Tag Archives: Entertainment

24HCD 2014: MAX AT HOTEL MAX Intro: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About 24-Hour Comics * But Were Afraid to Ask

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Just like sex, 24-hour comics are intense and personal. If you have a personal style hidden deep within you, it will emerge, it will explode, during a 24-hour comics session.

A 24-hour comic is sort of like a quickie in the world of comics. This initial activity is not something you’ve carefully plotted and refined over months, maybe years. No, in this special case, it all happens in a relatively short span of time. You go at it for 24-hours and the end result will be you, a spent hulk of your former self, and a new baby.

What happens to the new baby? Well, this comic will still be a little raw but, depending on many factors, it could be good to go as is or it may need to go through the hopper a few times until it gets to where it needs to be.

A 24-hour comic is not some silly stunt. Oh, Lord, no, it’s a sacred activity. It’s a fun activity. It’s an essential activity! It will toss out the old cobwebs and force a cartoonist to stand naked before the world and show it what he or she has got.

And so begins my 24-hour comic for 2014. It is timed to be aligned with the annual international observance that takes place the first weekend of October. Officially, it runs from October 4-5. Mine is still in the ballpark clocking in at October 5-6. The fact is, you can have a 24-hour comic session at any time of the year. Well, I’ve already fired the starting gun in my mind. I’m going from 11am to 11am. I will roughly split this up into four parts. The first part will be, should be, complete before I check in at Hotel Max. With any luck, I can get that posted BEFORE I check in and the rest will be posted as I go and will likely spill over a few days.

The good news, and there’s plenty, is that this comic is part of a bigger comic. Plans are to take this further. We’ll see a webcomic develop in the course of these next months. Well, gotta go for now…

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Filed under 24 Hour Comics, Comics, Henry Chamberlain, Hotel Max, Max at Hotel Max Comics, Seattle

24HCD: Getting Geared Up for Hotel Max in Seattle

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My 24-Hour Comics Day cycle begins tomorrow. However, in an attempt to keep in sync with the official timing of the annual 24-Hour Comics Day, I am beginning my posting NOW. I’ve begun to tinker around and here is a quick intro page. Our main character is Max and he has a very interesting connection to Hotel Max in Seattle. That’s where you’ll find me as I embark upon my own comics odyssey from Sunday, October 5, to Monday, October 6. All coming to you from my stay at Hotel Max.

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Filed under 24 Hour Comics, Comics, Henry Chamberlain, Hotel Max, Seattle

Review: AMELIA: A MONSTERS & GIRLS BOOK by Denis St. John

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Denis St. John is just the sort of cartoonist it is a pleasure to champion. Here’s the thing, there are many, many, many cartoonists who deserve a thoughtful review, especially early in their careers as they are working towards establishing themselves. I support art for art’s sake but I’m most interested in cartoonists creating ambitious work on some level. It doesn’t come down just to issues of craft and narrative. It comes down to issues of vision. Overall, the comic can have a shaggy dog quality to it but if it has that spark, then let that shaggy dog howl! And that’s what we have here with this collection of horror comics, “Amelia: A Monsters & Girls Book.” I say more power to Denis St. John!

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Filed under Comics, Graphic Novel Reviews, graphic novels, Horror, Richard Sala, The Center for Cartoon Studies

New York Comic Con 2014: George R. R. Martin in 1964

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What if you were an eager comic book-reading teenager in 2014 and you were teleported back to the first New York Comic Con in 1964? It was fifty years ago that New York Comic Con first set up shop, arguably the prototype for all major comic cons to come. I was pleasantly surprised to learn today in The New York Times coverage of the upcoming NYCC (Oct 9-12), that the records show something quite special. If you look at the 1964 program for New York Comic Con, on the list of registered participants, George R.R. Martin, just 15 years-old at the time, is the first on the list!

Well, that inspired me to draw the above comic. If two teens were let loose in NYCC ’64, they would have a shot at buying a bunch of copies of Action Comics #1 for a mere $40 each. Today, those same copies (depending upon the condition, blah, blah, blah) would fetch in the neighborhood of $3 million each. Of course, if one of the teens caught sight of Mr. Martin, that distraction could prove catastrophic for their plans. He could squander their chances at millions just to alert the author of “Game of Thrones” to pick up the pace!

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Filed under Comics, Game Of Thrones, George R.R. Martin, New York Comic Con, New York Comic Con 2014, pop culture

Review: GOTHAM ACADEMY #1

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October sees a lot of Batman comics and “Gotham Academy” is one particularly good comic from DC Comics that you will want to check out. What is noteworthy about this one is it really strikes an authentic girl power chord. Every page rings true. You can thank the writing team of Becky Cloonan and Brenden Fletcher. I recently interviewed Cloonan and, as you may know, she’s sure to deliver with girl street cred. Art by Karl Kerschl; Colors by GeyseR; and Cover artwork by Karl Kerschl. Everyone delivers the goods here.

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Filed under Batman, Becky Cloonan, Comics, Comics Reviews, DC Comics, DC Entertainment

My 24-Hour Comics Day Journal at Hotel Max in Seattle

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As the date fast approaches for my 24-hour comics marathon at Hotel Max, I wanted to update you on my preparations. Basically, this is the time to do warm-up drawings and get a good idea on how the storytelling process will unfold. I am a 24-hour comics veteran and each one is different and unique but some things remain constant. You want a great foundation and a great location. I can’t be more pleased to have been welcomed by Hotel Max.

Keep in mind that I’m bumping things just a bit, so I’ll be doing my 24-hour cycle from Sunday, October 5, to Monday, October 6. I will be actively drawing all the way through. Maybe you can find me at the amazing Hotel Max bar and restaurant, Miller’s Guild. I will find a nice spot to draw. I’ll also find some spots around town. The idea is to incorporate as much as possible. I have my basic blueprint and I will allow for things that I see during the night. I’ll be posting updates and then post the 24-hour draft.

Thanks to the sponsorship of my 24-Hour Comics marathon this year by Hotel Max and Comics Dungeon.

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Filed under 24 Hour Comics, Comics, Henry Chamberlain, Hotel Max, Scott McCloud, Seattle

Review: ‘Your Illustrated Guide To Becoming One With The Universe’ by Yumi Sakugawa

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Yumi Sakugawa presents the reader with engaging and helpful guidelines on how to balance your life in her new book, “Your Illustrated Guide To Becoming One With The Universe.” If such a title did not exist before, it seems like it was only a matter of time before someone would use it. How nice that Ms. Sakugawa should enjoy that privilege. Any number of cartoonists could create something similar, and probably more should. What this book demonstrates is an authentic voice speaking to the little leaps of faith that we all wish to take.

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Filed under Comics, Eckhart Tolle, Elliot Bay Book Company, Metaphysics, Self-Help, Short Run Small Press Fest, Yumi Sakugawa

Interview: Bill Kartalopoulos and THE BEST AMERICAN COMICS 2014

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It is a pleasure to chat about comics, especially with someone as well-versed on the subject as Bill Kartalopoulos. For this interview, the occasion is the 2014 volume of “The Best American Comics,” which Bill takes over as the new series editor. I thought I’d take the opportunity to ask him about his thoughts on the term, “alternative comics,” since he led an interesting panel discussion on that topic at SPX back in 2012 entitled, “Life After Alternative Comics.” This was a way to frame the conversation.

Bill Kartalopoulos is a great observer of, and participant in, today’s comics scene. Part of his impressive resume includes being the program coordinator for the Small Press Expo as well as the program director for the MoCCA Arts Festival. Both of these events are essential barometers of prevailing trends. So, if Bill suggests that alternative comics are dead, I listen. Of course, he doesn’t really suggest that, at least not as you might think. But, let me continue…

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Filed under Alternative Comics, Art Spiegelman, Bill Kartalopoulos, Comics, Education, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Independent Comics, Indie, MoCCA Arts Festival, New York City, SPX, The Best American Comics

Review: ART SCHOOLED by Jamie Coe, published by Nobrow Press

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Daniel Stope is a well-intentioned young man from the country who has dreams of becoming a professional artist. Of course, one of the best places to foster, as well as dash, such ambitions is going to an art school. In can be honey or vinegar, depending upon numerous factors. Jamie Coe explores the honey and vinegar of art school in his debut graphic novel, “Art Schooled,” published by Nobrow Press.

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Filed under Art, Comics, Daniel Clowes, Graphic Novel Reviews, graphic novels, Nobrow Press

Review: DEBBIE’S INFERNO by Anne Emond

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In her new mini-comic, “Debbie’s Inferno,” Anne Emond takes us deep into the nightmares and misgivings of a young woman and all we have to do is sit back and be amused. There’s plenty to be amused about since Emond is a crackerjack cartoonist in the vein of Lynda Barry. With a spare line and a whimsical touch, she distills angst down to wise and funny bits.

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Filed under Alternative Comics, Anne Emond, Big Planet Comics, Comics, Comixology, Comixology Submit, Independent Comics, Retrofit Comics, Small Press