Brooklyn Comic Events

So you want to break into comics (or maybe just socialize with creators), and the best way to do that is to network, be a friendly face that people recognize, and talk about the medium with them, mention your work casually, make friends with people. The convention scene can be too much mayhem and sensory overload puts most creators into a state of shock and awe, so the best alternative is to attend comic book events.

And if you live in Brooklyn, well you're in luck. There seems to be a new comic book event happening every other week. For instance, Tim, Reilly and I all hit up the release of Demo Vol. 2 at Rocketship Comics on January 31st. We chatted with Becky Cloonan, and although I missed Brian Wood, we made the rounds and chatted up the local talent and fans. You can see some pics from the event here.

The next Saturday at Rocketship had Ms. Raina Telgemeier doing a live visual reading and signing copies of her new coming of age graphic novel 'SMILE', while the Friday after that had Bob Fingerman and friends celebrating the release of 'FROM THE ASHES'.

While I was unable to attend those events I did jam pack one night with two events. The first was an art show for the Fantagraphics Anthology 'HOTWIRE', held at the Scott Eder Gallery in Dumbo. You can see a sampling of the artists' work here. If you like your comics alternative, then you'll love this book. The show will be on display until March 31st. It's a smaller gallery but always a fun time, as I did attend the Jim Mahfood show there about two years back which was great. And there's always free booze.

The second event that night was held at the lovely Bergen Street Comics, by far one of the most inviting and stylish of comic book stores. Ferbuary 12th saw the release of Heads Up Display's awesome puppet music video for their song 'FORMULA VS PERFUME'. The band features artist Kevin Colden and was co-directed by Seth Kushner, the photographer for Graphic NYC and Culture Pop Productions. The pair have also teamed up to create a comic SCHMUCK for webcomic collective Act-I-Vate.

This Friday night at Bergen Street Comics, February 26th at 8PM, you can meet Ben McCool and Ben Templesmith and have a few drinks with them to celebrate the release of their comic CHOKER as part of their US tour to promote the book.

If you're a little closer to Williamsburg, or just like hanging out in hipster-ville, you can swing by one of the best alternative comic book shops Desert Island to celebrate their two year anniversary featuring a 15% off sale, and get a signed copy of WE WILL BURY YOU, the historical zombie book by Brea & Zane Grant from 7-9PM.

And if you're free on Saturday February 27th, why not swing over into Manhattan to attend Mike Carbo's New York Comicbook Marketplace, which has a good selection of creators and is being held at Penn Plaza Pavilion, the former location of the National Big Apple Con, in Midtown.

While I won't be attending these events this weekend, in preparation for moving to Prospect Heights to be closer to the comic scene there, you can probably catch Write Club's favorite artist, Reilly Brown at Bergen tomorrow night, and you can count on seeing me and my cohort Tim Mucci at future events which you can find out about right here at Write Club.

See you around the neighborhood Brooklyn!

K