Oh, yeah ... comics!

There's so much going on at these shows nowadays it's almost easy to forget that there are actually comics for sale.

Well, comics among the toys and cards and toys and T-shirts (lots of T-shirts this time around) and toys and DVDs and toys and ... well, you get the point.

I was surprised most of all by the number of half-off trade paperbacks and hardcovers that could be had. Picked up a few of those.

Otherwise, meh. eBay has taken a lot of the charm out of buying comics at cons. I can get just about anything I want 24/7 nowadays:

Full run of Marvel Two-in-One? Check.

Comics illustrated by Don Newton? Check.

Hot pink muu-muu? Ch ... oh, uh ...

Never mind.

"Zombie Bob Gets a Job"

In years past, I always made a point of picking up a handful of titles -- sometimes more -- from the self-published creators tables, but this year was different. That's not to say that the material wasn't any good, it's just that I saw fewer such tables and at least a couple artists that seemed promising had sketchbooks but nothing sequential. Being more of a story-oriented sort, I passed on the sketchbooks.

One fellow whose art looked promising didn't even have his comic with him; he was there taking pre-orders. That was a first for me.

There was, at least, Zombie Bob Gets a Job. Yep: zombies, the current hot property in comics today with Marvel Zombies and Wake the Dead and a half-dozen or so other titles, have finally made it to the mini-comic format.

My brother picked up both issues of Zombie Bob, written and illustrated by Jimmy Proctor (that's him on the left, with uber-talent Chris Yambar, below).


My two cents:

-- I liked it.*
-- It's a little reminiscent of Reid Fleming, World's Toughest Milkman.
-- Spelling isn't Jimmy's strong point.

* I can't elaborate much on this. I will add: even though the two issues are very trim, there are no backgrounds in any panels and the art won't woo fans from Steve Rude's or Guy Davis' tables, it is a fun read. And I think Proctor has it in him to be a good illustrator, but just needs to put more time into each page. One small-press artist I spoke with said each page took him about 15 hours to illustrate; a page of Zombie Bob probably took about 30 minutes. That's not me being mean; I really don't think Proctor put too much into these initial efforts, but I'd encourage him to put more into any follow-up. The idea is worth the investment.

Karen Allen

The biggest draw for me among the "media guest" list -- and I almost never care about these things -- was Karen Allen, of Raiders of the Lost Ark and Starman fame.

I've been a big fan of hers since, well, Raiders, and didn't figure on getting another chance to see her up close. So I gladly paid the $20 admission fee primarily to see her.

A quick aside: the biggest media guests of the day seemed to be Adam West and Brent Spiner.

Here's a lousy picture of Spiner (sorry) ...


... and no picture of West, because con-goers were prohibited from taking his picture. Apparently West, now in his mid-90s, suffers from a degenerative brain disorder that sends him into convulsions if someone takes his picture without paying him $20.

Spiner seemed as friendly and talkative as any media guest I've seen.

But back to Allen:

My brother and I had the opportunity to speak with her two separate times during the day in addition to seeing her give an hour-long Q&A presentation. She was great: friendly, talkative, pleasant to be around.


From the Q&A:

-- She hears rumors about being involved with Indy 4, but (wisely) won't believe anything until it's greenlit.
-- Tom Selleck, who signed a contract to play Indiana Jones and could not because of his Magnum, PI contract with CBS, is still bitter about the experience. Can't blame him.
-- She's in the clothing business now. Check out her website.

She's also teaching acting, and you can tell the experience makes her very comfortable speaking in front of a crowd: her presentation ran a few minutes longer than it was supposed to and could've gone on for another hour if the organizers hadn't ended it.

If you have the chance to meet her, go for it.

But stay away from Adam West. We don't want to upset his addled mind.

Magic: The Gathering

We walked by a large room with a sign out front that read:

"Magic The Gathering US Regionals 2006" or something like that.

My brother asked, "People still play that game?"

Yes they do, and I have the picture to prove it.

How not to host a costume contest

Here's the view of the costume contest when we first came across it.


Great, huh?

That's right: no stage. Why the heck would you host a costume contest and then prevent the vast majority of the audience from actually seeing the costumes? Would a stage have been so difficult to set up?

It left audience members no alternative but to hold their cameras above the crowd and take pictures. You can see how well that worked.


Note to con organizers: for the October show, GET A STAGE!

Costumes

Have you ever attended a con dressed up as your favorite character, from Star Wars, maybe, or Star Trek or the DC universe?

If you have, I have laughed at you. Openly and obviously laughed. There was mocking and derision there, too, but I don't want to rub it in.

Anyway, I have something to say to you now:

I take it all back. All of it. All the "Geez, check that loser out" and the "Move out of your Mom's basement, yet?" and the "Have you no shame?" comments.*

Because after seeing the care and attention to detail that many of the con's costumed guests put into their attire, and seeing how the non-costumed folks enjoyed having these dressed-up attendees around, I now view them as an important -- integral, even -- part of the experience.

Who do you think would win? The Batman family?


Or Los Bros Vader?


Gotta love those Batman guys. The first picture I took was just the guys, but they quickly rushed Batgirl up front. "Gotta get Batgirl!" they said. Check out the "Ready for action" Robin poses.

Speaking of Batman, et al, here's a couple more related costumers.

This was one of the best we saw:


And the Catwoman costume below took a fair amount of body confidence to pull off.


Yes, guys, she looked good from every angle.

The Star Wars world was well-represented. Not only was there the aforementioned gaggle of Vaders, but enough Stormtroopers for a full-fledged battle scene (here are just two) ...


... and a really good Gamorrean guard ...


... and Boba Fett.


There was the requisite Lara Croft ...


... and Slave Leia ...


... and Starfire.


To close, here are the finalists:


So, I've gone from loathing costumers to really appreciating what they bring to the experience. They're like streetside entertainers that wander the show floor, and they're all willing to pose for a photo or two.

If I was in charge of the con, here's how far I'd go: show up in an elaborate costume, get in for free. But it's gotta be a good costume: wearing shades and a long black coat and calling yourself Neo won't cut it.

* Okay, I never actually said this directly to anyone in a costume, but the intent was there, nonetheless.

Comic Creator: Paul Gulacy

Here's a shameful admission: I forgot, until very nearly the end of the day, that Paul Gulacy was going to be at the show. A long-time favorite of mine, I have no excuse for why this happened.

And, as was the case with Steve Rude, by the time I got to him, his sketch schedule was booked through much of the next day.

Yeah, great.

But Gulacy was appropriately regretful that he couldn't accomodate me and allowed me to look over his shoulder for a few minutes while he did a sketch for someone else. I never tire of that, BTW; watching an illustrator at work is like listening to a musician play his/her instrument.

If you don't yet have his book, go buy it now.

Comic Creator: Jason Howard

Here's an example of how many talented people there are in the comics field: Jason Howard is a really good artist and you've probably never heard of him.

He's done some work for Image title The Pact but is otherwise off-the-charts unknown.

He did a hula girl sketch for my brother. Very good work.

Here's a sample of another Howard pic:

Comic Creator: Vince Locke

He illustrated A History of Violence, the graphic novel on which the recent Oscar-nominated movie was based.

Not the best photo, but is that a hickey on his neck?

Maybe from Slave Leia?

Comic Creator: Guy Davis

This is what I hate about Guy Davis: he has one of those websites that plays music when you go to it. I hate that. I really, really hate that.

As for the man himself, I spoke with him for a few moments and -- yes, this is a recurring theme -- he seemed nice and gracious. Really like his stuff on BPRD.

By the way, I read recently that "Mignola" -- as in "Mike Mignola" -- is pronounced "Min-YO-la." Just FYI.

Comic Creator: Steve Rude

One of the day's disappointments was not catching Nexus creator Steve Rude before his sketch request list was filled. This guy is consistently one of the best illustrators going and drew a good amount of foot traffic to his table.

I don't think I said one word to him -- he was busy signing stuff and sketching -- but his wife (I think it was his wife) was very nice.

If you see Steve at a future show, get his "Commissions" collection. Terrific stuff.

Comic Creator: Jim Steranko

Not hard to pick this guy out of a crowd, though at one point he walked right past me and I didn't even notice.

"Hey, there goes Steranko," my brother said.

"Where?" I asked, looking around.

Steranko and George Perez tied for longest lines of the day, from what I could tell. That surprised me a little, as I expected Steranko -- who rarely does these shows -- to be a little more of a draw, kind of like when Will Eisner came to town (that line required some patience).

I don't know what I expected Steranko to be like, but he seemed very nice, very talkative. And he seems to take his clothing cues from Tom Wolfe, so he's got that goin' for him.

The big bust(s)

The morning of the show, I happened by Mark Evanier's site, NewsFromMe.com (it's a regular read for me and should be for you, too), and read about some arrests that'd been made the Friday of the show. Turns out some alleged DVD pirates had been busted; I believe the story made one of the television news programs, but I can't find anything online regarding it (other than the Evanier mention, that is).

My brother and I expected to come across empty table after empty table in certain aisles, where the busted DVD dealers would be represented by a bare conference table between "Comic Emporium Silver Age Classics" and "Dave's Comics." But there were no such open spaces.

There were, however, some dealers still selling DVDs, and a couple had product out that I'd be surprised if it was completely legit. Just my opinion, mind you, and I didn't want to ask any pointed questions for fear of causing undue concern. ("Cops! Run!" I can see it now.) Still, when I see a poorly-photocopied DVD sleeve insert, I wonder. Can't help it.

But here's the deal: while I'm sincerely glad that any illegal activity is kept far from an event that attracts as many families and law-abiding citizens as this particular one does, I'm also kind of bummed that the busts occurred before I could ask about potential copies of Watching Ellie for sale (I don't care what you think; I liked it).

Rock Financial Showplace

A quick word about the Rock Financial Showplace: it was the best place I've ever seen a comics show. That's not saying much, as the previous events were held in old, cold "expo centers" that were as friendly and inviting as airplane hangars. But it is saying that if you're tired of attending cons in places better suited to gun and knife shows, you're in luck.

One drawback: water-free urinals. These things, designed to reduce water consumption with the use of space-age technology, are simply gross. I thought about taking a picture of one of them to show you just how gross, but, well, taking a picture of a urinal would just be weird.

Motor City Comic Con, May 2006

The spring version of the Motor City Comic Con just wrapped up (that's the cover image from the program, above). It was the first con I'd been to in a number of years; I'd stopped attending for years, having grown tired of wandering from one overpriced comic dealer table to the next and seeing "media guests" -- that's the name for the D-listers, porn stars and television has-beens that show up each year -- consistently outshine the comic guests.

(True story: one year, the Hernandez brothers, of Love & Rockets and Locas fame, appeared at a show. There was no line for them. None. These guys are incredibly talented artists and didn't attract a quarter the crowd of Jeri Ryan. Pathetic.)

But this year's show was at a new venue, featured some folks I thought I'd be interested in seeing and/or having a sketch done by and starred Karen Allen as one of the aforementioned media guests. Allen qualifies as neither a D-lister, porn star nor television has-been. She was in Raiders of the Lost Ark. 'Nuff said.

My brother and I braved the traffic construction (nearly every single road out to the venue was being worked on, and our travel time nearly doubled) and headed out to the Rock Financial Showplace ...

... and ended up having a pretty good time. Read on.