Baltimore Comic-Con: looking in the rearview mirror

                                                                         

Part 1

The Baltimore Comic-con took place a little over a week ago.  And Dan and Matt and I set up in Artists Alley with our wares – copies of Warrior27, Mainelining, and Reading Watchmen, among a few other things.  So, how did it go?

First – the older I get, the more that fact becomes obvious during these 12-hour drives Dan and I endure to attend these conventions.  (when you live in Maine, going anywhere means you have to drive for a while, but there’s nowhere you can’t get to within five hours, so twelve can come off as a bit ridiculous).  But we love these shows, so it isn’t that big a sacrifice.  I just wish we didn’t have to do the overnight drive immediately after the show ends (and, to be fair, the traffic isn’t as bad when you’re traveling at night, so we got home at 4:30, eleven and a half hours after departing, rather than the standard twelve from Maryland to the heart of Maine).

Second – sales were soft, to say the least.  I saw a lot of dead areas in Artists Alley when I got a chance to trawl down the aisles.  One of those happened to be directly in front of our table.  We sold a few things, made back a little less than half our table fee, but we didn’t do nearly as well as we have, in the past, at the Small Press Expo.  I talked to a number of other creators who had similar things to say.  A couple of really talented artists I know, who have a larger profile than myself and Dan and Matt, were not happy with their sales.  They weren’t going to be able to cover costs, and one of these guys had a book published through a small press publisher earlier this year.  Odd. 

But here’s the thing.  As “indy-friendly” as Baltimore is said to be – and I can’t outright deny that, as I know a couple of other guys in Artists Alley who had good shows – it really is a show for fans of Big-2 comics and their creators.  With retailers at the front of the hall offering longboxes full of Marvel and DC comics, along with books from other, smaller publishers, and writers and artists such as Mark Waid, Chris Samnee, Amanda Conner, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, Jim Starlin, Frank Cho, Mike Mignola, Art & Franco, Ramona Fradon, Justin Jordan, Rob Venditti, Sean Murphy, et al. available to meet with their fans, this show is heavily geared toward the mainstream comic fan.  And with as much of the market share as is taken up by those two publishers, it makes sense.  That means it’s even harder for the “little guy” to succeed at this show, unless they’re pushing zombies, which does not seem to be a fad that has yet to run out of steam.

The nice thing about doing these shows with Dan, and Matt this year, is the fact that none of us is tied to the table.  We can give each other a breather and allow for opportunities to stretch our legs, maybe do some shopping, peruse the tables of other Artists Alley exhibitors, and do the fan service thing.   Dan and Matt did some of the former, with Dan managing to fill in some more of the dwindling holes in his Batman collection and Matt picking up some cool prints from an artist just down the line from us, while I focused on the latter.  And, to be honest, I was surprised at how easy it was to get to meet some of these creators.  Other than one major exception, which I’ll get to in the next installment, the longest line I got in was for Mark Waid, and that one went very quickly. 

Other creators with whom I spoke included J.M. DeMatteis, Keith Giffen, and Kevin Maguire (I got all three to sign my original Justice League collection), Mark Buckingham, who signed two issues from his Miracleman run with Neil Gaiman, Mike Mignola (who only had three people in line when I got there o_O seriously?), Justin Jordan, Tradd Moore, and Rob Venditti (who’s been a great guy to talk to at conventions through the years and super-supportive of my writing), Mark Nelson (who drew an Alien in my collection of the original Dark Horse series), Greg Larocque, and Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, who drew a beautiful Wonder Woman sketch in the front of the sketchbook I purchased from him.  I managed to get some of my favorite books signed and was able to thank the creators for what they’ve done, while also getting the opportunity to speak with some newer creators about writing and comics and various other topics.  All the writers and artists, with a glaring exception I will keep to myself, were very approachable and came across as genuinely pleased to meet their fans.  So, from the point of view of a fan, this show was definitely a success. 

But how would I judge it from the point of view of a writer working to “break in,” as it were?  That’s for next time.

-chris

(You can read more from Chris at Warrior 27.)

"It's Out There In The Ether..." - The Death of Superman Lives Teaser Trailer

Geeks love a good What If story.  What If Conan The Barbarian death wished the streets of Modern Day New York City?  What If Rick James became The Hulk instead of Bruce Banner?  What If Tim Burton had cast Nicolas Cage as Superman?  As most of you should know, that last one came very close to a reality in the late 1990s.  Kevin Smith was one of the many screenwriters on the project, and for the longest time his College Crowd Chit Chat was the only glimpse we had into the madness of Superman Lives.  Until now.  Thanks to the all mighty power of Kickstarter, director Jon Schnepp has finally assembled The Death of "Superman Lives."  The below teaser trailer promises an in-depth look at what that fabled film could have been, as well as philosophical debates with some of the Man of Steel's greatest living comic book contributors.  Grant Morrison, Mark Waid, Zachary Levi - uh...not sure why Chuck's involved, but cool!  Despite some newsreel footage of Cage, Schnepp has yet to land an interview with the mega actor, but if he manages to do so, than The Death of "Superman Lives" will skyrocket to the top of my most anticipated films.

--Brad

Dork Art: Indestructible Abe Lincoln

I finally got around to looking at the latest batch of Marvel solicitations, and I when I came across this Mike Del Mundo variant cover for Indestructible Hulk #15 I spurt milk from my nose (metaphorically). This is the type of comic book bonkers so often on display in the Batman Brave & The Bold cartoon, and it got me craving for some Marvel toons on that level of silly fun.  Mark Waid's Indestructible Hulk has been fairly hit or miss since its first issue, but the last one (#12) featuring Cowboys & Dinosaurs was a heap of fun.  Could a John Wilkes Booth confrontation be in the jolly green giant's future?  Lotta time travel going on in the Marvel Universe these days.

--Brad

Comic Review: The Rocketeer Cargo of Doom

    It will come as no surprise to readers that I am a huge fan of the pulps, of movie serials, and classic adventure stories.  I think old timey stuff is the bee’s knees, the berries, swell even.  So when I saw The Rocketeer many years ago, I thought it was the business.  And when I found out it was based on a comic, which was itself inspired by all those old serials and pulps I loved, I knew I had to read it.  Sadly, it was out of print and next to danged impossible to find.  Eventually seeing a reprint, I was able to enjoy Dave Stevens’ kick-butt original stories for the first time only a few years ago.  I was in hog heaven.  But that was it.  He wrote only enough to be collected in one standard sized hardcover graphic novel.  And he died.  That was it.  But then a bunch of comic people who loved it too came together and made some more stories, The Rocketeer Adventures, which were nice brief reads.  And I guess it was popular enough that Cargo of Doom came about; a four issue story that has enough time to feel like it’s got more meat.

    Mark Waid is a comic mainstay, and his name isn’t always attached to impressive projects.  But he was one of the early guys I read when I was getting into comics with the Crossgen lines.  And I have to give him credit for capturing the right tone for this book.  It’s got enough ‘aw gee, shucks’ innocence and dashing adventure, and lacks cynicism that might make it descend into parody.  It’s pretty pitch perfect in its continuation of Stevens’ work, drawing on the things he clearly loved.  This story is rooted in one of my favorites, too.  Yes, there’s a ship heading to L.A. recently out of a certain mystery shrouded South Pacific island.  It’s not the first ship from that island to bring dangerous cargo Stateside, and the last time things didn’t go too well, either.  The art also manages to strike a balance of quality, retro, fun, and exciting.  Chris Samnee uses more traditional panel design to good effect.  Something about the look of the whole reminded me of Tin-Tin comics.

    Mark Waid sets up some larger story threads here that I hope mean more tales are on the way.  Who is the mysterious puppet-master behind the importation of dangerous beasts?  Will Cliff start to notice Sally as she becomes a woman?  How will Betty deal with potential competition; will she realize that bitchy jealousy isn’t the answer?  And where will conflicted loyalties eventually lead people?  Here’s hoping we find out.  In fact, just a week before sitting down to this collected volume, I heard tell that Waid is slated to do another Rocketeer story.  Time will tell.

The Rocketeer: Cargo of Doom
Author: Mark Waid
Artist: Chris Samnee
Publisher: IDW
ISBN: 978-1613775653

-Matt