Confessions of a Pop Fan

Monday, October 03, 2005

IT'S A SPECIAL LOVE AFFAIR, THERE'S MAGIC IN THE AIR

It's just been comics, comics, comics.

The Stumptown Comics Fest was a lot of fun. The show had a steady stream of people all day, and the guest list was fantastic. I think it could end up being a really strong West Coast contender in the future. I sat at the Oni table and sold several books and chatted with people. Besides the usual Portland suspects, I met cartoonists Jen Wang, Amy Kim Ganter, Clio Chiang, and Vera Brosgol, as well as Jade Dodge, publisher of Cellar Door Publishing (I am scheduled to contribute a short comic script to one of their anthologies). Apparently Scott Mills has moved to Portland, as well, and I finally met up-and-coming Dark Horse editor Katie Moody, with whom I've traded many an e-mail, and comics reviewers Douglas Wolk and Vroom Socko, whom I've read many pieces by. Visiting from Vancouver, Steve Rolston and Sabina Ex Machina apparently challenged Steve Lieber to get a snap of me looking happy:

Joe Nozemack, Oni Press publisher, and myself

I made a brief appearance at the after party, just long enough to remind myself why I don't go to parties very often. After wandering around and not talking to people for a while, I returned home. Escaping cartoonists was not to be, though, as last night I went out to the Bush Gardens to visit my artist pal, and I discovered that the inkslingers who still remained had set up camp there and were murdering pop songs on the karaoke machine. How did I discover this? As I walked in, Craig Thompson was on the mic' singing The Divinyls. You have no idea...

In work news, I am starting Honey Mustard vol. 4 today just as Marc Ellerby is uploading the final files for the short story we've done. I'm stoked with how it turned out. Marc really shines on this. Hopefully the gag will be off soon and we can actually tell you what it's for, but in the meantime, here is a sneak panel: