Tag Archives: comics

MoCCA Comic Art Festival this weekend!

Events, Exhibitions, Illustration Alumni, Illustration Faculty, Illustration Industry, , , , , , , , ,

The program for this year’s MoCCA Art Festival features a rich mix of animators, cartoonists, graphic artists, and writers. Our special guests include Jessica Abel, Rebecca Donner, David Hajdu, David Heatley, Chip Kidd, Alex Robinson, Frank Santoro, and Brian Wood. Saturday’s program opens with author Blake Bell talking about his new Steve Ditko biography, and closes with Dan Nadel in conversation with Chris Forgues (“CF”), whose comics, according to one critic, “exude the ease of someone just now putting all the pieces together to make for consistent great work.” Sunday’s program opens with an illustrated history of radical cartooning, by social movement cartoonist Nick Thorkelson, and closes with a screening of new animated shorts from Scandinavia.

Parsons Illustration associates will be out in force–Tara McPherson, Neil Swaab, Bob Sikoryak, Jillian Tamaki, Brian Wood, and Peter de Seve–so make sure you stop by and see their work!

The MoCCA Art Festival, now in its seventh year, is an annual fundraiser for the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art (MoCCA). Each year the MoCCA Art Festival Award is presented to a creative figure whose work has elevated the cartoon arts. The Award was presented to Jules Feiffer in 2002, and in subsequent years to Art Spiegelman (2003), Roz Chast (2004), Neal Adams (2005), Gahan Wilson (2006), and Alison Bechdel (2007).

This year’s Award recipient, Bill Plympton, is an internationally renowned cartoonist, illustrator, and animator. His cartoons have appeared in major newspapers and magazines, from the Village Voice and the New York Times, to Vogue, Rolling Stone, and Vanity Fair. He is the author and/or illustrator of numerous books and graphic novels, including Hair High, Mutant Aliens, Tube Strips, and The Sleazy Cartoons of Bill Plympton. He is probably best known for his short and full-length animated films, which include The Tune, I Married a Strange Person, Guard Dog, and Idiots and Angels, which premiered earlier this year. Bill Plympton will be introduced by the animator Signe Baumane.

The 2008 program is being held in tandem with an event at NYU that will take place the day before the Festival officially opens, on Friday, June 6. Sponsored by the New York Institute for the Humanities and MoCCA, “Post-Bang: Comics Ten Minutes After the Big Bang!” features roundtables and presentations on “key trends and debates facing comics in this new, ‘post-bang’ environment.” For more information about this, click here

MoCCA Comic Art Festival
Saturday, June 7th & Sunday, June 8th, 2008
Hours: 11:00am – 6:00pm
Admission is $10 each day / $15 weekend pass (weekend pass only $10 for MoCCA members)
The Puck Building, 293 Lafayette, New York, NY

Programming Schedule
Exhibitor List (Parsons Illustration will be sharing a table with Cat Lauigan at B45!)
Map of Exhibitors
Featured Artist Sketch Table Schedule (featuring Illustration Alum & Faculty Bob Sikoryak on Sunday!)

[MoCCA Art Festival poster art by Parsons Illustration Faculty Tara McPherson and DKC]

Late Breaking News: Illustration Faculty Bob Sikoryak at Comic Book Club tonight!

Events, Illustration Alumni, Illustration Industry, Performances, , , , ,
comic book club

Illustration adjunct faculty Bob Sikoryak will be part of tonight’s edition of COMIC BOOK CLUB at the People’s Improv Theater.  Named as part of the Best New York Press 2007, Comic Book Club is a live weekly talk show about comic books, hosted by Justin Tyler, Pete LePage, and Alex Zalben.  Here’s an excerpt from a recent article in the New York Times:

The show, held in the People’s Improv black-box theater, has a minimal set: Two couches that look as if they were rescued from a 1970s rec room flank a screen displaying computer graphics. An audiovisual booth is situated at stage left and is run by Booth Man (Michael Solis, 26), the self-described supervillain of the troupe because he doesn’t read comics.

Each show is divided into segments including “The Stack,” in which the hosts and guests discuss the previous week’s notable comic books; “The Week in Geek,” about industry news, like, say, a creator’s signing of an exclusive contract, or the new trailer for “Speed Racer”; and trivia, in which an audience member tries to win a $25 gift certificate to Midtown Comics, a sponsor of the show. It’s a friendly quiz, and Mr. LePage supplies obvious hints to stumped contestants. There is also often a musical act.

The heart of the show is the chemistry among the three men, all aspiring comedians, whether discussing the annual, a comic book series’s larger, bonus issue, traditionally published in the summer (Mr. Zalben: “I miss annuals. You don’t get them anymore. You used to expect them every year.” Mr. Tyler: “Hence the word annual.”) or their recollections of a particular fan who has attended nearly every show.

Read the rest of the article here and try to catch the show tonight if you can.  Tickets are only $5!

Tuesday, January 8th @ 8:00 PM
Featuring: Kyle Baker (Plastic Man, Special Forces) & R. Sikoryak (Nickelodeon, Drawn & Quarterly)
The People’s Improv Theater
154 West 29th Street, 2nd Floor
Between 6th and 7th Aves.
Questions? 212-563-748

The Illustration Holiday Shopping List: The Finale

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Here it is, the last installment of the Illustration Holiday Shopping List. Make sure to check the other three episodes in the series!

art out of time

Illustration Faculty Dan Nadel completed his huge compendium work–Art Out of Time–during his time here at Parsons, and it’s a doozy. From the official write-up about the book:

Art Out of Time reprints complete comic book and comic strip stories, most of which are being reprinted here for the first time since their initial publication. Among the artists included are Rory Hayes, Gene Deitch, Dick Briefer, Boody Rogers, and Charles Forbell. In five thematic sections, this anthology is a counter-history of comics, containing nearly thirty often-unknown visionary American cartoonists from 1900 to 1969. These artists foreshadowed and influenced the innovations within the comics medium of today.

You can find copies of Dan’s book (as well as a plethora of other books, shirts, prints, etc.) at PictureBox, his publishing outfit.

blab 18

As previously reported, Illustration Chair Steven Guarnaccia and Illustration Faculty Nora Krug are featured in the latest issue of Blab! Magazine, compiled by Monte Beauchamp. Blab! is an annual collection of some of the finest and most exciting visual work out there today. Steven’s piece focuses on miniature golf, while Nora focuses on a more serious subject: No Man’s Land.

Get your copy from Fantagraphics!

teaching illustration

A plethora of Illustration Faculty members are included in Steve Heller and Marshall Arisman‘s great resource book: Teaching Illustration. The book includes syllabi from an array of Illustration courses and describes different teaching techniques that can be utilized to really help create more productive classes. From the official description of the book:

Teaching Illustration is a must-have for any college-level art instructor. Packed with a wealth of illustration course syllabi from leading art and design schools across the U.S. and Europe, it offers exciting ideas on topics from editorial illustration to animation, books, and the Internet. Each syllabus includes an introduction, course requirements, a weekly breakdown, suggestions for projects, and selected readings–a comprehensive array of topics, reading lists, and teaching tips for courses at all levels. For beginning educators seeking guidance or for veterans seeking new inspiration, Teaching Illustration is essential for the craft of teaching the next generation of illustrators.

Illustration Faculty members Viktor Koen, Trey Hoyumpa (also an Illustration alumna!), Neil Swaab, Nora Krug, and Dan Nadel all have featured syllabi! This is a great book for instructors, students, and anyone interested in learning/teaching more effectively. You can purchase the book here!

bossy bearugly target

Illustration Alumni Sun Min Kim and David Horvath have a ton of their incredibly popular Ugly Dolls available practically everywhere you go, as well as copies of David’s recent book (and toy) Bossy Bear.

You can buy both of these rockin’ items through Giant Robot, but make sure to check out David and Sun Min’s websites as well for news, artwork, and other bits of merchandise that might be out there.

best american comics

While we’re waiting for Illustration Faculty Ben Katchor to finish up his new book, you can check out some of his work in the latest volume of Best American Comics (2007), edited by Chris Ware. Publisher’s Weekly states:

This collection isn’t about such heroes or villains, it’s about humor, fear, the finely observed details of life, and things of a generally more personal and less world-threatening nature. That (as well as a predilection toward Midwestern artists) is what you get when Ware (Acme Novelty Library) is guest editor. The book includes work from 39 different artists, but it’s hard to find a weak entry…

Grab your copy here and then go over to Ben’s website for a comic archive, as well as more news about his goings-on.

The Illustration Holiday Shopping List: Part Two

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Here’s the second installment of Illustration’s shopping list, where we spotlight art, publications, and various wares created by Illustration Department alumni and faculty.

aaron stewart pillowsIllustration Alum Aaron Stewart has created a line of pillows in the shape of fantastic pooches and cute kitties. Here’s an official description:

Created by Aaron Stewart and Hornet Toys, this line of comfy, cozy pillows features our first edition designs of bow-wow-beautiful doggies and purrrfectly snuggle-worthy kitties. PillowPillowPillows make a great gift for family, friends and you (why not give yourself a bone?). They appeal to pet lovers of every age, from cat-crazy kids to pooch-loving grandmas. Our pillows look great on your couch, in your car, on the plane and atop your bed too!

Aaron is hard at work on the second edition, but in the meantime, you can buy pieces from the first collection here. Make sure to check out Aaron’s website as well, where you can submit pictures of your own pet for future pillow immortalization!

lawlor boathouse

Boathouse from The Central Park Drawings, Ronnie Lawlor

Parsons Alumna and Illustration Faculty Ronnie Lawlor has a series of drawings from Central Park available through Gallery 1482, a site that features a variety of artist and graphic communicators. As Ronnie says, “Studio 1482 consists of nine members with one common goal – to communicate visually in new, unique and exciting ways. Each member of the studio works both as an individual and in concert with the other eight. The studio is based on reportage – drawing and illustrating on site. This kind of engagement creates unusual visual solutions that are graphically appropriate for the problem at hand.” Soon, another series by Ronnie, called Sensations, will be made available.

our dumb world

Illustration Alumni and Faculty member Bob Sikoryak contributed several illustrations to Our Dumb World: The Onion’s Atlas of the Planet Earth, 73rd Edition. Bob is also working on some animation and fake archival graphics for the feature film “The Bentfootes,” a dance mockumentary, which will be showing at the Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater, as a part of The Dance On Camera Festival, January 5 and 6, 2008. Program 9 on the festival features the Bentfootes & a few shorts and happens on Saturday, Jan 5th at 4 p.m. (repeats Sunday, Jan 6th at 8:30pm).

Walter Reade Theatre
Lincoln Center Plaza,165 West 65th Street
January 2-6, 11, 18-19, 2008

mr. wiggles 435

Illustration Faculty member Neil Swaab has two volumes of his popular comic, Mr. Wiggles available–Rehabilitating Mr. Wiggles: Vol. 1 and Rehabilitating Mr. Wiggles (Attitude Featuring) (Attitude). An interview with Neil once announced that, “rumour has it Mr. Wiggles may have been born out of some “orgy with Smokey the Bear, Winnie the Pooh, Snuggles the fabric-softener Bear (later murdered by Wiggles, see Vol 1) and a loose female Build-A-Bear.” DNA results are still pending.”

Catch more of Mr. Wiggles here and also make sure check out Neil’s antics at his website.

Chris Ware designs poster for upcoming movie

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chris ware savages

The Los Angeles Times recently interviewed Chris Ware (of Acme Novelty Library & Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth fame) who worked on the poster for the upcoming movie, The Savages. Here’s an excerpt:

Just from your poster, it seems you felt some affinity to the wet, wintry landscapes of the film. It also strikes me that “The Savages,” like your work, is an unlikely mix of funny and sad.

I’m not sure if funny and sad are really so terribly different things; I’ve been to violent films that I find patronizing, dishonest and depressing, yet the people around me are all laughing their heads off. As a half-writer myself, I try not to think of what’s funny and sad in a story but simply to think of what, to the best of my ability, seems truest; whether it’s funny or sad is simply how it settles with the reader. In the wake of any horrible natural disaster some well-known religious figure is inevitably asked, “How can a good God allow something as bad as this to happen?” Really, though, what difference does it make to God whether 10,000 people or 10,000 fish die? Good and bad, like funny and sad, are phenomena relative to the perspective of the organism that’s laughing or dying.

—-

Chris’s work is available through Fantagraphics and you can read other interesting articles/interviews with him here, here & here.

Chris Mautner interviews Monte Schulz

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peanuts

Over at Panels and Pixels, Chris Mautner has posted an enlightening interview with Monte Schultz, the son of legendary comic artist & Peanuts creator Charles Schulz. They discussed the recent release of David Michaelis’ biography about Charles Schulz and the controversy over how the artist was portrayed. Here’s a brief excerpt:

Q: Ok, so let me read to you a little bit of a quote Michaelis gave to me that didn’t make my story. “How could I write a book about a comic strip genius, how could he not be perceived as a complex person? Maybe it’s an overly complex portrait. Maybe it should be simplified. I should have stepped back and let the sun shine in and lighten up a little. That may be an area where the book could have been greater.”

A: Yeah, I think that if he had let dad … this is something we talked about 10 months ago when we first saw the book. If he had just let dad’s life reveal itself, and it’s interesting because David uses this line, “a live reveals.” But he doesn’t do that in this book. He doesn’t allow a life to be revealed. He makes judgements, he interprets, he mythologyzes, he psychoanalizes. David really didn’t have an interest in telling dad’s life story. He had an interest in analyzing dad’s life and that’s different. Because in doing that he becomes very selective with his wiritng. And I think that’s where the error of the book is.

Yeah, he should have simplified this whole thing. You know what he ought to have done, he ought to have taken himself of the book. If David had removed himself and just let dad’s life reveal itself then he could have alowed his readers to make their own interpretations. In fact, David tells you what to think. He is just not content to let the story reveal itself.

_____

Read the entire text of Chris’s interview here. Other reviews & reactions to the book can be found here & here.

(Image by Charles Schulz, courtesy of United Media)

Interview with Marjane Satrapi

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persepolis

The New York Times Magazine featured an interview with acclaimed author and illustrator Marjane Satrapi this week. She talks about her new movie, her views on plastic surgery, and how she doesn’t really like the term “graphic novel.”

Here’s an excerpt:

You’ve just turned your acclaimed series of graphic novels into a full-length animated film, “Persepolis,” an oddly charming tale about the brutal subject of growing up in Iran during the Islamic revolution. Would you still describe yourself mainly as a graphic novelist? I don’t very much like this term of graphic novel. I think they made up this term for the bourgeoisie not to be scared of comics. Like, Oh, this is the kind of comics you can read.

The problem with the phrase “graphic novel” is that it sounds as if it’s referring to a book with X-rated or at least overly explicit content. Exactly. Chris Ware said something great. He said when he hears the term graphic novel, it makes him think of “Lady Chatterley’s Lover.”

Do you think cartoonists have received their artistic due? No. People either like to write or they like to draw. And we like to do both. We’re like the bisexuals of the culture. People don’t have any problem if you are a homosexual or if you are a heterosexual, but if you are a bisexual, they have more of a problem with you.

Read more of the interview here.

Learn more about Marjane here.

See the trailer for “Persepolis” as well as behind-the-scenes snippets here.