Panther creative team like Brian Stelfreeze -- whose work is pictured at right -- to share in some of that spotlight.
* apropos of nothing, I really love the series of Tony Fitzpatrick's visual poems in the slideshow you can access from
this article.
* congratulations to the ladies and gentlemen involved with
the Retrofit crowd-funder on making their initial goal. That was one hell of a last five days.
* Jon M. Sweeney on
Mary Wept Over The Feet Of Jesus. Rachel Cooke on
Hubert. Wim Lockefeer on
In China.
*
I did not know about this oral history of Wimmen's Comix.
* finally,
Barry and Leon talk MoCCA. Spring at last!
posted 1:05 am PST |
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Happy 76th Birthday, Claire Brétecher!
posted 1:00 am PST |
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April 6, 2016
Oto Reisinger, RIP
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Image Expo: Karen Berger Appears; Many Books Announced; Quite The Crowd
Right now, like you, I'm keeping track of the twitter stream emanating from the place. I really do think that Expo is one of the good ideas a company has had in like a decade -- you dominate the news cycle, you give the talent the thrill of being treated like the big-time artists they are, and you have access to a database made up of hardcore, sit-in-a-seat, day-off-of-work fans.
Analysis tomorrow!
posted 9:02 am PST |
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Go, Look: Sea Witch
posted 9:00 am PST |
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