May
30
Originally published at INKKC.com on April 16th, 2009.
We will be shooting off like a crew of astronauts filled with anticipation and destined towards the unknown, minus the air-tight suits and Velcro. Instead equipped with cartoonist’s gear- inks, pens, and papers- we aim for the Small Press & Alternate Comic Expo (SPACE) in Columbus, Ohio. Over a hundred comic book creators make their way to the SPACE convention each year to share and solicit their self produced mini-comics. Like a zine, these mini-comics are usually in black and white and are cheaply produced, thus lacking the polish and commercial gleam of a regular $3.99 superhero title. And the convention is no different. No ex-playmates or television actors or sci-fi movie stars will be in attendance, just the largest concentration of unknown comic creators. (SPACE’s most notable guest is Dave Sims, creator of Cerebus. However it is unclear if he will be attending this year.) Read more...
May
02
"Matt and Jamie"(2008) photograph by Micheal Boles
Whoop Dee Doo Showcases talent and trend at the “Gateway to the West”
A version of this story appeared in the November/December, 2008 print issue of Review Magazine.
The Impala was dancing us down I-29, on a muggy and windless August afternoon. The smooth grooves and perfunctory booty-beats of Beyonce Knowles were an apt score to the traffic as the vehicle slowly lurched then abruptly sped up, only to grind to a halt. Every summer, Kansas City’s interstates are filled with construction, but this weekend was unique: it was American Idol tryouts. I was certain the delay was because of an influx of last-minute starry-eyed fame-seekers desperate to make the cut — or worse, disappointed rejects sluggish to get back home. The car idled as we waited in anticipation, not unlike the contestants with their aspirations for popularity and fame, but we also had less grand expectations — Omaha, Nebraska, or bust.
Read more...