Archive for the ‘cons’ Category

Brand New Sandman Comic! (eventually)

July 14th, 2012 by Susie

Watch this.  Do it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GndnR7oSYYk&feature=player_embedded

Announcement

Long time readers of this blog can probably guess how I feel about this.  He doesn’t say when it will come out or if it will be a single issue, a mini series, a maxi series, or a standalone graphic novel.  my vote is for the latter, since after months of anticipation waiting a month between installments would be torture.  Of course I will buy it regardless of format.  I’m very glad he’s giving us another glimpse into this universe.  Sandman is such an important mythology to me, it feels a bit like Homer announcing an untold tale of Odysseus.

 

(By the way, if you are one of the five people who have purchased something from my Redbubble shop, thank you from the bottom of my heart.)

ReadComics Podcast #050 – Cons and stuff

April 24th, 2011 by Martin

In this unstructured podcast, Susie, Marty, Jason and Florence start out by talking briefly about the science fiction convention they all attended this weekend, Minicon, and jump from there to talking about comic book conventions in general and specific. (MCBA‘s SpringCon is right around the corner!) We then discuss the Elfquest fan trailer.

Marty grills Jason’s encyclopedic knowledge of Doctor Who for details and history of Doctor Who comics, and then we discuss The Ten Doctors and the Torchwood Babiez. Jason mentions in passing that there is a podcast about Doctor Who comics. Maybe he’ll post a link in the comments, or you could start your search for it at the Doctor Who Podcast Alliance. We make sure Jason plugs his daily doctor who blog over at Doctor Who Every Day.

Much ado is made about the forthcoming Wonder Woman TV atrocity.

Listen to ReadComics.org Podcast Episode #050 (35 MB, 75 minutes)

Graphic Novel & Comic Book Writing and Illustrating Conference

May 26th, 2010 by Martin

The Loft is hosting a Graphic Novel & Comic Book Writing and Illustrating Conference next month on Saturday, June 19:

Keynote Gene Luen Yang, author of American Born Chinese, the first graphic novel to be nominated for a National Book Award and the first to win the American Library Association’s Printz Award, will lead the way through this one-day conference.

Registration opens Saturday, May 22nd, online at: www.hclib.org

You may also register by phone on or after May 22nd at 952-847-8800.

Sessions will include:

  • Craft talks on illustration and writing
  • Breaking into graphic novels and comic books
  • Zines, self-publication and promotion

    When you register (it’s FREE through some deal with the library), you get to specify which sessions you’re interested in. Aside from the keynote, of course, I’m particularly excited for “Writing for Comic Books & Graphic Novels with Zander Cannon”. I’m signed up, anyone else want to join me? (Thanks to my co-worker Michael for the heads up on this!)

    MarsCon Webcomics Panel

    March 10th, 2009 by Martin

    picture-1Thanks to Jason, I actually knew when MarsCon was this year (for the first time). I went to a few panels, and the highlight of the ones I made it to was the WebComics Panel, with Rob Balder. Rob is the writer for Partially Clips, which I had seen before, and Erfworld, which I hadn’t. I hadn’t been particularly interested in Partially Clips when I discovered it the first time, and a re-visit today confirmed that it’s amusing, but again holds very little interest for me. Erfworld, on the other hand, is now something I’m totally going to devour in little chunks until I catch up to the 131 pages they’ve got in the archives thus far.

    Once I do catch up (and even before), I’ll be using the awesome Piperka to keep track of my progress! Rob mentioned Piperka in the panel, and it’s basically a very light-weight site designed to do nothing more than keep track of your progress in all the webcomics you read. The sweet thing is that it lets you know which comics have new entries since you last visited, making it a perfect one-stop location for webcomic reading.

    Rob (and the other panelists) also mentioned a bunch of other webcomics, including Menage a 3 (which florence and I just read all the way from the beginning–contains mild nudity). If I find more good ones, maybe I’ll post them here also.

    Windy City Comicon

    November 5th, 2008 by jason

    The podcasters at Around Comics (see their link over on the right) decided that they were tired of traipsing all the way out to Rosemont for Wizard World, so they figured, “Hey gang! Let’s put on a show!” Like Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, they threw caution to the wind and did it. And how! 1500 people attended the show, at five bucks a pop.  Things were definitely popping, too.  It reminded me a lot of the local MNCBA conventions we have here, with a bit more focus on the writers and artists.  The layout of the convention kept the focus on the creators, giving them center stage, so to speak.  Unlike many other conventions of this type, the vendors were around the perimeter, with the creators right in front of you as you walked in, and taking up the front center part of the gymnasium where the convention was held.  There was also some gaming available near the back of the gym, with HeroClix tournaments taking place.

    And speaking of Judy Garland, one of the things that I enjoyed in particular about the Windy City Comicon was the venue.  The convention was held at the Center on Halsted, a GLBT community center in Chicago’s Boystown area.  According to the organizers, the space was chosen based on size, cost and proximity.  Me, I just enjoyed the fact that it was in Boystown and afterwards, it was so easy to hit the bars.  Also, most conventions have food options that resemble what you might find at a high school cafeteria with prices comparable to a major league sporting event.  The Center on Halsted is connected to a fully stocked Whole Foods.  Quite possibly the best convention sustenance I’ve ever experienced.

    It looks like the organizers are going to give it a go next year, and I look forward to making this a reason for an annual trip to Chicago.

    ReadComics Podcast #019 – Fallcon 2008

    October 6th, 2008 by Martin

    Florence interviews Marty and Jason who talk about their trip to Fallcon in Saint Paul, MN. (They didn’t have to go far.) Mostly we discuss who we met and talked to, but we also talked about what we bought, including New Warriors, Marvel Civil War, Don Rosa, Metal Men, Machine Man, Straczynski’s run of Dr. Strange, Wormwood, Frank Miller’s Give Me Liberty, and Blackgas written by Warren Ellis. Jason has his picture taken with an Aquaman impersonator. We also talked briefly about books in our pull this week, including No Hero and Top 10 Season Two. Get it while it’s hot.

    Listen to ReadComics.org Podcast Episode #019 (23 MB, 51 minutes)

    Fallcon Reminder

    October 2nd, 2008 by Martin

    Don’t forget that Fallcon is this Saturday and Sunday.

    There are going to be over 200 artists in attendance this time around. It’s FallCon’s 20th anniversary, and they’ve moved into the grandstand on the state fair grounds.

    Those who arrive early will have a chance to get one of these limited edition sketch cards. Other highlights include panels pretty much all day both days, a wedding on Saturday, a free HeroClicks tournament, door prizes, and much, much more!

    The fallcon myspace page has some additional information for those who want to know more.

    MCBA FALLCON COMIC BOOK CELEBRATION
    October 4 & 5, 2008 – 10AM to 5PM Both Days!
    Minnesota State Fairgrounds – In the Grandstand!
    1265 Snelling Avenue – Saint Paul, MN 55108
    20th ANNIVERSARY 1989-2008

    Admission is just $11.00 per adult. Good for both days! Children 9 & under are FREE!
    Get $1.00 Off Your Admission With A Canned Food Shelf Donation!

    4 October is Midwest Comic Book Association Day

    September 20th, 2008 by jason

    Chris Coleman, Mayor of St. Paul, issued a proclamation declaring 4 October to be Midwest Comic Book Association Day this year, to honor the 20th anniversary of FallCon.  I’ve been trying to find a link to the proclamation on either the MCBA’s site or St. Paul’s site, but it’s not up there.  I received the news via MCBA’s mailing list, which included an image of the official proclamation with the city seal and the mayor’s signature.  It’s actually pretty cool to read, with lots of information about all the good things the MCBA has done over the years, like donating food and money to organizations, and how the Twin Cities has a more than average number of comic creators here.

    I’ll keep trying to find a link to the proclamation, and update this when I find one.

    Dr. Horrible panel at Comic-Con

    July 31st, 2008 by Martin

    As someone stuck up here in Minnesota rather than in California for San Diego’s Comic-Con, I basically just have to sit back and watch the news roll in from everybody else. But this report about the panel on Dr. Horrible is just too good not to share. Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion, Felicia Day, Simon Helberg and of course Joss Whedon himself were all present.

    There was much banter — repartee even! — at the expense of scoopage. After an audience member playfully accused Whedon of liking to kill off his female characters, Harris deadpanned, “You do kill a lot of chicks.” Retorted Whedon, “I have two tricks. You’re either out, or your dead.” Fillion, meanwhile, cracked some choice phallic “Captain Hammer” jokes, then claimed that Harris, vis-a-vis Doogie Howser, invented the blog. And Harris? He claimed he didn’t recall said show, referring to that time in his life as his “heroin years.”

    But there were a few revelations among the revelry. On the ever-enduring Buffy front, we learned:
    • Joyce Summers had Whedon’s favorite death on Buffy. Said Whedon: It was “the most time I got to spend with something that close to me.” Awww.
    • Oz will return to Dark Horse’s most-excellent Buffy comic(!).
    • Willow was basically outed only because Oz left the show.
    • And, no, Whedon was never going make Xander gay.

    And in Dr. Horrible news:
    • Harris did some of his own MTV Cribs-like choreography in the musical, including that beloved shoulder shimmy in the second act.
    • While filming, Whedon sang as Hammer to Felicia’s character. And cowriter Maurissa Tancharoen has it on tape.
    • They’re hosting a contest for “Evil League of Evil” video submissions that are no longer than three minutes. The top 10 will be on the Dr. Horrible DVD.
    • The Dr. Horrible soundtrack will be available for download in a couple of weeks.
    • Lastly, if you want to be an agent of doom, and rock an iPhone, you too can log onto the very same interface Doc Horrible used in the film at www.thesoftwire.com/horrible_remote.html.

    Pretty cool, huh? Here is more coverage of the panel including a video, and confirmation that Whedon said there will be more Dr. Horrible.

    More comic-con news: EW’s Popwatch, Wizard’s SDCC news central, and finally Newsarama’s coverage guide. There’s tons more where that came from, but who has time to read it all?

    Wizard World Chicago photos

    July 19th, 2008 by Martin

    Comic Book PodcastersWe’ve talked a bit about Wizard World on the podcast, and I’ve mentioned it some in the various blog entries since then, but I wanted to just post this photo of us with some of the other Comic Book podcasters we met in Chicago.

    From left to right this is Florence, Myself (Marty), Sean Whelan (from Raging Bullets), Chris Neseman (from Around Comics), Jim Segulin (also from Raging Bullets), Matt Kramer’s wife, Matt Kramer (from Shade’s Journal), Mike, Jason (poking his head up over Mike’s shoulder), and Susie.

    There are some other photos from the trip posted on flickr.

    Convergence Sci-Fi Con THIS weekend!

    July 3rd, 2008 by Martin

    What with Wizard World last weekend (still writing an in-progress wrap-up about that), you might think we’re all a bit conned out, but it turns out a glimpse of the panel list for this weekend’s impending 10th anniversary of Convergence science fiction convention has me all excited to get down to that hotel! There’s even a panel at 8pm tonight titled “Censorship in Comics – The Past and Future”, that features, among other folks, Mark Evanier (of Groo fame!), and Bernie Wrightson.

    Our very own Jason will be appearing in the “GLBT SF&F that Everyone Should Read” panel that starts at 9:30 pm TONIGHT.

    The full list of special guests this year is especially impressive. Other comic book panelists include John Kovalic, Len Wein, Greg Weisman and Marv Wolfman.

    ReadComics Podcast #010 – From Chicago

    June 23rd, 2008 by Martin

    Our podcast tonight came to you from Susie’s living room in Chicago, recorded on Marty’s iPhone.

    We talk about Wizard World extensively (duh), Wonder Woman, Warren Ellis, FreakAngels, Batman: Gotham Knight, Madman, The Filth, Grant Morrison, jason’s love of Image Comics (and Zombies), x-men, Chicago comic book shops: Brain Storm (and the Comic Book Queers Podcast) & Dark Tower (and the Around Comics Podcast), Jason’s green skin fetish (mostly for Hulkling and Changeling), Karate Kid and Ralph Macchio, (but not Ralph Macchio the Marvel Editor, the not the Karate Kid from Legion), and a bouncing zombie jesus f-ing christ.

    Listen to ReadComics.org Podcast Episode #010 (37.4 MB, 1:21 hours)

    Microcon Comic Book Convention

    April 11th, 2008 by Martin

    I’ve been to this for a few years now. Microcon, as with most, or possibly even all comic book conventions, is really just a giant comic book sale. There will be tons of “dealers” who have their wares for sale. There will also be tables set up with artists who also have their books for sale, (or sometimes not), but who will usually be happy to sign their stuff for you. If you haven’t been to something like this before, it’s pretty fun if you like looking through bins of comic books, or meeting comic book creators.

    MICROCON COMIC BOOK CONVENTION
    SUNDAY APRIL 27, 2008 – 10AM TO 4PM
    MINNESOTA STATE FAIRGROUNDS – PROGRESS CENTER
    1621 RANDALL AVE – ST. PAUL, MN 55108

    Email update from The Source (links you don’t want to follow)

    February 27th, 2008 by Martin

    (Believe me, you don’t want to follow either of the links in this post. Both of the websites appear to be run by a five day old monkey.)

    1. The Source is our local (awesome) comic book shop. Their latest mass email was the inspiration for this post. They are having a midnight release next week for the new Dark Tower series. They’ll be open from 10pm to 1am next tues/wed. They don’t mention if they’ll have all of that wednesday’s new comics for sale, or just the Dark Tower issue. They do mention: “Who knows what other specials we’ll have at this event?” (As of this writing, the source’s website does appear to be “down”, as when you go there, you get a directory listing. Maybe they’re inviting us to look through their files?)

    2. The email also plugged the relatively far-off Microcon, which is a local comic “con” (read: giant vendor sale with some creators –mostly locals– also present) that is slated for Sunday April 27, 2008. This website is slightly more bearable in that it is actually a website. It doesn’t have any information about upcoming conventions though, only the ones that were held last year.