TheCC Staff
06-18-2008, 04:06 PM
Artwork, Comics and Interviews
by Justin Leiter
June 18th, 2008 - The Comic Collective’s decision to attend this year’s MoCCA Art Festival (http://www.moccany.org/) came together pretty quickly just a few days leading up to it. I’d originally had the plan to go on my own, just meeting up with my friend, caricature artist extraordinaire Dan Springer. This would be only my second time attending MoCCA, the first time having been in 2006. At the last minute, though, I asked Brad, who runs this site, if he was intending to go. He replied to my e-mail “If you do the interviews, I’ll film.” At first I was just thinking of going as a fan, but once he mentioned it, I figured, sure, it should be fun going as part of the site. Still, it’s another con, and that means for me the money starts to flow freely. These shows are always pretty overwhelming to someone like me (and lots of other people, of course--you know who you are!) who can’t get enough art and comics, so it’s tough to reign in my wallet. Luckily, I didn’t go too overboard, especially since we went for only one day, but if I’d gone back for a second I easily could have doubled my expenditure. We were thinking about going back for Sunday, but by the end of a long Saturday we were both pretty tired both physically and financially.
So, aside from my usual searching out of artists for commissions and book and comic purchasing, the con came with that extra bit of excitement for me, as I’d be doing my first ever interviews for The Comic Collective. I was given the opportunity to do some at the NYCC Javits show in April, but backed down out of fear I’d come across as an idiot or not know what to ask. But I braved up this time and it all went rather smoothly and wasn’t as nerve-wracking as I’d feared. Brad and I went over the few main questions I’d ask the creators and then, based upon their answers, I’d try and think of some good follow-ups. Before we got to any interviews we walked around the show, giving a quick once over to the tables, knowing we’d have to go around a few more times to really see everything that was on display. What’s so cool about the MoCCA show is that, for the most part, it’s like a full con of “Artist’s Alley”--the area that most cons have sequestered in the back somewhere. There were some people who were representatives for the comics they were selling, but mainly it was the creators selling their own work. Most of them are sketching, or if not, they might add a small doodle to the books they sell--it’s nice to have a personalized comic. The MoCCA show is mainly focused on promoting independent artists and companies, so you’re not going to be seeing Marvel or DC there (though some of the artists attending have done work for those companies). Instead you’ll find Fantagraphics and Top Shelf and lots of other smaller publishers as well as individual creators hawking their own privately printed comics. Some of the comics deal with more true to life storylines than the more mainstream super-hero fare, but there’s still a healthy dose of fantasy and science-fiction themed comics and art.
Click Here To Read The Rest Of The Article (http://thecomiccollective.com/Comic_Books/Columns/2008/Justin_Leiter/2008_NYC_MOCCA_Art_Festival/)
by Justin Leiter
June 18th, 2008 - The Comic Collective’s decision to attend this year’s MoCCA Art Festival (http://www.moccany.org/) came together pretty quickly just a few days leading up to it. I’d originally had the plan to go on my own, just meeting up with my friend, caricature artist extraordinaire Dan Springer. This would be only my second time attending MoCCA, the first time having been in 2006. At the last minute, though, I asked Brad, who runs this site, if he was intending to go. He replied to my e-mail “If you do the interviews, I’ll film.” At first I was just thinking of going as a fan, but once he mentioned it, I figured, sure, it should be fun going as part of the site. Still, it’s another con, and that means for me the money starts to flow freely. These shows are always pretty overwhelming to someone like me (and lots of other people, of course--you know who you are!) who can’t get enough art and comics, so it’s tough to reign in my wallet. Luckily, I didn’t go too overboard, especially since we went for only one day, but if I’d gone back for a second I easily could have doubled my expenditure. We were thinking about going back for Sunday, but by the end of a long Saturday we were both pretty tired both physically and financially.
So, aside from my usual searching out of artists for commissions and book and comic purchasing, the con came with that extra bit of excitement for me, as I’d be doing my first ever interviews for The Comic Collective. I was given the opportunity to do some at the NYCC Javits show in April, but backed down out of fear I’d come across as an idiot or not know what to ask. But I braved up this time and it all went rather smoothly and wasn’t as nerve-wracking as I’d feared. Brad and I went over the few main questions I’d ask the creators and then, based upon their answers, I’d try and think of some good follow-ups. Before we got to any interviews we walked around the show, giving a quick once over to the tables, knowing we’d have to go around a few more times to really see everything that was on display. What’s so cool about the MoCCA show is that, for the most part, it’s like a full con of “Artist’s Alley”--the area that most cons have sequestered in the back somewhere. There were some people who were representatives for the comics they were selling, but mainly it was the creators selling their own work. Most of them are sketching, or if not, they might add a small doodle to the books they sell--it’s nice to have a personalized comic. The MoCCA show is mainly focused on promoting independent artists and companies, so you’re not going to be seeing Marvel or DC there (though some of the artists attending have done work for those companies). Instead you’ll find Fantagraphics and Top Shelf and lots of other smaller publishers as well as individual creators hawking their own privately printed comics. Some of the comics deal with more true to life storylines than the more mainstream super-hero fare, but there’s still a healthy dose of fantasy and science-fiction themed comics and art.
Click Here To Read The Rest Of The Article (http://thecomiccollective.com/Comic_Books/Columns/2008/Justin_Leiter/2008_NYC_MOCCA_Art_Festival/)