Calling all comic book artists

The Brick Theater is putting out a call for applications for its Comic Book Theater Festival.

Superheroes, space opera, true romance, hijinks, history, literature, autobiography, lines, dots, shapes, pencil, sound, ink, movement wanted.

From the release:

The Brick Theater, Inc. is now accepting applications for the Comic Book Theater Festival. For more information and to apply to be part of the June 2011 festival visit www.bricktheater.com/comics. The deadline for all submissions is February 15, 2011.

The influence of comics on our culture continues to grow. From the pop fantasias of Hollywood blockbusters to the rawness and refinement of intimate memoirs – and everything in between – it’s impossible to deny the wide appeal of comics’ words and images. The theater, of course, is no less immune to its spell. This summer, The Brick will invite one of history’s newest art forms to meet one of its oldest – and, through collaborations between visual and dramatic artists, the form and content of comics will collide with the content and form of theater to create strange new hybrids across both mediums. Also, superheroes and stuff. 

Every show that applies to be part of the festival is encouraged to create some sort of alliance between comic artists and theater artists. Ideally, each show will have a “staged” component, presented in front of a live audience, and a “printed” component, to be absorbed separately, either on paper or online. In order to foster collaboration and give artists a forum to meet and share ideas, a Facebook page has been set up at facebook.com/comicbooktheaterfestival. 

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This King Con lives up to its name

By Thomas Tracy

Call it King Con: The Revenge.

The plucky independent comic, animation and illustration convention that playfully thumbs its nose at those Hollywood-heavy superhero trade shows in San Diego and Manhattan is back and bigger than ever starting today. 

But take note: All you guys who like going to conventions dressed up as Star Wars stormtroopers — go patrol somewhere else.

That said, Fourth Avenue’s beloved Brooklyn Lyceum between Union and President streets will be transformed into a multi-paneled Mecca for comic book artists and writers, graphic novelists and the fans who love them, explained Regan Jaye Fishman, the convention’s self-titled “humble directrix” and driving force behind the four fanboy-filled days of panel discussions, kids events and comic networking.

“Brooklyn has so many amazingly talented authors and artists, but all year long they’re flying to places like San Diego for these huge cons, only to be lost in pools of super megastars and people dressed as Jedi Knights,” Fishman said. “Our guests have made something they love and believe in and we wanted to create a place where people can come and actually see what’s so amazing about their work.”

So you won’t hear Robert Downey Jr. talk about “Iron Man 3,” but you will get a chance to chat up Marvel comic book legend Chris Claremont, the Park Slope resident responsible for making the X-Men the iconic mutant misfits everyone adores.

Dean Haspiel

Nearly all of the artists coming to the showcase are either born or based in the borough, including author Jonathan Ames, who put last year’s King Con on the map when he brought his “Bored to Death” entourage to promote his HBO series. This time around, he’ll be with Dean Haspiel (at right) — Ames’s living, breathing inspiration for Ray Heuston, the neurotic “Bored to Death” comic book artist played by Zach Galifianakis.

And if drinking and comics are your thing, line up to meet Bill Roundy, whose bi-weekly “Bar Scrawl” cartoon in The Brooklyn Paper have redefined the pub review.

But Roundy’s inspiration doesn’t solely come from Brooklyn’s many tap rooms and whisky bars. He’s also put together a “Monstrous Manual,” a cartoonish homage to TSR’s Dungeons & Dragons “Monster Manual,” and has a series a gay romance comics — all of which will be found at the convention.

“[King Con] draws people from all different aspects of the comic book world and they all live right here in Brooklyn,” Roundy said. “It’s an interesting mix.”

King Con II at the Brooklyn Lyceum [227 Fourth Ave. between President and Union streets in Park Slope, (718) 857-4816], Nov. 4-5, 5 pm; and Nov. 6-7, 11 am–7 pm. Adults $7 a day ($10 for the weekend). For information, visit www.kingconbrooklyn.com.

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They're building their own 'City of Walls'

By Chuck O'Donnell

In “City of Walls,” art really does imitate life.

There are no robots, superheroes or even an obligatory vampire in the graphic novel series, just three ordinary kids — Daniel, Jin and Ariana — with uncommon fortitude coping with extraordinary circumstances.

The characters and setting — the shut-off urban jungle called Kowloon — are brought to life by Bay Ridge’s Shaun Noel and Park Slope’s Abede Lovelace. Some of the gritty renderings of desolate rooftops and creaky fire escapes could be mistaken for snapshots of Brooklyn, but Lovelace says the borough plays a more subtle role.

“The neighborhood politics, the close quarters, the clash of different types of people, the class warfare, race — these things are particularly acute in Brooklyn especially right now and especially in my neighborhood,” says the 30-year-old artist. “It’s great food [for thought], and I definitely draw on it.”

Daniel, Jin and Ariana’s struggle for a better life somewhat mirrors Noel and Lovelace’s plight as comic book creators.

There are priceless moments when strangers approach them at comic book conventions and rave about “City of Walls” and how they’re excited for issue No. 4, which will be unveiled at New York Comic Con, from Oct. 8-10 at the Javits Center. Or when original artwork from “City of Walls” was selected for the School of Visual Arts’ show called “Ink Plots: The Tradition of the Graphic Novel” at the Visual Arts Gallery, running from Oct. 8-Nov. 6.

Other times can be “spirit sucking,” said Lovelace, like when the pair didn’t receive a single order through a catalogue that was sent to thousands of vendors.

And then at the last New York Comic Con, Lovelace and Noel arrived bleary-eyed but relieved after staying up for two days and learning two computer programs in one night to get their book to the printer on time. On the ensuing roller coaster, they got word that the printer broke down and were ready to accept defeat when, at the last minute, all was fixed and their books printed.

Making time to dream up the continuing adventures of Daniel, Jin and Ariana is hard, too. Life intercedes. Loved ones come first. Bills must be paid.

So it might only be 20 minutes this day or an hour a few weeks later, but somehow they manage to return to “City of Walls.”

“The reason I stay up hours on end to get this book lettered, trek to convention after convention, spend money which you know you will not get an even return can be summed up in one of my favorite quotes from Toni Morrison: ‘If there’s a book you really want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it,’ ” said Noel.

Find “City of Walls” at Bulletproof Comics [2178 Nostrand Ave. near Avenue H in Flatbush, (718) 434-1800] and St. Marks Comics [148 Montague St. between Henry and Clinton streets in Brooklyn Heights, (718) 935-0911]. For info, visit www.cityofwalls.com.

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