Emerald City Comic Con 2013: What I Got

Real talk: Emerald City Comic Con was an amazingly fun show. I feel like every time I go to a show I really love, I end up saying "This was the best show I've been to in ages," but this really was the best show I've been to in ages. I already went on a Twitter rampage talking about all the amazing people I got to catch up with, but I'd also be remiss if I didn't run down all the amazing comics I picked up.

Unlike so many media-focused cons that exist these days on the scene, there were no annoying people hocking mashmallow guns or Ugly Dollz or wrestler's autographs on the floor at ECCC. There were just rows and rows and rows of comic publishers, retailers and artists plying their wares. Since I'm contractually obligated by Uncle Money Bags to spend most of my time in panel rooms typing quotes, I didn't get to spend nearly as much time on the floor buying from people (artist's in particular) as I would have liked, but I did get some primo stuff from retailers that I'm excited to show off.

 The Steranko History of Comics, Vol. 1

With absolutely no embellishment, I can say that I've been looking to buy this book for a decade. Probably more than that. Jim Steranko's self-published history of the medium never got past two issues on its proposed six-issue run, but the volumes he did complete loom large amongst comic history nerds like myself.

I spotted this gem sticking up in a gathering of mid-70s Marvel treasury magazines, and immediately asked the vendor how much he wanted for it. It was a steal at $10, but I almost didn't get away with the book because when I handed duder the money, he stopped for a moment, looked at the cover with mournful eyes and went, "Can I just flip through it one more time?"

The guy proceeded to pour over page-after-page for about ten minutes, pointing out to me which Golden Age splash pages and Jack Kirby pencil recreations he scanned to make t-shirts with when he was younger. I can't laugh at him for this reaction. I'll likely be doing the same with some young turk in 2053.

 Palooka-Ville #s 10, 11 & 12

For years when I was a teenager, Seth's iconic series was one of my perpetual holy grail purchases at any con I attended, and I'd often only find a scattershot issue here or there. I think it took me two years to assemble the entire Kalo saga (he'd probably balk at my calling it that) in one place.

Today, I own all the material in these tree issue as reprinted in the Clyde Fans Vol. 1 collection, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to snap these bad boys up for a quarter a piece!

Helheim #1, Fatherhood #1 & The Sands #1

Considering my job, I should probably come home from cons with a lot more new releases from publishers and creators alike, but as it stands, most of my purchasing of new books happens at Challengers. Still, I was very excited to pick up a copy of Cullen Bunn and Joelle Jones' new Oni series Helheim as I feel both creators have done their strongest work at the publisher. And Fatherhood was an ECCC print debut from writer Ryan K. Lindsay who I've gotten to know online as an infrequent CBR contributor (fun fact: I had no idea he was Australian until I heard him speak!). Thinking picking up books like these will be my #1 goal come WonderCon.

Meanwhile, I'm ashamed to admit that I'm just getting to know Tom Hart's work after picking up the amazing Daddy Lightning last year from Box Brown, so I was very happy to find some of Tom's early work at a steal.

Darkstars #s 4, 7 & 8

All Travis Charest art is worth owning, even early "Jim Lee clone" era Charest work. In fact, I'ma go ahead and call early Charest the greatest Jim Lee clone that ever lived. Thank God he outgrew that, but I still have a soft spot for this series in my heart after seeing its covers in DC house ads when I was young, being blown away by them and then never being able to find the book in my LCS.

Critters #s 2, 4, 6, 7 & 37 and A*K*Q*J #1

I've always been curious about the early funny animal comics put together by Fantagraphics' Kim Thompson (who we just learned has lung cancer. All thoughts and prayers for a strong recover, Kim. We need you), so it was great to find so many issues of Critters and related books in a quarter bin. Not only does the series feature some of Stan Sakai's earliest Usagi Yojimbo material, it also has some dynamite cartooning from the likes of Sam Kieth and people heretofore unknown to me like Mike Kazaleh. But maybe the artist I'm most excited to get to know better is Danish cartoonist Freddy Milton, whose Thompson-translated strips channel Carl Barks without being part of Disney's universe/corporate control. Why in God's name don't more people do stuff like that?

The Flash #347

For the past five years or so, I've been absentmindedly picking up issues of "The Trial" – the epic/lamented/seminal Flash story that brought Barry Allen's original run towards its final days. I can't honestly tell what most people think about the quality of this story overall, but I'm looking forward to chewing on my own opinions of it now that I've got this final chapter in hand. I do know for sure that I LOVE me some later Carmine Infantino work. The thin geometric lines he uses on everything including people's hair just does it for me, man.

56 Things I May End Up Remembering From Comic-Con 2012

San Diego! Land of perpetual 73-degree weather and $12 mixed drinks!

Like fellow blog bros Ben and Kevin, I made it out to Comic-Con International this year for work. I know that the general consensus from average fans or their moms is "Wow! That must be a lot of fun!" Conversely, the people in the industry I talk to's Twitter feeds are all, "And now I will lead this march into the jaws of hell!!!!!" In actuality, I think the show has some "crap I've got to do" to it, but that's totally drowned out by awesome adventures of drunken love of the artform revelry wrapped in absurd Hollywood promo materials and cosplay.

In other words, I had a great time. Maybe the best show for me in five years of flying out as a pro.
Here's everything I can recall of vague importance that would appeal to the CKT's readership of "People I hung out with at the show who are probably vanity Googling themselves right now." Let's do it!

* Randomly before the show, I got contacted by my hometown paper The Flint Journal, and they did a story about me going to the show. That was INSANE.

* Let this be the last time I tell this story with a twinge of stress in my heart: Comic-Con was already 45-times crazier for me this year since its early weekend meant it crossed over with one of my twice-annual, ten day graduate school retreats. I can't miss these retreats and still graduate on time, so I'm eternally thankful to my program head at Hamline University Mary Rockcastle for just being like "You should just fly out four days early! It's cool!" even though she probably should have busted my chops for it. Could not have survived the past two weeks without that.

* It was a super comics-y week at Hamline aside from the impending con. Not only have my job and proclivity to just say "Batman" as often as possible earned me the "comic book guy" label at school, but cartoonist Gene Yang was also at the residency for the first time as a full on professor. When I saw him, he was all, "Kiel...I heard you get to go to Comic-Con. No one told me there was a special dispensation, dude!" Apparently this is Gene's first miss in over a decade, but he was a rock star on campus all week, so I think it turned out.

* Of course, the night before I left it was my roommate's birthday part at a bar called The Happy Gnome. Of course, my flight to San Diego was at 7:00 AM. Of course, they didn't turn off the cabin lights the entire time we were in they sky. Of course, I was working ten minutes after checking into my hotel at 9:45 local time. Woof.

* On the up side, my father and younger brother Clint were at the show. 12 years ago, dad took me to Comic-Con for the first time as a high school graduation present, and this year, Clint wanted to do the same before he heads out to MSU. It was nice having them around on the CBR Boat and going out to eat at some weird British fish & chips place instead of hanging in the Gaslamp on Friday.

* It strikes me how much the con has changed even in my brief time coming when I think about how dad and I's trip in 2000 involved the Hollywood aspect where we saw a Kevin Smith panel and heard via a waitress the Angelina had bailed on a panel, but this year when I asked dad how his first day was, he said, "Great! We saw Anthony Bourdain AND McLovin!"

* Work went well. Despite my being at school in the whole runup to the show, the CBR staff was way on top of stories ahead of an at the con, which meant less freak out phone calls during the weekend and more partying. Props in particular to Jonah Weiland and Stephen Gerding – neither of whom made it into the show and onto the floor.

* But you know, when not making the show floor means you're on the boat all day, that ain't bad neither.

* My roommate Steve Sunu also did the all-star job of the Millennium covering for me and covering the show in general. You have to, have to, have to, have to, HAVE TO watch this first person video of Steve running the "Walking Dead" zombie course at Petco Park.

* Speaking of which, I found the above photo of Steve shaking Kirkman's hand at said event on the Facebook page for Geek Magazine, which I thought kinda funny.

* So happy I got to hit the comics blogging panel Thursday night hosted by Douglas Wolk with Heidi MacDonald, Andy Khouri, Rich Johnston and Tom Spurgeon. Sat amidst a packed room with Caleb Goellner and David Uzumeri. Perhaps the best parts were when Tom asked the crowd who there actually read their sites, and us and Brigid Alverson made up 50% of the respondents.
* But serial, at one point Heidi said she's stayed in comics this long because it has the nicest people, and the rows around shushed me for laughing too loudly.

* No but super serial, I thought it was really interesting how the default answer to Douglas' "Who do you write for?" question was "myself." I do a lot of writing for myself, but almost none of that involves my work writing. Maybe in selection of topic to cover do I get closer to writing for myself. But I always view my comics writing on CBR to be for consumers, retailers and creators...probably not necessarily in that order. (Okay, and I write for other journo-types a way higher percentage of the time than I'd care to admit). Not saying one is better than the other, but it was weird to feel in the minority there.

* If you're interested, here's a smattering of panels I reported live over the weekend: DC's Batman panel where I picked up one of the few giveaways I didn't lose – a Snyder/Capullo Court of Owls mask! Then there was the Ultimate Marvel panel and this Legendary Comics one and this DC graphic novel one and...oh hell, you get the idea. I've got to say that the panels for the big two came off as kind of rote this year. Part of that was a lack of big announcements outside of one or two things like new Sandman or Quentin Tarantino comics, but it's also because I just kind of felt like a lot of the standard bearers of these panels were a little off their crowd pumping game. No surprises even for the diehards, you know?

* That said, the fact that Marvel and DC have so many panels can kind of drown out the noise from something like the Image panel Saturday that seemed to carry a lot of energy and announcement weight. I suppose that the same can be said of how many books the big two release and how much of that sites like CBR cover what comes out, but I kind of feel like the pace that spaces out things in a regular news cycle fights against the wash of panels at CCI.

* So what I'm saying is, read that Image panel report.

* Okay, one more panel note: the DC Young Justice panel really gave you the feeling that between Scott Lobdell, Bobbie Chase and non-attendees like Tom Defalco, Bob Harras has just put his favorite lineup from his '90s Marvel band together on the Teen Titans comics like they never broke up. I imagine the readers of those books have at least a few genes in common with people who go to Credence Clearwater Revisited to hear "Down On The Corner" or whatever.

* I've always been a bit flummoxed by the costume people, but I can't admit that it's kind of fun to see what they pull out, and each year I seem to chat up at least one cosplayer who's terribly nice. This year, it was this girl dressed as Poison Ivy who sat next to me at the Batman panel. Every nerdy college student within five seats was trying to pick her up, and she dealt with it with aplomb.

* I was only on the floor of the show for 12 seconds on Friday, but I was happy that those 12 seconds were spent talking to Joe Keatinge. If you didn't already know, Joe is maybe the most ENTHUSIASTIC comics maker in the business right now. He's just so pumped about every project he picks up, and spoke to me in beaming fashion about his upcoming Thanos mini series at Marvel, calling the character one of his all-time favorites. I believed him. Also: Joe's Image series Hell Yeah! is severely underrated right now for how it riffs on comics history in a total non-obtrusive way, but that's going to have to be the subject of its own post at a later date.

* Also important: Joe knows everyone who's ever done a book for Image Comics ever, so if you meet him at a show, look around the group of people he's with and say "Who are your friends, Joe?" Then you get to meet Emi Lenox!

* One more observation from the floor: when you're a fan walking around San Diego and you see people in the biz chatting each other up, you may wonder what they're talking about. Maybe they're talking about the proliferation of comics culture in the world? Maybe they're talking about the profits and perils of digital comics? Maybe they're talking about some rad new series you won't see for another six months? No, I'm just messing with you. What they're talking about is "how much the other publishers booths suck balls compared to theirs, because you think our booth is the best one of the floor this year, right?" Booth envy. IT'S ACTUALLY A THING.

* Saw my friend and my O.G. comics industry mentor Ivan Cohen at the show too briefly (always too briefly). If you didn't know, he's writing issues of DC's Green Lantern: The Animated Series comic now. Sounds like some FUN stuff coming up there.

* Met new ComicsAlliance E-i-C Joe Hughes, who I instantly recognized from cons past even though we were never introduced. That seems like the best kind of person to be running a site like CA. Bumped into Joe maybe 45 more times over the course of the weekend. Excited to see what he does over there.

* Speaking of CA and Caleb as I was a moment ago, he's had some pages from what I think may still be a kind of secret comics thing on his iPhone that were so cool they made my eyeballs bleed. And THEN he told me the final would be in full color.

* Thursday night, I hit the CBLDF party, which has become a kind of annual tradition. On my way there, Sam Humphries sidled up on me like some kind of ninja, and it was the first of many times we laughed a lot that night. Sam and I talked about how Comic-Con has gotten to feel like summer camp – i.e. you kind of know where you're going in downtown San Diego after having to walk around that crazy mall on 2nd to get to the Westgate one night each year. It's like remembering where the old canoe launch is.

* Speaking of Sam, I can never tell how many of the core readers of big superhero books are blog savvy enough to be caught up on things like "Our Love Is Real," but anyone who didn't know him before the Ultimate Marvel panel probably wanted to buy his shit after. He speaks with a lot of knowledge and enthusiasm for his stuff in front of a crowd.

* Ditto Nathan Edmundson on that front, actually.

* Anyway, back to the party: it produced the above photo with myself, Douglas Wolk, Tom Spurgeon and the rad ladies of Fantagraphics: Jen Vaughn and Jacq Cohen. It was worth it for that alone.

 * Let me be the 12,000th person to mention online that Spurge is looking GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD. I wish I got to talk to him in normal human ways more often.

 * Highly Important: Finally met Tom's brother Whit – Comics Reporter super photographer. After flipping through his iPhone, I really get the feel Whit takes more pictures of CCI than both the ladies we had working for CBR combined. He also slides wonderfully into this hilarious, Jackie Mason-esque character schtick without ever overdoing it.

* The 35 minutes I spend with John Layman at any given CCI party rank amongst my most anticipated events at the show each year.

 * Spent a lot of time talking to Chris Roberson and his wife Allison Baker over the weekend. Hot damn if those two aren't as smart and savvy as any people you've ever met in comics or elsewhere. The launch of their Monkeybrain Comics imprint has finally gelled a bunch of my opinions on digital comics together. Namely that I'm not sure the app model is the so-called "new newsstand" so many keep proclaiming it to be. Apps are still too specific and impermanent to be successful as general public sales platform like that. But they sure as hell fill the gap left by the modern direct market's inability to sell high end genre serials not published by the few standing players. In other words, Monkeybrain is to the 2010s what First and Pacific were to the 1980s.

* Comics writer, toy industry pitch man and A+ Wizard alumn Justin Aclin was my guide through Thursday night, and I couldn't have asked for a better one. He's got big things coming, this guy.

* Friday night was the super secret "Bros of Wizard" enclave where we plotted our imminent takeover of the entire industry (haha) while hopping from bar-to-bar. Attendees included Aclin, Diamond Select Toys' Zach Oat, Marvel TV's Todd Casey (and his lovely friend Mel), Archaia PR man and lovely friend Mel Caylo, Topless Robot's Rob Bricken, Kevin, Steve Sunu, Dark Horse Editor Jim Gibbons and...damn, I'm sure I'm missing someone. There are a lot of us! I love them all like brothers. No bullshit.

 * Ended our night at the Marvel party where we collided with Ryan Penagos, and I somehow missed Ben while I was doing shots with Rosario Dawson (not really but kind of).

* Also got some real hangtime with my girl Josie Campbell at the show. Realized after many nights of balcony chit-chat that her boyfriend Marly runs the "JoJo" Remembered Heroes Tumblr, and now I have a crush on him.

* I don't know what was happening at this particular point in my Jeph Loeb video interview on the boat, but I'm pretty damn sure he and I were having a GREAT time.

* Surprise CBR Boat guest of the year: Jock. He is an extremely sweet man. Like, Stan Sakai levels of sweetness even.

* That aside, my favorite boat interview for the year was a toss up between fellow Michigan State Spartan and all around thoughtful dude JT Krul and unexpected guest "Foxtrot" creator Bill Amend. Watch for those!

* I used to do these goofy celebrity sightings posts from the show, but this year my Hollywood overlap was ridiculously low in the best way. So here's my randomly short bus list on that front:

* I met everyone in the above photo on the boat except Elija Wood, who I only ever see at Comic-Con at the bar late at night. They seemed like fine folks.

* At one point, a gaggle of Hollywood types came onto the boat, like they do. You can always tell who the PR folks are by their blazers and their six bags and their constant texting. And you can tell the talent because they're the pretty ladies in the tight green dress and the high heels. This time out, the pretty lady was this woman – who I'd never heard of before she left and I said, "Who was that?" But she talked to CBR Producer Remy Minnick for like 20 minutes about the business of DVR. I guess that's what Comic-Con is for some people too.

* The Marvel booth is always totally crazy at the show, but sometimes it's that crazy because your buddy Ryan is talking to Don Cheadle on camera while Robert Downey, Jr. re-embodies the role of Tony Stark amongst 45 little Iron Mans.

 * My #1 celebrity moment came before I interview Joss Whedon in a little plywood room hidden in the middle of the Dark Horse booth. As a nice young lady from another website was finishing up before me, John Landis appeared out of nowhere looking for Mike Richardson (whom he referred to as "the basketball player"). Richardson was AWOL, so Landis just burst into the little room to shake Whedon's hand and tell him how much he loved "The Avengers." It was pretty funny to see a guy who causes nerds to freak out when they talk to him at the show freak out like a nerd because John Landis was talking to him at the show, let me tell you.

* On Saturday night, Ben and I embarked on the world's nerdiest, boringest episode of "The Amazing Race" ever when we tried to go out to eat with about a dozen Marvel staffers. 1.5 hours and seven restaurants later, we ended up eating alone in a diner with My Little Pony on the walls. Oddly, the only time I saw Bryan Lee O'Malley all show was when he was dashing through that diner towards the exit. Overall, best meal of the show. Thanks, Benny.

* Later, had the first ever event on the CBR Boat that I will qualify as a real, legit party. I mean, there's like a staff party early in the week, but those aren't ridic enough, you know?

* Somewhat related: MTV Blogs Editor Josh Wigler is a golden god. All that b.s. up there about me traveling at 5:00 AM? Chump change to how hard duder was going all weekend. * Talked to BOOM! Editor-in-Chief Matt Gagnon for a while. Really sharp in terms of how that company and their books function creatively and in the market. Example: he sees "Adventure Time" as both the kind of paying gig that can fill a comics-shaped hole in their commission work (a la the late "Nickelodeon Magazine") and also as a way to expose younger and more traditional comics readers to their other work.

* Best Eisner story I heard: upon winning the award for "Best Anthology" for Dark Horse Presents, Mike Richardson gave one of the three statues he got to his Assistant Editor (and my boy) Jim Gibbons. Not only is that a very cool thing to do, it also allowed us to declare "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, EISNER WINNER JIM GIBBOOOOOOOOOOONS!" all night long.

* Over the weekend, Chris Roberson made a great case for never going to the Hyatt and instead hitting the Hilton Bayfront that was equal parts "The Bayfront supports unionized employees" and "Aw, fuck the Hyatt, man!"

* That said, was at the Hyatt for 15 minutes late Saturday. Spent no money, though.

* First time I ever heard someone refer to it as "The Riot At The Hyatt." How have I been missing that joke?!?!

* For some reason, I only end up catching up with Kyle Higgins in the wee hours of the morning when the bar is closed and we're both crosseyed tired. But I'm sure he's just as much fun when I'm sober/well-rested.

* People I barely missed over the weekend: saw Allison Bechdel walking through the lobby of a hotel, but she has no idea who I am, so I let her be. Saw Archaia's Stephen Christy by the pool, but he was on his cell phone. Saw Darwyn Cooke on the street, but I was on my cell phone.

* Sunday, my version of kids day involved a lap on the floor catching up with some of the folks making kids comics for the traditional print markets: * NBM's Papercutz has a new PR guy who's very helpful. Jesse Post in the hizzouse! Fans kept stopping by their booth to get some kind of Power Rangers stamp that combined with others for a free t-shirt. Power Rangers fans kind of fascinate me.

* Spoke with a few bros at Capstone Books – the Minneapolis-based publisher that did those rad Art Baltazar "Super-Pets" books. They've got a number of kids comics coming out this year and were excited both for their offerings and because it turns out two of them go to the same university as me.

* Ape Entertainment has had a TON of Richie Rich product hitting over the past few weeks. Between that and the app they've been pushing, I hope they're finding the audience for that material. New Ernie Colon/Sid Jacobson stories, y'all!!

 * Spent a while at that booth talking up Brent Erwin, Dave Hedgecock and Aaron Sparrow. They're stated ethos for publishing so many kids comics is "If we don't do it, who will?" I think that's a kind of a valid point, which is a little sad when you think about it too much. Still, they've gone from publishing creator-owned all-ages books like Scratch 9 to having a nice newsstand-distributed magazine dedicated to comics stories featuring one of the biggest animation studios in the world in a few short years without dropping much of anything along the way, so maybe not many others are meant to do it.

 * Wrapped my show getting an autograph on my copy of Love & Rockets: New Stories Vol. 5 from Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez. They said they barely had time to do anything fun at the show until that day either because they were so busy. As it should be.

* I'm sure I forgot to mention someone awesome I spoke to at this year's show. Tell me I'm a jerk in the comments, gang! And thanks for the memories!

The CKT @ NYCC!

Tomorrow kicks off the 2011 edition of the New York Comic Con, and while it will shut down this blog for a bit, you can find us Cool Kids across the board covering the action and doing what we do.

I'll be reprising my role from San Diego Comic-Con as Ryan "Agent_M" Penagos and I host Marvel Live from the start of the show all the way to the end. We'll have dozens of great guests from comics, movies, video games and more, so tune in here.

Kiel will be decked out in his Sunday best filing news and video reports for Comic Book Resources and you can follow his adventures as well as all the latest headlines there.

Finally, Kevin and Rickey will be manning the DC Comics booth, shaking hands, kissing babies, signing autographs and educating fans on what's up with the New 52 and more, so stop by and say hey!

We'll "see" you guys back here next week, but hopefully we'll see some of you at the show! Have fun!

Come see us at New York Comic Con!

New York Comic Con officially gets underway tomorrow morning and your favorite Cool Kids will be in full effect!

-Kiel will be steering the ship over at Comic Book Resources, covering the full breadth and width of the show, so check out his and his team's coverage.

-In addition to filing stories for Marvel.com, Ben will be co-hosting the Marvel.com Live live streaming video with Ryan "Agent M" Penagos and Grace Randolph all weekend.

-Kevin will be pulling double duty for both Marvel and CBR.

-And Rickey will be manning the DC booth throughout the show, so stop by, get one of the world's greatest high fives, and tell him how great his hair looks (it always looks great).

See y'all at NYCC!

Kiel's "Gareb Shamus Enterprises Presents Wizard World Chicago Comic Con 2010"

OK, beyond the title of this post (which I mostly chose because, all other things aside, that name is funny) I don't have much to add to the whole "Does Wizard put on worthwhile/relevant/comics-related/cost-effective events, and are they honest/forthcoming/fair about how they run them?" debate. I just don't care to sit around playing arm chair convention critic (not to detract from folks with legitimate criticisms focused on what they look for in a comics show) as I doubt I'd be good at it or that anything I'd say would be of any value to anyone really. But you can check out Shaun Manning and I's report on the show over at CBR if you like. We tried our best to give an honest picture of what most attendees experienced at the show in between the official and non-official responses of organizers and exhibitors...or to paraphrase an evil corporate cable channel and Marvel's silliest campaign of the past 15 years: "We report, U decide."

I will say that personally, the three days of Chicago show at Rosemont I attended were a tremendous amount of fun thanks to the dudes I hung out with. Wizard's Mike Cotton and James Walker were gracious beer-buying hosts. Shaun was an A-list work cohort as always. Meeting the excellent Matthew J. Brady for the first time was everything I imagined it would be and more. And Ethan Van Sciver was pretty hilarious during his late night piano concert. Props to all around!

And on top of the radical hang out time, I also had a TON of time to buy all sorts of dopey comics at the show this year...the first such show I've been able to do so at in I don't know how long. Rickey wanted to know what it was I got, so I'ma list it in honor of him. Unfortunately, I don't have the time or energy to snap photos of all my schwag like he usually does, so you fools are going to have to cope with covers off Comics.Org. But I will categorize them for easy browsability!

1. Comics I Put At The Top Of The List To Sound Pretentious And Hip

You heard me right!

Actually, I put this kind of "Art/Indie/Harder To Categorize With Shitty Back Issues" category out front to note the fact that I went into the Rosemont show mostly looking for crazy dollar bin deals and other bargain basement style comics. I know that if you read Matthew's report, you'll see that there were a lot of art comics and the like out on sale at the show, but a lot of them fell out of my "just finished paying for three summer vacations" price range.

Still, I was FINALLY able to nab a copy of Kevin Huizenga's Ganges #2 at the show after somehow missing the issue when it hit shops in NYC years back. I liked the issue quite a bit, and it made me think about video games in a way I haven't before, but after hearing a lot about that story from friends of mine, the issue failed to hit me in the gut and brain the way #3 did. Of course, how many comics can do what Ganges #3 did?

One totally random dollar bin find I did locate was a promotional Ashcan for Paul Pope's early effort The Ballad of Doctor Richardson. Holy shit, you guys...remember Ashcans?!!?!? I kind of miss them.

Finally, I bought the "digest" trade paperback of Mike Allred's excellent sci-fi love letter to Rock N Roll Red Rocket 7. I almost never buy books in more than one form, but I bought RR7 three times now: once in single issues, a second time as a bigger album-sized trade whose glue binding eventually cracked letting most of the middle pages fall out and now as the slimmer digest. I hope this one lasts me a long time.

2. Crazy Beans Old Comics Mostly Made Before I Was Born


I've been following the ongoing, round robin series of critical essays about the 1970's Don McGregor/Rich Buckler/Others serial "Panther's Rage" in Marvel's Jungle Action (what a GREAT name for a comic!) as well as Tom Spurgeon's subsequent writing on the book and list of how it and other comics are emblematic example of the form in the '70s for the past few weeks now, and it's been enlightening and fun reading for me. For one, I was completely unfamiliar with the storyline's existence before the critical run by Tucker Stone, David Brothers and (I'm assuming) others got underway, so it was really nice to have that "here's a comic I've never heard of" experience which has become more and more rare in the past five years or so once again. For two, despite my general wankery over older comics of all types, I've steered clear of most '70s titles since I was very small for reasons I'm not even sure of. Best I can figure, my avoidance probably stems from equal parts disinterest in a decade whose aesthetic sense never meshed with my own in the slightest sense (I was one of those kids who got into swing music and rockabilly and that greaser/Darwyn Cooke bullshit in Middle School and never really looked back) and the unavailability of affordable back issues from those years throughout the "mark up everything you can" comics market of my youth. In any event, I'm making the effort now to correct that gap in my reading, starting with issues #10, 11 and 14 of that very Black Panther serial.

Speaking of my general love of comics much, much older than I, I nabbed a copy of the second and final issue of Eclipse's (I'm assuming) largely forgotten Siegel & Shuster: Dateline 1930s comic. The reprint book presented early science fiction efforts by the eventual creators of Superman. The comics and stories within are surely crude even compared to those rough-yet-compelling early Superman strips, but the further I get into my own career in the comics game, the more the story of those two men resonates and affects me in weird ways. This is the point in the paragraph where I'll promise a more complete post unpacking that last thought down the road on the CKT, but we both know the chances of me getting to write that post are slim to none. I suck, right?

I also got to scratch my "buy everything Jack Kirby did at DC in the '70s" itch (hey! an exception to prove my earlier rule!) by picking up two issues of the DC First Issue Special series I needed (the "Dingbats of Danger Street" and "Manhunter" issues to be precise). Also on the Kirby beat, I picked up a few issues of the '90s Secret City Saga books from Topps, egged on by another event from this weekend that I'll keep under my hat for now (watch CBR soon!).

On that same front, I snatched up the first issue of DC's original Justice, Inc. comic with the Joe Kubert art because I've already got the Kirby #2 and 3, so why the hell not?

3. Random Marvel Shit


I'll admit it: I can't stop buying Force Works comics out of dollar bins these days. I don't know. It started as a goofy nostalgia itch the week "Iron Man 2" came out and I saw some episodes of the mostly awful in retrospect '90s Iron Man cartoon on cable, but since then I've had a post percolating for the blog about how Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning dropped a superhero team book that presaged a lot of what we're now calling "Comics Clichés of the 2000s." Anyway, amongst the random issues I picked up this time was the Century: Distant Sons one-shot by DnA and Jim Calafiore which I've been looking after for a while now. As their only original creation from that book and a weird alien to boot, I'm kind of surprised DnA haven't used Century in one of their cosmic events somewhere yet. Am I alone in that thought?

On the modern Marvel front, I picked up a copy of that silly Who Won't Wield The Shield? one-shot despite my general distaste for superhero industry in-joke projects as well as the handbook-like Marvelman Classic Primer because, again, I like weird old shit of all stripes and have been a junior Miracleman buff since doing that Wizard profile on the rights issues back in the day.

One of the few "Five Dollar Trades" (LOVE that that's catching on, by the by) I picked up at the show was the Immortal Iron Fist: Escape From The Eighth City trade by Duane Swierczynski and Travel Foreman. Seriously, those guys STEPPED UP after the departure of Fraction and Brubaker from that title, and it's a crying shame not enough people bought it after that point. Actually, it's a crying shame that not enough people bought it throughout the whole run. What in the hell is wrong with people, man?

Oh, and I also bought the first issue of Solo Avengers Featuring Hawkeye And... because despite Jim McCann's effusive promotion of the pair, I'd still never read a Hawkeye/Mockingbird story of any kind and this issue had some early Jim Lee art, which the 12-year-old in me will always be a sucker for.

4. Random DC Shit


For those of you still reading and keeping track of the random claims I make here: yes, the issue of Teen Titans by Marv Wolfman that I bought because both the cover and interior art made me giggle should probably go up in the "Crazy Beans Old" section, but I bought less modern DC stuff this show and wanted to show off this cover in addition to the Black Panther stuff. So here's where she be.

Beyond that, I bought a random handful of Tony Daniel Batman issues for a buck that I needed. I don't really feel like launching into an appraisal of Daniel's work right now, and me talking about my buying of Batman in general is a whole 'nother blog let alone another post, so let's just say I was glad to get them and move on.

Last but not least, I broke my "never buy it twice" rule a second time and snapped up the trade of Morrison and Millar's Aztek The Ultimate Man on the cheap cheap. Holy Lord, has it really been back to college since I last read this book?

5. Random Everything Else Shit


I have so many terrible Mighty Crusaders comics from Rich Buckler's 1980s relaunch of the franchise that I doubt I'll ever need to buy another without even considering the fact that I've probably bought a few of these issues multiple times. Still, when I saw the above cover to Steel Sterling #5, I almost choked I laughed so hard. What in the hell is the story solution to that fucking cover? "Steel Sterling, thank you for teaching us that a democratic society shouldn't endow its citizens with the right to operate automobiles!" It kills me. I think I got #6 too?

Hey, I also bought Starslayer #2 and 3 – the first two appearances of Dave Stevens' Rocketeer. I buy those comics every time I find them in a dollar bin and then give them to someone I know who hasn't read them yet. If that description fits you, post in the comment thread, and I'll mail you both books free of charge.

Got the sixth issue of SLG's Gargoyles comic, which I NEEDED.

Also for no good reason I can think of, I bought my second ever NOW Comics issue of Green Hornet. I think it was actually this one? I don't know. It just kind of shocks me how that series from a kind of forgettable publisher has come to define EVERYTHING that's being done with that franchise today in print and on screen. Why does the NOW legacy version of the character have so much influence?

Finally, I bought an issue of this awful-looking comic called Shuriken on a lark to round up an order at a $0.50 booth and regretted it almost immediately after.

Comics...you know I love you, but sometimes I fucking hate you.

Florida Supercon 2010 Picture Show

Heya folks! Kevin here with a few of my pictures from the Florida Supercon! Before we get into that though, my thoughts on the show itself:

This was my first year out to this particular convention and let me tell you, I did not expect the amount of people I saw there to actually be there. Between the overall small size of the show floor itself and the amount of attendees, it felt like San Diego Lite. There was a lot of cramming and my friends and I lost each other constantly. That said though, the costumes were AMAZING. Besides meeting up with my comic buddies--shout out to the always awesome Jim McCann, Fred Van Lente and Filip Sablik who attended this year's con--checking out all the rad costumes is easily my favorite part of going to conventions. At lot of these people put in some serious time and effort and their costumes come out looking really great. What really sucks though is that with so many costumes and so many people I missed a lot of opportunities to nab some pictures, including one of a really awesome Scott Pilgrim and Ramona Flowers. Anyway, check out the pics I did manage to capture below!

Above, my friend Amanda who made her very own Hawkgirl costume, which not only looks amazing, but she also looks amazing in

Here are my friends Bridget and Jose as one of comics' greatest couple, the Joker and Harley Quinn

Tifa from Final Fantasy VII. Alas, she is unfortunately not my friend

Wanda and Cosmo! "Two wrongs don't make a right." "But three rights make a left!"

Save the mask, this guy made the entire costume by himself--including that Gatling Gun, which is ridiculously awesome and in fact spins

That Nemesis guy also hand made this Flash helmet. And the picture really does no justice on how spot on the helmet turned out. Seriously, Jay Garrick himself wouldn't be able to tell the difference

And finally, Invader Zim crew! The Gaz is even playing a DS!

C2E2: What I Bought!

So, I knocked out my general thoughts on the show as a whole over here, but I bet you're wondering what kind of crap I bought at the show, right? No? Oh.

Here it is anyways:

What I got at Quimby's

SPELLBOUND? - Oh man! I had this issue as a kid, and it was one of those things always kind of rattling around in the back of my memory until I found a copy at Quimby's!! A large format Chick Tract extreme religion comic, this book involves devil-worshipers driving some party-goers off a cliff and someone drowning in a pool at a crazy cocaine party! I HAVE NO IDEA WHY I HAD THIS AS A KID. Seriously, this is like finding a long-lost video of me in the 4th grade.

THE BROKEN CROSS - Another Chick Tract comic, this issue never belonged in my collection, but thanks to an "Also Available" ad on the back of Spellbound?, I always wanted to check this sucker out. Thankfully, there was a copy on the shelf at Quimby's and it LOOKS like some hippies pick up a hitching girl and then drug/sacrifice here for Satan. Like you do. Great Gene Colan-esque '70s art, these feel SO MUCH like a Benjamin Marra comic.

STORIES VOL. 2 BY MARTIN CENDREDA - I had no idea there was a new minicomic from Martin Cendreda! I get so used to debuts at certain shows I go to that I forget to check out the blogs of creators I like in case they have new work available. Cendreda - like dudes like Graham Annable and Jeffrey Brown - are guys I'll buy ANYTHING new from.

QUIMBY'S STICKERS - I grabbed a couple.

Convention back-issues

SPAWN #16-18 - Did you know Grant Morrison wrote 3 issues of Spawn in 1993? I didn't! Until Kiel schooled me at his apartment on Saturday night. He also told me these were the first issues to contain Greg Capullo art and that Grant invented the Anti-Spawn concept, which tickles me and seems very Grant-like for some reason. PSYCHED to read these!

SPAWN #20 - This was the issue co-starring Houdini that came out after issue #25. Or something. I'm not sure, but it was a quarter, so I grabbed it.

B.P.R.D. - I'm missing a few issues here and there, so I remembered to look for them at the show. MAYBE my favorite mainstream comic to read in chunks? Probably.

More 25-cent con comics

CAPTAIN AMERICA #373-374 - I'm making it a goal to buy all of the Cap storyline "Streets of Poison" this con season. More on this when I finish finding it all...

CLIVE BARKER'S SEDUTH - Sean swears this 3-D book is a good read, and I trust Sean. I also like Clive Barker.

JLA: SUPERPOWER - John Arcudi of B.P.R.D. and Major Bummer and The Mask and many other books I enjoy did this prestige format JLA book a few years ago!

FINAL CRISIS: SUPERMAN BEYOND #1 - Going through my books, I realized I let somebody borrow my original issue #1 somewhere along the line and never got it back. 3-D comics!

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #208 - I've slowly been collecting this 5-part "Crisis on Earth-Prime" crossover starring the JLA, Justice Society and All-Star Squadron for a couple years now, but I'm still an issue away from having it all.

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #210 - I have no idea what this issue's about, but the cover says "When A World Dies Screaming!" so SHIT YES.

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK: CHILLIN' #1 - Look at the cover, you jealous monkey.

More 25-cent con comics

CAPTAIN AMERICA #286-288 - This Deathlok-centric run is near-and-dear in a way I'm never gonna reveal (unless I get really drunk one night and sob-y), and I found it by accident while waiting for a guy to finish flipping through a longbox. DEATHLOK.

VALOR #18 - Finally! The final issue of the "D.O.A." storyline! I've been looking so long!

JLA/CYBERFORCE #1 - Joe Kelly and Doug Mahnke! I've never read a Cyberforce comic, so I hope this doesn't hurt.

JLA: 80-PAGE GIANT #2 - I grabbed this cause of the DC One Million story inside and when I got it home I realized I already own it. Still: pretty cover.

Non-quarter comics!

INVINCIBLE RETURNS #1 - Some guy was selling recent issues for a buck, and since I was planning on buying this anyways: savings!

WOLVERINE: WEAPON X #12 - Same as above. This time: More Deathlok!!!

DRAWN TO YOU - I missed all of Lucy Knisley's comics at MoCCA, so I was slobber-happy to hear from my new buddy Matthew that she was at C2E2. This was the first stuff I bought at the show and Drawn To You is her convo comic with Erika Moen.

PRETTY LITTLE BOOK - A full-color collection of Lucy's online journal comics in a neat printing style that feels "raised" like the black inks have been branded in.

MAKE YOURSELF HAPPY - ANOTHER collection of journal comics from Lucy with a positive intro explaining the title of the book. GAWD, go now and buy her stuff.

CURSED PIRATE GIRL #3 - Wandering the floor, I ran into a table for Jeremy Bastian, the creator of the GORGEOUS Cursed Pirate Girl series. Maybe it's because I had such a hard time tracking down issues #1 and #2 or maybe it's cause I thought Bastian was some hermit artist whose meticulously crafted work demanded he remain locked away in some wooden cabin on a cliff somewhere, but I never expected to ever ever meet him in person, much less chat with him for a while. Bastian's a totally nice guy just making comics I wish more people cared about. Go buy them!

UNDELETED SCENES - I totally almost forgot to grab this new Top Shelf collection of Jeffrey Brown's miscellany anthology work while I was at the show, but remembered just in the nick of time to get it AND get him to sign it. Well, Sam did for me cause I couldn't leave the booth. She's awesome.

PROCESS - Jeffrey Brown made this mini about what the process of creation is like for him and it's PROBABLY the coolest mini I own thanks to the little torn-out sketchbook pieces and notes and doodles and other ephemera he includes as one-of-a-kind extras in each packaged copy. It's a pretty genius way to provide a behind-the-scenes look at the creative process of a dude who makes some of the world's most thoughtful comics.

And then these dope pins!

A random retailer was selling these babies. Rorschach, Watchmen smiley, Black Flash, Starman, B.P.R.D., and Captain Atom can now adorn my backpack and my thumb since I suck at picking them up without stabbing myself.

And that's it! I didn't get any sketches and couldn't find any cheap toys, but I got a lotta great books. I wish I'd hit the webcomic section a little harder, but it's okay. All-in-all, I found some great deals. Can't wait for the next show's treasure hunt.

21 Reasons C2E2 Was My Favorite Big Show In A Long Time

First of all: Holy SHIT. The C2E2 show was this past weekend in downtown Chicago, and, for me, it was incredible. I saw 21 people I consider genuine friends at the thing, so in honor of them, I'm listing out the 21 things I loved about the show. Here goes, in no particular order:

1. IT WAS DOWNTOWN - I've been to Wizard World Chicago maybe 8 times in my life, and as the first show I've ever been to, it'll always hold a special place in my heart. But the thing is in Rosemont - a northern suburb - and I only ever took the 30-minute drive downtown ONCE. With C2E2 located a 5-minute cab ride from downtown proper, it meant we had more access to GREAT food, bars, ridiculous site-seeing and more.

2. FOOOOOOD - We hit so many great restaurants all weekend, I kind of can't believe I didn't gain 40 pounds at the show. We popped by the Sweet Water tavern for fried mac and cheese and a wide beer selection, Texas de Brazil for the most succulent Brazilian BBQ I've ever stuffed my face with, Portillo's for a hotdog AND an Italian beef croissant, and SOOO much more! Best con food and selection I've ever had.



3. ROCK 'N' ROLL MCDONALDS - I stumbled past the famous Wesley Willis institute one night. See above.

4. MY GIRLFRIEND ATTENDED - It feels WONDERFUL to be at a place financially in my life where I can have my girlfriend Sam visit a show with me in a new place. She flew up Saturday and we had a great time wandering the city together.


5. MIKE PERKINS - I got nothing here. Mike Perkins is just a fucking rad guy, and I can't get enough of him and his work. LOOK AT THIS RIGHT NOW.

6. PEPTO BISMOL - All the food and irregular sleep and con hours and beer did a number on my tummy. Thanks for bein' a friend, Pepto!

7. THE DC STAFF - DC Comics represented with some amazing giveaways and an awesome attitude from all the staffers working this weekend! It was great to get to spend more time outside the office with my peers, so thanks to the whole booth staff for being so cool and polite and fun alllll weekend long! I want to marry you all.

8. PIZZA PARTY - Speaking of DC people being rad, we had a "thank you" pizza party for the booth grunts at the end of the show and we all got along great, talking crap about terrific '80s films and playing with our boss's iPad. I'm kidding. He didn't let us touch it.

9. AMAZING GUESTS/EXHIBITORS/RETAILERS - What a terrific concentration of quality guests, exhibitors and retailers! C2E2 hauled in all the big mainstream publishers (DC, Marvel, Image, Dark Horse, IDW) along with top-notch creators from each including damn-near the entire Green Lantern franchise creative team, a slew of great Marvel creators, dudes like David Finch and Mike Mignola and Guy Davis and a GIANT webcomics presence PLUS smaller publishers like Top Shelf and Avatar. And with retailers ALL OVER sporting quarter bins and 1/2-off trades from day one, not to mention recent books marked down and dollar-bins out the banana, this was a primo show for finding a deal or a book you've been searching for. I didn't hit any panels, so I can't speak to that, but MAN, what a combo of fun.



10. ARCHITECTURE - I'm not sure I've ever seen a city as beautiful as Chicago when it comes to layout and buildings. Downtown, the buildings are a mix of glass and metal next door to classical brick and mortar. Some even combine the two for a nu-classical style all while sitting right next to Lake Michigan, a sprawling city park, a serious public transit rail with its girder support-beam legs clomping down side avenues (see above), and a spread-out feel I've never seen before. The city is dripping with a character I wish I was close friends with, and that's a fact that extends out to neighborhoods like Wicker Park's East Village feel and Wrigleyville's frat-powered bar scene. I wanna live here!

11. L TRAIN - Chicago's public transit rail system is cleaner than the NYC subways and feels more safe. I took the line all the way from the airport to downtown instead of a boring cab and didn't smell pee once.



12. BILLY GOAT TAVERN AND GRILL - Located underground between the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune, this bar and grill was frequented by Bill Murray and John Belushi and is the basis of a famous SNL sketch I won't go into right now. As an SNL fan, I'm psyched to have had the chance to visit it with a crew of fun friends. Read more here!

13. BOAT TOUR! - The Monday after the show ended, I stuck around with 4 friends to walk the city, so we took a boat tour of the city's skyline from the Navy Pier!

14. QUIMBY'S BOOKSTORE - I dunno when it started, but I've wanted to go to Quimby's Bookstore for an awful long time and finally got the chance this weekend. Alt/lit-minded and boasting a ton of mini-comics, the shop is located in Wicker Park, which is just a 10-minute cab ride away from downtown. There are MAYBE 5 comic shop destinations I've ever had, and this was one of them. Time to check it off my Bucket List!

15. DOUG MAHNKE ART FOR SALE - You're a psycho if you don't like Doug Mahnke's art and the guy had a BUNCH of it on sale at the show this weekend! Final Crisis, Green Lantern, JLA/Cyberforce, The Mask, Major Bummer, Lobo vs. Hitman...the guy's fucking awesome. I ALMOST grabbed a page from Frankenstein, but decided against it and now regret that. But the dealer gave me his email, so I plan on finding a piece THIS WEEK!



16. MY FRIEND KIEL - You'd be LUCKY if you had a friend like my BFF Kiel in your life. The guy (who now calls Chicago home) waited for me in a car nearby to finish a work dinner one night before driving me to a party. The next night, he took me to a local eatery to meet up with his rad girlfriend Jamie before paying for my (and several other's) train ride to his local comic shop where IDW was having a party with beer (beer in a comic shop? Dangerous for me...) before heading to his apartment where he gave us his last few beers. Then he DROVE US BACK TO THE HOTEL. i love you, Kiel.

17. DC SHIRTS - The DC staffers who work the booth all wear matching DC shirts and this year I got a Brightest Day shirt and a Reverse Flash shirt from Graphitti Designs! WOOOOOOO!

18. LAID-BACK VIBE - I dunno if it's just Chicago or the time of year or what, but the attendees were all really nice and laid-back folks who were just happy to be buying comics. Friday through Sunday felt slow and easy, but steady. I heard someone say Chicago was a blue-collar town and that's why Friday afternoon may have felt so lite - the people couldn't take the mid-day off. But that doesn't mean they weren't polite and fun and their easy-going vibe is much-appreciated!

19. FRIENDS! - I can't explain how great it was to see Dylan and Kelly, Mel!, Jeffrey, Parr and CJ, Ryan, Alejandro, Jim and Michael, Adam S., Mike, Chris, C.B., Kiel and Jamie, Kevin, Warmoth, Jonah!, Tony, Josh, Caleb, Tim, Mike D., Mike S., Eric, and Brendan. High-five, everybody!

20. NEW FRIENDS! - So, I met a bunch of my older friends around the show, but the new people I met were awesome, too! Thanks for taking the time to chat Scott, Guiseppe, Allesandro, Brian and Jill, and Michael. You guys are DOPE and it's cool to have nice people to break up the show with.

21. ALL THE GREAT CRAP I BOUGHT - I'll post another story about this soooon!

So, thanks, C2E2! If I can't fly out for you next year through work, I'll still be there on my own dime. You win.