MoCCA Arts Festival 2018

I went into New York today for MoCCA Fest. I’d gone to it last year, and enjoyed it, so I went back again this year. Last year, I’d made a full day of it, hitting a couple of museums too. This year, I wasn’t as ambitious and just went to MoCCA Fest. (And I was lazy and took a cab from the train station and back, so I didn’t even get in much walking.)

Last year, I didn’t buy anything at all, nor did I go to any panels. This year, I went to one panel and bought one book, so I did a little better on that front. I bought a copy of March: Book Three, and got it signed by Nate Powell, so that was pretty cool. (I have digital copies of books one and two, though I haven’t read them yet.) Powell was one of their guests of honor, and had some of his art exhibited in the little gallery they set up.

I went to a Q&A panel with Jaime Hernandez, one of my favorite artists. He was there mostly to promote his new book The Dragon Slayer: Folktales from Latin America. He also talked about the new Studio Edition book from Fantagraphics, and about his work in general. I’ll probably pick up the Dragon Slayer book from Amazon; the Studio Edition book looks a little too expensive for me. Love and Rockets has been one my very favorite comics since the early days; I think the first issue I bought was #2, in 1982. I’ve never seen any of the Hernandez brothers in person before today though, so it was really cool to finally see Jaime. I probably should have stuck around long enough to get something signed by him, but I didn’t. I’m way behind in my L&R reading too. I have the whole New Stories series, all eight volumes, from Comixology, but I haven’t read any of them yet. That series ran from 2008 to 2016, so I guess I’m ten years behind. (Geez.)

I would also have liked to stick around for Mike Mignola’s panel, but it wasn’t until 3:30 and I didn’t want to stay in the city too late. I could have gotten something signed by him, too, if I’d wanted. When I first walked into the con, he was at his table, and there wasn’t a line, just a couple of guys chatting with him. But I hadn’t actually brought anything for him to sign. (I probably should have just asked him to sign my program book.) Maybe next time.

Overall, it was a fun little show. Lots of eccentric work on display, and pretty much zero super-hero stuff. A nice change of pace from a typical comic con.

 

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