Latest con report ever… And the most anticlimactic one, too.
Our last day at BEA 2009 in NYC was a fairly uneventful one, but one simple pleasure was seeing Abrams' preview of the forthcoming Art of Jaime Hernandez book, edited by Todd Hignite and designed by Jordan Crane. Here's a couple sample shots:
After the BEA, Jason Miles and I traipsed around Manhattan a bit, including a stop at two of NYC's finest bookstores, The Strand and Forbidden Planet. Was pleased to see Jason's Dead Ringer (from La Mano) proudly on display at FP:
You should go buy this now.
At the Strand, it was a thrill to see Fantagraphics widely represented in the store, including a few books in the window, and more. Here's a few samples:
But the absolute highlight of my trip was Sunday evening, connecting with two of my oldest and dearest comic pals, Joe Sacco and Thom Powers. Thom invited me to a barbeque at a friend's house, and texted me the directions. "Tell the doorman you're there for Leslie and Shoba's party," he wrote. I assumed Leslie and Shoba were two female pals of Thom's. I was half-right. Lo and behold, the barbeque was actually at the apartment of none other than Soba, star of Joe Sacco's fantastic graphic novel of the same name. Turns out "Shoba" is the new, Americanised spelling of his name. We had a great time and consumed a lot of beer. The details are hazy. But here's a pic a Joe and Shoba, together again for the first time in awhile:
Let me tell you, Shoba is a mean chef.
That's it for BEA 2009, a full month after it ended. It's beautiful here and summer is in the air, Flogging goes better when it's cold and wet out. I'm outta here! Happy 4th, all!