Hong Kong's Sidewalk Comics

Hong Kong History Museum Exhibit of a Comic Book Lending Library
HONG KONG, December 22 – After the Second World War, Hong Kong children used to spend their free time at the local sidewalk comic book lending library. They paid 5-10 cents to burrow a single comic book. The vendors of the library would also set-up a row of tiny benches to accommodated their pint-sized clientele. These kids were hardcore.

NYCC 2010: Everyday is Like GR Sunday

Giant Robot Invades
New York, October 10 – The last day at New York Comic Con was much calmer, and I saw more children in the crowd. My game plan for most of the day was booth duty. I spent most of the day answering questions and promoting Giant Robot Magazine.

Sho'nuff visits the Giant Robot Booth

The booth had many different visitors. Most of the visitors to our booth were young artists looking to get involved with Giant Robot. I had long running conversations about Superflat, street graffiti, and the current art scene. I even ran into a few David Choe fans. They were hoping that Dave was going to be at the booth. Unfortunately I had to give them the bad news. On the other hand, younger booth visitors were looking for recommendation about everything. I was dispensing recommendations for anime, manga, Asian cinema, J-rock, and other related topics.

NYCC 2010: Saturday Funnies

Ultraman (ウルトラマン) Cosplayer
New York, October 9 – Saturday is probably the busiest day during the New York Comic Con. I arrived early for many of the interesting panels including the Spotlight on Harper Collins, Digital Comics & Distribution, and Sushi Typhoon.

Vampires, Witches, and Zombies. Oh my...


Spotlight on Harper Collins. Seated (Left to Right): Erika Tsang (editor), Margaret Ronald (author), Jeaniene Frost (author), and Pamela Palmer (author).
I popped into this panel to check out the announcements and support my cousin Erika Tsang. She is an Executive Editor at Avon Romance. The panel announced several supernatural romance fiction titles such as Majorie Liu's In the Dark of Dreams, Jeaniene Frost's Side of the Grave, and Kerrelyn Sparks' Vampire Mine. Despite the romance nature of the imprint, the line was filled with sexy vampires, powerful witches, and zombies invasions. The trend in romance fiction is leaning towards the supernatural with the popularity of book series like The Twilight Saga and The Southern Vampire Mysteries (True Blood).

NYCC 2010: The Brave and The Geeky

Cosplaying Couple posing as Superman and Wonder Woman.
New York, October 8 – Due to a late night pre-con party, I arrived to the New York Comic Con 2010 late on the Friday afternoon. There weren't too many interesting panels except the Aniplex one. I had a difficult time finding the press office to pick-up my badge, and the volunteers at registration had no clue. I wandered a bit and eventually got my badge. I headed over to the Aniplex panel.

Aniplex of America


Aniplex PR team. Hiroe Tsukamoto (right).
As I was waiting for the panel to begin, Anime News Network (ANN) Editor Chris Macdonald sat right in front of me. I've run into him at other conventions over the summer. I greeted him, and we were trading war stories about this year's anime con season.

Best American Comics 2010 Book Launch with Neil Gaiman, Bryan Lee O'Malley and Gabrielle Bell

Left to Right: Neil Gaiman, Bryan Lee O'Malley and Gabrielle Bell.
New York, October 7 – Barnes and Noble Union Square hosted a book launching event for the Best American Comics 2010. The new anthology is a collection of the year’s best comics from professional, indie, graphic novel, and the web. The event was cleverly scheduled to coincide with the start of the New York Comic Con and tapped into the comic geek audience. The large event space was packed with fans.

The panelists for the event included: Jessica Abel (editor), Matt Madden (editor), Neil Gaiman (guest editor), Gabrielle Bell (contributor), and Bryan Lee O'Malley (contributor).

Tze Chun's Children of Invention DVD Release Party

New York, August 14 – Giant Robot New York held a DVD release party for Tze Chun’s Children of Invention. It attracted a decent crowd of indie film fans and New Yorkers.

The film is his first major full length feature garnering 17 film festival awards and an official selection for the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. It tells the story of a single mother who is drawn into a Ponzi scheme. She is arrested, and her two young children are left to survive on the streets alone.

Regarding his future projects, Chun is set to direct a segment of the film adaptation of Will Eisner’s A Contract with God.


Tze Chun talking about James Jean's prints. Cindy Cheung, lower left.

SDCC 2010: Friday Comes In Like a Lion and Goes Out Like a Munko

Bill Poon
San Diego, July 23 – The morning started with a surprise visit from Bill Poon who is the All-Star slugger from the Giant Robot softball team. He briefly chatted with Eric Nakamura (Publisher, Giant Robot) and others.

Second David Choe Signing


Dave Choe
Just before noon, fans of David Choe began forming a line around the booth. Choe, a Los Angeles pop artist, arrived to sign merchandise including his new art book and Munko vinyl figures. His devoted fans were pretty excited to meeting him. One of them even showed me her Munko tattoo on her wrist. It was pretty awesome.

SDCC 2010: Crossroads and Connections

Plushy Stand at the Giant Robot booth
San Diego, July 22 – The San Diego Convention Center opened its doors for the first full day of Comic-con International. Standing behind the plushy Totoro (トトロ) dolls at the Giant Robot booth, I was prepared for the onslaught of attendees.

First David Choe Signing

Our first major event was a signing by David Choe. Choe has been a major artist and painter in the Los Angeles art scene for the last several years. His pop sensibilities and graffiti style artwork has garnered a huge following among both art collectors and street artists. It’s a balancing act that keeps Choe's work on the cutting edge of the avant-garde.


Line for Dave Choe signing
Even before Choe’s arrival, his fans were lining up for the event. They were eager to chat with the artist and get their stuff signed.

SDCC 2010: Prelude to the Madness

Left to Right: Donut Man and Chi (his niece)
Los Angeles, July 20 – Since my last trip to California, I’ve been fiending for some sugary Donut Man confections. The tasty glazed and cream filled pastries have been haunting my foodie dreams, and I definitely needed to visit the Donut Man.

Martin Wong (Editor of Giant Robot Magazine) and I trekked out to a humble little shack in Glendora which is the home of the Donut Man. Hoping to see sweet Boston Creams and glazed Tiger Tails, we accidentally stumbled onto a greater sighting. We met the DONUT MAN! The elusive and talented genius behind the Donut Man confections came out from behind the shack and greeted us with a smile. We talked, and he introduced us to his niece Chi. She was very cool.

After we pumped pure sugar into our veins, we went to pick up some new vinyl toys from a warehouse. We quickly packed the van with boxes of Dave Choe’s new Munko vinyl figures and the Giant Robot action figures. Destined for our booth at the San Diego Comic-Con, we load the van and filled every inch of space. I was surprised at the number of boxes that we could shove into our van.

Lowboy and Black Blizzard

Lowboy Cover Art by Adrian Tomine
NEW YORK, February 4 – In a promotional event for his new novel, John Wray conducted a book reading and discussion at the powerHouse Arena in Brooklyn.

Lowboy, Wray’s latest novel, is centered on a paranoid schizophrenic teenager who’s recently escaped from a mental institution. Interestingly the narrative of the novel is told through the eyes of a boy suffering with mental illness, and the story frequently blurs the line between reality and fantasy.

After a brief reading, Wray was joined by Adrian Tomine. Tomine, a popular cartoonist, did the illustrations for the cover of Lowboy. Using a set of prepared questions as a jumping off point they discussed a variety of topics including possible movie adaptations, the creative writing process, and their collaboration on the novel’s cover art.


Adrian Tomine and John Wray
Towards the end of the night, I had an opportunity to talk with Tomine, and we got into a discussion about manga. He mentioned that he had just finished editing Yoshihiro Tatsumi’s (辰巳 ヨシヒロ) Black Blizzard (黒い吹雪). It’s a follow up to Tatsumi’s critically acclaimed graphic novel A Drifting Life. He described it as Tatsumi’s attempt to incorporate elements of film noir into his manga. As an avid reader of Tatsumi’s work, the news of a new graphic novel was very exciting.


Related Links:

• Book Review - 'Lowboy,' by John Wray - Review - NYTimes.com
• The Tunnel : In “Lowboy,” a schizophrenic rides the subway. : The New Yorker
  
• A Delusional Odyssey Through New York's Tunnels : NPR
  
• Tatsumi's Black Blizzard Listed by Drawn & Quarterly - Anime News Network
  
• SAME HAT!: EARLY TATSUMI GRAPHIC NOVEL COMING OUT IN 2010
  

Queer Manga at NYU

Panel: (Left to Right) June Kim, Mari Morimoto, Hiroki Otsuka, and Ivan Velez
NEW YORK, October 21 – Erica Friedman, the President of Yuricon and ALC Publishing, moderated an interesting panel on Queer Manga. The event was being hosted by the Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, and Transsexual (LGBT) Office at New York University (NYU) as a part of their LGBT Pride Month. The panelists consisted of Ivan Velez Jr. (American Comic Book Artist), Hiroki Otsuka (Japanese Managaka), Mari Morimoto (Manga Translator), and June Kim (Korean Comic Book Artist).

Friedman began the panel with a quick summary of LGBT manga, which was extraordinarily helpful to a majority of the college students in the audience. She quickly defined of terms like Yuri, Yaoi, Boys Love, Girls Love, Bian, and Bara. Then she went into a brief history of LGBT manga from 1923 to the present. It was impossible for Friedman to cover everything due to time constraints, but she managed to do a brilliant job giving the abbreviated Cliff Notes version. She covered a variety of topics like Riyoko Ikeda’s (池田 理代子) Claudine...! (クローディーヌ...!), Yuri Shimai (百合姉妹) Magazine, and Eriko Tadeno's Works.


Erica Friedman (Moderator)
Following Friedman’s introduction, the panelists discussed their personal experiences with creating and publishing LGBT manga and comics.

Ivan Velez demonstrated the varying degrees of gay manga. Velez began his portion of the panel with a home video of his trip to Akihabara. The video mainly focused on his exploration of gay manga stores. He showed the different types of stores and sections selling both the lighter gay manga titles and the more graphic gay material. After the video, he did a quick introductory slideshow of works from famous Bara mangaka such as Jiraiya. Velez argued that the genre was very masculine and sweet at the same time.

On a different note, June Kim talked about her experiences while working on the 12 Days manga. She said it was based on a real life story of tragedy and loss. Surprisingly TokyoPop, her publisher, did not have any problems with the openly lesbian and gay themes in the book. According to Kim, she never received any restrictive guidance or prohibitive directives from her publisher. This freedom allowed her to create an amazing manga with stunning artwork and a touching storyline. 12 Days was well received, and many of Kim’s readers tell her that the story literally moved them to tears.


12 Days by June Kim
Hiroki Otsuka discussed his transition from straight sex manga for young women to his open gay titles for gay men. He related his experience to the greater LGBT movement in Japan. He stated that Japanese society is still very conservative, and many gay mangaka don’t publicly declare themselves as gay or lesbian. There is still a heavy stigma attached to being openly gay. Kim interjected that the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy is a very common phenomenon in most Asian cultures. Otsuka also discussed the slow growth of the gay community in the Second Street section of Akihabara. This burgeoning community of openly gay Japanese has led to the creation of two different groups: one group of Japanese leading openly gay lifestyles and another group of gay Japanese leading outwardly straight lifestyles. This stratification has created two divergent lifestyle philosophies concerning sexual identity in Japan.

In her portion of the panel, Mari Morimoto talked about the difficulties in publishing LGBT manga. She said that, “the publishing industry is very conservative.” The manga industry is not an exception. There are obstacles ranging from printing to distribution in regards to LGBT titles. In her efforts to promote and support LGBT works, Morimoto discussed her involvement with Prism Comics and LGBT manga panels at various anime conventions.

On the whole, Friedman successfully created an open atmosphere that allowed the panelists to share very personal experiences regarding LGBT manga. The audience seemed to appreciate the candor and honesty of the panelists and their discussion.

Related Links:

• Okazu: Event: Queer Manga Panel at NYU

New York Anime Festival 2009: Pictures and Words

NEW YORK, September 27 – Here are a some of my impressions from this year's New York Anime Festival (NYAF).


Ed Chavez at the Vertical Inc. booth
As soon as I got to the convention floor, I immediately went to the dealer's booths to check out the deals. I ran into Erica Friedman, President of Yuricon & ALC Publishing. She was helping out the guys at the Media Blaster's booth selling DVDs. I also found Ed Chavez, Marketing Director for Vertical Inc, working in the Vertical booth. There seemed to be a positive buzz and a lot of traffic around his booth.


Lillian Diaz-Przybyl and Kasia Piekarz. Tokyo Pop Panel.
Unlike many fan run anime conventions, the NYAF tends to have a large industry presence. The convention guide listed panels for many companies such as: Viz, Tokyopop, Vertical Inc, Aniplex, Del Rey Manga, Bandai Entertainment, and others. At many of these panels, I often run into noted members of the anime blogosphere (see related link below).


Yoshiyuki Tomino at a Q&A Panel
On the second day of the convention, Yoshiyuki Tomino(富野 喜幸), creator of the Mobile Suit Gundam series (機動戦士ガンダム), held a questions and answers panel. During the event, he responded a wide range of questions regarding his career and his work on the Gundam series. Tomino is notorious for refusing to answer questions, and this panel was not an exception. However, he did provide lengthy answers to questions about film and film-making. Tomino stated that he approached his animation work like a film director focused on cinematic storytelling.

According to an announcement by Reed Exhibitions (the company running NYAF), this will be the last time that NYAF will be a standalone convention. They plan to merge the NYAF with the New York Comic Con for 2010. I don't know if this is good or bad for the NYAF, but I will miss it as a standalone anime con. I've had some memorable experiences at NYAF and have met very cool people. Most of all I will definitely miss the late night karaoke parties.

Related Links:

• Uwa…! New York Anime Festival 2009 « OGIUE MANIAX
• About.com: New York Anime Festival 2009: Friday's Manga Highlights
• About.com: New York Anime Festival 2009: Saturday's Manga Highlights
• About.com: New York Anime Festival 2009: Sunday's Manga Highlights
• Anime Vice: NYAF09: Del Rey Madness
• Anime Vice: NYAF09: Day Three Wrap-Up
• Anime Vice: NYAF09: Bandai's Bob
• Anime Vice: NYAF09: Vertical's Ed
• Reverse Thieves » New York Anime Festival 2009
• Anime Diet: NYAF Anime Blogger Panel » the Video
  

Anime Weekend Atlanta (AWA) 2009: Part 2: I Only Meant to Stay Awhile

Panel of Doom hosted by Daryl Surat
ATLANTA, September 20 – On the second day of the AWA, I slept in a little. I was tired from the previous day’s travel and didn’t get much rest. I rolled out of my hotel room late in the afternoon to attend Gerald Rathkolb’s (Anime World Order (AWO) host) panel.

He was hosting a panel on AIC in the 80s. Anime International Company (AIC) is an animation studio which produced many beloved OAV titles in the 1980s. Many of the OVA titles made their way to local video rental stores like Blockbuster spawning a new generation of anime fans. Gerald showed trailers from shows like Cybernetics Guardian (聖獣機サイガード), Gall Force 2 - Destruction (ガルフォース2), and Madox-01 (メタルスキンパニック ＭＡＤＯＸ－０１). It was a nostalgic trip through my childhood anime fandom.

At the panel, I unexpectedly bumped into Ed Chavez, Marketing Director for Vertical, Inc. I was completely surprised. I didn’t think he was going to attend this convention. He said that it was a last minute decision. We talked for a bit and made our way to Daryl Surat’s (AWO host and Otaku USA writer) panel. There was some confusion. The time of the panel was pushed back, but there was very little notice in the schedule (except for some fliers in the hallway).

Daryl hosted the Panel of Doom which is a hilarious mash up of anime, live action, commercials, and documentary footage. I’ve seen the Panel of Doom in past anime conventions, and Daryl managed to keep thing fresh by incorporating new videos.


Falling Curtain, Panel of Doom
In the middle of his panel, a large curtain accidentally fell on audience members in the back of the room. It was dangerous because the curtains were attached to large metal poles. Daryl briefly stopped the panel as people were trying to fix the curtain. It was a surreal experience.

After Daryl’s panel, a group of us went to grab a quick bite at the Cumberland Mall’s food court. We rushed back to the convention because Clarissa Graffeo (AWO host and Otaku USA writer) and Gerald had to set-up their Doujin panel.

Gerald and Clarissa’s Doujin panel was an over 18 affair because of all the adult material notoriously associated with doujinshi (同人誌). Doujinshi refers to a wide array of original fan made products related to manga and anime. They covered a lot of material including games, prose fiction, manga, and music.

After the panel, a small group consisting of audience members and panelists talked about doujinshi. The group included: Carl Gustav Horn (Dark Horse Manga Editor), Clarissa, Gerald, Ed, Max, and others. We discussed a variety of topics ranging from Japanese cultural history to the Otaku phenomenon. The group was very nomadic. We moved around to several locations and continued our conversations while walking around the Renaissance Waverly Hotel.

Eventually, we settled down at a table in the atrium. Shortly after Daryl joined us, a security guard walked over to our table and told us that the atrium was closing. Clarissa looked at her watch and remarked that, “its 3:30.” I don’t think anyone realized how long we were talking. I went back to my hotel room and slept.


The Anime Treasure Chest Panel hosted by Tim Eldred
The next morning Ed and I went to Tim Eldred’s Anime Treasure Chest panel. He started the panel in grand fashion with the Daicon IV opening film. The Daicon IV film was an amateur piece of animation created by members of Gainax (株式会社ガイナックス) before they became a professional studio. It was seminal film in anime history. Tim also showed some amazing scenes from the revamped Fist of the North Star (北斗の拳) series. It was a chock-full of awesome. The high budget animation was pretty amazing. I need to get copies of it. Towards the end of his panel, he showed an anime UFO documentary. It was quite bizarre. I need to ask Tim more about it.

Then we attended Clarissa’s Black Jack panel. She did a basic introduction to the manga and anime series. I was amazed that her panel was well attended. Usually panels covering older anime and manga properties have smaller audiences because most younger fans don’t follow older work. I was pleasantly surprised at the turn out.

After her panel, Clarissa and I went over to Carl’s Evangelion panel. He started with a quick rundown of future Dark Horse releases. Smoothly he transitioned into the different Evangelion titles being released by Dark Horse. He talked about his theories regarding the Eva story arc and the multiple endings. The crowd seemed excited. There was a pretty active back-and-forth conversation between the host and the audience.

I briefly joined Daryl at Tim’s Star Blazer (宇宙戦艦ヤマト) panel before rushing over to Ed’s Vertical panel.


The Vertical Panel hosted by Ed Chavez
During his panel, Ed talked about the variety of releases by Vertical Inc. He mentioned some of the Osamu Tezuka (手塚 治虫) releases such as Black Jack and Dororo (Winner - Will Eisner Award for Best U.S. Edition of International Material). He also promoted Vertical’s non-manga release such as Tetsuya Nishio's Sudoku Plus series, Kentaro Kobayashi's Easy Japanese Cooking series, and Toshio Okada's Sayonara, Mr. Fatty!: A Geek's Diet Memoir.

After his panel, Ed and I ended the convention by attending a viewing of Dave Merrill’s Ozone Commandos. It’s a campy fan produced sci-fi adventure movie. I thought it was pretty wild and filled with tons of geeky references.

Anime Weekend Atlanta (AWA) 2009: Part 1: Anime Hell

State of the Manga Industry Panel with Carl Horn and Jonathan Tarbox
ATLANTA, September 18 – On a gloomy gray Friday afternoon, I attended Anime Weekend Atlanta (AWA) at the Renaissance Waverly Hotel. I started the convention by slowly browsing the dealer’s room looking over the latest anime and manga merchandise. I ran into Gerald Rathkolb, one of the Anime World Order (AWO) podcasting trinity. AWO is one of the most popular anime podcasts according to the recent Parsec Awards. He was accompanied by a dry witted Max as they were buzzing around some anime posters.

After some more dealers’ room reconnaissance, we went to the State of the Manga Industry panel which was being hosted by Carl Gustav Horn, Dark Horse Manga Editor, and Jonathan Tarbox, the former editor of Raijin Comics. They discussed some broad topics concerning the manga industry in America. Some of the more interesting points discussed were the production costs, market development, and the localization efforts. At the panel, we joined up with the remaining AWO trinity at the panel: Daryl Surat and Clarissa Graffeo.


AWO consists of the three persons in the one anime podcasting divinity

After the panel, I took a quick second to check into my hotel room and rejoined the AWO at Dave Merrill’s Western Influence on Anime panel. Merrill showed a variety of anime properties based on western literature such as Lensman, Superbook (アニメ 親子劇場), and Starship Troopers.

I was introduced to the amazing Tim Eldred, the creator of Grease Monkey and the biggest Space Battleship Yamato (a.k.a. Star Blazers) (宇宙戦艦ヤマト) fan ever. He was very cool. His knowledge of Yamato seemed limitless. I was a fan of the show and eagerly listened to his stories about Yamato fandom. He knew all the back stories about the production and the behind the scene details. I was captivated by the raw awesomeness of his Yamato knowledge. Tim runs the official Star Blazers website and does a webcomic of the show.


A bunch of us went to Marietta Diner for dinner. Daryl warned us that the portion were huge. I ordered a burger, and I got a huge plate of food. I only had few minutes to eat because Gerald had to get back to the convention. He was doing a panel on the History of Hentai. I ate very little of the burger before we had to rush back to the convention.

Gerald’s hentai (変態) panel was packed. At first he encountered a lot of technical problems with the projector set-up which really cut down on his presentation time. After Gerald got everything working, he went over a brief introduction of early hentai including Ukiyo-e (浮世絵) influences. He had to rush through many sections of his presentation.


He eventually got to Osama Tezuka’s hentai movies: 1001 Arabian Nights, Cleopatra (クレオパトラ), and Belladonna (哀しみのベラドンナ). This was the bulk of his presentation. I’ve seen stills and read about these movies on the internet, but this was my first time that I’ve actually watched the anime. The films were a bizarre alchemic mixture of bright colors, sex, and music. Being very trippy and experimental, they were quite a departure from Tezuka’s earlier works such as Astro Boy (鉄腕アトム) and Kimba the White Lion (ジャングル大帝). I highly suggest that any hardcore anime otaku must see these films. They are a fascinating look into the darker side of Tezuka’s genius.

Following Gerald’s hentai panel, I went straight to Dave Merrill’s Anime Hell. Daryl sent me a text message earlier stating that “Hell is where the heart is…” Therefore, I had to attend. Dave showed a hilarious mash-up of videos. I am legally prohibited from describing the panel. It’s just one of those things that you have to experience. However, there is one thing I will say… Dave played the opening sequence from Kikaider (人造人間キカイダー) and shouted, “If you know the words, sing-a-long! Switchy… On… 1… 2… 3…” I think only Dave and I were singing.

Jim Hanley's LGBT Pride in Pix and Panels.

NEW YORK, June 27 – Jim Hanley's Universe (4 West 33rd Street) hosted a long afternoon of events celebrating Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, and Transsexual (LGBT) in the comic book industry. It was scheduled to coincide with the eve of the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion. Erica Friedman, the President of Yuricon and ALC Publishing, moderated the panels.

Panelist included: Tony Arena, Amy Colburn, Foxy Andy, Rica Takashima, Abby Denson, Jennifer Camper, Steve MacIsaac, JD Glass, Allan Neuwirth, Ivan Velez, José Villarubia and others.

The panel covered many important issues challenging comic book creators and publishers.

Selling Out

One of the most interesting topics addressed is artistic freedom versus commercialism. Some of the panelists talked about their experiences with working for either Marvel or DC Comics. They addressed the corporate mind set and the commercial aspects that require hard time lines, high quality product output, and editorial controls.

Some audience members tried to frame the discussion as a big corporation versus the struggling artist argument (“creative freedom versus editorial decisions”). Some of the panelists tried to stem the argument. They put the issue into the greater context of market realities and the costs of production (printing, marketing, and employees). They further tried to dispel any notions that “business” is inherently evil. Villarubia insists that business a tool or vehicle to help sell and distribute comics to a wider audience regardless of the publishing type.


Independent Publishing and LGBT

Many of the panelists have vast amounts of experience in self-published comics and independent comics. They emphasized the guerilla tactic of “picking your battles”. Attending several smaller comic book conventions might be a better strategy than going to a few larger ones. They also pushed the idea of self-promotion and marketing as one of the key pillars to small run publishing.

The panel also addressed the difficulties of LGBT titles and books in the mainstream comic book market. They humorously discussed the “running away” phenomenon at conventions. Many straight people are attracted to tables with LGBT books because of the art or the title of the book. When they discover the book is a LGBT work, they usually drop the book and run away. Friedman witnessed the same “running away” behavior at Comiket (コミケット) in Japan and the New York Comic Book Convention (NYCC).


Rica Takashima
Overall, the panel encouraged engaging debate and discussion. Erica Friedman’s knowledgeable input and frank manner helped to guide the panel and the audience through a vast array of topics concerning LGBT comic book creators and independent publishing.

Related Links:

• JIM HANLEY'S UNIVERSE: June 27 is Pride Day at Jim Hanley's Universe!
• shirtlifters » Blog Archive » Pride Signing @ Jim Hanley’s Universe
• abbycomix » Blog Archive » Celebrate Pride in Pix and Panels! 6/27 @ JHU @ 3PM!
• Gay Comics @ NY Pride on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
• Foxy Talk
• Prism Comics
  

MoCCA Art Festival 2008: Plympton, Tomine, Bruce Lee vs. Jesus, and Freddie Mercury's Gravity

First Floor of the MoCCA Art Fest
NEW YORK, June 7-8 — The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art’s Art Festival is one of the biggest gatherings of independent comic book creators in the United States of America. The festival is professionally sponsored and run by the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art (MoCCA). Except for the programs, most of the festival was held at the Puck Building (295 Lafayette Street), which is around the corner from the actual museum (594 Broadway).

The MoCCA Art Festival is difficult to describe to the uninitiated.

If you have anime con experience, it kinda like an anime convention, but the emphasis is largely focused on the huge dealer’s rooms. This year’s festival filled two floors with dealer’s table. It was pretty massive and packed to capacity. The festival organizers did schedule a decent program of events at the museum, but most people don’t attend this festival for programs. They go mostly for the dealer’s room.


In some ways, it’s like Comiket. All the tables are filled with comic book circles, small press, and individual comic book artists. They sell everything from quirky t-shirts to photocopied comic books zines.

Unlike Comiket, most of the independent comic books are original works with original characters, and only a small percent of the material is outright pornographic.

Most of the merchandise is humorously clever and very appealing to the young hipster zeitgeist.


Bill Plympton
As soon as I paid my admission, the first table I notice was the great Bill Plympton. I’ve been a big fan of Plympton since watching his cartoon shorts on MTV’s Liquid Television (1991). His humor was eye opening in the early nineties. At the festival, he had a small white table with his books and DVDs. He took the time to sign and sketch something for each fan. I’m not an autograph collector, but I let him sign my graphic novel anyway. At first, I didn’t know what to say… I was at a loss for words. I just said, "I'm a big fan." It was just awesome to talk to him.


Adrian Tomine
I walked around the first floor for a bit, and I recognized Mister Adrian Tomine, comic artist for the New Yorker Magazine. He was at the Drawn and Quarterly table. I got a chance to talk with him. I immediate apologized for missing his gallery show for Shortcomings at the Giant Robot store in New York. He was totally cool about it. After a few minutes of talking, I discovered that we shared some mutual friends at Giant Robot Magazine.

I picked up a few issues of Tomine’s Optic Nerve (Issues 9, 10, and 11). I love his art style. He has very clean line work. If you get the chance to pick-up Optic Nerve and Shortcoming, definitely buy it. It’s a good read.


While at the Drawn and Quarterly table, I also picked up the hard cover printing of Yoshihiro Tatsumi’s The Push Man and Other Stories and Abandon the Old in Tokyo. WARNING: Tatsumi was the godfather of Gekiga, therefore it might not be appropriate for children or the weak-at-heart.

Anime World Order’s Daryl Surat did an excellent review of The Push Man and Other Stories in his podcast. I picked it up based on Daryl's recommendation. You can find his review here.

After I bought a few more comics, I headed upstairs to the seventh floor of the Puck Building. I immediately saw the hand drawn sign, "Bruce Lee vs. Jesus". Peter Quach, the creator, was selling You Don’t Know Much About Jesus. The book was an eight page photocopy comic, and it prominently features a fight between Bruce Lee and Jesus. The mere concept of Bruce Lee fighting Jesus was pretty awesome. The comic was only a dollar, so I had to buy one.


Peter Quach and his "Bruce Lee vs. Jesus" sign
Right next to Quach, a table was selling pretty awesome t-shirts. I didn’t pick one up because I wanted to save my money for actual comics and graphic novels. But, I did take a few pictures:


Left: Bruce Lee T-Shirt, Right: Star Wars Stormtrooper T-Shirt (made up of tiny TIE Fighters)
I walked around the floor and picked up a few more comics and graphic novels. I took the elevator back to the ground floor and made another sweep of those tables.

I was near the Freddie and Me table. Come to think of it: I should have picked up a Freddie and Me book. It looks awesome. I didn’t buy it. Anyway, I was pulled by the gravitational force of the Freddie Mercury’s statue. It was like a beacon calling me home.


The gravitational pull of Freddie Mercury
As I got closer to Freddie, I bumped into the goddess of pop culture journalism, Whitney Matheson. Whitney writes "Pop Candy", which is a popular column/blog in USA Today. She is also frequently quoted on television and in-print. I’ve been reading her column since the late 90s, and I hold her opinion about pop culture in the highest regard. She continues to be one of my top three favorite bloggers.

Whitney mentioned that she was going to be at the festival on her blog, so I e-mailed her about it. When I ran into her, she had an arm full of comics. We talked a little bit about her blog and about the festival. The conversation strangely segued into a conversation about her footwear. She wore her signature Chuck Taylor All Star Low Top Converse sneakers. She said that they were a bit uncomfortable. I thought they were completely "punk".

(Post-Editorial Note: Whitney Matheson interviewed Mike Dawson, author of Freddie and Me. Podcast: A glimpse inside 'Freddie & Me')


Whitney Matheson and me
Due to a scheduled dinner and a greatly weakened bank account, I had to leave the MoCCA Art Festival. I said goodbye to Whitney and left. It was totally awesome to meet her. She is one of the coolest chicks that I’ve ever met.

Partial List of Comics that I Picked-up at the MoCCA Art Festival:
Casson, Ronnie. Claviger (Issue2)
Del Rio, Tania. Knit Wits.
Epic Proportions. Burn
McMurray, Mark. Dumb Jersey White Boy (No. 1)
Plympton, Bill. We Eat Tonight
Quach, Peter. You Don’t Know Much About Jesus
Student Press Initiative. Manga Mania
Tatsumi, Yoshihiro. Abandon the Old in Tokyo
Tatsumi, Yoshihiro. The Push Man and Other Stories
Tiede, Dirk I. Paradigm Shift, Part One
Tomine, Adrian. Optic Nerve (Issues 9, 10, 11)
Ward, William. Fablewood Anthology

Related Links:

• Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art (MoCCA)
• The Puck Building
• Bill Plympton Studio
• Drawn and Quarterly
• Adrian Tomine
• Yoshihiro Tatsumi
• Comics by Mike Dawson
• Pop Candy

JACON 2008: The Horror That Dare Not Speak Its Name

KISSIMMEE, May 18 — It's been nearly a month since my last blog post due to a very busy work schedule. This time I'm blogging from the sunny state of Florida. I'm here for the local anime convention known as JACON.

This year's JACON was held at the Orlando Sun Resort by Lexington (aka The Ramada Orlando Celebration Resort and Convention Center). The hotel recently changed their name, which caused a bit of confusion.

After I got to my room, I dropped my stuff and went directly to the convention center. As I walked into the hallway, I ran into television's Daryl Surat [Anime World Order (AWO) and Otaku USA]. We quickly rounded up some other people including Gerald (AWO) and Paul "Gooberzilla" Chapman (Greatest Movie EVER Podcast and Otaku USA). The group went to watch the live-action Speed Racer movie at the local IMAX Theater. It was a good film despite Gooberzilla's opinion. (I might write a review for this blog.)


Odin: Photon Sailer Starlight Midnight Endurance Marathon
At midnight, Joey Snackpants Esquire and Gooberzilla hosted the "Odin: Photon Sailer Starlight Midnight Endurance Marathon". They proceeded to show the entire uncut Japanese version of Odin: Photon Sailer Starlight (オーディーン　光子帆船スターライト). Joey and Goob injected their comedic commentary to this mess of film. It was the most sadistic experiment ever.

I was surprised that the crowd was pretty big at the beginning. However, they did not last. They never do... The crowd was struggling, but they made it through an hour of the movie. At that point, Daryl announced, "there is still another hour and twenty minutes to this show." This absolutely frightened the crowd, and half of the audience left the panel.

The movie ended at 2:30 AM. I was dead tired. A few people withered away. The remaining thirty-something people got free "I survived the Odin Endurance Marathon" t-shirts.

On the second day, I ran into Charles Feldmeth from the New York Metro Anime club. We browsed the dealers’ room, but nothing really enticed me. I usually don't buy a lot of con merchandise. I hate con impulse shopping. I always regret it later.

We had lunch and attended a Japanese Music panel. The panel played a lot of sugary pop acts. It was too pop for my tastes. I decided to take a break and took a nap in my hotel room.


Gerald's 80s Giant Robot Panel
I rejoined Charles at the Pelican (the Panels building). We joined the entire AWO crew, Gooberzilla, and their friends for the "80s Giant Robot Panel". It was Gerald's panel. He ran the panel as an open discussion.

As Gerald talked about the scope of Giant Robot shows, he played opening sequences from different mech anime show such as Gundam (ガンダム), The Super Dimension Fortress Macross (超時空要塞マクロス), and Go Lion (百獣王ゴライオン). It was an interesting panel, but he ran out of time.

He was followed by the "Manga Influence on American Comics" panel. It was run by final_fury and his special lady friend. They were originally slated for a two-hour block, but Joey had to reduce it to an hour. They also ran out of time, but they still managed to have an entertaining and informative panel.

We all went to grab a quick dinner and attended a private recording of the Snacktime Online Podcast with Joey Snackpants Esquire, Daryl, and Gooberzilla. You can listen to the podcast at The SNACKTIME ONLINE Podcast.


Max Pointing at Television's Daryl Surat (Panel of Doom)
After the podcast recording, we proceeded to "Panel of Doom". It was Daryl's one-man show of horror. It was pretty awesome. All I can say is "Once you watch it, you can't unwatch it!" I am legally prohibited from describing the panel. You have to see it for yourself.

The panel ended at about 2:30 AM. I called it a night.

On Sunday, I roamed the dealer room again. Some items were marked down, but they were still kinda high compared to other cons. I didn't get anything.

In summary, I had a good time at JACON. Joey and his crew put on a good show.

Related Links:

• JACON
  
• The SNACKTIME ONLINE Podcast
  
• Orlando Sun Resort by Lexington (aka The Ramada Orlando Celebration Resort and Convention Center)
  
• Wikipedia: Odin: Photon Sailer Starlight

New York Comic Con 2008

NEW YORK, April 19 — Where can you find legions of Imperial Storm Troopers, Bleach Shinigami, Naruto geeks, video game first person shooter dorks, black Spider-man shirts, and middle aged men? The answer is the New York Comic Convention 2008 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. This is probably one of the largest pop culture conventions in New York City.

After getting my badge, I examined the convention schedule. The convention schedule could be divided into four distinct parts: American comics, Manga, mainstream entertainment (movies and television), and kids entertainment (mostly scheduled for Sunday). Based on my unscientific observations of buying patterns and t-shirts, most fans can be categorized into one of these four main categories.

I took a quick browse through the dealer’s room and the artist alley. They had a health mix of toys, statues, comics, and DVDs. I usually don’t buy anything at convention because I hate impulse shopping. I always feel wretched after spending several hundred dollars on con merchandise.

In the Artist Alley, some notable artists were Peter Laird (creator of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Jim Lee (artist, X-Men and Batman), and Mark Texeira (artist, Ghost Rider).

On to the panels, my first panel for this convention was the Del Rey Manga panel. They were marketing their latest acquisitions such as Wolverine Manga, X-Men Manga, Gakuen Prince, Sayonara Zetsubo-Sensei: The Power of Negative Thinking, and Me and the Devil Blues. The panel was lead by Associate Publisher Dallas Middaugh. I knew Dallas from several past Manga events in New York City, and he has always been very cool. Therefore, I wanted to support his work and attend his panel.

At the panel, I met up with some old friends from the Metro-Anime club, the local New York anime club. They seemed to be excited about the panel and Del Rey’s new titles. It was a good panel.

After I talked Dallas, I looked over to see a Ninja Consultant. Erin, the otaku hipster of the Ninja Consultants podcast, walked into the room. She was working the convention as traditional press and was planning to cover the next event, the Yen Press panel. It's always cool to run into the Ninja Consultants. I briefly greeted her and went to get some food.

The panels weren't too crowded. It was easy to move from panel to panel.

After a short break, I attend a few more panels until I lost my cell phone. I was at the Venture Brothers panel, and I freaked out. I got up and looked around. It was gone. I left the panel just before they started. I retraced my steps, but I couldn’t track it down.

I eventually made my way to the security office on the fourth floor of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. I talked to the head of security. They didn’t have it. So, I left my contact information with the security office. As I walked out of the security office, I ran into Ron Perlman (actor; Hellboy, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, and Blade II). All the convention volunteers were buzzing around him like flies. I don't think they knew his real name. They just kept addressing him as "Hellboy".

I wasn’t in the mood to fight through teenaged fan boys. I just returned to the panel rooms. Yikes... What happened? The popular panels were being swamped by convention attendees. I didn’t stand a chance against the hordes of fan boys, geeks, and dorks. Where did all these people come from? Damn… Resistance was futile, and I left the convention early.

On the whole, the convention seemed to be well run. Some of the event organization could have been better (especially the panels). There was no system of control. It was just a mad rush to get into any good events. I didn't want to be caught in that madness. I didn't want to slap the Camel clutch on a thirteen-year-old girl just to get into a Starship Troopers 3 panel.

Related Links:

• New York Comic Convention 2008, Official Website
  
• Reed Exhibition
  
• Jacob K. Javits Convention Center