MoCCA 2010 report

Whenever I think about any convention, the first thing that comes to mind is always “it was weird”, and this was no exception. I really appreciate MoCCA being held at the Armory building over the previous digs, much prefer everything being in one room, and on one floor, especially. Being earlier in the year, the weather was much cooler, the building’s poor circulation wasn’t a problem, although I actually enjoyed the intense heat of last year, wearing shorts, sweatin’ all over the comics, discoloring the paper. What with the place looking like a hangar and soldiers wandering around on the balconies, it kind of felt like some sort of refugee shelter too, as if someone were about to suddenly bar the doors and gas us all.

In response to last year’s complaints, a “green room” was set up downstairs with water and free popcorn that was kind of burnt and tasteless, but with a really nice design on the bag (sorry, I should have at least taken a cell phone pic). Also, I’m assuming this was because they didn’t sell out of tables this year (rumor?), there was a small area on the main floor with martini tables that got covered in mounds of shitty fucking postcards and flyers that all ended up in the trash anyways. That was kind of a dumb idea, but really the only one worth noting.

Picturebox and Buenaventura’s presence was significantly diminutive by comparison to past years, each with only one table and no new books (I think? I’m incredibly unobservant of my surroundings). Fantagraphics and Drawn & Quarterly seemed their usual stalwart selves, with Randy Chang working behind D&Q (no Bodega table this year). The most attention was seemingly given to Frank Santoro’s back issue table (which, though I understand and appreciate the intention behind, still feel conflicted about the “retail” aspect, I’ll get over it), Dash Shaw’s “Bodyworld” (great story, exterior package, vertical layout keeps me from buying a copy, who wants to read a calendar?), and the Scandinavian corner (Swedes, Finns, Norwegians). Newspapers were rampant, with new stuff from Taffy Hips, Caboose, Secret Prison, and Smoke Signal.



Highlights of the show:
-meeting Finnish friends I had only known through e-mail
-Tommi Musturi’s “Samuelin Matkassa”
-John Brodowski’s “Curio Cabinet”
-hanging with JB, talking summer outdoor activities
-straight goofin’ with Flu Hartberg
-Noel Freibert’s “Mr. Cellar’s Attic”
-meeting Benjamin Marra, scariest looking/nicest dude in comics
-James Hindle’s “Little Wolves”
-eating Popeye’s chicken, so greasy it actually drips
-Lizz Hickey’s triple-dip mini series
-getting more sleep than usual
-Josh Bayer’s “The Fighter”, can’t believe it took me 4 years to get a copy...

To be honest, I really didn’t see all that much, barely investigated any tables beyond my mainstays, didn’t see any panels, even fell asleep behind the curtain for a short period of time. Realistically, making sure my new stuff gets into the hands of all my friends is hard enough (didn’t even succeed there), and with everything feeling smaller than usual, I thought one day would have been plenty of convention time, Sunday should have just been held outdoors as a big BBQ picnic instead. Unreasonable, I know, but a nice thought!

(photos by Joseph Lambert)