Heroes Con

Comic book conventions have always seemed strangely out of reach for me. When I was younger, I attended the little day conventions in some neighborhood hotel, a dealer's room of back issues and merchandise. Occasionally they'd invite a guest. Usually I'd ignore them. I didn't recognize most of the names and I was more after more stories to read. At one event, they brought Adam Hughes. I recognized him from his work on Maze Agency. What I didn't know was that he was on a long run of JLA and known for his pinup work. That aspect of work went completely over my head. Since then, I've gone to science fiction conventions, I've even daytripped my local anime con, but I couldn't find a way to the comics shows. SPX was a interesting test of the convention waters, but I'm a four-color superhero girl at heart.

I'd heard a lot of positive things about Heroes Con in Charlotte, North Carolina, how friendly and welcoming it was to newcomers. I liked that it was comics-focused, rather than a media show. So when the opportunity arose to attend the show this year, I leapt at the chance. I road tripped and shared the room with several other fangirls. Experiencing the con through the other people's eyes was fun, since left to my own devices, I might have stayed in my safe little corner. Instead I could discuss insane comics topics like Clint Barton's former occupations, come up with a fantasy baseball team, and or play a marathon game of Apples to Apples.


Or see a glorious rainbow over Richmond, Virginia after the sun came out in the middle of thunderstorm.



MEET THE ARTIST, TALK TO THE WRITERS

The neatest part about the con was doing the "meet and greet" with all the different writers and artists. I loved having the opportunity to tell them how much I've enjoyed the work. To my credit, I think I acquitted myself pretty well. I introduced myself with my twitter name and every artist thanked me for retweeting or mentioning their work. If I love something, I like telling people about it. I very rarely rip someone's work. I'm more likely to say it wasn't to my taste -- different strokes for different folks, I always say.

Some of people I met/signed/sketched/etc: Thom Zahler, Jeff Parker, Tom Fowler, Gabriel Hardman, Francesco Francavilla, Colleen Coover, Paul Tobin, Steve Epting, Jim McCann, Chris Samnee, Matt Kindt, Bobby Timony, Joe Staton, Roy Thomas.

Most of the creators added lovely little sketches and personalized notes when they signed stuff.

Some had specific pages geared for these sketches. Francesco Francavilla's Black Beetle ashcan had a similar location planned out. Black Beetle is his original pulp inspired character. He publishes an irregular strip online "Kara Bocek". I know him mostly from his fantastic coloring work on "Green Hornet: Year One".



Others just added it to the first blank page inside.

Tom Fowler and Jeff Parker both signed my Mysterius: the Unfathomable trade. Fowler sketched this charming profile of Mysterius himself with his prominent nose. While I can see why Fowler's style might irk the traditional super hero fans, his art style really is perfect for the ornery old Mysterius.


Bobby Timony drew a little head sketch of Roscoe, the gargoyle troublemaker from Zuda's Night Owls.

Not to be outdone by the artists, Jim McCann, rascal that he is, personalized my copy of New Avengers: Reunion by drawing a thought balloon near Clint with "Thinking of..." with my name inside. Oh Clint, you're not really the blonde guy I fantasize about...)


Whereas Matt Kindt's little sketches for his Super Spy books blend so well into the layout, it's hard to believe there weren't there to begin with.



Whatever the case, I really appreciated the artists and writers going out of their way to personalize their signing. I was a little worried I'd utterly clam up talking to people or worse say something stupid.

Before the con, I pre-ordered a sketch from Colleen Coover for the Timely era Miss America as an old style figure skater. I'd been inspired by an old photograph of 1960 Olympic champion Carol Heiss wearing a dress with a small shield on her chest, similar to the one Madeline Joyce wore on her costume. I might have squeed with delight when I saw it.



Finding her husband Paul Tobin was a little trickier since he didn't always stay behind the table. Silly writers, who told them they could wander off? Thankfully I was able to get him to sign my Black Widow & Marvel Girls trade and thank him for writing the Natasha mini that wasn't all about her love life.

Friday afternoon I had found Matt Kindt. I'd semi-discovered Kindt at SPX last year by watching him watercolor. His "Super Spy" books are wonderful twisty takes on espionage, spies, love and betrayal. Since I'd loved his Natasha Romanoff adventure in Marvel's "Strange Tales" anthology, I asked if I could commission him to do a Winter Soldier/Black Widow with a Cold War era vibe. One thing this exchange reminded me: don't assume every artist will know what your favorite character looks like, especially fairly recent ones. Some artists have insane memories for characters and costumes, but not everyone does. But if he had the right references available, he agreed. Since it was getting late in the day, I agreed to pick it up the next day. So after I was done getting my sketch from Chris Samnee, I went over to see if the commission was ready. I was so happy with the result.



One useful thing was I had my new smartphone, so I could keep up with twitter and email. That also meant I saw people post notices, like Chris Samnee's Hero Initiative sketching. Samnee was one of the artists I discovered on twitter and love his use of blacks and occasional reds for his sketches. For a small donation, Samnee would do a head sketch of your preferred character. This was a lovely way for people to support Hero Initiative and also get a sketch from a well known artist. You could support them by buying their art, comics or little green wristbands. So I had Samnee sketch my favorite Russian super spy, Natasha Romanoff.



THE SKETCHBOOK

I'd bought a lovely new Moleskine sketchbook. I accidentally left it at Francesco Francavilla's table after getting his Black Beetle ashcan, so I was understandably quite embarrassed. I did immediately put my name, address and twitter username in the book, so if it went wandering again, I'd have maybe a prayer of seeing it again. I'm still learning the whole art side of the con experience. Even armed with knowledge ahead of time, I still didn't always know what the etiquette was involved.

I was a big "Agents of Atlas" fan, so Jeff Parker became the first one to add a sketch with his Namora. I'm also a Wonder Woman fan, so I sometimes think the reason I love Namora is because she's the unabashed regal powerhouse of the team.



On the last day of the con, I located Franco Aureliani, the Tiny Titans creator I'd seen at Richmond Comix at Free Comic Book Day. He was only charging a buck for your favorite character, so Wonder Girl joined Namora in my sketchbook. (Only fitting that royalty stick together.) Franco commented on how she was sorta the LUcy van Pelt of the Tiny Titans team -- loud and a little brash. I'd like to get a proper Wonder Woman for my sketchbook. Hopefully the sketchbook will continue to grow as I continue to attend conventions.



BUYING STUFF

With all my focus on art and panels, the traditional exhibitors/vendors/dealers did get the short shrift. I only bought one older back issue, World's Finest #250 written by Gerry Conway and drawn by the late George Tuska. I mostly bought it for the Green Arrow/Black Canary part of the story, set so early in their relationship history that Dinah was still thought to be the Earth-2 incarnation, widowed and moved to a new world.

I had gone into Heroes Con determined to buy more comics geeky t-shirts. What I really wanted was an old-school Wonder Woman t-shirt preferably with Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez's older artwork not in a baby doll cut. But all I'm finding are either geared for juniors or baby dolls. The massive "tower of t-shirts" with Stylin was a little intimidating and mostly they didn't seem to have too many in my size. But I did satisfy my inner Marvel spy girl by getting a SHIELD t-shirt.

What else did I come home with? Matt Kindt's Three Sisters, the prequel to Super Spy; Hawkeye/Mockingbird "Women of Marvel" #1 variant; Gabriel Hardman's sketchbook; Steve Epting's sketchbook; Francesco Francavilla's Black Beetle ashcan; Alter Ego #93 and All Star Companion vols 2 & 3.

OTHER STUFF

In retrospect, I do wish I'd brought a real camera rather than relying on my phone. I would have loved to get some decent shots of Hawkeye and Mockingbird or Dazzler and the Isaiah Bradley Captain America. A group of Zatannas (Zatanni?) helped with the art auction. We only swung through to have a look at all the art. Remember my young encounter with Adam Hughes? His Zatanna painting went for $8000.

I also wish I had taken better notes of panels I attended, rather than relying on my memory. I'll have panel reports up later. Quite a number of the panels were recorded by Dollar Bin Comics, so at least you can listen to the audio.

Seeing the artists sketch in person makes one appreciate all the brushstrokes and techniques that go into a particular style. Or there's art that completely defies description. I was intrigued by the concepts behind Jim McCann's Return of the Dapper Men, but it was seeing Janet K Lee's gorgeous woodblocks and artwork that moved me over into the sold and "When can I read it?" column. She also works fast. She was just starting inking a Dapper-fied "Spider Jerusalem" commission when we dropped by the table. We turned around to bond with the table across on X-men and Cyclops appreciation and she was done inking and adding color.

Comics is a solitary but very social hobby for me. That's why I used to love the letter columns because someone else was noticing the same things. That's why I love chatting with other fans about what they're reading. That's why I love hearing artists and writers go fannish over their favorite characters. They're no longer just names on a credit page to me. Hearing artists and writers talk excitedly about their projects gets me interested in their work. To be honest, if I wanted hardened cynicism, there's plenty of that online to go around.

What struck me at SPX was even more true at Heroes. Seeing the fans in the panels asking questions and hearing the creators made me realize how diverse comics can be. I met young and old fans alike. There were people that were just getting into comics or ones that had stumbled into the hobby. There were small publishers putting out their first book and there was Boom's massive booth. There were big name artists with long lines, but there were others you could just go up to and chat with or have sign something. I was able to meet two of my childhood heroes, Roy Thomas and Joe Staton, purely by wandering up and saying nice things.

Charlotte was muggy and hot and miserable. The West hotel was decent, if small for four people, but it was right across the street from the Convention Center. They weren't terribly prepared for the swarm of people needing rooms on Friday. The Westin charged $12 a night for their internet, so I relied on my phone for the entire weekend. The con bar sounded loud when we passed through the lobby, so hopefully many deals and friendships were being struck. As usual, there weren't a lot of eating places immediately around the Convention Center, so we either made do with concessions inside or we hiked around. The bowling alley had surprisingly good food. We were even able to watch the Belmont Stakes.

Heroes definitely lived up to its billing and then some. Everyone was so friendly and polite. I'd come back in a heartbeat.

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FCBD Traveling Caravan

Saturday was Free Comic Book Day. Rather than hitting the usual haunts here, I was invited to join some Twitter friends for a "comics caravan". So I took the Amtrak train at any ungodly hour down to Richmond, Virginia. The caravan was actually a nine-person van. This worked out well, since we didn't have to worry about following other cars or odd directions. The caravan was a near even split with three women, three men and one small boy. He was quite well behaved and seemed to enjoy himself.

The fun for me was seeing someone else's comic shops and how they're organized (or not). The comics caravan went to four in total, all with different approaches to the day.

The first one was a small badly organized maze with one person handling everything. All the "gold" level book covers were on the counter and you pointed to whichever ones you wanted. Everything else (including ones from previous years) was below the counter and you had to know about them to ask, which defeated the spirit of discovering something new and different. That store had the most bizarre selection of toys and statues. They also had stormtroopers helping with the line. I had a bad Disney moment when I saw a stormtrooper without his helmet; it was like seeing Mickey Mouse wandering around without its head!

The second store was larger and quieter. They had a nice selection of the pulp reprints, both Tollin's Shadow/Doc Savage/Avenger/Whisperer reprints and the Adventure House reprints. The comics geek in me is still amused by the Whisperer being Police Commissioner James "Wildcat" Gordon. Does Ted Grant know this? And what does Batman think of Gordon horning in on his act?

The third store was Velocity Comics in downtown Richmond. That store was the artiest of the four stores with heavy selection of independents and lesser known comics. Also the only one of the four with a decent manga shelf, but there's always the regular bookstores/Amazon. They also had a nice sale/discount which encouraged extra shopping.

The fourth store Richmond Comix had Tiny Titans' Franco and Jamie Cosley at the store. They were both doing sketches for the kids. Cosley did an adorable Aquaman complete with sea creatures. Franco sketched an Ace the Bat Hound and Flash while I watched.

What I liked about the last two stores was the large all ages/kids sections. Some stores tuck them away on some spinner rack somewhere. These were large sections with lots of back issues to wade through and find treasure. They felt very welcoming to my inner nine year old.

All but the second store seemed to be doing a booming business on the day. People seemed to be buying other stuff, along with snagging their freebies. I was heartened by the number of kids I saw. I do wish there had been some "girly" book to point to, though.

I enjoyed myself mightily. It was good to put names with faces with my twitter friends and also chat about comics in person, rather than limited to a lj/twitter post. I do wish there had been some more time for discussions. Hopefully there will be other opportunities in the future.

The FCBD books I acquired: Iron Man/Thor, Owly, IDW's Library of American Comics, Sixth Gun, Oni Press Free for All, DC Kids Mega Sampler (signed by Tiny Titans' Franco) and War of Supermen. I also snagged an old Justice League of America #0, which I loved for the Trinity moments. I definitely pushed myself outside the box on this Free Comic Book Day, rather than sticking with the tried and true.

I also wound up with Heroclix War Machine. At the last stop I actually saw the Heroclix game being played, so now I understand it in theory.

My regular online service, DCBS, allows us to preorder up to five of the books, so eventually I'll have Stuff of Legend, Love and Capes and the Green Hornet issues to add to my pile.

I bought a batch of other things: the Aquaman & Etrigan issue of Brave & the Bold, Black Widow & the Marvel Girls, Night Owls, and Pluto volume 8. The last one I was grateful for, because I hadn't been able to find it in any of my local stores. (So much for living in a major metropolitan area...) My friend Caroline also loaned me the first volume of Ooku and gave me the first issue of Hickman's SHIELD.

All in all, a long but fun day with lots of future reading material.

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Review: Stuff of Legend #1

While World War II rages on, a smaller war in Brooklyn escalates when a boy is kidnapped by the dark forces of the Boogeyman. Unwilling to give up on their young master, the child's faithful toys decide to mount a rescue operation into the Dark. Outmatched and outgunned, they're still determined to see the quest through, no matter the dangers or the cost.

Th3rd World Studios published "The Stuff of Legend" initially as a Free Comic Book Day offering to serve as a preview for their upcoming title. Even though the local store didn't get the FCBD issue, the online preview did its job. "Stuff of Legend" promptly was added to the pull list with the usual nervous reservations about unknown titles and new publishers. Other people agreed since the first issue sold out, prompting a second printing, with the second issue due to be released in October.

The first thing that catches the eye about "The Stuff of Legend" are the dimensions of the book, shorter and wider than the usual comic book format, making it stand out amongst most piles of comics. The dimensions almost look like a children's picture book. The Free Comic Book Day issue was normal sized, beautifully arranged with little portraits of the characters in the white space, allowing the art to breathe better. Both versions work, but in different ways. Charles Paul Wilson III's art is absolutely gorgeous and the colors really work in establishing the mood. They could have gone all "Wizard of Oz" and had the colors bright and shiny in one part and gloomy in another, but grateful they didn't that direction. The sepia tones really give added shadows and depth to the scenes.

The writing keeps the action going, moving easily from the real world scenes to the fantastical. All the characters have their own distinct personalities from stalwart Max to the determined Colonel to the lethally effective Jester and even poor Percy. The two female characters Harmony and the Indian Princess are not simpering wallflowers either. They're just as brave and determined as their male-gendered toys. True, the Colonel and the Jester are rather over protective of the two of them, but that's treated as more chivalrous than condescending. You even feel a little sorry for the other toys left behind while the braver toys go off. The villain is unbelievably creepy. You can easily picture this Boogeyman lurking under your bed or hiding in the dark corner of your closet. You can hear him whispering in the dark. He knows how to get under people's skin and how to use that to his advantage. He preys on fear, after all. Even toys have fears, very particular ones, of being broken, mishandled, or worse, forgotten and unloved. They're strangely very human fears.

Everyone always calls "Stuff of Legend" a darker version of "Toy Story". The Comic Couch podcast #56 even reflected on the differences between the toys in each. Some of it can be explained by the era. "Stuff of Legend" takes place in WWII when toys are still handmade and careworn. They're the classic archetypal toys. They're given personalities in the stories, yes, but we can look at them and think of our own toy collections when we were children. Who doesn't have an old favorite teddy bear or a little toy soldier or a pretty ballerina? Some of the toys are even hand-me-downs to the younger brother. The ones in "Toy Story" are more commercial and popular, filled with in-jokes everyone can appreciate. All the same it's hard to picture Woody and Buzz Lightyear in the dark world of "Stuff of Legend". They're just too bright and cheerful. The toys of "Stuff of Legend" almost have a gloomy fatalism about them. You can hear it when the other toys talk about the closet and the Dark. You can hear it when Percy is already starting to plan how to divvy up the missing boy's things.

Being from an older generation, though, "Toy Story" didn't immediately spring to mind, rather the adventures of a redheaded rag-dolly and her rascally brother and a camel with wrinkled knees. That afternoon classic, "Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure", also showed the toys in the playroom coming to life when their owner was safely out of the room. (That seems to be a Rule in these stories. As children, we are allowed to play act with our favorite toys but they're not allowed to talk back or interact with us.) When the French doll Babette is kidnapped, Raggedy Ann & Andy go off on their great adventure to find her before the owner notices she's missing. The movie was light-hearted and fluffy and everything "Stuff of Legend" is categorically not. But while Raggedy Ann and Andy's adventures were fantastic and weird, there was never a doubt that they would come out on the other side. With "Stuff of Legend", things are not so certain.

"Stuff of Legend" is a beautiful book. It's really clear how much care and effort went into all aspects of this book from the art and story through to the final presentation. It's nice to take a chance on an unknown title and be rewarded for it for a change. Hopefully there will be many more adventures into the Dark.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

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Small Press Expo

So Saturday I spent part of the day at the Small Press Expo in Bethesda, Maryland.

I had all the best of intentions getting over there really early. Metro had other ideas. Everyone was on the Orange Line heading into town for the National Book Festival. Then I went in the opposite direction I needed on the Red Line. That was just the way my day was going.

The North Bethesda Marriott & Convention Center was very easy to find from the Metro. I actually followed a crew with their set of boxes and anime messenger bags. I suspected I was in the right place. Registration line was nearly non-existent an hour after they opened, the pluses of going to a smaller con.

One thing I was determined to do when I arrived was to find the Fanfare/Ponent Mon table. For those outside the manga reading sphere, they're a smaller publisher that prints "quieter" and arty manga in gorgeous editions. They've published a lot of Jiro Taniguchi, including "Walking Man", "A Distant Neighborhood", "Summit of the Gods" and "Quest for the Missing Girl". They've also published Hideo Azuma's autobiographical "Disappearance Diary". Having found said table, I had to decide what I wanted, a rather tough and daunting decision. I went with "Walking Man" and the two volumes of "Distant Neighborhood". Alas I couldn't afford the entire selection, as tempting as it was.

After my first tour through the exhibitor hall, I also managed to lose my badge/lanyard. I'm still not sure if it fell off in the dealers' room and what exactly. Thankfully the registration people took pity on me. It wasn't like it was a horribly expensive con, but still was a mite embarrassing.

I only attended one panel while I was there, the "Comic Strips: Online and in Print" panel, which featured R. Stevens, Kate Beaton, Erika Moen and Julia Wertz. They talked about the challenges of creating webcomics and then publishing them in print formats, any adjustments they made and how the audiences are different. They also addressed technological issues with RGB/CMYK conversions. They addressed the more basic issues of merchandising and "why publish it in hard format at all?" Moen & Stevens provided the most useful information in the panel, both technical and just outright enthusiasm. Moen published hers as a book because she loved books, not necessarily because her audience demanded it. She had compiled a collection over a three year period, so while she left most of her line art intact, she had gone in and corrected the colors and Photoshop errors. When discussing pirating issues, Stevens admitted one way he got around it was merchandising pixel socks, certainly a unique item in the Exhibitor Hall. And they were cute socks, I have to say. Kate Beaton was utterly mobbed at her table.

By going around the con with other people, I stopped at tables I wouldn't ordinarily notice. The "Let's Be Friends Again" guys had some hysterically funny (and very politically incorrect at times) cartoons. I might not have looked at Dresden Codak if a friend wasn't such a fan. I'd heard about Owly for Free Comic Book Day, but nothing prepared me for the cute little baby hats or Owly sketches. Super Spy's Matt Kindt sat at Top Shelf's table doing commissions in water colors, putting the finishing touches on a gorgeous Marvelman/Miracleman commission.

On my last tour of the exhibitors hall, I acquired the noirish "You Have Killed Me" by Jaime Rich & Joelle Jones from the Oni table and the Finder trade "King of Cats" from Carla "Speed" McNeil. I'd last seen her in 2005 when my writers group helped sponsor a graphic novel event at the local Barnes & Noble. That crowd would have been perfectly comfortable at SPX.

That comfort level is something I'm not sure I could ever manage. I'll be flat out honest. I am a mainstream comic book girl. I like my superheroes and my four color goodness. Small Press Expo catered to a very different crowd and a very different mindset. That said I was surprised how friendly and outgoing everyone was. I didn't feel odd or unusual as a girl.

What I appreciated was their enthusiasm for their work and the sheer variety out there. I liked seeing all the different formats from Dresden Codak's massive posters to the little "Sundays" books. Being so used to things in floppies or trades, it was nice to see comics imagined in other ways. On the whole, I enjoyed the experience and perhaps next year I'll try to spend more time there.

I do think you need to go to SPX willing to open your mind and take a few chances. See what strikes your fancy, whether art style or format or colors. There was something for nearly everyone.

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Girls Read Comics t-shirt project

One of the niftier aspects of Twitter is the ease you can bat around ideas on there. Someone suggests something and another pipes up with an even better idea or comes up with a way to make it happen. One of those nifty things happened last night.

In the last couple of the weeks, there have been several articles and one contest tied to San Diego Comic Con, all belittling or demeaning female participation at this cons. The LA Times would have you think women only go to Comic Con to look at the hot male celebrities. The District 9 contest at first didn't even include women until a lot of people, including Johanna Draper Carlson pointed it out. They've since changed their rules. And that paragon of dating advice Penthouse magazine(NSFW link) is implying that comic cons are all about sex and hookups. So women are just there for the guys, no matter how you look at it.

No one mentions the numbers of women who read, write, draw, edit and critique comics every day. No one mentions all the talented women who love comics for comics. These women could argue you under the table with issue numbers on their favorite characters and why they're misunderstood and unloved and appreciated. They love superheroes, they devour manga and they'll discover the quirky indie books you always wanted to try. And y'know, it gets really frustrating and tiring being told that's just the way things are and maybe you just smile and you'll just enjoy yourself more. And they wonder why people perceive the comics industry the way they do.

In that ugly maelstrom, Deb Aoki of manga.about.com, suggested on twitter that we needed some sort of protest t-shirt, some visible way of showing the industry that we exist and we're not going away anytime soon. That sparked a great round of suggestions for slogan ideas. Some are pithier than others. One nifty idea was a three-panel using "Girls Read Comics"/"Girls Buy Comics"/"Girls Write Comics"/"Girls Draw Comics" as the word balloons.

So how can you help? Deb is looking for female artists to contribute artwork -- one panel of art depicting a female character in American superhero, Indie or Manga style, with an empty word balloon. The word balloons would include the "Girls Read Comics" style slogans, with variants with "women" as an alternative. T-shirts would be sold online at Zazzle with the proceeds going towards your choice of comics-oriented charity, including MOCCA, Heroes Initiative and Friends of Lulu. Also potentially buttons, bumper stickers, and banners for bloggers.

Submissions: Women artists please contact Deb at debaoki at hotmail dot.com. Published artists are especially welcome. Please sign your work. Artwork needs to be in before June 29th since Comic-Con is fast fast approaching.

If you can't draw, then do what I'm doing. Blog about this idea, forward it around, especially if you know female artists who might be interested in helping. The more people get behind this idea the better.

For more information, Erica Friedman of Okazu, has also posted about the project on her blog.

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A change will do you good

I've expounded at length on Twitter and elsewhere about my woes with my comics pull list. I won't go into all the gory details, but suffice it to say, I wasn't a happy customer. But the options in the DC metro area are surprisingly limited. Some places require a minimum number of books before you can have a pull list; at that point I wasn't certain I was buying enough to manage that minimum.

So I started checking the options online. Having books shipped directly to my door sounded like a win-win combination to me, even if my credit card is having severe doubts.

I went with Discount Comic Book Service. I had heard good things about their service from other customers and I had a good experience with their sister site Instocktrades. The process was mostly painless. I filled out their massive Excel spreadsheet, uploaded it, and voila! My order appears up on the screen – as long as you marked the right space, you should get the right issue, no questions on whether it's the right title or if it's spelled correctly.

Now it's not without human error. I filled out my lovely spreadsheet for my first month only to discover after the fact I'd left off a title. No problem, I emailed their customer service and it was promptly added to my shipment. For future shipments, I have been much more careful to double and triple check things "Did I miss anything?" Of course I always do forget something.

Those Excel spreadsheets are extremely deadly. They contain everything off the Previews catalog, including all the variants, trades/hardcovers, manga, merchandise – you name it. They're also very nicely discounted, so you can afford that extra trade sometimes. I really had to reign myself in a few times in the follow-up months, which have gotten progressively more expensive. Even with discounts, you have to know your limits. Do I really need that Absolute? Can I live without that mini series? Oh, that's finally out in trade, should I get it? It's a vicious circle.

Customers have a couple of shipping options – weekly, biweekly or monthly. I went monthly, so my books go out after the last book ships. That means I see my comics after everyone, but I'm fairly used to that idea. You can also see which books shipped and which didn't on your account, which is reassuring.

My first batch arrived a few weeks ago. Only two books didn't ship because of delays. Both were expected, so I'm not too worried. They also included a batch of Free Comic Book Day titles in my shipment, so I could read the Wolverine, Avengers, and Shonen Jump offerings.

The following months will tell the tale of tape to see whether the change is worth it, but so far, so good. At least I can look forward to getting comics again... even if they're not on Wednesday.

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Free Comic Book Day

For sports fans, the first weekend in May usually means the Kentucky Derby.

Ask a comics fan and it’s Free Comic Book Day. This event was set up as a way to lure potential new customers or entice old ones back into the comic shops. Comic book publishers create special editions or samplers of their books for the participating stores to carry that day. The Gold level sponsors are usually the heavy hitters, while the Silver level includes the lesser known stuff.

The books are all intended to be "family-friendly". There's usually a good lineup of kids title that appeal to all ages. Two years ago I saw the cutest thing at my local comic store. A little girl came in with her parents to ask for a free comic book. No one said "Oh, you're a girl, you shouldn't be reading those." They just pointed to the all ages selection and let her look. They pored over the table for something she'd like, along with one for someone else, possibly a brother or sister. At one point, she picked a black and white title and her father commented how there weren't any colors in that one. She said matter of factly she could always color it herself. Although the comics collectors might wince at that prospect, I smiled at a budding colorist in the works... we can always dream, right?

FCBD provides a great opportunity for those independent publishers to be exposed to new people that might not find their series otherwise. I’ll use two big examples: Owly and Love and Capes. Owly is an adorable kids comics about an owl and his friends. Love and Capes is a superhero romantic comedy. I would never have heard of either of these books without Free Comic Book Day.

As a comics fan, I’ll admit it – it’s really easy to get complacent. We all have our favorite characters. We all like to stick to what we know, rather than try out new things. So it’s kinda fun to have a chance to stray from the beaten path. Instead of picking up that usual title, you can try something else. If you don’t like it, there’s no harm. If you love it, hopefully there’s more to find.

So how did I spend my first weekend in May?

Well, I went over to the Big Planet in Vienna for my FCBD festivities. They had most of the better known titles available. In retrospect, I should have practiced what I preached and tried something new. But I stayed with the tried and true by getting the Blackest Night #0 and the DC Kids Mega Sampler. I also downloaded three of TwoMorrows Publishing magazines (Alter Ego, Rough Stuff and Write Now) in pdf format. (A friend scored me a copy of the Love and Capes FCBD issue, which absolutely made my day.)

I also bought a few other things. My haul included: Agents of Atlas #2, Mysterius the Unfathomable #3 & 4, Queen & Country definitive edition v4, an Appleseed trade and two volumes of the Pluto manga. This was more than I expected to buy truthfully, but I’m very happy with my purchases all the same.

Later I saw the X-men Origins: Wolverine with a couple of friends. So it was definitely a day to celebrate comic books.

And not a mint julep in sight.

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Why I Twitter

A couple of manga bloggers have recently posted on why they Twitter. I didn't join Twitter to set the comics world ablaze. In fact, I joined for the goofiest of fangirl reasons.

I joined Twitter because of a house.

Her name is SARAH, the Self Actuated Residential Automated Habitat, if you must. She was posting fun and sometimes cryptic little updates about upcoming episodes of Eureka. She’d reply to your questions. She was even interviewed on Twitter.

I had heard about Twitter before that of course. You couldn’t be in Stargate: Atlantis fandom without hearing about David Hewlett’s posts.

I resisted the urge to join immediately. Twitter sounded like a lark, more geared for people who sent text messages to each other than someone used to Livejournal and blogging. Who can communicate in 140 characters or less? Who would enjoy having real conversations that way?

But I was obsessed with Eureka and SARAH was so friendly and welcoming.

So what David Hewlett couldn’t do, a smart house accomplished. There’s some irony working there.

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I admit it – I didn’t expect to like using Twitter.

Initially I was content to just read along. I didn’t feel comfortable replying to people out of the blue yet. I posted occasionally, but nothing earth-shattering. I think my first Twitter was some random comment on gymnastics leotards in the summer Olympics.

Gradually I added friends from other places. And I started to talk. And talk.

I Twittered the November election returns curled up with my laptop.
That was when I saw the value of Twitter. It’s been described as the world’s largest rolling cocktail party. You can literally add your pithy two cents into any conversation. You can argue with some fan halfway across the world and get a reaffirming “Me too” from someone else. You can get a response from a favorite celebrity. Replies and retweets are still odd. I’m always blown away that people want to hear what I have to say, much less forward it to someone else.

When I started having the same sort of rolling discussions about comics and manga, I finally got it. Whether chattering about comic book news or important elections, the conversations and interactions are the real heart and joy of Twitter. I enjoy interacting with other comics fans and hearing what they’re reading and enjoying. I sit back and take in all the manga discussion. I’m still more of a reader than a critic, but I envy the bloggers and reviewers.

To a degree, my experiences on Twitter made me realize I did have something to say as a blogger. Up until then I thought I couldn’t add anything new. I’m not so sure about that now.

Nearly five thousand updates later, I think I’ve figured out this Twitter thing. You wouldn’t think it would take that long to figure out how to talk, would you?

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