Comic Book Resources

MoCCA Art Festival moves to April; Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Fest announced

MoCCA 2009

The Museum of Comics and Cartoon Art has announced that its annual MoCCA Art Festival has been moved from its usual summer-months perch in June to the weekend of April 10-11 for 2010. Founded in 2002, the Manhattan-based MoCCA (which, like Frankenstein's monster, has taken on the name of its creator in the popular parlance) quickly became one of the highlights of the alternative/indie/small press convention circuit, drawing on New York City's large number of local comics creators and thriving population of arts-interested consumers to cement its place alongside such venerable shows as SPX and APE.

Last summer's MoCCA spurred a host of complaints about the event's disorganization and the oppressive heat in its unairconditioned new venue, the 69th Regiment Armory at 68 Lexington Ave. A move to the comparatively temperate month of April, coupled with a year of Armory experience under the MoCCA organization's collective belt, could go a long way toward remedying those problems. (The cost of a table will likely remain a sore spot, though.) Moreover, given its location in the media capital of the world and its appeal for the graphic-novel wings of major New York publishers (heck, even DC's Vertigo imprint exhibits at the show), moving MoCCA out of the increasingly crowded and competitive summer-fall convention season makes may make it easier for the show to maintain an identity as a major-minor player in the con circuit vis a vis those exhibitors and audiences (although the spring is hardly less crowded at this point).

Meanwhile, the NYC small press scene's bustling Brooklyn-based subset now has a show to call its own: The Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Fest. Overseen by two of the Borough of Kings' altcomix anchors, retailer Desert Island and publisher PictureBox Inc., the con will take place on December 5th at Our Lady of Consolation Church (184 Metropolitan Ave.) in the decade-defining hipster enclave of Williamsburg. Charles Burns, Kim Deitch, Ben Katchor, Michael Kupperman, Gary Panter, Dash Shaw, Jillian Tamaki, Matthew Thurber, and Lauren Weinstein are listed as featured guests, and admission is free. With that December date, we're guessing a lack of air conditioning won't be an issue...

(Hat tips: Tom Spurgeon and Heidi MacDonald)

Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes

Disney and Marvel

Business | Faculty of the Wharton School consider the benefits of Disney's planned purchase of Marvel, and some of the obstacles the House of Mouse may face: "... Disney will need to be careful, as it integrates Marvel into its fold that it doesn't choke off the culture of the comic book company that gave birth to the bold characters Disney now desires." [Knowledge@Wharton]

Business | DC Entertainment President Diane Nelson discusses digital publishing, attracting new readers, and what traits she'll look for in a new publisher for DC Comics: "A couple things, although it is very early to say too much about this. A strong, credible partnership with the editorial team that complements what they do well, and having perhaps a greater knowledge of the publishing business than I. But also a forward-looking emphasis on how we're going to grow build the business, both in terms of physical and digital publishing. ... It's going to be a key role. I'm not looking to stick my nose in in ways that don't add value." [Comics Alliance]

Publishing | Alan David Doane briefly interviews Chris Ryall, editor-in-chief and publisher of IDW Publishing. [Trouble With Comics]

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Talking Comics with Tim: MoCCA's Karl Erickson

The 2009 MoCCA Festival poster, illustrated by Molly Crabapple

While I did not attend Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art (MoCCA) Art Festival 2009, held back on June 6-7, I was struck at the amount of constructive feedback that came out of people's reports after the festival. It goes without saying that almost everyone thought the new venue (the 69th Regiment Armory) needed air conditioning and many folks were understandably dismayed with the logistical challenges and delays that occurred at the festival's start. While reading a great deal of reactions from attendees and exhibitors, I was curious to get a lessons learned perspective from the organizers. Fortunately, Karl Erickson, MoCCA Director, was willing to take my email questions. In his answers, Erickson seemingly made it clear he was open to constructive feedback. While my questions aimed to cover a great deal of various concerns, I welcome folks to chime in with additional thoughts in the comments section. My thanks to Erickson for his time.

Tim O'Shea: The first question has to be--did you explore the possibility of air conditioning this year? Was it deemed just too cost prohibitive? If you're staying at the Armory, do you intend to have air conditioning in 2010?

Karl Erickson: We did explore air conditioning for the Armory, but, yes, it was just too expensive. As far as staying at the Armory we are looking at dates earlier in the spring to help alleviate the heat.

O'Shea: Can you speak to what happened to cause the hour-long delay on Saturday and logistical challenges (like delayed book deliveries, only one trashcan on the show floor [by some reports], names missing from the guide book)--and are you establishing measures to try to minimize these situations next year?

Erickson: The delay was due to a few different factors, the major being a severe miscommunication with the trucking company that was to deliver not only many of our exhibitor’s books, but all of our supplies for the festival, not least being our cash registers and other check-in essentials. Of the problems that we did have, having one trashcan for the entire show floor was not one of them. We definitely had many trashcans.

We are certainly taking steps to contain and minimize the mistakes of this year, the most important of which is getting a much earlier jump in the planning and execution of the Festival. This includes a lengthy review of the 2009 Festival with practical solutions suggested. These include moving the Festival earlier in the spring (as this is not the first year we have had heat problems, AC or no), starting on every aspect of the Festival earlier, and creating a new MoCCA website that will deliver information much more effectively to exhibitors and attendees.

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What are you reading?

Remake by Lamar Abrams

The weeks go by so quickly now. Welcome once again to What Are You Reading. Our special guest this week is fellow CBR contributor, former Wizard staffer and interview expert Kiel Phegley. Kiel just got back from MoCCA with a passel of books and he's eager to talk about them, as is the rest of the Robot 6 crew. Don't forget, though, to let us know what you're currently reading in the comments below.

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Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes

From Z-Cult's website

Piracy | Comic-book torrent tracker Z-Cult FM has announced it's shutting down, less than two years after it complied with demands from DC Comics and Marvel to remove links to pirated copies of copyrighted work.

"After Marvel and DC tried to sue us, we decided to remove those [links to] comics," administrator Serj says, "then every other publisher started sending us e-mails so we removed those too. In end we were left with a tracker but not many torrents on it." [TorrentFreak]

Publishing |  Tom Spurgeon has word that art director Arlene So has been let go from Wizard. Just last week it was reported that Darren Sanchez, vice president of production and circulation, had been fired, while photographer Dylan Brucie had quit. [The Comics Reporter]

Publishing | Tokyopop's John Parker briefly discusses the publisher's plans and performance, and the state of the manga market. [ICv2.com]

Conventions | There's a lot of coverage from this weekend's MoCCA Festival in New York City, including recaps from Sandy Billus, Sean Collins, Geekanerd (with a photo gallery), Brian Heater and Heidi MacDonald. Much, much more undoubtedly will follow. [MoCCA]

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If you're going to MoCCA: A quick Robot 6 guide

The 2009 MoCCA Festival poster, illustrated by Molly Crabapple

Sadly, I won't be able to attend MoCCA this year, mainly because, to use the vernacular of the Big Bopper, "I ain't got no money, honey."

It's a shame too, since it looks like it's going to be a banner year, con-wise. Below is a list of things I'd try to buy and do if I were going. Feel free to take what advice you feel applies to your own sensibilities, assuming you happen to be in the Big Apple this weekend.

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Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes

MoCCA

Conventions | Don't miss Robot 6's guide to nearly 50 comics making their debuts this weekend at the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art Festival in New York City. [MoCCA]

Conventions | Florida Supercon opens this morning in Miami, featuring creators such as Chris Claremont, Dough Mahnke, Tony Moore, Dick Giordano, Greg Horn, Tony Bedard and Clayton Henry. [Miami Herald]

Sales charts | The top of The New York Times Graphic Books Best Seller appears to be stuck in a loop as The Dark Tower: Treachery, Watchmen and Negima! Vol. 22 once again hold to No. 1 spots in the hardcover, paperback and manga categories. There's at least one item of interest, though: Marvel's Anita Blake: The Laughing Corpse, Book 1 -- Animator, in the running for the week's most cumbersome title, enters the hardcover chart at No. 4. [ArtsBeat]

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A guide to this year's MoCCA Festival debuts

The 2009 MoCCA Festival poster, illustrated by Molly Crabapple

The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art Festival in New York City is always a prime venue for independent publishers and creators to premiere new works.

But I didn't realize just how many choose MoCCA for that purpose until I was putting together this post on books that will make their debut this weekend at the Lexington Avenue Armory (68 Lexington Ave.).

While this list certainly doesn't cover all of the debuts, it does include nearly 50 graphic novels, comic books, minicomics and sketchbooks. Plus, I've tossed in links to a few signing schedules.

It will, I hope, at least provide a starting point for attendees as they head into the armory Saturday morning:

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Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes

Comic Book Legal Defense Fund

Legal | Matt Kernes examines the Christopher Handley manga-obscenity case for Adult Video News, and highlights the problem with the yaoi titles that were part of the government's prosecution.

"There is explicit sex in yaoi comics," Handley's attorney tells Kernes. "And the men are drawn in a very androgynous style, which has the effect of making them look really young. There's a real taboo in Japan about showing pubic hair, so they're all drawn without it, which also makes them look young. So what concerned the authorities were the depictions of children in explicit sexual situations that they believed to be obscene. But there are no actual children. It was all very crude images from a comic book."

Meanwhile, manga scholar Matt Thorn has removed his correspondence with Handley's attorney and mother that he'd posted yesterday: "It’s frustrating, obviously, but the last thing I want to do is anything that might result in a harsher sentence for Mr. Handley." [AVN Business, via Simon Jones]

BookExpo America

Publishing | Although the recession means fewer publishers are participating in this weekend's BookExpo America, comics will still have a sizable presence. [PW Comics Week]

Conventions | The programming schedule has been released for the 2009 Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art Festival, set for June 6-7 at the Lexington Avenue Armory in New York City. [MoCCA]

Publishing | Lori Henderson summarizes, and praises, Viz Media's recent moves into digital comics with the serialization of Rumiko Takahashi’s Rin-Ne, and the launch of the Ikki online anthology. [Manga Xanadu]

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Slash Print | Following the digital evolution

Digger

Webcomics | Fleen's Gary Tyrrell bridges the gap between print comics and webcomics by pointing fans of the former to something that has a similar tone or feel on the web. Or, in other words, "If you like X, try reading Y." This Usagi Yojimbo fan is now subscribed to Digger as a result, and I plan to check out others on his list (and in the comments section) as well.

Webcomics | Smith Magazine wraps up its Next-Door Neighbor anthology of webcomics with a contribution by Tara Seibel.

Video games | Hellboy director Guillermo del Toro talks to Wired about a variety of subjects, including how the PlayStation 3 is the "Model T" for a new storytelling engine and how video games will one day have their Citizen Kane -- as, in his opinion, comics have already had.

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Six by 6 | Six questions with Robot 13 writer Thomas Hall

Robot 13 cover

Writer Thomas Hall and artist Daniel Bradford have worked together since 2003, and in a few short weeks they'll publish a new title that really caught my eye when I received an email about it. Making its debut at the 2009 MoCCA Festival, which is presented every year by the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art in New York, is the first issue of Robot 13. It's the story of an amnesiac robot who fights mythological creatures of destruction.

With a title like that, how could I not do an interview with Hall to find out more about Robot 13?

JK: Thanks for taking the time to chat with me. Can you give us a little bit of info on your background, like how you got into comics and when you decided you wanted to write them?

Tom: As far back as I can remember, I have always loved comics. Like a lot of kids, the first comics I ever had were given to me- some Archies, a few Legion of Superheroes books and a few Marvel books. One that I was obsessed with was an issue of the Incredible Hulk by John Buscema. I was three, and I stared at that thing all the time, and I don't know to this day exactly why. My dad read it to me, and I asked him how he knew what everyone was saying. He explained word balloons to me, and being three and naive, I asked him where the words came from. When he told me that it was someone's job to write comics, even at three it just blew my mind. From that point on, I wanted to be a writer of some kind.

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