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Stripwinkels in Amsterdam

The title of this post, Stripwinkels in Amsterdam translates simply as “Comic Book Stores In Amsterdam.” If that translation isn’t accurate, well then. Blame DeepL.

This short post has photos from my first trip to Amsterdam in late summer/early fall 2021. I fell in love with The Netherlands. Since then I’ve visited that country two more times. I particulary like Amsterdam as a city. Everyone says Paris is an amazing place. While I liked Paris, I still prefer Amsterdam.

City of Amsterdam at night. 2021. Photo taken by Michele Witchipoo.

Right now I’m just going to focus on two places inside Amsterdam. First one is Henk’s, which is Amsterdam’s eqivlent of Forbidden Planet. Not as large as Forbidden Planet or Midtown Comics in NYC, but it has a selection that is similiar. Hank’s focuses mostly on popular titles, superhero, manga and other pop-culture related items. What I liked about Hank’s was that it has two entrances. That way instead of waddling through the tourist crowds, I can just walk through one end of the store, and exit on the other side. Those two entrances were very conveinant.

Henk’s Comics & Manga in Amsterdam, 2021

Second comic book shop I visited was Lambiek. I’ve heard of Lambiek for years, as their website has an online encycopedia of cartoonists. There was no iternarity planned, so I took out my cell. It was still halfway through the pandemic in 2021, so there wasn’t that many tourists. Lambiek is on a side street, which makes it a bit tricky to find if you’re a first time visitor. Yet if you’re a huge Alternative comics fan, you’re going to love this place.

Lambiek comic shop in Amsterdam, 2021.

The shop has a mixture of old and new titles. As I was browsing, another local creative stepped in. Turns out he was an American expat, Chad Bilyeu. He has a comic series titled Chad In Amsterdam, which Lambiek highly recommends.

Chad Bilyea in Lambiek, 2021.

That’s it for now. Amsterdam is a very magickal place, I’ve been back two more times since then. Yes, I’ve been really slow on this blog, a lot has happened between Febuary 2021 and now. The year 2021 was a bad time for me, the only highlight was the trip to the Netherlands. Perhaps I’ll explain more in future posts. No worries, I’m doing much better now.

In the meantime, I shall leave you with this stray cat I met in Amsterdam.

Hello It’s Me

It’s been some time since my last blog post. Life really has been busy. Suppose that’s a good thing.

Did some traveling, as you can tell from my last blog post. So far I’ve been to The Netherlands, Germany, France and Belgium. The Netherlands is a beautiful country, and so far it’s been my favorite.

Miffy Store in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Summer 2023

Summer 2023 marked my third time in The Netherlands. This time around I explored more of the country itself, not just Amsterdam. Visited Utretch, The Haag, and Rotterdam. Checked out this Renaissance Fair titled Castlefest while in the Netherlands. In the end I went back to Amsterdam where I caught the Pride celebrations and got another tattoo.

Pride celebration in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Summer 2023

My adventures in Europe will have to be another blog post. Anyway, I get back to NYC. I travel halfway around the world, mingle with large crowds, etc. Didn’t catch Covid. I come back to the big bad rotten apple and stay local. Staying local is how I caught Covid. What a nice welcome back gift.

Duran Duran at Forest Hills Stadium, 2023

Luckily my Covid case wasn’t too bad. A day or two after recovering, I forced myself to go see Duran Duran at Forest Hills Stadium. Only because I had already spent the money on tickets. Nobody wants to flush $300 down the toilet.

The Steve Ignorant Band performing Crass songs. NYC, Fall 2023.

Before I caught Covid, I managed to see The Steve Ignorant Band perform Crass songs. The female vocalist stepping in for Eve Libertine understood the assignment.

Coney Island, Aug 2023. Photo by Michele Witchipoo

Here’s a photo from Coney Island, late summer 2023. Threw it on this post because I can.

A logo designed by Michele Witchipoo. Fall 2023.

Otherwise I’ve just been majorly busy. Good news, I’m now a part time art teacher. Oh, and I designed some lovely logos. The logo you see above is from a school project. it’s not a real business, but as an idea, it sounds like it could work.

I’ve been focusing a lot on graphic design, as you can tell from above.

NYCC Fall 2023. Photo by Michele Witchipoo

The one thing I do every single year is attend New York Comic Con. No matter what, I always manage to visit NYCC. Since the pandemic, I’ve cut it down from attending the entire weekend to only one day. Be assured, I had recovered from my bout with Covid by then.

Queens Comic Party Logo

No, I didn’t design the logo for Queens Comic Party, but I’ve been attending their monthly events. After talking to two local cartoonists, I decided to fire up this blog again. Just found out there’s a Drink and Draw event in Queens too. Although I don’t really drink anymore, I’ll check it out, perhaps do a few sketches.

Rockaway Beach sunset. Labor Day 2023. Photo by Ben Herman.

It’s getting late. Hopefully I’ll continue this blog with more postings about Europe, my artwork and such. À bientôt.

Still Here!

Hello. It’s been a while since last posted. I’ll make this brief – a lot has happened since Feb 2021. In a few weeks I’ll fire up this blog again.

I’ve done a bit of traveling since 2021. On my last trip, I visited a lot of museuems, took in some art.

Below is an example. The photo is from a visit to Musuem De Reede, in Antwerpt, Belgium. A lithograph of Edvard Munch’s ‘The Scream’.

The Scream (lithograph print) as seen in Museum De Reede in Antwerpt, Belgium.

Stay tuned for other updates.

Tomorrow – Interview With Mindy Indy!

Since bringing back Comic Book Convo, I have returning guest, cartoonist Mindy Indy!

Mindy is in the process of doing her second Kickstarter for her comic Aer Head.

You can listen to the interview tomorrow, Wednesday Nov. 9th, 2022 from 7-8pm EST on WHCSradio.org.

Tonight On ComicBook Convo With Michele! Full Ray Felix Interview

Due to lack of time, I decided to broadcast the entire Ray Felix interview, warts and all. It’s not as professional sounding as I hoped, but it’s better than not airing. You can tune in tonight, Wed. Nov 2nd, 2022, 7-8pm EST on whcsradio.com.

Comic Book Convo Is Back

It’s been a while. Life offline has been full of twists and turns. Still busy, but glad to tell you I’m trying to get my radio show back on. It’ll be at the same radio station, WHCSradio.com. If we’re able to stream, this week’s guest will be artist, writer and publisher Ray Felix. Ray was also one of the folks behind Bronx Heroes Con and Women In Comics Con, both events which started in the Bronx, New York City. It looks like this interview might be broadcast in two or three parts. I’ll be a bit rusty but if you can deal then tune in on Wednesday evenings, 7-8 pm EST.

Ganesha March 2022

It’s been a while since I updated this blog.

Here’s a little something, just saying hello. This piece was done in Adobe Illustrator.

Returning Webcomic – Psycho Bunny: Summer of Covid19

Before my one-off story about Wesley Willis, (available on both Comic Fury and WEBTOON) I was working on another webcomic. It was based on my long time character Psycho Bunny. Psycho Bunny is a self-published comic I’ve been working on and off since 2004. With the pandemic shutting everything down, I turned to webcomics.

Around August 2020, life became very busy for me. Which was a good thing, but it meant leaving the Psycho Bunny series hanging. Now that things are winding down, I can go back to focusing on comics and illustrations.

You can read the previous episodes on WEBTOON. In the meantime I’ll start working on new stories.

Etsy Updates

It’s pretty late in the holiday season, but here’s an Etsy update.

Since trying Etsy again second time around, I’ve gotten encouragement and support. Sold out of Psycho Bunny issue 3.5. Thanks to Covid19, it’s going to be a while before I can reprint that comic again. Instead I focused on making Christmas tree ornaments. All the illustrations were drawn by me, Michele Witchipoo. Below are a few examples.