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I’m going to make this quick and comics-related. Everyone at the fair, Companhia, and the US Consulate was nice and treated me much better than I deserve to be treated. I can’t figure out a good USA reference for this book fair. It’s sort of like the San Diego Comic-Con, only all books and “normal” people (lots of families.) It took place in three large boxes. This first photo of the exterior looks like a Tom K panel:

The standard comic size in Brazil is smaller and a slightly different ratio.

Andre told me you can chart the Brazilian economy of the 80s and 90s by looking at the cover price fluctuations of Akira, since it was being serialized through that time.
Andre’s father edits this magazine, Piaui , and in the latest issue they ran an excerpt of Crumb’s Genesis. The magazine is huge (about 11 by 14 inches) and on great paper and the excerpt looks totally amazing in it. I’m psyched for that book.

I was on a panel with the twins Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba where I was asked how to increase literacy among Brazilian youth.

Later that day the fair threw a party and I was told it was taking place in a park so I just wore a t-shirt. It turned out it was in a mansion in a park. Snoop Dogg filmed this music video (3:53) there. I told a prose novelist I was feeling underdressed and he said: “Don’t worry. You’re a graphic novelist. It works.” Ha! True story.

Okay, here are some more scans of things I acquired. This first artist, Lourenco Mutarelli, I hung out with a little bit. He does great sketchbooks filled with gorgeous, raunchy drawings. I hope that those are eventually published or put online or become available somehow.

These are random other things:

I went to Rafael Grampa’s studio in an ex-beauty salon in Sao Paulo but I don’t have any good photos of it. Rafael’s working on a series that Dark Horse is publishing in 2010 titled Furry Water and I flipped through some originals and it’s crazy. His personality can be felt in his drawings. They’re aggressive, funny and full of life. Dude can draw.

Now Comics Comics may return to more thoughtful posting.

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This cover is a special delivery to my Fanta Friends:

The first story would interest the new Marvel Friends:

I got this at a comic shop called H Q Mix in Sao Paulo. It’s open 24 hours (!) on a block of mostly theaters and actor’s bars. There is a famous whore house around the corner.

Andre Conte is the editor of the Companhia das Letras comic division. I spent most of my trip hanging out with him and Juliana Vettore, a publicist at Companhia, and David Grann, since his The Lost City of Z book was published in Portuguese by Companhia. Grann’s latest New Yorker piece, “Trial by Fire”, came out right before we left NY for Rio.

Andre and I had a lot to talk about since we’re about the same age so we read all of the same comics growing up. It’s nice that Joe Madureira and Wildstorm are at least conversation possibilities. Here’s Andre:

I’m pretty sure that the store owner (above corner) edited this anthology, Capa. He didn’t speak any English and I don’t speak any Portuguese, but I think that’s what he was communicating to me.

Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon came with us to the store since we went right after a joint discussion/signing at a mall bookstore.

More Brazil stuff later.