Comic World LA, the first ever US doujinshi convention took place August 19-20 at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. It was a place where amateur comic artists and sellers could strut their stuff. With an estimated attendance of 75, the convention hall only contained at most 20 booths, but everyone seemed to be having a good time. Events included costume contests, art workshops led by "Chibi-Pop Manga's" Denjiro and Tsugumi and autograph sessions with guests Hanabusa Yoko, Sanzaki Harumo and Tachibana Koyo. Comic World 2 LA is scheduled for October 14, 15, 2000 at the Petersen Museum. They are expecting an attendance of 200 for the next convention. For more information visit www.comicworld-la.com.

Daru Daru presents "Once Upon a Time," a collection of manga fairytale parodies such as "One Piece" and "Houshin Engi." This is artists KorE, Shio2 and Michi's first English doujinshi publication. For more information visit www.anime.jyu.fi/~michi.

"Lady's" Hanabusa Yoko (left), and manga artists Sanzaki Harumo (right) and Tachibana Koyo (not pictured) gave autographs and chatted with fans.

Denjiro and Tsugumi from "Chibi-Pop Manga" led art workshops. Workshop participants received one-on-one instruction and took home coloring and tone worksheets.

Tsugumi gives aspiring artist Dominque Duong some helpful hints.

Sailor Moon took first place at Saturday's cosplay contest. But all cosplayers looked great. There were only 10 entries on Saturday and even fewer on Sunday, but unlike most costume contests, it didn't run over 3 hours long.

Inks, pens, tones, markers and other manga art supplies were for sale. For more information visit http://www.comictones.com