Comics on the Coast

Fire up your alternative fuel vehicle and take a cruise along California's coast for some excellent comics-related events:

July 20-23, 2006--Comic-Con International 2006--San Diego, California USA
One of the world's most popular comics conventions, Comic-Con is jam-packed full of events, awards ceremonies, auctions, a film festival and special guest appearances.

Top nominees for Comic-Con's esteemed Eisner Award include:

• Chris Ware-nominated projects include Acme Novelty Library and Walt and Skeezix
• Warren Ellis-nominated projects include Desolation Jones and Fell
• Brian K. Vaughan-nominated projects include Ex Machina

Special guests include:

• Yoshitaka Amano (Final Fantasy)
• Brian Bolland (Judge Dredd)
• Ray Bradbury (The Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated Man, Something Wicked This Way Comes, and Fahrenheit 451)
• Robert Kirkman (Invincible, The Walking Dead)
• Walter Koenig (Chekov on the original Star Trek TV series, celebrating its 40th anniversary this year)
• Kazuo Koike (Samurai Executioner, Crying Freeman with Ryoichi Ikegami, Lady Snowblood)
• Billy Martinez (Wildflower, Kickass Girl)
• Jimmy Palmiotti (Painkiller Jane)
• Gail Simone (Gen13 with artist Talent Caldwell)
• Yoshihiro Tatsumi (The Push Man and Other Stories)

August 04-06, 2006--AOD 2006: The San Francisco Animation Convention--San Francisco, California USA
Organized by the infamous staff of Anime Overdose, this isn't "the world's biggest", but it's a blast nonetheless.

Events include:

• Guest And Industry Panels
• Charity Auction-In 2005, AOD sponsored its first charity auction, which benefited the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and drew donations from Pixar's John Lasseter, actors Seth Green, Robin Williams, John Goodman, Dark Horse Comics, Japanese anime director Takeshi Mori, and many others.
• AOD’s Music Video and Original Animation Contest
• Video Screenings
• Artist Alley
• Musical Performances
• and who can miss the Karaoke?

Honored guests include:

• Merlin Crossingham (Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Morph, Creature Comforts)
• Greg Dean (Real Life Comics)
• Vic Mignogna (Fullmetal Alchemist, Dragon Ball Z, Neon Genesis Evangelion)
• PMBQ (Tea Club)
• Gilles Poitras (author and expert on Japanese anime, culture, and history)
• Ken Pontac (Bump in the Night, Happy Tree Friends)
• Marv Wolfman (Crisis on Infinite Earths, Teen Titans, Blade the Vampire Hunter, Lex Luthor)
• Tommy "Yoonie" Yune (Robotech)

Cartoon Art Museum--San Francisco, CA
May 9-October 15, 2006--Cartoon Tunes: Capturing Music in Comics
Explores the vibrant interplay between music, sound & lyrics and comic illustration from mainstream to indie artists.
Featured artists include R. Crumb, Lloyd Dangle, Gene Deitch, Ellen Forney, Justin Green with Carol Tyler, Dylan Horrocks, David Kelly, Megan Kelso, Keith Knight, Lev, Jason Little, Jesse Reklaw with Joe Sayers, Spain Rodriguez and R. Sikoryak.
Spotlighted musicians include The Beatles, Belle & Sebastian, Miles Davis, Fats Domino, Bob Dylan, Philip Glass, Jenny "The Swedish Nightingale" Lind, Jelly Roll Morton, The Partridge Family, Run DMC, They Might Be Giants, and Frank Zappa.

July 1, 2006-January 14, 2007--Draw Me A Story: A Century of Children's Book Illustration
A 100-year evolution of comic art and illustration is showcased by original drawings and paintings from such artists as Edward Ardizonne, Palmer Cox, Tomie DePaola, Edward Gorey, Kate Greenaway, Johnny Gruelle, Ruth Heller, Walt Kelly, Elizabeth Miles, Trina Schart Hyman, Maurice Sendak, Ernest Shepard, William Steig and Lawson Wood. A colorful candy store of styles, themes and characters graces the walls of this amazing museum.

...just a sip of All Over Coffee...

And while you're in San Francisco, don't forget to pick up (or view online) the latest issue of the San Francisco Chronicle to admire their collection of comic artists--Paul Madonna's mesmerizing, witfully wise All Over Coffee and Mark Fiore's scathingly clever political cartoons are especially noteworthy.