Northwest Press

TCAF, Gaylaxicon and 4 Days Left for The Power Within!

// May 16th, 2011 // // Misc, The Power Within

May is travel month, and the whirlwind tour is only half over!

I was at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival representing Northwest Press and Prism Comics, and it was a great experience. I didn’t get out into the show as much as I would have liked, but I moderated an excellent panel discussion on identity in comics, and how being our race, gender and sexuality can affect the kinds of work we do and what we gravitate toward as readers. The panel featured José Villarrubia, Erika Moen, Yuko Ota and Ananth Panagariya, and it was quite interesting to see how far we’ve moved away from identity politics in just a decade. Or maybe this bunch was just more enlightened than everyone else.

I also participated in TCAFabulous, a social event at Toronto’s “Crews and Tangos” which featured as its centerpiece a thorough “reading” of the comics from an LGBT perspective. (I’d never really thought about it, but it’s true what Erika Moen says about the “Kole” logo being very vaginal.)

After a few days’ recovery time, I headed to Atlanta for the 2011 Gaylaxicon/OutlantaCon. This is a fun, intimate event with a lot of terrific programming and this year the special guest was none other than Buffy: The Vampire Slayer‘s Amber Benson (aka Tara MacLean). Adam Fair, the creator of This Gay Existence, and I were on a panel about what’s been going on in LGBT comics over the past year, which was fun and a great discussion, to boot. I only managed to snap one picture of Amber, during “The Match Game” panel when the panel was interrupted for a word from the sponsor, “Boy Butter”. I did get to say hello and shake her hand as I was leaving the show, and invited her to do something with Prism Comics in the future. We’d love to work together!

Chance Whitmire of Fanboys of the Universe also joined us at the table and gave out cool buttons and Fanboys cards. Chance has invited Prism Comics to come to Asheville, North Carolina, this coming weekend for the show that he organizes, Fanaticon, with special guest Gail Simone!

I’ll be meeting up with Gail on Thursday and shooting a little video to get any last-minute fence sitters to take the plunge and support The Power Within before we hit our fundraising deadline. (There’s just $900 to go! If you haven’t pledged, please check it out and lend a hand!)

Emerald City ComiCon 2011

// March 4th, 2011 // // Events

Northwest Press will be partnering with Prism Comics (as well as Jon Macy, Sean-Z, Jeff Krell, and Fanboys of the Universe) and appearing at a deluxe booth at the Emerald City ComiCon. Stop by booth #1002 and pick up all the NWP stuff, plus a ton of great LGBT comics from a wide variety of talented folks!

If you’re on Facebook, RSVP to the Prism Comics at Emerald City Comicon 2011 Event to see who else will be there!

Crossover Time: Teleny and The Fanboys of the Universe

// September 17th, 2010 // // Teleny and Camille

Jon Macy’s Teleny and Camille has just gotten an amazing review at gay comics site Fanboys of the Universe from the FBotU maestro himself, Chance Whitmire. Chance’s review starts off with a bit of an Oscar Wilde history lesson, and emphasizes just how much modern LGBT folks take for granted:

For a moment, though, try to imagine London, 1893. Sodomy was illegal. The mere accusation could destroy your reputation, your business and even land you in jail. Which is exactly what happened to Oscar Wilde. In 1895, Oscar was convicted of gross indecency (being a sodomite) and sentenced to two years of prison and hard labor. Being incarcerated in 1895 was no Chi Chi Larue video, either. It destroyed Oscar and ended the career of a literary genius.

He’s got more kind words for Jon and for Teleny and Camille:

As a graphic novel, Teleny and Camille keeps the original story and the best of its rich language, but gives it a more cohesive narrative. The writers of the novel strain at times to describe the passion and intensity of the relationship between the two men. Macy’s art, passionate and free-flowing, at times animalistic and supernatural, fills in where mere words fail. It’s as if Teleny had been waiting a century for Jon Macy to come along.

I got a chance to speak with Macy briefly at Comic-Con and breathlessly told him how I savored and studied each page and felt the book should only be read alone and by candlelight. So vivid is the world Macy constructs, and the threat of exposure so daunting, just the experience of reading the book feels wicked and forbidden. It’s a very sensual reading experience.

Macy’s Teleny and Camille was years in the making and stands as both a great accomplishment in the graphic novel genre and a major contribution to gay literature.

What are you waiting for? Get over there and read the whole review!