MoCCA fest!
Today ruled! Comics rule! Everything rules!
So I get to 25th and Lex, the site of the 2009 MoCCA Art Festival ("art festival" = less nerdy than "convention") and there's a line around the block. I'm like, what the fuck is this shit, last year I just walked in?! 20 minute wait, I joked to the (exceedingly nerdy) guy next to me that it's bad for the kind of people who go to comic cons to be out in the sun for too long, and he responded: "I could care less, I tan really easily." Um, ok?
Walking up to people I really admire but don't actually know that well is kind of hard. But much less comfortable is walking up to random people whose work I am not familiar with. Like if I don't buy something from them, I'll inadvertently make them feel bad. I'm not made out of money, people! I'd love to read your stuff but the fact is that I can't make everyone happy. So I end up buying lots of $1 minis and asking for business cards, because I found out about some great stuff last year doing this.
Everyone I talked to was super nice. It's both insanely inspiring to see what these artists do, and at least mildly discouraging. Not only are they really talented and have good ideas, they are actually really motivated and productive. They do this despite that making comics, or making any art at all (but especially comics) is not exactly a lucrative or even necessarily rewarding endeavor. And despite this still, they have managed to get their names out there all on their own to people like me. It's pretty amazing. Indie comics 4 lyfe.
To sum up: Nate Powell is really nice and Jeph Jacques drew me. The only unpleasant aspect of the entire ordeal was the very overwhelming heat. Take one comic book nerd that isn't the best at the whole hygiene thing to begin with, put him in a really hot room, then multiply him 1000.
loot
So I get to 25th and Lex, the site of the 2009 MoCCA Art Festival ("art festival" = less nerdy than "convention") and there's a line around the block. I'm like, what the fuck is this shit, last year I just walked in?! 20 minute wait, I joked to the (exceedingly nerdy) guy next to me that it's bad for the kind of people who go to comic cons to be out in the sun for too long, and he responded: "I could care less, I tan really easily." Um, ok?
Walking up to people I really admire but don't actually know that well is kind of hard. But much less comfortable is walking up to random people whose work I am not familiar with. Like if I don't buy something from them, I'll inadvertently make them feel bad. I'm not made out of money, people! I'd love to read your stuff but the fact is that I can't make everyone happy. So I end up buying lots of $1 minis and asking for business cards, because I found out about some great stuff last year doing this.
Everyone I talked to was super nice. It's both insanely inspiring to see what these artists do, and at least mildly discouraging. Not only are they really talented and have good ideas, they are actually really motivated and productive. They do this despite that making comics, or making any art at all (but especially comics) is not exactly a lucrative or even necessarily rewarding endeavor. And despite this still, they have managed to get their names out there all on their own to people like me. It's pretty amazing. Indie comics 4 lyfe.
To sum up: Nate Powell is really nice and Jeph Jacques drew me. The only unpleasant aspect of the entire ordeal was the very overwhelming heat. Take one comic book nerd that isn't the best at the whole hygiene thing to begin with, put him in a really hot room, then multiply him 1000.
loot