Subway Sketch

Doodle Diary

Lest I forget...

The May issue of Nickelodeon Magazine, may it rest in peace, included this little cartoon of mine:


I think the June issue's on the stands now, but if you stumble across the May one, check this out on page 25. Nifty, eh?

Panel Discussions

I had a very nice time at MoCCA the weekend before last-- saw great work, made new friends, and sold some books. My tablemate, Isaac Cates, wrote a nice piece about it on his blog, as have many others.

It was frustrating, though, that as an exhibitor I didn't have time to visit every table and I didn't manage to check out any of the cool programming. I'm a guy who really enjoys these panel discussions. Next year, I think I'll just buy a ticket and check out MoCCA from the other side of the table.

Meanwhile, I'd like to post the remainder of my sketches from the New York Comic Con last April and the year before. Apart from the welcome presence of top graphic novel publishers, the comics on the main floor at NYCC are mostly too commercial, too lowbrow, or too garish for my taste (I've already posted a comic strip about that). So I spend most of my time downstairs with the programming, where the real action is. Click on the images to enlarge them. Please help me with the attributions if you see that I didn't get somebody's name or spelled it wrong.


My favorite panel was this one titled "Graphic Novels and Academic Acceptance," which might've been the governing theme of much of the programming this year. I could feel big changes brewing from the year before, as more and more educators are getting involved in the field.
Here we see Greg Urquhart, a Comics Editor at Alexander Street Press; Bill Savage, a Senior Lecturer in the English Department at Northwestern University; comic artist Jonathan Hickman; Gene Kannenberg Jr, Director of http://www.facebook.com/l/;ComicsResearch.org; Kent Worcester, Associate Professor of Political Science and International Studies at Marymount Manhattan College; cartoonists Dean Haspiel & Peter Kuper, and moderator Karen Green of Columbia University.



A close second favorite was this impromptu panel that erupted when a scheduled panel on comics in the classroom was suddenly cancelled. Some teachers in the audience discovered that the mikes were still working and took to the stage to guide a lively conversation where everyone in the room swapped ideas and resources. This enthusiasm for comic books as teaching tools would've been unthinkable even a decade ago. Assuming you can struggle with my handwriting, a glance at my notes will give you taste of what today's educators are passionate about. Here we see a school administrator named Pat (?), a schoolteacher named Lou (?), and Sebastian Mondrone of Teachingmatters.org.


This panel titled "Comics and New Media" focused on the forthcoming, eagerly anticipated graphic novel, "A.D.--After the Deluge" and featured artist Josh Neufeld, Smith Magazine editor Jeff Newelt, literary agent Kate Lee, and Pantheon editor Lisa Weinert.


Here's a fine panel titled "Inkers on Inking" moderated by Andy Schmidt and featuring Bob Almond, Zander Cannon, Mark McKenna, and Nelson DeCastro.


And here we have "Editors on Editing," with Lindsay Kraemer of the Comic Artists Guild, host Buddy Scalera, and comics editors Scott Alley, Glenn Hurdling, Nick Lowe, Mike Martz, and Rob Levin.


"Comics for Kids" featured Franco, Jeff Parker, Jan Jones, Art Baltazar, Chris Giarusso, Chris Eliopolis, and moderator T. J. May.


From 2008, "Using Computers to Draw Comics" with Frazer Irving, Dan Goldman, Lincy Chan, and Hector Casanova,...


"Comic Writers on Writing"with Danny Fingeroth, J.M DeMatteis, Tom DeFalco, Denny O'Neill, Jimmy Palmiotti, Colleen Doran, and Justin (?),...


"Comic Artists on Drawing" with Peter Sanderson, Colleen Doran, Walt Simonson, Dean Haspiel, Jim Lee, and a pretty girl in the audience,...


and "The Art of Storytelling" with Mark Guggenheim, Klaus Jansen, and Andy Schmidt.