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Comic Con International 2010: Gerry Conway’s Hardy Boys
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Conventions, Editorials, Independent,
It’s fun wandering through the San Diego Comic Con and shuffling past the cosplayers, the Twi-hards and the “battle-fatigued” fans and then finding a booth with something cool in it, even if it’s only the announcement that something cool is forthcoming.
A friend of mine mentioned that he had a meeting with Jim Salicrup, the head guy at Papercutz and that reminded me that I hadn’t been to their booth yet to see what’s up. Naturally, I didn’t bother to look them up in the program book – I went wandering like a tourist trying to find the food court at Mall of America. And like magic, the Papercutz booth did appeareth before me.
After a brief chat with Salicrup himself – we almost know each other – and the woman who dresses up as Papa Smurf, I grabbed some promo information, bought a copy of The Smurfs comic book (for $1 it was one of the bargains of the con), and lurched back into traffic.
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Comic Con International 2010: Finding Frank And His Friend
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Conventions, Editorials, Independent,
Aside from all the other reasons I have to attend the San Diego Comic Con – connecting with old friends, making new ones, eating in the Gaslamp District – one of my favorites is: finding new stuff.
On Sunday, I was having a fairly leisurely stroll through the comic aisles (where one vendor was having a clearance sale of 10 comics for a buck and I stopped to wave money around) when I ended up back at the small press area. I went from booth-to-booth just to see if I’d missed anything and that’s when I saw it.
Finding Frank And His Friend.
It’s a gorgeous hardcover book published by Curio & Company, and as beautiful as Dean Mullaney’s Library of American Comics titles.
Click to continue reading Comic Con International 2010: Finding Frank And His Friend
Comic Con International 2010: The Webcomics Section
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Reviews, Independent,
Bravo to a bunch of webcomics guys for pooling their resources and creating a newspaper supplement reminiscent of the Sunday funnies to promote strips that are on the internet. The Webcomics Section debuted at the San Diego con in 2009 and its return in 2010 was a welcome sight. I grabbed one the second I saw it and picked up a couple more to pass out to friends.
Contributing creators included Kazu Kibuishi (Copper), Bill Barnes and Paul Southworth (Not Invented Here), Bobby Crosby and Sarah Ellerton (Dreamless), Jonathan Rosenberg (Scenes From A Multiverse), Jorge Cham (Piled Higher And Deeper), Barnes and Gene Ambaum (Unshelved), Zach Weiner (Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal), Katie Shanahan (Shrub Monkeys), Benny Powell and Twinkle Planet Studios (Wayward Sons), Spike (Templar, Arizona), Howard Tayler (Schlock Mercenary), Christopher Baldwin (Spacetrawler), Ryan North (Dinosaur Comics), David Malki (Wondermark) and David Willis (Shortpacked!).
Click to continue reading Comic Con International 2010: The Webcomics Section
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Comic Con International 2010: Rob Hanes Adventures
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Conventions, Reviews, Independent,
I know I’m not supposed to find comics at San Diego – it’s all movies and TV and video games and Twilight fans and cosplayers and it’s all pre-packaged for easy enjoyment. And it’s pushed comics out of the hall. Except that it really hasn’t, and I can find comic books easier than I can get a seat to see Harrison Ford.
Some of you might remember that one of the comics I was looking forward to getting this year was Randy Reynaldo’s first color issue of Rob Hanes. And that’s exactly what I did on my first day. With Dave Olbrich on hand to help me we wound our way back to the relatively large small press area where I found Randy’s booth. A few bucks later, a few minutes chatting with Randy (whom I’ve known for years) and a copy was all mine.
Randy’s one of the earliest of the self-publishers that popped up in the 1990s and his WCG Comics is still at it, publishing Rob Hanes Adventures, a comic that Randy writes and draws. It’s a thing of beauty: a full on modern day adventure comic.
Rob Hanes Adventures Special Edition #1 is the new thing Randy created for the conventions: the first ever full-color Rob Hanes comic. It’s technically a reprint from Adventure Strip Digest #2 – “The EC Express” - that’s been colored and re-lettered by Barry Gregory.
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Comic Con International 2010: I Was There
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Conventions, Editorials, Image Comics, Independent,
So it’s over and it’s been over for a while and everyone and his overweight uncle with the tattered, too-small X-Men t-shirt has written about it to death.
And now it’s my turn.
Loved it. Had a great time. Saw a lot of old friends. Made a few new ones. Found a place that makes great nachos.
Yes, the emphasis on back issues has diminished and there’s a decreased emphasis on the newer stuff and Bud Plant’s booth is smaller, but none of that diminished my overall positive experience.
I picked up a couple of hard numbers while shopping. I finally snagged a softcover copy of the first The Walking Dead collection at the Image booth and it turned out to be the last one in stock for the con. I asked the guy at the booth about it and he said that they’d sold over 300 hardcovers of the first collection and sold out of all 700 copies of the softcover version since Preview Night. This was by Friday afternoon, with 2 1/2 more days to go. That’s what happens when good comic meets impending TV show.
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Comic Con International: Rob Hanes & Randy Reynaldo
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Conventions, Editorials, Independent,
So I’m surfing through the postings online about the San Diego con as I’m packing to get ready and I discover some great news courtesy of Heidi at Comics Beat.
Creator/writer/artist Randy Reynaldo is releasing the first full color Rob Hanes comic called Rob Hanes Adventures Special Edition #1 in time for purchase at the con. While he’s there, he’ll also be promoting the upcoming September collection, “The first volume of a projected series of trade paperbacks collecting the entire Rob Hanes Adventures series,” according to his press release.
This is great news for fans of the strip (one of them is me, in case you haven’t guessed) – and if you can’t make it to the con to pick up the color special, you can order it from Randy’s website, along with a ton of other cool stuff. If you’ve never seen a Rob Hanes adventure, you’re in for a treat. Randy is an adventure cartoonist in the very best sense, working in a style that recalls Terry And The Pirates and, especially, Roy Crane’s work on Captain Easy (plus a nod or three to Jonny Quest).
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Comic Con International 2010: I’ll Be There
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Conventions, Editorials, Independent, Marvel Comics,
So once again, I’m going to the San Diego con. I mean, Comic Con International in San Diego.
Oh, I know what you’re thinking – the noise, the crowds, and oh all that non-comic book stuff. The cosplayers, the Twi-hards, the (gasp) movie and TV people. Well, I don’t care – I welcome them all. And if the hardcore funnybook fans need to bitch and moan that the con “isn’t about comics anymore,” well that just sounds like the nerd equivalent of “get off my lawn.”
Here’s a link to the con website that has all the programming events for each day. I took that list and sorted it by just comics-related programming and here’s the result. Honestly, there are so many that you’ll be the star of your own private Walking Dead mini-series before Friday’s over.
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Weekend Reading: Bob Bolling, Doc Savage and Wonder Woman
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Reviews, Image Comics, Independent,
There’s less than 2 weeks to go before fan-filled flights start landing in San Diego. There may not be enough time to pack, but there’s plenty of time to surf the internet.
Bob Bolling: I love Bolling almost as much as Jaime Weinman at Something Old, Nothing New. Weinman posts a Wanda Wunderbuss tale from a 1984 issue of Pep. Added bonus, a link to Jack Kirby’s Archie work.
Rafael De Soto: You know who drew great manly-man covers for magazines like Male, Action for Men, Sportsmen, True Action, Men’s Life, and For Men Only? This guy, and Magic Monkey Boy has a nice display.
Webcomics: Do you know who has some interesting news about Jhonen Vasquez (Invader Zim)? Fleen, that’s who!
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Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster: Funnyman
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, DC Comics, Independent,
After many years of struggle, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster hit the comic book jackpot with their creation Superman, only to see it slip away from their control and for DC Comics to keep not just the rights but almost all the money as well. One of the many dark chapters in the building of the comics industry – businesses profiting by taking away the rights of creators.
Frustrated by their attempts to negotiate with DC, and out of work when DC dumped them for complaining (and filing suit), they did what creators do: created another property where they were determined to get a better deal for themselves.
The project was Funnyman, a red-headed TV comedian who fought crime. Unfortunately, the self-titled comic book, for Vince Sullivan’s Magazine Enterprises, lasted just 6 issues in 1948 and a companion newspaper strip defined the term short-lived.
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You know what you’ve always wanted to see? Your favorite comic book creator doing his one-man comedy show. How awesome would it be to hear Boom’s Ross Richie do 15 minutes on the future of the Direct Market at The Comedy Store? Or Joe Quesada as the warm-up guy for the Eisner Awards? Or perhaps Diane Nelson’s musings on the differences between New York and Los Angeles?
Well, that doesn’t happen in America. We leave our comedy to the non-comic book people like Carrot Top or Dane Cook. The British, however, don’t have that tradition. Coming up on July 23 and 24, those of you in England will have a chance to hear British comics creator Simon Donald’s stories and one-liners.
Who’s Simon Donald? He’s the founder of the British comedy magazine, Viz. It’s a two-part show, focusing on his wacky family growing up and the birth “of the national treasure that is Viz.”
Click to continue reading British Comics: Get Your Viz On
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