Get in loser, we’re going to COSPLAY KARAOKE 13!

Cape Swoosh Productions and East Side Mags are back with another volume of our world famous COSPLAY KARAOKE to kick off the holiday season!

Come by and sing your cares away with us on November 9 from 7pm to 10pm.

So dust off your cosplay or wrap up that one you’ve been working on and get ready to SING YOUR HEART OUT!

Or just feel free to help hold the wall up and listen to come legendary vocalists! And by legendary we mean some of the best and worst we have to offer!

But there will also be unforgettable fun, music, prizes, and shenanigans galore! Plus, you'll have a chance to check out East Side's amazing comics and collectibles!

And there’s no admission so come by! This just might be the best one yet. We can feel it.

It’s like we have ESPN or something…

East Side Mags is super stoked to welcome all 4 members of the creative team behind DARKFORM - an amazing indie comic with talent spreading from Essex County to Venezuela!

Meet the minds behind DARKFORM and get all 4 signatures! Collect them all!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR/CREATOR My name is Marc Saporito, born and raised in Bloomfield NJ, married to my wife Allison for seventeen years. I have seven beautiful children. Caring for them is the driving force behind who I am and what I do!! I Love them so much!! I’m currently a maintenance worker, house painter, and former Christmas tree salesman!!! I remember the days of standing outside in the freezing cold At Plochs home and garden center, selling trees with my Plochs brothers!!! It was a great time every year!! A big shout out to them, you know who you are!!! Many thanks to Anibal for helping me visualize this project and helping me when I thought all hope was lost. Also thanks Junior for working with him. These two Artists are top notch in this field true masters of their craft!! Another big shoutout to my brother Tony and his wife Cecilia, love you both!! To my brother from another mother my producer and friend for over thirty years Daniel Russomano. He is also my creative partner on these projects who didn’t hesitate when I asked him for his help. When he agreed I then knew my lifelong dream was about to happen. The world is going to hear a lot from MDM STUDIOS, because we have a ton to say and create. So sit back and enjoy a new breed of superhero one that’s going to take the world by storm. Last but not least I know the world is a very harsh place at times but we need to help the less fortunate, honestly I try and do my part everyday!!! Thank you. You can find me on Facebook and Instagram under Marco Sappo!! God bless all!!!

My name is Junior Mejias, im a Venezuelan comic book artist and illustrator. My journey into comics began with a anime called Naruto, which I would watch every Saturday night. It made me fall in love with great storytelling and inspired to tell stories through my own art.

 I think creating comics is much like creating a film, if not more challenging. As comic book artists we are tasked with bringing a script to life by depicting life, emotion, and movement through nothing but 2D images.

 What I found works for me in my approach to creating comics is working backwards. What I mean by that is figuring out how I want the page to end and how that panel will look and go from there. An old professor of mine once told me if you drive without a destination you'll drive forever. 

When it comes to artistic influences I have two that come to mind. Greg Capullo who penciled Spawn for many issues. He has spectacular pencils as well as an amazing eye for filling the space, and J Scott Campbell who’s known for his beautiful stylization of comic book women.

My favorite thing about making comics is the penciling alongside great storytelling. I love starting the production and creating something out of a blank page. I like to take my time rendering my pencils so tight they squeak! 

On the other hand, my least favorite thing about creating comics would have to be the occasional artists block, sometimes you just cant find the the perfect angle for a specific scene and as a perfectionist I don't settle for anything but the best I can offer.

My name is Daniel Russomano i was born in Newark New Jersey and I reside in Nutley New Jersey . I have a son Daniel, a daughter-in-law Lindsay, a granddaughter Mila and another granddaughter on the way. I have a French bulldog named Rocky and a parakeet named Angel who are best friends. I like spending time with my family and pets. I also like to grow tomatoes in my garden. I like to read and go fishing. 

     My favorite super hero is of course The Dark Form. I also like all of the other superheroes. If I could choose one super power it would be to have the strength to unite the world in peace.

     Marc Saporito and I have been friends and coworkers for over thirty years. So when he approached me about coming on board as a producer and investing in the dark form i said yes. Now we share our ideas and work together to create one of the best stories you will ever read. I am on Instagram @ thedarkform.official.

Anibal Arroyo is an illustrator and self published author. He is mostly self taught but did attend the prestigious Joe Kubert School of Cartooning and Graphic Illustration, achieving a one year certification. He has worked on several independent creator owned projects from graphic novels to children’s books.

He works in a variety of mediums including traditional as well as digital methods.  An exceptional sequential artist and storyteller with an incredible eye for detail, Anibal is an asset to any creative project he dives into.

And finally, we have Director’s Cut cover artist Hugo Bravo!

My name is Hugo Bravo and I’ve been a freelance illustrator since 1992, educated as an oil painter at the Fashion Institute of Technology, where I focused on life drawing, anatomy, and composition. My artwork spans various genres, including comics and cover art, with notable projects like the covers for the “Redeem The Knight” novel series by David V. Mammina. How I became a member of the Darkform team: It all started as a fun thing to do... recreate the cover of The Darkform issue #1 and show it to the creative team. To my surprise they used my art as the cover to the "Director's Cut" special edition.

Don’t miss this all-star signing and grab a copy of DARKFORM quadruple signed by all the creators!

John McGuire is no stranger to the horror / punk scene in NJ. So it’s no surprise that he, along with friends Geo Collazo, Brian Shutter, Lou Morgue and Sally Cantirino have put together this amazing new RPG and we’re the lucky ones who get to bring it to you for a FREE DEMO just in time for Halloween!

According to John - Zombie Braineaters! is designed to be picked up and played with minimal prep, and, in this zine, you’ll find everything you need to run a quick one-shot adventure for a gory good time!

About Zombie Braineaters (rated PG-13): "The Hunger" Body Spray was designed by Prometheus BioLabs, a bio-pharmaceutical company and manufacturer in New Jersey. The main selling point of this body spray was a proprietary recipe that included special pheromones to enhance your sexual appeal. It worked, albeit too well, and became nearly impossible to keep on the shelf, resulting in a nationwide shortage of the scent.

Prometheus BioLabs, in the name of profit, cut corners to rush out a batch to its top two markets, the Jersey Shore and New York City, in time for Memorial Day Weekend.

On the evening of May 27th, 1988, news outlets across the Tri-State Area reported a breaking story of violent incidents at two of the clubs - where Pro Bro, Prometheus' home beauty division, were hosting promotional events dubbed "Hunger Parties" where people began uncontrollably biting and clawing at each other's flesh, resulting in severe injuries to 138 of those partygoers, and multiple arrests.

The next morning's 6 A.M. news broadcast began with a shocking update to the story in which many of the injured succumbed to their wounds overnight and, in a horrific turn, reanimated and began attacking the local medical staff.

By mid-day on May 28th, the undead had overtaken a large swath of the Jersey Shore, several counties in northern NJ, and three of the five boroughs in NYC.

For the Tri-State area, the world's end came not from a bang but a series of bites.

That was day one.

Today is Day 92.

The basics of how to play: Zombie Braineaters! Suburban Decay In The U.S.A. is a survival horror gauntlet in which the expectation is that the character you start with may not be the character you end with. Once your character dies, you immediately roll for a new one, rejoin the group, and keep running until the end of the adventure.

All you’ll need to play Zombie Braineaters! is a writing implement, paper, and four of the seven standard polyhedral dice: d12, d10, d8, d6 if you are rolling in person or a dice roller if you are on Discord or Zoom.

So come by on October 26 between 2pm and 5pm and join us for a rousing rendition of Zombie Braineaters with host / creator John McGuire!

East Side Mags in association with Indie Arts Montclair and now Out Montclair are proud to bring back our annual ZOMBIE WALK 2024!

Due to overwhelming attendance last year, we’re bringing in some heavy hitter make up artists so we can make sure everyone is taken care of as efficiently as possible. Make-up will be $5 per person (all ages) and we’ve included some examples of the zombie make-up being provided by our professional make-up artists*:

*Please keep in mind final make-up may not look EXACTLY like the images. The images here are examples of what the final make-up could look like.

Below is where you can purchase your make-up session:

• Please schedule your make-up time based on the available time slots.

• Each reservation is for ONE appointment. If you are a “party of 3” you will have to make 3 separate appointments and purchase each appointment separately.

• Please keep in mind that we are starting the walk at 5:20pm so all appointments are timed accordingly.

• Please do your best to keep your appointment. We know things “pop up” and will do our best to accommodate everyone but we can’t guarantee make-up if you miss your appointment time.

• EVERYONE needs an appointment to get make-up - kids, adults, grandma, your auntie - everyone. If all spots fill up, we will do our best to see about expanding the offering, adding make-up artists, etc.

• Please be patient with us. While we’ve run this event since 2017, this is the first time using a scheduling system and we’re still trying to get the hang of it.

• Any questions, please contact jeff@eastsidemags.com as soon as possible

We’re stoked to welcome our make-up artists: Leo Valle, Aaliyah and more artists to be announced soon!

The actual walk will start at 5:20pm and we’ll creep, meander and claw our way around Montclair Center - horrifying businesses and patrons alike - in a zombie-like but non-aggressive manner.

We’re zombies but we’re also respectful of others so please don’t be a dick.

Our amazing friends at Indie Arts Montclair will have some super-scary merch available! All proceeds from merch sales go to support IAM. Details coming soon.

We’ve also got the return of MR HAUNT who will be judging a costume contest so if you’ve got your Halloween costume ready, come dressed to scare and we’ll “zombify” your costume and you could win some fabulous prizes!

More information and fun will be added as we get closer. Follow us on Facebook and/or Instagram for updates!

Stay tuned…

From 1923 to 2024 - the over 100 year reign of the house of mouse!

To celebrate some of the most iconic imagery EVER, we’re having a birthday party and YOU get the gifts!

ONE DAY ONLY
Come by and get 30% off ALL DISNEY LORCANA products!

Yes - 30% OFF ALL OF IT!

Get in your steamboat (or whatever you drive) and get here! The sale only lasts as long as the product we have is in stock!

Norwalk, CT’s finest indie comic creator Steve Urena is coming to NJ with his awesome-ly horrific horror tales!

Check out his comics Slow Pokes, Zombie Date Night, X-Maschina and Foul Mouth!

Slow Pokes #1—London James is a rebellious high-school teenager ready to move on to the next phase of his life. The only thing standing in his way is a request from his best friend Karate Carlos…oh, and a bio-engineered sloth who is now freakishly fast and out for blood. Slow Pokes is a 20 page vulgar horror-comedy thrill ride that’s filled with sloths, slaughter, and slapstick. Art by Juan Romera.

Zombie Date Night-Feast your eyes on Zombie Date Night. A 32-page comic book that tells the story of a boy matching a girl. Girl meets up with boy for a first date. Boy and girl face a ZOMBIE INVASION! Art by Sergi Domenech.

Foul Mouth- After the divorce of her parents, teenager Faye Flik is adjusting to her new surroundings. A new city, a new home, and after accidentally getting possessed by a demon, new abilities that turn her curse words into the ultimate weapon against evil. Art by Sarah Davidson.

X-Maschina -   Twis' the year 2045, and Santa is leaving…

                           Christmas behind, he’s just stopped believing.

                           He is giving up his magic. He is going away.

                           He is planning one final ride in his magical sleigh…

                           But all of a sudden, there arises a clatter!

                           His toy-making machines are making everyone scatter!

                           The robots are taking over, and AI is snotty!

                           They’re judging everyone to be extremely naughty!

                           Can Saint Nick stop the bots in his North Pole arena?

                           Find out in the 20 page holiday horror-comedy comic X-MASCHINA!

                           From artist Lane Lloyd and writers Misty Graves and Steve Urena. 

Steve will be here signing copies of his books and gabbing with folks about being an indie comic creator with almost a half dozen self-published titles under his belt!

Come by and get into the spooky season with some really amazing indie books!

The Halloween hits keep coming as comic / horror artist Dave Fox joins us from NYC, bringing his exclusive cover for Archie Horror: Chilling Adventures Presents the Cult of that Wilkin Boy Initiation and his sketch book Empty Graves featuring horror portraits of some of your favorite Universal Monsters!

About the Artist: Dave Fox is a freelance artist from New York City. His clients have included Marvel Comics, Lucasfilm, DC Comics, Topps, Archie Horror, Dynamite, GWAR, Skratch Magazine, Punkstuff, Universal Monsters Universe, Rittenhouse Archives and many others.

He has contributed his dark, noir style to such properties as Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Indiana Jones, Red Sonja, Vampirella and The Avengers.

Additionally, Dave illustrated and designed original characters for the graphic novel Satan's Prep, published by Skyhorse Press, and is currently writing and illustrating his own creator owned comic series.

Between projects, Dave finds time to teach art as well as sing and play bass in a punk rock band, Dead On A Friday.

Dave will be here on 10/5 from 2pm-6pm, signing copies of his books, sketching for customers and taking commissions! Come hang out!

We’re partnering with one of our favorite local organizations - OutMontclair - for their Boo-zy Bar Crawl on October 3 at 7pm!

Click the image to check out the event details! It’s gonna be a scary good time!

Wait It Gets Worse… If Only We Knew is a collection of autobiographical comics from two of the funniest people you will meet - Doug Latino and Gideon Kendall! 270 pages of their best and greatest comics plus 10 new stories and 50 pages of never-before-seen material! Fans of underground comix, stories that are silly, self-depricating or embarrassing will find something to absolutely LOVE about this collection of stories!

Gideon Kendall is an artist, illustrator, cartoonist, and musician who lives in Brooklyn with his wife and fellow artist Julie Peppito and their son Milo. He has made stuff for MAD Magazine, Heavy Metal, Dark Horse, and First Second, among others. His other comics include Marley’s Ghost, (Eisner winner!) , WHATZIT, Lester of the Lesser Gods (w/Eric Powell) and Megaghost (w/Gabe Soria). Website: www.gideonkendall.com Instagram: @gideonkendall

Doug Latino is co-creator, writer, and editor of the auto-biographical comic, Wait…It Gets Worse. He’s worked in media in NYC for 30 years and is currently a podcast network executive. He’s had numerous auto-biographical short stories published in graphic anthologies, including, Tales From the Wolf, and Wizerd #2, both from Cosmic Lion Productions, and Bottoms Up, from Birdcage Bottom Books. He lives in Brooklyn, with his wife, psychotherapist Dr. Rose Latino, and their two teen-age daughters. Instagram: @douglatino, and douglatino.com

Join us for what is sure to be a roaring good time as Doug and Gideon regale us with stories including a live read featuring another hilarious writer - Tony Wolf HIMSELF - as they lead us through some of their favorite stories!

We’ll have copies on hand to purchase and have signed so don’t miss this totally unique signing experience from 2pm-5pm on September 7!

And here are some reviews if you’re still not convinced:

“Reading WIGW is a tumescent experience not to be missed.”  -Ron Turner, Last Gasp

"Wait. .. It Gets Worse is a revelation, the marriage of great writing and, great artwork, something far too rare in comics and graphic novels. In fact Wait…It Gets Worse can't get any better I loved it. -Drew Friedman

Just when you thought richly realized comics by mature creators had to be all corporate, along comes Wait ... It Gets Worse, kicking down doors with spirited wisdom.'' -David Collier

"Wait. .. lt Gets Worse follows in the tradition of the best underground comix and the great autobiographical confessional funny books, including Weirdo magazine, but above all, it excels at that rarity of rarities, wildly entertaining stories.'' -Jon B. Cooke, The Book of Weirdo

We recently were gifted with TONS and TONS of used library books - all ideal for kids and families.

So we’re having a sale - but not just ANY sale.

We’re going to donate 50% of the proceeds from the sale to 3 local schools:

• Montclair Co-Op School in Montclair, NJ

• Demarest Elementary School in Bloomfield, NJ

• Allwood Play & Learn in Clifton, NJ

Used books will range from $1 for paperbacks and kids books to $2 for hardcover books.

We’re also throwing our used graphic novels and mystery packs into the mix at 50% off to sweeten the deal!

Come by and grab some awesome used books at rock-bottom prices or some awesome graphic novels for $5 to $7.50 each or surprise yourself with a super cool mystery pack of comics AND support some of our local schools all in one visit!

East Side Mags is stoked to announce that we’ll be hosting local comic creator Taku Ward and his newest comic creation - THE TALE OF THE ONE-INCH BOZO!

About the comic: "The Tale of One-Inch Bozo" is a 40-page, all-age adventure comic about a one-inch tall boy who gets lost in a forest filled with all sorts of dangerous animals and monsters. A retelling of the Japanese folktale, "The One-Inch Samurai," read to find out what it really takes to become a samurai as a one-inch boy in a big, big world.

About the creator: Taku Ward is a cartoonist born and raised in New Jersey. He attended and graduated from the School of Visual Arts with a Bachelor's Degree in Cartooning in 2020. His comics have been published in anthologies such as Level Ground Comics' "The Greatest Hits: A Comic Mixtape," Chidrawgo's "I Like Robots," and The Nib's "Cities" issue. During his free time, Taku likes to work on his comics, go on walks, and pet his cats.

This comic is perfect for all ages including kids so bring the family, your friends and yourself and come on down and check out this amazing comic by an equally amazing creator! And support local creators and comics!