Date: Sun, 19 Jul 1998 00:25:42 -0500
To: comix list <[c--m--x] at [indra.com]>
From: matt madden <[m--t] at [blackeye.com]>
Subject: MECYF and the founding and inaugural meeting of the DFCC

or: "Dibujos originales: manga o americano" (hand-written sign in "artists'
alley")

This past week in Mexico City there was held the biggest comic book and SF
convention in the country, MECYF, an acronym I never figured out, but,
really, who cares.  In fact, I wondered why I should even bother writing
this report because basically all I want to do is tell you  that it sucked.
Period.

But, in the interest of the enlightenment of my fellow listers (and of one
of the darker corners of the comics universe), I offer you these few
further tidbits: MECYF is in its fourth of fifth year and is sponsored by
Editorial Vid, a Mexican publisher who makes most of its money by
translating and publishing Marvel/DC, The Simpsons comics, and various
manga like Dragonball Z. They also distribute to most/all of Central and
Latin America, a veritable monopoly.  They also publish a few Mexican
comics, mostly newsstand trash and romance.  I received a mass-email a
month back via Carlos Garcia Campillo, who seems to have dropped of the
list (are you still out there Carlos?), about how his publisher, who seems
to do mainly indepedent superhero/mainstream fare, was promised a free
booth and later had the offer retracted after a bunch of retailers found
out and complained.  That anecdote about sums up the capital-driven,
every-publisher/retailer-for-themselves, let-the-independents-eat-flan type
of attitude that characterizes this convention.  In other words, it's like
many a US con, only there isn't that group of 2 or 3 people in a corner
selling minicomics.  Mainly there was a lot of superhero and manga junk on
sale and a few US artists signing books, a sports area sponsored by a rock
radio station, a bunch of SF movies, and of course what con is complete
without a bunch of people wandering around in Federation uniforms and a guy
playing one long, endless, all-day, unaccompanied guitar solo to a rapt
audience of 12 teenage boys.

The point at which it became insulting was the one concession to any notion
of a national comics heritage: a panel "honoring" 3 elder statesman of
comics: Ramon Valdiosera (who illustrated many Caniff- and Eisner-inspired
adventure strips), Joaquin Cervantes Bassoco (auteur of the Kona-esque
"Wama, hijo de la luna"), and Antonio Cardoso (whose work I don't know
because it's not in Puros Cuentos, which is where I learned about the first
2).  There were about 15 people there in addition to me and Jessica, most
of them relatives, all of us in a ludicrously large auditorium with a
terrible sound system. After short, inaudible tributes by PC co-author Juan
Manuel Aurrecoechea and El Gallito comics critic Ernesto Priego, there was
a moment of confusion where it seemed like maybe the artists were going to
be given awards or, I dunno, maybe show some slides of their work instead
of  the projections of Batman, Superman, and Spawn that dwarfed them on the
stage...? But no, the house lights suddenly came up and loud Rock en
espanol started coming out of the speakers.  So much for posterity...

The only good that came of all this was that A) we got in free thanks to a
fortuitous encounter with Ernesto Priego (what? professional artists get in
for free? are you kidding?), who at 23 is shaping up to be a major voice in
the promotion of alternative comics here in Mexico, if he is not seduced
away by the hypnotic beats of drumandbass, jungle, and trip hop (he is also
a DJ and we are off to a show of his later this evening).  In addition to
writing regularly for El Gallito, Ernesto is giving a class in comics
appreciation through some kind of UNAM (the city's university) extension
program, and has vague dreams of opening his own independent comics store
(a notion Jessica and I are encouraging enthusiastically). On Monday, he is
planning a marathon back-to-back interview with both of us over dinner.

B) We met and chatted with J.M. Aurrecoechea, who is very friendly and
encouraged us to get in touch with him later to chat about Mexican comics
(and see some of his collection, I hope). He told us that Vol 4 (of a
projected 5 which I can easily see being extended to 6) of Puros Cuentos
will be out as soon as they finish writing it. He also confirmed our
suspicions that it is really hard to find vintage Mexican comics and that
there are no plans for reprint volumes, despite the apparent success (hey,
it hasn't been canceled yet, anyway) of the Puros Cuentos series.

C) and most important: after a few phone messages and failed attempts at
communication, Jessica and I  managed to meet up with Andres Accorsi
(Carlos was apparently around but we never saw him) and convene the
first-ever meeting of the DFCC (Mexico City Comics Club).  The only
Mongolian BBQ being in the relatively far away Zona Rosa, we settled on a
little pasta joint (Andres being already sick of Mexican food and
mariachis) and learned a little about our Buenos Aires correspondent over
bowls of carbonara (me), bolognese (Jess) and quatro fromaggi (Andres).  I
am sure Andres will have plenty to report after his 2 month voyage in North
America (by the way, he too is going to be at SDCC, which means we might
have to have a meeting of the, uh, SDCCCC?) but I don't think I will be
giving too much away if  reveal that he too was very disappointed in the
con.  He managed to make some good connections (which I hope he will share
with the list when he gets back), but these were made  before he ever went
to MECYF, so the whole thing would have been a bust if he wasn't here in
Mexico on vacation...

Andres gave us a bunch of the comics he publishes including his journal
"Comiqueando,"  an anthology, "Vortice,"  featuring Solano Lopez, Trillo,
Altuna, and a recent favorite of mine (discovered in El Gallito), Pablo
Zweig (Desmond: do you have his book? It's apparently out of print, the
publisher having burned all remaining copies in order to avoid warehouse
taxes), and a superhero title, "El Caballo Rojo."  The anthology (a total
bust according to Accorsi) is quite good and of high quality, although
perhaps a little too eclectic for its own  good.  "Comiqueando" covers
mainly mainstream stuff but also features a minicomics review page,
articles on and reviews of alternative comics from around the Americas
(read:Argentina, the US and Canada), and neat little features like a fact
file on Corto Maltese. Andres also kindly made room in his overstuffed
suitcase for a copy of Lapiz Japones #2, which has far higher production
standards than I was expecting. It's a beautiful-looking book which reminds
me of Nosotros Somos los Muertos both for it's overall look as well as for
its sometimes awkward blend of arty Frigobox-type comics and more
conventional if still "alternative" humor strips. Jessica and I walked
Andres back to the con like to guards accompanying a condemned man down
death row, and after giving him a few beach recommendations, bade him adios.

This has been another very long post by

Matt


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