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Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Pre-emptive Strike: MoCCA Arts Festival
Looking forward to the con, rather than looking back at it
It’s been a long time since I’ve been excited about something comics related, so bear with me while I geek out for a little while. In two and a half weeks, give or take, I’m heading back to “home territory” to hit the MoCCA Arts Festival June 26th and 27th. I’ll only be there one day, but I’ve got really high hopes. I know I shouldn’t – my convention experiences are often cursed - but I can’t help. Check out the impressive list of creators and publishers that are going to be present. It’s an indy geek paradise, and I’m finally making the time to head out there. Instead of doing a convention report (which Rich Watson will surely have in the bag, with, you know, actual reporting, not a tale of woe), which really only would say what I saw, bought and enjoyed, I thought I’d do a bit of a preview of what exactly it is that has me so excited. First of all, the primary focus of a show like MoCCA is comics. Not aging stars and starlets of sci-fi and horror, not finding the best-priced bootleg DVD or toy, but comics, comix and minicomics. Also, it’s not strictly a small press show – Mike Mignola, Jimmy Palmiotti, Klaus Janson, James Jean, Kyle Baker and Jim Salicrup will be there. Any time I can immerse myself in comics goodness is a good time. With a focus like that, you also get to hang with the people that really love comics as a medium – right now, I’ve got plans to hang with some comics people from here and other comics sites, as well as some comic fans I’ve met in my travels. Plus, there will be some comics creators there that I’m looking forward to chat with again: *Myatt Murphy and Scott Dalrymple will be there with copies of Fade From Blue and Two Over Ten *A. David Lewis will be on hand with copies of his new Mortal Coils: Bodylines trade *Damon Hurd, who’ll have My Uncle Jeff, A Sort of Homecoming and other stuff there * Trisha Sebastian will be there promoting the second Smut Peddler anthology, with work from a wide variety of indy creators * Jim Rugg will have Street Angel #1 and #2 there, so I can finally pick up the second issue and catch up with Rugg (I missed him at the Pittsburgh con) I’m also looking forward to seeing Kyle Baker, if he’s there on Saturday and Jim Mahfood (I’ve never met him, but I’m a fan of his). I don’t know exactly what I’m planning on picking up yet, to be truthful. I’m sure that some money is going to be plunked down at the Alternative Comics table. There’s quite a few books there that I haven’t read, but have been meaning to: Gabrielle Bell’s When I’m Old and Other Stories, Leela Corman’s Subway Series, and some of the Xeric Grant winners that will be with that crowd. Also, I’d like to check out Adam Sack’s Salmon Doubts again – I had a chance to look through one of his originals briefly at SPX, and was really impressed with it. Another table I’ll be hitting is the Fantagraphics table. Specifically, I’m looking to pick up a copy of Kristine McKenna’s Book of Changes: A Collection of Interviews. While not technically a comic, per se, McKenna’s book looks more than worthy to snatch away some of the comics budget, considering it contains interviews with Nina Simone, Tom Waits, Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs and so many more, with artwork from Robert Crumb, Los Bros Hernandez, Chris Ware and Seth. That’s been on my list for a while. I can’t pass up the Top Shelf table. Again, though, it’s not just for the comics. I’ve been hearing from various people that Alan Moore’s novel Voice of the Fire is excellent, and summer is a great time to kick back with a novel. On the comics side, Scott Morse’s The Barefoot Serpent is one of the books I’m thinking of picking up, as is David Yurkovich’s Less Than Heroes, which I think comes out this month. In truth, I may end up picking up nothing I’ve mentioned – I never know how time, budget and other factors may play into things. If someone’s got a suggestion of something I should seek out, let me know. I’m all up for trying new things most of the time. If you are going to be in or around NYC June 26th and 27th, think about stopping by to see what all the fuss is about. I can’t promise you a good time – I can’t usually promise myself that – but I can promise that there will be some damn good comics there. -- Ed Cunard
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April 22, 2008:
February 4, 2008:
November 20, 2006:
A Comic-Con without the Captain
