Spider-Man: 25 Years of Amazing

Thursday, February 11th, 2010 @ 7 PM

Admission: $5
Free for MoCCA Members

With Axel Alonso, Tom Brevoort, Danny Fingeroth, Jim Salicrup, and Stephen Wacker. Moderated by Fred Van Lente.

In honor of our exhibition of original art from the entire issue of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #50 by J. Michael Straczynski, John Romita Jr. and Scott Hanna, MoCCA presents an unprecedented roundtable discussion of the past quarter-century of all things Peter Parker with the editors who have helmed the title since the Reagan Administration! Axel Alonso (editor of ASM #50), Tom Brevoort, Danny Fingeroth, and MoCCA Trustee Jim Salicrup join current AMAZING editor Steve Wacker for the panel chat and audience Q&A. Moderated by MoCCA Trustee and current Spidey scribe Fred Van Lente.

AXEL ALONSO is Vice President, Executive Editor at Marvel Comics. He has been the editor on AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, X-MEN, PUNISHER and DC's Vertigo imprint.

TOM BREVOORT has been a part of Marvel Comics since 1989, when he started out as an intern. He served as an assistant editor, associate editor and editor before being promoted to his current position as Executive Editor in 2007. Over the past decade, Tom has overseen the revitalization of the Avengers franchise, presided over major crossover events including Civil War and Secret Invasion, and served as editor on titles including NEW AVENGERS, CAPTAIN AMERICA, FANTASTIC FOUR and many others.

DANNY FINGEROTH (Sr. VP of Education at MoCCA) was the editor of the SPIDER-MAN line 1983-84 and its Group Editor 1990-95. He wrote WEB OF SPIDER-MAN and several Spider-Man limited series. Danny was a consultant to the FoxKids Spider-Man animated series and to James Cameron's early version of what would become the 2002 Spider-Man movie. He's the author of SUPERMAN ON THE COUCH: WHAT SUPERHEROES REALLY TELL US ABOUT OURSELVES AND OUR SOCIETY; DISGUISED AS CLARK KENT: JEWS, COMICS, AND THE CREATION OF THE SUPERHERO; and THE ROUGH GUIDE TO GRAPHIC NOVELS.  
           
JIM SALICRUP is the current Papercutz Editor-in-Chief. Salicrup edited the SPIDER-MAN titles in the late 80s early 90s, and is remembered for Kraven's Last Hunt (which ran through all the Spider-Man titles, The Wedding of Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson, the introductions of Tombstone and Venom, and launching SPIDER-MAN #1 by Todd McFarlane, the best-selling Spider-Man comic ever.  Jim also wrote SPIDEY SUPER-STORIES for many years, and the Child Abuse Prevention comic starring Spider-Man. 

FRED VAN LENTE is the New York Times bestselling author of INCREDIBLE HERCULES (with Greg Pak) and MARVEL ZOMBIES 3 & 4, as well as the American Library Association award-winning ACTION PHILOSOPHERS. His other comics include COMIC BOOK COMICS, MODOK'S 11, X MEN NOIR and AMAZING SPIDER-MAN.

STEPHEN WACKER started editing comics for DC Comics in 2000. Currently he is a Senior Editor at Marvel editing AMAZING SPIDER-MAN and DAREDEVIL.

Animation Development: From Pitch to Production

Thursday, February 18th, 2010 @ 7 PM

Admission: $5
Free for MoCCA Members

With David Levy and Brown Johnson.

There's so many misconceptions, myths, and madness clouding up the reality of what it really takes to develop, pitch, and sell an animated project. Utilizing his own ten year experience in the pitching world, along with candid advice from successful creators and leading development executives alike, author and animation director David B. Levy has put together a useful book on the subject: Animation Development: From Pitch to Production (Allworth Press). Join us for an intimate industry panel on the ins-and-outs of pitching today and be sure to bring your questions too. Followed immediately by a book signing event.

David B. Levy is the creator of FIONA FINDS OUT, a preschool series optioned for development by the Disney Channel. He is currently under contract with Classic Media and Garan, Inc. to write and develop animated properties. Levy is the author of YOUR CAREER IN ANIMATION: HOW TO SURVIVE AND THRIVE (Allworth Press, 2006). Levy's second book ANIMATION DEVELOPMENT: FROM PITCH TO PRODUCTION, was published in September 2009. Levy has directed Nickelodeon's BLUE'S CLUES, the Noggin Channel's PINKY DINKY DOO, and Cartoon Network's Adult Swim series, ASSY McGEE. Levy has lectured and taught at Parsons School of Design, School of Visual Arts, NYU and Pratt, and is president of the New York chapter of Association International du Film d'Animation (ASIFA.)

Brown Johnson, the President of Animation, for Nickelodeon and MTVN Kids and Family Group.

MoCCA Thursdays are supported, in part, by public funds
from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs,
in partnership with the City Council.

Archie Comics Conversation with Victor Gorelick and Arie Kaplan

Thursday January 21st, 7 PM

Admission: $5
Free for MoCCA Members

The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art - MoCCA is pleased to present an evening of Archie Comics with Archie Co-President/Editor-in-Chief Victor Gorelick and Archie writer Arie Kaplan!

Victor Gorelick (born in Brooklyn) is an American comic book editor and executive. Currently the Editor-in-Chief and Co-President of Archie Comics, the oldest humor comics company in the United States, he has worked for the company for over fifty years in a wide variety of roles.
Victor Gorelick joined Archie Comics as an art assistant, and has served as production coordinator, art director and now as Archie Comic's Editor-in-Chief and Co-President. Mr. Gorelick has unique knowledge of every facet of the editorial process required to create and publish successful comics. He has done it all from writing to coloring, and everything in between. He has highly regarded artistic skills and an eye for meticulous detail. He also has a well honed sense of the wholesome content of Archie Comics that has been the basis for the bond of trust built with readers by Archie Comics down through th e years. He has worked closely with numerous companies designing various custom comic books. For example, he has overseen collaborations between Archie Comics and Kraft General Foods, Radio Shack and even the F.B.I.! He is a moving force on the Comic Magazine Association of America's Code Authority Guidelines Committee, a member of the Board of Advisors of the Joe Kubert School where many of today's comic artists first learned their craft, and he has taught cartooning as an instructor at the Kingsborough Community College in New York City.

Arie Kaplan is a comedian, MAD Magazine writer, and author of the book From Krakow to Krypton: Jews and Comic Books (JPS). He also wrote the comic book miniseries Speed Racer: Chronicles of the Racer (IDW Publishing), and he's written for MTV, Cartoon Network, and PBS Kids. Other comic book credits include the DC title Cartoon Network Action Pack, the Bongo Comics anthology Simpsons Winter Wingding, the Archie Comics title Archie & Friends, and the Papercutz series Tales From the Crypt.

Arie Kaplan will be signing copies of his award-winning book From Krakow to Krypton: Jews and Comic Books after the talk.

The Year of Loving Dangerously reading and book signing with Ted Rall

Thursday, December 3, 7 p.m. 2009

Admission: $5
Free for MoCCA Members

Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art - MoCCA invite you to join us for a discussion with Tedd Rall about his new book The Year of Loving Dangerously.

About The Year of Loving Dangerously
Here's a new turn for the controversial cartoonist and commentator Ted Rall. Not only is this autobiographical but he has paired up with the acclaimed artist of Bluesman and The Castaways for fully painted art.

It's the eighties and Ted is in college in New York City and slipping. His pranks, lack of focus and restlessness get him kicked out of school. Unable to find a job, rejected by his parents, he's on the verge of suicide. Instead he finds comfort in the arms of many women he meets casually and puts up a front for. Hey, better than being homeless and begging, but then... is it? It may sound like an ideal grift but the toll is much higher than one may imagine.

Between acidly funny and disturbingly real, Rall, a cartoonist whose work has alienated half the world, pours out his guts on a hard turning point in his life. Callejo adopts a new fully painted color style for this work, showing his versatility.

The Year of Loving Dangerously is published by NBM Publishing.

Looking for Calvin and Hobbes

Thursday, Oct. 22, 7 p.m. 2009

Admission: $5
Free for MoCCA Members

Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art - MoCCA invite you to join us for a discussion with Nevin Martell, author of Looking for Calvin and Hobbes, and cartoonist Ruben Bolling (Tom the Dancing Bug) about the life and art of Calvin and Hobbes creator Bill Waterson.

In Looking for Calvin and Hobbes: The Unconventional Story of Bill Watterson and His Revolutionary Comic Strip, writer Nevin Martell traces the life and career of the extraordinary, influential, and intensely private man behind Calvin and Hobbes. With input from a wide range of artists and writers (including Dave Barry, Harvey Pekar, Jonathan Lethem, and Brad Bird) as well as some of Watterson's closest friends and professional colleagues, this is as close as we're ever likely to get to one of America's most ingenious and intriguing figures - and a fascinating detective story, at the same time.

Only 3,160 Calvin & Hobbes strips were ever produced, but Watterson has left behind an impressive legacy. Calvin & Hobbes references litter the pop culture landscape and his fans are as varied as they are numerable. Looking for Calvin and Hobbes is an affectionate and revealing book about uncovering the story behind this most uncommon trio - a man, a boy, and his tiger.

Nevin Martell is the author of Dave Matthews Band: Music for the People (Pocket, 2004) and Beck: The Art of Mutation (Pocket, 2001). He is a Contributing Editor at Filter magazine and his music journalism has appeared in Paste, Giant, Men's Health, High Times, and Flaunt, as well as online at RollingStone.com. Currently, he lives with his wife outside Washington, DC, where he develops documentaries and non-fiction television.

Ruben Bolling is the author of the weekly comic strip, "Tom the Dancing Bug," distributed by Universal/Uclick Syndicate to many newspapers, and appearing in Salon.com. The comic strip is a five-time winner of the AAN Best Comic Strip Award (including 2009), and it has been compiled in three books, most recently Thrilling Tom the Dancing Bug Stories. His website is www.tomthedancingbug.com