I'm alive, plus Chicago notes
Jul. 16th, 2008 05:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jkcarrierWell, my computer's working again (knock wood), and I'm slowly catching up on everything. Thanks to the guys at JR Computer Outlet for getting me back up and running after Best Buy dropped the ball.
Chicago was pretty fun. I definitely missed having my pals the O'Donnell's riding along, and helping me man the table. (Karen couldn't make it because she had a karate test that weekend -- everyone congratulate her on making 4th degree Black Belt!) But I managed the drive ok, despite all the construction delays and detours.
My neighbors in Artist Alley were Pab Sungenis, artist of the webcomic The New Adventures of Queen Victoria, and his partner Bryan Irrera (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
bfirrera). A couple of funny and friendly guys, a pleasure to hang out with. Pab's two cleverly-titled trade paperbacks, We Are Not Amusing, and I Can Has Empire? were getting a lot of attention.
On the other side of me were Adam and Rebeka Cleveland, who were debuting an intense-looking horror comic called The Charnel House. Adam was busting out tons of sketches, switching between an intricate & macabre horror style and a cute 'n cartoony one with seemingly no effort. Definitely a talent to keep an eye on.
I made a point to introduce myself to both Shadowline editor Kris Simon and artist Frachesco, and thank them for running the "Who Wants to Create a Super-Heroine?" contest (just to counteract some of the bitching and moaning that had gone on about it online). Francesco is apparently no longer involved with the project, but I didn't press him for details. He seemed to have positive feelings about it overall. Kris mentioned that all five of the contest finalists had hooked up with artists and were working on pitching their books, which I thought was pretty cool.
Got to have dinner with Gail Simone and the gang from her message board. You can just barely see me peeking from behind an umbrella on the right in this pic. The fellow in the striped shirt with his back to the camera is Gail's husband, who is a hoot. Gail was likewise funny and enthusiastic about Wonder Woman, Secret Six, and her various other projects in the works. Kudos to Honor Brigade writer Tom Stillwell for organizing the dinner, and introducing us to the joys of Chicago-style pizza with giant slices of sausage on it. My arteries may never recover.
Went by Ryan Kelly's table to pick up a couple of issues of Local that I'd missed. He had a sign up that read "Color Drawings - $60, Black and White Drawings - $40, Doodles - Free". So I said, what the heck, hook me up with a free doodle... expecting, you know, some little five second head sketch or something. Instead, he spends the next 15 minutes doing this unbelievably awesome drawing. The guy is nuts. I joked that for $60, he must come to your house and paint a mural on the wall or something.
Said hi to David Mack, and asked him if there was going to be more Kabuki, since the last storyline had a definite sense of closure about it. He said there might be more, but not right away. He'd actually drawn some pages that hinted at future developments, but decided to cut them out so as not to "unbalance" the ending. The extra pages might turn up in the collected edition. Another fan who was at the table joked that the extra scene would be Nick Fury inviting Kabuki to join the Avengers. ;-)
Ran into Will Pfeifer while I was wandering around the publishers' booths. He was at the show to finalize some new projects now that Catwoman has wrapped up, but he wasn't at liberty to say what they were. He showed me the latest pictures of his baby girl, Alison. Will does some work for a local radio station in Rockford, and whenever he brings her around to the studio, they sit her down in front of a microphone and she yells, "Helllloooo, Rockford!".
A rundown of some of the other stuff I picked up:
Fallen Daughters by John Yeo
An angel and a devil fall in love, and have to hide out on Earth from their respective masters. The script is pretty good, introducing the characters and their situation quickly and getting on with the action. There's a good bit of humor, too, which I appreciated (I liked the irony of a demon girl having to hunt for a mundane job... naturally, she ends up working at Hot Topic!). John's art is pretty rough, though. You can tell he's trying to be very edgy in both the sex and violence departments, but doesn't quite pull it off.
Earthlight v.1 and 2 by Stuart Moore and Christopher Schons
A clever sci-fi manga about an international colony on the Moon that collects solar energy to beam to Earth. Lots of political intrigue and action, as well as the expected teen romance. There's some interesting parallels between the station chief, who's trying to keep the colony viable, and his son, who is dealing with various crises of his own. Great art on this one: Schons is adept at both characters and hi-tech gizmos. Due to the shakeups at Tokyopop, it's likely the 3rd volume will be available only as an online comic.
Too Cool To Be Forgotten and Lower Regions by Alex Robinson
Too Cool has kind of a cheesy premise: a man finds himself sent back in time to relive his awkward high school years. It's initially played for laughs, but develops into a surprisingly deep and heartfelt story as it goes along. Lower Regions, on the other hand, is total unabashed fluff: a busty barbarian chick and her sidekick hack and slash their way through a dungeon full of monsters. It's a fond homage/spoof of every cornball sword & sorcery book, movie, and game you've ever seen. Needless to say, it was right up my alley.
My Day by Ol' Fourlegs by Pam Bliss
A cute minicomic about a day in the life of a talking Coelacanth. He eats donuts, tries on a tuxedo, posts on his blog, etc. Pam's minicomics are always clever, odd, and charming.
2008 Sketchbook by John Eberle
Pretty much what it says: Sketches of superheroes, sexy girls, and a couple more abstract pieces. Some of the figure work is a little shaky, but I really like his bold, dark inking. The centerspread, a nude figure drawn in a high-contrast Miller/Mignola style, is especially striking. And I got a big kick out of the cartoon of Spider-Man consigning Joe Quesada to the flames of hell. "Fuck you too."
Johnny Saturn: Synns of the Father by Scott & Benita Story
A straight-up superhero epic, with slick and detailed artwork (nice colors, too!). Parts of it are pretty dark and bloody, but there's a certain tongue-in-cheek quality that keeps it from getting too oppressive. There's a great bit near the beginning where both the hero and his adversary get killed off, only to escape their respective afterlives and return to the world of the living through sheer force of will.
The Caterpillar Space Force of Robots, The Lost Penguin of Elephant Island, Master of Feng Shui, and Journey Along a Field Line by Zander Cannon
Journey Along a Field Line is the latest in the "Zillian Rocket" series of educational comics -- this one about Earth's magnetic field. Lots of deadpan humor mixed in with the science stuff, and am I the only one who finds the buttoned-up scientist Zillian strangely sexy? The other books are minicomics (including a couple of 24-hour comics), all full of Cannon's unique art and quirky humor. Feng Shui is my favorite, a spoof of kung fu movies where the opponents duel by moving furniture around.
Clockwork Game by Jane Irwin
The true story of an 18th century chess-playing robot. Beautiful pen-and-ink work here, and a fascinating and well-researched story. You really get the sense of how fascinating and creepy such a machine must've been to a pre-industrial society.
SubCulture #1-4 by Kevin Freeman and Stan Yan
A comic book nerd meets the goth girl of his dreams, but it turns out to be more of a nightmare. Freeman manages to turn familiar stereotypes into genuine characters. Smart and funny, and Yan's wild, rubbery artwork really puts it over the top.
The Surreal Adventures of Edgar Allan Poo by Dwight L. MacPherson and Thomas Boatwright
A sort of gothic fairy tale with gorgeous painted artwork. While the real Edgar Allan Poe wrestles with tragedy and depression, a "mini-me" version of him fights to survive in some strange parallel world. Hard to describe, but very cool.
Pendragon Book One: The Merchant of Death by D.J. MacHale, adapted by Carla Speed McNeil
Adaptation of a young adult fantasy novel. A modern-day teenager finds out he's the "chosen one", destined to save a magical realm. Well-trod territory, but this is a pretty entertaining spin on it. I haven't read the original novel, but Carla does a good job staging it in comics format, letting the pictures tell as much of the story as possible. Her skill with expressions and body language serve her well here, and there's lots of funny moments as our hero Bobby stumbles and fumbles his way through the adventure.
Chicago was pretty fun. I definitely missed having my pals the O'Donnell's riding along, and helping me man the table. (Karen couldn't make it because she had a karate test that weekend -- everyone congratulate her on making 4th degree Black Belt!) But I managed the drive ok, despite all the construction delays and detours.
My neighbors in Artist Alley were Pab Sungenis, artist of the webcomic The New Adventures of Queen Victoria, and his partner Bryan Irrera (
bfirrera). A couple of funny and friendly guys, a pleasure to hang out with. Pab's two cleverly-titled trade paperbacks, We Are Not Amusing, and I Can Has Empire? were getting a lot of attention.On the other side of me were Adam and Rebeka Cleveland, who were debuting an intense-looking horror comic called The Charnel House. Adam was busting out tons of sketches, switching between an intricate & macabre horror style and a cute 'n cartoony one with seemingly no effort. Definitely a talent to keep an eye on.
I made a point to introduce myself to both Shadowline editor Kris Simon and artist Frachesco, and thank them for running the "Who Wants to Create a Super-Heroine?" contest (just to counteract some of the bitching and moaning that had gone on about it online). Francesco is apparently no longer involved with the project, but I didn't press him for details. He seemed to have positive feelings about it overall. Kris mentioned that all five of the contest finalists had hooked up with artists and were working on pitching their books, which I thought was pretty cool.
Got to have dinner with Gail Simone and the gang from her message board. You can just barely see me peeking from behind an umbrella on the right in this pic. The fellow in the striped shirt with his back to the camera is Gail's husband, who is a hoot. Gail was likewise funny and enthusiastic about Wonder Woman, Secret Six, and her various other projects in the works. Kudos to Honor Brigade writer Tom Stillwell for organizing the dinner, and introducing us to the joys of Chicago-style pizza with giant slices of sausage on it. My arteries may never recover.
Went by Ryan Kelly's table to pick up a couple of issues of Local that I'd missed. He had a sign up that read "Color Drawings - $60, Black and White Drawings - $40, Doodles - Free". So I said, what the heck, hook me up with a free doodle... expecting, you know, some little five second head sketch or something. Instead, he spends the next 15 minutes doing this unbelievably awesome drawing. The guy is nuts. I joked that for $60, he must come to your house and paint a mural on the wall or something.
Said hi to David Mack, and asked him if there was going to be more Kabuki, since the last storyline had a definite sense of closure about it. He said there might be more, but not right away. He'd actually drawn some pages that hinted at future developments, but decided to cut them out so as not to "unbalance" the ending. The extra pages might turn up in the collected edition. Another fan who was at the table joked that the extra scene would be Nick Fury inviting Kabuki to join the Avengers. ;-)
Ran into Will Pfeifer while I was wandering around the publishers' booths. He was at the show to finalize some new projects now that Catwoman has wrapped up, but he wasn't at liberty to say what they were. He showed me the latest pictures of his baby girl, Alison. Will does some work for a local radio station in Rockford, and whenever he brings her around to the studio, they sit her down in front of a microphone and she yells, "Helllloooo, Rockford!".
A rundown of some of the other stuff I picked up:
Fallen Daughters by John Yeo
An angel and a devil fall in love, and have to hide out on Earth from their respective masters. The script is pretty good, introducing the characters and their situation quickly and getting on with the action. There's a good bit of humor, too, which I appreciated (I liked the irony of a demon girl having to hunt for a mundane job... naturally, she ends up working at Hot Topic!). John's art is pretty rough, though. You can tell he's trying to be very edgy in both the sex and violence departments, but doesn't quite pull it off.
Earthlight v.1 and 2 by Stuart Moore and Christopher Schons
A clever sci-fi manga about an international colony on the Moon that collects solar energy to beam to Earth. Lots of political intrigue and action, as well as the expected teen romance. There's some interesting parallels between the station chief, who's trying to keep the colony viable, and his son, who is dealing with various crises of his own. Great art on this one: Schons is adept at both characters and hi-tech gizmos. Due to the shakeups at Tokyopop, it's likely the 3rd volume will be available only as an online comic.
Too Cool To Be Forgotten and Lower Regions by Alex Robinson
Too Cool has kind of a cheesy premise: a man finds himself sent back in time to relive his awkward high school years. It's initially played for laughs, but develops into a surprisingly deep and heartfelt story as it goes along. Lower Regions, on the other hand, is total unabashed fluff: a busty barbarian chick and her sidekick hack and slash their way through a dungeon full of monsters. It's a fond homage/spoof of every cornball sword & sorcery book, movie, and game you've ever seen. Needless to say, it was right up my alley.
My Day by Ol' Fourlegs by Pam Bliss
A cute minicomic about a day in the life of a talking Coelacanth. He eats donuts, tries on a tuxedo, posts on his blog, etc. Pam's minicomics are always clever, odd, and charming.
2008 Sketchbook by John Eberle
Pretty much what it says: Sketches of superheroes, sexy girls, and a couple more abstract pieces. Some of the figure work is a little shaky, but I really like his bold, dark inking. The centerspread, a nude figure drawn in a high-contrast Miller/Mignola style, is especially striking. And I got a big kick out of the cartoon of Spider-Man consigning Joe Quesada to the flames of hell. "Fuck you too."
Johnny Saturn: Synns of the Father by Scott & Benita Story
A straight-up superhero epic, with slick and detailed artwork (nice colors, too!). Parts of it are pretty dark and bloody, but there's a certain tongue-in-cheek quality that keeps it from getting too oppressive. There's a great bit near the beginning where both the hero and his adversary get killed off, only to escape their respective afterlives and return to the world of the living through sheer force of will.
The Caterpillar Space Force of Robots, The Lost Penguin of Elephant Island, Master of Feng Shui, and Journey Along a Field Line by Zander Cannon
Journey Along a Field Line is the latest in the "Zillian Rocket" series of educational comics -- this one about Earth's magnetic field. Lots of deadpan humor mixed in with the science stuff, and am I the only one who finds the buttoned-up scientist Zillian strangely sexy? The other books are minicomics (including a couple of 24-hour comics), all full of Cannon's unique art and quirky humor. Feng Shui is my favorite, a spoof of kung fu movies where the opponents duel by moving furniture around.
Clockwork Game by Jane Irwin
The true story of an 18th century chess-playing robot. Beautiful pen-and-ink work here, and a fascinating and well-researched story. You really get the sense of how fascinating and creepy such a machine must've been to a pre-industrial society.
SubCulture #1-4 by Kevin Freeman and Stan Yan
A comic book nerd meets the goth girl of his dreams, but it turns out to be more of a nightmare. Freeman manages to turn familiar stereotypes into genuine characters. Smart and funny, and Yan's wild, rubbery artwork really puts it over the top.
The Surreal Adventures of Edgar Allan Poo by Dwight L. MacPherson and Thomas Boatwright
A sort of gothic fairy tale with gorgeous painted artwork. While the real Edgar Allan Poe wrestles with tragedy and depression, a "mini-me" version of him fights to survive in some strange parallel world. Hard to describe, but very cool.
Pendragon Book One: The Merchant of Death by D.J. MacHale, adapted by Carla Speed McNeil
Adaptation of a young adult fantasy novel. A modern-day teenager finds out he's the "chosen one", destined to save a magical realm. Well-trod territory, but this is a pretty entertaining spin on it. I haven't read the original novel, but Carla does a good job staging it in comics format, letting the pictures tell as much of the story as possible. Her skill with expressions and body language serve her well here, and there's lots of funny moments as our hero Bobby stumbles and fumbles his way through the adventure.
