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Friday, September 3, 2010
MoCCA Recap and More Reviews
I spoke to a lot of people at this year’s MoCCA Art Festival. I always do – in addition to seeing creators I know from interviews or other shows, this is my hometown show, meaning there are a number of local creators whom I always see at functions like this. In most cases, shows like these are the only times I get to see friends in the industry, instead of merely communicating with them online, which is unfortunate, but what can you do… One of the first people I spoke to was our own Ed Cunard. I saw him at the table of Street Angel’s Jim Rugg in the north room. This was only the second time I had ever met him in person; the other time being SPX last year. Ed was a volunteer worker for the show – it was him who told me about how the floor in the north room got sticky from spilt beer the previous night. My recent review of Adam Suerte’s Aprendiz made him want to pick the book up; apparently Ed used to work in a tattoo parlor and sported a rather impressive tat himself on his lower leg. Ed introduced me to Broken Frontier columnist Shawn Hoke, who was on hand for the first time at MOCCA. Shawn was in town with his fiancée, who unfortunately didn’t come to the show with him – wasn’t interested. I also met through Ed some of the regular posters from the Comic Book Resources message boards. T-Gina’s Gina Kamentsky was in the south room, along with her Platform 6 collaborator Maddie Blaustein, whom she described as a big comics geek like me. Maddie does photography for DC Direct, the toy line, and did some writing for DC/Milestone back in the day. They showed me Platform 6, their online cartoon, on a laptop – looked good. We got to talking about possible outlets for the webtoon, as they have big plans for it. Gina and I also talked about favorite comics at the show, and I mentioned stuff like Raina Telgemeier’s Take Out and Scott Roberts’ Patty Cake – in fact, I steered her to Scott’s table later on, where she was completely taken by his book, as anyone who’s seen it would be. Phillip Clark and Jamie Rodriguez of the sci-fi title Quantum: Rock of Ages was also in the south room. Jamie’s an old friend of mine, going as far back as college in the early ‘90s, and when I heard months ago that he was the book’s new artist, my interest in it was raised. We all had dinner Saturday night on St. Mark’s Place, along with the rest of their creative team and Phil’s fiancée. Afterwards, Phil and I had a bit of a talk about where he wants to go with the book. It's a 12-issue mini-series, and so far sales haven't been great, so he's considering going straight to trades after issue four. There will be a TPB collecting the first four issues, which he said will be the big test as to whether or not he'll continue in that direction. (There will be lots of extras, including an introduction by Walt Simonson!) He said that he would greatly prefer doing Quantum as single issues; it's a format he genuinely likes and always has. I advised him, however, to give serious thought to going the TPB route, especially since it's a format Diamond likes. I believe he said the first TPB will come out in the fall, so we'll see what happens. In addition, there was also: Elayne and Robin Riggs, whom I hadn’t seen in far too long; Golden Age cartoonist Hilda Terry, whom I did an article on a couple of years ago and said she felt great at age 90; Artesia’s Mark Smylie, who had original pages that I drooled over; Smut Peddler writer/editor Trisha Lynn Sebastian, who was floating from table to table; Mortal Coils writer A. David Lewis, who talked about his next project – the retelling of the book of Exodus from the Egyptians’ perspective; Fade From Blue’s Myatt Murphy and Scott Dalrymple, who talked about the Two Over Ten movie and their forthcoming children’s book; Jay’s Days creator Jason Marcy, another one whom I hadn’t seen in forever; Supernatural Law’s Batton Lash and Jackie Estrada; Age of Bronze’s Eric Shanower; Monolith co-writer Jimmy Palmiotti; iBooks’ Steve Roman and Byron Priess; Evenfall’s Pete Stathis; mini-comics vet Suzanne Baumann; and many more. Perhaps most significantly, however, was the Sunday afternoon I spent at the show with my longtime friend Vija, whom I’ve mentioned in my Cheap Seats column numerous times. Vija’s one of my oldest and closest friends, and I’ve managed to get her slowly but surely into comics for the past few years. I brought her to MOCCA once before, where she obtained Stuck Rubber Baby from Howard Cruse and Amy Unbounded from Rachel Hartman. This year she purchased a lot more stuff! Since she’s originally from Michigan, I immediately introduced her to Suzanne and Suspended in Language writer Jim Ottaviani, two other Michigan natives. She bought a mini or two from Suzanne and a copy of Jim’s Dignifying Science, his graphic novel about women scientists. Then I took her to Myatt and Scott’s table where she picked up the Fade TPB from them. She ended up acquiring quite a bit more, including some stuff that slipped my notice – such as a mini-comic by the son of director Michel Gondry. (Didn’t impress me from what I saw, though.) After over an hour or so of this, we had lunch. We ended up in, of all places, this Australian bistro on Mulberry Street after looking for a totally different restaurant which she said was somewhere in the area but couldn’t find. We got to eat in an outdoor garden and a genuine Australian waitress served us water in a champagne bottle. Vija had fish and chips (apparently the Aussies call them “proper” chips) and I had an Aussie burger, which tasted little different from an American burger. The place was nice. So that was MOCCA 2004 for me. It’s a great feeling to have a comics show worthy of New York once again. On to the reviews once again: Mala Noche by Gary Camp & Luis Sierra
Creative One Comics, $2.99 each Vampires and vampire hunters mixing it up on the streets of the Bronx. Nothing new or terribly different here; this first issue is basically a big long fight scene, complete with camp dialogue (“Feel the might of my powers! With my fist and claws!”). Punctuation is missing in the lettering in places, and at one point the balloons are transparent, making them difficult to read. This is the sort of thing that’s supposed to get caught and fixed before you go to the printer. The art is excellent and choreographed well, but when it’s in service of a mediocre story, that’s not saying much. Pass on this and read a horror title with depth, like Steve Roman’s Lorelei, instead. C+ Tiempos Finales (End Times) by Samuel Hiti
La Luz Comics, $9.95 Monster hunter on a holy mission from a higher power goes after creature of the night in a small Spanish-speaking town. The creator was a Xeric Foundation grant winner, and maybe there will be subsequent volumes to this graphic novel that will flesh it out more, but based on what I’ve seen here, I have to say this book sucks. There was absolutely no dramatic tension at all to this story (which I’m about to spoil – you’ll see why) – Mario, the main character, defeats the demon critter fairly easily – too easily. Basically he lures it out of the town, binds it with spells, shoots it and rips it open from the inside, all without anything resembling a fight or struggle of any kind. Can you imagine Mike Mignola writing Hellboy like that? There are additional storytelling flaws, too – for one thing, based on what we’re shown, I’m unconvinced the demon was a threat to the village; we never see it actually kill anybody. We’re told Mario is given this mission on the basis of the villagers’ prayers for deliverance, but we don’t see enough of them outside of a group of kids who have nothing to do with the story. The sequence where Mario lures the creature out of the village takes far too long and definitely falls into the “decompressed storytelling” category – and it’s not the only time Hiti does this. And Mario himself really has no personality of any kind – he’s little more than a plot device. Even Clint Eastwood’s Man With No Name had personality. We see bad guys who talk about how their plans are being undone, but they have little connection to anything that happens; we barely even understand their reason for being. Much too much is unexplored and what remains is simply uninteresting. The Paul Pope-like art is good, but it’s not nearly enough. A major disappointment. D All Flee! by Gavin Burrows & Simon Gane
Top Shelf, $3.95 Giant Godzilla-like monsters who live like ordinary humans, including going to finishing school to learn how to destroy cities. This was pretty funny – the sort of thing that might work as an animated series. The art is very unusual, but it’s also kind of flat. As detailed as it is, nothing pops off the page, and sometimes figures get lost in all the crooked lines. The greytones help separate things, but I wish there were more solid black in the art, like in the backup story. Plus, for less than 30 pages, the price is too high. Still, it’s worth a look. B The Three Little Pigs Buy the White House by Dan Piraro
Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Griffin, $12.95 A retelling of the “Three Little Pigs” story which recasts President Bush, Vice-President Cheney, and Defense Secretary Rumsfeld in the title roles as a means to comment on current events. This was Vija’s favorite book at the show by a landslide. When we were at Dan Piraro’s table, he wasn’t there at the time, and after flipping through this we were both so eager to meet him we considered looking for him and bringing him back just so we could buy the book! He did eventually return, though, without our help, and we both got sketches to go with his autograph. This is in a children’s storybook format, and the way it’s written, with repeated catchphrases and the childlike antics of its main characters, is very clever and funny, as are the way the real world elements are integrated into the context of this story (the Big Bad Wolf’s “Winds of Mass Destruction,” for example). The artwork is very strong; the caricatures of Bush and company are recognizable as them, which is good. A terrific lampoon that’s both scathing and sensitive. A Ninety Candles by Neil Kleid
Rant Comics, $5.95 90 panels detailing 90 years in the life of cartoonist Kevin Hall, chronicling his rise and fall within the comics industry. An interesting experiment in storytelling style by Xeric grant winner Kleid, and I liked the choices made in what image to capture a given year with – the art complements the script, as it should. The problem I had, however, is that even though Kevin ages, I didn’t really feel as if we were moving forward in time with him. It would’ve been fascinating if we got to see the 20th and 21st centuries through Kevin as well – World War 2, Vietnam, Iraq, changes in clothing styles and hair styles, changes in vernacular, perhaps changes in comic art styles. There was something static about Kevin’s timeline, as if it were only himself that was aging, and I believe we needed to see other changes going on around him in order to more fully accept this storytelling premise. As for the art, well, while what I said about how it compliments the script still stands, I have to admit I’ve never liked Kleid’s artistic style. I would’ve preferred to have seen this done with one of his regular collaborators, like Jamesmith. Still, this is worth checking out if for no other reason than it’s somewhat unconventional, and while its experiment doesn’t quite succeed, it is a noble effort by a very talented writer. B- Being Gordy by Dave Gordon
gorde@comcast.net, preview copy, no price listed A collection of daily and Sunday strips about the cartoonist’s life. The copy I obtained is a “sketchbook” version, meaning it’s the un-inked pencil art, though the reproduction is excellent enough that I couldn’t tell the difference (though I’m fairly sure some of these strips are inked). Anyway, content-wise, this is in the same vein as The Norm, Funky Winkerbean, Spooner, etc. – thirtysomething teenager and all his wacky friends and his bad luck with women and blah blah blah. Nothing different here and nothing that made me laugh either. C Temporary by Damon Hurd & Rick Smith
Origin Comics , preview copy, no price listed Temp worker enters HMO company with some unusual goings-on. Don’t expect Office Space-type humor here – the things that take place are more peculiar than laugh-out-loud funny, such as the guy with Post-its all over his shirt that he uses to deliver messages. The art could use a stronger inking line; the images look a bit too wavy and unstable (especially for a setting like this, which is primarily interiors) and lacks the boldness of an Andi Watson. If the creators can find a new angle on the work-is-hell theme, or if the main character is worth reading about on a regular basis, I’d be willing to give this a try when it debuts (the Previews solicitation will be in October). It does look interesting so far. B Getting the Sex Out of the Way by Matthew Manning & various
meathauspress@hotmail.com, $2.50 The lives of a group of twentysomethings are the subject of a rather unusual top secret research project. Some of the characters weren’t developed as effectively as they should have been. For instance, I didn’t believe the guy who kept denying he was gay would end up the way he does, based on what we saw of him, because I didn’t believe he was headed down that particular path. The same could be said of other characters in the story. What happens to him is meant to be a shock, but I didn’t buy it. This story needed better pacing, which would be possible if the framing story about the research project were excised. I didn’t care at all about that and it added absolutely nothing. The art is a somewhat jarring contrast between the semi-realistic work of Matthew Loux, the sketchier, looser style of Stephen Q. Stardog, and the cartoony look of Take Out’s Raina Telgemeier, and while they weren’t bad, it was difficult to keep track of who was who from page to page. The end result doesn’t quite hold together as well as it should. C+The Swimmer With a Rope in His Teeth by Jeanne E. Shaffer & Howard Cruse
Prometheus Books, no price listed A “shadow fable” about two disparate lands and the individual who tried to unite them. Indy comics legend Cruse uses a completely different style here, and it works – the solid black makes the story read almost like a half-remembered dream or memory, which is appropriate, since fables are part of an oral tradition. Shaffer’s story seems to be reminiscent of ancient times, yet modern devices like computers and telephones and binoculars can be briefly seen as well. I think the story could’ve been done without them, but that’s a relatively minor quibble. This is a wonderful story in which it’s fascinating, and a little sad too, to see how good intentions can be so easily misinterpreted. A- A couple of quick news items before I head out: for those of you in the San Diego area, the Cassius King Gallery on Third Avenue will be hosting an indy comics show, and the free opening night reception is July 23, the weekend of Comicon International, from 6-11 PM. Tony Millionaire, Souther Salazar, Ron Rege Jr. and others are part of the exhibit, and in addition to the show there will be DJs providing the music, including Slabco Records’ Steven Nereo. The exhibit runs through August 23. CrossGen fans still in withdrawal can keep up with what the former creators are doing these days with the new website CrossGen Creator Watch. According to the mission statement, “it's about supporting the creators and helping them get back on their feet financially, as many of them are owed money they may not ever get. It's about doing what we can to help repair the damage that's been done… But, most of all, it's about saying thanks to the creators for telling stories that were different from 80% of the comics out there, for putting 110% into their work, and for letting us be a part of the journey. This is for you, folks.” --Rich Watson
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April 22, 2008:
February 4, 2008:
November 20, 2006:
A Comic-Con without the Captain
