This Week in Comics (My Pull List 6-5-24)

You’ve heard me whine about “Comic Book Conventions” that aren’t really about comic books. The conventions that focuses more on the celebrities than comics. I think it all started with San Diego Comic Con when they started bringing in Stars from TV and Movies for panels and got boatloads of national press for the announcements made in Hall H or Ballroom 20. Every other Con decided that Celebrities were a draw beyond the comic geek and they saw dollar signs. Can’t afford to go out the SDCC, or can’t even get a ticket? Come to your local Con and see people who are sorta kinda famous. My most recent example would be Indiana Comic Con, in which almost everyone there solely attended to see someone who only tangentially was related to comics. I’m all for Cons bringing in stars, especially since for a lot of celebrities this is their way to bring in money charging for autographs and photo ops. As I have said before, call it what it is- which is not a “Comic Con.”

I have heard about a few select Cons that have stuck to being a “Comic Con” a celebration of the art of comics. A2CAF (Ann Arbor Comic Arts Festival) in Michigan is an all ages con that celebrates comics for kids and if you have the chance I highly recommend it. CXC (Cartoon Crossroads Columbus) in Ohio is also a fantastic con all about celebrating the Cartoon Arts, not specifically all ages, but still an amazing convention… both of these are free.

Next weekend I’m heading to another con that will be a new experience to me, HeroesCon in Charlotte, North Carolina. I haven’t attended this one in the past, because I usually would be at A2CAF or Brickworld in Chicago. For the record, HeroesCon is not free, but it is cheaper than many of those cons that have a bunch of photo ops and celebrities. Behold the power of MATH – 3 days at HeroesCon = 1 day at New York Comic Con this is before calculating hotels, and food.

I’m curious about what I will say in my post con blog, because right now there are some things I find rather exciting. First- I haven’t seen a single post, about a “celebrity” attending. All the announcements have to do with artists, writers, and creators of comics. There are a lot of them (around 400), most you wouldn’t know… but I do I currently have over 15 artists on my short list that I want to see. These are people I am in awe of what they have created. Some aren’t as famous as others, but to me… WOW. I usually get lost in Artist Alley at cons that have relatively small artist alleys- I’m afraid I may never get out- which is why I have a short list. Some are people I am picking things up from, others are people I really would like to get something signed by.

Secondly, the list of panels and presentations mostly deal with the process of making comics. Drawing, lettering, writing, an opportunity to listening to some of the best of the best in their field talk about the art of making comics. No sessions dealing with the last TV show or movie, nothing about reflecting on the last season of some show or or Anime. They have professors from SCAD teaching sessions on comics! Sign me up!

Finally, while it can be a big draw for many people, cosplay doesn’t seem to be a prime focus. I like seeing people dressed up as their favorite characters, but most of the time these come from media other than comics. At HeroesCon it seems they spotlight 50 cosplayers each day to walk across the stage and show what they have created, along with sessions on making things to enhance your cosplay. What I noticed (and was pleased by) was the weapon policy which includes vendors. Most “Comic Cons” have people selling various swords and martial arts weapons. You pass by multiple booths full of swords, throwing stars, and the like. My brother at New York Comic Con bought one (or two). I’m looking forward to walking through the exhibit hall and not having to deal with weaponry lining the shelves. Will there be light sabers of various kinds? I don’t know, probably, but I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it. Again, the draw seems to be COMIC BOOKS and art, because it is a COMIC CON. 😳

This Week’s Comics

I Hate Fairyland #15 – Or should we just call it Gertzilla minus One? So After completely annihilating Fairyland with Gertlins, Gert decides to become part of the solution, not the problem? Will she succeed is wiping out the scourge of gertlins and save the world? Will science, magic, and technobabble combine to help?

Love Everlasting #15 – The story so far… Joan falls in love, and questions if love is really everything that it’s cracked up to be. Before she can discover the answer, she is killed by an unknown cowboy. This happens throughout time and really throws a damper on her relationships. We have learned so far that the cowboy is actually in love with her, but it’s a dirty job and someone has to kill her (over and over and over again). He kidnaps her one more time to save her from her fate only to… but there’s a twist… she’s French, which of course makes it all OK, because… c’est la vie!

Sons of Star Trek #15 (ok, it’s really #3, but I didn’t want to ruin the pattern we had started 🙄) – SO our heroes are caught in the middle of a war with the Breen, and QJ has somehow lost his powers. We discover more about the crew and how they are different from those that we remember. We also learn a bit more about this alternate universe what is different in the very fabric of the universe. Nog, Alexander, and Jake start to figure things out, but is it too little too late? Who will live? Who will die? maybe the next issue will shed some light on things.

Batman #148 – Winter is coming… OK, maybe not winter, but a storm of sorts. Batman and the Bat Family reunite to fight Zur-En-Arrh and hopefully save the psychotic villains from being reprogrammed into upstanding citizens. No psychotic villains then Bruce Wayne will need to find a new hobby! The army comes in to help with things. Thank you Amanda Waller- Hmmm… maybe I know which Batman title is part of the current DC continuity- then again on time and following the summer blockbuster

My Adventures with Superman # 1 – I’m old and don’t pay for every streaming service. Which that said, I haven’t been watching the Cartoon that has gotten some good reviews, so I when the comic came out, I decided to check it out. I’m sure I’m missing some connections to the cartoon, but the basic story of Superman/Clark Kent trying to save everyone and deal with a new villain that seems to be part parasite and part Amazo has got me thinking I need to read the next issue- I just hope I remembered to put it on my pull list.

Amazing Spider-Man # 51 (Tony Harris Cover) – Peter Parker is now Spider-Goblin? He’s going after the Sinister Six while Norman (Mr. O), tries to play sane and normal… What about the now walking brain and his cadre of scientists? Who are they bringing in to help Peter from going completely off the deep end?

The Ultimates #1 – In the ultimate universe you had their version of the Avengers called “the Ultimates.” In this new version after the Maker was able to stop most heroes from being created (Accident + Radioactivity = Super Powers if you take out either the accident or the radioactivity you get nothing) Can heroes (thought of as terrorists- remember history is written by the winners) gather together who they need to stop the evil running the world? Great first issue recapping what happened to get us to this point and setting us up for even more.

Amazing Spider Man #51 (Skottie Young Cover) – Peter Parker is now Spider-Goblin? He’s going after the Sinister Six while Norman (Mr. O), tries to play sane and normal… What about the now walking brain and his cadre of scientists? Who are they bringing in to help Peter from going completely off the deep end?
Yes, I did cave and buy two copies of this issue (curse variant covers!) One is an amazing cover done by one of my favorites- Tony Harris, and the other is done by another one of my favorites- Skottie Young. Completely different take, both are really amazing. Both on my HeroesCon short list. Sometimes, you do need two of the same comic, I’m not enough of a completist that I’ll ever need 33 copies of the same comic, but two isn’t that bad. The question is do I bring them to HeroesCon to get signed?