MoCCA FEST 2012

Hot off the presses! We will have fresh copies of the TRIP CITY VISITOR'S GUIDE 2012, our very first literary arts print anthology available for sale [$5] at Jeffrey Burandt aka Jef UK's table [I2] at the MoCCA Fest this weekend [April 28 -29, from 11am - 6pm],  located at the 69th Regiment Armory, 68 Lexington Avenue in NYC.

Plus, Americans UK will be in attendance with writer and front-man Jef UK hawking the latest Rocktronic Mixtape 2 anthology, featuring stories by Michael Lapinski, Aaron Bir, Zees, and more of indy comix rising talents!  And, check out some new tunes by way of their Kickstarter-funded Luxuria EP on vinyl, while you're there. Plus, AM/UK will have new t-shirts in new colors, in all sizes. AM/UK comix artists Paul Ciarvino and Zees Moreno will be sitting in too, available for sketches and signing books!

Photographer, Seth Kushner, will be at the powerHouse Books table [B6] on Saturday: 11:00-12:30 and 3:00-4:30 +  Sunday: 1:00-2:30 and 4:30-6:00, along with writer, Chris Irving, to sell and sign their gorgeous tome, LEAPING TALL BUILDINGS: The Origins of American Comics, as well as, sell exclusive LTB posters designed by artists, Peter Kuper, Becky Cloonan, and Dean Haspiel [who will be signing from 3-4pm on Saturday].

On Saturday be sure to check out:

4:15pm Harvey Pekar's Final Projects - ROOM A
Jeff Newelt, Joyce Brabner, Joseph Remnant, Rick Parker, Sean Pryor, Dean Haspiel, JD Waldman
Celebrating the life and work of comics pioneer Harvey Pekar with his widow, and writer in her own right, Joyce Brabner, joins a group of his artist collaborators.

On Sunday be sure to check out:

11:15am Workshop: Drawing with Rick Parker - ROOM B
Rick Parker (Beavis & Butthead, and Papercutz)
Join cartoonist Rick Parker for an insightful, funny and hands-on workshop in cartooning! This workshop is great for cartoonists of all ages.

2:00pm A Discussion with Josh Neufeld and Shannon Wheeler - ROOM B
Josh Neufeld (A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge), Shannon Wheeler (Oil and Water, Too Much Coffee Man)
These two creators interview one another about their work in comics, especially as it relates to their approaches documenting tragedy on the Gulf Coast.

2:15pm Memoir - ROOM A
Calvin Reid, Derf, Peter Kuper, Jennifer Hayden, Mike Dawson
Makers of autobio comics discuss filter their lives through sequential art.

***

And, finally, don't be shy to whoop it up at the MoCCA Fest 2012 Official AfterParty, produced by Jeff Newelt aka Jah Furry on Saturday, April 28th from  7pm - 10pm at the Village Pourhouse, 64 3rd Ave (at 11th st), New York, NY 10003

A TITANIC TEAM-UP
The MoCCA Fest 2012 Official AfterParty + HARVEY PEKAR's CLEVELAND Launch Party!
Live Music by DANIEL JOHNSTON
+ Special Appearance by JEFFREY LEWIS
+ hosted/produced by JEFF NEWELT
+ DJ BRIAN HEATER
+ TOASTS to LEAPING TALL BUILDINGS: The Origins of American Comics (w/photos by Seth Kushner); BLUE graphic novel by PAT GRANT; Lit/Arts salon TRIP CITY: and the 6th Anniversary of indie webcomix collective ACTIVATEcomix.
***Sponsored by Top Shelf Comix & ZIP Comics***

[Chris Miskiewicz, Jeffrey Burandt aka Jef UK, Seth Kushner, & Dean Haspiel]

Leaping Tall Buildings: Seth Kushner's Photography & Comix Event at BookCourt

Tue Apr 17, 7:00PM @ BookCourt

163 Court Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201

info@bookcourt.com

Seth Kushner (The Brooklynites) has taken his skills as a photographer and his passion for comic books and turned them into two unique projects. In Leaping Tall Buildings: The Origins of American Comics, Kushner created distinctive environmental portraits of over 75 top comics creators, a selection of which will be presented and discussed. Kushner's other long-term project, CulturePOP Photocomix, allows him to profile fascinating subjects such as Emmy Award winning comix creator Dean Haspiel, author Tim Hall, and Bravo's "Work of Art: The Next Great Artist" reality show star/bootleg toy designer, Sucklord, who will all be reading from their CulturePOP profiles while the images are projected

Performer Bio(s):

Tim Hall has collaborated with some of the finest comic artists working today, including Dean Haspiel, Josh Neufeld, Jennifer Hayden, Chris Sinderson, Derek Marks, Nick Bertozzi, and Sam Henderson. He is the author of two novels and three collections of stories. He lives in New York City with his wife and son.

Emmy award winning artist, Dean Haspiel, created the Eisner Award nominated, "Billy Dogma," and illustrated for HBO's "Bored To Death." Dino has drawn many superhero and semi-autobiographical comic books and graphic novels for major publishers, including collaborations with Jonathan Lethem, Harvey Pekar, Jonathan Ames, Inverna Lockpez, and Tim Hall. Dino also won the 6th Anniversary Literary Death Match in NYC with his "brute charisma" and curates cool multimedia projects at TripCity.net, a Brooklyn-filtered literary arts salon.​

Sucklord is the creator of SUCKADELIC ENTERPRISES, an evil arts organization based in Chinatown NYC. Specializing in bootleg action figures, illicit remixrecords, and low-budget sci-fi movies. Sucklord seamlessly blends geeky nerd obsessions with street-level hipster cool. A master of media manipulation, The Sucklord is both an entrepreneur and an artist. Sucklord has been in designer toy world business since 2004 and revels in his self-proclaimed "art world outsider" status.Sucklord was featured on Bravo's Work of Art: The Next Great Artist.

Facebook Page:

http://www.facebook.com/events/386280954717940/

The book release will also be celebrated in the form of exclusive, limited edition art prints drawn by Becky Cloonan (DEMO, Conan), Dean Haspiel (American Splendor, TV's Bored to Death) and Peter Kuper (Spy vs. Spy)). The limited edition prints will benefit the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

ABOUT THE BOOK: Some are mild mannered geeks, others mad geniuses or street-smart city dwellers driven to action. These are the men and women behind the masks and tights of America's most beloved superheroes. But these aren't the stories of the heroes' hidden alter egos or secret identities...these are the stories of their creators! Leaping Tall Buildings: The Origins of American Comics gives you the truth about the history of the American comic book—straight from the revolutionary artists and writers behind them. Leaping Tall Buildings assembles writer Christopher Irving's interview-based essays and photographer Seth Kushner's portraits of comic book creators into a narrative thread. The pair successfully started the project as the Graphic NYC website, www.nycgraphicnovelists.com, in December 2008.

Christopher Irving is a pop culture historian with a concentration in the American comic book. A veteran of comics history and journalism magazines like Comics Buyers Guide and multiple Eisner Award-winning Comic Book Artist (where he served as Associate Editor), Irving combines new journalism with comics history to create personality essays on comic book creators. Leaping Tall Buildings is Irving's fifth book on comic books. Irving currently edits digital comics magazine The Drawn Word. www.thedrawnword.com

Seth Kushner's portrait photography has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Time, Newsweek, L'Uomo Vogue, The New Yorker and others. He was chosen by Photo District News magazine as a three-time winner of their Photo Annual Competition. Seth's first book, The Brooklynites, (with Anthony LaSala) was published by powerHouse Books in 2007. Currently, Seth is working on CulturePOP Photocomix, profiling real-life characters on TripCity.net. Seth resides in his hometown of Brooklyn, New York with his wife, son and way too many cameras and comics. www.SethKushner.com

For more information about the book please visit: http://www.powerhousebooks.com/site/?p=11646

YOUR SCHMUCKIEST STORY CONTEST

Send your schmuckiest, most happless, awkward, embarrassing and/or clumsy personal story, 800 words or less, by May 7 and I’ll pick the top three which will then be read by a jury comprised of Emmy Award winning cartoonist, Dean Haspiel (Bored To Death, Billy Dogma), Eisner award winning cartoonist Nick Abadzis, (Laika, Hugo Tate), and poet/author Sandra Beasley (Don’t Kill The Birthday Girl, I was The Juke Box) who will pick the first, second and third place winners. All will be published on TripCity.net, one per month, from least schmucky to most schmucky, between June and August.

The following prizes will be awarded:

1^st Place – A signed copy of Leaping Tall Buildings: The Origins of American Comics by Christopher Irving and Seth Kushner

2^nd Place – A signed copy of Seth Kushner’s limited edition CulturePOP Photocomix book.

3^rd Place – A signed copy of the TRIP CITY Visitor Guide

Please, amateur schmucks only—no pros!!

PLEASE EMAIL ALL ENTRIES TO: tripcityinfo@gmail.com

Read SCHMUCK, Seth Kushner’s “comix neurotica” and prose at TRIP CITY

The Jury

Emmy award winning artist, Dean Haspiel, created the Eisner Award nominated, "Billy Dogma," and illustrated for HBO's "Bored To Death." Dino has drawn many superhero and semi-autobiographical comic books and graphic novels for major publishers, including collaborations with Jonathan Lethem, Harvey Pekar, Jonathan Ames, Inverna Lockpez, and Tim Hall. Dino also won the 6th Anniversary Literary Death Match in NYC with his "brute charisma" and curates cool multimedia projects at TripCity.net

Sandra Beasley is the author of I Was the Jukebox (winner of the Barnard Women Poets Prize), Theories of Falling (winner of the New Issues Poetry Prize), and Don’t Kill the Birthday Girl: Tales from an Allergic Life, a memoir. Her essays have appeared in the Oxford American, and Washington Post Magazine. Her poetry has turned up in such venues as The Believer, Slate, and The Best American Poetry 2010. She keeps her heart in a suitcase and her groceries in Washington, DC.

Nick Abadzis is a cartoonist, writer, graphic novelist and editor of international renown who has been honored with various awards including the prestigious Eisner in 2008 for his graphic novel Laika. He recently relocated from London in the UK to New York City where he continues to work both as a storyteller and editorial consultant. His next major project is a revamped and digitally-restored collection of his first ever strip Hugo Tate, originally published in legendary UK music and comics magazine Deadline. This will be published by Blank Slate Books in 2012, and other graphic novels are in the works.

Seth Kushner’s photography has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Time, Newsweek, L’Uomo Vogue, The New Yorker and others. He was chosen by Photo District News magazine as a three-time winner of their Photo Annual Competition. Seth’s first book, The Brooklynites, (with Anthony LaSala) was published by powerHouse Books in 2007. His next book, Leaping Tall Buildings: The Origins of American Comics (with Chris Irving) will be released in May 2012.


--Original illustration by Kevin Colden

LEAPING TALL BUILDINGS LAUNCH EVENT 4/14

To celebrate the release of Leaping Tall Buildings, powerHouse Books and the authors will host the launch event April 14th at The powerHouse Arena in DUMBO Brooklyn at 37 Main Street.

LEAPING TALL BUILDINGS: THE ORIGINS OF AMERICAN COMICS
Photographs by Seth Kushner
Text and interviews by Christopher Irving

The book launch festivities, free and open to the public, start at 3:00 PM with a series of panels and an exhibition of Seth Kushner's inimitable photographic portraits of comic book luminaries.

PANEL SCHEDULE:

3:00-3:45 PM: Autobiography in Comics
Panel guests will include comics legend Irwin Hasen (Green Lantern), Bob Fingerman (Minimum Wage), Molly Crabapple (Dr. Sketchy's), and Raina Telgemeier (Smile).

4:00-4:45 PM: From Comic Books to Film
Panel guests will include Chris Claremont (X-Men writer), Paul Levitz (former DC Comics President and Legion of Superheroes writer), and writer Denny O'Neil (Batman).

5:00-5:45 PM: Behind the Pictures
Co-authors Christopher Irving and Seth Kushner discuss the trials, tribulations, and adventures had in interviewing and photographing the stars of Leaping Tall Buildings.

The book release will also be celebrated in the form of exclusive, limited edition art prints drawn by Becky Cloonan (DEMO, Conan), Dean Haspiel (HBO's Bored to Death, Billy Dogma), Peter Kuper (Spy vs. Spy, Stop Forgetting To Remember), and Paul Pope (100%, Battling Boy). The limited edition prints will benefit the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, who will also be present to host cartoonist signings.

From 6:00 to 8:00 PM, powerHouse Books will host an evening reception, with copies of Leaping Tall Buildings on hand for purchase and signing by the authors and featured creators in attendance. Ron Scalzo (Q*Ball, Hooper, Bald Freak Music) will be DJ master for the evening.

ABOUT THE BOOK: Some are mild mannered geeks, others mad geniuses or street-smart city dwellers driven to action. These are the men and women behind the masks and tights of America's most beloved superheroes. But these aren't the stories of the heroes' hidden alter egos or secret identities...these are the stories of their creators! Leaping Tall Buildings: The Origins of American Comics gives you the truth about the history of the American comic book—straight from the revolutionary artists and writers behind them. Leaping Tall Buildings assembles writer Christopher Irving's interview-based essays and photographer Seth Kushner's portraits of comic book creators into a narrative thread. The pair successfully started the project as the Graphic NYC website, www.nycgraphicnovelists.com, in December 2008.

Christopher Irving is a pop culture historian with a concentration in the American comic book. A veteran of comics history and journalism magazines like Comics Buyers Guide and multiple Eisner Award-winning Comic Book Artist (where he served as Associate Editor), Irving combines new journalism with comics history to create personality essays on comic book creators. Leaping Tall Buildings is Irving's fifth book on comic books. Irving currently edits digital comics magazine The Drawn Word. www.thedrawnword.com



Seth Kushner's portrait photography has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Time, Newsweek, L'Uomo Vogue, The New Yorker and others. He was chosen by Photo District News magazine as one of their 30 under 30 in 1999 and is a two-time winner of their Photo Annual Competition. Seth's first book, The Brooklynites, (with Anthony LaSala) was published by powerHouse Books in 2007. Currently, Seth is working on CulturePOP Photocomix, and profiling real-life characters on ACT-I-VATE.com and WelcomeToTripCity.com. Seth resides in his hometown of Brooklyn, New York with his wife, son and way too many cameras and comics. www.SethKushner.com

For more information about the book please visit: http://www.powerhousebooks.com/site/?p=11646

RSVP to: nina@powerHouseBooks.com

For press inquiries please contact Nina Ventura, Publicist
powerHouse Books, 37 Main Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Tel: 212-604-9074 x118, Fax: 212-366-5247, email: nina@powerHouseBooks.com