The Mix : What are people talking about today?

0

Comics Reviews (July 15, 2015)

As always, from worst to best of what I voluntarily paid money for. Also, if you’re the sort who only swings by for these, you should know that book two of my epic history of British comics, The Last War in Albion, kicks off on Friday. Book Two is on Watchmen, and should be a fun time. Do drop by. I’ll have a bit of an intro to it/recap of Book One up tomorrow as well.

Years of Future Past #3

At no point during the course of reading this issue could I have articulated what the point of its existence was. I am writing this mere minutes after finishing it, and I am already forgetting it.

Silver Surfer #13

I know this book is a Doctor Who homage, but there’s a thin line between homage and rip-off, and “let’s rewrite The Big Bang only as a Jack Kirby pastiche” is on the wrong side. Fun, but tough to feel good about.

Guardians of Knowhere #1

Thus far, Guardians of the Galaxy only without Star Lord and as an overly black (literally) book drawn by Mike Deodato is, thus far, not an electrifying premise, although as usual Bendis makes the ebb and flow of fuck all happening entertaining.

Hawkeye #22

It’ll be perfectly fine shoved at the back of the fourth and obviously weakest Hawkeye collection, like “Return of the Good Gumbo” at the end of the shitty sci-fi volume of Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing, but not actually as good as that.

Crossed: Badlands #80

An inevitable and effective ending with all the happiness you’d expect, but ultimately the Homo Tortor arc feels like a missed opportunity that fizzled instead of exploding.

Mercury Heat #1

Good stuff, but it’s firmly the second-best take on classic 80s British comics of the week, and so it’s got to go here in the rankings. Basically, good premise, but there’s enough heavy lifting to do in terms of explaining the rather baroque hard-SF mechanic that the book doesn’t get a ton of opportunity to actually do anything. But it’s no worse a start than True Detective Season Two.

Captain Britain and the Mighty Defenders #1

A Muslim woman becomes Captain Britain, then gets plunged into a Judge Dredd pastiche. Yes, of course my reasons for liking this comic are in part political, but screw it. The multiversal conception of Captain Britain and Judge Dredd were always political, as readers of this site well know. This is a beautiful homage to British comics in a fun romp of a package. It’s delightful that Secret Wars allows such silliness.

Trees #11

It’s clear that Trees is not a book about momentum. And I won’t lie, I think Ellis’s experimentation with things you should have trade-waited for is a bit frustrating at times. But I don’t care; that last panel transition is fucking beautiful, and as far as I’m concerned, worth eleven issues of buildup. Now I just need to clear the time to reread those eleven issues so I understand it.

Where Monsters Dwell #3

Well that certainly escalated. Which is quite right; without abandoning the mad excess of his premise, Ennis finds an entirely new angle on it here, and the results are outright hilarious.

Siege #1

It’s the most inside-baseball thing imaginable; a structural rewrite of S.W.O.R.D., Gillen’s debut Marvel book, which nobody read. It mashes up bits of Young Avengers and Journey into Mystery. It has giant zombie ants with writing on their DNA. Gillen wasn’t lying with “Nextwave as a tragedy,” especially with an absolutely majestic final act that’s at once obvious and brilliant. Everything you hope for from Gillen throwing a Marvel Universe farewell party, basically.

Crossed +100 #6

My God, this was a bleak piece of pessimistic brutality. And, of course, brilliant. The fact that Avatar is continuing it feels almost as dumb as Before Watchmen, but on its own merits, as a self-contained story, it’s a ruthless skewering of an entire rhetoric of broken utopianism – an uncompromising viking funeral for the entire classic history of science fiction. Just in time for the Hugos.

Originally published on PhilipSandifer.com.

Molly Jackson: Banned Books – Why, Oh Why?

Why

ComicMix’s very own Tweeks announced their Summer Reading Challenge, reading banned and challenged graphic novels. It struck me as a fantastic idea and a great way to encourage people of all ages to try something new. But their challenge also brought up the fact that I never understood the concept of banning books.

I grew up in a house where everything was fair game. Nothing was off limits or banned, especially books. I could read anything and everything I could get my hands on. I read outside of my age range often and if I had questions, my parents were there to answer them or direct me to someone that could. When I went through my Chaim Potok phase, a member of my synagogue made time just to answer my questions. No one seemed to mind that I was reading books written for adults at the age of 12. They trusted me and my parents to make the correct decision for me.

In looking over the reading list, the week 1 book really caught my eye. Bone Vol. 1 by Jeff Smith, also known as a go-to book series for young readers was a challenged book. Not only did that surprise me, it finally gave me a reason to read it. (It had been on my reading list but that list is too long.) After reading it, I had a laundry list of talking points that completely agree with The Tweeks. In a nutshell, grownups are sheltering kids.

Adults often forget how much kids see, hear and experience from the world around them. Books are the least concern. The 6pm evening news is more graphic and offensive than Bone Vol. 1. And parents today forget that kids have access to the web; something they never did. Even with parental controls, kids can discover adult topics on the internet. They are going to find out about drugs, sex, alcohol and politics one way or another. By hiding it, a message is sent that it is wrong to explore the world. It would be so much better if they were met with guidance instead of shaming. Lack of knowledge is what hurts people the most.

Parents seem so concerned to keep their kids from discovering the different aspects of the world. Sometimes that is the right move. Not every book is for everyone. But I am glad no one made the decision for me.

Mike Gold: Bloom County? Thank You, Donald Trump!

Bloom County 2015

Count your blessings.

Inside every dark cloud there’s a silver lining.

I’m happy as a clam.

I may be jumping the gun here, but take a look at the artwork above. If you haven’t heard, or read (and, personally, I’d rather be read than dead), Berke Breathed is once again coming out of retirement – or, more to the point, his classic surreal comic strip Bloom County seems to be coming back to life. This is according to his Facebook page, which was a little unclear if he was actually returning to Bloom County on a regular basis or just for another brief run through the campaign season.

Let’s hope for the best and while hoping, let’s look at Breathed’s motivation. Again, according to his Facebook page he’s returning to the fold because of one man – America’s asshole-in-chief, the sweetheart of the Mexican rodeo, the mouse underneath the rat, ladies and gentlemen I give you… Donald Trump!

The Donald brings the best out in political satirists. This past weekend while the Cool Kids were hobnobbing at the annual San Diego clusterfuck, David Letterman came out of retirement to crash Steve Martin and Martin Short’s gig in San Antonio Texas to deliver a truly funny Top 10 list: the <a href=”

10 interesting facts about Donald Trump. We’ll see how long it takes Jon Stewart to stay off of the Trump beat after he leaves The Daily Show at the end of this month.

As his “sample” strip indicates, Breathed certainly won’t limit his repertoire to the Donald, even though the bastard is the gift that keeps on giving – you know, much like herpes. His characters are too well developed, as original as, say, the folks in Walt Kelly’s Okefenokee Swamp and Al Capp’s Dogpatch.

Today newspaper strips thrive not in newspapers (they all have pretty much the same line-up) but on the Internet, on such services as Go Comics and Comics Kingdom. Indeed, Go Comics has had Bloom County among its classic strips content since its inception. In an act of possibly not-coincidence, Go Comics has just about finished reprinting the entire run. Let’s hear it for fortuitous timing!

As I said, Breathed was a bit vague as to when, how and even if Bloom County will truly be returning. Doing seven strips a week is tough, and he’s gone back to that well a few times. But keep your shirt on.

You just can’t keep a good man down.

On the other hand, don’t count your chickens before they hatch.

O.K. Mike has left the building.

 

Box Office Democracy: Minions

minions-4303690Minions has been taunting me for weeks. As part of the promotional campaign for this movie Universal decided to cover the old Cinerama dome on Sunset Boulevard with inflatable versions of the films stars reaching for a giant banana. It’s a cute enough gimmick I suppose but I go to the gym in a building directly behind the dome so for about an hour a week three times a week the view from my gym has been dominated by massive inflatable Minion asses. If the exercise bikes I prefer somehow became untethered I would pedal myself directly in to the backside of a five story Minion.

After seeing the film I think I got most of the experience just watching them endlessly reach for that banana, as that’s about as much story as the movie Minions actually bothers with.

The Minions, as characters, are empty vessels. Their personalities only extend one adjective deep before you get to the common Minion traits like hungry or covetous. In a way this has led to the success of the characters as they are whatever the viewer imagines them to be (this is why they’re so perplexingly meme-able) but there’s no actual character underneath. Each scene is driven either by external factors or an often-nonsensical want. Sometimes Bob is really emotionally invested in the safety of his teddy bear but when that isn’t driving him through a scene it’s never even pictured. I feel like I’m asking too much of a silly little kids move that is such a transparent cash grab but when the characters don’t resonate the actions have no stakes and I just can’t laugh at these jokes past the first fifteen minutes. Something has to make you care about the story and it never happens.

The humor of Minions is not for me but I don’t think it wants to be. This is slapstick humor for a generation who don’t have Saturday morning cartoons to watch. People fall over, people het hit with stuff, people slip and fall, all the hits really. There’s nothing wrong with this per se; it’s been the foundation of comedy for all of recorded history but there’s precious little new ground to break and I’m not sure I think Minions is even trying.

There’s no effort apparent throughout Minions but honestly, why would there be? This is a franchise born from another successful franchise, it’s sold countless t-shirts and toys and even has a theme park ride, and everything from here on out is found money for Universal. It’s a monster that feeds on its own popularity and nothing we can say or do will stop it. Or it’s just a silly kids movie and I should really just relax.

2015 Harvey Awards Final Ballot Announced

  • News
  • July 14, 2015

harvey-670x248

The 2015 Harvey Awards Nominees have been announced with the release of the final ballot, presented by the Executive Committees of the Harvey Awards and the Baltimore Comic-Con. Named in honor of the late Harvey Kurtzman, one of the industry’s most innovative talents, the Harvey Awards recognize outstanding work in comics and sequential art. They will be presented September 26, 2015 in Baltimore, MD, in conjunction with the annual Baltimore Comic-Con.

Nominations for the Harvey Awards are selected exclusively by creators – those who write, draw, ink, letter, color, design, edit, or are otherwise involved in a creative capacity in the comics field. They are the only industry awards both nominated and selected by the full body of comic book professionals. Thank you to all that have already participated by submitting a nomination ballot.

Final ballots are due to the Harvey Awards by Monday, August 31, 2015. Full submission instructions can be found on the final ballot.  Voting is open to anyone professionally involved in a creative capacity within the comics field.  Final ballots are available at http://www.harveyawards.org/2015-final-ballot/. Those who prefer paper ballots may e-mail harveys@baltimorecomiccon.com.

This year’s Baltimore Comic-Con will be held September 25-27, 2015.  The ceremony and banquet for the 2015 Harvey Awards will be held Saturday night, September 26th. This will be the tenth year for the Harvey Awards in Baltimore, MD.  Look for more details soon as to how you can attend the Harvey Awards dinner.

Congratulations to all of the nominees!  If you know a nominee, please pass on the good news using email,  Facebook, and Twitter.

 

Emily S. Whitten: SDCC 2015 Part I – On the Con Floor

groot-8871196I just returned from the San Diego Comic-Con, and wow, am I beat. But that’s because there was just so much to see and do at the con – and of course, as always, I tried to see and do it all!

Sadly, there’s no way to actually experience everything (and I gave up on the FOMO some time ago), but I did manage to experience a ton of the stuff that was on offer. So much, in fact, that I think it’s going to take me about five posts to cover it all! So today, I’m sticking with the basics – the con floor and exhibits, some exclusives I scored (and coveted but missed out on!), free swag, cool cosplay, Artist Alley, and some of the stuff that goes on outside.

If you’ve been to SDCC before, you know just trying to see what you want to on the con floor and surrounding “activations” outside can be mega-challenging and exhausting. The hall is large, the activations spread out, and the crowd…well, let’s just say you aren’t going to be sprinting from booth to booth or buying any exclusives without a pretty big wait. Of course, that’s because there’s so much cool stuff to see and buy. So much, in fact, that it would take me forever to describe it, and so instead I put together this handy album of the stuff I stopped to take pictures of.

Favorite merchandise bits on the floor include this amazing Men In Black replica; upcoming collectible Marvel keychains from Monogram that will include Deadpool and X-Force Deadpool; and the Entertainment Earth booth’s many cool items, including this Boba Fett stool (there’s a whole set). Speaking of Entertainment Earth, while visiting their booth, I also got a chance to speak with Jason Lenzi, co-founder and co-owner of Bif Bang Pow!, which has partnered with Entertainment Earth to provide some cool products through their store. You can check out the interview here.

One thing any fan of miniatures, building sets, display sets, or the like really must check out is McFarlane Toys’ amazing building sets of The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones characters and scenes. They caught my eye for their small scale and detail, and after talking with the Prototype Development Director I learned that Todd McFarlane’s idea was to have the individual pieces and sets (for kids approximately 8+ to adult collectors) be able to all be put together (including the characters, which come in pieces to be put together or mixed-and-matched) into larger scenes according to preference, and to have the larger building blocks (e.g. buildings) work with other brands. The Walking Dead ones are available or becoming available now (including e.g. Daryl on the highway and the Winnebago, and the hospital doors, due out in October), and the Game of Thrones collection, Series 1, will be out in December 2015 to early 2016 (series 2, including e.g. The Wall with Jon Snow, is due out in January 2016). The amount of detail in this product is great – including things like barbed-wire-topped fences in The Walking Dead line that can be angled if, for instance, you want your walkers to be “pushing the fence down.” Everything looks to be of good quality, and doors open, wheels move, grass is flexible, and more. They have everything from blind bag minifigs to sets of 5 figures in case you want to, for instance, quickly build up your Walker army (and the blind bags are labeled W for Walkers or H for Humans so you can at least have some idea of what you’re going to get). I love it; and I also learned they have their eye on additional licenses for the future (and maybe even some Spawn stuff, like a build your own alleyway). Can’t wait to see what else they come up with.

Along with all the cool stuff to look at, I picked up some fun exclusives and swag. My absolute favorite (since I missed out on the Hasbro matchbox-sized Ant-Man, which sold out in a hot second) is the Avocados at Law tee from the Digital PIMP booth, although the Fogwell’s Gym and Agent Carter shirts from Marvel are hella sweet, too. I was also pleased with the Supernatural “Swan Song” car with army man from CineQuest.com, pretty much everything from Quantum Mechanix (lots of Firefly stuff, including a mini Serenity and Firefly playing cards complete with IOUs!), and my ridiculously large Espionage Cosmetics nail wraps purchase. In the free swag category, getting the Google Cardboard viewer was awesome, and I was also well-pleased with my exclusive Firefly poster from QMx, my Little Twin Stars fan from Sanrio, the Comic-Con Mad Libs from Penguin, and of course the Entertainment Weekly mag with Deadpool on the cover. Because Deadpool. I also swung by Dark Horse and picked up plenty to read, including Mind MGMT and Lady Killers, which I’m looking forward to.

Fun displays on the floor included LEGO Minions and a life-sized Hulkbuster Iron Man suit that I just had to pose with.

Outside in the surrounding areas, this Hand of God promotion was pretty freaky – and also pretty amusing when some of the ardent religious protesters who always appear near the convention center during Comic Con got mixed in. They were clearly confused, at first thinking they’d walked into a crowd of like-minded individuals – until they heard some of the slogans being chanted by the Ron Perlman look-alikes.

The activations included the Assassin’s Creed obstacle course, which a lot of people stopped to watch (increasing the crowd difficulty issue, but I get why they stopped – it was pretty damn cool!). Other outside stuff I was delighted to find included the Hello Kitty Cafe truck. I totally bought Hello Kitty macaroons and petit fours (tasty!).

But seeing exhibits and buying things isn’t all there is to do. There’s also a metric ton of great cosplay around, including favorites of mine like this epic Poison Ivy, this giant Groot, this somewhat Victorian female Captain America, this hilariously awesome Pikachu Deadpool, and the woman cosplaying my favorite Effie Trinket outfit. I love all the thought and work that people put into their cosplay, and how much joy they get out of it.

And of course, there’s also the entirety of Artist Alley to visit. I swung by to catch up with some favorite creators like Janet Lee, Reilly Brown, Sanford Greene, and Dustin Nguyen; and also visited Mark Wheatley‘s booth in the exhibits area. It’s always nice to take a few minutes to check out one of the main reasons SDCC even exists – i.e., the comics. And Artist Alley is a great place to do that.

Whew! I think that might just about cover the highlights of my con floor experience. Hope you enjoyed it! And fear not – there’s lots more to come. Stay tuned for coverage of convention panels, the Her Universe Fashion Show, Nerd HQ, and some of the fun party and nightlife stuff I checked out.

And until then, Servo Lectio!

 

 

Tweeks: Banning Bone is Boneheaded #ChallengedChallenge

Welcome to Week 1 of the ComicMix Challenged Challenge, where we take a different book on the CBLDF’s list of the most challenged & banned comic books for young readers and we break down the reasons why it might be on the list. We also give it a quick review and discuss some of the main issues.

This week we talk about Bone: Out of Boneville by Jeff Smith. This is a book we have loved since we were 8 years old and truly is the book that introduced us to graphic novels. It’s a story about strangers in a strange land and in telling of Bone and his cousins, kids gets some examples of the consequences that can result when you aren’t well-behaved.

Spoiler Alert: We think it’s crazy that this book would even be considered being banned. Watch our episode to see why.

The Point Radio: The Kroft Magic Is Back

So many of our Saturday mornings were spent deep inside the imaginations of Sid and Marty Kroft. Now a new generation will have the same opportunity as Marty returns to TV with a new show, MUTT AND STUFF, for Nickelodeon. Marty talks about that plus the classics like BANANA SPLITS and SIGMUND. Then, reality show pioneer, Tami Roman (THE REAL WORLD, BASKETBALL WIVES) explains about how she is shaking things up on WE TV’s MARRIAGE BOOT CAMP.

More in a few days including a visit with Michael Rosenbaum (SMALLVILLE’s Lex Luthor) on his new bad guy role. Be sure and follow us on Twitter now here.

Mindy Newell: Any Given Wednesday

lego-millennium-falcon

“Last Wednesday I stupidly dropped my iPhone in the bath, and my life has sort of spiraled almost out of control.” • Patrick Stewart

I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned this before, but just in case – I’m a spoiler whore. Yep, I’m one of those geeks that absolutely love to suss out information, be it in print or by streaming video, about a movie or television show that I absolutely can’t wait to see! It’s foreplay, you see. Gets me all hot and bothered and excited and really ready, if you know what I mean. (All us Star Wars: The Force Awakens nerds – which pretty much includes the entire population of the planet – should know exactly what I mean. C’mon, admit it – “Wet did you not get when the Millennium Falcon you saw in the first trailer?” asked Yoda.)

Of course, the marketing suits get this. The really good marketing suits understand exactly what to give, what to reveal – or not reveal; the really bad ones don’t. Case in point: go check out fellow ComicMixer Arthur Tebbel’s latest “Box Office Democracy” review of Terminator: Genisys. Go on, I’ll wait….

Im-not-so-ho, Arthur is absolutely right. Dead on. The “big reveal” in the movie’s trailers reminds me of the “big reveal” in the previews and ads for Star Trek III: The Search for Spock – the death of the U.S.S. Enterprise, NC-1701. The ship was as much a character in Star Trek as was New York City in Sex and the City (which is why, im-not-so-ho, the second Sex movie failed so miserably, because the Big Apple was missing for 99.9% of the story.)

So why do the bad marketers do this? Two theories: (1) they believe the movie really stinks, it’s dead in utero, so they are desperate to fill the theatres, because, after all, if the movie doesn’t make a profit their jobs could be just as dead; and (2) they just don’t a fucking clue.

•     •     •     •     •

Go read Denny’s latest column, The Grand Old Flags. Dennis, you hammered the proverbial nail on its head. And I also grew up with all the rules about the flag – they are so much a part of me that when I see Grand Ol’ Glory still waving in the wind (or lying like a dead sloth against its pole) at night I’m surprised and just a little bit, teensy-weensy disturbed. (By the way, did you see Republican Representative Jenny Horne’s impassioned, tearful, and wonderful speech in South Carolina’s Statehouse last Wednesday? If not, I highly recommend you search it out.)

•     •     •     •     •

The San Diego Comic-Con will be over by this time, but instead of being in California this past weekend I will have been in Indianapolis to celebrate the wedding of my cousin Delightful Devin to the Marvelous Maria (as Stan Lee might put it).

Only I hope I made it.

Did you ever have “one of those days” on which you wish you had never gotten out of bed?  No, not just “one of those days,” but one of those days which leaving you wishing that, to paraphrase Captain James T. Kirk in response to Spock telling him that “we have three days to live over again (“The Naked Time”)“not that day.”

This past Wednesday I got up, took a shower, got dressed, left my apartment, and took the stairs down instead of the elevator, heading off to work. (I take the stairs pretty regularly, only rarely choosing to go down via elevator. Up is another matter, even though I know I should, since it’s “good for me.”) Only last Wednesday something happened, I don’t know what, my heel got stuck or my ankle turned…

…anyway, down I went, six stairs, trying to catch myself, only to end up on the floor of entry foyer to my apartment building. And I was in pain.

I mean, P-A-I-N!

So many things went through my head in nanoseconds – I broke my leg, I broke both legs, I’m alive, I didn’t break my neck, god, it hurts, I need help, shit, I left my cell phone upstairs, I need help, I need help, I need help…

“Help!” I said weakly.

“Help!” I said with a little bit more energy.

Nobody. Of course, it’s 6 in the morning!

I couldn’t stay on the floor. Besides, I attended the “Walk It Out” School of Medicine: “Get up. You’re okay. Don’t be a baby. You’re just shaken up. You’ll be okay.” So I gingerly stood up.

Okay, that works. Maybe, thankfully, thank you God, I didn’t break anything. Get to the car. Get to work. Someone there will help you. Doctors. Nurses. X-Ray machine.

I took one step.

B-I-G mistake.

Okay, hobble, sidle, shuffle, slide. Out the apartment door. Down the stoop like a “real grandma.” Thank God I got a parking spot right in front of my building. Got in the car. Turn the ignition. Slowly join the traffic.

I was still thinking, “I don’t think anything’s broken. Couldn’t work the gas pedal or the brake if it was.” But then I think, “Shit, what if it’s adrenalin, what if I’m like Bruce Banner and I’m just hyped up? Fuck it, keep driving.”

I get to work somehow. Hobbling, sidling, shuffling, sliding. I don’t bother clocking in, don’t bother changing into scrubs. I sit down in one of those “wheely-chairs,” roll over to the sink, turn on the tap, raise my legs, and stick my feet under the cold water. It helps a little. I sit there.

My friend and co-worker, Kathy, will not take “no” for an answer. She gets me on a gurney in PACU (Recovery Room). My buddy Frank brings me two ace bandages. Kathy brings me more ace bandages and an ice pack. Ace bandages surround me. Kathy says none of the doctors are in yet. “Why did you come in?” she asks. “I didn’t know what else to do,” I said. Or something like that. I’m also wondering why the hell I did come in, why didn’t I just drive to the hospital (I work in a surgical ambulatory center), what if my ankle, or both, are broken, I’m supposed to go to the wedding this weekend, shit, it hurts.

Dr. Reiss, ace anesthesiologist, bless her, is in. I asked her to take a look. She does. “I don’t think anything’s broken,” she says. I break down and cry a little bit. I ask her for a hug. She gives me a good one.

My boss comes to see me. She wants me to go the ER at the hospital. How to get me there? I don’t want her to call 911, I don’t want to go in an ambulance to the hospital, which is just across the street. Claudia, super PACU nurse, has a brainstorm. She calls hospital transport. My boss wheels me down in a wheelchair.

I’m brought right in. And when the registrar asks me for my driver’s license, the second worse thing happens on this fucked-up, miserable day:

My driver’s license is not there!

Where the fuck is it!

Shit! Shit! Shit!

Oh my fucking god how the hell am I gonna get on the airplane for the wedding?

I swear to you, that was the order of my thoughts.

•     •     •     •     •

Did Mindy break her ankle, or ankles? Did she find her driver’s license? Did she make to Delightful Devin and Marvelous Maria’s wedding?

Tune in next week, same Bat-time, same Bat-channel, to find out.

 

Ed Catto: Family Reunion – Geek Culture Style

xreunion-comic-con-3-1909880

Reunions remind me that I am definitely in the “Lucky Guy” category. Celebrating recent wins and remembering the good times invigorate me – and I’ve done both at my recent reunions. I may need my time alone to recharge – it drives my creative process and keeps me sane – but deep down, I’m truly a social creature blessed with an abundance of family and friends.

sdcc-logo-7353316But I’m not the only one who’s been focused on reunions this summer. Choice Hotels’ recent advertising campaign targets all those folks who are undecided about attending an upcoming reunion. The Clash’s Should I Stay or Should I Go? reinforces our natural indecision as a wide variety of people anxiously prepare for their reunions. “It won’t be the same without you, bro”, taunts one bearded man who undoubtedly represents a friend we all have. Take a look here if you haven’t seen it yet.

I’ve always enjoyed my college reunions. I haven’t missed many. I love being on campus without those ‘pesky’ students running off to interesting classes I’d like to follow them to or flaunting their seemingly endless time to relax in the Quad. Reunion is like a private party at Disneyworld without the other customers. Or the Bottled City of Kandor without the Kryptonians.

reunion-comic-con-1-4924392And my family reunion was a fantastic time to reconnect with 25 family members, get some family business done (we’re struggling with the inevitable elder-care issues) and have fun together. It was another opportunity to hand-deliver Archie, Boom! and IDW comics to the upcoming Catto generation. I also played with my young nephew, explaining the story of Thor (via a Captain Action toy) and blaming the thunderstorm later that night on his mighty hammer. Fans of Greg Rucka’s Lazarus comic will understand when I say that my internal mantra for the weekend was “Family First,” a phrase I borrowed from that outstanding Image series.

reuinon-comic-con-2-2167739I believe that “Comic-Con International,” the event that the rest of the world calls San Diego Comic-Con or #SDCC, is an event with the same kind of reunion magic – generating energy and creativity, support and hope.

I’ve been lucky enough to be involved with Geek Culture for some time now. Business acquaintances have become friends. Favorite artists, writers and publishers, at the core of Pop Culture, have likewise evolved into business acquaintances and friends.

Oh sure, for me SDCC is a time filled with business meetings, panels and interviews. It’s also an opportunity to discover new ideas, new creations and new ways of doing business. But so many of us connect with old and new friends, celebrate shared passions and just hang out.

When I was a Vice President of Strategic Marketing at Reed Elsevier’s Exhibition division, I traveled to conventions across the US and around the world. In most cases, these tradeshows share a congenial element of friends gathering together. Some conventions are more business-like than others. But I don’t think any other industry’s trade show has the unique vibe of Comic-Con. Those other conventions simply don’t have that overwhelming passion baked into the DNA of the exhibitors and attendees at Comic-Con and the connections that come from that passion.

For so many of us, last week’s San Diego Comic-Con was a place to spend time with people that feel like family. Over 130,000 of them. And it was a time to learn news about shared interests and then share it – both within the tribe and beyond to the world at large. But like the mystical cities of Brigadoon or K’un Lun, this magical reunion in San Diego appeared all-too-briefly and then shimmered away. It was a the ideal spot to gather together and I never thought, “Should I stay or should I go?”

 

Categories

Archives

Everything you need to make great comics!

comicmix-pro-300x69-2

Nucleus X

Bookshop Zaks