SCCC Countdown!

I am a DCBS convert. I still throw money around in the local comic shops, but for the last year the bulk of my monthly haul and new-release collected editions now comes via UPS from Discount Comic Book Service. But even before I was buying my comics from DCBS, I was friends with Zack Kruse… first through forums and then from con-going.

So when the folks at DCBS decided to put on a one-day show in their Fort Wayne hometown, there was no way I could pass it up. I know I’m not “mention worthy” (or even belong on that great list of guest creators they’ve put together for the show), but I’m still pretty damn excited Zack asked me to be a part of Summit City.

There are so many artists and creators you should be looking forward to seeing at this show: Dave Wachter, Andy Jewett, Jim Rugg, Hilary Barta, Mike Norton, Katie Cook, Shawn Pryor, Steve Bryant, Zack himself, and the list goes on. These are all people with talent to spare!

I’ll of course have copies of my book, Deus ex Comica: The Rebirth of a Comic Book Fan, available for sale at the show. And if you buy a copy of it, not only can you get it signed by me, but more impressively, you can take it over to the book’s cover artist and Eisner Award Nominee Dave Wachter, and he’ll do a free quick head sketch in the book for you!

I’m looking forward to the short road trip and getting to see friends – creators, podcasters, forum family, and fans – who I only ever get to see during “con season.” Although I’m sure there will be deals to be had, Summit City Comic Con strikes me as filling the hole left by the Around Comics guys’ Windy City Comicon going on hiatus this year: A one-day show that is creator focused over vendor gluttony.

See you next Saturday!

Loikamania

I’ve mentioned my friend Pat on the blog before, but it seems worth mentioning again how awesome he is. He recently illustrated Blacklisted, written by Adam Witt. So I reached out to Pat to see about getting a copy directly from him, and he sent me a signed copy of the graphic novel that I’m excited to read. But Pat being Pat, he also included a little extra goodness in the envelope... this fun Cap sketch!

Pat’s also recently relaunched his podcast as Loikamania. It’s available as a part of Derek’s Comic Book Noise family of podcasts and on iTunes. Check it out!

Marvel Solicits - July 1983

So a couple of years ago I posted some of the classic Marvel Solicits around here. I recently was thumbing through some back issues in the Original Collection and stumbled on some more that brought memories crashing back. Like this one from The Thing #1, cover dated July 1983. I would have been 12 when this hit the corner convenience store’s spinner rack, and I remember immediately taking advantage of the very deals offered in the ad.

“The more titles you order, the more you save” says to me “if I order one title, I save x. If I order two titles, I save x+1. If I order three titles, I save x+2.” And so on. While the ad copy is somewhat suspect, I guess it’s logical from a certain point of view... if you order one title, you save 30% off the cover price. If you order three titles, you’re getting 30% off three titles. So, the “more” you save is referring to more titles at the same discount, not an incremental savings based on the number of titles ordered.

There is no denying Wolverine has always been a fan favorite, so the classic brown costumed Canadian is an obvious choice to help bring in readers. A quick look at the titles offered and it’s clear I was completely entrenched in the Marvel Universe at the time of this ad. There were subscriptions to G.I. Joe, X-Men, Alpha Flight, and The Thing showing up in my family’s mailbox. I was supplementing my regular Avengers, Marvel Team-Up, and Amazing Spider-Man newsstand reading with large helpings of Daredevil, Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man, and some Defenders among others.

Oh, and don’t be fooled by the copy that says the “Offer Expires May 31, 1983!” Remember, although the book’s cover dated July 1983, it actually was on the newsstands a few months prior to that, thanks to the wacky world of comic book publishing.

IM2

In a reenactment of events from two years ago, we missed a Friday night May Cavs playoff game to go out to dinner with good friends and see an opening weekend showing of an Iron Man movie. And, although not as much as the first installment, I really enjoyed Iron Man 2.

Of course, Robert Downey, Jr. continues to own the Tony Stark role and plays perfectly with Gwyneth Paltrow’s Pepper Potts. The expansion of Rhodey into the War Machine character was great to see, and the change from Terrence Howard to Don Cheadle was seamless.

I was worried the movie might suffer from an overabundance of characters, much like what happened with Spider-Man 3, but Iron Man 2 seemed to get the balance right. I liked the way Whiplash and Justin Hammer worked together (Sam Rockwell chewed the scenery as Hammer). Neither was too broad or overshadowed the other as the antagonist.

The introduction of the Black Widow was handled nicely (Scarlett Johansson was great in the role) and recalled the post-credits Nick Fury cameo we saw at the end of the first movie. I love the way Marvel is tying these movies together, creating a larger Marvel Universe: Nick Fury in Iron Man and Iron Man 2, Tony Stark in Incredible Hulk, the Captain America shield appearing in both Iron Man movies, and another post-credit tease at the end of Iron Man 2 that also plays into the larger picture.

One thing I really dug was that not all the bad guys died in the end. That’s something that has bugged me in the big screen adaptations of comic book properties. The comic book universe is an on-going world, and bad guys return as much as good guys. I get that you want to move on in the next movie to a new bad guy and not rehash a previous film, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have callbacks and cameos. So I’m hoping the surviving antagonist shows up in Iron Man 3, if only in a small part.

I’ve learned watching the Iron Man movies that I really don’t know a lot about the Golden Avenger’s rogues gallery. I knew who Obadiah Stane was from the comics, but not necessarily the Iron Monger aspect of his history. I did recognize the Mandarin from the first film and hope he returns in a future installment. I was not familiar with Whiplash or Justin Hammer at all. So it’s been fun to discover these characters right along with Tracy each time we head to the theater.

Canon Poodoo

We are big fans of the Star Wars radio drama in our house... er, well, the kiddo and I are. Tracy tolerates it in very small doses. Over the last four or five years, the kiddo and I have listened to the thirteen-and-a-half hours that make up the Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi serials dozens of times.

I vaguely remember listening to the original Star Wars radio drama when it was first broadcast on NPR back in 1981 (at least I think I did). Everything about the drama felt familiar when I listened to it as an adult a few years ago, and everything points to me hearing this back when it originally aired: I was as much a Star Wars fan as all the other 10-year-olds in my circle of friends. My parents were (and still are) regular listeners of all the programming on our local NPR station. I remember listening to the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy radio drama, which aired in the US around the same time as the first Star Wars drama.

Before we started listening to Marvel Noise on our afternoon drives home from work and school together a few years ago, the kiddo and I would regularly become wrapped up in the adventures of Luke, Leia, Han, Chewie, Darth Vader and his minions, Jabba, R2, and the whole gang over and over. I treasure the memories of cycling through the thirteen installments of Star Wars, the ten episodes of Empire, and the six chapters of Jedi with the kiddo, and still enjoy it when we have exhausted our Marvel Noise episode backlog or he just wants a break from the comic talk and asks to listen to an episode of the radio drama.

I’ve listened to the radio drama so much that I find the voice talent perfectly natural in their respective roles (something that still bothers Tracy on those few and far between occasions where she does listen to the drama with us). In fact, there are characterizations and scenes in the radio drama that I think rival or surpass their counterparts in the movies. There are moments in Return of the Jedi, in particular, that I think really capture the fun spirit of the story without veering into the camp territory the movie sometimes tread.

For Christmas this past year, the Number One With a Bullet item on the kiddo’s list was an mp3 player. When we asked him what he needed one for, he told us so he could listen to the Star Wars radio drama any time he wants instead of only when we’re in my car. Hard to argue with sound reasoning like that.

The radio dramas are just about the only part of the extended Star Wars Universe I have dabbled in. I read a handful of the Marvel run back in the day (and have reread portions of it over the last few years), and I have read Timothy Zahn’s exceptional Thrawn Trilogy (loved the books, thought the Dark Horse comic adaptation was less than stellar). Among Dark Horse’s current offerings, I pick up the Clone Wars books for the kiddo, and have been inexplicably drawn to the Purge one-shots featuring Darth Vader, but otherwise have largely steered clear because of how daunting that Universe is.

A few months ago, I saw the Shadows of the Empire omnibus solicited in Previews. I had heard about it from John, and (although I recall him not recommending it) I was intrigued by the concept – not the story itself, because I didn’t know exactly what it was about other than that it takes place between Empire and Jedi, but the fact that it was a book, comic series, toy line, video game, trading card line, and even had a soundtrack. So I ordered the omnibus and then noticed the mass paperback on the shelf in our library, realizing Tracy had picked it up at some point in her garage saleing over the years.

On the advice of my buddy Michael, I decided to read the book before the omnibus. And I’m enjoying Steve Perry’s storytelling so far (although it’s not as good as Zahn’s trilogy), but have been put off by a certain passage in the book: The third chapter opens with Luke at Ben Kenobi’s old home on the edge of the Western Dune Sea, struggling to make his own lightsaber following instructions found in an old journal Ben had left behind for him. What bothers me about this scene is that the first episode of the Return of the Jedi radio drama, “Tatooine Haunts”, features a scene with Luke and R2-D2 at Ben’s home on the edge of the Western Dune Sea where he struggles to make his own lightsaber following instructions found in an old journal Ben left behind for him.

So I wonder what hard-core Star Wars fans think of this. Which scene is canon: The radio drama one taking place at the beginning of Jedi with R2 present (and obviously created/produced before Shadows), or the Shadows one taking place after Empire yet clearly well-before Jedi on the overall timeline? And why the hell didn’t one of the purveyors of Lucas’ empire notice this gaffe when Shadows was being vetted?

I consider everything about the radio dramas canon in the Star Wars Universe, so this has been nagging at me since I read chapter three a few nights ago. And I suspect I picked up on this discrepancy because I’m both a comic book fan and an editor, so I probably have a heightened sense of continuity. Or maybe I’m just over thinking things.

FCBD 2010

This year’s Free Comic Book Day was probably my favorite one yet! I was invited up to Willoughby to help Comic Heaven celebrate the industry holiday, and was treated to a fun afternoon meeting the store’s regulars, talking comics, and even selling a few copies of my book.

Comic Heaven isn’t exactly my “local” comic book shop. Willoughby’s a good 45 minutes from Akron. The kiddo’s godparents live about five minutes from the store, but all the times I’ve stopped in over the years has been when store owner Jim was out. We’ve talked on the phone numerous times since I published Deus ex Comica (he graciously has had promotional postcards for the book in his store at various times over the last year), but this was the first time we’d actually met face-to-face.

(If you have a copy of Deus ex Comica, Comic Heaven is the store I reference at the bottom of page 129 in the Daredevil anecdote.)

When I arrived around 11:45 for my noon to 3pm appearance, the store was hopping due to members of the 501st, Darth Vader, Sinestro, and the handful of Iron Man 2 advanced movie tickets the store gave away when they opened at 11. I got settled in with my book displays and all, and immediately I had someone wanting to hear about my book and asking to buy a copy. Both the store and my table was crazy busy for nearly two hours straight.

I had one of my best sales days yet for an in-store signing, but more than that, I just love talking about comics and hanging around with other comic fans and seeing kids excited about the medium. That connection, that common ground is what it’s all about. Although I was disappointed my own kiddo couldn’t hang out with me at the store (he and Tracy had afternoon plans), I was able to snag him a couple of FCBD books, and I got to see my godson when Diane and Ivan stopped in.

And the perfect end to my signing... The guy who bought that first copy of Deus ex Comica right when I got set up was there with his girlfriend. Later in the day, sometime around 2:30, his girlfriend came back with her young son to get some free comics. She made a point to stop back at my table and tell me that her boyfriend was so excited about my book that he made her read the back cover and start to read the book out loud to him while they were driving home earlier. That’s what makes this little non-money making venture of self-publishing worthwhile.

Steel City Road Trip Redux

I really had a good time at the Pittsburgh Comicon last September. I got to meet Stan Lee and give him a copy of my book, I found some good deals, I got to hang out with Dave Wachter, and Tracy and the kiddo were there. At the time, we were fresh off our first big con experience, having just attended Wizard World Chicago a few weeks prior. I’m lucky that not only do Tracy and the kiddo appreciate (and share to varying degrees) my geek tendencies, but they also enjoy attending cons.

Traveling to Chicago on business evokes weird nostalgia and the feeling of something being just a little “off” because Tracy isn’t there with me in the city we love. And there were similar moments this past weekend at the Pittsburgh Comicon, newly returned to its traditional spring date. Especially on the con floor, talking to Dave, seeing some other creators we’d talked to here six months ago, or finding a title in a $5 trade paperback sale I thought one of them would dig.

None of this, however, is to take away from just how great a time I had at the con, this time travelling with John (you can find his take on the day over on his blog). He had hooked us up with the Science Fiction Alliance of Pittsburgh who offered to put us on the “How to Get Published” panel and provide passes to the con and all, so I was game.

As is tradition for me at a con, we first made our way to Dave Wachter's table to say hello, but he had a crowd surrounding him, so we decided to breeze by and run the perimeter of the floor. Circling, Pat Olliffe’s table caught my eye, and I asked him to sign my copy of Peter Parker #1. We had an interesting conversation about how poorly Marvel did in publicizing this title when it was published online only and how he was glad it was seeing a second life in print.

Next up was con headliner Roy Thomas. John was already in line when I caught up to him. He was really excited to meet Roy, and I overheard bits and pieces of the Star Wars conversation they had that was obviously enjoyable to both of them. When it was my turn, I had my copy of Marvel Visionaries: Roy Thomas hardcover signed by him and told him how much those classic Avengers issues meant to me. I had the Marvel Illustrated Books The Origin of the Vision, which reprinted Thomas’ Avengers #57, #58, and #83 in black and white. As a kid, those were some of the first back issues I remember buying at mall comic shows after reading that book because I needed to see them in color.

The other heavy hitters for me were Joe Sinnott and Herb Trimpe. Trimpe’s table was next to Roy’s, but he didn’t show up until after 11, so he was just getting settled as we were finishing up with Roy. There is so much good stuff I associate with Trimpe (I mean, the guy penciled the very first appearance of Wolverine!), but primarily he means “G.I. Joe” to me because of his beautiful work on issue #1. But I didn’t bring anything for him to sign and never made it back over to his table as the day progressed.

Joe Sinnott, on the other hand, was great. I approached him early with my copy of Avengers #250 and its great Al Milgrom cover he inked. Joe said he remembered the cover and that it was one of his favorites. We talked a little bit about that era (which he seemed to recall fondly), and I thanked him for the great memories. I stopped back at his table a couple of times throughout the day and again before leaving to admire and watch him work. He still has it!

After getting those few signatures out of the way, it was time to see friends and meet up with some new folks. Dave had a lull at his table by the time we made our way back around to him. I couldn’t resist picking up his 2009 Monsters! sketchbook and asking for a Fin Fang Foom headshot inside the back cover (that I knew the kiddo would love). I recently commissioned him to reproduce the cover of Marvel Team-Up #122. Although it’s not yet finished, he brought it to the show to give me a sneak peek at it. Oh, man. It’s gorgeous. I’m positively giddy about getting the final piece at Summit City Comic Con next month!

While hanging out at Dave’s table and scaring away all his legitimate business, John picked up the con preview of Dave’s Eisner Award nominated web comic, The Guns of Shadow Valley, complete with a done-on-the-spot back cover head sketch, and I finally got to meet Amber and visit with her a bit.

John and I then decided to work our way through the other tables and meet some of the other creators at the show. I stopped at the N3RDCAST table because my eye went immediately to Dave’s Guns of Shadow Valley contribution to the sketch jam piece they were giving away, but ended up chatting with Kwip for a bit about Deus ex Comica, and he bought a copy from me almost immediately. Always a cool experience to sell a copy of your book to someone who you can just tell will appreciate it. Just down the aisle from Kwip was Shawn Pryor. Shawn, who I only knew through Twitter, is one of the nicest guys you could meet. I picked up a copy of his Mercury and the Murd collection, which included a free CD of music. I’m really looking forward to seeing Shawn again at Summit City and hopefully having more time to hang out with him.

There were a few local forum friends in attendance outside of me and Dave, including Alec Berry and Mario Muscar. John and I spent quite a bit of time with Alec talking about the craft of writing and journalism as a career. Great kid. Wish I’d been that focused on my writing and had my creative head on straight when I was his age! I also met Bryan Deemer and Adam Murdough from Comic Geek Speak by way of the commission Dave is doing for me.

Our “How to Get Published” panel was right in the middle of the day, up against the “Legends of the Marvel Heyday” panel and belly dancing lessons, but we had a nice turnout and it was fun talking about my experiences as a self-published author. The other author on the panel, Paul Anderson, is a teacher who has also been published. Paul gave a nice rundown of some positive habits and techniques on writing and revising so that when you do submit to a publisher it’s polished and your very best work. John and I talked about how to leverage self-publishing/DIY options, the process to get self-published, and things to consider when headed down that path. We didn’t have a lot of questions from the audience, which surprised me given the size of the crowd (20 to 30 people), but it was another good experience to have under my belt.

The afternoon highlight was some bargain hunting and getting to catch up with Bryan J.L. Glass. I’ve known Bryan for a few years now, and his enthusiasm for the industry never ceases to amaze. We must have spent a good 20 or 30 minutes talking with him and Judy at their table about everything from movie and TV options to the state of cons, and got his impressions of the previous weekend’s C2E2 experience and some coy hints about the soon-to-be-officially-announced work for Marvel on the horizon for him. (And I am really looking forward to watching him play in that great big sandbox!)

A few weeks back, I picked up 30 or so issues of early ROM from my local comic shop’s quarter bins, and so now I have some holes to fill. (Nice to have a reason to go through the single issue boxes versus just flipping randomly through them.) I was able to find a handful of issues I was missing, along with picking up a trade paperback for the kiddo and a half-priced hardcover I was looking for.

After goodbyes to friends, including the opportunity to have a longer-than-expected chat with Amber over at Joe Sinnott’s table, the day ended for John and me with a nice ride home and a conversation that could only be had by two old friends, wandering from 3-D technology to politics to everything in between. It was the perfect end to a great day of comics, friends and heroes.