FLASHed & Girl Through Glass at the Brooklyn Book Festival

Plug, Publicity

bkbf-logoSari and I will be ALL OVER the Brooklyn Book Festival this Sunday (Sept. 18), with two panels and a workshop. In addition, we will be promoting and signing FLASHed at our publisher’s booth. Here’s how it will go down:

At noon, Sari will be on the panel, “Remember All That? A Look Back at New York City,” along with Tim Murphy (Christodora) and Pia Padukone (The Faces of Strangers); moderated by Rob Spillman of Tin House. “New York City is host to grueling ballet careers, riots in Tompkins Square, a political campaign interrupted by a cross-cultural dalliance, and rare encounters of unmitigated beauty.” Brooklyn Historical Society Library, 128 Pierrepont Street. [Full details here.]

Flashed-cover400pxAt 3pm, Sari and I will run a multimedia flash fiction workshop, “Comics > Prose.” Flex your storytelling muscles as you write your own piece of flash fiction inspired by an original comic. One story created in the workshop will be published on the official FLASHed website! St. Francis College Workshop Room 4202, 180 Remsen St. [Full details here.]

At 5pm, I’ll be moderating the panel “The Art of War” with comics journalist Sarah Glidden (Rolling Blackouts), ex-Marine Maximilian Uriarte (The White Donkey), and historical graphic novelist Ethan Young (Nanjing). “Compelling comics can be drawn from conflict zones.” Brooklyn Historical Society, 128 Pierrepont Street. [Full details here.]

The rest of the day we should be at the Pressgang booth, with copies of FLASHed on hands (and hopefully with some FLASHed contributors as well!). Pressgang’s booth is #529, located near the corner of Joralemon and Adams, right in the heart of the festival.

BKBF is always a great event; we hope to see you there this Sunday!

Brooklyn Book Festival
Borough Hall and environs
Sunday, September 18 (10am-6pm, rain or shine)

The VAGABONDS #5 debuts at MoCCA Fest 2016

Comics, Work

The Vagabonds #5This coming weekend is MoCCA Fest 2016, being held for the first time at Metropolitan West (near the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum). I’ll be there with my Hang Dai Editions colleagues Dean Haspiel and Gregory Benton. And I’ll have a couple of brand new books for sale: FLASHed: Sudden Stories in Comics and Prose and THE VAGABONDS #5! We’ll be at table A112 on the first floor.

Here’s what’s featured in this issue of THE VAGABONDS: Last August was the tenth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina’s assault on the Gulf Coast and the subsequent devastation of New Orleans. In this issue, I catch up with four of the main characters from my book A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge. Leo, Hamid, Kwame, and the Doctor have a lot to say about the state of the Crescent City and their own lives.

Another longer piece from this issue is “Fare Game,” a follow-up to Terms of Service: Understanding Our Role in the World of Big Data, the 2014 “graphic novella” I did in partnership with Al Jazeera America and reporter Michael Keller. “Fare Game” (again done with Michael Keller and AJAM), takes a look at ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft, and the implications of a society where we’re all rating each other based on everyday transactions.

This issue features two collaborations with writer Adam Bessie, who is bravely living with a cancer diagnosis. In these stories, Adam and I explore the ways technology filters the experience of living with an illness. Other pieces in this issue include a rundown of the origins and meanings of emojis, a humorous take on steroids in Major League Baseball, the changing nature of Brooklyn, and a selection of one-page comics. THE VAGABONDS #5 is 24 page, full-color, for the low price of $5.

I’ve really enjoyed teaming up with Hang Dai Editions—putting out THE VAGABONDS again, rejoining the comics festival circuit, and reconnecting with readers. I look forward to seeing you at MoCCA Fest and handing you an autographed copy of THE VAGABONDS #5.

Here are all the details for MoCCA and where to find me:

MoCCA Fest 2016
April 2-3, 2016, 11am – 6pm both days
Metropolitan West, table A112
639 W. 46th St.
New York NY 10036

This Saturday: Grand Comics Fest, Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Publicity

GCF-logoThis Saturday, I’ll be in the heart of Williamsburg at the 3rd annual edition of Pat Dorian’s Grand Comics Fest. The original plan was for myself and Hang Dai Editions co-founder Seth Kushner to both be at the festival, but as you probably know, Seth tragically passed away less than two weeks ago.

Seth’s presence at Grand Comics Fest (and going forward) will be sorely missed, but his work will be there nonetheless, including his newest comic, Secret Sauce. I’ll try to have Seth’s other comics on hand as well, including Force Field Fotocomix and Schmuck Comix. And there may be some sort of raffle/giveaway to help raise money for Seth’s outstanding medical bills.

Vagabonds #4As for my own work, I will have copies of The Vagabonds, issues 1-4 (issues 3 & 4 being published through Hang Dai), as well as my books A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge, A Few Perfect Hours, and The Influencing Machine. In other words: pretty much everything!

Other cartoonists scheduled to be at the curated show—which is open and free to the public—include such luminaries as Derf, R. Sikoyrak, Kriota Willberg, Jess Ruliffson, James Romberger, Marguerite van Cook, Box Brown, Paper Rocket Comics, and Ink Brick. Come on by!

Details:

Grand Comics Fest
Saturday, June 6, 12 noon – 8pm
Bird River Studios
343 Grand Street (corner of Marcy & Havemeyer)
Brooklyn, NY 11211

For more information, email grandcomicsfestival@gmail.com.

A.D. to be Featured at the Pantheon Table this MoCCA Weekend

A.D., Comics, Publicity, Work

A couple of days ago I wrote about the two comics I’ll be debuting at the MoCCA Art Festival this weekend. I also wanted to mention a work of mine that, depending on how you look at it, is nearly eight years old—A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge. (The web version appeared on SMITH in 2007–2008, the hardcover came out in 2009.) Believe it or not, the tenth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina is coming up this August, and it’s an event whose repercussions continue to resonate. Apparently, the book continues to resonate as well: just this month, I’ll be traveling to Amsterdam to speak about it and some of my other comics reportage at a narrative journalism festival. The week after that I’ll discussing A.D. with students at a college in Boston who’ve been studying it during this school year.

To commemorate the upcoming anniversary of the hurricane, my publisher Pantheon put together a special oversize “Remember Katrina” postcard, and I’ll be signing copies of A.D. at the Pantheon table on Saturday at MoCCA. Look for me from 2-3 pm at table 405.

One  more time, here are the MoCCA Fest deets:

MoCCA Arts Festival
April 11–12, 2015, 11am – 6pm
Center548
548 W. 22nd St., NYC

katrina-plus10-postcard

Debuting at MoCCA: The Vagabonds #4 and Terms of Service

Comics, Plug, Work

I’m debuting not one but two new comics at this year’s MoCCA Art Festival, this coming weekend April 11–12!

vagabonds04-cover-250pxFirst off is THE VAGABONDS #4 (my second issue with Hang Dai Editions). This issue serves up a spicy blend of journalism, social commentary, memoir, and literary fiction. The lead piece is a new work of comics reportage called “Crossing the Line,” about profiling at the U.S./Canadian border. I’m also very proud of three collaborations with my wife, writer Sari Wilson (whose debut novel is coming out next year!). Throw in a couple of light-hearted travel tips, and The Vagabonds #4 is chock-full of goodies! The Vagabonds #4 is 24 full-color pages, and is only available for sale directly from me, or from HDE.

Terms of ServiceThe other book I’m debuting is the print edition of Terms of Service: Understanding Our Role in the World of Big Data. Between social media profiles, browsing histories, discount programs, and new tools controlling our energy use, there’s no escape from Big Data. As we use technology to record (and share) new information about ourselves (such as FitBit health data), what are the questions we should be asking? What is the trade-off between the benefits we gain from sharing data and how that data can be used against us? And what are the technologies that seem invasive today but in five years we’ll unthinkingly accept? How do we keep up with new technology while not letting our data determine who we are? Terms of Service examines the role of technology and the implications of sharing personal information. Our hope is that it is a thought-provoking field guide to help smart people understand how their personal—and often very private—data is collected and used. Co-produced by myself and Al Jazeera America reporter Michael Keller, the 48-page “graphic novel” follows our comics avatars as we learn about such topics as the “Unravelling Theory” and the so-called “Internet of Everything.” Terms of Service debuted online on Al Jazeera America’s website in late October 2014, and is now available for the first time in print. Editor & Publisher calls Terms of Service “funny, informative, and ridiculously readable,” and Panda Daily calls it “smart, breezy, and beautiful.”

So come get signed copies of both new comics from me at MoCCA Fest (at its swanky new location, Center548, just steps from the High Line). And while you’re at it, pick up new books from my HDE partners Dean HaspielGregory Benton, and Seth Kushner (making his triumphant post-leukemia return!). Here’s a lineup of all of HDE’s debut books.

We’ll be at the Hang Dai table (#314, Third Floor, Yellow Zone) both days, April 11 and April 12, from 11am–6pm. (I’ll also have copies of The Vagabonds #1–3, and my other books, should you be looking for those.)

Once again, here at the key details:

MoCCA Arts Festival
April 11–12, 2015, 11am – 6pm
Center548
548 W. 22nd St., NYC

This weekend I'll be heading to my first SPX in 5 years

Publicity, Travel

SPX 2014Friday, the Hang Dai gang and I will be heading out to the Washington, D.C., area for the 2014 Small Press Expo, taking place September 13–14. This’ll be my first SPX in quite a while—since 2009, to be exact, when I debuted A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge.

In addition to myself, the Hang Dai table will feature Dean Haspiel, Gregory Benton, and the lovely & lovable Christa Cassano. (Of course, schmuck/mensch and Hang Dai original member #3, Seth Kushner, will be absent as he recovers from a bone marrow transplant—next year in Bethesda, Seth!)

We’ll be at table 16B. I’ll be hawking The Vagabonds #3—only available directly from me, and with a free sketch!—as well as The Influencing Machine, copies of  The Vagabonds #1 and #2, and A.D., and A Few Perfect Hours, and, and… You get the picture.

SPX special guests include Jules Feiffer, Lynda Barry, James Sturm, Bob Mankoff, and a host of others—check out the full list here.

Here are the details:

SMALL PRESS EXPO
September 13-14: Saturday: 11:00 am – 7:00 pm;

Sunday: 12:00 pm – 6:00 pm 
$15 Saturday; $10 Sunday (or $20 for the weekend)

Marriott Bethesda North Hotel & Conference Center
5701 Marinelli Road
North Bethesda, MD 20852

Tomorrow: New York Comic Fest, Westchester

Publicity

nycf-poster2014smTomorrow, the Hang Dai gang and I will be heading out to the New York Comic Fest convention, in White Plains, NY. This’ll be my first “mainstream” con in quite a while, so I’m curious as to what the turnout will be like. Other guests include such old-school stars as Jim Steranko, Denny O’Neil, Paul Levitz, Larry Hama, Bill Sienkiewicz, and Fred Hembeck. (Of course, indy coolios like Evan Dorkin, Sarah Dyer, Nick Bertozzi, and Danny Hellman will be there as well.)

Will someone in a Star Wars Stormtrooper outfit buy a copy of The Influencing Machine? We shall see! In any case, I’ll have that for sale, as well as my newest comic, The Vagabonds #3—only available directly from me–and with a free sketch! I’ll also have copies of  The Vagabonds #1 and #2, and A.D., and A Few Perfect Hours, and, and… You get the picture.

Here are the details:

New York Comic Fest
Westchester County Center
198 Central Ave.
White Plains, NY
$25 at the door

Bang! Zoom! The Power of Narrative conference 2014

Comics

Last week I was a guest of the 16th annual Power of Narrative journalism conference, held in Boston at BU. Having seen that last year’s guests included Symbolia editor Erin Polgreen, I was curious about what went on—next thing I knew, conference organizer (and BU journalism prof) Mark Kramer had invited me to be part of it. I’m so grateful I had the experience.

What immediately appealed to me about the conference was its similarity in spirit to the Knight-Wallace Fellowship: an opportunity for me to rub shoulders with accomplished professional journalists and absorb their accumulated wisdom. (Attendees consisted of a number of Boston Globe staffers, but also a large contingent from the New York Times, not to mention dozens of editors and reporters from the rest of the journalism landscape.) Of course, despite my having been on the KWF fellowship, I was (and am) still insecure about my craft. (More about that later.) But during our initial chat it became clear that Mark was familiar with my work. He noted that the inherent intimacy of the comics form taps into the reader’s whole persona, not just his/her “indignant voice”—thus opening up a larger “emotion set.” And in Mark’s opinion, my work was committed to “non-fancifulness.” Welcome news to me!

A week or so before the conference, I sat down for a quick Q&A with conference assistant coordinator Jenni Whalen, in which I discussed my storytelling process, the kinds of stories I gravitate towards, and the challenges of “comics journalism.” They posted the interview on the conference Tumblr.

The conference was a packed two days (I had to leave a day early to make it back down to NYC for MoCCA Fest). I arrived Friday just in time to check into my hotel (the very fab Hotel Commonwealth) and register in time for the opening keynote speech, by Jacqui Banaszynski of “AIDS in the Heartland” fame. Her speech, on courage, craft, & compassion, was an inspiring start. That was followed by an engaging and witty conversation between the TimesDavid Carr and The Atlantic‘s Ta-Nehisi Coates. Both speakers are savvy personalities with approachable manners, able to express really smart things while sounding like “regular guys.” (Carr was seminar speaker last year in Michigan while I was on my fellowship.) Both speakers advised the audience to not get too caught up in technology—people will always want to “gather around the campfire”—and Carr reminded us to “not to forget to imitate a human being while you do your job.” I think the most most trenchant thing I took from the conversation was Carr’s quip about Twitter—especially those who live-tweet from a VIP show or (humble)brag about hanging with X, Y, or Z celebrity: “What you think makes you look cool actually makes you look like a douche.” Ka-zing!

Other keynote speakers at the conference included Raney Aronson-Rath, Dan Barry, and Adam Hochschild. I really enjoyed a Saturday panel I attended on the subject of voice. Panelists included Jacqui Banaszynski, the very brilliant Mark Kramer, and writing guru Roy Peter Clark. The room was packed with deeply engaged journalists, with people (like myself) standing in the aisles. There was a strong point made in the beginning that it’s important to differentiate between voice and “style.” Mark talked about the dry voice of newspapers like the Times and the Washington Post, and how as you reduce the formality of your tone you become more human, inviting the reader to explore more parts of the human spirit. (See his earlier comments about comics.) I thought about the choices I’ve made over the years in framing my stories: why did I tell “How to Star in a Singaporean Soap Opera” in the second person? Why did I tell “Josh and I” from the perspective of my mirror self? I think these questions were all about finding the right voice for the story in question. It struck me that much of the discussion could have been in the context of a graduate-level creative writing course.

Later on that afternoon, I sat on a panel with Kramer and the equally smart Boston Globe reporter Farah Stockman on the subject of “How Much (or Little) Can You Make Up.” We talked about some notorious journalistic made-up moments: Rick Bragg, Patricia Smith, Mike Barnicle. (We didn’t even get into over-the-top fabricators like Janet Cooke and Stephen Glass.) Mark made the good point about Rick Bragg’s unattributed use of an intern’s prose that the piece felt like “the poet was present”—thus breaking the bonds of reliability and trustworthiness.

For me, what came out of the discussion most clearly was that forum matters—a newspaper projects a certain standard of veracity, whereas a single author’s book carries other expectations. As Kramer said, it’s all about playing fair with the reader—one Janet Cooke screws it up for everyone.

This led into a discussion of my practice as a so-called comics journalist—which often results in a messy mixture of journalism and art. For instance, A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge, though based on extensive interviews, research, photographic research, and so on, has a number of scenes with reconstructed (e.g., made up) dialogue. I made those choices for the purposes of the story flow; a much more elegant choice than using caption boxes to summarize scenes or boring panels of talking heads. Comics 101: I always try to show instead of tell. Other examples of this from A.D. include how one of the characters (“Darnell”) is someone I never met, interviewed, or even saw a picture of. (I based his representation on my interviews with “Abbas.”) I showed the audience parts of another section from A.D., where I used the actual incidence of a sign being blown off Abbas’ store to bridge a scene—the sign comes careening down the street into Denise’s neighborhood, setting up an establishing shot of her building. I also talked about how I’ve always tried to be up front and transparent about these practices.

As a counterpoint, however, I showed the group the moment in the story when Denise, scared for her life during the storm, jumps onto her bed, screaming “I’m gonna die in this bitch.” It was such a great line that one of the story’s readers (when it was originally posted online) felt that it was too good to be true, that it took him out of the reality of the story. But then Denise herself jumped onto the comment board to confirm she had indeed said those exact words!

One of the audience members pushed back a bit at my practice, and I didn’t really have a solid rebuttal. I’m still figuring this stuff out—what are the “rules” of comics journalism? In my solo panel the next day, I tried to get into the issue a bit more, showing excerpts of Lukas Plank’s recent comics essay on comics journalism best practices. We agreed that these are issues worth considering, but that pasting an icon on each and every panel to signify whether it’s based on an interview, an audio recording, a scientific paper, first-hand experience, or the “inner experience of the protagonist” would be clumsy, inefficient, and impractical.

The last panel I was on was called “Five Speakers, Five Genres.” My fellow panelists were multimedia producer Val Wang, video journalist Travis Fox, photographer Essdras M. Suarez, and feature writer Meghan Irons, and it was really interesting to me to see how much in all of our practices the demands of “art” converge with the demands of journalism.

I was definitely the “token” comics journalist at the conference, and a bit of an oddity, which isn’t always a bad thing. BBC’s Newshour found out about me being at the show, and on Saturday afternoon I was interviewed by Julian Marshall about my work and comics journalism in general. (I gave Joe Sacco a major shout-out, of course.) Later on, there was a book signing, and I autographed my share of copies of A.D.—as well as a few issues of The Vagabonds #3!

Late that night, I left on the train back to New York completely exhausted and exhilarated—and still confused about what to call what I do.

This weekend I'll be at MICE in Cambridge

Publicity

logo-yellowI’ll be a special guest this weekend at the fourth annual Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo (MICE). Like SPX, APE, MoCCA, et al., MICE focuses on the art making comics as opposed to commerce and memorabilia. In addition to the exhibitor area, there are workshops for children and adults, as well as panel discussions on the craft and relevance of the comics form. MICE is free and open to the public. And for the first time, this year MICE is expanding to two days!

In addition to copies of A.D., The Influencing Machine, A Few Perfect Hours, Katrina Came Calling, The Vagabonds, Titans of Finance, and even Keyhole (!), I’ll be selling homemade print mini-comics of Stowaway, the previously online-only story I co-created for The Atavist last year. I’ll also have A.D. giclée prints for sale—proceeds go to ongoing hurricane relief efforts in New Orleans.

On Saturday afternoon at 3:30 I’ll  be appearing on a panel called Comics and Journalism. Moderated by Dave Kender, other panelists include Colin Tedford and Nick Thorkelson. It’s sure to be interesting.

Here’s an interview MICE did with me. They ask me about being a so-called “cultural ambassador” with the State Dept., my creative process, working with Harvey Pekar, the state of comics today, and more…

If you’re in the Boston area this weekend, come say hi. (And bear with me if I seem a bit tired at the show—I’ll be driving up from Brooklyn Saturday morning with fellow special guests Chris DuffyNick Abadzis, and Mike Cavallaro!)

Details:
Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo (MICE)
September 28–29, 2013 (Sat.: 10am – 6pm; Sun.: 11am – 4pm)
University Hall, 1815 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA

Instead of Coffee, I'll have TCAF

Publicity, Travel

600px-tcaf_2013_prelim_poster_maurice_vellekoop_crop_fullsizeThis weekend, we’re heading to Toronto, Canada, for the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, more commonly known as TCAF. It’s my first visit to TCAF, and my first visit to Toronto since I was a ten-year-old for a hernia operation (!). It seems like I’ve been hearing about TCAF forever, and this year—seeing as we’re in Ann Arbor, MI—it was more geographically feasible to visit. We’re also making it a family vacation, taking Phoebe out of school and everything. We’ll drive up to Toronto on Friday, stay for the festival, and then hang around for another couple of days to see the sights. I’m excited!

My expectation is that TCAF will be more like a European comics festival than an American-style comic convention. (Since I finally made it to Angouleme last year, I now fully appreciate the difference.) My favorite U.S. conventions—by far—are MoCCA and SPX—and I basically avoid all the rest of them when I can. My hope and expectation is that TCAF will join their ranks. The panels and programming look particularly promising—some of the panels I hope to make it to include Gilbert Hernandez, Michael Kupperman, Art Speigelman & Seth in Conversation, and Adventure Time!

I’ll be taking part in a panel myself, called Comics & Politics, on Saturday from 4:00–5:00 pm. My fellow esteemed panelists are Sarah Glidden, Rutu Modan, and Matt Bors, and the discussion will be moderated by Nicole Marie Burton. That’s Saturday, May 11, at the Toronto Marriott Bloor Yorkville Hotel, Forest Hill Ballroom. More details here.

When I’m not at a panel, or seeking out buddies I haven’t seen in a while, I’ll be seated at table #112 in the Atrium, alongside Colosse and Sophie Yanow. I’ll have copies of A.D.: New Orleans After the DelugeThe Influencing MachineA Few Perfect Hours, and a mini-comic I put together just for the occasion. Hope to see you there!

Toronto Comic Arts Festival
May 11-12, 2013
Toronto Reference Library (TRL)
789 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
M4W 2G8