Memories of the Latino Comics Expo 2012

I got home this past Monday evening from the long weekend in San Francisco for the Latino Comics Expo. Tuesday morning, I was right back to work on a new comic book, back to teaching my comics workshops, and squeezing in a screening of THE AVENGERS during the week (loved it, by the way!). But I realized I had better get to blogging about the Expo...!

This year's Expo was once again held at the Cartoon Art Museum. Many thanks to the Museum for hosting us once again, with special mention to Curator Andrew Farago, Executive Director Summerlea Kashar, Board of Trustees Chair Ron Evans, and the delightful Elena Diaz for assisting us day and night.

We had an art exhibit running in conjunction with the Expo as well, LA RAZA COMICA: A CELEBRATION OF THE LATINO AMERICAN EXPERIENCE IN THE COMIC ARTS (which runs until September 30). The Opening Night reception taking place on Friday, May 4. My good friend, and illustrious co-founder of the Expo, Executive Director Ricardo Padilla (in the gray sportscoat) is enjoying a cup of his home-made Sangria, alongside cartoonist Rafael Navarro:

The Museum will have several exhibits running simultaneously, and one of the other shows was the Mad Magazine retrospective. No shortage of gawking and geeking out on that show, and that was just us artists!

I was very proud that we put together an art exhibit focusing on Latino comic creators. And I have to say, as an artist myself, it's such a unique opportunity to have artwork hanging on the walls of such a museum. I've seen numerous shows there over the year, so it's a joy to have artwork displayed on the same walls that have featured such comics and artists as DICK TRACY, SPY Vs SPY, PEANUTS, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Wally Wood, Frank Frazetta, Jack Davis, Sergio Aragones, Gene Colan, etc. Literally every great cartoonist over the last 100 years! And now...sniff....me, too....

 A page from my WEAPON TEX-MEX Vs EL MUERTO.

I stayed at the home of Ricardo and Rosalind Padilla for the weekend, and after the art opening we went back to their place and watched MASTER OF THE FLYING GUILLOTINE! Nothing like a little kung-fu cinema when running an Expo, ya know?

Saturday we woke up to stunningly beautiful, sunny weather, but luckily the crowds showed up to our first day of the Expo. We had a rich variety of creators exhibiting there, some debuting their new books, others being long-time, well-traveled convention exhibitors. We had creators working on web comics, zines, comics and graphic novels, even animation. I was giving out copies of the new BATICALACA Poster Comic, and luckily we had lots of kids show up, as the comic was created for an all-ages audience in mind.

I shared a table all weekend with Jose Cabrera, always a blast hanging out with the fun-loving creator of CRYING MACHO MAN (seen below with cartoonist Isis Rodriguez, who flew in from Mexico to debut her comic book NIÑAJI):

We had a full day of panels on Saturday, including one on Self-publishing (featuring, L to R, Crystal Gonzalez, the team of Mario Lanao and Cristian Garcia, Rafael Navarro & Michael Aushenker ):

I hosted a panel called 'Mythology in Comics'. It was fascinating to hear the panelists discuss their approaches to incorporating Mexican myths and folklore into their stories, as well all varied in our methods and reasons. One of our panelists, Rodolfo Mendoza, is from Mexico (currently living in Utah), so we assisted him with translating his responses to English (thanks to Isis and Ricardo for pitching in!). L to R are Isis Rodriguez, Adriana Garcia Cabrera, Daniel Parada & Rodolfo Mendoza).

I know that Ricardo and I were very grateful to have had so many great creators attend our Expo and appear on our panel. And we were especially proud to have also had a special panel featuring Spain Rodriguez, the legendary cartoonist from the original underground comix movement of the late 60s/early 70s, and cartoonist and friend of the Expo, Mario Hernandez. Ricardo reached out to Spain in the Bay Area and invited him to the Expo. Spain was more than happy to appear with his old friend, Mario. Here's Ricardo moderating the conversation with Spain (L) and Mario (in the middle):

Another memorable event that occurred at the Expo was that the curator of the Latin American, Mexican American & Iberian Collections at the University of Stanford came to the Expo. He and another representative walked through and purchased from the artists 3 copies of every work they had. They actually bought my entire inventory of EL MUERTO COLLECTOR BOXES I had brought with me! While it's always great to have such a great sale, what really is special is having your work included in such a collection, particularly from such an institution as Stanford. When someone wants to study the history of Latino comics and creators, my work will be available for research, alongside many other works by other artists. Yes, yes, I know we have Google, but good old-fashioned physical research can't be beat!

Saturday evening was time for another get-together, this time hosted by our friends at MISSION: COMICS & ART. Get a bunch of cartoonists together at a comic shop, add Sangria and some other 'drinks', and well, you got yourself a party!

Las Cartoonistas! L to R, Isis, Crystal Gonzalez, Gabrielle Gamboa, Grasiela Rodriguez and Liz Mayorga.

Me and the charming Crystal. And yeah, I'm sporting my stylish Ed Wood 'Bride of the Atom' t-shirt and vintage 1976 Howard the Duck presidential campaign button!

Sunday was another day of beautiful weather, and more Expo excitement!  

I really enjoyed hearing from the folks who visited the Expo. One elderly gentleman, I believe his name was Bob, was telling me about the first Latino in professional baseball (Luis Castro, playing for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1902). Bob was telling me how Luis died poor and in obscurity, with no tribute or tombstone to mark his passing. He told me he had no idea there were 'Latino comics' and he hoped that we would all leave a mark and not end up in obscurity, like Mr. Castro. There was sincerity and true emotion in Ben's voice, and it was really touching to hear him express his concerns. I told him that was the reason that we created a Latino Comics Expo, so that creators of Latino descent could gather together and share their work with readers. I also assured Ben that I make as much noise as I can about my own work, whether people want to hear about me or not! 

We also had an animation panel, organized by cartoonist and animation-dabbler Jose Cabrera. Here's Grasiela Rodriguez discussing her techniques, and a shot of the audience enjoying the various animated shorts:

 
On Sunday, we had another panel with Mario Hernandez, this time he did a reading from one of his comics and had a Q&A with the audience. Mario was a guest last year as well, and he's a complete pleasure to talk with. The first thing he said to me when I saw him Friday evening at the art opening was "I just saw THE AVENGERS and I loved it!". Now that's the way to start a conversation in a comics museum!

Being a co-founder of this particular event fills me with a huge amount of accomplishment. The reaction from the artists and the community of fans convinces me that this is a very important thing that we do, this love of comics as our storytelling device. And the reasons we do it, the influence we each get from our individual experiences, and the impact it has on the people, both within and outside the Latino community, well, the rewards speak for themselves.

BATICALACA Poster Comic

My 6th and newest Poster Comic is available for viewing...THE BATICALACA!

(Click on the image to see a larger, readable version on my page at DeviantArt.)  


The Baticalaca is one of the heroes of the CALACAS OF JUSTICE, my Day of the Dead-themed super hero group. A previous Poster Comic featured another hero from the group,  The Spider-Calaca.


This Poster Comic will be available for FREE this coming Saturday, May 5, at the LATINO COMICS EXPO, while supplies last. I'll be exhibiting both days at the Expo, being held again this year at the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco. Free Comic Book Day is a national event with participating comic book stores giving away free comic books created exclusively for the event. I wanted to have a free giveaway as well and figured the brand-new BATICALACA Poster Comic would be a great way to do it!

LATINO COMICS EXPO review Pt. 1

The inaugural LATINO COMICS EXPO is now in the history books, and was I ever glad to have been a part of it! Held at The Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco the weekend of May 7 & 8, the event was a comic convention centered around Latino themed comics and their creators. 

I have to give a very special thanks to my fellow co-founder, Ricardo Padilla, for all the work he put into this event. As a San Francisco resident, Ricardo took the lead with all the physical footwork coordinating the event with the staff of the Cartoon Art Museum (Andrew Farago, Summerlea Kashar & Ron Evans, to name a few!). Ricardo also set up our 'official' Expo hotel for visiting artists, and in fact had his mother, father, son, daughter and lovely wife all help out with the planning and execution of the event! Latinos are known for close families, and this Expo really reflected that.

I arrived in San Francisco late Friday evening at the Padilla residence, and was greeted by this wonderful bit of business: a Certificate of Honor commemorating Latino Comics Expo Day! This was not only deeply appreciated by Ricardo and I, but every single one of our attending artists was blown away by this great achievement. 

The first day of the Expo was off to a good start, which coincided with FREE COMIC BOOK DAY. My spread for that day featured a stack of EL MUERTO MISH MASH comics available for free to anyone who'd like one.

I shared a table with good friend Rhode Montijo, who had a great display featuring his new SKELETOWN book and hand-crafted merchandise.

I've done a scores of conventions and festivals, signing in libraries, wharehouses, bookstores, parks and even a cemetery or two! But being set up inside an actual museum devoted to comic books and comic strips? That was a unique experience. Behind and in front of me were pages from classic Marvel and DC comics, comic strips like Peanuts, even political cartoons (there was Richard Nixon right behind me!).

I think a very popular component of the Expo turned out to be the panels. Working with all our artists/attendees, I think we came up with a really good variety of panels for the weekend. Saturday's started off with a kid's comics panel featuring (Left to Right): Carlos Saldaña (BURRITO), Rhode Montijo (PABLO'S INFERNO, CLOUD BOY), Moderator Hector Cantu (BALDO), Anthony Oropeza (AMIGOMAN) and Expo Co-Founder Ricardo Padilla.

Professor Frederick Aldama, who wrote a book entitled YOUR BRAIN ON LATINO COMICS, gave a lecture on the history of Latino comics. Many of the Expo exhibitors were both in the book and the lecture.

 Comments from the fans were positive and supportive, with many asking if we'd be back next year. My personal dream for this Expo is to take it on the road, giving more people across the land the chance to attend the show. That would also allow for more artists to be able to make the trek to the show as well.

Me and the Professor!

Jeff's a great fan, and it's always a joy to meet up with him when I do shows in the Bay Area. He's a huge fan of outre cinema & pop culture and always brings great conversation to my table. He bought one of the miniature EL MUERTO sketch dolls and decided to carry him around like Freddy the Flute from H.R. Puffinstuff! 

The Museum is divided up into 4 rooms, and we were stationed in two of them. Plus we had the use of the back room, where we held the panels. We even had access to their offices upstairs, where we set up a 'Green Room' for the artists to catch a breather. Ricardo's mother was kind enough to make two huge batches of burritos for us as well!

The Museum's staff was top notch, and there weren't really any problems all weekend. It really was a pitch perfect first-time outing. With me down in LA and Ricardo living in San Francisco, I think we were able to coordinate all the pre-planning and launch a  successful show. No doubt our artists and guests really were the highlights of the show.

LATINO COMICS EXPO Exclusive TEX-MEX Vs. MUERTO Pack

This weekend, Saturday and Sunday, May 7 & 8, is the first ever LATINO COMICS EXPO!

This is a show I organized with co-founder Ricardo Padilla, and it's bringing together over a dozen writers and artists that highlight the influence of Latino culture and experience in their works. The Expo will be held at the Cartoon Art Museum, and admission to the Museum grants you access to the Expo and all the panels and presentations. 

I'll be moderating and participating in a panel on Sunday, SELF-PUBLISHING YOUR COMICS. But as an artist, I'm bringing along my brand new comic book, WEAPON TEX-MEX Vs. EL MUERTO. And to really celebrate the uniqueness of this historic event, I'm putting together a very limited LATINO COMICS EXPO Pack! Here's what's included:

The new WEAPON TEX-MEX Vs. EL MUERTO comic book, the ROUGH CUT SPECIAL EDITION book, a color print, and an original penciled page I created when working on the rough draft of the comic. All 18 pages are being included in the LCE Pack, including the cover and back cover thumbnail pages.

20 packs in total, and once they're gone, that's it! 

I'll also have a brand-new metallic EL MUERTO/LATINO COMICS EXPO button, plus my usual catalog of comics, buttons and DVD. But mostly, let's meet up at the first ever LATINO COMICS EXPO and have a really great time!

Upcoming shows: Latino Comics Expo and San Gabriel Valley Comic Book Festival

Two upcoming shows I'll be participating at include the first-ever LATINO COMICS EXPO being held on May 7 & 8 at the CARTOON ART MUSEUM  in San Francisco.

(Logo and illustration by Jose Cabrera)

The LATINO COMICS EXPO was an idea between myself and Ricardo Padilla (he curated my COMIC POP solo art show last year in San Francisco). We envisioned an event that would encompass a wide range of voices from Latino-themed comics from a variety of artists of Latino background. We approached the Cartoon Art Museum and they were very supportive of our proposal. I'll be posting up the names of confirmed artists next week, so please check back and make plans to attend!

 

(Robot monster painting by Ted Seko)

This is our 4th year in a row presenting our San Gabriel Valley Comic Book Festival. When I approached my fellow Nuvein Foundation Board Members with the idea of hosting our own local comic book show, they wholeheartedly agreed and now we have what promises to be our biggest show yet. Again, details on this will be forthcoming, but we're eyeing a June event this year.

When I started self-publishing my own comics years ago, it never occurred to be to one day become an organizer of shows. But sometimes you have to just take a step forward and make things happen that you believe should happen. Of course, nothing like this gets done on it's own, so thanks go to the many people involved in helping put these events together.

Memories of COMIC POP art show opening: PT 1 Redux

Folks, in what is the stupidest mistake I've ever made on this blog, I deleted my Pt. 1 report of my trip to San Francisco for the opening of my art show. Yes, I'm exceedingly pissed off about it. But, here's my attempt to recreate the post. So very sorry about that.... PT. 2 continues afterwards.

The opening for my solo art show, "COMIC POP: Art by Javier Hernandez" was on Saturday, April 3. Of course, as luck would have it, there was plenty happening that weekend that turned this not only in a cross-platform promotional event, but an amazingly exciting vacation as well.

Not only was my art show opening that weekend, but Wondercon was also happening at the same time. Plus the fact that it was Easter only added to all the hoopla.

This show came about rather fortuitously. My friend Ricardo Padilla, who I first met when I was exhibiting at APE (Alternative Press Expo) about 6 years ago, came to my table at APE back in the Fall of '09. He told he needed to curate a show as part of his final for his Master's degree, so I boldly told him to pick me as his subject! He was going to ask me anyway, but this should demonstrate to all artists that one should never hesitate to nudge fate whenever needed.


Ricardo picked the location, the Encantada Gallery of Fine Arts, and thus started the months of prep for the show. By a great coincidence, my friend and fellow cartoonist Michael Aushenker was also planning to visit San Francisco that same weekend, so we decided to carpool and save on gas and double up on the fun factor. Michael and I have been traveling together to conventions for about 10 years, and each time has been a memorable experience. You can read about Mikey's work, and his blog post about this trip, over at his blog, CARTOON FLOPHOUSE.

Michael Aushenker, me and a load of bull about an hour outside of San Francisco.

Upon arriving in San Francisco, I checked into my hotel, while Michael went across the Golden Gate Bridge to stay at his friend's home for the duration. The hotel, provided courtesy of my wonderful curator Ricardo Padilla, was a quaint little place, complete with a shared kitchen serving continental breakfast. 

My cozy little room...


The following day, Thursday, brought a full day of work. Ricardo picked me up that morning and drove me over to the Encantada Gallery to meet the owner, Mia Gonzalez, and drop off all my artwork. While Mia hung the show, Ricardo took me for some sightseeing and artist/curator talk. He also took me to several of the comic shops, bookstores and cafes where he had left our show postcards. One of the place that he talked to about promoting our show was the Cartoon Art Museum, the West Coast's premiere institution for the preservation and exhibitions of the comic and cartoon arts.

 Me, proud as a poppa, with my COMIC POP artwork hanging in the lobby of the Cartoon Art Museum.


One of the great things about Ricardo networking with the CAM was bringing my work to their attention. They liked what they saw and invited me to join them at their booth at Wondercon on Friday if I was available. I hadn't actually been to Wondercon in about 10 years, so I was more than happy to return, and especially at the beckoning of the Museum!

Friday came quickly, and after being dropped off at the Moscone Center, I made my way to the Cartoon Art Museum booth. For a two hour period, I drew sketches on behalf of the Museum for people who donated money, and also sold my comics, including my brand new sketchbook, THE COMIC POP SKETCHBOOK.

A long-time fan of mine, Alejandro, posing with a drawing I made of Rom, SpaceKnight! 

Me, in my natural state, selling comics! (And, I might add, DVDs and sketchbooks!)

While at the booth, I got to meet the acting director of the Cartoon Art Museum, Summerlea Kashar, a most gracious host.

Among the people I ran into at the Con was Jason Martin, my great friend from Portland.


Jason is the creator and publisher of SUPER REAL and PULP GIRLS, and he's a pretty well-traveled conventioneer. We met years ago while we were both exhibiting at San Diego Comic Con and he and his wife are kind enough to host me when I travel up to the lovely town of Portland. As a way of showing thanks, I sent them a painting last Christmas I made of their cute little chihuahua Choco. Jason actually suggested I put the painting in my art show so he brought it down with him and gave it to me at the show.

Now ain't that Choco a cute little pup? The painting ain't too shabby either!


Another highlight for me was meeting Blair Kitchen of THE POSSUM. Blair's the writer and artist of the book, and we have known each other for a few years now. I even interviewed once on a podcast I used to host, but this was the first time we met. Blair's brother Mike also makes his own comics, SPY GUY.  After the show, I had dinner with the Bros. Kitchen at a nearby Whole Foods. I didn't know they had a deli in there, and boy, they make some great sandwiches there!

 Blair (L), me and Mike. FYI: The Kitchen Bros. have a teeny, tiny cameo in the spoof SUPERHERO MOVIE! 


As much fun as I had at Wondercon, the real dance was yet to come on Saturday! Showtime at the Encantada Gallery. All the details in PT. 2!

COMIC POP solo art show in San Francisco, Saturday, April 3!

As mentioned in a previous post, I'll be in San Francisco this coming weekend for the opening of my solo art show at the Encantada Gallery of Fine Arts. Also, I'll be at Wondercon, courtesy of the Cartoon Art Museum.

Friday, April 2: I'll be at the Cartoon Art Museum's booth, # 721, on Friday at Wondercon. Not sure of my exact hours, but they asked me to get there in the morning so they could assign me a schedule for the day. I'll be doing free sketches on behalf of the museum, and will also be selling my comics, DVD and buttons.

Saturday, April 3: The Opening Reception for my art show, COMIC POP, will be from 5pm-8pm at the Encantada Gallery of Fine Arts, in the Mission District. I'll be exhibiting new work, as well as a few pieces I made last year. I'll also have some orginal comic book pages available for purchase, as well. Debuting at the show will be my first sketchbook, THE COMIC POP SKETCHBOOK (I received an email from the printer that they have indeed shipped it!). Here's a peak at the cover and some pages:

Exclusive to the exhibit will be this snazzy little 2.25" button, featuring the art from the show postcard:

(When I get back from San Francisco the following weeek,  I'll post info here on how to order the button and sketchbook.)

Sunday, April 4: I'll be conducting a Cartoonist Workshop at the Gallery from 2-3:30pm. Kids of all ages are welcome.

In addition to these events, I'm planning on visiting an event Thursday evening at the Contemporary Jewish Museum of San Francisco. My good friend Michael Aushenker will be speaking on the panel " A discussion on Jews in Comics". Legendary comic creator Joe Kubert is also scheduled to appear on the panel!


While at WonderCon, which I haven't been to in over 10 years, I'll try to catch up with as many of my out-of-town cartoonist friends as possible. Including Portlander Jason Martin of SUPER REAL fame, and, hailing all the way from Canada, Blair Kitchen of THE POSSUM.


That's in addition to catching the "ED HANNIGAN: COVERED" exhibit at the Cartoon Art Museum and lots of other things. This is one seriously jam-packed weekend for me. Hope to see some of you JAVZILLA readers out there!