My new favorite illustrator of the week

Why did no one tell me Rafael Grampa was an amazing illustrator?

From the Phonetic Spelling Department at Newsarama

Check Out Kevin Church's Awesome Photos

Kevin Church is many things — a writer, blogger, shit-stirrer. He's also a kickass photographer. Check out his photo set from MoCCA. The pictures are great, and not just because I'm in there twice.

Check it!

NYC Event: Tokyopop Tuesday

Copy/paste PR from Stuart Moore:

POST-MOCCA LAST MINUTE PRESS RELEASE:
Tokyopop Round Table @ Barnes & Noble

Just spreading the word: I'll be appearing at a round-table discussion &
signing at the Barnes & Noble in Park Slope, Brooklyn,  
New York, this Tuesday. Details:

Date: Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Time: 6:30 PM
Place: Barnes & Noble Park Slope, 267 7th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY

The participants:

Stuart Moore: signing EARTHLIGHT
June Kim: signing 12 DAYS
James L. Barry: signing WARRIORS: THE LOST WARRIOR
Melissa DeJesus: signing SOKORA REFUGEES
Becky Cloonan: signing EAST COAST RISING

MoCCA Raton

Sorry for the lame headline.

This year was a first for us because we were exhibiting. We were selling preview issues of Comic Foundry Magazine for 25 cents and I definitely had my pitch down to a science by the end of day 1. I was tempted to change my approach to: "Hey, I have two words for you about Comic Foundry: Fucking. Awesome." But I didn't do it.

This was also the first time MoCCA put exhibitors on the 7th floor. Everyone will be saying this, so brace yourself for show report repetition: The upstairs definitely had less traffic (insert jaw-drop here), but the trade-off was two things. 1) The people coming up were more committed and devoted and bought better than most. 2) The atmosphere was amazing — with the natural light and room to walk around, it was much more calming. And much less smelly.

Also, all the panels were moved to MoCCA's gallery space and not the Puck building, but I can't really comment if that was a pro/con since I wasn't able to attend any. Though, I heard Bechdel was standing room only and the Jeffrey Brown panel was high-larious.

Laura Hudson manned the table with me and we did exceptionally well and moved a lot of books. Traffic was slow but steady and we got a lot of word out about the magazine. Everyone asked if the whole Diamond situation worked out, and it was great to get that recognition. And for the people who hadn't heard of us, I gave them the pitch and 9 times out of 10 I got a: "That sounds great! We need something like that!" The other 1 out of 10 was: "Wait, didn't you cry in that video?"

Random convention note:
Anyone else notice this? It's so odd in the men's room during shows, because you can ALWAYS hear someone reading a comic they just bought in one of the stalls. I mean, I'm sure it's good...but really?

Attendance:
I spoke with MoCCA Maven Matt Murray about it, and he was guesstimating around 4,500-6,000 (including exhibitors), which is slightly up from last year. This weekend was a tough draw for three reasons: 1) The Mermaid Parade, 2) The Gay Pride Parade, 3) The Big Apple Con. Okay, so really two since nobody goes to the Big Apple Cons anymore. Plus it was goooooooooooorgeous out. So, hats off to MoCCA and especially Derrick Kennelty-Cohen for running the show.

People Highlights:
–Meeting MF Grimm. The guy is super-cool and I love his tracks. He's got a book dropping from Vertigo in September and I wish I knew about it before because I would've put it in our first issue. Wait? You're not super-cool and don't know who he is? Check it.
–Meeting Douglas Wolk. He's very nice.
–Talking with Kiel Phigley. As Laura put it, Kiel's my Wizard equivalent of, "But wait, I have a black friend!" He's a very funny cat.
–The bloggers. Kevin Church. Neil Alien. Ed Cunard. Heidi. All quality people. Apparently I missed Chris Mautner and Jog the Blog, so I'll have to spite them.
–The catering people.

Book Highlights:
–SuperSpy by Matt Kindt. I can't tell you how excited I am to read this book.
–Michael by Fred Chao – an illustrated look at how Michael Jackson aged
–Sundays Anthology – I'm glad I bought one when I did, because those kids sold out
Honestly, I got a shitload of stuff but haven't looked at a single thing. Updates when I do.

People I did not expect to see:
—DC had a booth (technically Vertigo and Minx)
—Wizard had a booth.

People I expected to see but didn't:
—Bill Sienkiewicz. He was supposed to sketch and do an art jam with Arthur Suydam, but the dude did not show. SUPPOSEDLY everyone that was standing in line is going to get a free book from Sienkiewicz. Supposedly.
–Kevin Huizenga. By the by, I learned it's pronounced "High-Zenga." Learn it. Remember it.

Party Highlights:
I went to the Top Shelf party but didn't go inside. Everyone was spilling out into the street and because it was much cooler in terms of temperature and people, I chilled outside. It was the only official party I went to — hopefully other people can fill in the blanks. The one thing I didn't understand about the Top Shelf party was RIGHT next door there was this other party, the Sexy Mofo White Party, and all these B and T girls were wearing all white. Scantily clad, really, but what little clothes they did have were all white. It got the nerds in a tizzy.

Next Stop:
We'll have a table in San Diego so look for us. We'll have the exclusive advance copies of the book. Score!

Check out Comic Foundry at MoCCA!

Instead of using that quarter to call someone who cares, why don't you get a preview issue of Comic Foundry this weekend at the MoCCA Art Fest? You get 16 pages of Comic Foundry goodness, including an exclusive page you won't find in the real issue. Check us out upstairs at the show. Swing by and say hi!

Has this ever happened to you?

Has this ever happened to you?

You're at home on the couch with a lady friend. The night is young and the lights are low. You've got some smooth tunes playing. Everything is going your way. You lock eyes and then there's that awkward pause...and you realize your itunes shuffled away from your mood music to the soundtrack to the "Once More With Feeling" episode of Buffy. Sigh.

I usually don't do this

I'm usually not one for posting hype stuff I'm sent, but I have a certain soft spot for extruded typography. That's why I look forward to checking out the Sundays Anthology at MoCCA this weekend.

Comic Foundry: Done

Well, it's been a crazy month, but we finally put the first issue of Comic Foundry Magazine to bed. It's been sent off to the printers and we're on to the next one. We had to send out the magazine so early so we can have exclusive issues in San Diego (look for our booth). We'll also have some special self-printed preview issues at MoCCA this weekend. We'll be upstairs this year, so swing by, say hi, and pick up a preview.

Paul Pope Illustrations

It's very uncommon to see Paul Pope to do an editorial illo for a magazine. Even more uncommon is it to see him do TWO in the same month. This morning I picked up the latest issues of GQ and Wired to find full-page Pope illos in both.

Being a mag guy and a comic guy, I'm always fascinated with who magazines are assigning work to, especially when it's a comics person. I'm not sure why they both went to Pope, though. It's unfortunate for the magazines they both have him because neither really has those exclusive bragging rights about scoring a cool illustrator. But it IS good for the readers, though, since you get two doses of Pope goodness.

Last Death Note this week

My absolute favorite manga ends this week. Death Note. It was really the first manga I ever got into, and the only one I have on my pull list. Even though I'm still relatively new to manga, I'm nuts for this book. I'm more excited about new volumes of Death Note than I am any other book — in the Japanese or American market. And after the last one what will I have to look forward to? Oh, Comic Foundry, perhaps?

Exit Wounds

I just got Exit Wounds by Rutu Modan (Drawn and Quarterly) and I'm seriously bummed. Why? Because I'm really looking forward to it, and have been looking forward to it for a while, but I can't even think about picking up a book until I finish this first issue of CF. I encourage other people, like you, to read it in the meantime.

Holy Costume Update, Batman!

I'm a resounding "eh" on this preview in the new EW. The new suit feels way too reminiscent of Joel Schumacher to me.

Sorry no posting

Things have been ca-ca-ca-crazy around here. Photoshoots, caffeine injections, edits, writing — it's all very fun and incredibly exciting.

I'm a few weeks behind on comics and what's out, but here are some books I've recently read (and enjoyed):
Vampire Loves, Joann Sfar (First Second)
Punisher War Journal Vol. 1, Fraction and Olivetti (Marvel)
Death Note Vol. 11, Ohba and Obata (TokyoPop)

Niko Henrichon illo in Complex Magazine

The new issue of Complex Magazine is out! If you haven't seen it, it's got Rihanna and Seth Rogen on the covers. I've mentioned it before, but I'm the Deputy Art Director at the magazine, so this post is obviously a bit biased. And by a bit I mean completely.

BUT, there is some great stuff in here, including the Complex Comic Package. The concept was, our readers were into comics 10 years ago in the heyday before the crash, but grew out of them for whatever reason. But comics kick all kinds of ass now, and it's the best time to get back in. So the package is a primer on what you missed, what's going on now and what to buy.

My favorite part of it all is an AMAZING opener illustration we got Niko Henrichon to do (pictured above). Working with illustrators is one of the best parts about my job, and this time did not disappoint. The idea was to show the popular heroes of yesteryear contrasted with who the cool heroes are now (from Powers, Ex Machina and Daredevil). Niko knocked it clear out of the park.

Laura Hudson did the picks and wrote the majority of text, with me and an editor chiming in and helping guide it through. It was originally supposed to be a few pages longer, but shuffling the page count is a fact of life in the mag world, and hopefully we can get that content in the book later.

And PS - my editor was talking to Seth Rogen (Knocked Up) at the photo shoot about comics and the only thing I remember him mentioning specifically was that he loved Superman Red Son.

MTV Movie Awards

Anyone see this? I didn't. But I'm reading some quotes about it in EW and this one caught my eye:
"They got the name 300 by measuring how gay it was on a scale from 1 to 10" -Sarah Silverman

Coolest Phone Call Ever

Besides the free iced coffee at Starbucks, this phone call was the coolest thing that happened yesterday:

Tim?
Yes...
Hi, it's Kristen Bell.

Watchmen Tattoo

My boy, Rollens, just expanded on his Watchmen tattoo. Try not to be jealous.

Pants on Fire

Elayne Riggs has enough nerve to politely call me a liar, but not enough nerve to admit she was wrong (thanks, Mark).

And I clearly do not have enough nerve to let it go.

Bye bye, BSG

Battlestar Galactica will end after season 4.
The producers of SCI FI Channel's Battlestar Galactica confirmed that the upcoming fourth season will be the show's last. Executive producers Ronald Moore and David Eick said that it was a creative decision to end the acclaimed series with the upcoming 22-episode season.

"This show was always meant to have a beginning, a middle and, finally, an end," Eick and Moore said in a statement on May 31. "Over the course of the last year, the story and the characters have been moving strongly toward that end, and we've decided to listen to those internal voices and conclude the show on our own terms. And while we know our fans will be saddened to know the end is coming, they should brace themselves for a wild ride getting there: We're going out with a bang."

In November, a special two-hour Battlestar episode, "Razor," will air. The fourth season kicks off in early 2008.

First Veronica Mars now BSG? What is the TV world coming to? Here's my question: If there are so many new "geek" shows debuting this Fall, why are all the original geek shows going off air?
Via

Veronica Mars

Yes, the show is R.I.P., but who says we can't take a Friday afternoon to enjoy a hi-larious interview between Kristen Bell and Chris Lowell (Piz)?

PacMan Skeleton

We've seen Charlie Brown and Looney Tunes, but now here's PacMan.
Via