MoCCA Monday: The 3 Coolest Things I Found at the MoCCA Fest

By Jonathan Gelatt

There's no denying that smaller conventions are uniformly better than the media hoopla that is the modern MegaCon. Don't get me wrong; MegaCons great for what they are, exclusive toys and celebs and all, but when it comes to discovering new artists, new comics, and new creators, the small expo is top tits. Such was the case with the MoCCA Fest. As somebody who reads a LOT of mainstream comics, New York's annual MoCCA Art Festival was a breath of fresh air, reminding me that for every played-out superhero book there are at least fifty imaginative creators kicking ass up and down the indie circuit. So to pick up where our fearless leader left off, here are (in no particular order) the three coolest discoveries I made at the MoCCA Art Fest 2010.

1. Neil Jam

Neil Jam (aka Neil Fitzpatrick) is firstly known for his online comic of the same name, but if you catch him at a convention you have to check out his extensive collection of fictional character portraits. Superheroes, Muppets, movie titans, video game characters--Fitzpatrick draws them all. Not only are these portraits great for a diverse selection of fans, but Fitzpatrick is one nice guy, a real solid dude. It was a tough choice for me, but I ended up grabbing a picture of Ghost Rider for myself and an excellent rendition of Batman-Mario for a friend. Just so you know what I'm talking about, here's a picture of the Neil Jam MoCCA table.

2. The Schizophrenic by Joshua Frankel and Toby Cypress

I picked this book up on the recommendation of my brother, and holy crap, this comic rules. Published by the new Zip Comics, The Schizophrenic is a short, surrealistic one-shot about a mentally disabled everyman/superhero in a future full of crappy fast-food corporations and shotgun-toting roommates. In other words, this was the best 3 bucks I spent all day. If there were a God, he would surely make this a monthly series. The story is a fun take on the superhero and modern morality, with a healthy handful of pills thrown in for good measure. Plus, Toby Cypress’s art is so f*cking great it that I can't even describe it without swearing.

I honestly don’t know what I like more: the pencils or the coloring. If you have a chance to grab this book, don’t hesitate. The Schizophrenic is like reading a Golden Age comic written by Frank Zappa. You know you want it; now go get it.

3. Jesse DeStasio

Last but certainly not least, Jesse DeStasio's custom toys were probably my favorite find of the fest. Though he's also a comic book creator, I was too busy freaking out over his custom toys to check out the books. My bad, I know, but DeStasio's hand-painted collector's items are so cool that I owe it to them to bust out my old Ewok village, just so they have a proper home. Tin Cop and King Rex (the two figures I purchased) look like they come from the greatest science fiction epic that never was. I highly recommend you head over to his website and check out the full catalog. I can hear my wallet crying out in fear, but I don't care. Fiscal responsibility be damned, I'm buying more. If you're into cool plastic creations, it doesn't get much better than Jesse DeStasio.

Late Breaking Addition: Jesse DeStasio’s toys are customs of Glyos series toys created by Matt at http://www.onelldesign.com and Jesse at http://www.callgrim.com. If you like Jesse's work you will probably also like the toys they were before they were customized. Either way, I can understand your love for Jesse's customs, as a fan myself and a huge Glyos addict, Jesse was one of the main reasons I went to MOCCA.

-- Addition provided by eatyourchildren at eatyourchildren.net

Girls Club! Week One

Hello Clubbers, I hope all of you enjoyed week one of Girls Club. As Write Club heads into its second year, we'll be setting up a theme to coincide month by month with what's going on in comics. So for Women's History Month & Marvel's publishing of Girls Comics, we present Girls Club.

We kicked off the week on Monday with a new logo and article on Making Mini-Comics by the hilarious and talented Lauren Barnett of MeLikesYouComics.

On Tuesday we had Mike Mooch (who is not the DJ DaMooch) run down his pick for the top iconic female video game characters.

Wednesday, aka Comic Book Day, had our resident comic reviewers Jonathan Gelatt & Brian Bannen cover the week in comics. We even got quoted for Jon's review of Underground #5 over at Periscope Studios, home of Steve Lieber and others.

Thursday, Jayme Roxann Wright delivered unto us her first in a series of articles about Breaking Into Comics As A Female, busting down the doors on the boys club and preparing to take comic publishing by storm by showing it what it's been missing: a realistic approach to writing women.

That wraps up the first week of Girls Club, but stay tuned Write Clubbers, as we've got a lot more fun and excitement up our sleeves. This week we'll have a new episode of the podcast up where we'll talk to Nikki Cook about her process and Girl Comics.

While I prepare to deal with these two female hackers called DARK PHONETIX, I'll leave you with some links on Girl Comics.

Thanks for reading.

K

The Beat interviews Marvel Editor Jeanine Schaefer about Girl Comics




Video from Marvel.com with Jeanine Shaefer



Marvel's List of Women Characters

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