browsing @Celebrated Summer |
Welcome to the SPXPlosion! Brian Ralph not included. |
Ramsey Beyer |
Liz Prince, Tony Pence, onlooker, Ben Claussen/Dirt Farm, Rachel/Atomic Books |
Josh Bayer |
da crowd |
Noah Van Scriver |
from The Hypo |
Box Brown |
Derf! |
If you don't love comics, you're not on my list.
When I was working as a public librarian years ago I had a conversation with one of my co-workers about liking Archie comics. She said she did, too, but that was ages ago. "What happened?" I asked. She replied something along the lines of, "When you're a child, you like childish things," and implied she is no longer a child. My heart barfed.
I am a grown-ass woman who loves and enjoys reading comics. I love family-friendly, animal-based comics (Garfield, Heathcliff); I love adult, mature-reader-only comics (Chester Brown, ol' Danny Clowes, Hernandez Bros. [I'm looking at you, Gilbert!]). I love comics and graphic novels and I can't get enough.
For the past couple of years I've been keen on going to Atomic Book's SPXplosion, a comics event held at the store the eve of the SPXPO. The artists and presentations vary, but it's always a good time. This year featured Ramsey Beyer, Josh Bayer, Noah Van Scriver, Box Brown, and Derf! I also grabbed Liz Prince pre-talks for her signature on the latest Adventure Time comic, in which she is featured. Totally acceptable, super stoked. Gimme s'mores!
Meeting with artists and cartoonists is so much fun and totally inspiring. Josh enjoyed Ramsey's talk, which was practical and down-to-earth (hers wasn't so much a reading as it was a process discussion). She basically said drawing every day is the only way to improve technique and general skills, something that seems intuitive, but was nice to be reminded of (also nice to hear an artist confess their learning process). I love her zines, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised to be inspired by her talk.
I was reminded that once upon a time, I was an artist, too. Of course, since I haven't practiced much since my heyday, my drawing skills are only about what they were in high school.
I was also reminded that when I was in middle school I used to draw a regular comic for my best friend. My stories had some recurring G-rated characters (Cool Cat, Super Cat, or wait, were they the same person?), and I regularly featured my friend and myself in a storyline involving us in a PG-13/R-rated romp with boys. So basically I was an adolescent dirty comic purveyor with a subscriber of one. It was a magical time.
SPXPO Bethesda shots coming next!
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