Mr. Marx Goes To Chicago!

 

Guide To Chicago:  My quick look at the city of Chicago.

COSTUME BREAK!:  Pics of costumed madness and a few booth pics too.

Panel Time: Some of the ‘edutainment’ panels that I attended.

A Look At The Indy Books:  Some of the great books that I picked up.

BOOTH BREAK!:  A bunch of pics of creators and actors at their booths.

News:  All the news announcements you can handle in one sitting.

Final Thoughts:  Hmmm…what do you think it's about?

 

As you may have noticed, a new The marX Files didn’t pop up last week.  This wasn’t due to laziness on my part (that’s my story and I’m sticking to it), but because I was at Chicago Comic-Con (booyah!) along with more than 58,000 attendees.  I took a few photos, went to some panels and talked to as many talented creators that I could.

 

I wasn’t the only PBRer there.  You can check out Chuck Kennedy’s write-up here (after you finish mine, of course)…day 1, day 2 and pictures.

 

Guide To Chicago

 

So, first is Marx’s quick guide to Chicago.

 

Four things I learned about Chicago:

 

1. I love the Chicago accent.
2. No one in Chicago knows how to make tea (yuck).
3. Dr. Pepper (or Mr. Pibb) does not exist in Chicago (the horror).
4. Traffic is TERRIBLE in Chicago and it turns people into raving lunatics.

 

So, don’t order the tea.  Bring your own Dr. Pepper.  Bring a wig, because you may pull all of your hair out trying to drive there.  Once you arrive, park your car and DO NOT move it until you are ready to leave the city.

 

With that said, I did enjoy some of the restaurants.  Especially this one that you have to drive to (huh, but you just said…) called A La Turka Turkish Kitchen.  An awesome little restaurant with great food, a fun atmosphere and even has belly dancing performances.  A must to check out, unless you hate Turkish food or belly dancers (the horror).

 

Now, back to this thing called Chicago Comic-Con.  I rushed all over the place and talked to some really talented people.

COSTUME BREAK!

 

I didn’t take nearly as many pictures as I would have liked, but here are some of the best ones I took.  I will make up for it at the next convention, promise.

3-2-1-FIGHT!

The X-Women have arrived!

Snarf!  I see a Thundercat.

Poison Ivy is in the house!

These ladies can tell me Grimm Fairy Tales anytime.

Boo!

Go Go Power Ranger!

“In brightest day, in darkest night, no evil shall escape my sight!”

 

Panel Time

 

I enjoy the publisher panels, but I really like some old fashioned ‘edutainment.’  The Wizard Room was all about that, so I attended some of the ‘classes.’

1        Marketing 101 was taught by Top Cow President and marketing expert Matt Hawkins.  Man, this guy can talk fast.  Matt covered a great deal in an hour.  Actually, it ran over 15-20 minutes.  I have read quite a bit about marketing comics, but Matt did an excellent job covering what I already knew and adding a bunch of detail that was news to me.  Very informational.  But what is up with comic book creators cursing?  Matt tried his best, because he knew that there was a kid in the class, but he still slipped a few words out.  At every panel I went to, comic book creators cursed like wannabe sailors.  They are a bunch of curse-alochics I tell ya! ;-)

2        Comic Book Writing: Soup To Nuts was taught by Paul Jenkins.  You gotta love that british accent, every curse word sounds 10 times funnier when it is spoken with it.  This class was very informational and thought provoking.  Paul went through his process of writing a comic book.  He also entertained with a side story about his recent bout of heroism when he tried to save his pet rat as a tornado hit his house.

 

A Look At The Indy Books

 

Now let’s get to the various publishers, writers and artists.

 

I picked up mucho books at the convention and will review all (vision blurry…going blind...help me), but expect it to take 2-3 weeks to get through all of these great books.  I talked to so many folks that it started to blur after awhile, but I had tons of fun.  I was really surprised by how many great independent creators are out there.

 

I have skimmed through a few, so I’ll highlight some of my favorites so far.

 

General Jack Cosmo Presents #1

Publisher:  Crucial Crisis Comix

This book is crazy fun!  It is a $2 ‘preview’ issue, but was the darn best preview comic I’ve read in a long time.  It wasn’t just a wild mix of preview pages; this baby is a 56 page full-color anthology book.  It follows the lead character General Cosmo (an aging hero that is part Adam Strange and part…hmm not sure…I guess Blue Devil because of the devil costume motif he has going) as he segue ways, with a “reminds of this one story,” into other tales about Hadrian Hilliard the Gentleman Barbarian, a Wild West horror tale called Incident Under A Silver Moon, and finally an 8-page preview of American Eagle and The Golden Star (about two retired heroes on a road trip across America).  It has everything: gorillas with two brains, cowboys, zombies, werewolves, superheroes, undead Martian warriors, etc.  I will give you one warning, it is gory.  It is more of a ‘comedic gore’ type of thing (Evil Dead, Jason vs. Freddy) than a realistic and gritty type of gore.  So, probably not a good read for kiddies or those with squeamish stomachs.  But if you don’t fall into those two groups, then pick this baby up if you see it at a convention near you and keep your eyes open for the upcoming line of books from Crucial Crisis Comix.

 

The Sire #1

Publisher:  After Shock Comics

You may have already heard of this one.  I know I did, which is a great compliment to whoever is handling the marketing for this book.  This independent book is a solid superhero tale with a twist; the hero is forced to be a hero by his costume.  To complicate things further a bunch of escaped criminals are also given powers and have an overwhelming urge to kill The Sire.  Someone is pulling the strings, which adds a cool mystery to a well written and well drawn superhero book. 

 

It is rare for a superhero book to stand out, but this one does.  The last non-Big Two superhero book that stood out to me was Invincible, and look where Kirkman is now.  I wouldn’t be surprised if writer Michael Dolce (if he can keep this up) sees a similar fate.  The only thing holding this book back is that it isn’t with a larger publisher like Image.  Hopefully, though, The Sire will be able to overcome this obstacle. 

 

Hack/Slash: Slice Hard Preview

Publisher: Devil’s Due Publishing

This $0.25 issue is a prelude to the upcoming Slice Hard story.  It has Cassie’s origin for the uninitiated, behind-the-scenes info, and gives us a quick story with a twist that leads into Slice Hard.  If you haven’t read Hack/Slash yet (why haven’t you?), then this is the perfect starting point.  Hack/Slash is one of my favorite comic book titles right now, and it is my absolute favorite from Devil’s Due.  Let’s hope that the movie does it justice.

 

Unknown Comics Preview Issue

Publisher:  Unknown Comics

 

Unknown Comics is a new company from Illinois that made its premiere at Chicago Comic-Con.  They seem like a friendly and talented bunch with ambitious goals.  I picked up their preview copy which has preview pages from the various upcoming books (Superstar, Strikeforce: USA) and interviews with the creators. 

 

It will be an uphill battle for them in this competitive environment, but they have a few things going for them.  They have some really neat concepts, good art and a shared universe.  Some readers say they hate shared universes, but that isn’t what their spending says.  Personally I like books in a shared universe (Valiant, Crossgen, Marvel, DC).  But it won’t be easy for them.  It wasn’t long ago when Devil’s Due Publishing’s shared superhero universe Aftermath failed.  Hopefully Unknown Comics can show Devil’s Due how it should have been done.

 

I like their tagline:  The Future of Comics is Unknown

 

The Guardian Line Preview Issue #0

Publisher:  Urban Ministries, Inc.

I also picked up Guardian Line’s preview book.  Guardian Line had a gigantic booth and it looks like they hope to hit the comic book market in a big way.   The book had preview pages from Joe and Max, Code, and Genesis 5.

 

The Good:  The art and production quality looks solid.  Lots of minority characters (mostly black), which is always a plus in a market that tends to often favor WASPish characters.  It is faith-based, which will help reach out to a whole new market.  The books are for different age groups, which should also help reach new younger readers.

 

The Bad:  It is faith-based.  I know, I know, I just said it was a good thing, but Christianity has taken some big hits the last few years.  I’m Christian, and even I’m a little uncomfortable with how some Christian groups act.  I’m guessing that the faith-based concept is going to shy away many who are afraid that the books will be too preachy.  I hate saying that, but the faith-based angle will be both a blessing (I couldn’t pass that up) and a curse.

 

Either way, these books will probably be helpful for the overall comic book market.  Why?  Because even if The Guardian Line ultimately fails, they will have introduced a large number of African Americans, Christians and kids to comic books.  That is a good thing either way.

 

Others…

 

Here are some others that look interesting, but I haven’t gotten to read yet.

 

Absolute Zeroes #2 from Ronin Studios

Bubba the Redneck Werewolf from Brass Ball Comics

Ezra: Egyptian Exchange TPB from Arcana

Freaks N Squeeks by the Marvelous Patric

Kade: Identity TPB from Arcana

Metadawn #1.0 & 1.2 from Powerful Press

Nocturnal Essence #1 & 2 from Powerful Press

 

BOOTH BREAK!

 

Here are some pics I took at various booths.

David Peterson uber-creator of Mouse Guard

The talented uber-artist Jeremy Dale (Absolute Zeroes) and his wife Kelly

The uber-friendly guys of Unknown Comics

The creative team of the uber-excellent Athena Voltaire

The uber-talented creative team of The Sire

The uber-booth squad of Moonstone Publishing

James Bond villain Jaws (aka Richard Kiel)

Dirk Benedict - the male Starbuck of Battlestar Galactica and Faceman on A-Team

 

News

There were a number of great panels with news announcements.  So, here is a quick breakdown of some the news that was announced proudly to an adoring fan base:

 

Marvel

• Paul Jenkins jokingly vowed that Speedball would be dead by Civil War: Frontline: #10.
• New book X-23: Target X will be written by Craig Kyle and art by Mike Choi.
• Kaare Andrews’ The Spider will now be called Spider-Man: Reign.
• Marvel is publishing a prequel comic to the video game Demons of Mercy.
• A sneak peak of the upcoming ongoing series The Immortal Iron Fist written by Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction with art by David Aja.
• Peter David talked about his five-issue Wonder Man: My Fair Supervillian mini-series.  The mini-series is about Wonder Man trying to retrain villainess Ladykiller into a heroine.
• New What If books - What If? Avengers Disassembled, What If? Wolverine: Enemy of the State, What If? Spider-Man: The Other, What If? Age of Apocalypse and What If? X-Men: Deadly Genesis.
• Peter David also talked about 1603: Fantastic Four, a “high seas adventure” about Dr. Doom kidnapping Shakespeare and the Fantastic Four trying to rescue him.
• The Sam Loeb Auction brought in around $72,050.
• Loeb said “yes” when asked if Ultimate Taskmaster will ever appear.
• Loeb also told fans that the Ultimate Defenders will return “…but be careful what you ask for.”
• Loeb said that the team in Ultimates 3 will not be the same team in Ultimates 2, due to death and personal changes that that the characters go through.
• Marvel announced an Ultimate Wolverine mini-series by Jeph Loeb and Micheal Turner, which takes place half in the past and half in the present.  Expect it sometime in 2007.
• New Avengers #26 will be the return of Hawkeye and Scarlet Witch.
• Expect an Illuminati five issue min-series starting in November by Brian Bendis, Brian Reed and Jim Cheung.
• Marvel announced the return of the “No-Prize.”  Winners will receive a scan of an empty envelope in their email.  They may also be listed on the Marvel Heroes Hotspot page.
• Cebulski and Skottie Young are working on a Legend of the Spider-Clan 48-page one-shot.
• The HALO ongoing series should start in March or April 2007.

 

DC

• Jeff Smith’s Shazam and the Monster Society of Evil begins in December.
• The Emperor Joker storyline will be in TPB in 2007.
• Seven Soldiers #1 should be out in October.
• Brian Wood announced his new Vertigo series about Vikings called Northlanders (mid 2007 release). 
• Brian Wood has been given a new two-year contract with DC.  Ditto for Peter Gross.
• Jason Aaron has a new ongoing Vertigo series called Scalped, a modern-day crime drama set on an Indian reservation.

 

Top Cow

• Top Cow showed previews of the Witchblade anime currently airing in Japan, the trailer for The Covenant film and the trailer for the upcoming The Darkness video game (due out in early 2007).
• Top Cow will release six comics that tie into the upcoming The Darkness game.  Level 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 each tells the story related to the corresponding level from the game.  Paul Jenkins wrote the game and is writing Level 0.
• A new ongoing Darkness series will be released in 2007 if the game does well.
• The Witchblade anime series will travel to America via Funimation in early 2007.  There are 26 episodes with adult themes, so be sure to turn out the lights and make sure the kids are in bed.  The anime is set in 2100AD in Japan.  Funimation is eyeing a possible cable release with either Adult Swim, Spike or G4.  Either way, there will be the DVDs.
• Two Witchblade feature films are still in the works and will be shot back to back in China.  Current release dates are 2008 and 2009.
• Top Cow is hoping to do a Top Cow/Marvel crossover with Necromancer, hoping to rejuvenate interest in the character.
• March 2007 is the release date for Paul Dini’s Madame Mirage with art by Kenneth Rocafort.
• Top Cow showed an anime trailer for Aphorodite IX.  Top Cow has signed a deal to produce an original animated Aphorodite IX feature and videogame.
• The Wanted screenplay is complete and Timur Bekmambetov was named director.

 

Aspen

• A new untitled Aspen series by writer J.T. Krul and artist Francisco Hererra was announced for a Spring 2007 release.
• The character Kiani from Fathom will have her own series to be released early next year.
• The new Soulfire: Dying of the Light TPB will available in September.

 

Final Thoughts

 

Well, that wraps up most of what I experienced at Chicago Comic-Con (that’s my story and I’m sticking to it).  I will have detailed reviews out in the next few weeks on all of the books that I picked up.  I learned one important thing at the convention: there is no shortage of talent in this industry, but they can not succeed unless we buy their books.  So all of you who complain about how you would buy something non-Big Two if there was something good offered.  Guess what?  There are great non-Big Two books out there already.  So stop complaining and start buying.

 

Until next time...Marx out.