For The Love of Comics

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I’ll be there, will you?

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Megacon, my hometown convention and the con that broke my con-going cherry this year, has announced that George Perez will be the Guest of Honor for Megacon ‘09.

Here is the official press release:

The Orlando MegaCon, the largest comic book multi media event in the Southeast is pleased to make its initial announcement of guests for its 2009 convention. The Orlando MegaCon will take place Feb. 27-March 1, 2009 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, FL.

Legendary artist George Pérez will be the Special Guest of Honor at MegaCon 2009. In a 30+ year career in comics, George has illustrated Avengers, Fantastic Four, JLA, Wonder Woman, and a host of other seminal comics titles. He is hard at work on his next project from DC Comics, Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds. This will be George’s first scheduled convention appearance in over a year, as he took 2008 off the convention circuit.

In addition, MegaCon is proud to announce additional comic guests including:

* Jimmy Palmiotti, writer of Back to Brooklyn
* Amanda Conner, artist of Green Arrow/Black Canary
* Darwyn Cooke, writer/artist of The Spirit
* Adam Hughes, artist of Wonder Woman and Tomb Raider
* Ethan Van Sciver, artist of Green Lantern
* Paul Pelletier, artist of Guardians of the Galaxy
* Jim Cheung, artist of Young Avengers
* Ron Marz, writer of Witchblade and Dragon Prince
* Steve McNiven, artist of Wolverine and Civil War
* Chuck Dixon, writer of Robin and Nightwing
* Brandon Peterson, artist of Uncanny X-Men
* Greg Land, artist of X-Men
* Nelson DeCastro, artist of Action Comics
* Mark Waid, writer of Flash, Captain America, and Fantastic Four
* Tony Bedard, writer of Birds of Prey and Exiles
* And Chris Claremont, Marvel Comics’ legendary X-Men writer, who shepherded the title for over 20 years.

The MegaCon guest list is constantly growing. Check www.MegaConvention.com frequently for more updates.

There are some very exciting names on that list. And, admittedly, a few that I’m completely underwhelmed by. Maybe this year I’ll get over being awestruck and actually talk to some creators and get some artwork.

Or, even better, meet some readers! February 27th - BE THERE!!

Technorati Tags: George Perez, Megacon, Chuck Dixon, Chris Claremont, Mark Waid, Greg Land, Steve McNiven, Darwyn Cooke, Jimmy Palmiotti, Ethan Van Sciver, Amanda Conner

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There’s not really much to report on for the last day of Megacon. I spent most of my day wandering around picking up some good deals on trades and small press comics and going to a few panels on how to write for - and break into - comics, none of which I’ll probably really utilize, but it was really interesting and if I ever find myself with an idea that’s great for a comic and an artist to illustrate the idea, I have some good ideas on how to pull it off. I’d get more in-depth, but I didn’t take many interesting notes and it was mostly common sense stuff anyway. If anyone is interested in the details like what creators were at the panels and so forth, let me know and I’ll tell you what I remember.My haul was really pretty small since I’m trying to save alot of money and had myself on a strict allowance; I just bought a few things that the retailers were trying to unload cheap and caught my eye.

• A Green Hulk figure from the Marvel Legends Galactus series. Apparently the Green Hulk is a variant and the Grey Hulk is the normal one. Being a variant probably makes this thing more expensive (is it obvious that I’m not a toy collector?), but I got it for five bucks, which is likely cheaper than it was originally sold for since it’s a nice looking figure. I bought it to sit on my desk at work, but the fact that it’s a variant has me considering selling it on ebay and dumping the proceeds back into this site. I haven’t decided yet.
• I also got the first trades of both Ultimate Spider Man and Ultimate X-Men, since I was on a comics hiatus when both series were introduced and the dealer was unloading stock for cheap. I may or may not post a review. Again, I haven’t decided.
• I got the hardcover of Incredible Hulk: Return of The Monster, which collects Bruce Jones’ run on Incredible #’s 34-43 and Brian Azzarello’s Startling Stories: Banner #’s 1-4, for so cheap that I’m halfway considering dumping it on ebay, too. Odds are that I probably won’t, though. If you’re a big Hulk fan, though, get in touch and we could probably work out a deal for both the book and the figure, or either one, for a pretty cheap price.
• Remember WAYYYYY back in November when I did that review of Necessary Evil #1? I hadn’t been able to get any of the following issues until this weekend when I came across the Desperado Studios booth. I picked up issues 2 and 3 of Necessary Evil, found a supposedly certain way to make sure I could get issue 4, and picked up the trade collecting the beginning of Atomik Mike by Stephan Nilson. Stephan even threw in a CGC 9.8 of Atomik Mike #1! Expect reviews of all three sometime this week, except for the CGC copy, which I’m going to try to find something special to do with.

In fact, I have a plan. You may have picked up from some things I’ve thrown out there that I don’t really collect, per se. It’s all about the love of story for me. I hand out floppies after I’m done with them all the time and buy the trades when they come out so that I can go back and read stuff later, but I have no interest in the whole value game anymore; the 1990’s totally burnt me out on that concept.

So here’s my idea. I have a few potentially valuable items laying around now that I, frankly, have no interest in trying to maintain the value on. So, at some point, they’ll be prizes. I’ll take care of them until the day I send them out to a lucky winner, at which point they’ll be that person’s problem.

My offer on the Hulk stuff stands, email me if you’re a big fan and we may work something out. Otherwise, they go into my prize bin until I think of a contest. Hopefully, I’ll periodically pick up more stuff to throw in there that may be awesome but I just don’t have interest in keeping around.

Let me know if you have any ideas for contests folks, if you don’t mind.

Anyway, that’s enough for me. Sorry that this post has been short on real detail or substance, but this weekend has me wiped out. Hopefully I’ll get to meet some of you at my next con!

Technorati Tags: Megacon, Hulk, Necessary Evil, Desperado Publishing, Atomik Mike, Contests, Prizes, Conventions, Awesomeness

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So far, I’ve learned three essential con-going lessons.

First, it’s better to bring a con buddy. It’s possible that flying solo is benefiting me in the sense that I’m getting to go to the panels that I want to go to and the only compromises I have to make are because of time, but I’ve also gotten alot of enjoyment from striking up conversations with fellow geeks and I think I’d be getting even more enjoyment from having a group of people to wander around with. Next year, I’m going to try to make arrangements to meet up with people, and not at the last minute like I did this year.

Second, I need to get a recording device of some kind to take with me to panels. I simply can’t write fast enough to take notes on everything and I know I’ve missed alot of statements this year, possibly important ones.

Third, and possibly most importantly, leave SEVERAL hours early for the con on a Saturday. I spent literally two hours in traffic for the last half-mile to the con this morning and missed the first panel. AJ, if you’re reading this, it was the independent film maker panel where I planned on getting more information on those short films. Sorry, man, I’ll try to get more information from some other sources.

Anyway, lessons learned that will hopefully make a very fun experience even more enjoyable next year.

The first panel that I actually made it to today was “DCU Countdown to Crisis” with Mike Marts and Ian Sattler. Considering their answers to most questions were to make sure to read Batman RIP and Final Crisis, both events sound like they’ll be very exciting. This was the panel where I really learned the second lesson up there, because I know I missed some very good stuff while I was taking notes. Most of what I missed was Final Crisis related and most of what I got was Batman RIP related. You gotta pick your battles and I’m a Batman fan, sorry.

Anyway, here’s what I caught:

• In response to a question about whether we would see more yellow rings on Earth characters, like Scarecrow’s almost-induction, Sattler stated that we’ll be seeing alot of rings on alot of people, though he was careful not to be any more specific. If I had to speculate, (and what else am I here for?) I’d say that alot of those rings will be black.
• Marts states that RIP will take place in Batman, but will have major effects on the supporting titles (Nightwing, Robin, etc.) in 2009.
• When someone (*cough*me*cough*) stated that the Resurrection of Ra’s Al Gh crossover seemed to be all hype with no real payoff or effect and asked if we’d be seeing Ra’s again or if that storyline would have any real effect, Marts stated that the whole Al Ghul family would be showing up again soon, in Batman or possibly Nightwing. The “possibly Nightwing” part caught my attention so I then asked if the Al Ghul’s would have any connection to the current graverobbing mystery in Nightwing. Marts answered with “possibly” but then upgraded that to “probably”. This is probably my only scoop, and it’s probably not much of one, but there you go. I had my small moment.

The only other panel of note I caught was Joe Quesada’s “Cup of Joe” panel, where…

• Joe promised that Giant Size Astonishing X-Men was really and truly coming out in April
• Damon Lindeloff turned in some script pages (Ultimate Wolverine vs Hulk?) during the WGA strike,
• Joe Fridays will be moving from Newsarama to MySpace starting April 28th and now me called Cup of Joe Fridays because of a deal made between Marvel and Myspace
• When asked about any plans to bring back Steve Rogers, Quesada said “Bucky is Captain America now”, to the annoyance of the questioner.
• The Mayor of Orlando has declared Mar 8th “Joe Quesada Day” - let’s have a party!
• Most of the rest of the panel consisted of rehashing the same One More Day stuff that we’ve all heard. I honestly didn’t pay much attention since I’m just tired of the whole thing. It’s done. I don’t like it and I’ve stopped reading, but I was never a big fan of Spidey anyway. I’ve heard some people are really enjoying Brand New Day and I’m happy for them. It’s time to move on, kids.

I skipped today’s “Marvelous Men” Panel with Daniel Way, Mark Texeira, and David Finch (a tactical error on my part) in favor of Mark Waid’s panel on Boom! studios, which was cancelled. Somehow I felt awkward sneaking back into the Marvelous Men panel, but I should have done it anyway. I imagine that was a very good panel and I’ll try to find someone else’s recap for y’all.

I also didn’t really feel like sitting through the webcomics awards, costume contest, or rave, so all I have left for you are a few crappy pictures. Tomorrow is the last day and I plan to get there early for some more interesting panels.

First I have Peter Rios from Comic Geek Speak and those very kawaii cat ears I told you about yesterday

Next are two Quesada pics, one of Joe beginning the panel and the second of the presentation of Joe Quesada day.

The rest of these are of various costumes and I think they’re all self-explanatory. Also, I’m sorry that my photography skills suck.

Technorati Tags: Megacon, Marvel, DC, Batman RIP, Final Crisis, Joe Quesada, Costumes, Peter Rios

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I apologize if this is a bit short on detail, but I spent most of the day in an “OMG FIRST CON!” daze and now I’m just flat out exhausted. For what it’s worth, the day was short on news and more full of me just wandering around checking stuff out.

When I first arrived at the Orange County Convention Center and saw the Megacon banners, I may have let out a loud “SQUEE” of excitement. I’m told it happens. After a combined 2 hours of waiting in line to park and then waiting in another line to actually be let in, I got onto the Megacon floor and wandered around checking everything out. The first people I got to meet were the guys from Comic Geek Speak and I thought they were such good guys I made sure to stop by several more times throughout the day just to say hi. Of particular interest were Peter’s cat ears. They were very kawaii. One of the times that I stopped by, the guys were being interviewed by Ian Levenstein of the Comic Timing podcast (sorry I had to pass on your offer to babble, Ian. I think I have my wits about me enough now to give you something more than “umm’s”, “uhh’s”, and slightly maniacal giggles if we run into eachother again) accompanied by Raphael Soohoo of theGeeks Unite! podcast and Brandon Christopher of The Quarter Bin. It was great meeting all of you guys. Hopefully I’ll run into you again in the next two days and I’m subscribing to your podcasts now.

Strangely, the panel that I found the most interesting was the one panel that I was a bit ambivalent about attending. In “War For Comics”, Big City Comics publisher Jeff Kaufman talked about his ideas for what everyone, from readers to retailers to publishers, could do to save the comic book industry. Jeff has a brief run through of his ideas up on the Big City website, but this is something you should really hear him talk about if you have a chance, he has some really excellent ideas and has some real skill at persuasion and motivation. If you meet him, ask him to tell you about his Dark Goblin idea for Harry Osborn - he could have made Harry one of the best characters in comics today.

The “Marvelous Men” panel consisted of Marvel artists Steve McNiven, Dexter Vines, Mike Perkins, Tim Townsend, Brandon Peterson, and Paul Pelletier just basically answering any questions people had. There weren’t really any revelations, but it was interesting to hear them all talk about the creative processes and how things have changed in the industry. There will be a repeat panel which may be more interesting since today was apparently the calm before the storm, attendance-wise.

I caught the very end of Joe Quesada’s Q&A panel, but I couldn’t really here him. I’m looking forward to his Cup of Joe panel tomorrow, and not because I’m planning on heckling. I actually appreciate the way he tries to make himself available for fans and I’m over the whole OMD thing. I don’t like Brand New Day, but that’s okay. I don’t think I was ever really part of the target audience for Spidey, anyway, and I’ve heard that some people really like the new tone and direction. So, you know, evs. It’s not the first time that I’ve disagreed with someone. Not the end of the world.

There were technical difficulties for most of Arne Starr’s panel of previews, so I ended up leaving, though I heard they got things worked out eventually. I may try to squeeze him in tomorrow or Sunday.

I closed out the night with the Indie Short Film Festival, and it was actually pretty enjoyable. If anyone’s interested, I’ll try to get a list of the films shown and post my thoughts on them all.

And now I’m heading to bed. Tomorrow’s a new day that may include me getting a tattoo of the old school DC (those are my initials - Dustin Christian) logo if I can justify spending the money.

Also, if anyone reading this is attending Megacon, PLEASE look me up - I’m mostly doing this solo and it would be cool to hang out with some fellow comics geeks, even for a short time. I’ll be the dude in the black Comic Geek Speak Convention tour
t-shirt with a blue Jansport pack tomorrow.

Also, because I was yelled at for the lack of pictures today, I’ll try to include pictures in tomorrow’s recap.

Technorati Tags: Megacon, Big City Comics, Arne Starr, Marvel, Comic Geek Speak, Geekery

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It has now been confirmed - I’ll be starting off my convention tour of 2008 with Megacon, right here in sunny Orlando, FL.

And, really, this will be the ONLY stop on my convention tour of 2008. Cons cost money, kids, and since I’m shopping for a house to move, possibly may be changing jobs very soon, and may even have a wedding to pay for before the end of the year, I just can’t really afford to be tossing around cash.

Then why am I spending money on Megacon, you ask? For one, it’s local. I won’t have to pay for a hotel or any of that crap, just my ticket and the gas it takes me to drive to the convention center. Alright, fine - and the money I’ll spend on swag. But no hotel, and that saves alot of money there.

Second, check out the guest list!

Comics:

• Joe Quesada (I know, but at least I can theoretically give him shit about ruining Spidey.)
• Ethan Van Sciver
• Darwyn Cooke
• John Romita, Jr.
• Brandon Peterson
• Phil Noto
• Adam Kubert
• David Finch
• Steve McNiven
• Mark Waid
• Tone Rodriguez
• Chuck Dixon
• Greg Horn
• Tim Townsend
• Amanda Conner
• Jimmy Palmiotti
• Michael Golden
• Mark Texeira
• Daniel Way
• Billy Tucci
• Arne Starr

Media:

• A bunch of people that I really don’t care about, but you might…here’s their list.

There are a TON more people coming, but these are the ones that I’m particularly interested in. The comics list is a bit heavy on artists and light on writers, but it’s still a good guest list. Also, they failed to mention it on the Megacon website (I’m sure it’s an oversight, much like forgetting to mention my appearance), but the guys from Comic Geek Speak will also be there. I’m looking forward to - hopefully - meeting those guys.

If you’re interested in where I’ll most likely be spending my time at the con, here are the panels that I’m interested in:

Friday, March 7th

• War For Comics
  This revolutionary campaign which in its essence is designed to modernize the way retailers conduct business buy thinking and promoting outside the box in which initiates the nostalgia of comic collecting to resurge it to its former popularity.
  Room S329 - 1:30pm - 2:40pm (No personal benefit here, but it still may be interesting)
• “Comics: The Fun Way To Riches”
  CCL Creator Joe Butler leads a panel of industry leaders in a no-holds-barred discussion about how to make money in the comic industry.
  Room S230 B – 3:00pm - 3:50pm (Again, no personal benefit, but it could be interesting)
• Questions for Quesada
  If you’ve got something you want to know from Marvel’s top dog Joe Quesada, this is the place to be.
  Room S230 A 3:30pm - 4:20pm (Bring on the Quesada bashing!)
• DC Comics Presents-the Return of Sgt. Rock!
  Join Billy Tucci for a story and art preview of his dream series, the revival of the famous war comic, SGT. ROCK!
  Room S230 B 4:00pm - 4:50pm (I should probably read some Sgt Rock before this)
• Arne Starr Movie Trailers
  Come see all the latest trailers and more in Arne’s annual Trailer show with all the latest gossip and more. Should be an interesting year with The Dark Knight, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, John Hancock, Star Trek and more from behind the scenes in Hollywood…..
  Room S230 A – 4:30pm - 5:20pm
• “Spotlight on Michael Golden
  Here’s a chance to ask questions to one of the most cinematic illustrators in comics and hear about his new projects for DC and Marvel, and well as his creator owned properties.”
  Room S230 B 5:00pm - 5:50pm (This and the Quesada panel may be the highlights of the day, so I may miss out on the end of the Arne Starr panel, at the very least)
• The Fourth Annual MegaCon Indie Film Festival
  This program showcases numerous award-winning independent short films in the genres of action, anime, animation, comedy, horror, superheros, science fiction, and suspense. This selection of films is hosted by 3 Boys Productions the founders of the Melbourne Independent Filmmakers Festival and the creators of the horror adventure comic series “Students of the Unusual”.Donations will be accepted for the Hero Initiative.
  Room S230 A – 6:30pm - - 8:00 pm
• Voltaire
  Meet the incredible artist Voltaire.
  Musical Performance by Voltaire from
  Rooms S330 E, F, G 9:00pm - 10:00pm (I don’t know for sure whether or not I’ll be going to this - I probably won’t really decide until about 8:30pm)

Saturday, May 8th

• Independent Filmmakers Panel
  This is a unique opportunity to meet and discuss independent filmmaking with the filmmakers themselves. Panel hosted by Terry Cronin of 3 Boys Productions/Students of the Unusual.
  Room S230 A 10:30am - 11:20am
• DCU: Countdown to Crisis
  Join Ian Sattler, Senior Story Editor- DCU, as he confesses all kind of secrets for a panel that’s not to be missed. The Sinestro War has passed, the Countdown is nearly over, and a Final Crisis looms! What lies ahead for our favorite heroes? Find out here!
  Room S230 B 11:50pm - 12:40pm (This is another definite see for me)
• Cup of Joe
  Joe Quesada’s opinion panel goes live. Join Marvel’s main man for a cuppa personality with a stir of controversy.
  Room S230 B – 1:50pm - 2:40pm (Another one that you know I’ll be at)
• Arne Starr Movie Trailers
  Come see all the latest trailers and more in Arne’s annual Trailer show with all the latest gossip and more. Should be an interesting year with The Dark Knight, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, John Hancock, Star Trek and more from behind the scenes in Hollywood…..
  Room S230 A – 1:50pm - 3:50pm (In case I miss the one on Friday or just feel an overwhelming need to see it again)
• Marvelous Men
  Panel time with Marvel’s artists and writers.
  Room S230B – 2:50pm - 3:40pm
• Things Go Boom!
  Mark Waid has a some explosively exciting words to say about Boom Studios, with artist Alfredo Torres.
  Room S230 A 4:00pm - 4:50pm

Sun, Mar 9th

• “DC Guardian” Superhero Fan/Fiction Fan/Art
  Room S329 11:00am - 12:00pm (Worth checking out, if I’m there early enough)
• Gundamn!
  The Unofficial Podcast of All Things Gundam and Mecha comes to Megacon and records their show live in front of a studio audience.
  Room S330 B 11:00am - 12:00pm (I miss Gundam Wing)
• Cover Men
  Greg Horn, Darwyn Cooke, Arthur Suydam, Phil Noto and the Reverend Dave Johnson on what goes into creating a killer cover.
  Room S230 A 11:00am - 11:50am
• Alpha Cat Comics
  Rob Jones and Dick Giordano talk about their work for Alpha Cat.
  Room S230 A – 12:00pm -12:50pm
• Independent Comics Panel
  Do you want to make comic books? Learn about the world of independent comic publication by some of the most famous (and possibly infamous) publishers and promoters in the business.
  Room S230 B – 11:40 -12:30
• Scriptwriting and Character Development
  Barbara Kesel leads a discussion on the structure and style of writing scripts for comic books.
  Room S329– 1:00pm - 2:00pm
• Comics Old School Style
  Comics veterans Herb Trimpe, Rudy Nebres and Gary Friedrich school the fans-come hear how comics used to be, and what this crew is up to now!
  Room S230 B 1:40pm - 2:30pm
• Troma Entertainment
  Join Lloyd Kaufman for news of the always terrifying new creations from Troma Studios
  Room 230 A 2:00pm - 2:50pm
• How to Make a Comic Book
  Mark Stancil of Terminus Media, publishers of Evolution Special #1, leads a discussion of the process of making a comic happen.
  Room S230 A– 3:00pm - 3:50pm

If you’re going to be at Megacon and want to hang out, think I’m skipping out on a panel that I shouldn’t miss, or - as always - just feel like saying “Hey”, drop a comment or send me an email!

Technorati Tags: Comics, Conventions, Megacon, Hard Core Geekery

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Popularity: 31% [?]

Blog@Newsarama (who, incidentally, quoted me awhile back regarding Batman’s maybe-death), has a Day-One report from Wizard World Texas written by Aron Head from EvilBastard.net.

The highlights (for me) include:

• Greg Pak’s favorite line from World War Hulk was “I didn’t come to hear you whisper, I came to hear you SCREAM!” Yeah… mine too. That shit was hardcore.
• Senor Pak also says that Hulk’s son, Skaar, will have plenty of adventures on his home planet, but will eventually have an impact on the Marvel Universe as a whole.
• One more from the Pak - he is working on “the most disturbing and challenging project [he has] worked on in any medium,” but is not at liberty to announce it yet.
• Dan Didio says Bart Allen’s story is not yet over. This excites me, since Bart had the most heroic scene in my recent memory; it made me sad that it was his death scene.
• Connor may also be back. Didio’s answer to a question about any plans for the Superclone was “maybe”, which is pretty damn cool, but I wonder what they’ll call him. I’m willing to let DC have “Superclone”, royalty-free, as long as they bring back Conner.

Damn, I can’t wait for Megacon!

tag: Bart Allen, Connor Kent, Dan Didio, Flash, Greg Pak, Hulk, Incredible Hulk, Kon-El, Megacon, Skaar, Wizard World Texas, World War Hulk, WWH, Superboy, Superclone

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Popularity: 7% [?]