One year ago today the Midmococo blog launched and over the past twelve months it has reported on mid-Missouri comic events, creators, comic jams, local comic history and other comic-related things. Here’s some quick blog stats on our first 111 posts:
It’s been a great first year and I have a feeling that the next one will be stuffed full of comic-related goodies. Stay tuned.
Posted in: Uncategorized
The St. Louis Artists’ Guild & Galleries is having a Mad Magazine Exhibit June 22 through September 6th, 2008. The exhibit contains “original Mad Magazine art, printed samples and other crazy stuff that will amuse, confound and possibly outrage you!” Artists in the exhibit include Jack Davis, Don Martin, Mort Drucker, Dave Berg, Sergio Aragones and Al Jaffee. The show is curated by St. Louis illustrator RJ Shay whose work will be shown co-currently in a separate volunteer exhibit.
The opening for the show will be June 22 from 1 to 3 p.m. The opening will have “refreshments, door prizes and maybe a special appearance by Bigfoot! (Maybe not!)“
Posted in: Uncategorized
A graphic novel is getting some special recognition in Columbia: Stephens College has chosen Persepolis, a graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi, for their 2008 freshmen summer reading program. The graphic novel was made into a film that came through Columbia earlier this year. You can get the book at The Bookshelf in Stephen College’s Stamper Commons.
Note to those of you who like zines: The Bookshelf also has a few zines tucked away on a shelf to browse. While you’re there be sure to check out Stephens College’s very own PostSecret bulliten board across the hall.
Posted in: Uncategorized
On Thursday June 12th in Kansas City, there will be a fundraiser event for the Laugh-O-Gram studio put on by Thank You Walt Disney Inc. The event includes food, a silent auction, an update on progress, a tour of the newly-renovated historic Armour Theatre, a cash bar, and a screening of the new Indiana Jones movie. Tickets are $35 each, and the event starts at 6pm.
The Laugh-O-Gram studio is the former animation studio of Walt Disney in Kansas City that Thank You Walt Disney Inc. is trying to raise money to restore and preserve. The president of this initiative is local Columbia attorney Dan Viets.
Posted in: Uncategorized
The 5th annual St. Louis Comic Cookout is coming June 5th-8th in the Best Western Airport Plaza Inn in St. Louis. Registration for the cookout ends Sunday, May 18th.
The cookout started up with webcomic artists from the Comic Genesis community, but as it says on the website:
If you’re a fan of webcomics, or a webcomic artist from anywhere, or just interested in webcomics, you are welcome to attend.
We have some local people who’ve been involved with this in the past, and Unitzoid has even designed this year’s website. You can see photos and videos from previous cookouts up on the mulitmedia page.
Posted in: Uncategorized
Here’s more about the exhibit from the Grand Center website:
Curated by Dan Martin, designer and illustrator at the St. Louis Post Dispatch, this exhibition chronicles the history of cartooning in the St. Louis area from its historically obscure foundations to the legendary works of Robert Minor, Al Frueh, Harry Tuthill and Chic Young of Blondie fame, among many others. The exhibit also features some of today’s most popular cartoonists like Mike Peters of Mother Goose and Grimm fame and others working in graphic novels and underground ‘zines today. All of the artists included here were either born in or have lived and worked in the St. Louis region, and this exhibit reveals the rich contribution of these talented internationally recognized artists to the history of the medium. It will delight audiences young and old!
The Post-Dispatch has an editorial which talks about the exhibit and it’s origins. This exhibit also has a Columbia tie because the exhibition was made possible in part by MU alumnus Mort Walker.
Dan Martin, in case you didn’t know, draws the Weatherbird for the front page of the St. Louis Post Dispatch. He even wrote a book about the character: The Story of the First 100 Years of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Weatherbird: The Oldest Continuously Running Daily Cartoon in American Journalism.
Posted in: Uncategorized
The Maneater student newspaper has a review of Peter Bagge’s Apocalypse Nerd collection.
Posted in: Uncategorized
Movies coming to a theater near you:
Update:
Posted in: Uncategorized
It’s time for the annual Free Comic Book Day on Saturday, May 3rd. There are two locations in Mid-Missouri who are participating:
Rock Bottom Comics, 1013 E Walnut St, Columbia, MO
Hastings, 2233 Missouri Blvd, Jefferson City, MO
Posted in: Uncategorized
A bicycle store in downtown Columbia named KLUNK has a website with a couple of cartoons on it.
Posted in: Uncategorized
This week’s Vox magazine is all about gay life in Columbia and they have a story about LGBT comic book characters included in the issue.
Posted in: Uncategorized
Local artist/educator Bob Hartzell has his thesis show up at the Orr Street Studios now through May 3rd. The name of the show is Polite Conversations: Provoking Dialogue Through Community Interaction, Recent Books and Ephemera. It showcases his artist books, which are kind of like an experimental comic or zine done with his unique screen printing techniques. You can literally flip through some of his books up on his Polite Conversations website. A reception for the show will be Friday April 25th during Artrageous Friday. (Special Musical Guest: Casey Reeves 6 to 8 PM)
Update: Vox Magazine has a story on the show and Bob was also interviewed on Kevin Walsh’s radio show on April 16th.
Posted in: Uncategorized
According to a post at the Orr Street Studio’s blog, Frank Stack’s book, The New Adventures of Jesus is getting a French translation. Frank has studio space at Orr Street Studios, in case you didn’t know.
I also just stumbled upon a video of Stack talking a little about the ideas behind The New Adventures of Jesus. The video was taken at the opening of a 2004 comic themed St. Louis art show called The Rubber Frame.
Posted in: Uncategorized
The Maneater student newspaper has a review of the new Batman/Grendel collection from Dark Horse Comics.
Posted in: Uncategorized
Have you heard of the new comic magazine Comic Foundry? Issue #2 just came out this week and KC creator Matt Fraction is on the cover. However I’m noting it on this blog because the creator of the magazine is former MU grad Tim Leong. Here’s how the magazine is described on the website:
The market already has comic magazines talking to the two very opposite ends of fandom, but no one is speaking to the wide and growing number of fans who find themselves somewhere in between. Personally, I read a mix of superhero comics, indie comics, and manga. My reading isn’t limited to just one category—I like to mix it up, and I think most readers do too.
You should be able to pick up the magazine at a comic store, or order it (sometime soon) on their website.
And speaking of comic magazines, you might already know that the online devision of Wizard Magazine got MU grad Jim Gibbons as an editor a few months back. However, you might not know that Jim started a blog up on the Wizard Universe website in February called The Loudest Monkey. In yet another tie in to a KC creator, you can check out his review of B. Clay Moore’s JSA Classified #35. (Jim also interviewed Moore and Fraction for a Missourian story when he lived in Columbia.)
Update: Jim posted some kind words about the midmococo on his Wizard blog.
Posted in: Uncategorized
The MU alumnus will draft a series of cartoons around the theme of “J-School Epiphanies.” The cartoons will be on display Sept. 10-12, 2008 for the centennial/dedication celebration.
A few months ago I wrote a post about his interview in Mizzou Magazine (pictured right), where he also ran a caption contest.
Posted in: Uncategorized
In support of the new Batman movie The Dark Knight, a marketing campaign for I Believe in Harvey Dent is underway. The Dentmobile visited Columbia on Thursday, March 20th: 2-3:30pm - Memorial Union South 518 Hitt Street, 4-5:30pm - Hitt Street Market 111 Hitt Street, 6-8pm - Shakespeare’s Pizza 225 S. 9th St.
If you missed the promotion, you can follow the Dentmobile online. It’s making three stops in Kansas City later today (March 21st).
Update: Photo courtesy of Unitzoid.
Another update: The Vox has a story on viral marketing, which includes talking about the Dark Knight promotion in Columbia. They also have an interactive graphic about the campaign as well.
Posted in: Uncategorized
Columbia’s Rock Bottom Comics has moved this month to 1013 East Walnut Street, just a few doors west of their previous location. The recently renovated building (which once housed the Columbia Art League) will be home to Rock Bottom, and some other “office users” according to a Tribune article. Rock Bottom had been at their previous location at 1029 East Walnut Street since 2000, but they’ve been in business in Columbia Mo. since 1973.
Posted in: Uncategorized
In their major spring sale earlier this month, they had several boxes of comics that they were selling (which is pretty unusual for a book sale). From what they told me, the plan is to put what wasn’t sold at the last sale up for sale next month. The comics were selling for 10 cents, so it’d be a good place to pick up some good deals!
Posted in: Uncategorized
Planet Comicon is coming up in a couple weeks and I am going to have a table in Artist’s Alley. I would like to extend an invitation to any local creators who would like to have their books sold or given away at my table, I should have plenty of space. Just shoot me an email at testtubecomics@yahoo.com if interested. I would also encourage anyone who has April 5th and 6th free to go to the convention. Planet Comicon is a little more intimate than some of your bigger cons and they get some really great guests to attend, which makes it really worthwhile. Hope to see you there!
Update: Kirstin has a con report up on her blog, and she also did a podcast interviewing people at the con.
Posted in: Uncategorized
News categories
News archives