If you were at MoCCA you probably heard the “rumour” that Gabe Fowler wouldn’t be putting on a Comic Arts Brooklyn festival in 2016. Radically thinking outside the box I emailed him to find out what was up and the result was a story in PW:
Besides showcasing New York indie comics, last weekend’s Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art comics show also helped circulate a much-repeated rumor about Comics Arts Brooklyn, another indie comics show scheduled for November. According to CAB organizer Gabe Fowler, who is also owner of Brooklyn’s Desert Island Comics shop, CAB may take this year off.
Contacted by PW, Fowler, said he’s considering not organizing a show this year. But he added that he hasn’t made an official announcement yet.
So there. These rumors started when Fowler said it on Facebook, I’m told, although he subsequently took it down. So not really a rumor. Just a Shroedinger’s comics fest.
For my PW piece Jacq Cohen of Fanta and Annie Koyama of Koyama talked about how awesome CAB is. It is awesome, but I also understand if the sole proprietor (who also runs a comics shop every day) needs to take some time off.
TCAF was a biennial show for a long time. (That means once every two years. Look it up.) Maybe CAB should go to that model. That said, NYC is still a vibrant comics town, despite the mass exodus of creative people to caves, upstate and Out West. I’d expect to see some other kind of curated swap meet spring up to fill the fall not-NYCC void. Or maybe Fowler will get a dose of Super Serum and will decide to hold CAB after all. Either way, he’s done great things for the New York comics scene.
