• The Intersection of Comics and History: An Interview with Jason Rodriguez, Emilie Haertsch, Massachusetts Historical Society
• Syndicates: Richard Thompson On Ending His Beloved Comic Strip ‘Cul de Sac’, Rob Tornoe, Editor & Publisher
• Home-Schooling, Comic Con Style (Part 1), Ayun Halliday, Motherlode Blog for the New York Times

Event coverage:

• Curls Studio: Recap: Asbury Park Comic Con 2 (photos)
• Curls Studio photos from New York Comic Con
• Hanging Around … Super Art Fight, HoboTrashcan

Kickstarter:

• PLASTIC FARM: Seasons of Growth in the Fields of Despair from Rafer Roberts. He’s looking for a very reasonable $2,000.
  

Upcoming releases:

• Remake: 3Xtra, Lamar Abrams, AdHouse Books, December 2012.

Events:

• Through Dec. 23: Fall Solos 2012, featuring Warren Craghead, Arlington Arts Center, Arlington, Va. One-on-one with the artists Nov. 10 from 4 to 6 p.m.
• Oct. 23: A Dose of Design Inspiration from Comic Strips, with Ross Nover, nclud, Washington, D.C., 7 to 8:30 p.m. Free with registration
• Oct. 26: Bedlam #1 Launch Party with Nick Spencer and Riley Rossmo, Third Eye Comics, Annapolis, Md., 7 to 9 p.m.
• Oct. 27: Annapolis Comic-Con, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Annapolis, Md.
• Oct. 27: District Comics signing at Big Planet Comics, U Street, Washington, D.C., 4 to 6 p.m.
• Nov. 3: Ben Hatke signing, Big Planet Comics, Vienna, Va., from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Big Planet Comics, College Park, Md., from 3 to 5 p.m.
• Nov. 3: Grace Randolph and Jerry Gaylord signing at Third Eye Comics, Annapolis, Md., 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Nov. 10: Cullen Bunn signing for Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe, Third Eye Comics, Annapolis, Md., 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Nov. 12: SHATTERED – The Asian American Comics Anthology Book Signing and Launch, featuring editors Jeff Yang and Keith Chow with illustrator Jamie Noguchi. Busboys & Poets, 14th and V streets, Washington, D.C., 6:30 to 8 p.m.
• Nov. 17: Deadpool NOW signing with writer Gerry Duggan, Third Eye Comics, Annapolis, Md., 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Have comic news or events related to the D.C. area to share? Email me! Submit no later than Monday at 9 p.m. for inclusion each Tuesday, but the earlier, the better! More information is here.

News/interviews/reviews:

• Carver grad, graphic novel artist recalls his creative motivation on former Maryland resident Orpheus Collar, by Jon Meoli, The Baltimore Sun

Event coverage:

• Photos from Richmond Zinefest 2012 by Rusty Rowley
• Panel Patter: Richmond Zinefest 2012 Write-up by Rob McMonigal (His photoset on Flickr)
• Rafer Roberts on New York Comic-Con plus more photos

Kickstarter:

• PLASTIC FARM: Seasons of Growth in the Fields of Despair from Rafer Roberts. He’s looking for a very reasonable $2,000.
  

Upcoming releases:

• Remake: 3Xtra, Lamar Abrams, AdHouse Books, December 2012.

Events:

• Through Dec. 23: Fall Solos 2012, featuring Warren Craghead, Arlington Arts Center, Arlington, Va. Artist reception Oct. 20 from 6 to 9 p.m. One-on-one with the artists Nov. 10 from 4 to 6 p.m.
• Oct. 23: A Dose of Design Inspiration from Comic Strips, with Ross Nover, nclud, Washington, D.C., 7 to 8:30 p.m. Free with registration
• Oct. 26: Bedlam #1 Launch Party with Nick Spencer and Riley Rossmo, Third Eye Comics, Annapolis, Md., 7 to 9 p.m.
• Oct. 27: District Comics signing at Big Planet Comics, U Street, Washington, D.C., 4 to 6 p.m.
• Nov. 3: Ben Hatke signing, Big Planet Comics, Vienna, Va., from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Big Planet Comics, College Park, Md., from 3 to 5 p.m.
• Nov. 3: Grace Randolph and Jerry Gaylord signing at Third Eye Comics, Annapolis, Md., 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Nov. 10: Cullen Bunn signing for Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe, Third Eye Comics, Annapolis, Md., 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Nov. 12: SHATTERED – The Asian American Comics Anthology Book Signing and Launch, featuring editors Jeff Yang and Keith Chow with illustrator Jamie Noguchi. Busboys & Poets, 14th and V streets, Washington, D.C., 6:30 to 8 p.m.

Have comic news or events related to the D.C. area to share? Email me! Submit no later than Monday at 9 p.m. for inclusion each Tuesday, but the earlier, the better! More information is here.

• Xoc: The Journey of a Great White – Review, Comikkazee!

Event coverage:

• Recap: SPX 2012, Curls Studio
• Memories of Asbury Park Comic Con 2 in Asbury Park, NJ, Dre Grigoropol, BUST Magazine

Video/podcasts:

• Two more video interviews from Full Sanction — Ben Claassen III (also linked to above) and SPX executive director Warren Bernard.

Upcoming releases:

• Remake: 3Xtra, Lamar Abrams, AdHouse Books, December 2012.

Events:

• Through Dec. 23: Fall Solos 2012, featuring Warren Craghead, Arlington Arts Center, Arlington, Va. Artist reception Oct. 20 from 6 to 9 p.m. One-on-one with the artists Nov. 10 from 4 to 6 p.m.
  
• Oct. 11-14: New York Comic Con, New York, New York. I know at least Rafer Roberts  and Curls Studio will be there, although I’m sure a few others. I may be there on Saturday.
• Oct. 13: Super Art Fight, Red Palace, Washington, D.C. Doors at 9:30 p.m.; show at 10; $15 and 21 and older.
• Oct. 26: Bedlam #1 Launch Party with Nick Spencer and Riley Rossmo, Third Eye Comics, Annapolis, Md., 7 to 9 p.m.
• Oct. 27: District Comics signing at Big Planet Comics, U Street, Washington, D.C., 4 to 6 p.m.
• Nov. 3: Ben Hatke signing, Big Planet Comics, Vienna, Va., from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Big Planet Comics, College Park, Md., from 3 to 5 p.m.
• Nov. 3: Grace Randolph and Jerry Gaylord signing at Third Eye Comics, Annapolis, Md., 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Nov. 12: SHATTERED – The Asian American Comics Anthology Book Signing and Launch, featuring editors Jeff Yang and Keith Chow with illustrator Jamie Noguchi. Busboys & Poets, 14th and V streets, Washington, D.C., 6:30 to 8 p.m.

Have comic news or events related to the D.C. area to share? Email me! Submit no later than Monday at 9 p.m. for inclusion each Tuesday, but the earlier, the better! More information is here.

• Cartoonist Jeff Kinney’s “Wimpy Kid” Books Started at the University of Maryland, Anna Weaver
  Capital News Service
• The World of Eco-Comics: A Hapless Manatee, Self-aware Dogs, a Chain-Smoking Pig, Marc Silver, National Geographic Magazine (and yes, I also pointed him to Matt Dembicki’s comics).
• Mr. Big: A Tale of Pond Life, Children’s Review, Publishers Weekly

Event coverage:

• PHOTOS! National Book Fest + DC and Philly visits!, Raina Telgemeier
• Raina Telgemeier Signing September 22, Big Planet Comics
• Recap: Baltimore Comic-Con, Curls Studio
• Small Press Expo was so wonderful! Thank you …, Emily Huff/Birds of Yay

Video/podcasts:

• Podcast Special! “SPX 2012,” Big Planet Comics podcast
• Small Press Expo YouTube channel has been posting all kinds of great things, like the video featured above with Full Sanction creators Rusty Rowley and Joe Mochove interviewing Matt Dembicki’s sons Adam and Rome, but also Evan Keeling, SPX Tumblr-master and all-around super-amazing human being Michael David Thomas, Lamar Abrams, Matt Dembicki (minus his adorable children) and RM Rhodes. And those are just the area people! Watch all the videos! I think the rest of the panels and the Ignatz Awards (with, you know, me) will be up soon enough)

Upcoming releases:

• Remake: 3Xtra, Lamar Abrams, AdHouse Books, December 2012.

Events:

• Oct. 6: Richmond Zine Fest, Richmond, Va., 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• Oct. 11-14: New York Comic Con, New York, New York. I know at least Rafer Roberts will be there, although I’m sure a few others. I may be there on Saturday.
• Oct. 13: Super Art Fight, Red Palace, Washington, D.C. Doors at 9:30 p.m.; show at 10; $15 and 21 and older.
• Oct. 26: Bedlam #1 Launch Party with Nick Spencer and Riley Rossmo, Third Eye Comics, Annapolis, Md., 7 to 9 p.m.
• Oct. 27: District Comics signing at Big Planet Comics, U Street, Washington, D.C., 4 to 6 p.m.

Have comic news or events related to the D.C. area to share? Email me! Submit no later than Monday at 9 p.m. for inclusion each Tuesday, but the earlier, the better! More information is here.

Edward Champion writes that he felt the fans came last at NYCC — that it was too commercial and didn’t provide enough social opportunities for geeks to get together. He says that’s because geeks are just a demographic now, a group to be marketed to. And I can honestly see his point, because it was loud and obnoxious (in a not terrible way) and I did feel like I was being sold to at every moment.

But I think it was plenty social. When I first got there, I remarked to my friend that this was like “prom for geeks.” And I meant that out of love, honestly. There were all these kids (and by that, I mean anyone between the ages of 14 and 23) in lovingly-made costumes or just in fun anime-inspired hats. It was definitely a place to show off, to see and be seen, in a supportive place. These kids, I imagine, aren’t the “cool” ones in their everyday lives, no matter how “cool” being a geek is now. This was a place for them to fit in with everyone. And that was awesome.

There were great costumes — certainly, we had plenty of people dressed as Batman and Superman. And there were packs of Jokers (old style and The Dark Knight style) and several Harley Quinns. There were anime characters I didn’t recognize. I saw a great She-Ra and two dressed as Aang and Katara from their days inside the Fire Nation from Avatar: The Last Airbender. I also saw another great Katara in her more classic blue outfit. Everyone I saw looked like they were having fun (or were resting from the aftermath of having fun). It may have been too loud and crowded to make new friends or connections, but I still got a sense of community from being there.

And while I can’t ignore the commercial aspects of it, I didn’t really expect anything else — this isn’t a small con held in a hotel. This is, more or less, a retail show. But I do think it’s the sort of event that it is what you make of it.

I’m still not convinced I’ll go back, but honestly, after recharging, I do realize what a thrill it was being there. It’s not something I need to do all the time, but well … maybe.

(But it’s basically convinced me I probably don’t need to go to San Diego Comic-Con ever.)

We kind of dawdled getting going today, but not in a bad way. I wasn’t particularly eager to get back to NYCC – I mean, it was fun, but in some ways, one day was enough. As I reported on Twitter, we made a stop at The Superhero Supply Co.

I am a fan of the whole 826 project – I mean, kids being taught to express themselves through writing is excellent – and the storefronts are fun. The Superhero Supply Co. is awesome. The sense of graphic design on the packing is impeccable and there is so much fun stuff to look at and purchase. I bought a pair of sunglasses shaped like your typical superhero mask. When making purchases, you have to recite an oath saying you are going to use your powers for good and not evil, and you also have to come up with a superhero name (and yes, they do not let you get away with not coming up with one). It’s delightful fun. I think it was possibly the highlight of the trip for me.

We eventually made it to NYCC in time for the Graphic Novels: A New Literacy panel (and a note to con organizers: Please stop scheduling similarly-themed panels at the same time. This was at the same time as the What’s New at Penguin and DK panel and overlapped with the related What are Kids Reading Now? Graphic Novels and 22 Pages panel. This wasn’t the only instance of this that I saw in the program). The panel was awesome, even for someone like me who is not a teacher, librarian or parent. I don’t really discriminate in what I read – certainly I read a lot of comics but it doesn’t keep me from reading prose either. I think comics can show reluctant readers that reading can be something they love and there are so many great comics out there for older children (for instance, anything from First Second, which does have a lot of comics based on history) that there’s no reason to not include them in an educational setting.

And I think Sophie Brookover of Pop Goes the Library is one of my new heroes. She’s smart and doing great things.

After the panel, we wandered a bit more upstairs. For being late Sunday, it was still surprisingly crowded. I didn’t buy anything else due to exhaustion setting in and just a general disinterest in fighting the crowd more.

Overall, I had a good experience and there was definitely plenty of excitement. But I did leave there thinking “OK, I’ve done this now. I probably don’t need to do it again.” It was too hard for me to shop and other than the few things I bought, most of what was there either didn’t interest me (especially in terms of the small press stuff) or can pretty much be found anywhere. There may have been more, but trying to battle the throngs of people made it difficult to look at a lot of things. I would’ve liked to have gone to more panels, but a lot of them were on Friday or Saturday before I got there (that’s just how the schedule seem to fall).

If I go next year does depend on a lot of things, but I’d be happy to do it if I could just skip the whole shopping aspect and just spend the whole time in panels, screenings and presentations. That seems like where the interesting stuff probably is for me.

But I have no regrets. It was a fun weekend and I’m going to home happy.

In that admittedly bad photo are, from left, Matt Bird, Elizabeth Bird and Sophie Brookover

I wouldn’t mind shopping more, but with such a large, packed crowd, it was hard to look. There didn’t seem to be much of a system to the layout, either. I know there was sort of majors on one side, media/video game companies in the middle and smaller presses on the other side, but everything kind of ran together. Costume booths butted up against retailers selling back issues that were next to an indie creator selling his comic. Or maybe it just seemed that way because of the crowd.

I’m glad it was well attended, but I do wonder how much people are actually buying inside the show. The convention itself is definitely entertainment — lots of good people watching and things to look at — but I know that selling their wares is essential to a lot of the vendors here and I would hate if it wasn’t worth it for them.

Tomorrow, there are several panels I’d like to go to and I think shopping will be more fun once the crowd thins out late in the day (provided that the crowd does thin out by then). I’m glad I have another day of it, sure, but I think people that do all three days by choice are crazy.

I do realize that not every show or convention can be or even should be like my much beloved Small Press Expo, and I’m certainly not an indie snob. But I do think this con may be too big for me overall. It’s been a fun — if exhausting — experience so far, but I honestly don’t know if I’ll go back next year (but since it’s in the fall in 2010, I have what, nearly 20 months to decide).

And on that note, I think I’m done for today.

(yes, some ended up there twice. I will fix that later when I make the photo set.)

It’s huge. I didn’t really expect it to be this huge. And packed. I think we were probably in there at the peak of the crowd (I read yesterday that Saturday sold out and I think weekend passes have also sold out). The crowd is surprisingly diverse — not a lot of little kids with families, but a good mix of genders. I think that’s really neat to see.

I know that these cons have kind of moved away from just comics — there are a lot of video game booths here, and media companies, but I’m OK with that. I think there’s something to be said for the idea of “comic book culture” as a whole. There’s kind of something for everyone here.

I’ve only bought two things so far (other than a cup of coffee — caffeine is fuel) — an Aranzi Aronzo mug and a Gama-Go T-shirt. Neither of which I needed but hey, that’s what this is for, isn’t it?

I think tomorrow is going to be mostly panels, but I’m not really sure yet. I’m a little overwhelmed at this point, but in a good way. Which is why I’m currently taking a break to blog.

But I will be attending New York Comic Con this weekend. I haven’t decided which panels or events I want to attend, but I’ll decide once I get there.

I’m excited about this. I didn’t go last year so after some waffling I decided just to do it.

I will have my shiny new MSI Wind with me, as well as a camera. I will re-activate my Twitter account so feel free to follow me there (updates will show up here around midnight each day). The amount of actual blogging I do depends on many things.

I’d tell you to say hi, but that means you’d have to recognize me. But if you’re going, I’ll see you there. Even if neither of us actually realizes it.