Nippon
Challenge
Myth
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Saturday May 30th 2005
Sorry for the delay. Once again, I found myself in Toronto for a day
of shopping and shopping for artists. Unfortunately I spent far too much
time shopping for computer parts for myself and friends.
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Cameron
House home of monthly Toronto Comic Jam sessions |
It wasn't until much later that I manage to find the entrance to the Comicon. After what seemed a long walk to the older part of the Trade Center, I came across two things. Large inflated archway and spandex.
_
I was greeted by another happy face of one of the artists involved in
many of my past challenges, Sarah Griffen of Asylum
Squad
was out for some 'fresh' air just as I was getting there. She
was happy to have a new publisher. She'll be at AnimeNorth but sharing
a table with another artist. I handed her the 4 Koma Poster which had her
work on it. Also at the con was some of the artists that were at last week's
Fan Appreciation Event. I manage to make a smaller poster of their works
as well as full size copies for their own. Not wanting to go overboard
with doing same artists twice, opted for new artists to do this event's
4 komas. A decision which might have been the cause of fewer numbers of
4 koma completed. However arriving around 1:45 didn't help matters any.
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Eric Kim of Ink Skratch is an artist who was my choice to try out for second panel of Myth. Unlike the other 4 koma's which are drawn by North American artists, this 4 koma 'Myth' was started by Yamaneko-ya of Japan. Given Eric's artistic abilities, I think it was a fair job given the time constraints. Still, the scan doesn't do justice. He felt it an honor to work on the 4 Koma Project. I thought it was an honor to have him draw. Yet, he didn't want to be paid. Something I don't allow since it costs the artist's time. I don't believe in a free lunch. Instead I bought both volumes of 'Love as a Foreign Language' from him. These books will be part of the reading section of Manga JAM. After all, the least I can do is introduce others to his works. Side note: Only a few tables down was this gorgeous woman bearing
strange resemblance to Hana in Eric Kim's book. There ... on the table
was... Love as a Foreign Language. This was ... Deja Vu Extreme.
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panorama of the artist alley and the dealer's behind
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This picture is a little painful for me. For one, it reminded me of my parents before my dad passed away because of cancer. However, I hardly knew of Jerry Robinson before this day. Being the creator of the legendary villain Joker and co-creator of Robin, you would have hardly noticed him and his wife between the large lines of fans lining up for brand-name artists to have their eBAY fodder signed. I turned and looked around after and for some strange reason, the whole room looked different. I just couldn't quite place WHY. It didn't hit me until I was on the bus heading back to London. Without him or William Gaines Senior (creator of comic book format), or Siegel and Shuster (Superman) or Bob Kane (Batman) or William(?) McKay (father of animation), nothing in that room would have existed. No dealer tables full of comics. No tables with artists trying to hawk their wares. No companies there to promote their latest film or books. No comic, no manga, no anime for that fact. For Jerry Robinson's generation, comics (and animation) were a WHOLE NEW media for artistic expression. There was nothing like it before. To dream, design, write, create not just some character but a whole new world that could dream of new possibilities and express them. The artist alley was and is his 'grandchildren's children.' Descendants not of blood but of dreams. But at the time, I didn't have those words. The only words I had for Jerry Robinson at that moment was THANK YOU. |
See ya at Anime North and C.N.Anime ...
