I just spent my day at this year's Heroes Convention in Charlotte, NC. It runs Fri - Sun, and I plan to be there for all three days. If anyone else on the board attends any of the days, this thread would be a good place for them to comment as well.
For me a good con requires good shopping and good programming. The programming is good this year, despite the lack of an official presence by DC or Marvel. I don't recall Marvel having a booth, but DC has for the last few years at least, and in the past they have made major announcements at the con. I attended two panel discussions today. The first was "Taking Over the Property - The Comic Books," which was devoted to the challenges involved in taking over and re-imagining existing comic book characters. Dustin Harbin (cartoonist & longtime Heroes employee) moderated, and the panelists were Tony Harris, Jim Starlin, and Jeff Parker (subbing for Richard Case). The discussion ranged far afield of the panel topic, with frequent mention given to the short time frame new comics are given to succeed. Harris said that Starman might not have survived in the current environment, because it took a while to find its audience. All the creators agreed that there has always been more creative leeway when the characters involved were "B-list" characters. BTW, Harris also mentioned that he collects WWII memorabilia, and noticed recently that all the major characters he has created wear goggles!
The panel "Cover Art: The Art of the First Impression" was moderated by Dollar Bin's Adam Daughhetee, and the panelists were Adam Hughes, Cliff Chiang, Chrissie Zullo, Skottie Young, and Frank Cho. This was the funniest panel I have ever attended: when Dollar Bin gets the recording of it online I would recommend checking it out. There were some surprising (to me) things the panelists agreed on. First, that it was generally beneficial to not know too much about the issue contents when conceiving the cover. There's a temptation to want to give away the big reveal in the story if you've seen the whole script, or to get bogged down in the details. Second, that everyone really preferred interior work, despite covers being high visibility and easier in many ways. Finally, most of them use the technique of creating a striking image and then cropping it for even more dramatic effect. Cho spent most of the panel creating two images to illustrate this point, then began talking more, and said one outrageous thing after another. Absolutely hilarious.
Shopping this year was a bit limited by the absence of dealers with a huge, comprehensive stock of 50% off TPBs. That's become so common that I have come to expect it. But I still found some good deals, and this was the day I focused on bargain hunting. Here's what I got:
Y: The Last Man Deluxe Edition Vol. 1 (to replace the single issues I bought during the original run; I have TPBs of the rest, and don't feel the need to replace them)
DMZ Vols. 1 & 2 (again single issue replacement), and Vols. 9 & 10 (the two most recent collections I missed while unemployed)
Northlanders Vol. 4 (unemployment again)
Unknown Soldier Vol. 3 (ditto)
House of Mystery Vol. 5 (ditto)
Hellblazer: India (ditto)
Hellblazer: Pandemonium (ditto, 1/2 off hardcover)
Kill Shakespeare Vol. 1 (a title I was interested in for $5)
30 Days of Night: 30 Days 'Til Death (by David Lapham! $5)
American Virgin Vols. 1 & 2 (single issue replacement, plus Becky Cloonan is at the show)
Ted McKeever Library Book 2: Eddy Current The Complete Series (a $35 book for $8)
I also collected a couple of autographs, but no sketches in my sketchbook so far. Scott Hampton signed Books of Magic Part 2 (the original miniseries by Neil Gaiman), the first Lucifer trade (which contains Sandman Presents: Lucifer), and his Solo issue. Nice guy, even though he limited himself to simple signatures. And Evan Dorkin had copies of the Hellboy/Beasts of Burden one-shot for sale, so I bought one and got a nice little dedication and sketch inside.
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I've been saying for the past few years that i want to road trip it up there. This year it happens to fall at the same time as an annual camping trip I take with my friends. But one of these days it'll happen.
Even with the limited presence of dealers, still looks like you got some good deals, Mark.
I've only been to comic cons in my life. A small one in Tallahassee 7 years ago and the big one in San Diego 4 years ago. I love attending them and want to get to another one.
I read your reports every year Mark. One of these I'll be there.
I hope you make it sometime, Jason. We'll have to meet for a beer! Thanks for reading in the meantime.
Today's programming started right after opening with a panel on Wednesday Comics. It was moderated by Swain Hunt, with creators Joe Quiñones, Ryan Sook, Shawn "Cheeks" Galloway, John Arcudi, and Brian Stelfreeze.The wide-ranging discussion covered the pressure of weekly deadlines, dealing with the unusual size of the format, color issues with newsprint, and much more. All of the creators were tremendously excited by the challenge. When they found out who their fellow creators were they all were a bit daunted, but spoke about the healthy creative challenge. Nobody wanted to be the worst artist in the collection! No one involved really expected a collected edition, so that did not impact their creative choices. DCU Editorial Art Director Mark Chiarello not only handled adjusting colors for newsprint, but readjusted them for the collection.
Later in the afternoon there was a Heroes book discussion group devoted to the Fables Cinderella miniseries (mainly the first, but the ongoing second one was covered as well). Moderated by regular discussion leader Andy Mansell, with writer Chris Roberson and cover artist Chrissie Zullo (still living here in Charlotte, but about to move to NYC to be closer to the action). Both creators spoke about the pressure of joining a successful franchise: Roberson knowing he'd be compared to Bill Willingham (this was the first Fables project without Willihgham's name on it), Zullo knowing she would be compared to James Jean (plus it was her first professional job!). Roberson said that he had to get Willingham's permission for any existing Fables characters he wanted to use. It was granted easily for the most part, but don't get him started on Mowgli. Zullo said that several of the cover concepts were suggested by editor Shelly Roeberg. Visual references range from classical painters to Rolling Stone magazine covers. Lots of fun. Get Roberson talking if you get a chance: his stories about Bill Willingham were worth the price of admission all by themselves.
The third and final panel I attended today was "Comics Goes to Movies: Adapted Work," moderated by The Beat's Heidi MacDonald with Roy Thomas (Conan), John Arcudi (The Mask), and Cully Hamner (Red). The creators had varied amounts of involvement with the film adaptations of their comics work. Roy Thomas was hired to consult and write scripts for the Conan films, but often felt his real influence was minimal. He's quite a talker! Lots of stories about the movie biz. Arcudi had almost nothing to do with the filming of The Mask. In fact he's never actually watched the entire movie, just clips during the filming and after. I had no idea he co-created those comics; I've only become aware of his work through BPRD. In contrast, Hamner was kept in the loop about Red: he was sent scripts all through the process. He noted that the film was very different in tone from the book, but thought it worked. He also observed that the marketing for the movie made use of his three-part cover design concept. And he appreciated the opportunity it gave him to write and illustrate a prequel comic.
Less shopping than yesterday, but the haul included:
Greek Street Vol. 2 (this came out while I was unemployed, & I had completely forgotten about it)
Revolver (the Vertigo OGN by Matt Kindt, in hardcover)
Essential Howard The Duck (I've been looking for this for years: it seems to have gone out of print almost immediately)
The Compleat Alice Cooper (a full color compilation of Alice Cooper: The Last Temptation by Neil Gaiman & Michael Zulli)
Pounded (an Oni B&W story by Brian Wood & Steve Rolston)
My big focus today was meeting creators and getting books signed. I caught up with Cliff Chiang, Becky Cloonan, Kristian Donaldson, Craig Hamilton, Carla Speed McNeil, and Bernie Wrightson (to get my limited edition Heroes Con poster signed). All nice folks; I had especially good conversations with Craig Hamilton and Carla Speed McNeil. Cloonan drew Adam Chamberlain of American Virgin in my sketchbook; Hamilton penciled Bigby Wolf from Fables (he's hard at work on the OGN Fables: Werewolves of the Heartland, so he's really got Bigby down), and McNeil did Tara Chace from Queen & Country.
Day 3 began with a very special book discussion with Darwyn Cooke: his second Parker adaptation, The Outfit. As usual we let him do most of the talking, and both Parker GNs were discussed, along with some teasers about the third one. Cooke has wanted to adapt the Parker novels for a long time. He made contact with Donald Westlake's agent several years ago, and received a summary rejection. When editor Scott Dunbier moved from DC to IDW, Cooke suggested the idea to him, and he was able to get the lines of communication open. The process of convincing Westlake that he was sincere and would respect the character took awhile, but Cooke finally got the green light. The novels are short and direct, so Cooke was able to adapt them with very little cutting. He thought of it as editing and illustrating the source text. He talked about the pacing of the books, and how the first is a very different story from the second. The green color used in the first was chosen based on period color guides: there was an avocado tone that was common. The second used blue, and the third will be orange, because it is set in the desert. Cooke never met Westlake in person, but felt he had gotten to know him through the extensive emails they exchanged. He thinks Westlake would have been gratified by the success the GNs have had. The first book was on its way to Westlake when he died. Cooke was overcome by emotion when he told that story, so much so that he had to stop and collect himself. So these stories are very close to his heart. Stylistically they represent the direction he was going with his earlier Slam Bradley stories. They are his most personal work, despite being adapted.
My next panel was a joint interview of Bernie Wrightson and Steve Niles moderated by Adam Daughhetee. They had both participated in a discussion of horror comics at last year's con. They talked about how they met, and past, present, and future projects together. We have Niles to thank for Wrightson's return to comics: he had been away for 10 years, doing movie design work. Their projects to date have tended to have a light tone, with lots of humor. But IDW is about to start publishing a 13-issue series that is a continuation of the Frankenstein story, which is completely serious. Artist Scott Hampton basically hijacked the panel towards the end, when the discussion turned to the role of CGI in current movies. Hampton argued that we all respond to the perception of human effort, which is lacking in CGI. And on some level our brains may not fully accept the "reality" of CGI effects: we know they're not real.
The third panel I attended was "Adapting Licensed Properties to Comics," moderated by Shawn Daughetee and including Roger Langridge (The Muppets), Amy Mebberson (Disney), and James Silvani (Darkwing Duck). Geroges Jeanty was supposed to be there to discuss his work on Buffy, but was a no-show. Bad news for me, because he was the one I most wanted to hear. The panelists all had a surprisingly easy time with licensing issues working on these comics. There were unpleasant surprises, such as discovering that the Muppets and the Muppet Babies are separate licenses. And changes are requested on all sorts of small details in ways that can't be predicted, e.g. the phrase "bacon breath" is apparently not acceptable.
Did a bit of last-minute shopping:
Scalped Vol.7
iZombie Vol. 1
John Constantine, Hellblazer: City Of Demons
These complete all but a few of the TPBs I've had to hold off on during unemployment. I'll be making an online order for the rest, but in the meantime I've got a lot of reading to catch up on.
Thought I'd resurrect this thread, because I ran across another account of the Darwyn Cooke session that hits several points I missed:
One example: on Sunday morning, Heroes panel coordinator Andy Mansell hosted a chat with Darwyn Cooke about the second Parker adaptation, The Outfit. (The panel was an edition of the Heroes Discussion Group, a monthly meeting at the Heroes Aren’t Hard to Find comic store coordinated by Mansell and devoted to close reading and extensive discussion of a chosen graphic novel.) The audience for the Discussion Group was small, but Mansell and members of the audience asked terrific questions, and Cooke responded with frank, articulate opinions.
Here’s a few, in no particular order. Cooke declared that despite his love for the amoral Parker, he believed in the “heroic ideal,” and complained about writers and artists who turn Silver Age superheroes into heroin addicts and wife-beaters. (His actual words were something like, “Mark Millar, get your hands off Jack Kirby’s creations.”) Cooke also choked up two times: while mentioning that Donald Westlake died before seeing The Hunter graphic novel, and while describing the warm rapport he’s since developed with Westlake’s heirs.
During the discussion, Cooke emphasized Parker’s loner status, so I asked him a question about that. In later Parker novels, Westlake has Parker marry a woman named Claire, and they settle down into a bourgeois life together, a life interrupted only when Parker’s out on a heist. How does Cooke feel about the domesticity of the later books? His reaction was decisive: he thought that the introduction of Claire into the series was a mistake, and said that Claire will never appear in the Parker graphic novels.
(from http://thepanelists.org/2011/06/heroes-con-2011-not-all-about-longb...)