MoCCA 2008: Not Quite A Con Report.
So. MoCCA Fest 2008. I got to see a lot of the usual suspects: Ed Cunard, Jog, Chris Mautner, Tim Leong, Laura Hudson, Marcos Perez, Justin Fox, Neilalien Gina FirstSecond, etc, etc, along with Birdie and Mike R and other friends and associates from hither and yon while missing out on some of my favorite people: John and Miranda (and Bully), Joe Rice, Alex Cox, etc, etc. The latter was partially my fault (I was so wiped out that I crashed out on Saturday night, unable to get up in time to go to the Chinatown Karaoke Explosion that has become a bit of a tradition) and partially that of inadequate air conditioning at the Puck and a New York City determined to punish everyone for daring to even consider stepping outside.
Next year, I promise, I will rage and rage and not go quietly into that indie comics night, people. Or I'll at least save my pennies so I can stay on Friday night, making Saturday a bit less of a hectic day.
Anyway, here's the important stuff - what I bought!
In addition to all this, I also finally bought the Dinosaur Comics and Jellaby books. No, I have no idea why I waited for so long. There's also a copy of Alex Robinson's new graphic novel that I'll be reviewing for Comic Book Resources, along with Adhouse's Superior Showcase #3
Did you go? What did you get? Who did you see? Tell me all about it!
Next year, I promise, I will rage and rage and not go quietly into that indie comics night, people. Or I'll at least save my pennies so I can stay on Friday night, making Saturday a bit less of a hectic day.
Anyway, here's the important stuff - what I bought!
- My Life in a Jugular Vein: Three More Years of Snakepit Comics and Snakepit 2007 by Ben Snakepit. This is probably the only "And then I..." autobiocomic that I find worth a damn, mostly because the creator's life is fairly interesting when he's not working at the video store, getting high with his friends, going to parties, or eating burritos.
- Bookhunter by Shiga. Reviewed by pal Renee over on her blog I should link to sometime. She liked it, so I'm giving it a shot.
- Earth Minds Are Weak #10: The Sauce of Contention and I Dreamed of You and Mr. Eybyaninch by Justin Fox. The first is the latest installment of Fox's ongoing surreal series of dramas, this time centering around an improperly-made meatball sub. The latter is...it's just really fucking weird. I like it that way.
- I Love Love (Too Bad I Hate You) by Hilary Florido. Teeth-achingly cute and viciously funny. Florido's doing a western book for :01FirstSecond for next year and after meeting her and reading this, I'm pretty sure it should be worth some time.
- Welcome to the Dahl House: Alienation, Incarceration and Inebriation in the New American Rome by Ken Dahl. Wow. Never has agitprop been so laugh out loud funny. When not ranting through his own damn self, Dahl busts out Gordon Smalls, a sort of Buddy Bradley who went to seed. The two-part "How To Steal The Food You Deserve" / "How To Get Arrested" set of skillshares from Smalls had me laughing aloud on the bus, looking like a damn fool.
- Minis 2000-2002 by Becky Cloonan. There's a bit in one of the one-page "Social Unrest" comics where Cloonan's fingerprint just appears in the middle of the page and it's unsure if it's deliberate or an accident that made it through the various incarnations. It's there, and it's soon joined by others scattered throughout the book, as Cloonan is a big fan of heavy, deep blacks and those require much ink and patience. It's obvious that she's very short on the latter - she just wants to dive in and get on with it, and drying wastes valuable comics-making time. That's just one of about ten thousand things I loved about this collection. (She also made the best stuck-at-work comic ever with "$7.50 An Hour," in which our mouse-clicking heroine compares her life to that of the samurai, and comes out losing. Hilarious.)
- Inbound. It's a collection from the people behind the Boston Comics Roundtable, and you have to support your hometown, motherfuckers.
- Chiggers by Hope Larson. I'm pretty sure we're going to hear alllllllllll about this in a few months.
- Harvest Is When I Need You The Most. A very strong collection of Star Wars stories, beautifully designed. You should get your own.
- The Blot by Tom Neely. Everybody was singing its praises a little while back and a few flipped pages told me I rather needed it. Between him and the Sparkplug Gang, I spent $100 in less than 10 minutes. Comics, you bastard.
- Asiaddict by Mats!?. I am a sucker for a good travelogue comic and since there are so very few good travelogue comics, this "far-out trip across the Bizarre, Lurid and Mundane tourist Minefields of Buddhisneyland" was one of those "no-brainers" the kids are always talking about. Dense, colorful, and well worth the $15 cover price.
- Mine Tonight by Alixopulos. A noir story about a gun for hire who finds himself caught up in the 2004 presidential election, with a bit of autobiography thrown in. Yes, that sounds like something I'd like.
- Reich 1-4 by Elijah Brubaker. The first issues of a massive biography of Wilhelm Reich ? Why the hell not? (It looked downright beautiful with high-contrast art and that style of big-head cartooning that I find myself a little in love with.)
- Lunar by Vasilis Lolos. Becky Cloonan was selling this sci-fi minicomic by her partner and all you really need to get me to do to buy your comic blind is to be Vasilis Lolos doing a science-fiction comic. It's a terrific example of what comics can do that prose or film can't when it comes to presenting the surreal and haunting. I finished it and started flipping back and forth, taking this apparently-simple little story apart and finding a lot more there than you'd think. If you see it, get it.
- Tear-Stained Makeup #7 by Marcos Perez. The best issue yet of Marcos's ongoing soap opera. There's some sexing in this one, too, so you can get your jollies off there if you're like that.
- Watching Days Become Years 2-4 by Jeff Levine. I picked up the first issue at SDCC 2006 and fell in love. It took two years, but I bought the rest of Jeff Levine's essay comics that touch on about a dozen different things just perfectly.
- Caveman In Space and Tales of Unusual Circumstance by Joey Weiser. A tiny bit reminiscent of Dave Roman and Raina Telgemeir, but without that slight bit of too-cuteness that leaves me only able to read a very few pages. The latter is a collection of minis done by the (too) young creator and the best parts are where he pokes at known conventions to create the funny.
- March Hare 8 by Josh Cotter. Every day in March, Josh Cotter drew something. It's a sketchbook that doubles as a virtuoso performance as he leaps between the familiar Skyscrapers of the Midwest style to life sketches, abstract doodlings, and graphical improvisations. It's enough to make you hate one man's talent and firmly places him as the guy who's right next to Chris Ware in the "So, so much more than you think" section at Whole Foods.
- King-Cat Comics & Stories #66 by John Porcellino. It's a little-known rule of indie comics hipsterdom: if you see a John Porcellino mini-comic, you have to buy it.
- AAAA Action Team by Pat Lewis. I'm a huge fan of Pat Lewis's work and the guy himself, so it's no surprise that I am telling you to get this comic book about a world-saving team of regular people who were chosen to save the world...because they were first in the phone book. (Terrific, funny concept and I hate him so much for coming up with it first.)
- Phase 7 #012 and #013. Alec Longstreth makes comics I like. The end.
- Mila and the Prince of Space by Evan G. Palmer. He's the intern at the O'Malley-Larson comics compound and it's very easy to see why they brought him on board. This honestly feels like work from someone with a few more years under their belt. I love his never-ending lines and facial expressions that tell the story better than chunks of exposition ever could.
- Geraniums and Bacon #5 by Cathy Leamy. I put this last because she's one of my better friends and I don't want to make it look like I'm showing any kind of bias. (Though, you know, if I weren't bias-ing, I'd not have put it last and said something about that, would I?) Anyway. Cathy's stuff always inspires me and serves as a perfect example of what I like when it comes to autobiographical/real-life comics: talk about something interesting. Her piece on the Filene's Basement Bridal Dress Run wouldn't be out of place in something like the New York Times Magazine, and she manages to make bra-shopping into something that's interesting for factors beyond Oh, Hey! Boobies!
In addition to all this, I also finally bought the Dinosaur Comics and Jellaby books. No, I have no idea why I waited for so long. There's also a copy of Alex Robinson's new graphic novel that I'll be reviewing for Comic Book Resources, along with Adhouse's Superior Showcase #3
Did you go? What did you get? Who did you see? Tell me all about it!
