Recap: ANS Sci-Fi & Comic Con 2013

Last Saturday, May 11 was Curls Studio's first appearance at ANS Sci-Fi & Comic Con, now in its second year. We were stationed next to Frank Cho, which was an honor because we enjoy his Liberty Meadows work very much. 

The best thing about this convention was meeting new people and other creators. Joe and I took part in a "Making Comics" panel with Liz & Jimmy Reed, Leanne & Rod Hannah, Sarah Hoppes, and Chris Rizzo. The location was a classroom setting, but the conversation quickly because informal.

After the convention we got to spend some quality time with our pal, Adam. We also loved the fact that Frank Cho was the guest of honor at a Catholic school.

Thanks to Tom for organizing the show and supporting Magic Bullet by placing an ad in Magic Bullet #6.

More photos can be found on the Curls Studio Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151583276532381.1073741831.50763422380&type=1

Recap: Free Comic Book Day 2013

Joe Carabeo 

This year's 10th anniversary of Free Comic Book Day was pretty exceptional for me. One, because every year since it's inception I've always wanted to take part in the celebration of Free Comic Book Day. And two, because Free Comic Book Day was the day that I found out about a book that would became super influential to me as a storyteller, that being the David Lapham self-published book, Stray Bullets. So for me this year to finally take part as a Free Comic Book Day guest at Laughing Ogre Comics in Fairfax, VA, and have my own stories for people discover was pretty amazing. I loved being able to tell casual people who would never go into a comic book store about our books, Black Magic Tales, Kid Roxy, and The Legettes. Some never even knew making your own books was even possible -- and now they know. The turn out was smashing, very few moments of down time and the layout that Laughing Ogre Comics had for their free books and us was perfect for our exposure, they did a great job and would love to continue to cross promote with them. A huge surprise to me was we even sold a whole bunch of books, and Magic Bullet #6 was flying into new hands. So, overall, I'd say it was a great day.

Carolyn Belefski

Free Comic Book Day is great because it marks the start of a warmer season. There's usually a comic book movie premiere that weekend (this year was Iron Man 3) and it's Kentucky Derby Day. This year was the first year I've made a FCBD appearance, but I have attended practically every year. Joe Carabeo and I were at Laughing Ogre Comics in Fairfax, VA to distribute Magic Bullet #6 for free and we also set up a table to sell our own comics. Laughing Ogre did a good job with the new layout of the free table and handling the crowds. There were a lot of cosplayers - kids and adults alike all enjoyed taking photos with the characters.We met a ton of people and stayed for 6 hours. I'll always have the memory of this girl who got very excited about my comic strip, Curls. She had the biggest smile on her face and was in a trance watching me sketch.

You can read about our fellow Magic Bullet #6 contributors and their FCBD experiences here: http://magicbulletcomics.blogspot.com/2013/05/free-comic-book-day-2013.html

Check out more of our photos from FCBD on the Curls Studio Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151568922232381.1073741830.50763422380&type=3

Thanks to Laughing Ogre Comics for allowing us to have a table at their FCBD festivities.

ANS Sci-Fi & Comic Con is May 11

Curls Studio will be exhibiting at ANS Sci-Fi & Comic Con this Saturday, May 11 from 10:00 AM until 3:00 PM. Admission is $5 per person (go to their website for $1 off coupon), children under 10 are FREE. Joe and I will be taking part in the "How to Make Your Own Comic" at 12:15 PM.

There will be some familiar faces their including: Frank Cho, Laura Inglis, Cuddles and Rage, Dan Nokes, and more. Hope to see you there!

Screenings: 
11:00 - Buffy the Vampire Slayer (unreleased pilot episode)
11:30 - Star Wars: The Magic of Myth (unreleased documentary)
12:15 - Short Films from the DAVE School
1:00 - Sneak Preview Footage from PLASTIC GALAXY, with director Brian Stillman
2:00 - Tales from the Crypt - From Comics to Television

Panels & Presentations: 
10:45 - Jay Shepard of the DCSWCC & Rebelscum.com - Collecting SW Comics 101 
11:30 - Conquest Tactics Game Demos 
12:15 - How to Make Your Own Comic - Moderated by Dark Ink Pictures' Chris Rizzo 
1:15 - Art Ways Alliance - How to Draw Comics 
2:00 - Conquest Tactics Game Demos

Archbishop Neale School is located near the intersection of Route 301 (Crain Highway) and Route 6 (Port Tobacco Road), just past the La Plata Shopping Center.

104 Port Tobacco Road
La Plata, Maryland 20646

Team Cul de Sac - Eisner Award Nomination

Team Cul de Sac: Cartoonists Draw the Line at Parkinson's (edited by Chris Sparks, published by Andrews McMeel) is nominated for "Best Comics-Related Book" in the 2013 Eisner Awards.

The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards is considered the "Oscars" of comics and are given out at a gala ceremony at San Diego Comic-Con. This year the awards are celebrating their 25th year.

It was great to be a part of this book with my contribution, 'Cul de Sac Meets Curls.' Thanks to Chris Sparks and Richard Thompson. To learn more about this project, you can read my past blogs about it here.

If you are a comics professional, you can cast your vote here: http://www.eisnervote.com

I am also planning a 'Team Cul de Sac' team to walk for Moving Day on November 10, 2013 in Washington, DC. Registration is not open yet, but if you want to participate or donate, please email 'info[at]curls-studio.com' to be added to our interest list.

Free Comic Book Day is Next Saturday - May 4, 2013

Several Magic Bullet contributors will be at nine locations next Saturday to celebrate Free Comic Book Day, a day when participating comic book specialty shops around the world give away comic books absolutely free to anyone who comes into their shops. Please stop by to say hello and pick up a free copy on Magic Bullet #6.

Joe and I will be at Laughing Ogre Comics in Fairfax, VA. Hope to see you there.

MEET MAGIC BULLET #6 CONTRIBUTORS AT FCBD - MAY 4, 2013

Matt Dembicki, S. G. Artley, Michael Cowgill - Big Planet Comics in Vienna, VA
Andrew Cohen, Evan Keeling  - Big Planet Comics on U Street, D.C.
Art Hondros - Big Planet Comics in Bethesda, MD
Troy-Jeffery Allen, Matt Rawson - Fantom Comics in Union Station, D.C.
Jacob Warrenfelt​z - Third Eye Comics in Annapolis, MD
Rafer Roberts, John Shine - Beyond Comics in Gaithersburg, MD
Carolyn Belefski, Joe Carabeo - Laughing Ogre Comics in Fairfax, VA
Rob Anderson - Laughing Ogre in Lansdowne, VA
Adam McGovern - Dewey's Comic City in Madison, NJ

Recap: Awesome Con DC 2013

This past weekend Curls Studio exhibited at the inaugural Awesome Con at the DC Convention Center. First and foremost, all thanks and gratitude does to Ben Penrod, who conceived and organized the convention with Steve from Third Eye Comics. It was a much needed event for the city, which hasn't had an established comic convention in DC proper for years. Ben started it off with a blast!

The event got a lot of coverage in The Washington Post, DC101, and other media outlets. A reporter from Voice of America interviewed me, so be on the look-out for that.

This was the convention a few people were skeptical about -- it was the first one -- and no one was certain exactly what to expect, but we had a good feeling about it. Having known Ben thru other conventions (and exhibiting at his one-day shows Southern Maryland Comic-Con and Annapolis Comic-Con last year) I felt he had some tricks up his sleeve. When he started booking guests like Phil LaMarr I knew it was on! Also one of my co-workers came up to me asking, "What is this... Awesome Con?" -- that's when I knew he had hit a larger audience than usual.

Saturday blew everyone away! The crowds were hungry to discover new comics and many families were all dressed up as characters for the costume contest. All the exhibitors I talked to did extremely well and everyone had a smile on their face. Our table was situated next to Liz and Jimmy with Cuddles and Rage, who were great neighbors and do amazing work. Also on Saturday our friend, Lauren Jaslow, came to Awesome Con and it was a great surprise because we did not know she was going to be in town! I also attended the first 20 minutes of the Billy West Q& A panel and got to hear him do the Doug voice!

At 3PM on Saturday I was a panelist on the District Comics panel, moderated by Mike Rhode. The other panelists were Troy-Jeffrey Allen, Rafer Roberts, Andrew Cohen, and Jacob Warrenfeltz. After the panel, many attendees were interested in DC area landmarks and other tales about the city and its people, so we spent some time talking outside the conference room in the hallway. We'll post audio of that panel on The Carolyn & Joe Show soon.

At 6PM on Saturday, Joe was involved with a Pro Wrestling panel with Ben Taylor and Dan Nokes. I'm sure we'll also post audio of that panel on The Carolyn & Joe Show in the coming weeks. About a dozen people came up to the table after the panel to discuss wrestling with Joe, so it seems like people were really into the topics.

On Sunday I caught a glimpse of the special guests (Nicholas Brendon, Phil LaMarr, Ernie Hudson) and introduced myself to Theodus Crane to prepare him for our podcast recording. At 2PM, we recorded a live podcast with special guest The Walking Dead's Theo Crane, which will be available for listening this coming Tuesday on The Carolyn & Joe Show. He was such a great storyteller and I was amazed to learn about all the jobs he held before his explosion on the acting scene -- at one time he even studied to be a graphic designer! I don't want to give away too much, but we definitely talked about Robert De Niro acting "in his face" and crazy adventures at a strip club. Be sure to listen!

As with most cons (every con I've ever been to), the Sunday crowd is always a bit lighter. But it seemed like people who could not make it on Saturday made effort to attend on Sunday. I'm really expecting next year to be incredible.

A highlight was late on Sunday when Phil LaMarr stopped by the Curls Studio table! Truly, he is a talent and one of the nicest people to talk to and have an actual conversation with. When you look at all the projects Phil LaMarr has worked on (Pulp Fiction, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, MADtv, The Pee-Wee Herman Show, and much more) it's easy to see how he has leveraged a long career in show business.

Thanks again to Ben for creating this amazing event. We can not thank him enough. It was the best weekend I've had so far in 2013. Overall, I've had so much excitement with Awesome Con that I was way too happy to write a recap immediately -- needed a few days to simma down now!

For more Awesome Con photos, please view the gallery here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151539717162381.1073741829.50763422380&type=3

The next event Curls Studio will be at is ANS Sci-Fi & Comic-Con on May 11 at Archbishop Neale School in La Plata, Maryland. Hope to see you there.

The Washington Post 'Comic Riffs' Interview

Recently I was interviewed by entertainment reporter Michael Cavna about Awesome Con, Magic Bullet #6, District Comics, The Carolyn & Joe Show podcast, and various cartooning and career choices.

AWESOME CON: 'Curls' creator Carolyn Belefski on the creative 'mischief' that has spawned her rich art career

Take it for a read here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/comic-riffs/post/awesome-con-curls-creator-carolyn-belefski-on-the-creative-mischief-that-has-spawned-her-rich-art-career/2013/04/20/163f9632-a8a0-11e2-b029-8fb7e977ef71_blog.html

Thanks to Michael for the interview.