Mon Jun 9, 2008 — by Rick Marshall

MoCCA Recap: Day Two - Fire! Smoke! Sellouts and Links!

Fire alarm? I thought someone was the 1,000th customer...

Day Two at the MoCCA Art Festival was... an experience.

Except for the few moments when the possibility of dying via fiery inferno was an issue, much of the day felt as if I was slogging through a sweaty, soupy mess thanks to the outdoor conditions and the exhaustion from the previous day (which I detailed in my MoCCA: Day One Recap).

As ComicMix's Elayne Riggs pointed out earlier today, the forced evacuation of the Puck Building generated quite a buzz as attendees, guests and staff were asked to leave the building (and its air conditioners) while emergency personnel did their thing. (On a side note, for a comprehensive look at exactly what "doing their thing" meant for the emergency crews, check out Fleen's MoCCA Emergency '08 report.)

Okay, confession time: When the fire alarm first started ringing, I honestly thought somebody in the room had won something... and according to a few reliable sources, I started clapping.

Apparently, all the bells, whistles and sirens I've been exposed to over the last few years at larger conventions have succeeded in reversing decades of training regarding what to do when I hear an alarm. Nevertheless, it looks like I won't die alone.

While milling around outside the Puck, Fleen's Gary Tyrrell and Diesel Sweeties creator Rich Stevens noted that the first alarm went off mere moments after Meredith Gran sold the last copy of Octopus Pie: Vol. 1 that she brought to the show. While there's no indication that Gran or any of the other webcomic creators had a hand in the "Mystery of the Smoking Sub-Basement," there also isn't any indication that they didn't have something to do with it. That being the case, ComicMix offers up a sincere -- but wary -- congratulations to Gran on the weekend's success.

In other news, I had a nice chat with Alex Robinson regarding Too Cool To Be Forgotten, his new project that debuted at the show and was one of the most talked-about releases of the weekend.

"It's nice, because I've spent the last three years fielding questions about when my next book is coming out," said Robinson while sketching inside the cover of the Too Cool copy I picked up. "But now I already have people asking me when my next book is coming out."

"Can't I just bask in this a bit?" he laughed.

On the update front, artist Carly Monardo, whose IRS woes and subsequent call for commissions generated some buzz around the webcomic community, said she's received a great response since posting about her troubles. She also offered up some clarification about her troubles in the comment section of our recent article about her.

Over at Fanboy.com, Michael Pinto has posted a nice video from the show that highlights some of the creators and projects on display throughout the weekend. I've embedded the video below, but be sure to check out the extra gallery of creators and projects also available at Fanboy.com.

 Also worth checking out around the 'Webs is Heidi Macdonald's roundup of MoCCA (and some peripheral MoCCA) news, as well as Brian Heater's recap at The Daily Cross Hatch. I'm told that Fleen.com will have a far more detailed roundup of webcomic-related news from MoCCA later today (or possibly  tomorrow).

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