Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art Festival New York, Morning Thoughts

Hmm, let me think about this. Today, I am definitely heading over to the Puck Building. The last time I was there, there was an outsider art exhibition going on. Today should be quite interesting. I have something to read on the subway, America's Hidden History by Kenneth C. Davis.

I have had breakfast already as well, a deathwich (two scrambled eggs on a roll with swiss cheese, salt and pepper and ketchup, and a cup of coffee. It does wake you up, even if it is terribly bad for you.

I watched a little bit more of the film, The Five Thousand Fingers of Dr. T. It is truly bizarre. All of the other instruments have been locked in the dungeon by Dr. Terwilliker and only piano playing is allowed. There is a wonderful sequence where a Seussian orchestra comes out and plays a truly odd set of songs. There are trombones, accordions, strange looking trumpets, odd looking violins, piccolos, and some odd things that look like a cross between a hookah and a trumpet. Also various things are thrown at gongs. It is all very silly. Only Dr. Seuss could have come up with the things in this film.

Anyways, I am off to pursue the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art Festival.

I got to the Puck building without incident, the trains ran on time today. There were three large ballrooms in the Puck Building filled with exhibitors. It was mostly alternative comics.

However, DC Vertigo was also there. DC Vertigo does the more offbeat titles from DC, things like John Constantine Hellblazer and DMZ. Quite a few of the DC Vertigo imprint are science fiction comics. They were giving away free copies of some of the vertigo DC series.

They also have a new series of graphic novels aimed at teenage girls called Minx. They had free Advance Copies of Water Baby, Janes In Love, and Emiko Superstar. These are all hip slice of life type comics for teenage girls. They tell stories about boyfriends, going to the beach, going to dances and concerts, and other everyday life teenage events. This is the kind of thing which we should get to balance out our collection of graphic novels and include material for girls. I think the series is entertaining. The stories are well written.




Darkhorse comics was there also. I picked up a copy of Tales of the Fear Agent created by Rick Remender and Tony Moore. The frontispiece artist signed the book, Jack Davis. This is a compilation of science fiction stories featuring a hardcore space mercenary. Jack Davis calls it similar to EC comics science fiction. It reminds me a bit of Eagle Comics, Strontium Dog, or Alien Worlds from the 1980s.

I picked up catalogs from NBM, Fantagraphics, Top Shelf, and First Second. Unfortunately, Pantheon didn't bring any catalogs. They have a catalog on their website.

There were various small independents at most of the tables. All kind of things. T-shirts, little wooden toys, plush toys, music, and videos. It was a mostly younger crowd. I picked up a few odd little comics like Space Chick and Space Chicken by http://www.beetlebugcomics.com/. People were selling a variety of mini-comics and ashcans for consumption.

One of the featured guests had a catalog for his new book, Bat-Manga! The Secret History of Batman in Japan by Chip Kidd. I missed his talk, but went to the next one. The museum is in a tiny unassuming space on 594 Broadway in Manhattan. Virgin Comics also has offices on the same floor which is kind of interesting.

There were pictures all over the walls for the exhibit, Moving Pictures: Comics to Film. I don't think the whole exhibit was up. It was kind of unique. There were lobby posters from Barbarella, Fritz The Cat, X-Men, Flash Gordon, and a wide variety of movies tied in with comic books. There were also movie stills from the x-men, fantastic four, hellboy, sin city, and numerous other films. In the entrance way, they had posters from the previous Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art festivals. I will definitely visit when there are less people around.

I heard David Heatley give a talk in the museum space. He gives a lot of credit to Chris Ware in helping him start his career. It was about his career as a designer and an alternative comics artist. He is going to release a new book called My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down under the publisher Pantheon. It was kind of interesting. The art work was not that interesting to me, but the process he was describing was. I recognized the cover he drew for Best American Comics 2007. This is his blog. http://drawger.com/heatley/

There were tables where people were drawing sketches for different fees. The fee went as a donation to the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art. I paid $20 to have R. Sikoryak do a sketch of me. I'll probably hang it up on my wall somewhere. I remembered him because he did cover art for The Comics Journal. http://www.rsikoryak.com/

It was enjoyable walking around the festival. There was a lot to see. Much of it was very different than the mainstream comic titles. The entrance fee of $10 was well worth it for a single day. Just the lecture would have been worth the $10