I went to both days of the MoCCA art festival. I would show up upon opening and leave around 2 because I had work all weekend closing at the cafe. I heard there was a fire alarm that the attendees initially ignored on Sunday after I left. People didn't go outside because of the first massive heat wave in NYC. (95 degrees)
It was on Lafayette off of Houston street in the Puck Building which has a golden cartoon statue hanging high up on the building.
The first day I saw Brian Wood. I met a bunch of creators and though it was somewhat Air conditioned, I was sweating a lot. I was nervous and anxious to see so much talent surrounding me. I bought way too many books and could barely say anything to the creators as I didn't know them or their work.
So Saturday night after work I did my homework. I read everything I bought so I would have something to talk about the next day.
-Xeric award winner
Michael LaRiccia was there with his book Black Mane. I read it and holy shit what a great comic. It's raw and original, surreal, yet I could relate to it very much. Michael LaRiccia is the protagonist of his work, and as dark skin Italian confused for other ethnic groups, he is an all together interesting and refreshing new character. He deals with issues of masculinity in a way that is both thrilling and subdued. It reminded me a lot of the comic book "Slow Jams" by David Choe that is nearly impossible to find.
I read part 1 of his second graphic novel and can hardly wait for the next one.
-I met Sarah Glidden the second day after buying her books from someone else the day before. She is the author of
How to Understand Israel in Sixty Days or Less. It's an exciting and really personal account of her trip to Israel on the birthright trip. She has two chapters of her mini-comic on her, and there are 8 more to go. The protagonist is skeptical, but open minded about the mission of the trip, illustrated by a scene where she is in dialogue with herself in a trial, wondering if one of her guides is a propoganda machine. She is the defense lawyer, prosecutor, judge, and jury. It's a wonderful creative flourish that shows the power of comics.
The second chapter has a scene where she is looking at a scale model of the Golden Heights in the region and visualize the history of the area right on the model. There are also a lot of travel moments where she realizes the reality of her situation in the historic holy lands. And it's funny.
I read about her comic on the Broken Frontier website, and it was much better than I expected.
-I met Spike who is the creator of
Templar, AZ . She has a big online following as she is the creator of an online comic. She was really welcoming at the con and insisted on showing me her comic. Her protagonist is an adopted South Korean that lives in an alternate world, trying to get by in a strange city as a writer. There's a couple of nice little surprises in her first volume of the comic. I really enjoyed it.
As I was talking to her I realized Spike had a vast fanbase. A superfan was there too tell me how great her comic was. I told her I wrote comics and asked her if she made a living on the comic. She said she did. She gave me all this great advice about how to get an online comic and make a really good living. I have asked my artist what he thinks of this route.
-I talked to artist
Stan Wan who works on his online comic and he did a mini-series for Ape. What a nice guy to talk to. I talked about issues of the industry with him and got a little info on Ape Entertainment. He has a nice cartoony style reminiscient of Alex Robinson. I think his webcomic work is really strong, with fun character designs and a great line work.
Will continue this post again.
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