When we asked James Kochalka really nicely to contribute a guest strip to our site, he handed over the ridiculously awesome “How to Play Guitar.” And then, when we weren’t looking, Kochalka slipped us something else. Sure, it’s not exactly ‘exclusive’ in the same sense as the first, and it’s not actually a ‘strip’ in any sense at all, but as a fledgling comics blog only in its second week of existence, we’re not really going to look a gift elf in the mouth. Plus, my mother always taught me to be nice to guests. So, an incredibly brief disclaimer from Mr. K, and then the guest panel, after the jump:

Here’s another pic, this appeared in a weekly paper once, almost no
one has seen it.
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The best thing about interviewing an autobiographer like Jeffery Brown is that, unlike many of his more-veiled contemporaries, the Michigan-born artist knows the subject matter in his own life fairly well, and isn’t afraid to discuss most any aspect of it, as evidenced by his ongoing fascination with that seemingly endless supply of comic fodder and personal chagrin, ex-girlfriends. Though as Brown suggested in part one, he’ll—at least temporarily—be moving on from that well-traveled subject matter, in favor of delving even deeper into his own life, with topics ranging from trips to the hospital, to school, to smashed up windshields.

In part two, we speak to Brown about the long journey from artschool to comic book celebrity. Read the full story, after the jump.

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Recess Pieces
By Bob Fingerman
Dark Horse

This one managed to slip under the radar (mine, at least), despite author Bob Fingerman’s relative prominence, as well as the author’s move to Darkhorse. The reason for this seems to be three-fold. First, Fingerman missed the Shaun of the Dead/George Romero resurrection zombie wave by a few months. Second, thanks to Fingerman’s distinctive style, the grade school children don’t come across as cute, as the artist seemingly intended, but rather a cross between the Garbage Pail Kids and those horrifying Precious Moments children.

Third, and perhaps most significantly, is the fact that the idea of children running around a school, shooting one another with sub-automatic machine guns for comedic effect may be something that the American public is still not quite ready for. To be fair, we are talking about an army of zombies here, and the present moral standards in this great nation of ours do justify the use of excessive force when confronted by the undead. Still, attempting to elicit a few chuckles from the site of an eight-year-old covered in the blood of classmates and teachers may be something of a hard sell.

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Despite having upgrade to a much larger space in Manhattan’s Javits Center, it seems safe to say that, after three days’ worth of around-the-block lines, the New York Comic Con shows no signs of slowing as we gear up for 2008. The Con’s second year was my first, and all-in-all, it was a pretty fantastic time. I spent the chunk of Friday set aside for press schmoozing up an down the aisle with my custom-made The Daily Cross Hatch press badge—my handwriting plus a Sharpie equals precisely the reason why that career as a letterer never really took off.

Had a chance to meet Evan Dorkin, Kyle Baker, Jhonen Vasquez, and the world’s friendliest animator, Bill Plimpton, who was showcasing clips from a few upcoming films, later that night. I choked down an eight dollar Javits chicken sandwich ($11.50 with the Diet Coke, sweet lord) and headed over to Comics Bloggers: Rewriting the Rules of Tastemaking, which, despite sounding like the name of an undergrad media studies thesis, was a fairly lighthearted discussion about the world of comic blogging.

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Korgi
By Christian Slade
Top Shelf

Welcome to The Cute Review, a column exploring the loveable, huggable, fuzzy, and otherwise adorable aspects of the graphic novel.

For this innagural edition, we’re looking at Korgi, Top Shelf’s new all-ages graphic novel series. The book follows the adventures of a young fairy named Ivy, and her lovable Pembroke Welsh Corgi, Sprout, as they traverse Korgi Hollow during harvest season.

For those unfamiliar with Corgis, they are cute. Damn cute. This cuteness can be attributed to their short, stubby little legs, sweet temperament and big, affectionate eyes. Slade understands these important canine nuances, giving every Corgi enough nuanced cuteness to cause intense spasms of babytalk. Those who don’t consider themselves a ‘dog person,’ may still suffer borderline cuteness-induced epileptic seizures, thanks to the army of smiling, happy little Corgis.

The book’s cuteness quotient is only enchanced by Slade’s decision to forgo words and let the fantasy-inspired illustrations take center-stage. While the plot of Korgi leaves something to be desired in terms of depth, Slade’s nuanced line work is enough reason to embrace the cutastic cuteness of Korgi.

I give it three out of five baby deers

–Sara Torello

Nope, Elizabeth won’t be attending Comic Con NYC, but I will—with bells on. Figuratively. I will literally be there with figurative bells on. Be sure to say ‘hi,’ if you see me—I’ll be the guy still in his work clothes, chasing around irate artists, tape recorder in hand. Posting will be a bit slim today, as a result, but rest assured, we’re revving up for week two.

In the meantime, here’s some links to help deal with any potential abandonment issues:

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Released by Fantagraphics, the consummate cataloguers of sequential art, Second Coming marks the first time that the 40-plus year history of Frank Stack’s pioneering religious satire, The New Adventures of Jesus has been anthologized. The Daily Cross Hatch sat down with Stack to discuss his book, which has been widely acknowledged by experts (including the artist’s close friend and fellow Texan, Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers creator, Gilbert Shelton).

Stack was happy to discuss his place in place in American satire, and we were, of course, more than happy to listen. As such, we’ve broken the Interview up into two parts. Part one can be viewed over here. Part two is available after the jump.
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Johnny Ryan has to be one of the few people in the world who can say the phrase Boobs Pooter with a straight face, and well, he also one likely one of a very small handful who have actually tried. Interviewing Ryan about creations like Blecky Yuckerella, Sinus O’Gynus, and the aforementioned Mr. Pooter, it’s hard not to begin giggling like ann embarrassed school girl. Ryan, however, clearly takes his strips—which routinely end in punchlines involving AIDS and shitting in one’s underwear—very seriously, god bless him.

This is part two in of a two-part interview with Ryan, in honor of the release of his second Blecky Yuckerella book. The first part can be found here. The second is available after the jump.

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To start off, the NY Comic Con website is scary looking and nearly useless. Since I’m all the way across the country, I depend on this website to tell me about the exciting things going down this weekend. Where are the listings for the awesome panels? Where is the darn schedule and the map showing the convention layout? Well, the good news is, all that’s for you to figure out. I do however have a few intriguing picks. I’m not going to be there myself, so I wouldn’t know if I’m sending you to some dark weird corner of the convention center…

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Part two, in which the Monkey vs. Robot creator monopolizes even more of our precious time, for which we are eternally grateful, even as we think up more ways in which to awkwardly shift the conversation to the subject of clowns, of which it turns out that Mr. Kochalka is not a fan.

This and a whole slew of other incredibly helpful information, which will surely go a long way toward insuring that you get into the university of your choice, and as a result lead a fulfilled life of privilege, are actual contained in Part Three—the best part. In fact, I might go so far as to say that Part Three stands up there as one of the greatest works in the English language, alongside Chaucer and Milton.

Part Two is okay, but unless you read it, Part Three will be little more than jibberish, so play it safe and dive right in, after the jump. You life may very well depend on it.

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