Comic Con part 2: Swag

What's the best part of Comc Con? Loadin' up on bad ass books!

Pictured here are:
-Justin Parpan's "Gwango's Lonesome Trail", which i've been meaning to pick up since forever.
-Josh Parpan's "Eeks and Shrieks!" card set (not laid out)
-Emma's sketchbook
-Mike Mignola's sketchbook
-Chris Sander's sketchbook.
- Flight 5
- Who Is Rocket Johnson
- Ted Mathot's "Cora"
- Bill Pressing's "Bookplate Betties"
- Scott Morse's "Red Window: Summer 2008"
- Derek Thompson's Monster-a-Day
- Frank and Frank by Chris Applehans
PLUS the obligatory two books from Stuart Ng. I went into Stuart Ng expecting to make a B line for some Wenling, or an issue of Skydoll or Belladonne (my go-to titles for mind-blowingly appealing european comic book stylin's), but looking at them for the hundredth time i didn't find that i absolutely had to have them. Instead i tried to find something that i didn't already have, that i hadn't heard of and hadn't seen before. First i found 'Fennec' by Lewis Trondheim and Yoann. It's done in a really simple appealing style with equally simple and appealing watercolors. You don't need to read French to get the story. At the suggestion of some friends i also picked up a collection of the work of Sergio Toppi. His inking, crosshatching and color washes are refreshingly bold. I can see his influence in a lot people i've known who have come through CalArts, students and teachers alike, and it's nostalgic and refreshing to see the source.


FrankandFrank caught my eye with it's unusual shape. The awkwardness of trying to read such a long (not in the usual sense) book posed a humourous challenge. And the short, simple sequential strips it contained won me over (daaaaw!<3)