This year Janna and I made the trek to New York City to attend MoCCA Fest, one of the city’s biggest comic festivals!
Photos credit Andres Otero Images
Like every year, the expo hall was filled with amazing talent and exciting releases. Here’s some of my key takeaways from the event:
Zines are back and bigger than ever!
Yes you heard me right! The internet didn’t kill the zine! Every vendor I saw had at least one zine at their table. The complexity ranged from single sheet folded zines to stapled magazines to small batch perfect bound books. Anything goes!
Photo credit Andres Otero Images
Even attendees brought their own zines, me included. Why give someone your business card, when you can give them a cool piece of art instead?
Beyond Moccafest, “zinefests” have been popping up all over the country. See if any are happening in your area and go check it out! If you’re thinking about making zines and have no idea where to start, join our zine club in the Kids Comics Unite mighty network.
Medieval Fantasy is IN
Knights, dragons, and princesses were all over the place. Independent and small press releases in particular took a heavy interest in medieval aesthetics. This coincides with the rise of gothic fonts and illuminated manuscript motifs in 2025 design trends.
Folklore bandanas by artist Sophia DeFelice (Crytime Art), photo credit Andres Otero Images
Perhaps creators are looking to fantasy for escapism. Perhaps creators are looking to the dark ages as a reflection of current times. Perhaps creators simply think dragons and knights are REALLY COOL.
Regardless, medieval fantasy has caught the imagination of creators and readers alike. I personally got a copy of The King’s Warrior by Huahua Zhu while I was there.
Small Press has a larger presence
In the previous times I had gone to Moccafest, I had felt traditional publishing took up large parts of the expo hall. It was refreshing this year to see publishers take up less space in general to make room for more artists. But that’s not all, most publishers were small press!
New York Review Comics table, photo credit Andres Otero Images
Small Press excites me because they tend to publish stories that fall outside “traditional publishing tastes”. Not only that, so many of these books were beautifully designed! Which leads me into my next takeaway:
Immense care put into book design
The books on display at Moccafest clearly showed how much consideration was put into its presentation. I noticed a lot of books were playing with dimensions, often going into extremes. Short and wide books were especially popular. Instead of hardcovers with jackets, clothbound hardcovers with embossed designs were EVERYWHERE.
Comic foldout at MoCCA Fest NYC 2025, photo Credit Andres Otero Images
This shows to me a great amount of care being put into the physical experience of the book. To further tie back to the resurgence of zines, I’m noticing a big shift away from digital publishing. While webcomics will remain a pivotal part of the comics world, I think artists are actively seeking ways to decenter technology, especially social media, from their work.
While some aspects of book design can be daunting and costly, I do think it’s worth considering how physical media could enhance the overall experience of your comic. This can apply to webcomics too, how can you make the experience more special to your readers?
Be Self-indulgent
Everything I loved about Moccafest ties back to one word: Self-indulgence. As creators, it’s easy to prioritize the audience before ourselves. While it’s important to keep in mind who wants to read your comics, its equally important to make comics YOU are interested in.
Zine at MoCCA Fest NYC 2025, photo credit Andres Otero Images
I know what you’re thinking, “I always consider myself part of the audience.” That’s good! You should make comics you want to read. But do you make comics where the process itself excites you?
This is what I mean when I say self-indulgent comics. We should make more comics for our creative entertainment. That could mean making a bunch of zines about anything that pops in your head, an experimental comic playing with format and design, a comic so dense with lore only you know all the details, and so much more. Play is important, so don’t be afraid to let loose and making something a little (or a lot) inaccessible. Who knows, maybe those comics are the ones that get you the audience you always dreamed of.
Stickers and card at MoCCA Fest NYC 2025, photo credit Andres Otero Images
See Ya Next Year Moccafest!
I left Moccafest with way too many comics to comfortably carry home and a brain brimming with new ideas. Also if you were curious, here were our hauls:
Comics and zines purchased at MoCCA Fest NYC 2025, photo credit Bailey Culver
Comics and zines purchased at MoCCA Fest NYC 2025, photo credit Janna Morishima
Catch you next year MoCCA Fest!
