So, this is a Blog Recap of the Philly Alternative Comic Con that happened not this most recent weekend ago but the one before. GCPMer Josh Burggraf represented with a small sampling of Gold County products plus some of his own. This post initially lived on his site, but the earthquake and other acts of God have kept that site disabled. So. Here it is again, and with some additions and modifications:
First things First. In GCPM news, the table SOLD OUT of the Shaman Thunders(collab zine by Burggraf/Cardini)
Secondly, both Burggraf and Cardini were still being represented elsewhere at the show in copies Math Fiction, a 3D comic made in collaboration with Pat Aulisio and Ian Harker. AND NOW TO THE SHOW:
JOSH:
I didn't take any photos at the event Proper, but I'll steal somebody else's.
So everybodys talkin bout how it was raining, and it was. It was nasty. The water from the sky could've ruined everything, but it didn't. People came anyway, seemed excited enough to be there, it was cool. Pat Aulisio gets plenny credit for making things work/run smooth, also, for being a much better drummer than he made it seem like he was gonna be. Him and Hope Mountain's Mike Turzanski played while Bob Pistilli did some vocals and mouth harping at the GRAWLIX ceremony on Sat, wherein which awards were awarded and drinks got drunk.
At the show me and Victor Kerlow shared a table, and the legendary Sasquatch in the forest Steve Fuentes seemed never far away. Had u not known what I looked like, u prolly thought he was me, when I had to get up and move around from sweating. But he wasn't-this was me:
PHOTO Courtesy of the FTW archives, taken Friday night. Big thank yous to the whole GPC, who stepped in at the last minute to save days and avert printing disasters that will not be named. Also big thanks to Eric Watkins for runnin round in a strange land with me, finding new ways to make life interesting, many a pleasant repasts.
THE FRUITS OF ALL LABORS
Immediately after taking the photo I thought of a few things I forgot to put in it, but its too late now, no turning back. Lot of cool things there, My personal favorite was
1.SF #1 by Ryan Cecil Smith. Love the art, the writing, the overall execution. He nailed the tone. It's ridiculous without being tongue-in-cheek, it knows what it's doing, and it flows really well. He even did a page of trading cards of his characters at the back.
2.Suspect Device, the Nancy book that Josh Bayer and Edwin Vazquez put together is such a cool anthology, Im really proud to be in it. Read their breakdown of what is, maybe think about owning it. Josh also had ROM which is a reinterpretation of ROM #29 and should be seen to be loved. Edwin had "Johnny is Dead" which is an intense violent poem comic, with art that hist you in the eyeballs. Both Josh and Edwin kind of have that hit you in the eyeballs thing going on, and I'm loving it.
3.HOPE MOUNTAIN dudes Pete Lazarski. and Mike Turzanski blessed me with shirts and comics and a free newspaper that currently has a more of a single page illustration bent, but I'm told they're lookin for more comics submissions, so Im gonna.
4.Heather Benjamin's Sad Sex #9 won a Grawlix, or one of them did, and its prolly cuz its so well drawn and so gross.
5.Jo Jo Sherrow's Captcha comics were a cool thing I'd never seen before. The way she tells the stories bounce around frenetically but in a way that holds together, I dunno, hard to put it into words. I like her drawins a lot tho. That was somethin I rilly liked about PAAC, I saw a bunch of comics I'd never seen before...felt like I was in the right mix.
6.I also really like Mooshe Nickerson's drawings in What Else are Girlfriends for? A loose, expressive zine, real upfront and direct, all drawins-no words.
7.Was good to meet Mike Sgier at the show, his DIG looks real sharp, hes got a space buccaneer plot that he weaves together effortlessly, a lot of cool character and he's playing with his tones and his blacks in inventive ways.
8.Rob Corradetti's KILLER ACID brand provided me with a rockin shirt. So did The Philadelphia Cartoonist Society
9.Ian Harker's Art Object wasn't new to this PACC, but I didn't have it, and now that I do, Im a happy guy. This is one of Ian's comics(mangaka) where he grafts his panels onto dimensional rectangles, and plus also its got espionage and gunfights and a firehose....man what a great comic, ure gonna love it!
10.Kevin Czapiewski's Waffle rounds it out as one of the most pleasant surprises. An unassuming cover gives way to a comic focusing on two women gettin graphically romantic. Its neither sweet nor dirty, and its both, if that makes any sense.
