Exploring Brave New Worlds: Discovering The Joy Of New Comic Book Day

Lately, I’ve been reading a ton of graphic novels and collected volumes of comics.

Part of that was due to working on The Geek’s Guide To Dating (insert obligatory and utterly shameless “pre-order now!” link here). While fussing over the book, I spent a lot of time talking to my comic book loving friends on gchat and via email, as well as hanging around with the guys at Brave New Worlds. All this time spent doing research did a curious thing. It made me want to get into reading comics.

Fast forward a few months and now, every single week, I pop out of the office on Wednesdays before lunch, to pick up a new book at my favorite local shop. I’m joined by a couple of friends at Indy Hall, a coworking space here in Philadelphia. I’ve even managed to drag a few coworkers out now and again. Sup Blair.

Even though I’m not the sort of comic book fan that picks up weeklys (like Adam, Johnny, and Eric from Indy Hall), there’s something about getting together on that one particular day to buy something new that’s exciting. Maybe I’m lucky, getting into comics without knowing all that much, because just about every book I pickup is something entirely new to me. So that enthusiasm that they experience, that rush I see when they run over to the new release shelves, it definitely still rubs off on me a bit.

In recent weeks, I’ve picked up quite a few awesome reads. Highlights include Paying For It by Chester Brown, Hark A Vagrant by Kate Beaton, Double Fine’s Action Comics, and this hilarious Simpsons / Futurama book, The Simpsons & Futurama Crossover Crisis. I also started reading Joe Hill’s excellent Locke & Key series, thanks to a recommendation.

So yeah, even though I’m not picking up weeklys (though that might start happening any day now), New Book Day is quickly becoming one of my favorite days of the week. Its been a fun practice in forcing myself to get a new book every single week. Something I haven’t heard of, something entirely new. And I kinda love it.

Archaia & Top Shelf: The Comics That Blew My Mind @ C2E2

Back in April, I packed my bags and flew out to Chicago for a couple of days with Quirk Books.

Me and Nicole De Jackmo were there for C2E2, talking to people about our books, showing off our fabulous authors, and meeting /greeting new and old fans. I even got to give out a bunch of postcards for The Geek’s Guide to Dating. It was an exciting time. You can check out a whole bunch of photos (and a video!) on the Quirk Books blog.

When I wasn’t busy manning our booth, I explored the convention floor. And of course, like I do at all conventions, I picked up a couple of books I was really excited about. You should check them out too, because seriously, all awesome reads.

Blankets (Hardcover!) by Craig Thompson (Top Shelf Comics): I’ve read Blankets before. It was one of the earliest comics I dove into, at the instance of my pal and former intern Chris. But now, NOW Top Shelf has it in a new hardcover edition.

I didn’t pick up a copy at the convention, as my bag was already overflowing thanks to that limited edition Mouseguard, but you better believe I’m placing at order at my local comic bookshop. Beautiful looking book, bravo Top Shelf. You can scope out the book on their website.  Read more

A/S/L: Reading at the Philly.com HQ

During this year’s Philly Tech Week, I sat on a panel with Anna Goldfarb (Shmitten Kitten, author of Clearly I Didn’t Think This Through) and online dating expert Erika Ettin. The plan? To talk about the intersection of love and technology… namely, how we’ve used online dating.

Our friend Leah Kauffman brought us in to the Philly.com HQ, and had a serious spread set up. Anna read an essay from her book, Erika told some stories, and I shared a piece from The Geek’s Guide to Dating… and surprised myself by telling the story of how I met my girlfriend.

Originally I planned to just read from the book, but after Anna and Erika told me they would be sharing personal stories, I wanted to jump in. So, I watched as my girlfriend blushed and hid her face while I told our cute OkCupid story, and was thrilled at the response to the Geek Guide intro.

I also gave out these cute postcards!

Since it was the first time I shared anything from the book in public, I thought I’d post a few pictures from the event. You can see more coverage and photos from the event over on Philly.com and on Ring The Alam (where I stole that top photo from, Melissa you’re awesome!).

Leah and her team at Philly.com really went all out. Thanks for such a wonderful evening. Read more