The 2012 Comic-Con sketchbook continues…

Ajuan Mance

…another drawing from my 2012 Comic-Con sketchbook. If I had to give it a title, it would probably be “Cosplay Sees No Color”…

Ajuan Mance

At the Hollywood production designers panel–which, incidentally, including the man who was the production designer for the original Planet of the Apes, The Towering Inferno, and the Poseidon Adventure–almost all of the audience questions were from artists and designers hoping to move up in this field. This guy in this picture almost didn’t get a chance to ask his question (about how he can get a foot in the door in the production design business) because the man in front of him took up a lot of time with the one question that wasn’t about how to break into the field. He was looking for advice on the appropriate response to an incident involving his employer and his union. The incident was quite detailed and it took him a long time to recount it for the panelists, none of whom seemed to know what to say in response.

When the man in my drawing finally got to ask about the best way to get work in the field, the panelists gave an answer that I’d also heard from the presenters at the costume design panel and at a previous year’s Black panel. They advised aspiring production designers to start out by working for free. For several of the production and costume designers I  heard speaking on this year’s panels, working for free was how they first attracted paying jobs. I have to say that I am always intrigued by this answer, no matter how many times I hear it. Something about this response feels wonderfully subversive in that it suggests alternative forms of remuneration…like experience, word-of-mouth street cred, and visibility. Very cool!

Ajuan Mance

I am happy to announce that I exhibiting some of my recent work at this years SF Zine Fest. I’ll have prints, postcards, and copies of my 1001 Black Men ‘zine.

This year the Festival will take place on Labor Day Weekend, September 1 + 2, 2012 at the San Francisco County Fair Building, in Golden Gate Park.

If you’re in the Bay Area, please drop by and say hello. Look for me at 8-Rock press!

For more information on this event, follow THIS LINK.

Hope to see you there!

Ajuan Mance

At first glance, this guy looked like Wolverine from the X-Men comic book series. He was leaning over a wall overlooking the escalator, and as I got closer I realized that he was not dressed as that comic book hero. He had, however, grown a superhero-worthy pair of sideburns. Thus he became the second drawing in my 2012 Comic-Con sketchbook.

Ajuan Mance

It’s that time of year, again. Comic-Con 2012 took place during the third weekend of July. I attended some amazing panels featuring talented artists, writers, and entertainers…like Allison Bechdel, Sid and Marty Kroft, the cast of Mythbusters, Jamie Kennedy, Shaquille O’Neal, and N.K. Jemison.

Comic-Con describes itself as a celebration of the “popular arts,” including science fiction, horror, and fantasy novels, movies, video games, television series, and (of course) comic books. The annual event attracts fans, geeks, comic-collectors, film buffs, gamers, and nerds of all ages, genders, and ethnicities. One of my favorite things about the Comic-Con is the sheer number of Black people in attendance, many in costume.

Over the next several days I will post the drawings from my 2012 Comic-Con sketchbook. I took my pen and pad to every panel, every film screening, and even to the masquerade ball. In order to honor the spirit of the event I have created some of my Comic-Con drawings in the style of a comic book cover.

The man in this drawing was dressed in a blazer that I believe was supposed to suggest one of the earlier incarnations of Doctor Who. He was standing in one of the vendor booths in the exhibition hall, and he was eyeing this replica of a battle sword whose name I didn’t recognize. For the bottom part of this figure I used a section from the famous Bayeaux Tapestry, created in England in 1070.  I added this element as a nod to this fan’s unabashed enthusiasm for medieval war games and weaponry.

Posted by Ajuan Mance

World Ground Cafe, MacArthur Blvd, Oakland, CA

Ajuan Mance

Location: Zocalo Cafe, San Leandro, CA

Ajuan Mance

I think African American ministers of traditionally Black churches have an aesthetic all their own. The vocal aesthetic of Black ministers is widely known, but there is also a visual aesthetic–a style of dress, of hair, of accessories and comportment–that is a system all its own. In traditionally Black churches, the ministers’ aesthetic seems to combine the trappings of practicality–the two- or three-piece suit, the necktie, and dress shoes–with a stylistic flair that might seem to smack of vanity and ostentatiousness. This flair often expresses itself in hair styles–like a grand pair of sideburns, a jheri curl, or a permanent relaxer (think Al Sharpton). Sometimes it expresses itself in clothing, like  festively colored suits or accessories, stylish shoes or boots, and outrageous jewelry.

The man in this drawing is wearing a 1970s Blaxploitation-style haircut complete with sideburns. The big tie knot is a little bit of an indication of his style-consciousness. The photo that I incorporated into the lower part of his gown depicts Black women choir members marching into their church in mid-century New York City.

Ajuan Mance