Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Webcomic Artists at San Diego Comic-Con

The 2008 San Diego Comic-Con starts tomorrow so today will probably be my last day to highlight any SDCC exclusives or booths convention goers should check out. So in this post I wanted to shine a spotlight on two of my favorite webcomics whose artists will be selling their goods on the convention floor.

Shortpacked! Cast PhotoFirst artist/webcomic I’d like to recommend is Dave Willis’ Shortpacked! I know I’ve mentioned Willis’s comic before, but in a nut shell it’s a M-W-F webcomic, which follows the crazy exploits of Ethan, Amber, Robin, Mike, Ninja Rick, Faz, Ultra Car and Ronald Reagan as employees at Shortpacked!, a toy “store run by Glasso with plans for global conquest.” (link) The strip is hilarious, even if the idea of a webcomic about a toy store seems restrictive. Willis also typically throws in gag “strips that take place outside of the regular setting and continuity, in particular one-shots lampooning pop culture and comic figures such as Batman or Transformers.” (link) If you’d like to find out more about Shortpacked! check out this recent interview with Willis at ComicMix.com.

06-18-2008 Shortpacked! Comic Strip by David Willis
Willis can be found at the Blank Label Comics SDCC booth #1330 selling two different books collecting his Shortpacked! webcomics and limited edition prints.

The second webcomic I want to recommend is Matt Moylan’s weekly strip, Lil Formers. Lil Formers started out as a parody of all things Transformers, but after a year of Transformers comics Moylan decided it was time to expand the comic’s focus to now parody all things pop culture including cartoons, comics, toys and video games. (link) It’s a great walk down memory lane, especially if you grew up on Transformers like The Blot did.

Lil Formers #106 - Breakfast Club by Matt Moylan
Moyland has worked in the comic book industry since 2002 and currently serves as Marketing Manager for UDON Entertainment, the publisher of the aforementioned Street Fighter Tribute book. Moylan will be signing autographs at the Capcom SDCC booth #5113 on Saturday, July 26th from 12:00pm-1:00pm. While there he will be selling this very cool Street Fight Tribute book print, which you can see below, for $20 at the signing. If you can’t make it to the signing, you can also pick up his Street Fighter print at the UDON SDCC booth #5368 all weekend long.

Street Fighter Tribute Book Print by Matt Moylan