Locust Moon Recap
Another year, another great Locust Moon Comics Festival. Once again held in Philadelphia’s rotunda, where the paint-chipped walls give way to a massive organ that is likely filled with dust and spiders - a perfect spot for a Halloween show.
I got to Philly early on Friday to help with the set-up before checking in to my weirdest Air B&B to-date: a completely empty apartment except for a bed and a nightstand. No curtains or blinds on the window, no soap in the bathroom, no couch to relax on. Obviously, I wasn’t going to be spending too much time in this place.
I headed on over to the Drink & Draw at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Met some new folks but also saw many of my comic friends. It was crazy standing back and watching Chris Claremont, Craig Thompson, David Mack, Bill Sienkiewicz, Dean Haspiel, Ronald Wimberly, Gregory Benton, and others sit around a table and sketch Kelly Phillips dressed as mom from FUTURAMA but that’s what happens at a Locust Moon show.
After the Drink & Draw, Rafer Roberts and I went to watch the World Series. We drank a bit and made up a comic called President True Love and it’s the greatest comic you’ll never read. Oh well.
The show itself was wonderful - I sold out of my copies of ARTISTS against POLICE BRUTALITY in about three or four hours and then just decided to coast and have fun with the rest of my time. I sat next to Craig Thompson who showed up at around 3PM or so and that was a real treat.
Back in the early-2000s, it was books like Thompson’s BLANKETS that didn’t just get me back into reading comics but made me want to make comics. Once Thompson’s line calmed down I even told him that. He thanked me, and said that he heard of COLONIAL COMICS. In my head I was saying, “Awww…Craig…you’re so sweet. There’s no way you ever heard of this book.” But then he reminded me that we were both currently in Whitman College’s comics gallery show (Colonial Comics has its own alcove at the show). I don’t think I’ve ever been as proud of my work as I was at that moment.
Craig signed a copy of SPACE DUMPLINGS for my niece…
…did a sketch for Matt Dembicki’s son…
…and even honored me with a #sadfight…
To say that he is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met is an understatement.
After the show was the after party, where beer and wine flowed all night and eventually all of the guests got to drawing. It started with a Dean Haspiel vs. Rafer Roberts Darkseid vs. Thanos draw-off and then instantly turned into a battle to see who could draw the best uncircumcised penis.
Oh, Locust Moon. Don’t ever change.
