RASL Release Party: My one good photo

April 20, 2008 on 12:58 pm | In Cartoonists, Events, Graphic Novelties

As I was saying earlier, I had the opportunity to hang out at the CBLDF sponsored RASL release party in Manhattan on Wednesday night, and although the supremely awesome Jeff Smith isn’t actually a guest at NYCC, the whole event felt like the calm before the storm/the nights before Christmas/the last chance to drink moderately all weekend long.

It also provided the first opportunity for my to try out Wizard Staff Photographer Dylan Brucie’s giant, super-powered Camera Monster 5000 which I was barely able to function with except to snap this shot of Smith, his wife and Cartoon Books publisher Vijaya and Toon Books Publisher Francoise Mouly. See?

Frank Miller was there too, but by the time I figured out how to properly try and take his picture, he mysteriously disappeared into the night, hat in hand. The Beat has some photos of such things however, even though she wasn’t even there.

HOW DOES SHE DO IT?

P.S. - Yeah, I know it’s kinda a huge photo right now. I haven’t been able to post images in two days for some reason, and when this came through, I figured I’d go with it while I could. I’ll fix later. Promise.

NYCC & Indie Jones

April 17, 2008 on 9:01 pm | In Events

Hey crew.

I’m posting from inside the Javitz Center as a panel of bookstore types and retailers talk future buying trends in comics and graphic novels.

CAN YOU HANDLE THE EXCITEMENT?!?!??

Seriously, I’m chilling at the ICv2 Graphic Novel conference which is a damned interesting event for folks who wonder/worry about where comics will be going in the future be it book stores or web sites or into the hands of (gasp!) children. The conference marks the beginning of 2008’s New York Comic-Con (although things have been afoot for this show at least since last nights RASL release party…more on that later), and Dave and I are going to be all over this thing.

Look to the blog over the next few for some write-ups on the ICv2 goings ons, reviews of the books we find, photos of awesome indie types and general con goofs.

High fives all around!

- KP

Eisner Noms Are Out

April 14, 2008 on 3:14 pm | In Events, Graphic Novelties

In news that no one on earth will read here first, The Beat posts the nominees for the 2008 Will Eisner Awards.

In a shocker, Indie Jones was nominated in zero categories.

At first glance, it seems like a big year for some of Dave and I’s favorite books including Fred Chao’s Johnny Hiro, James Stokoe’s Wonton Soup and the Bá/Cloonan/Moon/Lolos/Grampa cabal’s super bitchin’ 5.

Also, props to Tim and Laura at Comic Foundry for crashing the list of established folks in the Journalism category.

Also, I still think that “Special Recognition” is a way stupider and less classy name for the category that used to be called “Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition.”

Also, I was joking about us getting nominated. Calm down.

- KP

LINKO! - March 27th

March 27, 2008 on 8:17 pm | In Cartoonists, Events, Web Comics

Oh my God, you guys! It’s crazy around these parts these days, but we’ve got a few really super cool features that Dave and I will be blogging all up in your faces over the next few days (Can you say “New Pancake Lover”?????). But for right now, how’s about you and I play some Linko for fabulous internet prizes?

In what is probably either old news or news that falls so strongly into the “well, of course they are” category that you probably all figured it was happening, the dudes at Penny Arcade are prepping their own video game. Now, I don’t play video games much if at all, and my interest in the online adventures of Tycho and Gabe is almost totally contingent on my wanting to sound really smart about the web comics business model at comics industry cocktail hour (that and I like it when I see a strip where they mention Deep Space 9). HOWEVER, even I think the idea of a straight up adventure game starring the pair and created with the guys who did The Secret of Monkey Island sounds awesome.

Won’t you please click on this link which contains an interview with the guys from Hothead Games who are bringing this cash cow to pixilated life?

In other weird cartoonist media crossover news, Jeffrey Brown was recently profiled for a Canadian television show call SexTV. I don’t get the title either, but the video looks cool. I found this on the Top Shelf newsletter, which probably means you’ve already seen it. But if you’re not on that list, the easiest ways to get signed up include going to the Top Shelf site, contacting anyone at Top Shelf for any reason or giving Chris Staros a high five on the floor of any convention.

Lastly, I went to the release party for the new issue of Comic Foundry last night thrown by the man pretty Tim Leong and the lovely Laura Hudson. Tim took photos of me looking pale and bloaty next to pretty girls which you can see here. The new issue of their mag looks really slick and is in stores April 9th.

- KP

LINKO! – March 20th

March 20, 2008 on 7:38 pm | In Events, Web Comics

Hey gang! Let’s play a game of Linko!

Linko! is a game that’s a lot like that awesome game Plinko! from “The Price Is Right” except it involves me putting up a bunch of links. And there’s no disc that you slide down anything. And it’s heart and soul haven’t been replaced by Drew Carey.

Anyway, I’m still recovering somewhat from this weekend’s Wizard World LA show. I had a fun weekend of sitting in a room typing panel reports and looking out a window to an convention hall no one was using (they put us web guys way far away from the actual action), so there was very little floor shopping for me. However, I did get a chance to talk to a few of the indie creators on the floor, including:

The hilarious and friendly web cartoonist David Malki. If you’ve never experienced his Tuesday and Friday updating Wondermark you should check it out. The best way I can think to describe it is to ask if you remember those old Wendy’s countertops that featured Olde Timey ads for Cotton Gins and Almanacs and the like. If you do, just add some non-sequitur-containing, occasionally vulgar word balloons, and you’ve got the idea.

David was sharing table space with Dave Kellett whose strip Sheldon is something more akin to a newspaper strip but with loads more “Star Wars” references. Dave is also one of the masterminds behind Image’s How To Make Web Comics which hit stored last week and is worth a looksee.

On the more mainstreamy front of independent publishing, I talked to Lee Kohse at Bloodfire Studios who are probably best known for their Kindergoth series, but they’ve actually been publishing for ten years, which in this day and age is a pretty solid accomplishment. And in one of those “microcosm of the bigger comics world” developments, Bloodfire is putting out a prequel to an indie sci fi movie called “The Gene Generation” and had cast members on hand signing books all weekend. This is what it’s like in Los Angeles, folks.

Outside my LA adventures, I was came across a weird web comics connection in my personal life the other day when my buddy pointed me to TOBY, Robot Satan – an online strip by Corey Pandolph now published daily in the Metro paper. For anyone who doesn’t live in New York or other major cities, the Metro is a free paper homeless guys give you when you’re walking around in the morning. If I had to make a blind guess, I’d say the “serialized in alt weekly and freebie paper” route of getting paid is one of the elements of web comics which gets the least amount of coverage in the comics press. I got kind of a chuckle out of TOBY while searching its archives at Go Comics so I figured I’d share.

As a final “read it instead of doing work” contribution to your life, I thought I’d throw up this well-traveled link to a Village Voice review of David Hajdu’s history of comics’ Wertham era, The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America. I love books on comics history, and the review goes not only into the book (which sounds like a well-researched effort worthy of pick up) but challenges is with a few requests for additional material (although I’m not sure more about Crumb’s generation of underground cartoonists necessarily needs to be addressed in these kinds of things). Either way, good reading.

I’m looking to get an interview and/or review up tomorrow to make Dave look bad, so keep comin’ back!

- KP

Waste your Monday by listening to me!

March 17, 2008 on 2:20 pm | In Events

I just got back to the Wizard offices after taking the Red Eye from our LA con, and now that I’ve filed my last story for the Big WU, I’m going to go home, watch “Lost,” sleep lots and then wake up and boil noodles.

So yeah, no real blogging today.

Dave and I will be back in full force tomorrow, but in the meantime, the fine boys at the Comic Book Club event I participated in last week have put up a podcast of the whole thing for all three of you who are interested. I haven’t listened to it yet, but a friend said my voice sounds really, really deep.

- KP

State of the Whooziwhats?

March 11, 2008 on 4:07 pm | In Events

As often as I make a fool of myself in public places, I’m assuming most of you guys have never actually witnessed such an occurence in person. Well tonight you have your chance!

At 8:00 this evening, I’m going to be on stage for Comic Book Club, a live talk show focusing on all aspects of comic bookery. The other guests include plenty of people who I’m sure will be much more eloquent than I, including The Beat, TJ Dietch’s favorite stuffed cow blogger Bully and The Daily Crosshatch’s Brian Heater. The topic of the night is “The State of the Industry” so I’m assuming the event will at some point involve me complaining about how not enough people read Graham Annable comics.

It’s in NYC at The People’s Improv Theater, which is located 154 West 29th Street. Admission is 5 bones, yo.

Oh, and while I’m mentioning Mr. Heater I should point out that he nabbed a nice interview with Berberian and Dupuy after last week’s event, and you should totally read part 1 here.

- KP

Berberian & Dupuy Rock My World

March 7, 2008 on 7:45 pm | In Events, Graphic Novelties, Interviews

Wednesday night, I had the distinct pleasure of heading downtown in NYC to see Charles Berberian and Philippe Dupuy speak about their work and then wrote about it for the Big WU. “Who are Charles Berberian and Philippe Dupuy?” you may be asking. Well, theoretical reader, let me enlighten you.

Berberian and Dupuy are a pair of highly acclaimed French cartoonists best known for their character Monsieur Jean and for their singular working practice of entirely writing and drawing all of their comics together. I have to admit, I wasn’t super familiar with their work before going to the event (which was moderated by the always cool Matt Madden), but after hearing the pair speak, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that if their comics are half as engaging and entertaining as the artists are (and from what I’ve read they are) I’m going to be buying everything they’ve had translated to English.

Aside from learning plenty about Berberian and Dupuy’s work and Euro comics in general (I finally know how to pronounce “Angouleme” correctly), I think the best part of the whole event was finding out how funny both artists were. Dupuy (above on the left) was not quite as fluent in English as his partner, but he continually made jokes at his own expense in regards to the language barrier, particularly when performing a silly female voice while reading from their comics. And Berberian had more than a few good zingers about everything from drawing with a giant pencil to endangering babies in film shoots. My favorite bit that didn’t quite fit into my write up was this segment when the partners explained the story behind their Monsieur Jean short Love And The Concierge:

PD: This is a true story. My own concierge, she came with my mail, and she asked me ‘What kind of job are you doing, Mr Dupuy? I don’t understand because you are always at home.’ And you had the same problem at the same time.

CB: I was living with my girlfriend at the time, and she used to have a steady job. She would leave home at 9:00 in the morning. At five past 9:00 or ten past 9:00 Philippe would arrive…

PD: At work! [Laughter]

CB: I could feel that the concierge, she was trying to ask what the hell we were doing upstairs all day long. We never answered. I think she died not knowing.

For anyone wanting to get another take on the event, check out the Satisfactory Comics blog write up, and to purchase some of Berberian and Dupuy’s translated work, visit the home page of their English publisher Drawn & Quareterly. Like now!

- KP

SPACEd and STAPLEd

March 3, 2008 on 4:31 pm | In Events

Reports are starting to pop up from the weekend’s indie shows, and most of them are of the “had a great time” variety.

STAPLE seems to have gone pretty well. While I came across brief write-ups from PvP’s Scott Kurtz and Dead Squirrel Girl artist Kristin Hogan, there seems to be no one who was writing anything specifically about floor buzz or any of the cool panels that were going on. Are there no reporters in Austin?

One really cool thing to note about STAPLE, though is that they have one of the best websites for indie shows, including a show run podcast which over the weekend presented interviews with guests Fred Van Lente, Brian Wood and Danielle Corsetto.

And speaking of Corsetto, I found a pretty dope little Flickr set from a guy called Heavyweather who walked away from the show with a sketch by the “Girls With Slingshots” cartoonist. See?

On the SPACE side of things, both G0DLAND’s Tom Scioli and Street Angel’s Jim Rugg found some friendly fans on the floor, while Frank Santaro was a little underwhelmed by the show despite an interesting meeting with Dave Sim.

As far as news, I could only find one mention of the winner of the Day Prize, Matt and Carol Dembicki’s Mr. Big, although it was posted on a blog the day before the show. Now, I could use that fact as an opportunity to point out that the SPACE site didn’t provide quite as much basic information on the show and events as I wanted or as an opportunity to make an acoustic hair band joke, but instead, how’s about I kindly ask you to click through to Matt and Carol’s webpage? Yeah, that sounds like a plan.

- KP

Show Some Love: SPACE & STAPLE

February 29, 2008 on 10:33 pm | In Events

I love comic shows even when my wallet doesn’t, so it sucks to be me this weekend as I’ll be missing out on two of the best up-and-coming indie shows in the comics community.

For anyone in the Midwest, Columbus, Ohio’s SPACE con (which stands for Small Press and Alternative Comics Expo) kicks off tomorrow with the annual awarding of the Day Prize, a small press award given out by Cerebus creator Dave Sim. Sim’s also going to be on hand all weekend with copies of his new novella Judenhass, a history of the Holocaust which he hasn’t been promoting with his recent Glamourpuss internet love fest/message board flamewar extravaganza. The money quote on Judenhass seems to be “It made Neil Gaiman cry” but your mileage may vary.

Also appearing at the show are regional cartoonists like Matt Feazell, Neil Fitzpatrick, Greg Hyland and a crazy giant number of Ohio talent. It’s important to remember that regional shows like this often hold a few legitimate “diamonds in the rough” or whatever metaphor you’d like to throw in for “rad cartoonists you’ve probably never heard of.” Want some proof? Check out this killer poster:

Not to be outdone, the Southwest plays host to STAPLE in Austin, Texas. While the show is billed as an “Independent Media Expo,” I’m betting that anything that isn’t comics featured there will appeal to your average indie reader. Not to mention that their lineup includes some star power from Brian Wood to Eric Powell, who is responsible for the show’s mascot:

AHHHHH!

STAPLE also has a nice web comics lineup led by Scott Kurtz, and mentioning that is a convenient transition for me to say that if you’re like me and you can’t make either show, it’s pretty easy to click through from the show sites onto exhibitor’s own personal pages and check out their work and maybe even buy something. Self publishing comics isn’t a game anyone gets into for cash, but sending them cash probably won’t tick them off either, dig?

I’m going to be trolling for news and photos from both shows over the weekend, and if you have any you’d like to share, drop me a line.

- KP