NYC event: Mikhaela & Masheka at MOCCA Art Fest June 6-7

Mark your calendars: Masheka and I will be at this year's MOCCA Art Festival sharing a table with our Cartoonists With Attitude pal Brian McFadden and the talented Melissa J. Gibson (Made by Melissa). We will have mini-comics, books and possibly dolls and T-shirts.

Where?
69th Regiment Armory
68 Lexington Avenue, between 25th and 26th Streets

When?
June 6th and 7th, 11am-6pm

Cost?
$10 per day
$15 per weekend
MoCCA Members: $10 per weekend

Toon: City Bike Safety Essentials

Click to enlarge

Riding bikes in Manhattan (or Brooklyn) for that matter is too damn dangerous, because cars just don't respect bikes, whether in or out of lanes. In a city trying to go green, bikes should take priority. I pretty much stick to riding my bike to Prospect Park (so I can ride around within the park) because I'm just too damn scared. Sigh...

50 Shots and an Outrageous Verdict

Morning outrage: the police officers who shot (and killed) an unarmed young man on his wedding day got away with murder. They shot Sean Bell 50 times but were declared not guilty on all counts. Business as goddamn usual--the police get away with killing another young black man, on the excuse that they were "scared" and "confused" and "disorganized."

Here's my original cartoon about the case, and a much older cartoon on police brutality.

New Toon: When Opposites Attract

When Opposites Attract
Originally uploaded by M1khaela.

Honestly, this wasn't really about fundamentalists or Reaganites, I just wanted to draw a cartoon with a freegan in it. And despite a recent violent and prolonged personal bout with food poisoning, I support freeganism--there's a lot of good, edible food that gets wasted--just not for myself and my delicate digestive system!

New Toon: The Benefits of Bedbugs

The Benefits of Bedbugs
Originally uploaded by M1khaela.

Apparently these little beasties are back in NYC. But no need to fret!

New Toon: New York vs. Boston, the other rivalry

Forget Yankees vs. Red Sox: let's fight over who's more pro-gay!

Whenever New Yorkers ask me where I'm from, and I say "Massachusetts," many say something like "Oh, so you're a RED SOX fan" in the tone reserved for statements like "Oh, SO YOU'VE GOT A TERMINAL ILLNESS." Thing is, I'm not an anything fan. The only sports news items that even tangentially impinged on my world in recent memory were the homophobic comments of basketball player Tim Hardaway, the awesome activisim of newly out gay basketball player John Amaechi, and the coming out story of openly transsexual sportswriter Christine Daniels.

Still, this cartoon has been rattling around in my head for a while and finally decided to rattle its way out.

Come on, New York, step up your pro-LGBT game! Don't let jerks like New York Republican State Senate leader Joe Bruno squash marriage equality! It is Pride month, after all.

Cartoonists With Attitude at MOCCA NYC 6/23-24: Mikhaela Reid, Masheka Wood, Keith Knight and more!

• Date: Sat. and Sun. June 23-24 from 11 am - 6 pm
• Location: Puck Building (293 Lafayette at Houston), New York City
• Admission: Hours: 11:00am - 6:00pm

We're not on the exhibitor list, but Masheka and I just scored a last-minute table with our pal Ayo and "Big Fat Whale" cartoonist Brian McFadden! There will be tons of amazing cartoonists in attendance, including fellow Cartoonist With Attitude Keith Knight the awe-inspiring Alison Bechdel, Diesel Sweeties cartoonist Rich Stevens and Ampersand's Barry Deutsch.

Our Bluestockings Slideshow Was Awesome!

I have to admit I was nervous. The Village Voice and Time Out New York mysteriously lost our listings info, and a half hour before the signing the skies opened up in an intense downpour. But the signing was fantastic--I sold out of all the books I brought, and all kinds of friends and cool cartooning fans came out. Not to mention genius cartoonist Dan Piraro ("Bizarro"), Vanessa Valenti (of Feministing fame), Melody Berger (The F-Word Zine), Gwynn Cassidy (of the Real Hot 100), animator Dan Meth and cartoonist Ayo. Thanks to my best friend Márta for taking the photos!

Bluestockings is just a fantastic space, and you must go there ALL THE TIME. You can buy both our books there, too.

New Toons: Closet Conservationist, Signs of Spring

I was listening to a debate on the Brian Lehrer show on WNYC over compact fluorescents and I have to say I have them in every room and I like them (and my lower electric bill) just fine. Anyway, the point of this cartoon isn't that individual acts of conservation don't matter, only that voluntary individual conservation isn't enough to stave off global environmental disaster without serious regulation of business and industry. (Stephanie is all over this with her upcoming graphic novel As the World Burns, and Ruben Bolling had a great cartoon about it last week, "Carbon Offsets 'R' Us")

I knew it was finally spring when I squeezed onto a hot, crowded, un-air-conditioned subway car full of scantily clad New Yorkers and unidentifiable odors and promptly stepped into a puddle of gum so warm it had melted. It took me about six blocks of scraping my shoe to extricate myself. -----

Attention: NYC, I'll be doing a free cartoon slideshow and book launch bash for my first book, Attack of the 50-Foot Mikhaela! on Tuesday June 12 at Bluestockings and you are cordially invited.

ATTACK BOOK TOUR | May 19: Philly at Temple U. ; June 9: Detroit at Green Brain Comics; June 12: NYC at Bluestockings. Soon to come: Boston, DC and more!

New Toon: Here Comes the Overpriced Dress... (Same-Sex Marriage Cartoon)

Here Comes the Overpriced Dress... (Same-Sex Marriage Cartoon)
Originally uploaded by M1khaela.

Inspired by:
• New York Governor Eliot Spitzer's commendable attempt to get marriage equality legislation passed in New York State
• Ariel Levy's awesome piece in New York magazine about her lesbian wedding/"Party About Love." I loved her story and her amazing dress, but I can't imagine paying that much, which brings me to...
• My experience wedding dress shopping with my mom. Sticker shock overload! We went to a store that sold USED and SAMPLE wedding dresses, many of which were stained, torn, worn or needed alterations, but still cost at least $1,200 each. So I got a white lacy 50s-style knee-length cocktail dress for $100 on eBay.

Oh, and here's the amusing photo reference I used for this image, from an unsuccessful solo trip I took to David's Bridal.

By the way, my point in this cartoon isn't that LGBT weddings aren't worth spending money on, far from it. Just that:
• The whole wedding industry, especially in New York, is a scam in which cakes and dresses suddenly cost 100 times their normal value and...
• Same-sex marriage needs to be legal, NOW.

----- © 2007 Mikhaela B. Reid. All rights reserved. If you'd like to run one of my cartoons on your website or in print, please email me at toons@mikhaela.net for rates and information. See my website www.mikhaela.net for more. My first book collection, Attack of the 50-Foot Mikhaela!, goes on sale in just a few short weeks!

New Toons: Abstinence Education, Shock Prez + Apocalypse Bob

A new federal study shows that abstinence education has no effect whatsoever on delaying sexual activity. Shocking!

Also, there really is a (comedy) movie called Killer Condom: The Rubber That Rubs You Out, though I haven't seen it myself. OK, so maybe New York charging cars $8 to cut down on pollution and traffic and improve public transport won't stave off environmental apocalypse, but it's a start. (Personally, I'd rather see NO personal cars in the city—maybe then I'd be brave enough to take my bike into Manhattan!). A sequel to 2005's "Sick Confessions of a Serial Bomber!" I did it before I went away on vacation, and it already feels pretty dated. Ah well.

P.S. Join my weekly mailing list by sending a blank message to newtoons-subscribe@mikhaela.net!

P.P.S. My first book collection, Attack of the 50-Foot Mikhaela!, goes on sale in just a few short weeks!