Yes, it’s that time of year again. We probably won’t be doing much live posting today, but check in on the ComicMix Twitter Feed and see what we’re posting there. Feel free to come up and bug me, I’ll be the really tall guy in the ComicMix shirt.

To remind everybody of the details:

The
Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art is proud to announce MoCCA Festival
2009 will be held June 6th & 7th at the 69th Regiment Armory at
Lexington Avenue and 25th Street in New York City.
The Village
Voice calls the MoCCA Festival “”the best small-press nexus
(anywhere!)” Now BIGGER than ever! An incredible weekend of comic and
cartoon art exhibitors, panels, lectures, sketches, autographs, and
more! Thousands come every summer to meet and purchase works from some
of the world’s best cartoonists, animators, and graphic novelists.

Where?
69th Regiment Armory; 68 Lexington Avenue, between 25th and 26th Streets

When?
June 6th and 7th, 11am-6pm

Cost?
$10 per day, $15 per weekend; MoCCA Members: $10 per weekend

More information available here.

And yes, I’ll be around at some of the other gatherings tonight, most probably doing the CBLDF Karaoke thingie. But if you’re a music lover, you might want to skip my singing and instead go to David Mazuchelli’s opening reception at MoCCA from 7-9 tonight:

In celebration of the release of his highly-anticipated book, Asterios Polyp,
The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art is pleased to present David
Mazzucchelli’s first retrospective exhibition in the U.S.
Mazzucchelli’s career encompasses early groundbreaking work in Daredevil and Batman: Year One; idiosyncratic short stories in his self-published anthology, Rubber Blanket, and elsewhere; the graphic novel adaptation of City of Glass;
and his new graphic novel. For over 25 years, Mazzucchelli has
distinguished himself with articulate storytelling and emotive drawings
in service to comics in a variety of genres. Sounds and Pauses: The Comics of David Mazzucchelli
presents over 80 original comic pages, drawings, prepatory sketches and
covers from the artist’s archives, allowing an invaluable look at
Mazzucchelli’s artistic journey.

The exhibition is curated by Dan Nadel.

Supprt for MoCCA and Sounds and Pauses: The Comics of David Mazzucchelli comes from Pantheon Books, Picturebox, the Will and Ann Eisner Foundation, and the members of MoCCA.

These days, it seems like there are zombies no matter where you turn.

Whether you’re driving near Austin, browsing your local bookstore or approaching celebrities in airports, they’re shambling towards you. Groups like Zombie Squad have helped to bring the impending zombie crisis… I mean, the public fascination with zombies… into focus for a good cause, by holding “zombie walks” for charity and blood drives.  So it is not very hard to believe that people might be concerned about marauding zombie hordes.

The question then becomes: If marauding zombie hordes descend on major US cities, what will we do? Zombie evacuation planning has become a recent favorite party activity around the world. Friends will get together and decide where to go and how to get there, who to take and who to leave behind.  Some companies are cashing in on these preparations by offering missile silos converted into homes, and there are several sites like zombietools.net that have a more hands-on approach to the Zombie Apocalypse.

Still, if zombies are shambling soon to a neighborhood near you, how do you know? Well, if you live in Boston, check the Boston PD’s Twitter feed. Recently, the department made internet history when they tweeted that they would inform the public if there were a zombie attack. This got me thinking: would anyone else?

(more…)

We weren’t going to make a big fuss about it as certain people in the company are touchy about their own impending decrepitude, but since ComicMix reviewer Andrew Wheeler outed himself on his personal blog:

Today is the 40th birthday of the man who hides behind the very thin
mask of “G.B.H. Hornswoggler,” and it wouldn’t be blogging if I didn’t
crow loudly about pointless personal minutia. No congratulations are
necessary; all I did was manage not to die for another 365 days. (And I
hope to keep that streak up for a long time to come.)

So: I am
now officially old, and will soon be sitting in a folding chair next to
the highway, shaking my cane at passing cars and hollering at the local
kids to stay off my lawn. I hope to look more and more like a George Booth cartoon as time goes on; every man needs a hobby.

Dear heavens, you aren’t old. After all, I’m three months older than you, and I’m not old. Mike is the old altercocker in this firm. Feel free to go steal his cane.

(Cue the citizens of Tokyo running in the streets and screaming AIEEEEEE!)

This Saturday, June 6, sing your heart out after MoCCA at Live Rock N
Roll Karaoke, presented by the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund & The Beat!

The
party starts at 7 PM at M1-5 in Tribeca. Rock Star Karaoke NYC provides
the live backing as you belt out your favorite Karaoke tunes. For a
full song list visit: http://rockstarkaraokenyc.com/songlist.html

A donation of $5 – $10 is asked for admission. Show your current year CBLDF member card and get a free poster!

Heidi sez, “With a proud tradition of unorthodox karaoke choices, we
look forward to the first annual ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ Mocca Sing
Off!'”

What: Live Rock n Roll Karaoke
When: Saturday, June 6, 7 PM to 10 PM
Where: M1-5, 52 Walker Street, between Church & Broadway
Why: Support Free Speech & Sing Your Heart Out After MoCCA!
How Much: $5 to $10 suggested donation
How To Get There: Take the 6; J, M, Z; N, Q, R, W, A, C, or E to Canal St

And if you’re really lucky, you’ll hear me sing too. (Cue the screaming Japanese again.)

David Carradine,
best known as the star of the 1970s TV series Kung Fu who also had a wide-ranging
career in the movies, has been found dead in the Thai capital, Bangkok. News reports said he was found hanged in his hotel room and was believed to have committed suicide. He was 72.

Since every other obituary is going to mention his role as as Kwai Chang Caine in the 1970s television series Kung Fu and the 1990s spinoff Kung Fu: The Legend Continues as the grandson of his original character, and every other genre site is going to mention his role as Frankenstein in the original Death Race and his role as Bill in Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill, we’d like to take a moment and remember him for a different role– as Woody Guthrie in the Hal Ashby film Bound For Glory:

In case you’ve been under a rock, or don’t pay any attention, this week the Electronic Entertainment Expo has been showcasing some fancy new titles due out soon for the current generation (that being the Sony Playstation 3, and Microsoft Xbox 360… sorry Wii-Heads) of video game systems that should tickle comic lover’s thumbs.

From DC’s mighty utility belt comes Batman: Arkham Asylum. Produced by Rocksteady Studios, and published by the fine folks who gave the world Lara Croft’s shapely rear end life, Arkham Asylum lets wanna-be detectives put on the digital cape and cowl for a rousing round of villain destruction. Falling somewhere between Splinter Cell‘s stealthy kill-em-up, and God of War‘s thumb-destroying beat-em-up, the game features an original take on the Grant Morrison penned graphic novel. Players will take Bats through multiple levels (all inside the aforementioned loony bin) in what appears to be a final fracas with the clown prince of crime. Voice actors from Bruce Timm’s seminal animated series provide audible lift to what easily appears to be the best iteration of the Dark Knight’s digital gaming experience. While hands on reports mention some sloppy camera work still be worked out, the game is slated for release at the tail end of August… giving them enough time to work out the kinks. Let’s just hope there’s no multiverse twist at the end, eh?

From the House of Idea’s comes another sequel in the celebrated ‘dungeon-crawler’ epic: Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2: Electric Boogaloo. OK, it’s not an electric boogaloo… but what UA:2 is, is a continuation of Vicarious Vision’s long running franchise that’s looking to make the true leap to the next generation from its Playstation 2 / Xbox roots. UA:2 takes place in the current-ish comic storyline (Civil War anyone?) and allows players to take the reigns on some of Marvel’s most popular characters. Want to smash and bash as the Hulk? Go ahead. Want to pilot some mighty armor as Iron Man? Hit the X button pal. Not a fan of the classics? No problem. UA:2 brings Matt Gargan’s Venom, Deadpool, and the mighty Juggernaut as potential playable characters. Players will get to make their own teams, and take them into battles across several Marvel stalwart environments, from Latveria to the Barack Obama-Spider-Man-fist-bumping Washington D.C.. While Activision is hush-hush on an official street date for now, look for the Ultimate Alliance 2 to hit your local gaming emporium in the fall.

For more information on E3, and the scads of games being played by people more important than us, feel free to head to the official site.