I went to MoCCA for the first time this year. It wasn't as chaotic as the recent New York Comic Con, but there was a lot of people there.


I wasn't really into mini-comics until last year. I started buying from Forbidden Planet regularly since they carried a wider variety of comics than my local comic shop. I was amazed by all these different people who had aspirations of making comics, like I did, but actually doing them on their own terms. I was pretty excited to go to MoCCA this year since a lot of my favorite artists would be there with new stuff. I quickly made my rounds, because being in crowded area with a bag full comics can get tiresome.

I bought:
-Duddits (a jam comic with Maris Wicks & Joe Quiones) and I Was A Teenage Comic Nerd by Liz Prince (comicnrrd on LJ). I also copped a T-shirt she designed for one of my sisters, who's also a fan of her work.
-Jam In The Band, Vol. 1 and My Raimi's True by Robin Enrico (emodudley on LJ)
-Nurse Nurse #2 by Katie Skelly (calico_comics on LJ)
-My Brain Hurts #8 & 9 by Liz Baillie (lizbaillie on LJ)
-Tear-Stained Make Up #7, Carl's Large Story #3 and Carl Is The Awesome by Marcos Perez (marcosperez on LJ)
-Happy Town, Book 2 by Justin Madson (justmadbooks on LJ)
-Too Cool To Be Forgotten by Alex Robinson (alexbot3000 on LJ)

I took a chance and bought comics by people I wasn't familiar with. I bought Clowns by Louis Peterson. He was handing out postcards advertising his book. He also gave out a free comic called The Detective. Check out his site, LP Comic Ink, for samples of his work.

I also bought Templar, Arizona by Spike. I had seen her webcomic before, but I couldn't remember where. She was one of the few Black artists I had seen at MoCCA. Her table always had a small crowd in front of it. She had a crazy story to tell for everyone who picked up her book. The story she told me was about a security guard at an aquarium who watched an octopus crawl out of its tank. It crawled over to a fish tank, ate some fish and crawled back into its own tank. As she's telling the story, she sketched a little octopus in the copy that I bought. Her art is great, but I think she sold books on the strength of her personality. Check her site, Templar, AZ.

After I left MoCCA, I headed to the movies. I couldn't really make up my mind what I wanted to see. At first, I was going to see the new Adam Sandler movie, You Don't Mess With The Zohan. Then, I remembered Baby Mama (with Tina Fey and Amy Pohler), Son Of Rambow, and Mister Lonely (with Diego Luna and Samantha Morton) were still playing. Eventually I settled on seeing My Blueberry Nights again. It's not Wong Kai Wai's best work, but it is one of my favorite films that he directed, along with Chung King Express and 2046. I think it was smart of him to have Norah Jones' character take a backseat when she shared scenes with more seasoned actors. Even though he didn't work with his usual cinematographer, Christopher Doyle, it looks amazing. He managed to make the beautiful women (Norah Jones, Natalie Portman, Rachel Weisz and Chan Marshall a.k.a. Cat Power) even more alluring. I still think David Strathairn gave the best performance in the film. His storyline was so sad and tragic. I remember Richard Roeper saying that Rachel Weisz was miscast. I disagree. She was chewing up the scenery, but she was playing a character that was a throwback to movies from the 1940's. I think that's what Wong Kar Wai was going for. Weisz's character was named Sue Lynne, which is probably the Americanized version of Su Lizen, a name Wong Kar Wai also used in In The Mood For Love, Days Of Being Wild and 2046.While I loved Natalie Portman's character, her storyline wasn't as well developed as the others. It felt like something was missing. Her character was like a female version of Sawyer from Lost. Jude Law doesn't annoy me anymore, especially since he stopped trying to be in every movie being put out. I gotta give credit where credit's due. He's a damn good actor. And he got to kiss both Norah Jones and Chan Marshall in the same film. I thought it was interesting that both his love interests were played by musicians. I don't think that was a coincidence. I loved how Wong Kar Wai used his trademark slow motion sequences in a different way by having it be from POV of the security camera in Jude Law's diner. And the scenes where Norah Jones is sleeping at the counter in the diner with ice cream on her lips inspired both laughs and dirty thoughts. This will be out on DVD at the end of the month. I'm definitely buying it.

P.S.

Kiwi Gummy is the best candy in the world.


My favorite new drink