Recap: New York Comic Con 2021

Curls Studio visited New York Comic Con last week and had a swell time. I didn't get to break away from the table too often, but I saw a drawing demo by Dan Parent (he drew Jughead and Betty) and glanced at Adam Cole and Tony Schiavone at the AEW booth. I also got to visit the NASA booth to give them Curls "I Need Space" buttons, sample some Kung Fu Tea, and admire Art Baltazar and Franco work (Tiny Titans) in Artist Alley.

I had a signing at National Cartoonists Society booth on Thursday and Friday. It was fun to be able to see some of the great cartoonists there and catch up after so long.

One crazy thing that happened actually happened at the Curls Studio table was out of nowhere I saw a man walking the aisle in front of me. He was dressed in black tones. Definitely cool and rock-and-roll casual, but nothing too shimmery. He could have been anyone, but then I said to Joe through my mask, "Is that Mikey Way?" Since everyone is wearing masks it can be hard to recognize, but I had a good feeling it was magically him. He walked by since he was on the move and right after he passed I said, "Hey, Mikey!" He stopped and turned around. Imagine someone in one of your favorite bands suddenly face-to-face with you. I told him how much his band is super influential and he mentioned how he it was nice to hear some positivity. Mikey gave us fist bumps and I got a photo with him (with my glasses foggy from wearing mask). I'm happy because I already had photos with all the other members of My Chemical Romance and the only one left to meet was Mikey. Now I have photos with all of MCR!

Of course we enjoyed being in the city as well. We ate lots of pizza in the hotel room and saw Times Square. I got to see the Vessel structure at Hudson Yards for the first time, however it was closed to go up. I also got to visit Coney Island once again and have an authentic Nathan's hot dog and creamy orange shake.

We hope to be back at NYCC in the future. Big thanks to Francis Bonnet, Sammi Messina, Joe Carabeo, NYCC staff, NYCC volunteers, NCS, and everyone who stopped by the booth.

Our next tour stop for 2021 is Baltimore Comic-Con this coming Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

David Bowie and Instagram

The news of David Bowie's death hit everyone this morning and I felt like I needed to do a Curls tribute illustration to honor his life. In all actually, I don't know much about Bowie. Sure, I've heard "Under Pressure" (the song resurfaced for me when My Chemical Romance covered it) and "Heroes" and even sought out to reenact the tunnel scene from The Perks of Being a Wallflower in Fort Pitt, but I never really went out of my way to get into Bowie.

Having Instagram is allowing me to showcase one panel comics and supplemental material for Curls. I may get ideas that I don't want to interrupt the storyline for or simple one panel jokes or thoughts and Instagram is a good outlet for all those reasons. The other week, I posted my first "one panel Curls" and Free Comic Book Day reposted it on Facebook -- the reception was interesting -- reaching nearly 1,000 likes, several shares, and comments.

While illustrating this David Bowie art I listened to his last album, Blackstar, released this past Friday. I think it's awesome that he planned a final album to his fans and created art up until the very end. It makes me feel how sad I will be when one of my favorite musicians dies. I have respect for David Bowie as an artist. I only wish I'd got into Bowie earlier, but better now than never.

Curls: Plymouth Rock

This comic is a direct response to Frank Iero’s “Happy Danger Day!” blog post. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

You can view more Curls comics at http://www.curls-studio.com/curls.