Today was MoCCA’s awesome indie festival,  MoCCAfest!  It’s happening right now at the 69th Armory in Manhattan, New York.  There’s a small entrance fee of $12 but that fee is your gateway to some real awesome quality comic art.  Chromaengine headed off to the sea of the obsessed today to “check out the goods!”  It was real nice to see so many people there this time perusing the aisles, it shows that the art of comics is still of interest in a digital age of “flavor of the minute” entertainment.  So what did we find today?

One happy customer!

Lookie here!  We found Mel at the table of the swingin’ gal crew of Estrigious and Friends.  We’ve got an operative here receiving one of the awesome new My Cage : Year One compiled volumes from Mel herself.  Look how insanely happy he is!  The strenuous work of comic artists is a plight little told, so to see it pay off so in the end is great!  Hey Mel, what else you got for us down the road?  Hmmm…

It's got to be the water...

Whoa!  Here’s a rare sighting, it’s Becky Cloonan, artist of some of the damn finest comic books around!  If you’ve ever been into comic books and the artists who create them, sometimes coming to events like MoCCA means being able to see and meet some of the masters of the medium.  On top of that you can buy works from them directly, things that you wouldn’t normally see published or in your local comics shop.  It’s like a treasure hunt everytime you go to one of these which is totally worth the effort.  This meet and greet atmosphere is quite different from just attending panel sessions and it’s the same in any convention you go to, big or small.  Hmm…I wonder, is the secret of her success tied to that bottle of power/vitamin/awesome water?  Hmm…

"I've killed 2 bears with these hands today!"

Vasilis tells it like it is!  Seeing all these guys here mingling and interacting with fans and other creators alike is really inspiring.  If you’ve ever wanted to draw comics or illustrations of any kind, missing out on going to these sorts of events is a real shame.  Getting a glimpse at how passionate everyone is about the art can be motivation in and of itself to go out there and do what you should have done a while ago, drawing more comics!

The unfortunate thing for myself was I wasn’t prepared with more cash on myself, neither were the other guys.  I was limited in what I could buy as I felt like if I had a table here, I’d want more customers to see my work.  With this thought in mind, despite being short handed in the wallet I decided to at least buy 1 thing that caught my eye.  It was a book called “Sacred”, drawn and written by Lizbeth R. Jimenez.  I saw the posters and prints hanging on her stand and was immediately drawn to the art style.  Without a second thought, I immediately purchased vol. 1 of her book which I thought was well drawn.  I found out from Mel later that the entire book was self-published with all the work done by Lizbeth herself, now THAT’S dedication to your craft!  Awesome job there!

"Heeeeeeeeey ladies!"

It was really fun but tiresome to walk around the hall though.  It wasn’t as crowded as some of the big conventions but there was still a traffic jam or two while wandering around.  Still it seems that MoCCAfest is getting bigger by the year which is always a welcome sight.  Maybe next time around, Chromaengine won’t just be visiting some friends at the festival?  Hmm…

"If you answer these 3 riddles, you may pass!"