I don’t think there’s a person alive who would debate the fact that Sergio Aragonés is the world’s greatest living cartoonist. So many industry giants look up to this man for his cartooning talent. The fact that he’s going to celebrate his 60th year at MAD Magazine with us, I could not be more thrilled to have him. Everyone loves his work. He’s so highly entertaining and funny. It just floored me when he actually said yes to being the guest of honor, because at the heart of it I’m still a fanboy and I do not know anyone on this planet that is not a fan of his work. To be able to highlight Sergio’s career and all that he’s done is immense and I cannot stop being excited about it.
SD Comic Fest ’18: A Friendly, Intimate, and at Times Confusing Convention Experience
Headed by Mike Towry and Chairman Matt Dunford, this convention pays homage to the early days of Comic-Con. Organizers of Comic Fest pride themselves in its intimate setting. In many ways, I find it to be quite charming, lacking the Hollywood of Comic-Con and instead allowing attendees and invited guests to mingle together. A lot of love goes into this convention.
SD Comic Fest ’18: The ‘What’s Wrong with Comics?’ Panel Explores the Many Missteps of the Comic Book Industry
“Five years ago, Marvel was in charge, and they ruled everything I did as a retailer. It was ‘Marvel first.’ Now, they are the bastard children of the industry. I’ve lost probably 25% of my comic readership because 25% of my Marvel fans got tired of my higher cover prices, the non-sequitur storylines, the almost incomprehensible X-Men this and that… Marvel has done nothing to drive the industry towards us.”
SD Comic Fest ’18: Karen Berger and Steve Leialoha Reminisce Over Their Work With “Fables”
Looking back, Berger could see how the idea was very much in Shelley Bond’s and Vertigo’s interests. “The thing about Grimm Fairytales, the real fairytales, are that they are frick’n scary and bloody,” she said. “There is something domesticated about them nowadays… And I think most people today have their ideas of fairytales because of Disney.”
SD Comic Fest ’18: A Spotlight on Karen Berger’s Career at DC’s Vertigo
“You can count the comic book editors on one hand who are so influential to the medium and whose vision for their material is so strong that they really define a brand that gives the audience that kind of confidence. And one of them is here to my left, Karen Berger.”
SD Comic Fest 18’: Cultural Appropriation; When It Is and Is Not Done Right
“If we have it that one culture can’t tell the stories of another culture, we restrict ourselves.”
SD Comic Fest 18’: Cartoonist Lalo Alcaraz on How He Didn’t Want Disney’s “Coco” to be the “Aladdin of Mexicans,” and More
Sometime after this, Pixar contacted Alcaraz. “They invited me for a ‘little-chat,’” he said. When they asked for his help to work on the movie, Alcaraz was stunned. “I was thinking, ‘wow universe, you have a sick sense of humor.” But, Alcaraz saw this as a great opportunity and accepted it. “I wanted to make sure this wasn’t going to be the Aladdin for Mexicans.”
INTERVIEW: San Diego Comic Fest’s Matt Dunford Discusses “Dunford Con” and “Frankenstein”
“What I love most about San Diego Comic Fest is that it dedicates itself to the small, intimate atmosphere. All the while, it still manages to be entertaining.”
San Diego’s COMIC FEST Update: “We Have The Best Guest Lineup”
“[I believe] we have a better guest lineup than many other big conventions. Because of our intimate setting, you aren’t just sitting in front of these comic book legends; you’re hanging out with them.”
San Diego Comic Fest: New Guests, Mass Media, and Other Updates
With two months left until this year’s San Diego Comic Fest, there is still a world of work ahead for the convention’s organizers. Despite certain groans of having a volunteer meeting on Super Bowl Sunday, Mike Towry, organizer for Comic Fest and one of the original founders of San Diego Comic-Con, and Comic Fest chairman […]