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.
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.
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'sIn the Dark of Dreams, Jeaniene Frost'sSide 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).
Digital Comics & Distribution. Seated (Left to Right): Ira Rubenstein (Marvel), David Steinberger (Comixology), Jim Lee (DC), and Micah Baldwin (Graphic.ly).
New York, October 9 – Lately much of the news from many comic book publishers are focused on their huge push into digital distribution. Due to the portability and high resolution of print, the publishing industry enjoyed a brief respite from the onslaught of digitization and piracy of their media. However, the proliferation of piracy on file sharing torrent networks and dropping revenues from unit sales have forced publishers to adopt a more aggressive approach towards digital distribution.
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.
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.
San Diego, July 25 – After four days of convention madness, the weariness began to show on the faces of the exhibitors and guests. I could see it in their eyes. They had the thousand yard stare. We braced ourselves for the final day of total geekery. Some poor souls had to buy overpriced coffee from the Starbucks stand. Others just toughed it out without caffeine. Go forth, brave soldiers of love.
Comics and Piracy Panel
Right to Left: Jake T. Forbes, Deb Aoki, and David Steinberger
The Digital Piracy Panel was one of the few panels that I actually attended. They covered most of the major arguments concerning comic books and intellectual property rights. The discussion was very timely due to the recent anti-piracy efforts of many American manga publishers.
San Diego, July 24 – I always assumed that con survival guides were weak veiled attempts at comedy. Come on… Do you really need someone to remind you of basic human functions like hygiene, hydration, and eating? It’s basic common sense. Even mindless Sims sprites know when to use the bathroom.
Then, the unthinkable happened. There was geek-on-geek violence in Hall H of the San Diego Comic-con. Stationed at the plushy table of the Giant Robot booth, I watched two squads of local police quickly marching across the convention center.
I’ve read quite a few con survival how to’s, and I don’t recall any lessons on self-defense (the zombie apocalypse ones don’t count). I guess it’s time to add some basic self-defense tips to those guides.
There were many rumors circulating in the exhibitor’s hall. The initial story described a confrontation ending in an attendee stabbing another one with a replica light saber (the geek’s weapon of choice). It’s perhaps the geekiest personal assault in history. When I read the actual news coverage, the victim was stabbed by a pen near his eye. He went to the hospital with minor cuts.
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.
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.
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.
Ryan Holmberg: [Referring to Rainy Day Blues] This is one of the works appearing the English AX anthology. Sometimes your relationships between object and spaces are so horrific. Especially after 2003, they didn’t have this gothic or horror elements to them anymore. So often objects like umbrella and bracelets are lost and found again. It deals with memories. As your career develops, you still have this attachment to objects.
Kondah Akino: As I’ve said before, the beginnings of my stories are inspired by particular objects. In this case, it’s an umbrella. The depictions of horror and Gothic themes decreased in my work because my artistic tastes changed. Since I haven’t published frequently, there are a couple of years in between works. So, my work might appear to be very different between the current work and the preceding one.
RH: This is kind of annoying, now, forcing the amity towards Garo. Hayashi Seiichi, who is a very significant Garo (ガロ) artist, wrote the afterward to your first book. Hayashi is in the show and is most well known for his major Garo serial, Red Colored Elegy (赤色エレジー). More recently Red Colored Elegy was published by Montreal’s Drawn and Quarterly a couple of years ago. It’s on the reading table in the show. In addition to the afterward of your book, I believe he is always the judge for the AX amateur submissions. So, can you tell me about your relationship with Hayashi and his work?
KA: I first met Mr. Hayashi as an animation artist, not as a manga artist. I’ve been told by others that my artistic style resembles his, but I actually haven’t seen his work until that time.
RH: You know, I think the things that look a lot like Hayashi are those flowers in this negative space [referring to slides]. Even this book that this boy’s reading that drops into the gutter on the top. It looks like the cover to one of the edition to Sekishoku Erejii (Red Colored Elegy).
RH: I’ve brought some comparisons. Your work, Beautiful Town (美しい町)(2001), reminds me of Hayashi Seiichi’s Town of Falling Flowers (1968). Some of the pages have a very similar use of space. Also in some other scenes of a running child, there are certain sounds emanating outward.
KA: I heard that Mr. Hayashi was also told by someone else that his style resembles Ryoji, the painter. Mr. Hayashi was also telling me that he had rarely seen his work. [These common influences] comes from growing up in Japan and seeing similar things. We happen to share a common source of inspiration. We don’t really know …
RH: This is kind of an insider thing for people who know about Japanese pop culture, but your girl runs like Arale-chan (則巻アラレ) from Doctor Slump. (audience laughs)
KA: That’s possible.
RH: It’s possible? Another thing I want to discuss is your fascination with insects in your manga.
KA: I’ve always like insects since I was a child.
RH: What about them?
KA: The shapes and colors. I like to position them in between objects and humans.
RH: [Referring to Beautiful Town] There’s a lot of transformation and metamorphosis in your work. In this case, one girl is tricked by another into thinking that if she looks at ants closely they will turn into butterflies. It’s not really clear if this is actually true of not. Here you have her squatting down and focusing really closely at the ants. And all of a sudden they burst into butterflies. It seems like insects often times use the trope of metamorphosis.
KA: Maybe you’re right about that… [audience laughs]
“Ladybirds' Requiem” (てんとう虫のおとむらい) by Kondoh Akino
RH: [Referring to Lady Bug Funeral (てんとう虫のおとむらい)] I think this is one of your most famous scenes. I think a lot of people know this work. What is she wearing?
KA: It’s just a story about a girl who sews hundreds of buttons onto the back of her dress. When I realize that buttons resemble ladybugs, I decided to make this work. In this case, the buttons transform into ladybugs and bites the person.
RH: Have you made this dress?
KA: No.
RH: Is this completely fiction? Now, this is another work on your left [referring to Grave of the Butterflies]. You told me that you like Umezu Kazuo, the famous horror girl’s manga author from the 50s and 60s. Often times Kazuo has insects appearing in his work. The girl is usually inflicted by insects. In this case, the girl is traumatized by a butterfly shadow that she sees in her youth.
KA: I don’t know this particular work by him. Regarding Kazuo, I consider myself a fan, but I’m not really influenced by him. I don’t really see any of his influence in my art work.
RH: Your work has many different connections to horror fiction. Whether it is Umezu Kazuo, you do have different themes with it and backgrounds…
KA: When I was in Junior High School, I read novels by Kazuo almost every day. I know it had a tremendous influence on me…
RH: Here is another Umezo. You have a lot of pattern in your work, but you always hand draw it. Where traditionally a lot of manga artists use lattice patterns and screen tones. You always hand draw it.
KA: I just don’t like screen tones. That’s why I didn’t use them. I just don’t like cutting them and pasting them.
RH: So, now, shifting gears. You have also been active as a painter.
KA: Painting has not really been a major element in my body of work. I’ve only started oil painting recently. This particular work was done as a school assignment.
RH: While you were in art school, you were doing painting, illustration, and manga at the same time.
KA: When I was in university, I really didn’t do much painting. I did study design and practiced a lot of drawing.
RH: In the United States and some Japanese schools, there are more and more classes for making comics and sequential art. Were there any comic art programs when you attended Japanese art school?
KA: I believe Kyoto Seika University in Kyoto has a manga department, but the Tama Art University, where I received my BFA, doesn’t have any specific manga programs.
RH: Was it acceptable to draw manga while you were in art school?
KA: Manga was totally created on my own as any independent work.
RH: [Referring to Menstral Flowers] I’m just going to go through the paintings and make comments. So, I’ve already made comparisons which are already unacceptable. They will really annoy you. To me… Something about your paintings remind me of post-war manga and neo-traditional painting with the use of floral patterns derived from old nippas. The girl is positioned in a certain way that really makes me think of a notorious screen from 1980 by Kayama Matsuo. We’ll just keep going… Obviously there are other connections. Specifically art historical. You have been doing some that are slightly Japanese art history versions?
KA: If you say so…
RH: This is not a definite reworking of Japanese art history?
KA: Maybe so…
RH: [Referring to slides] This is your recent work from 2008. Your work seems to get more and more psychedelic and abstract. You also do some sculpture. You described one earlier. This seems related to your first comic about the girl who has a hand with tadpoles on it. This was supposed to be interactive sculpture.
KA: This work was about touch and texture. This was about the tactile feeling when you touch a slug.
RH: What are the slugs made of?
KA: Sequins.
RH: People are supposed to wear these?
KA: No. It’s very fragile so you can’t really wear it anymore.
RH: When was it made?
KA: 2002.
RH: Now, here are some sketches for your animation. You’ve made two finished [animated] works. You’re making a third now. We’re going to screen both of those.
[ANIMATION 1]
RH: When did you animate this?
KA: I did this in Junior Year [of art school].
RH: Was it a music video for a band?
KA: I first used the music without permission. A few years later, I officially obtained permission from the artists and remade the animation. Then, I became friend with the musician and writer, Tomohisa Hitoshi Ware.
RH: Is there anything you can say about the production process?
KA: I just drew so many drawings everyday in order to come up an image. Then I came up with a storyboard. Following the storyboard, I create large drawings and colored the animation.
RH: All hand drawn?
KA: Yes. The second animation required 15 drawing or images. Animation is a painstaking process. This work was also created while I was at university for my BFA exhibition. I didn’t like the finish, so I recreated it. The reworked version was finished in 2006.
RH: It received gallery distribution. Does the Asia Society owns the previous one or the next one?
KA: This one.
RH: This is not cell animation, right? You draw the figures and the backgrounds separately and put them together in the computer.
KA: It’s all done on paper. Then I sometimes cut them out and recompose them in Photoshop.
RH: So, I want to let people ask questions. Thank you very much. [applause]
Question 1: I was curious. Have you shown your work at any film festivals?
KA: I’ve never shown at any festivals. I’ve never been interested in that…
RH: Are you going to show your next animation at a film festival?
KA: No. I’m not finished with that one. So, it’s going to be a while. I’m actually wondering whether to show it in a festival setting or a gallery setting. Because if I show this in the gallery first, it would be difficult to go the other way. I still have to figure out how to sell and market it. The exhibition editions of my animations are priced very high. Regarding the animation that I’m working on now, I would like to mass produce it and make it more available. I would also like to make these available on the internet.
Question 2: When you start your films, do you have an outline? Because your work is multi-referential from a psychological stand-point, from an art historical stand-point, and in the sense of biology usage. I’m referring to insect imagery and mushroom imagery. Are you thinking about those issues and plot it out? All these reference and how you to put them in there?
KA: Regarding animation, I strictly follow my story board. I don’t really deviate from it.
Question 2: So it’s all structured out…
KA: The first work was made improvisationally. Are there any relationship between my storyboards and paintings? I actually became concerned myself that there is a gap in artistic style between my animation and storyboard. That’s because if the animation has too many details, it becomes too labor intensive. It would require you have to create thousands of frames. But I was shocked by the aesthetically low-quality of my animation, then I started doing paintings. I like to raise the artistic quality in my next animation.
Question 3: Growing up in Japan, have you read any shojo manga?
KA: Barely read any girl’s manga or comic books.
Question 3: Is it because you don’t like the style?
KA: It was mainly because it was not allowed in my household when I was growing up. That’s why I have brothers… [audience laughs]
RH: Is that how you read Garo when you were young through your brothers? It’s difficult to imagine you reading Garo when you were young.
KA: No. I actually never read Garo when I was young. I only start reading Garo in high school.
Question 4: Who is your primary audience for your animation?
KA: The first animation was shown on television in addition to the gallery. It had a wide audience. On the other hand, the second animation was only shown through galleries, so only people interested in contemporary art has seen it.
RH: You’ve shown your animation in shows in China, Singapore, and Europe.
KA: Yes, in Belgium and France.
RH: Museum shows?
KA: In the beginning, it was museums and festivals.
RH: Not film festivals.
KA: Not film festivals. The opportunities came about by themselves. I didn’t seek them. I was invited and went there to present my work.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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’sAnime 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.
After his panel, Ed and I ended the convention by attending a viewing of Dave Merrill’sOzone Commandos. It’s a campy fan produced sci-fi adventure movie. I thought it was pretty wild and filled with tons of geeky references.
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.
NEW YORK, June 24 – This is the second event in a series of discussions hosted by Ed Chavez, Marketing Director for Vertical, Inc. The discussions are centered on specific manga-related topics. This particular manga discussion was about the Western influenced Japanese fashion trend known as Yanki (ヤンキー).
Originally the venue for this event was Kinokuniya (1073 Avenue of the Americas). However, the host decided to move the event across the street to Pax Wholesome Foods (80 West 40th Street). As I entered Kinokuniya, I ran into Erin from the Ninja Consultants Podcast. She pointed me in the right direction. This lead to some confusion but everyone moved safety to the new venue without much trouble. I also saw Carl from Ogiue Maniax blog at the event.
Yanki is a term that originated in Osaka. It is best known for its projection of the "bad boy" or delinquent image. It's famous for borrowing fashion cues from American and western media and cues from movies like Rebel Without a Cause and The Wild One. Unlike the more business suit clad Yakuza; Yanki was more about urban fashion and street gangs.
In the 70s, Yanki trends followed American rock-a-billy fashion and hair styles. Yanki trends changed over time with the corresponding changes in western fashion. The late 70s and 80s Yanki sported the Neo-Yanki heavy metal look. And more recently Hiroshi Takahashi, mangaka of Crows (クローズ) and Worst (ワースト), introduced the hip hop (ヒップホップ) and American urban fashions to the Yanki trend.
Chavez discussed the influence of Yanki subculture and fashion in manga. The emergence of manga magazines such as Young Magazine (ヤングマガジン) and Young King Magazine (ヤングキング) helped to promote the Yanki image. They were anthology magazines catering to the Yanki audience.
According to Chavez, the Yanki subculture was not just a fashion trend. It was a state of mind. Yanki teens are supposed to have a thuggish mental toughness and attitude towards other people and their own life. Over the years, Yanki manga would incorporate the Yanki attitude into a wide variety of stories. Some include bizarre plots such as fishing, kerosene delivery, and horror.
Ed Chavez hosts Vertical Vednesdays biweekly. If you want to attend a Vertical Vednesday discussion, check the Vertical, Inc Website for dates and times.
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.
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.
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".
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
NEW YORK, April 21 – This is the second part of the transcript for the artist discussion with mangaka 
