Monday, June 12, 2006

"MoCCA....Is That Like A Coffee Convention Or Something?"

 


Hello, all.

Well, my first Mocca Festival has come and gone and boy was it awesome! I think I had a slightly better time at Mocca than I did at SPX last year just because I new more people so I had more folks to talk to. I completely ran out of the cash I alotted myself for the show and couldn't be happier about it. I got a lot of books that I've been wanting to try but waited because so I could buy them directly from the creators.

After getting off the Staten Island Ferry, I got lost in Manhatten for a couple of hours due to contruction on the subway. Buuuut I finally made it to the Puck building with comic nerds loitering around the entrance. The show was decently packed but having been my first year and can't really do any comparisons. The first familiar face I saw was my new headmaster, James Sturm, who pointed me to the CCS booth where I met and re-met some of my future classmates. Also ran into Robyn Chapman who did a signing at the Alternative Comics booth.

Then I met good ol' Mister Phil from the Indie Spinner Rack Podcast and admired their very spiffy booth, complete with microphone spitguards(I think thats what they are called). I also got to chat with Charlito while roaming the floor. Those two guys were super nice to me and it looked like they got a bunch of amazing interviews during the show but I'll let them have the pleasure unveiling just who.

I also spotted my favorite comics blog The Beat but was too nervous to say hi, I gave enough awkward compliments to artists. Oh, well. Speaking of the Beat, I am really excited about Drew Weing getting picked up by Denis Kitchen's new venture. I can't wait to see what that guy does next. I picked up his Blar! mini at SPX and just fell in love. That guy can draw like no other.

I was pleasently surprised to see Matt Feazell there and he gave me a cool "Have a Day" Cynical-Man sticker that I wore proudly. I picked up some minis from his table including the genius Understanding Mini-Comics.

I would like to give out two no-prizes to the most friendly and engaging creators that I talked to: Josh Cotter and Alec Longstreth. Mr. Cotter graciously drew me an awesome robot sketch and answered my questions about his art. He also took my compliments very well and thanked me a lot for digging his work. Longstreth was also extremely friendly and gave me a free copy of the DVORAK Zine. I also picked up the first 3 issues of Phase 7 from him which were a delight and I certainly will be ordering the rest of shortly.

Finally, I got to meet Peter Rios of Comic Geek Speak fame who was at the hilarious Sal Abbinanti's table. It was great to put faces to all the podcasted voices.

Of course I have a few photos to show you all. I had a great idea of taking a photo of everybooth right down the line and creating a virtual web convention but that seemed a but too ambitious, maybe next year. So, without further rambling, onward to the pictures:

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The Staten Island Ferry (Cheap!)


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Entrance to the show.


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Some wide shots of the madness.


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The CCS booth featuring Jon, Adam, and Colleen. (hope I got those names right!)


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ISR's sweet poster.


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The guys from Dead Fish Comics holding up my very last dollar of the show for a copy of their book, Robots R' Cool Zombies' R' Jerks. I can't wait to read this book. It looks to be very funny.


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Sal Abbinanti and Peter Rios holding up a copy of Sal's book Atomika.


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Liz Prince of "Would you still love me if I wet the bed?" fame. If you've ever experienced puppy-love, Liz's book will bring those warm fuzzy feelings rushing back.


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Alec Longstreth.


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Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey, Creators of the spectacular Action Philosophers!


 


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Skyscrapers of the Midwest's Josh Cotter.


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Goodbye New York....sniff.

4 comments:

  1. i would type an irritatingly long string on AAAAAA's onto my "AAAAAAAAAAAAh fucking Josh Cotter!" but i'll spare you of that, you envious bastard. i'm getting the mother come home tattoo tomorrow by the way.

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  2. microphone spitguards = pop filters

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  3. These comics are killing me!June 19, 2006 at 1:23 PM

    Charles, update me please!

    ReplyDelete
  4. y9yk7dq3xkwvt58e

    ReplyDelete