This Year at Phoenix Comicon…

This was my first year ever at Phoenix Comicon and it was a blast!

I spent most of my days at my table with Christian, the other half of Validation

Christian at the table we shared. The table is covered in comic books and art.

We sold out of copies of Validation by early Sunday afternoon, which is awesome! And I sold out of bookmarks not once, but twice. I even sold out of one of my really old art prints (I’m glad they sold. I’ve been wanting to find them good homes for years).

While at the con I saw my first ever Dalek with a voice box and rotating head…

Dalek rolls around the convention floor.

 

I also got the chance to meet my readers, which was fantastic. I even met new readers, including these girls:

three girls read copies of Validation.

There was also dinner at the Hyatt restaurant and enjoying the nighttime view of the city.

The restaurant itself rotated. It was the first ever rotating floor I ever dined on and it was…surreal.

And creepy.

And sort of terrifying when you’re drunk.

night time view of Phoenix

I also got the chance to have lunch with two guys from Team Four Star. They were really cool people. Later on I got to ask them a question at a panel they hosted. Realistically, theirs was the only panel I was interested in going to that entire weekend. I’m glad I went!

The entire time I was at the con, I was meeting comic artists and former TV producers over dinner, talking to really cool fans, and I even got interviewed twice!

The folks over at Watch Play Read and Land of the Nerds were kind enough to interview Christian and myself at the con. They should be up online soon.

Christian and I will also be appearing in other interviews. I’ll post links when they’re ready for sharing.

Phoenix Comicon treated everyone really well. The complaints were few and far between. Mostly we (the creators and guests) were all excited for the VIP lounges and the food the con provided for us.

The quickest way into my heart is with food, and Phoenix Comicon has won me over.

They had a bowl full of blueberries and it took all of my willpower not to just grab the whole thing and walk off.

Also in their guest lounges, they had toys and games on the tables and you could just take them.

companion cube from portal was a prize in the lounges.
Why yes! I will take a Companion Cube. Don’t even ask!

That’s how I got a Companion Cube and a copy of J.R.R. Tolkien’s translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

And a dinosaur hand puppet.

I love dinosaurs, in case you can’t tell.

T-Rex Sissy Fight

 

This past weekend was one of the best weekends I have had in (what historians would call) a long. Ass. Time.

I’ve been sending thank-you messages to the people I met at the con and I still feel like it’s not enough.

The love I felt while I was there was immense. Not just the love for Validation or Johnson & Sir (but there was a lot of that, too!).

There was just such a love for comics and art and pop culture and it was so energizing and inspirational to see the enthusiasm and love everywhere.

Everyone was awesome.

I’m hoping to make it back to Phoenix Comicon next year.

Phoenix Comicon is Here!

Today was the first day of Phoenix Comicon and I had a blast seeing everyone there! (I need to take more pictures).

Thanks to everyone who pre-ordered Validation already!

box of copies of Validation Comicon Special

Also, by popular demand, the T-Rex Sissy Fight is being printed tonight and will be sold the rest of the weekend!

T-Rex Sissy Fight

You’re all awesome. Seriously. Thank you for your support!

Comics Are Literature. Period.

I was reading through my comics news feed and came across an article, called “But Where Are The Conservative Mangas and Graphic Novels?”

The gist is that the writer found an article about conservative folks catching on that comics can spread ideas for political gain. There are already plenty of comics out there by folks who would consider themselves liberal. I still remember shelving comic books about President Obama and John McCain when I worked at the Browne Popular Culture Library.

However, the article goes on to mention the comments. That’s what got to me.

There were comments essentially boiling down to, “Them there liberals don’t like it when their kids can read!” And worse, “Comic books are not literature, and it’s not elitist to think so.”

I’m going to ignore the politically charged comments right now to focus on comics as literature.

I won’t lie. When I grew up, I thought comics were sort of dumb.

I lived in a village of less than 200 people. The library was a ten mile drive away. The only comics they carried were collections of newspaper comic strips. I never read a Marvel or DC comic until I was twenty years old.

However, the pubilc library carried one anomaly in its comics collection. I don’t know how they got this book but I’m glad they did.

It was Gundam Wing: Episode 0.

That was my first exposure to longer and more serious comics. And it changed my life.

For the first time ever, I saw that comics were like any other book. They can tell complex stories. They can have high drama. They can have glorified violence.

Hell, comics can tell any story they wanted.

When my family and I moved out of the village, we moved to a town of around 20,000 people. To make up for the culture shock, I started working at the public library there.

That was around the time that libraries noticed graphic novels were really, really popular with readers. So the local library’s graphic novel collection was fantastic. And every week there was something new. Actually, three new graphic novels a week came in sometimes.

I devoured everything in their collection, from Blankets to Paradise Kiss. I read comics that told autobiographies. Science fiction. Romance. Comedy. Fantasy. War. Shakespeare. Anything and everything was encompassed in comics.

And I loved it.

Now, the stereotype is that people who read comics can’t read “normal books” (ugh, don’t get me started on “normal”). Or worse, people who read comics are lazy and are terrible students.

I am not ashamed to admit I was an overachiever in high school. 4.2 GPA, clubs, a part-time job to save money for college (it sort of worked).

I was not lazy. So that stereotype doesn’t apply.

The other stereotype is that comic book readers can’t read “works of literature.”

And my favorite non-comic books?

I have a long list that includes 1984 by George Orwell, BeowulfThe Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield, and Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut.

I’m such a nerd for Slaughterhouse-Five that I want to make it a graphic novel.

You could argue that I know these books because I’m a former librarian, but no. That’s not the case at all.

You could argue that reading comics was a stepping stone to reading these literary classics.

That’s not the case, either.

I read comics, graphic novels, and books because they all satisfy my need to read and engage in the world.

Books, fiction or non-fiction, are gateways into the world. They are windows to show us life and how to grow as human beings. How to empathize. How to love. How NOT to love.

Comic books and graphic novels are just a way to tell those stories.

Some people are great with words. They can write the best novels and make great pieces of literature.

I argue that there are many comics that do the same thing.

Is there trash in comics?

Yes. There’s trash in novels, too (Twilight and The Pillars of the Earth included).

But just because some works are lackluster doesn’t mean the entire medium needs to be discounted.

Comics are a valuable medium. We need comics to tell us stories just as much as we need books.

And besides, who are we to say what’s trash? I know people that actually like Twilight and I still respect them as people. Those books are a treasure to them just as much as Maus or Koko Be Good are treasures to me.

My point is, it’s not the medium that counts. It’s the story it conveys and what that story means to its reader.

For me, though, comics will always win. For me, comics are the best and most entertaining way to tell a story.

That’s why I make them. That’s why I write about them.

So what about you? What are some of your favorite books, comics or otherwise? Let me know in comments!

Favorite Artist Friday: Akira Toriyama

In a startling turn of events, I’m trying a new segment for the blog: featuring my favorite artists on Fridays. Friends of mine will make the list occasionally, but I want to include some big (and maybe not-so-big) names.

This week I want to talk about my first favorite artist, Akira Toriyama.

Here in the United States, anybody who hears the name can name one project of his immediately: Dragonball Z.

tumblr_me2olkc70M1rkvv45o1_500

I already wrote all about my experiences with the series in an older post. So I won’t talk too much about it except to say that Dragonball Z was an influence on me early on in life, and it and its prequel, Dragonball, are still my favorite comics to read.

However, let’s talk about Akira Toriyama’s first hit manga, called Dr. Slump.

220px-DrSlump1Dr. Slump was the first manga of Toriyama-sensei’s I ever read, to tell you the truth. I saw Dragonball Z on TV but never read the original manga until I came across an abandoned Shonen Jump magazine in high school. But back to Slump.

I loved Dr. Slump immediately. I loved the outrageous jokes, the characters, the whimsical and playful art, and the pacing (which was brilliant).

Once I finished the first volume, I went ahead and got Dragonball the manga and devoured it, and then moved on to Dragonball Z.

Where do I start with my love for Toriyama-sensei’s work?

I want to start with an under-appreciated aspect of comics-making: pacing.

Toriyama paces his work very well starting in Dr. Slump. Once he gets into Dragonball Z is when his pacing and his sense of timing are really shining through. I think part of why he’s good at this is because he’s primarily a joke-teller. Telling jokes is all about timing, and Toriyama does it well. He carries this skill over into the actual story, and he KNOWS how to keep the reader hooked and waiting for the next chapter in suspense. Toriyama is brilliant that way.

His rendering skills are excellent. I’ve seen quite a few posters he’s done and his ability to draw anything floors me. From dinosaurs to one-wheeled motorcycles, he can draw pretty much whatever he wants and can get away with it.

Another thing I like about his comics: he has a diverse cast of characters in all of his works, and just about all of them are believable people. The primary example I can think of is his cast in Dragonball and Dragonball Z. Let’s take quick stock:

There’s a shape-shifting pig, a desert thief, a teenage girl scientist prodigy, a little person, a three-eyed man, a green alien, a friggin’ prince, and that’s just the main characters! There is a huge cast of unusual people and creatures, especially in Dragonball, where sometimes half of all the characters are some kind of talking animal.

That’s what inspires me the most about Toriyama-sensei: his imagination.

The way he gets these crazy ideas and just writes and draws them to his heart’s content makes me happy. Anytime I feel down and Marc the Boyfriend is not around, I grab a book by Akira Toriyama and it cheers me up right away. Sometimes I just leaf through his books to read his silly onomatopeias (in Dragonball, they ride in a boat and it makes the sound “BOOOOOOAT”) or to check out his crazy facial expressions.

Most of all, I appreciate what Toriyama does with his art – tell jokes and share interesting, ridiculous stories about over-the-top characters.

That’s why Akira Toriyama is one of my favorite artists ever.

I’m Moving Back to Ohio Soon

Montezuma's Castle
Montezuma’s Castle

I need to share this big news with you.

Right now, I’m in Arizona.

Let me say first that I love being here. I love being able to freelance and enjoy the weather and go to different attractions in the city. I love that everything I need is within driving distance of me. (I’m also a fan of living in a city that has a Trader Joe’s.) Phoenix has been very good to me. I have no complaints.

However, I’m moving back to Ohio soon.

 

The plan is to move at the start of July. If I can manage it sooner, cool, but if not, no big deal.

I’m not moving because of lack of work, although a lack of conventions does have a bit part.

There just aren’t that many comic or anime conventions that happen in Arizona. Phoenix Comicon is the largest one and is one of only a handful that happen in the entire state in a year.

So lack of conventions to attend is a part of it, but there’s a larger part.

The biggest reason I’m moving back to Ohio is…Marc the Boyfriend.

Right now he’s in the National Guard in West Virginia. He tried to transfer out, but the Guard base there won’t let him, and they haven’t let him move out of state for the past year.

I can’t explain why he is unable to leave because of security reasons. All I can say is he’s part of a team that’s understaffed at the moment, and they haven’t had any new recruits to replace him to let him transfer out to Arizona.

We both talked about it. As sad as he is that he can’t come out here to the desert, he supports my decision to move back.

If anything, I’m the one hesitant to move back.

I love Marc. I love my friends and family in Ohio. That’s not the issue.

The issue is, I’m not a fan of the town I would have to stay in.

After being in Phoenix for around 9 months now, I really, really, REALLY like city-living.

(I’m also not really looking forward to freezing cold and snow. Now that I have had 100 degrees baked into my system, I don’t know how I’ll handle ice anymore.)

Eep!
Eep!

If there’s anything to look forward to, it’s more conventions to attend.

The plan for next year is to get to SPACE, Animarathon, ColossalCon, and perhaps even Youmacon, plus maybe a few local shows around my area.

Me with old collaborator Michael Marcus from Hamtramk Idea Men.
Me with old collaborator Michael Marcus from Hamtramk Idea Men at SPACE Con 2013.

Turns out when you live in a small town in the middle of nowhere, you get bored, so you either host or go to conventions just to draw in other nerds so you’re not as lonely.

Thankfully my freelancing is portable, so moving won’t really affect my work.

And who knows? Maybe some friends of mine and I can get started on making Rubber Duck: The Reckoning into an actual indie movie.

Wouldn’t that be fun?