You may have noticed technical difficulties with the blog the past couple days, but now we’re back with a vengeance to tell you about this weekend’s happenings here at Meltdown.
FRIDAY NIGHT:
Come see the comedy show that LA Weekly calls “the most happening nuit du rire in town.” Open bar and no cover, the laughs start at 8:30 PM!

SATURDAY NIGHT:
Come to our Pledge Party in honor of Image Comics’ Hazed (an eating-disorder-filled sorority black comedy in the tradition of Heathers and Mean Girls from the writer of Grounded and the artist of Maintenance) and IDW’s Everybody’s Dead (a frat boy zombie apocalypse horror comedy from the writer of Angel: After the Fall and the artist of
Scarface: Scarred for Life). Meet the creators. Live art by the Silky Bureaucrats. DJ Expo. Open bar! The fun starts at 7:00 PM.

Sunday:
super*MARKET, a comics salon for every nerd. Our very own mini-convention…this time especially for animators! Come get your indy on and discover something you’ve never seen before but always needed. 12:00 PM - 6:00 PM.

Amongst artists born in a certain period of time there is an affinity for the animated iconography of the 1980’s. In April Meltdown Gallery presents GAG ME WITH A TOON, a new works exhibition that will showcase the work of more than twenty creative souls who have been tainted with the neon fruit stripe of Morning in America. Utilizing everything from the saccharine funk of Strawberry Shortcake to the disciplined fashion fervor of the Baroness of Cobra these artists will explore the sketchy in-betweens of animated femininity. In the gallery we shall weigh the sins of Scrappy-Doo and balance them against the irreligious inclusion of Godzuki, Baby Plas and 7-Zark-7. A measure will be made of thunderous barbarians and thunderous cats and of friends both super and amazing. Be ye short and blue or bionic, a real he-man or just your average joe, you will find yourself transformed after having stood amongst the time-displaced art of these stellar talents.
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It’s Wizard World convention weekend here in LA, and that means time to think about making comics.

If you have any aspirations about making a living as a comic creator, you shoul go read this post from all around smart-guy Kevin Kelly (cofounder of Wired).

“The Perry Bible Fellowship” is not a church, although it has been known to inspire a certain cultish zeal amongst its fans. The “Perry Bible Fellowship” is in fact a strange and nearly always surreal newspaper strip and Webcomic by Nicholas Gurewitch. Somewhat reminiscent of “The Far Side” in terms of its fierce weirdness, “Perry Bible Fellowship” is composed of vignettes highlighting the strangeness of life, religion and politics in a manner sometimes macabre, sometimes with a childlike glee, and illustrated in a variety of art styles.

By far the funniest book I’ve read this year, Don’t let the colorful cover fool you, it’s not for kids.
Stop by, take a gander, few copies left.

Buenaventura Press * Jordan Crane * Tim Maloney
Mark Todd and Esther Pearl Watson * Kiyoshi Nakazawa
Johnny Ryan * Steven Weissman * Lisa Hanawalt * Team Atrox
Handheld Press * Exhibit A Press * Batton Lash
Baby Tattoo Books * Joshua Fialkov * Tony Fleecs
Nubian Queen Comics * Elephant Eater Comics * Tom Neely
“Featuring a collaborative project with www.sketchtheatre.com”

 
via- – Jessica Gao:  www.myspace.com/supermarketla

Here’s the thing with LA comics: Los Angeles is home to amazing talent, excellent stores, and great facilities (i.e. a lot of artists have carved out enviable studios and workspaces) but it’s a black hole for cool comics shows.  Sure there’s that monthly one at the Shrine, but it’s only useful if you’re looking for replica swords (seriously??) or bootleg Nirvana videos.  It comes nowhere near representing the tight comics universe in LA.  Everyone here is interconnected.  Ready?  Take a deep breath and pay attention.  We’ll start with the Keyser Soze of LA comics, Gaston from Meltdown Comics & Collectibles.  Here is the store that is more than a store.  It’s basically a Warhol factory.  Meltdown has regular events, art shows, etc but has also hosted studios to several artists including Jordan Crane (NON, The Clouds Above, Uptight, The Last Lonely Saturday). Before working out of Meltdown, Jordan used to silkscreen with John Pham (Epoxy, Substitute Life) in John’s backyard crack shack.  This same shack was where the original super*MARKET press kits were hand silkscreened.  Those press kits were made by Martin Cendreda (Dang!) who has been featured in numerous comics anthologies including the hotshot Kramer’s Ergot which is put together by Sammy Harkham (Poor Sailor, Crickets) who co-owns Family, a store with fancier tastes than any mere mortal could hope to achieve.  Sammy’s got a studio at Family and he shares it with… guess who– Jordan Crane and John Pham.  That’s just the tip of the biggest iceberg ever.  
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