MoCCA Arts Festival 2017 Programming Announced

Press Release:

Programming for the MoCCA Arts Festival 2017 will take place at the beautiful Ink48 Hotel (653 11th Avenue at 48th street), steps away from our primary venue, Metropolitan West at 639 West 46th Street. Organized by Best American Comics Series Editor Bill Kartalopoulos, this year’s programming will feature spotlight sessions from distinguished creators and historians. A full schedule of events will be released in the coming months.

To view past MoCCA Arts Festival lectures please visit our youtube channel, which includes videos from past speakers Rebecca Sugar, Cece Bell, Fiona Staple, Robert Williams, Alison Bechdel, Bill Griffith, Jillian Tamaki, and many more!

For directions please visit our Directions and Ticketing page.

SATURDAY, APRIL 1 PROGRAMMING

12:30PM / Garamond Room
Reading Without Walls: Diversity in Comics
Gene Luen Yang is the National Book Award-nominated author of graphic novels including American Born Chinese and Boxers and Saints. When he was named the fifth National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, he chose as his theme “Reading Without Walls” to promote diversity in reading. Gene will be joined by a panel including Damian Duffy (Kindred, Black Comix), Hazel Newlevant (Chainmail Bikini), and Whit Taylor (The Nib) in a conversation about issues of diversity in comics. Moderated by Jonathan W. Gray (John Jay College- CUNY).

12:30PM / Helvetica Room
Drew Friedman: Heroes of the Comics
In Heroes of the Comics and his new follow-up volume More Heroes of the Comics, illustrator and cartoonist Drew Friedman has produced a series of affectionate, beautifully rendered portraits of important figures from the history of American comic books, accompanied by short informative biographies. Friedman will discuss selected figures from his two books with Fantagraphics publisher Gary Groth, special guest Al Jaffee, who is featured in the first volume, and Karen Green, ‎Curator for Comics and Cartoons at Columbia University’s Rare Book & Manuscript Library, who provides the second volume’s introduction.

BREAK

2:00PM / Garamond Room
Blutch in Conversation with David Mazzucchelli
Internationally renowned artist Blutch joins us from France to celebrate the publication of his graphic novel Peplum in an English-language edition by New York Review Comics. His work marries the lush grace of an informed observational artist with a playful and sophisticated approach to form that marks him as a devoted maker of comics. In this special event, he will appear in conversation with his friend and colleague David Mazzucchelli (City of Glass, Asterios Polyp) for a conversation moderated by Bill Kartalopoulos.

2:00PM / Helvetica Room
Covering Trump: Steve Brodner Edel Rodriguez in Conversation
Illustrators Steve Brodner and Edel Rodriguez have produced some of the most striking and memorable artwork of this past year’s U.S. Presidential election. Brodner’s work has appeared widely in multiple venues, including the covers of the Village Voice and The Nation. Rodriguez’s “Meltdown” and “Total Meltdown” covers for Time captured key moments in the Presidential campaign, and his stark covers for Germany’s Der Spiegel have been among the most widely seen political images since the election. Legendary art director Steven Heller will speak with these two artists about their careers, their election coverage, and the function of art in politically fraught times.

BREAK

3:30PM / Garamond Room
Fit to Print: French Artists in The New York Times
Art director Alexandra Zsigmond searches widely for artists to commission as illustrators for The New York Times. Over the past several years, she has worked with many artists who graduated from the Haute école des arts du Rhin (HEAR), an art school in Strasbourg, France. Zsigmond’s work with more than a dozen of these artists is currently the subject of the exhibit Fit to Print, hanging at the Society of Illustrators and The New York Times Building. At MoCCA, she will speak with artists including Lucie Larousse, Mayumi Otero, Eugène Riousse, Simon Roussin, and Raphael Urwiller to discuss their unique work, the influence of Strasbourg, and how they collaborate to produce work for the Times.

3:30PM / Helvetica Room
Cliff Chiang Q+A
Comics artist and illustrator Cliff Chiang made his mark working on numerous titles published by DC Comics, including Human Target and Beware the Creeper. He achieved greater prominence with the serial Doctor 13: Architecture and Morality and a long run on Wonder Woman, both written by Brian Azzarello. He currently draws Paper Girls, written by Brian K. Vaughan and published by Image Comics. He will discuss his work and his career with writer and former President and Publisher of DC Comics Paul Levitz.

SUNDAY, APRIL 2 PROGRAMMING

12:30PM / Garamond Room
David Lloyd in the Spotlight
British comics artist David Lloyd began his career working for Marvel’s UK division and then gained international fame with his collaboration with Alan Moore, V for Vendetta. A perennial classic of ultimately hopeful dystopian fiction in the comics form, V for Vendetta has not only spawned a successful film adaptation but continues to provide resonant iconography for protest movements including the Anonymous collective. Beyond V, Lloyd’s body of work includes the graphic novel Kickback and the online comics project Aces High. Lloyd will discuss his work and his career with comics scholar Kent Worcester in this rare conversation.

12:30PM / Helvetica Room
Teaching Comics Internationally
For much of their history, comics have been a self-taught discipline. Now students are learning how to make comics in a variety of academic environments, from dedicated schools to majors to minors to electives. This panel will bring together a group of international comics educators to discuss the programs they teach in and the different ways in which they approach teaching comics. Bill Kartalopoulos will lead a conversation with Jessica Abel (Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, US), Guillaume Dégé (Haute école des arts du Rhin, France), Ben Katchor (Parsons The New School for Design, US), and Merav Solomon (Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Israel).

BREAK

2:00PM / Garamond Room
Rutu Modan and David Polonsky in Conversation
Israeli artists Rutu Modan and David Polonsky are both known for the excellence of their artwork and for their provocative approach to blending historical and current events into their imaginative works. Modan is best known in North America for her graphic novels Exit Wounds and The Property and for her short story collection Jamilti. Polonsky is best known in North America as the art director for the animated film Waltz With Bashir, directed by Ari Folman. He is also the illustrator of the graphic novel based upon the film. Modan and Polonsky will discuss their work with comics scholar and writer Tahneer Oksman (How Come Boys Get to Keep Their Noses?).

2:00PM / Helvetica Room
RESIST!
In the weeks between the 2016 Presidential election and the 2017 inauguration, Françoise Mouly and Nadja Spiegelman edited RESIST!, a newsprint anthology of comics and cartoons, mostly by women. 58,000 copies of the newspaper were distributed for free by a grassroots network of volunteers during the Women’s Marches in Washington and across the country. RESIST! used online networks to solicit contributions and in the process became a new kind of hybrid platform: both an ongoing online forum for urgent expression by diverse voices and a print publication that has its roots in the Sixties underground press. In this special session, Mouly and Spiegelman will discuss the development — and the future — of RESIST! 

BREAK

3:30PM / Garamond Room
Anthologies as Art: Kramers Ergot and Lagon
The great anthologies of comics history — Zap, Weirdo, RAW, and others — have both made an assertion of comics’ aesthetic ambition at a certain time and place while functioning as a personal expression by each series’ editors. Sammy Harkham is the editor of Kramers Ergot, the anthology which, since 2003, has generated excitement with each volume as a strong statement about contemporary art comics in North America. Alexis Beauclair is the co-editor of Lagon, which debuted in 2014 as a risographed encapsulation of French avant-garde comics, and has metamorphosed with each volume leading to the latest, Gouffre. They will discuss their work as artists and editors with Bill Kartalopoulos.

3:30PM / Helvetica Room
Becky Cloonan Q+A
A graduate of SVA, artist and writer Becky Cloonan first made her mark with her collaborations with Brian Wood, Channel Zero: Jennie One and Demo. Her first graphic novel, East Coast Rising, was published in 2006. Her self-published works include Wolves, Demeter and The Mire, which earned her an Eisner Award for Best Single Issue. In 2012 she became the first woman to draw a main Batman title. Following Batman, she did the art for The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys and later created Gotham Academy for DC Comics. She is currently writing the sci-fi horror Southern Cross for Image Comics, and The Punisher for Marvel. She will discuss her career and her work with SVA MFA in Visual Narrative Chair and illustrator Nathan Fox.

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.