Would You Rather "Events" Be Monthly Or Weekly?

Here's a quick question that just came up in conversation:

Would you rather have comic book "events" that stretch out over months or weeks? Longer duration vs. shorter duration?

For example, a six-month event or an event done in a month?

Among the factors to consider are the attention-span of the readers & the total cost to purchase the entire event.

I lean towards weekly events with shorter timeframes. In an age of on-demand digital entertainment, weekly/daily updated webcomics, and "waiting for the trade," the content of a comic has to be pretty damn good to make me wait 30 days.

To See: Scarlett Takes Manhattan @ MoCCA

There will be a free book discussion for the new release Scarlett Takes Manhattan at the Museum of Comic & Cartoon Art on Tuesday, July 21 from 7-8 PM. The graphic novel's creators, Molly Crabapple & John Leavitt, will be on hand, a documentary on "Scarlett" by Randy Gentle will be screened, and Original Sin Cider will be on hand. I can't think of a better place to be on a Tuesday night in NYC, can you?

About Scarlett Takes Manhattan:

Scarlett O'Herring is a dancer, fire-breather, courtesan, and the star of Molly Crabapple's first graphic novel from Fugu Press. Written by long-time collaborator John Leavitt, "Scarlett" follows the rise of Miss O'Herring from tragedy (her mother crushed by copulating circus elephants) through her grand entrance on the stage (accidental and sans costume) to her triumph as the fire-breathing queen of burlesque. It's a sexy, decadent romp through the slums and palaces of New York's Gilded Age.

Scarlett Takes Manhattan brings to life a character from Molly and John's long-running web comic "Backstage" from the collective Act-i-vate. As Molly says, "It has Tammany Hall and bad politics and early-lesbian culture in it. And it's very dirty."

The Museum of Comics and Cartoon Art is at 594 Broadway, Suite 401 (btwn. Houston and Prince) in NYC.

And again: that's FREE ORIGINAL SIN CIDER!!!

Val Speaking At NYC's Girl Geek Dinner, Dec. 5

I'm honored to have been invited to be a speaker at the first NYC Girl Geek Dinner!

Girl Geek Dinners are held internationally for women in technology and science to talk informally about issues related their fields.

If you are a woman working in the sciences, technology, computing, IT, programming, graphic design, video games, and new media (blogging, etc.), this is a great event to attend.

When: 6:30pm, Friday, December 5th, 2008
Where: The Next Stage, 243 W. 30th Street, 11th Floor (btw 7th and 8th Ave.)
Limited Advance Tickets until 12/3: $5 includes raffle ticket & goodie bag

Click Here For More Details And To Buy Tickets

The Rules: No female, no entry!

Girl Geek Dinners are for the girls! But it doesn’t mean that men can’t attend, they just have to come as the guest of a female.

So if you are a woman in any of the aforementioned fields and want to hang out with your peers, eat some good food, network, and have a great time, feel free to come!

Burlesque Meets Life Drawing At Dr. Sketchys

A beautiful woman dressed as an absinthe fairy reclines on a gauze-draped table and strikes a pose, an elegant but slightly crooked antique chandelier hanging above. The artists grip their sketch pads with purpose and get to work as bawdy music cranks up over the speakers

sketch by the talented Tiffany Kamerman

Dr. Sketchy's Anti Art School combines burlesque with life drawing for a raucous good time to be enjoyed by artists and gawkers (as long as they're respectful) alike. Founded in 2005 by artist and webcomic creator Molly Crabapple, the event (held every other Saturday) has become a Brooklyn institution.

model Delirium Tremens before absinthe...

...and after absinthe

I attended the event with my friend Tiffany, an artist who let the charcoals grow dusty and hadn't sketched in a while, figuring that maybe the interesting venue might inspire her to pick her craft up again. She started with a few hesitant, unsure sketches, and by the end of the night she got her art mojo back and even won a contest (and a free shot of absinthe onstage!).

Tiffany and a fellow artist share absinthe on stage

The audience for this beautiful and sultry-- but definitely tongue-in-cheek -- burlesque show/sketching session was about 50/50 men and women and the event was definitely something both genders would enjoy. Our tireless model, Miss Delirium Tremens, struck each pose with an air of self-confidence and just a touch of humor.

If you're an artist or simply a devotee of cool shit to do in NYC, you really owe it to yourself to attend Dr. Sketchy's -- their next show is on July 26th at The Lucky Cat in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and you can read the details here.

Gallery:Dr. Sketchy's John Leavitt and Molly Crabapple

flesh...

...and fantasy
(sketch -- and the ones that follow --
courtesy of Tiffany Kamerman)

Comic Foundry
Launch Party Last Night

A party celebrating the launch of the comics cuture magazine Comic Foundry was held at the Irish Rogue in NYC last night, and your intrepid reporter/reveller Occasional Superheroine was there.

The vibrating condoms placed in our gift bags drove the point home: Comic Foundry is the magazine for comic book fans who get laid.

The Beat's Heidi MacDonald was there, as was the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund's Charles Brownstein and ACT-I-VATE's Dan Goldman ("Shooting War," "Kelly") and Nikki Cook ("Dripping Wet").

I also had a chat with Occasional Superheroine blog regular Red Stapler.

Comic Foundry Editor-in-Chief Tim Leong was of course the vortex of attention at the event, and expressed excitement that Diamond apparently did a reorder on the debut issue of his magazine.

Comic Foundry, originally online, is basically "Details" meets "Wizard Magazine" and is quite cool. It's available NOW at your local comic book store or purchase it online.

As an aside, The Irish Rogue is apparently no stranger to comic book type peoples, as it is rumored that Frank Miller hangs out there and a copy of a Garth Ennis's "Punisher" hardcover sits behind the bar in a glass case.