Beef-cake.

I have the best friends. What brings that declaration on, you might ask? Well, A) the fact that I have the best friends, and B) being able to meet one today, the delightful and talented JustJenn, who has craft and cookery skills beyond most of us regular mortals, especially those of us who are only allowed to use the Easy-Bake oven.

Jenn and pal Jodi stopped by the Norton booth at BEA this morning, absolutely making my day with finally getting to meet folks I previously only knew over the internet. Real life: it's even better, because Jenn brought me cupcakes. And not just any cupcakes, but

BULLY CUPCAKES!

(Check out Jenn's blog here to see the making of the cupcakes, and don't miss her recipe links at the bottom to learn how to make the cupcakes, icing, and fondant Bullys! You'll be the hit at your next party!)

Jenn also brought me a couple of her wonderful, beautifully-designed and gorgeously-illustrated comics, based on the true adventures of her delightful kids and grandmother.



You can buy these, plus Jenn's lovely stationery and gift items, at her online shop. Tell her that little stuffed bull sent ya!



Thanks for stopping by, Jenn and Jodi! Thank you so much for the cupcakes too! Folks, I shrieked in delight like a little girl when I saw them, and from a little stuffed bull, that's a pretty high compliment. Thanks for making this a sensational BEA, and I hope to see you again at San Diego Comic Con!

And now...nom nom nom nom nom.

BEA Day 3: Packin' up (yes, I'm packin' up)

Ow, my achin' hooes. My dogs are barking, and I don't even have dogs! That said, I wouldn't mind a dog of my very own. I would take him for walks every day and brush him and...oh, hello! Sorry, I went off on a little reverie there. (Sniff.) Anyway, that sigh of relief you hear from me (and echoed by a bajillion booksellers exiting the LA Convention Center) means that BEA is over for one more year. So pack up the boxes, give away the books, shove the ungiven-away posters in the trash and call it a day: it's la fin de BookExpo.

From my wanders this afternoon, let's take a quick look at what passes for typography at the show: yes, it's a publisher using the evil Comic Sans to promote a quiz book:



Aw, don't panic. I'm sure we won't be seeing that font again today.

Sundays at BEA are a time for mopping up: last appointments of the show, a chance to socialize with friends in the industry, to grab, beg, borrow or steal those final galleys, and by noon prick up your ears and listen: rippppppp—it's the sound of the first tape gun revving, which means the pack-up has begun. I did a few afternoon wanders through the floor (not solely for the purpose of passing by the DC Comics booth to check out what their hourly giveaway was), and I noticed HarperCollins wins this year's prize for being packed up and ready to go well before 12:30 PM. We in the book industry salute your chutzpah and sheer go-gettedness, HarperCollins, and wish you a happy relaxing evening around your favorite bar.

And even though the show is about to close, you never know what treats you might find on the floor. For me, it was that Ian Rankin mystery novel I oohed and ahheh over the other day, stacked up as a free galley on the carpeted floor of the Little, Brown booth. Thanks, guys at Little, Brown! I'll be sure to read this on the plane, if I don't fall asleep or get too tied up watching the in-flight movie.



So, BEA is all over bar the shouting:



AIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Okay, now it's over.

Back to the hotel for a relaxing hot soak in the tub (it does wonders for blistered tootsies), and then one last lovely dinner out, this time with my good friend, the delightful Miss Soo Jin, who I have missed a lot since she moved to San Francisco. (Good news: Soo Jin is moving back to New York. Hoorah!) He's me and Soo Jin:



I took her out to dinner at the fabulous Curry House in Little Tokyo (mere steps from the hotel), where I ate the other day (and loved it!). I had a steaming and savory bowl of miso soup for starters:



And for my entrée, a spicy beef curry:



...while Soo Jin had some delicious spaghetti:



After dinner we wandered for a wee bit through Little Tokyo, visiting a tea shop with a unique way to get rid of slow-moving store items:



Soo Jin introduced me to the delicious treat known as mochi:




I'd never had mochi before. It was delicious as it is beautiful!

We saw a shop with quite possibly the best name in the universe: "Nostalgic Galley of Fame and Beyond":



Sadly it was closed and I was not be able to purchase any fame. Or beyond.

The perfect ending to a nice night is cold and sweet, so we hustled into Pinkberry...



...where I had some gob-smackingly delicious green tea ice cream topped with kiwi fruit. NOM NOM NOM, as the kids cats say.



Even though there's several in Manhattan, I've never been in a Pinkberry before, but that's going to change when I head back to New York. Komapsumnida, Soo Jin, for introducing me to Pinkberry!

And so, as the day ends...

AIEEEEE! Comic Sans store!

See you next year at the 2009 BookExpo, folks. I'll be the little fuzzy one.

Sunday Morning Cartoon, BEA Special Edition: Book Revue

"Book Revue" (1946), directed by Bob Clampett
See also: "Have You Got Any Castles"

Cartoon suggested by the ever-lovely and much-missed (see you tomorrow night!) Lucy-Anne

BEA Day 2: Comics Oughta B-E-A Fun

Whew! Saturday is always one of the busiest days at BEA, and today was no exception. From dawn to dusk this little stuffed bookseller was kept busy and running, and while he's much rather snuggle into bed and dream of free comp copies and fabulous authors, it's my duty instead to bring you the news from the floor. Today: a look at some of my favorite comics and graphic novel related books coming out from the many fine publishers at BEA. First however, this morning I went to the "Graphic Novel Distribution, Bookstores, and the Direct Market" panel to cheer on my bestest pal John, who was up on the dais talking about his work with Norton and Fantagraphics. (Yay, John!) But then it was onto the busy BEA floor to start filling out my Christmas list with all the best and most interesting books coming out this fall in the comics field. Let's take a look at a few of my favorites, shall we?

Our old pal John Cunningham, VP-Marketing of DC Comics, was also on that panel this morning, so I had to stop by the DC booth to check out their upcoming list.



While I was there, I was lucky enough to be inducted into the Justice League of America:



As befits my position as the newest JLA member, Mr. Cunningham was kind enough to hand me a copy of the upcoming DC Comics Fall 2008 catalogue, 132 pages of glorious graphic novel goodness. Among my future favorites are a new hardcover edition of Watchmen...



...a deluxe recolored hardcover edition of Camelot 3000...



...Jack Kirby's The Demon Omnibus...



...a new edition of The Vertigo Tarot (gee, guess I better sell my old set on eBay stat!)...



But the book I can't wait for is the drive-it-yourself because it comes with a freakin' Bat-Steering Wheel: Batman's Batmobile:



Movin' reluctantly along, I find there's a whole lotta manga goin' on at Viz...



...and at TokyoPop. Hey, Uhura, ask Captain Kirk to have a talk with them about that new contract, huh?



Even venerable trade magazine Publishers Weekly gets in on the action with the magazine I like to call Mike Sterling Monthly:



Nostalgia Ventures was at the show promoting their beautiful series of Doc Savage pulp reproductions:



University of California Press was promoting the upcoming paperback edition of their KRAZY!: The Delirious World of Anime + Comics + Video Games + Art:



I'm very excited about DK's Marvel Chronicle, a year-by-year history of Marvel Comics...



...although I'm not so fond of the book designer's decision to reletter classic word balloons:



DK also has, perfect for stuffin' in your Christmas stocking (if you have really, really big feet), a revised and updated edition of The DC Comics Encyclopedia and, never before in print, The Vertigo Encyclopedia:



The DC Comics Encyclopedia features heavily-illustrated, full-color and completely updated entries on 1,000 of favorite DCU heroes and villains. We can only hope it features Bob Hope, Sugar and Spike, and Captain Carrot:



...while The Vertigo Encyclopedia covers 80 of your favorite dark fantasy comics series in depth with sections on characters, storylines, creation notes, outstanding moments and spin-offs:



If you like the Rough Guide series of travel books and cultural guides, here's Danny Fingeroth's The Rough Guide to Graphic Novels:



I don't want you to think that BEA is all looking at comicky-style books, oh no no no. It's great for socializing, whether you're meeting friends new:



...or old:



Hey, Mister Bruce, would you like me to get you some Band-Aids?:



And here I am in the line to audition for a part in Avenue Q:



All busy BEA work and no lunch makes Bully a hungry, hungry guy. Here's my BEA tip for you: eschew (meaning, don't chew at) the convention center snack bars and head outside to find the friendly local taco carts. Get yourself a savory Mexican lunch and eat it in the sun! Sit down for a while, relax, and regain your strength after your busy morning. Your hooves, and your tummy, will thank you for it.



Hey look, comics blogosophere: it's lovable Dorian Wright from PostmodernBarney.com!:



After being online pals for a couple years it was wonderful to meet Dorian in person and have him shake my hoof. He even brought along the famous co-star of his blog, Puppy!:



I wish I could have a puppy.

I hopped on by to the Chronicle Books booth to check out their offerings. Since I likely won't be getting that big wooden boxed set of STar Wars books I mentioned yesterday, I'm very excited by Obsessed by Star Wars. It's a book and an electronic quiz show in one! I'll take "Princess in metal bikinis" for five hundred, Alex!:



Chronicle also has the perfect antidote to dull walls, the MAD Poster Book:



And here's a couple gift books I'd love to get this holiday season: The Art of Pixar Short films and Rogue Leaders: The Story of Lucasart. Looks like it's gonna be a book-giftin' Christmas this year with cool stuff like this!:



Yale University Press has a sequel to their lovely Ivan Brunetti-edited collection in An Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons, and True Stories, Volume 2:



I hopped by Titan Books, where they greeted me with a cheery "pip pip," handing me a cup of tea and some lovely blads (short for book layout and design, a glossy pamphlet to show the layout and specs of a to-be-published book). I'm frightfully keen on Watching the Watchmen by Dave Gibbons. I think I spotted Alan Moore in the background, furiously erasing his name from all the bl;ads, but he was moving so quickly all I could spot was a bushy, bushy blur.



It's obviously being released to coincide with the upcoming Watchmen movie, but it looks like the book will be a real treat for fans of the graphic novel: the blad showed off lots of rare and little-seen Gibbons artwork:



Speakin' o movies, here's The Spirit: The Movie Visual Companion:



Hey, I didn't know this movie was directed by Lamont Cranston!:



My love of Jamie Hewlett's work makes me a sucker for Titan's upcoming The Cream of Tank Girl. Hey, they oughta make a movie outta that!:



Over at Andrews McMeel, they didn't haved a mock-up of their upcoming Dilbert 2.0 mega-boxed set, but they were handing out blads. Now I can cut all the comics out of it and hang them up in my work cubicle!



Also at Andrews McMeel: you could enter the New Yorker Book Expo Cartoon Caption Contest:




Here's my entry: "Someday son, this will all B-E-A yours."....No? Darnit! I shall never get to work for The New Yorker!

With hooves a-achin' I round out the day with a visit to the Convention Center's West Hall, home of the Graphic Novel Pavilion, which is mostly presses distributed to the book trade by Diamond. Frankly the graphic novel pavilion is lookin' a little sad this year, and you can't help but feel sorry for some of the publishers who don't have distribution deals with larger trade houses to get their books into trade bookstores. I'm not exactly certain if the giveaways or displayed are well-targeted towards bookstore owners and buyers...



...especially at Marvel, who is giving away leftover floppies of some of their recent books and samplers:



I kind of rant at Marvel every year, but it just seems as if they are not interested in promoting their graphic novels and trades to the bookstore market. In a year where they've had a mega-movie tie-in, and another movie on the way, Marvel, it would behoove ya to put Iron Man trade paperbacks front and center: why not some of the excellent Iron Man trades you've released recently, or some of the Marvel Adventures digests featuring your most popular characters? Capitalize on the major name recognition your characters have and bookstore buyers will be interested in stocking Marvel books. Sadly, putting free floppies front and center won't attract the correct attention: few indies or chains stock floppies (the economically-troubled Borders is an exception) and as those fall under the periodical bailiwick, the folks attending BEA aren't going to blink twice at floppies. The "Marvel's Bestselling Authors" is actually a nice sampler of brand-name writers known in the outside world (Stephen King, Laurell K. Hamilton, George R.R. Martin, Jonathan Lethem...authors BEA attendees know and can sell), but why not put the books that tie in up front and center? And whoops! When an interior spread of your Soleil sampler features the uncensored cover artwork from Sky Doll that you didn't even put on the actual comic, there's clearly some careless editing goin' on:



Whew! That's one comics-packed day at BEA, and this is one weary, achin' bull here. I'm off to a hot meal and a warm bed, everyone. See ya tomorrow for the final day of BEA, the aptly named Day 3!