NYC – Best American Comics 2016 Signing

The Best American Comics series launches its latest collection with this year’s guest editor: Roz Chast, beloved New Yorker cartoonist and award-winning author of Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant?, at Strand Book Store on Wednesday, October 5th at 7:00 PM. She’ll be joined by the series editor, comics sage and evangelist Bill Kartalopoulos, along with a panel of the artists behind her picks for the year’s best comics:

Liana Finck, author of “All the Paintings Here Agree”
Char Esme, author of “Blinky-Jinks Playhouse” and “Big Rudy’s Cowgirls Club” (with Lauren Poor)
Anne Emond, author of “The Swim” and “Today”

RSVP on Facebook!

Strand Book Store
828 Broadway, New York, NY, 10003-4805
(212) 473-1452

NYC – The Best American Comics 2015 Signing

Press Release:

Best American Comics series editor Bill Kartalopoulos leads a dynamic, fun panel with selected artists from the Best American Comics 2015 anthology at the Strand Book Store on Tuesday, October 6, 2015 at 7:00 PM!

Joining Bill are the longtime New Yorker artist Roz Chast, graphic memoirist of Lucky fame Gabrielle Bell, and the experimental frame-changer Blaise Larmee for a fascinating look at some of the work that went into the past year in words and pictures.

Please purchase a copy of Best American Comics or a $15 gift card in order to attend this event.

RSVP on Facebook!

Strand Book Store
828 Broadway, New York, NY, 10003-4805
(212) 473-1452

NYC – Best American Comics 2014 Launch Party

Raina Telgemeier, Lale Westvind, and Miriam Katin appear at the Strand on Wednesday, October 8th at 7:00 pm!

Press Release:

Strand Hosts a Panel of Experts Celebrating The Best American Comics 2014! The consistently acclaimed series Best American Comics returns to Strand for a dynamic panel. Examining the best in comics both well-known and up-and-coming, Best American Comics 2014 features the same exciting and eclectic mix, as selected by Bill Kartalopoulos and guest editor Scott McCloud. Join us for a an exclusive launch at Strand, featuring an all-star panel of artists and writers like Lale Westvind, Raina Telgemeier and Miriam Katin. The evening will be moderated by Bill, Best American Comics’ editor, publisher and editor of Rebus Books.

Buy a copy of Best American Comics 2014 or a $15 Strand gift card in order to attend this event. All options admit one person. Please note that payment is required for all online event orders at the time of checkout. The event will be located in the Strand’s 3rd floor Rare Book Room at our store at 828 Broadway at 12th Street.

RSVP on Facebook!

Strand Book Store
828 Broadway, New York, NY, 10003-4805
(at 12th St.)

MoCCA Fest 2012 Programming Schedule

Press Release:

MoCCA Fest Programming!
We’re pleased to announce final times, guests, and agendas for our panels and programs at MoCCA Fest this year. We have two buzzing floors of activity, that include downstairs panel discussions as well as our main exhibitor floor upstairs. Whether you’re perusing the show floor for your favorite finds, catching up on the latest with Gary Panter, or learning to make your very own accordion book, there’s something for everyone.

-And Families!
Don’t forget about our Kids Programming on Sunday morning; four devoted programs in a row, designed to be entertaining and fun for the whole family.
–Sunday April 29th, Kids Programs start at 9:30am. Families arriving to the Fest at 9:30am get a special price; $5 for children 6-12 (under 6 free, over 12 normal) with a paying adult.

PRE-SALE TICKETS ARE ONLINE UNTIL APRIL 26!

Look below for a complete run of MoCCA Fest programming. Also, be sure to check out moccafest.org for news!

ROOM A
SATURDAY

11:15 Kids Comics Sarah Couri (NYPL), Jorge Aguirre, P. Craig Russell, Matt Forsythe,
Colleen AF Venable
You know that old cliche about comics not being just for kids anymore? Well, thankfully some of them still are. The New York Public Library’s Sarah Couri talks to cartoonists who have ventured into world of kids comics and books.

12:15 A History of Comics Censorship
Alex Cox (CBLDF)
The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund’s Alex Cox takes you on guided tour of censorship in comics, from Frederic Wertham to Friendly Franks.

1:15 The State of Small Publishing
Heidi MacDonald (The Comics Beat), Box Brown, Craig Yoe, Barry Matthews
What’s it like running a small publishing company in 2012? The Beat’s Heidi MacDonald talks to an array of publishers about the state of print.

2:15 Klein Award
Gary P anter, Bill Kartalopoulos
Gary Panter receives the 2012 Klein Award.

3:15 A Nordic Roundtable
Fredrik Strömberg (SE), Peter Madsen (DK), Kaisa Leka (FI), Bendik Kaltenborn (NO) and Mattias Elftorp (SE)
The comics culture of northern Europe is brimming with energy, talent and innovation, among other things visible in the new anthology Kolor Klimax from Fantagraphics. Come and meet some of the Nordic artists present at MoCCA.

4:15 Harvey Pekar’s Final Projects
Jeff Newelt, Joy ce Brabner, Joseph Remnant , Rick Parker , Sean Pryor, Dean Haspiel, JD Waldman
Celebrating the life and work of comics pioneer Harvey Pekar with his widow, and writer in her own right, Joyce Brabner, joins a group of his artist collaborators.

5:15 Carousel
R. Sikoryak with Michael Kupperman, Domitille Collardey, Shannon Wheeler, Leslie Stein, and Lauren Weinstein. With voices by Julie Klausner, Dave Hill, Scott Adsit.
Live comics brought to life by cartoonists and a team of talented voice actors.

ROOM A
SUNDAY

11:15 Graphic Novels for Young Adults
Betsy Bird (NYPL), Raina Telgemeier, Kevin Pyle, MK Reed, Derek Kirk Kim
The New York Public Library’s Betsy Bird talks to some of the brightest talents in one of comics’ fastest growing demographics.

12:15 To Run a Comic Stop
Alex Cox (Rocket Ship), Tucker Stone (Bergen Street Comics), Thor Parker (Midtown Comics), Gabe Fowler (Desert Island)
Representatives from some of the area’s top comic stores discuss the trials and tribulations of running your own shop.

1:15 Digital Distribution and the Future of Comics
David Steinberger (Comixology), Evan Dahm, Leigh Walton, Brian Heater
A frank discussion about sequential art’s move into the digital age.

2:15 Memoir
Calvin Reid, Derf, Peter Kuper, Jennifer Hayden, Mike Dawson
Maker s of autobio comics discuss filter their lives through sequential art.

3:15 Daniel Johnston in Conversation
Daniel Johnston, Brian Heater
Join the idiosyncratic singer-songwriter for a discussion about his art, including his debut graphic novel, Space Ducks.

4:15 An Interview with Gary Hallgren
Gary Hallgren, Danny Fingeroth
Gary Hallgen, interviewed by Danny Fingeroth, discusses his career from his days as one of the creators of the notorious Air Pirates, through his illustration work for a zillion publications, from the NY Times and MAD through You: The Owners Manual.

5:15 Animation from Augenblick Studios and Ugly Americans
Aaron Augenblick, Devin Clark, R. Sikoryak
Aaron Augenblick (founder of Augenblick St udios), Devin Clark (creator of “Ugly Americans”), and more show animated clips and shorts from their television, film, and independent projects.

ROOM B
SATURDAY

12:15 With Nicolas Mahler and Tom Gauld
Nicolas Mahler, Tom Gauld, Brian Heater
Brian Heater interviews two artists; Tom Gauld of Scotland, and Nicolas Mahler of Austria.

1:15 Checklist for a New Comic: A Guide to Getting Started
Jess Abel, Matt Madden
In this brief seminar, Jessica Abel and Matt Madden will walk you through the many considerations you should keep in mind when you embark on a new comic of any kind. Abel and Madden will help you strategize and come up with a working plan for your next project, and will cover: creative block and coming up with ideas; choosing a format and platform that makes sense; setting goals and scheduling your time so that you can reach them; finding an audience and looking for collaborators and/or publishers. So bring some paper and be ready to take notes on your next big (or small) project!

3:15 Hans Rickheit in Conversation
Hans Rickheit, Brian Heater
Brian Heater takes on Hans Rickheit–musician, performance artist, cartoonist.

4:15 Big City Dare2Draw
Hosted by TJ Glenn & Charles D Chenet
Featuring dynamic figure drawing, with action poses, using props and, then, the signature “Quick Draw” Contests, with all art done on Blue Line Pro boards, for charity. Prizes provided by our sponsors. Dare2Draw is a non-profit, platform organization for artists, providing mentoring, networking and resources for artistic development, while encouraging goo d health and business practices for cartoonists and providing the opportunity to connect with each other, face-to-face.

ROOM B
SUNDAY

9:30 Kids Program: Comics Are Awesome!
John Green (Teen Boat!)
Learn how an idea in your head becomes a comic on a page. John Green and Colleen AF Venable will take you on a collaborative journey through the process of creating characters and stories for comics.

10:15 Kids Workshop: From Concept to Comic
John Green (Teen Boat!, Phineas and Ferb), Colleen AF Venable (Guinea Pig Pet Shop Private Eye, First Second Books)
Kids Program continues!

11:15 Workshop: Drawing with Rick Parker
Rick Parker (Beavis & Butthead, and Papercutz)
Join cartoonist Rick Parker for an insightful, funny and hands-on workshop in cartooning! This workshop is great for cartoonists of all ages.

12:30 CCS Presents: The Expanding Comic Workshop
Robyn Chapman (Center for Cartoon Studies)
If you think that a comic book is just a bunch of pages between two covers, think again!  There is a wide variety of book making techniques that allow you to fold, flip, and turn your comics in unusual ways. Jon Chad, author of Leo Geo and His Miraculous Journey Through the Center of the Earth, will team up with comics educator Robyn Chapman to introduce three unique book forms. Then the workshop participants will construct and illustrate their own expanding comic books!

2:00 A Discussion with Josh Neufeld and Shannon Wheeler
Josh Neufeld (A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge), Shannon Wheeler (Oil and Water, Too Much Coffee Man)
These two creators interview one another about their work in comics, especially as it relates to their approaches documenting tragedy on the Gulf Coast.

4:00 Coming to America
Emma Hayley (Publishing Director, SelfMadeHero)
Reporting on the flourishing UK and European comics scenes and the launch of a new graphic novel imprint in the US.

4:45 Euro comics: Kiki de Montparnasse and the French Comics Scene
Doug Wallace, Jose-Louis Bocquet
Jose-Louis Bocquet (Senior Editor, Dupuis – France / Author, Kiki de Monparnasse) and Doug Wallace (Marketing Director, SelfMadeHero)
discuss the European comics scene and Catel & Jose-Louis Bocquet’s first US graphic novel Kiki de Montparnasse.

NYC – Masterpiece Comics

R. Sikoryak and Bill Kartalopoulos in Conversation at the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art

Thursday, July 15, 7 PM
Admission: $5 | Free for MoCCA Members

Join MoCCA for a special conversation between Masterpiece Comics author R. Sikoryak, and Bill Kartalopoulos, curator of the current exhibit R. Sikoryak: How Classics and Cartoons Collide. Sikoryak will reveal his intensive working process and will discuss the history of parody and adaptation in comics. This live conversation, illustrated with slides, will be followed by a reception to celebrate the exhibit.

Comics chameleon R. Sikoryak inventively adapts canonical Western literature using the visual styles and characters of historical American comic books and comic strips. Among his many works, Sikoryak has adapted Kafka’s The Metamorphosis in the style of Charles Schulz’s Peanuts, Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights in the style of Tales From the Crypt, and the Book of Genesis in the style of Chic Young’s Blondie. These works have been collected in his 2009 book Masterpiece Comics (Drawn and Quarterly) and are the subject of R. Sikoryak: How Classics and Cartoons Collide.

About R. Sikoryak
R. Sikoryak’s cartoons and illustrations have appeared in The Onion, The New Yorker, Nickelodeon Magazine, Mad, Fortune, and many other publications; he’s drawn for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and Ugly Americans. Sikoryak teaches in the illustration department at Parsons The New School for Design. Since 1997, he has presented his cartoon slide show series, Carousel, around the United States and Canada. 

About Bill Kartalopoulos
Bill Kartalopoulos teaches classes about comics and illustration at Parsons The New School for Design. He is a frequent public speaker and is the programming coordinator for SPX: The Small Press Expo and the Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival. He writes about comics for Print Magazine, where he is a contributing editor, and reviews comics for Publishers Weekly. He is a member of the Executive Committee for the International Comic Arts Forum (ICAF), an annual academic conference devoted to comics. In 2008 he curated Kim Deitch: A Retrospective at the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art. He lives in Brooklyn.

About Masterpiece Comics
Masterpiece Comics adapts a variety of classic literary works with the most iconic visual idioms of twentieth-century comics. Dense with exclamation marks and lurid colors, R. Sikoryak’s parodies remind us of the sensational excesses of the canon, or, if you prefer, of the economical expressiveness of classic comics from Batman to Garfield. In “Blond Eve,” Dagwood and Blondie are ejected from the Garden of Eden into their archetypal suburban home; Oscar Wilde’s Dorian Gray is reimagined as a foppish Little Nemo; and Camus’s Stranger becomes a brooding, chain-smoking Golden Age Superman. Other source material includes Dante, Shakespeare, Dostoyevsky, bubblegum wrappers, superhero comics, kid cartoons, and more.

R. Sikoryak: How Classics and Cartoons Collide
June 15 through August 29, 2010

Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art
594 Broadway, Suite 401, New York, NY 10012

212-254-3511

NYC – Conversational Comics

Conversational Comics, the three-panel speaker series sponsored by the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, concludes at host venue Union Pool in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, on Saturday, August 15 at 2:00 pm.

Austin English (Windy Corner, Christina and Charles), Lisa Hanawalt (Stay Away From Other People, I Want You) and Dash Shaw (Bottomless Belly Button, Bodyworld) will talk with comics critic Bill Kartalopoulos (Parsons, Print Magazine) about the relationship between image-making and drawing for comics. How do pictures work differently in comics than they do on gallery walls?

Then stick around to get a book signed, hit the taco truck, and sip a summer drink with our featured cartoonists. This is the concluding event in a three panel series of live conversations with contemporary cartoonists. Do not miss this final opportunity to listen to and mingle with artists currently changing the face of comics!

All events take place at 2:00 pm in the back room at Union Pool. Union Pool is located at 484 Union Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11211, one block from the Lorimer-Metropolitan G and L stop.

Suggested donation for each event is $5. All proceeds go to benefit the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.