In 2001, I was flown over to Porto, Portugal, and put up in a hotel, and fed meals, to participate in the XI Salão Internacional de Banda Desenhada do Porto. In the exhibition hall, the rooms were kind of like a big honeycomb, and in “my” room they’d painted the walls with the flower motif and cover drawing from Monkey Food, and packed it with my original comic art. It was pretty overwhelming and lovely, the whole thing. The whole trip was a blast, actually.
Paulo Patricio, one of the organizers, just interviewed me for his online mag, Mundo Fantasma, and you can read the interview here. It includes such thought-provoking gems as this:
MF: What was the last place you went out for dinner? Did you followed the chef’s suggestions?
EF: Last night, sushi. The chef’s suggestions? I’m not sure what you mean. I didn’t ask for anything special or off the menu.
He’s going to ask all the same questions of a number of cartoonists, so we can find out in a few weeks if Gary Panter also followed the chef’s suggestions, and etc.