The Small Press eXpo is upon us again and I will be attending again. I’m going to be sharing a table (E9) with Jon Lewis, Karen Sneider and Alex Holden. In addition, I will be signing copies of the Mome Anthology at the Fantagraphics table. Click here for the signing schedule. Also, I will be participating in the ‘Not Graphic-Novels’ panel on Saturday at 1:30pm. Details here. Stop by and say hello!
Vague Cities 1st & 2nd Edition (roll over to see back cover)
I was never very happy with the covers for Vague Cities. I liked it conceptually, but the execution always left something to be desired. Not to mention the fact that visually it had little to do with the art between the covers. The cover of the third edition was created to address the shortcomings of the previous editions.
Vague Cities Collection 1st Edition (roll over to see back cover)
It was last minute design decision. Just days before the MOCCA festival, I decided I needed a new cover and that the previous ‘collected’ edition just wasn’t working (I’m ironing out the kinks out of new collection that will appear at SPX… although a ‘test’ edition ‘debuted’ at TCAF… more on this later). I went back to the original small book idea, but with a new cover. I had some leftover black cover stock that I’ve been meaning to use for some time, and a brand new tube of silver Gocco ink. It turned out ok.
Vague Cities 3rd Edition (roll over to see back cover)
This sort illustrates one of the great things about doing mini-comics. Print runs are generally low enough to allow multiple takes on the same book. Every time I sell through an edition, I like to think about the packaging again. I’m not always happy with the results, but it’s always a fun exercise. Why keep the same cover when you can change it? Oh and the new edition of Vague Cities is now available at the robot26.com store.
I will be attending TCAF in Toronto this weekend. Here are the details on the show. I guess I will be in the area known as VC108 and I’m listed as ‘Tom K.’ I will be sharing space with my pals Jon Lewis, Karen Sneider, Damien Jay and Melanie Lewis. If you’re in Canada, come by and say hi!
Over a year ago I was asked by Isaac Cates to contribute to his collaborative comics project Mapjam. The book came out at Mocca this year and because of my recent move I never got a chance to mention it. It was a fun exercise (in collaborative worldbuilding) and there are many interesting contributions. More details and a way to own your own copy can be found here.
a couple panels from Ransom Strange
I almost forgot this, but the new issue (12) of Swindle Magazine should be on the stands by now and it features a 2-page, full-color Ransom Strange story. Ransom Strange is a character I’ve been sort of batting around for a while. I may do more with the character in the near future.
The magazine should be on most newsstands, or can be ordered directly from here.
Panel from Mome 8
MoCCA Art Festival is this weekend and I’ll be there. This year I have an actual schedule there. First I’ll be signing copies of Mome at the Fantagraphics table:
Saturday 12-1 with Jonathan Bennett and Kurt Wolfgang
Sunday 11-12 with Jonthan Bennett
Here’s the full Fantagraphics signing schedule.
Also on Sunday (12:55-1:50) I’ll be on a panel with some of my local cartoonist pals. The full panel schedule is here.
At other times I’ll be hanging out at the table (A50) I’m sharing with Alex Holden, Damien Jay, Melanie Lewis, Jon Lewis, Karen Snyder and Robyn Chapman. Stop by and say hi!
One of my favorite comics growing up was Kajko i Kokosz (I’ll have more about the comics and their creator Janusz Christa in my future ‘Comics in Poland’ posts). I just stumbled on a trailer (high def, youtube) for a CGI movie version of the comics. It looks like it’s relatively well made, with some pretty big stars used as voice talent. Unfortunately it suffers from the ‘uncanny valley’ effect.
The uncanny valley effect describes the way positive emotional response to human-like robots (and other entities like zombies, cgi-humans etc.) turns into strong repulsion as their appearance gets closer to our own. The chart above illustrates the effect. This is something that plagues a lot of CGI movies like The Polar Express and Final Fantasy.
Generally the effect is referred to when looking at humans, but I think the effect can also be applied to originally 2 dimensional cartoon characters who become translated into the (virtual) reality of 3D through the magic of computers. Once they are translated into 3 dimensions, all of a sudden the characters have to acquire additional properties like motion, weight, etc. In 3D space they may have to be seen in angles never shown in the 2D space of comics. In Kajko i Kokosz the 3D models try to be extremely faithful to the comics characters, but end up looking very creepy, unnatural…
… and positively evil!
I haven’t actually seen the entire movie, so I’ll reserve judgment as to it’s quality. But if the trailer is anything to go by, the great characters that I (and other kids) grew up on, are not in this movie.
But what about the kids who will first see Kajko i Kokosz (or any other character) as a CGI puppets? Will they find the comics versions somehow creepy? Can the Uncanny Valley effect work in reverse? If we grow up surrounded by close approximations of ourselves, will we be shocked by our own mirror image?
As I write this the new issue of Mome should either already be in stores, or will arrive shortly. It’s already available via Fantagraphics here. My story in this issue is nine pages long and is titled 10,000 Years. Unlike the story in the previous issue, this one is brand new and created explicitly for the anthology.
A lot of themes you may have seen in my Trans books have been sort smashed into a single dream like narrative. Zombies, Mars, Psychoanalysis, Karl Marx, The Communist Manifesto, Advertising, Consumerism, the Future and the (im)possibility of utopia, they’re all in there one way or another.
I stumbled on an interesting post about Polish comics and comics scene. It’s really just a brief overview of some of the current books found on the shelves of Polish comics stores.
Actually I wasn’t even aware that Poland had any comic-book stores. When I lived there in communist 80’s the only way to get comics from newsstands with very erratic delivery schedules. Instead of going to Catholic school classes, I would always stalk the newsstand in hopes of getting my hands on the latest issues of Swiat Mlodych, or Fantastyka.
In the 90’s, when I’d visit Poland after my family had moved to the US, it always a chore to find a place that would have a decent selection of comics material. Albums and collections were rare in bookstores, and pamphlet comics would frequently sell out quickly at newsstands. Flea markets (especially the Gdansk flea market during the Jarmark festival) would often be the best places to find older and even recent material.
In the near future I hope to do a more detailed look back at the comics I read and collected when I lived in Poland in the 80’s.
