April 1 and 2, people from all over the world gathered at the Metropolitan Pavilion in Manhattan for the MoCCA Arts Fest, the annual celebration of Comics and Cartoon Arts organized by the Society of Illustrators in New York City. Intrepid WWAC contributors Masha and Emily met up there on the Saturday to browse the exhibitor floor and think about the state of conventions in 2023.
Emily: First of all, I have associations with the venue! For many years, I was a pal’s plus one for corporate holiday parties at the Metropolitan Pavilion, and it was very eye-opening to be there without a cocktail dress and heels on.
Masha: Huh! I was full of hatred for the venue because it was TOO HOT in there. And crowded!
Emily: Absolutely. Crowded heat without air movement was unfortunately the dominant impression. People tabling were using all kinds of their own wares as makeshift fans.
Masha: But mostly the poor ventilation on Saturday was very concerning. It felt like a sauna. People could faint from that kind of humidity! Also, there was very little room between/around tables, and no trash cans near vendors. Some of my friends who were tabling seemed really exhausted from the heat. I heard Sunday was better, but I couldn’t walk around too much on Saturday because it was just too hot and crowded.
Emily: My overall impression of the Fest is that while there are still a few independent artists with tables, the exhibitor floor seems dominated by MFA programs and book publishers. It feels more like an industry show now and less like an indie art convention. The tables for MFA programs seem pretty evenly split between consortiums of students showing their varied, interesting work, which reminds me of what tables of artists in coops used to do, and advertising for the program.
Masha: I saw some show-exclusive freebies at the big publisher booths and yes, signings, but it seemed like half the show floor was school tables. Some of which were pretty cool and some (SCAD) were just a bunch of pamphlets and professors taking up three times as many tables as they should’ve been. Tables that could’ve gone to independent artists on the waitlist! Come on! I am actually very bitter about SCAD’s convention presence because I spent my time at SCAD asking professors repeatedly if students could have tables at shows like other art schools did and getting blown off. But I digress.
Emily: No, that’s not a digression! If MoCCA Fest has become a way for MFA programs to showcase their students’ work in order to advertise for the program, it seems pretty noteworthy when programs get the space and then use it poorly.
Emily: I noticed a constant long line for the Drawfee table. I guess the Youtube show is really popular?
Masha: IT SURE IS. My former roommate Erika, who was tabling with the Center for Cartoon Studies, is a big fan and I’ve seen bits of the show from living with her. I also know a few people who hadn’t really heard of MoCCA and aren’t big on indie comics in general who came to the show just for Drawfee. It’s not really my thing, but other people like it a lot!
Emily: Wow, so they were a draw to MoCCA! In years past, the Risograph Lab has been a draw. Is Risograph settling into a niche now? It was still obviously present, but seemed like less of a big focus, maybe?
Masha: I think a lot of people at MoCCA Fest were returning attendees and therefore have already tried the RISO demo thing last MoCCA Fest. I also feel like MoCCA is the one show where a solid half of all tables present are selling RISO printed material. The closer the SVA RISOlab, the greater the RISO presence.
Emily: Yes, maybe I just don’t register the riso work as noteworthy at MoCCA anymore since it is so ubiquitous now. Similarly, I feel like tarot decks are heading into a moment and maybe mushrooms as a motif are on the wane?
Masha: I actually saw an article recently that said mushroom motifs in general are on the rise these days? But you’re right, I didn’t see too many at MoCCA. No more than usual, anyway. I feel like I did see more apparel than in the past, and I remember one table doing a whole thing about tarot but not an unusual amount of such.
Emily: Did you notice any interesting moments (good, bad, weird)?
Masha: The “Future of Publishing” panel was… weird in several ways. My friend and I came fifteen minutes early and couldn’t get a seat because the room was already full. It went 25 minutes over time. The editors in chief of Fantagraphics and Drawn and Quarterly both talked about how they hated working with agents because they “don’t know what they’re doing,” while the representatives from Abrams and First Second talked about how they work almost exclusively through agents. There was a one-off comment that implied a $50,000 advance for a graphic novel was an astronomical amount of money (which, considering a graphic novel takes several years to make, it really is not). Everyone talked about how they made Profit and Loss analysis sheets to figure out how many copies to print of a book and then Gary Groth said he just went with his gut every time. I walked away from that panel vaguely perplexed as to how Fantagraphics is still in business, even if they barely pay anyone anything. It was a very strange panel.
Emily: I’m writing about the panel program I attended, Barbara Brandan-Croft discussing her career as the first syndicated Black woman cartoonist in the United States, for WWAC right now! Watch this space with an eagle eye.
Masha: Most of what I ended up getting at the event were books from my friends, but I also got some books from Glacier Bay Books, which were really beautifully printed. I went to a panel about Independent Comics in Asia and learned alt comics from any country have more in common with each other than with the mainstream culture that surrounds them. Also got Rebecca Mock’s Die Horny, which I am excited to finally read.
Emily: With a title like that, how can you go wrong? If you’re excited about the MoCCA Arts Fest, you can already start planning for next year, when the fest will be March 16th and 17th!
