Boston Comic Con 2013 (#2)

So, I'm still riding the "Boston Comic Con" wave in terms of blog material. I've been pretty busy since the con. I'm working on Unpleasantpeople.com (there's nothing but a blank blogger page there at the moment) and re-designing my business card (which I will have handy for MICE) as well as more comics to be featured in Brain Parts #5.

Anyhoo, a few more of my favorite things:

Female Judge Dredd

Arthur Dent

Beast Boy

Female Empire Officer

Decked-Out Poison Ivy

Steampunk Mermaid

Blade

 

"Shut up and take my money!"

Tank Girl

Master Shredder

Steampunk Batman

Lady-Riddler

Sailors Venus, Moon and Jupiter

These are some of my favorite genders-swapped cosplays. I know they're pretty much the same costume as the male version, just more fitted, but I like that they didn't give into the pressure to make a conventionally sexy version of the costume. I mean, how many traffic-law-violaters can Judge Dredd blow away while wearing stilettos and a bikini? The guy dressed as blade made some very cool wooden reproductions of the hero's weapons, that I wish I'd taken detailed photos of, as they looked really cool. I was crazy-excited to see Tank Girl (who I would like to be when I grow up) and some classic Shredder and Sailor Shenshi. Oh yeah, and Steampunk Batman? Those wings are totally retractable!

This year I was rather print-happy. I've never really gotten into buying prints at a con, I'm so focused on the comics, but there was such beautiful work for sale, I couldn't help myself.

 

Top left: a print by Emily Smith. I was down to my last spending-bucks when I swung by her table, otherwise I would have gotten more of her stunning prints. She's definitely a watercolor-master, and when I've got the time, I'm looking forward to reading her webcomic, Acanthity. Should have asked her to sign the print. Dammit!

Top middle and right: pinups by Tracy Lee Quinn. I loved the first one I bought, I went back the next day to get another! Yes, that's Jem from Jem and the Holograms on the right. She was selling them for $5, and I wanted to get in there before she realized she could totally charge more for them!

The bottom print is by artist, inker and editor for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (the Mirage years), Eric Talbot. I swarmed his table twice and he was super-cool and signed some of my comics.

 I didn't buy much in the way of comics this year, and I kind of regret not spending much time checking out Artists' Alley. I did, however, snag a copy of "Diabetes is After Your Dick" by the ever talented Cathy Leamy! So, you know, if you have diabetes and a dick, you should probably read this. Even if you have neither, it's still an interesting read!

 Oh yeah, this is a just a little pic of me hangin' with my pal Mike Mignola. No big deal.

My girlfriend Sarah and I bugged him twice, but he was very kind and patient (totally keeping it cool despite the hat-wearing psychopath having a conniption fit in front of him), signing our books and throwing out some self-deprecating humor. In short, he was totally awesome-sauce.

We also met David Mack. I've only read the first couple trades of Kabuki, but he's done so much more, I'll have to raid Sarah's excellent comic collection for more of his work.

Closing out my convention ramblings: some more superheroes in tutus! Enjoy!

MICE 2012

Oooooooh damn, how long has it been since my last blog post? A long time. I don't even want to look. Oh god. Too long.

Here's another Star Trek: Voyager comic to prove I haven't been slacking:

The Borg Queen has SUCH a villain-crush on Janeway!

Well, I'm still alive. Since my last blog post I've finished Unpleasant People #4 ($3 plus shipping), put together Brain Parts #3 ($1 plus shipping), moved to a new apartment, attended the Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo (aka MICE) for the first time and been off-and-on scripting this webcomic idea of mine mentioned in my last post. So, it's not like I haven't been doing anything. I just haven't been sharing it with the internet.

Well, here's the fruit of my labors:

 

 If you'd like to order either of these books, or any of my other zines or comics, or get a full price list of what I'm selling, email me at holly_foltz@yahoo.com

The zombie-waiter cover of Brain Parts #3 is my favorite Brain Parts cover I've done so far. I'm also proud of the Unpleasant People cover. It's a transparency printed with the title and cover image, over a wallpaper sample, so each issue is different. 

 

And here's some of the great stuff I scored at MICE (which represents only a fraction of the kickass art and comics available there. I had to limit myself as, after this last move, I realized I just have no room for more comics).

 

Row 1: "Thrift Store Batman", can't find the info for the hilarious person who traded this with me, "The Plot" numbers 1 and 2 by Neil Brideau 

Row 2: "Strange New Worlds", a Star Trek fanzine edited by the talented Denis St. John, featuring two one-pagers by yours truly, thenkyouvurrymuch, "Klown from the Moon: A Killer Klown Survival Guide" by S.R. Bissette, Denis St. John and Mike Crosier, "The Alfa Bravo Charlies" by Anna Jo Beck, "The Littlest Elder God" by Nathan Kitler

Row 3: "Today is a Good Day to Dine" by Joey Peters, "Darkfull" by Roho and Jamie Hibdon, "Space for Rent in Latveria" by Swamp Thing and Maggie Siegel-Berele

Chad Sell had a wide range of work at his table. The standout work was his digital portraits of the queens from "RuPaul's Drag Race", which he was selling as large and small prints and in booklets ("Chad Sell does 30 Queens"). He also had some great comics, both of the kid-friendly variety ("Kittybunny: the Bag Grab") and of the drunken-superheroin variety ("Fool Girl: of Monkeys and Masks"). It was great to meet him and check his work out!

 

 Joel Gill, a local fellow and art professor who does comics and zines both entertaining and educational (often at the same time!) was sold out of the Black Conservative Trading Card (series 2) packs when I got to his table, but I picked up a printed card of them. They have hilarious quotes and "Abilities & Powers" on the back! Can't wait for series 3!

Jeff Lok, a friend from Center for Cartoon Studies, was tabling with Jose-Luis Olivares and myself and I got to trade with him for two of his great comics ("The Gag Rag #2" and "Oh Babies")! They lure you with the familiarity of the style of early animation (such as Betty Boop and the early years of Loony Toons) only to punch you in the gut with violence and tragedy. Very visceral, very funny and definitely not for the sensitive!

I was pleasantly surprised to see my pal Kenan Rubenstein there, who is responsible for some of the most thoughtful and beautiful comics I've seen at a convention. He was selling his gorgeous new book, "Last Train to Old Town: Chapter 1", hand-made, perfect-bound, full-color. All of his comics have a unique "look" to them (unusual sizes, shapes, binding, etc) and this one is no exception. The ending makes you eager to read more, and I can't wait for the next issue.

 

  

So, that was MICE. A great show, can't wait for next year! Time to dive into Unpleasant People #5! Stay tuned!

the ULTRA UPDATE!

Okay, so I have good excuses this time for the lack of blog updates over the past few weeks! April was crazy! It felt like everything that could possibly happen to me, happened to me in April: did my taxes, got really sick, juggled two jobs for a little while before switching and had two conventions in two weeks! April had its ups and downs, but I'm glad it's May now. I've decided to take it easy this month. I'm also getting close to finishing the pencils for "Unpleasant People" #4. Just a couple pages left. I want to go to the Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo in the fall and I want to have two new books by then (the aforementioned "Unpleasant People" and another issue of "Brain Parts").

Speaking of conventions, I had a great time at the Boston Comic Con and the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art Festival in NYC.

At the Boston Comic Con I tabled with my good pals Matt Aucoin and Jose Luis Olivares. We had a great time and even put together a little anthology called "School Pencil" the night before the con. It was a combination of one-page works from all of us, plus some jam comics. Matt drew the fabulous cover. It's a pretty awesome cover. I don't want to jinx it, but odds are, there will be a "School Pencil" #2.

Some of my favorite costumes from the con here in Boston: Starfleet, of course, I nearly shit myself when I saw a "Stargate" costume (first time I've seen one at a con), also the first time I've seen Carl Sagan cosplay (apparently not a lot of people were recognizing him. For shame, science fans!), I liked that this Harley Quinn was faithful to her costume in the comics and show (I'd seen enough interpretations), the Keymaster is always a hit, where else do you see Indiana Jones face off against Lady Deathstrike, and I loved these Doctor Who ladies (does this mean the Tardis is also the companion?).

A nice fellow named Rich Johnston stopped by the table to chat and shared some fruit snacks with me. If I had known at the time that he was a journalist, I would have tried to act more intelligent. But he did end up mentioning Matt, Jose and myself, as well as some other great exhibitors in an article he wrote about how great Boston Comic Con is. And it certainly was great.


Some of the great stuff I picked up at Boston Comic Con: "A Daley Dose of Monsters" by Rich Daley, "Avra Kedabra Vol. 1" by Elizabeth Neronski, "The Stuff of Legend, Book 2: The Jungle" by Mike Raicht, Brian Smith and Charles Paul Wilson III, "Caroline's Catalog" by E. J. Barnes, "Geraniums & Bacon #6" by Cathy Leamy, "Kristilyn's Burlesque Sketchbook Vol. 1" by Kristilyn, "The Superhighs" by Dani Marie and Jessica Vitali, "A Conversation about Spiders" by Aya Rothwell, "It's A Maglorificent Monday" by Andy Wong, "Inky Stories" by Dave Marshall, "The Underburbs #1" by Joe Haley and T. J. Dort, "Paul and the Reveres Issue 1" by Tina Pratt

MoCCA was a blast, too! Got to stay with my good pals Katherine Roy and Tim Stout (also alumni of the Center for Cartoon Studies). I also got to see my pal Kenan Rubenstein and pick up one of his great teeny comics. If you haven't checked out his shit, you should check out his shit.

A sampling of the great stuff I picked up at MoCCA: "Yasha Lizard" by Kristina Stipetic, "The Island of Doctor Moreau" and "Pugs on Drugs" by Kat Fajardo, "Rat Bastard Part 1" by Cliff Galbraith, "Amelia Part 5" by Denis St. John, "What's Normal Anyway?" by Morgan Boecher, "9 P.M." by Melanie Gillman,  "Franz Kafka's Poseidon" by Jarod Rosello, "Nothing is Private" and "El Diablo" by Luis Enrique Echavarria Uribe, "On the Beach" by Kenan Rubenstein

And since I feel bad that I've been neglecting my blog for so long, here's another comic to close out this post:

I can't stop with the Illuminati jokes!

First Post from Beantown!

Well, I've packed my bags, crated my kitty, hitched up my wagon and headed southwards for new, exciting and exotic locales! But I got impatient and stopped in Boston. I've been in a comics slump recently and didn't produce anything new for a long time. I blame the stress of trying to find an apartment and moving and such. However, I'm settled now and back in the creative head-space. Having the ever-inspirational and talented Jose-Luis Olivares and Cathy Leamy in the area doesn't hurt, either!

Anyway, on to the scribblings:

Kick-ass animator Bill Plympton was at MoCCA last year and I rather geeked-out on him. Poor fella.


I had a sudden inspiration to draw a video-gamey-type character. I'm thinking post-apocalyptic cowgirl wielding legendary MUTANT BUTTER KNIVES!

Boston Comic Con!

At left: me chillin' with some Ghostbusters from New Hampshire.

Got back from Boston yesterday! Matt Aucoin and I had a GREAT time at Boston Comic Con! Saw some familiar faces, saw a ton of new ones, and totally geeked out over some of my favorite artists. Matt and I stayed with our friend and classmate, the incomparable Jose Olivares, who even had a couple hours to table with us on Sunday morning! I feel his presence lent some much-needed credibility to our table!

Below: Matt Aucoin Chillin' with a couple girls I'm convinced represent the future of white-female-gangster-rappers



Matt and I were tabling nearby a couple artists that I've seen at MoCCA and SPX: Cathy Leamy and Joel Gill. I've traded with Cathy before and picked up her very informative guide to eco-friendly feminine hygiene.



I also picked up a pack of Joel's "Black Conservatives Trading Cards" (series 1). Included in each pack is four printed cards and a beautifully screen-printed card. I always kicked myself for not buying these at a previous convention, so I was thrilled to see them there! Can't wait to get the second series!

I got Darwyn Cooke and Frank Cho to sign some of their work for me. I was concerned that I might completely lose it and throw a bra at one of their heads, but thankfully, I kept my underwear and my composure. Well, maybe not my composure. I even got to see Frank Cho do a beautiful pencil drawing of Tigra battling ninjas in a train (done in less than 45 minutes!).


I picked up a sketchbook from Stan Sakai. He had about four or five different booklets he was selling for $10, with his autograph and a cool sketch of Usagi inside!



Also met Michael Dooney, of TMNT fame. He asked me how classmate and former Mirage Publishing intern Melissa Mendes was doing (she's good). I picked up his "Girls I Like" booklet with both black and white and full-color drawings, as well as his "TMNT Sketch Cards" book. He even sketched a couple turtles for me! He was incredibly nice and probably used to pacifying turtles geeks! He even told me I looked like a pinup lady!


I know it's an expectation at these big conventions to see a lot of people in badly-fitting costumes who clearly sleep in them, but for every one of those, there was one really great-looking, well-put-together costume. I thought I would find it a little intimidating, but it was a lot of fun to see all the different costumes and what people did with them. It added a lot of interest and color to the crowd! Plus, how often do I get to meet Sailor Mercury?



Update: Donald Jin, a nice fellow snapping photos at the convention, included a picture of me on his "Project 365" blog. I recommend you hop over there and check out his work, he takes amazing pictures!