And, yeah, I got John Higgins to sign my Watchmen #1 that Dave Gibbons signed a few years ago. Now if I could just get to meet that Alan Moore guy…
I think that’s all I’ve got to say about SDCC for now. Now I’ve got some reading to get started on.
Another book I got from Nate Powell was 2010’s Edible Secrets: A Food Tour of Classified US History, which he illustrated for writers Mia Partlow & Michael Hoerger for Microcosm Publishing. It is a collection of declassified government documents with the common theme of food. From the attempted Fidel Castro assassination by milkshake to the Fred Hampton ice cream theft arrest, bizarre secrets abound!
In the absence of both James Jean and advance copies of his new monograph, Rebus, Chronicle Books was offering signed bookplates with pre-orders taken at their booth. I was a bit disappointed about that, but on the positive side - no ridiculously long James Jean line!
I finally got to get my much-loved copy of Meanwhile signed by Jason Shiga. He said that the interview we did with him on Indie Spinner Rack was the most fun one he has done! He told me a bit about what he’s working on next as well, but that’s going to be a while.
One of my most anticipated reads is One Soul by Ray Fawkes from Oni Press. Each double page spread of the book features 18 panels, each following the life of a different character. This could be amazing.
Femina & Fauna: The Art of Camilla d’Errico is a very nice collection of paintings and illustrations by the artist, published by Dark Horse. I think they’ve now sold through the first printing and are preparing a second. It was announced at the show that Camilla’s Tanpopo is going to be serialized on MTV Geek beginning August 8th. And a cool Helmet Girl sketch!
I first met Emi Lenox at Comic-Con two years ago and instantly loved her sketch diary. The first Emitown collection is fun read and it looks like the second volume from Image Comics might be out before year’s end!
Every year there’s some David Choe release at the Giant Robot booth. This year it was the DVD documentary Dirty Hands, directed by Harry Kim.
This year’s Bill Sienkiewicz Sketchbook. Although it has some superhero stuff that leaves me pretty cold, the cover is great and there’s an amazing Stray Toasters piece inside.
After reading several good reviews of First Second Books’ Anya’s Ghost by Vera Brosgol, I sat down in a bookstore and started reading to see what it was like. Before I knew it, a full hour had passed and I was 3/4 done with the book! It’s a fun, charming book and well worth checking out. I know that the book has already gone into a second printing that should be in stores now. And could anyone ask for a better cover blurb?!
Another Image Comics series I’ve been wanting to check out is the crime story Blue Estate, which is one of a slew of recent hit sell-outs the have released. I got to meet a few members of the creative team including Viktor Kalvachev, Andrew Osborne, along with Nathan Fox, whom I met last year, and the aforementioned Toby Cypress.
I had been told that I should check out the Image Comics book Rodd Racer by Toby Cypress (in fact a friend considered it the best book of the year). The art is wild and kinetic, with a loose European, expressionist feel. I got a great sketch from Toby and during our nice chat I learned that he’s a Jersey Shore guy as well. Upon returning to the hotel, I realized that lost in the shuffle was an exchange of money. First thing the next morning, I went back to his table to give him the money, and he was appreciative of my honesty. Always do the right thing.
I got to meet Nate Simpson, who won the Russ Manning Award for Promising Newcomer at the Einser for hid stunning work on Nonplayer. His dad was asking the people on line how they had heard about the book and what they thought about it. It was cool to see such a proud father supporting his cartoonist son. He was adorable.
