Here Comes Santa Claus


blog-header-11_16_16A DISCLAIMER: 
So we had this here Comic Arts Brookyn report locked and loaded last Wednesday, the 9th. If you live in America and are aware of your surroundings at all, you know last Wednesday shocked the bejesus out of most of the country. Call us cray, but it seemed in bad taste to hit people up with comics stuff while so many were devastated, furious and scared shitless. If America’s new President Elect gives you a happy because you are a white supremacist, a sexist or you’re lookng for a tax cut, please stop reading right now and don’t ever come back here. If you voted for America’s new President Elect because there was no hope that the Democratic nominee would help those left impoverished and desperate in the rust belt and elsewhere, please drop us a line; we can talk about this all day. Really, anyone reading this who wants to chat, particularly anyone who is afraid and looking for comfort or support, hit us up. Secret Acres isn’t exactly a political concern, but we’re not apolitical, either. We can talk about comics, too.

SO. After a week catching our breath, we give you our CAB breakdown, featuring guest co-Scuttlebutter, Secret Acres’ own, Sean Ford, a lapsed Catholic:

Comic Arts Brooklyn marks the end of the yearly convention circuit (Sorry, CALA). Perhaps because of its one-time December slot on the dance card, it feels like a holiday party. A few people mentioned that the room needed some christmas tree lights strung from the rafters to fit the mood. Holiday parties come with end of the year reckonings, weird hats, too much drinking, and evil spirits from the past. We sprinkled ourselves with holy water, said five Hail Marys, and got to the show early, with high hopes.

Perhaps due to the late announcement of CAB this year, (and like eighteen competing comic shows happening across the globe that same day), the show missed a few stalwarts like D+Q, Koyama, AdHouse, Fantagraphics and a spiked punch bowl full of eggnog. Who needs the carbs, anyway? Instead, artist tables dominated for once, interspersed with royalty like Charles Burns, Richard McGuire, and Dame Darcy. This left more time and space to find less obvious gems than one might otherwise.

 

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We visited Kevin Hooyman just to say, “Hey,” only to find that he had TEN (10), as in one per finger, T-E-N (Jesus!), new issues of his excellent comic Conditions on the Ground since we’d seen him last. Catch up with Kevin; this comic exists somewhere between our man Theo Ellsworth‘s Capacity, and the comics of Thomas Herpich (Please make more comics, Thomas Herpich!). We spotted Heidi MacDonald who gleefully remarked that the Mets can now beat the Cubs next year, guilt-free. Leslie Stein sold us some stunning watercolors for far too little money. Noah Van Sciver‘s mustache made its last public appearance. Julia Gfrörer Laid Waste at CAB (which we forgot to bring to get signed, dammit). Darryl Ayo dropped copies of Little Garden and tabled up with old pals Aaron Cockle, Jon Allen, and L NicholsJosh Bayer brought a Ghost Rider watercolor, that was the most beautiful thing on the planet, and a collection of Steven that he got signed by Doug Allen, who was at the show and we missed it somehow. Someone reprint Steven already or we’ll do it ourselves! We ran into Greg Benton and he made fun of us for never having been to Angoulême. Someday, Greg. Meanwhile, Kevin Czap’s comics takeover proceeded apace.

Downstairs, we found Chuck Forsman, Michel Fiffe, and Melissa Mendes slinging their excellent comics to a very constant and pleased crowd. Peow Studio took all our remaining money and gave us a bunch of gorgeously printed, seemingly manga-influenced books. But our biggest spend went to Breakdown Press, where we bought everything we couldn’t afford, notably Anna Haifisch’s gorgeous new edition of the Artist. Find that book and smell it a few times.

 

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At the Acres table proper, Brendan Leach appeared early, sold some copies of his slick, new hardcover edition of Pterodactyl Hunters, and split to go teach America’s youth about comics. Rob Sergel did a brisk business and sold out of his fine Eschew collection, SPACE, his mini, Bald Knobber, and damn near everything else. Sean Ford obsessed about the eyes of Tucker Stone and came up just shy of a Shadow Hills sellout himself. If you allow us one lament: we were too dumb to find Dame Darcy during the day, and too tired for the A+ after party, featuring a triple banjo performance from Dame, Matt Thurber and Jesse Gelber. After the show, we tuckered Acres went out to a quiet dinner, then home early to read Hooymans, giggling ourselves to sleep and feeling okay about our spot in the universe…

 

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Thank you, Comic Arts Brooklyn, all the people there and special guest co-blogger, Sean Ford. You might just get to keep this gig, Sean, now that we’re bi-coastal. As for Los Angeles, we might just take a peak at CALA and report back here for fun. We shall see.

We also promised a sneak peek at 2017. Just remember we told you first, very first of all, that our first book of 2017 will be the Academic Hour. Feast your eyes on the debut graphic novel from Keren Katz:

 

the-academic-hour

 

We met Keren several lifetimes ago, but really got to know her at MoCCA 2015, where she won the Festival Award of Excellence (and, no, steering committee or not, there was no conflict of interest there since we didn’t even get a vote). Newbie or not, you likely peeped Keren’s work in the New York Times, or the Brooklyn Rail, maybe, or in a couple of anthologies from Locust Moon Comics or Seven Stories Press.

The Academic Hour charts the budding love affair between Poethel, a disgraced architecture professor, and his student, Liana, through their notes and letters. It’s all set in a fantastic, logic-defying art college of shifting rooms and secret performance spaces; perfect for an intense, fledgling, morally complicated relationship. Prepare for Keren to romance your pants off.

See you in a few, all you beautiful people…

Your Pals,

Sean and Barry and Leon

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