I cannot and should not undersell how important comic books have been to my development as a person and as a writer, whatever good and bad that may entail. As a kid, I liked comics more than cartoons and picture books, and as I grew up and realized that the super-heroes I liked shared a world with each other, and that stories built on themselves over time, I was hooked. I certainly enjoyed novels and movies and whatnot, but the impetus to hear and tell stories really blossomed for me through comic books.
I could go on about how complex the comic book marketplace is right now, from Warner Bros. and Disney using DC and Marvel, respectively, as R&D labs for film and television (where the real money is), to creators publishing their work independently more and more often, some for the creative control it allows them, and others hoping to score a development deal. It would be easy to be somewhat cynical about some of these trends, but the fact is there is greater diversity of story types, character types, and gender and ethnicity among creators than at any time in history; Even a good portion of the super-hero output is infinitely more sophisticated than the stuff I read as a kid.
I have been to Comic-Con International in San Diego a few times, but that circus has become grating to attend as a fan and seems less interested than previously in comics and their creators unless perhaps those comics have recently been turned into a film or television show. And with so many smaller "comic con" shows cropping up around the country, filling out their guest rosters with a dude who was once a zombie on The Walking Dead rather than an actual comic book creator, finding a show primarily dedicated to comic books and the people who make them is getting harder to do. I have heard fantastic things about the Baltimore Comic-Con, as well as Emerald City Comicon in Seattle, but for my money, the best show in the country, the one most enjoyable to attend as someone who enjoys comic books, is Heroes Con in Charlotte, North Carolina, brought to life every summer by comic retailer Heroes Aren't Hard to Find.
One month ago, Heroes Con concluded what I believe was its 32nd annual show during the weekend of June 20-22, and although I was not able to stay for the entire thing, I'm going to estimate that it was my tenth time in attendance. I went determined to spend my alloted funds carefully (which is easier to do when you're not seeking out sketches and original art), see what fun stuff might be on display, and chat with some friends I may only see once a year or so.
I began by scouting out the former Gaijin Studios crew, staring with Laura Martin, to see what books she's coloring these days and marvel at the depth and nuance of her work. Then, proceeding around the table, I caught up with inker extraordinaire Karl Story and ninja penciler Georges Jeanty, happily checking out their art from the final issue of Serenity: Leaves on the Wind. I glanced at Brian Stelfreeze making some watercolors dance, and got zero intel from Cully Hamner about his super-secret upcoming projects. I also chatted with Tony Shasteen, a former Gaijin member who I didn't know every well because his stint in the studio coincided with some time I was largely stepping away from comic books. My first purchase of the con was Tony's book "Stealing the Scene Vol. 1," a collection of his illustrations of iconic or memorable frames from a wide variety of movies. I had not intended to spend any cash on Friday, but after circulating around, the book stayed in my head. Not fooling myself, I picked up a copy just before the show floor closed down. (You can see plenty of these illustrations & order a copy yourself at Tony's website.)
With the show ending, I went to the Drink & Draw event, essentially a sketch party for charity, and met up with a guy I only knew from Twitter, the irascible Bobby Simpson. He's a helluva guy, an artist with a lot of potential, and damn funny, to boot. Afterward, I cut out to drive to my hotel and to see if a hoped-for trip to the Banshee set might be in the offing. Unfortunately, Banshee was in the midst of a grueling series of all-night shoots, and I didn't want to bother an unfortunate production assistant who was likely tired and irritable with one more person to look after, so I'll hope the visit works out for a date in the future.
I slept in and checked out of my hotel, then made my way back to the show in time to catch a conversation with one of the best writers in comics for the past 20+ years, Mark Waid. Even if you don't like his stories (and I do), he speaks so well about comics and storytelling that I take any opportunity I can to hear him. Now, I am not a fan of reading comics on my computer, so digital comics are not my thing (this is only one confession I'm going to admit that will make me seem a premature fuddy-duddy), but Mark's website Thrillbent clearly has some great material from a variety of writers and artists. I actually pitched some Lovecraft-esque anthology stories to Mark a few years ago when he was an editor at Boom! Studios, and though it didn't work out I still have a couple of stories I like in my hip pocket I believe will express themselves in one form or another some day. The moral: pitch your ideas; a no can one day be a yes.
Heroes Con has expanded its space since last I attended, and moving through the convention center was easier than I remembered it being in years past. Among the many things that Heroes Con does right (and this is where I shall again seem prematurely fuddy-duddyish) is giving a big section of the room to the growing contingent of cosplayers. Cosplay is such an influence on conventions that some shows (I'm looking at you, DragonCon) largely seem to exist for cosplayers to show out. Cosplay has its place, and I would never attempt to stop people from enjoying the things they enjoy in the way they want to enjoy them, but, again, the thing that interests me are the actual books wherein many of these cosplay characters originated in the first place; I just wouldn't want that to get overshadowed. Anyway, hats off to Heroes Con for providing a cosplay space. No show can ever completely do away with people in costume walking the aisles at peak hours, stopping to pose for pictures and impeding the flow of traffic, but the fact that an attempt is being made to manage a potential problem is fantastic.
I usually spend most of my time at shows circulating through Artist Alley, so actually being able to move about is important to me. It's great to scope out art, chat with friends both old and new, and catch teases for work that hasn't been released yet. I often don't spend time actually going through the dealer's space, but this year I made a concerted effort to stop by every booth to see what books were in demand and whether or not it might be time to sell a portion of my own collection (I will probably not sell it for a good long while, but it's fun to consider). Here's the stuff I picked up:
Southern Bastards #1 (Heroes Con variant cover): No new book of the last couple of months has me more excited than Southern Bastards. Writer Jason Aaron and artist Jason Latour simmer a bunch of chicken fried Deep South influences (most notably Walking Tall, the original, NOT the one starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) into a Brunswick Stew of whoop-ass and dark inevitability. I freakin' love this book.
Fearless Dawn: I love it when one person takes an inventory of all the stuff they like, then writes and draws the sum total of their influences into a comic book. It may be good, it may be bad, but at least it's distinctive and unique and idiosyncratic. Steve Mannion clearly loves attractive women, crazy monsters, rockabilly culture, Nazis as bad guys, and all sorts of other psychotronic goodness. I was terribly excited to meet Steve, and was sad I had not budgeted money for commissions. These books are a hell of a lot of fun, though, so I have that.
Big Trouble in Little China #1 (Frank Cho variant): If you didn't know, Boom! Studios is publishing a sequel to Big Trouble in Little China in comic book form. A FREAKIN' SEQUEL TO BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA. Co-written by John freakin' Carpenter. Of course I'm going to buy it. And even though I already own a copy, I found a great deal on this beautiful variant cover. Sold.
Harley Quinn #2 (Second Print cover): As someone who doesn't tend to care about variant covers, I sure bought a lot of variants at Heroes Con. I really just bought this because I love cover artist Amanda Conner so damn much. Amanda is warm, funny, and kind, and her mastery of facial expression and body language is second to none. The Harley Quinn book, co-written by Amanda and her husband Jimmy Palmiotti, is one of the most purely enjoyable things coming from a major comic publisher right now.
Rocket Raccoon #1: I could have bought multiple copies of this book for a buck or so over the years, but now that the insane little rodent is going to be a movie star, I don't want to get caught flat-footed. This is strictly an investment, but the early artwork by Hellboy creator Mike Mignola is notable.
Seduction of the Innocent 3-D: Like most anyone who enjoys comic art, I love the work of the late, great Dave Stevens. You just don't see many copies of this particular title, so I happily scooped it up.
Phil Noto Mad Men print: I remember attending Heroes Con several years ago, and almost every artist I stopped to chat with was whispering about this new guy, Phil Noto. Phil got a lot of work after that, and is now killing it every month on Marvel's new Black Widow comic. This print is clearly a great interpretation of the show's characters, but what sold me on it was the SCDP logo in the bottom left corner. Just a cool, thoughtful touch that put this over the edge for me.
I had to catch up with a few more people before I left. Craig Rousseau is one of the nicest guys around, a fellow Red Sox fan, and a man who shares more than a few of my TV viewing habits. It hurt to discuss this season for the Sawx, so we mainly chatted about television and his recent work in Batman '66 #9, which is, as always, beautiful. Then I checked in on Tom Fowler and saw some of the amazing commissions he was turning out. When I was actively trying to break into comics as a writer a few years ago, I always made a point of finding Tom and chatting him up. I love when an artist brings a personality and a unique sense of storytelling to their work, and few do that better than Tom.
I was also ecstatic to meet Meghan Hetrick, an artist on the rise whose work I am just beginning to enjoy. She was readying a gorgeous Elektra painting for the Heroes Con art auction on the centrally-located stage where people could sit and rest and watch amazing artists doing their thing for hours, if they wished. I officially met her a little later as she walked the aisles with one of her collaborators, Marguerite Bennett (They worked together on DC's Joker's Daughter one-shot), a promising writer whose workload is about to increase exponentially, with announced projects from DC, Marvel, and some of the big independent publishers, too. They were both funny and thoughtful and I hope to see more collaborations from them in the future.
With that, not quite two full days of Heroes Con were over and done with, so I pointed my car towards home. I before mentioned the plethora of smaller shows popping up around the country, some of which are fantastic, and some of them less so. With the huge San Diego show not going anywhere, and other huge cons growing in New York and elsewhere, we are approaching Peak Comic Convention. As such, it is worthwhile recognizing a show that not only does it right, but has been doing it right for a long time.
Thanks Heroes Con. I will be back.
-Follow me on Twitter @TheOneWhoKnox
