Nine Panel Grid - Issue #02 - HeroesCon 2018 Edition
A Comics & Culture Newsletter
Panel 1: HeroesCon 2018 - meeting "old friends" for the first time
The best part of going to HeroesCon this year was a chance to finally meet some of my comics friends and collaborators in person. I got to meet Dave Chisholm, the artist on several of comics I've written, in person for the first time. In addition to being a talented artist and musician, he's hilarious and always ready to delve into intelligent conversation. I also got to meet the writer Rick Quinn. I've been in a writer's workshop with Rick for years, trading scripts to critique, and meeting him in person I got to witness his ability to seek out and find comics talent, his commitment to sustainable living, and his knack for finding great coffee. Rick has a Kickstarter campaign for a ridiculously-cool-looking project, Spirit Drifters, running now. Check it out!
Rick Quinn, Milton Lawson, Dave Chisholm at HeroesCon 2018
Panel 2: Dave Baker and Nicole Goux
At some point during the show, Rick came over to my table holding a big graphic novel and barely containing a huge smile on his face. He'd just found something amazing - the graphic novel Action Hospital by Dave Baker. I had to go over to their table and see it for myself. Dave's art is a brilliantly mad hyper-fueled and detailed rendering style that suggests some influence by Moebius. Nicole Goux was tabling with Dave; they'd collaborated on the book F*ck Off Squad, which I had to buy just on the basis of the title alone. Dave and Nicole were gracious, generous with their time. Dave's filled with passion for creator's rights. Nicole gave me great suggestions about how to table at conventions, what shows to go to, and I learned a lot from them both in a brief time. I'm looking forward to reading their books soon.
Panel 3: Kevin Cuffe, Metal + Comics
Walking through the halls of the Westin hotel on my way to a charity art auction, I instantly knew I'd like Kevin Cuffe - he was sporting a Vault Comics baseball cap and a Slayer t-shirt. My favorite sci-fi indie publisher plus one of the Big Four of Metal? Instant rapport. Kevin was talking with collaborators about their next pitches and their upcoming Kickstarter campaign for Metalshark Bro, a comic about anthropomorphic Shark dudes with guitars. Kevin was extremely helpful in giving me suggestions about pitching to publishers, and the next day he swung by my table where, among other things, he debated Rick Quinn about who deserves the title for greatest metal band of all time (Kevin went with Motorhead, Rick went with Iron Maiden).
Panel 4: Jordan Alsaqa, writer
Jordan Alsaqa and I have something in common: we're both comic writers who've had the good fortune of having something drawn by the immensely talented artist Rem Broo. Jordan worked with Rem on their comic Terminal Protocol published by Scout Comics. I learned a lot about how to table at conventions just by looking at Jordan's setup. I've heard of the concept of "tiering" and Jordan demonstrated the concept expertly: he had everything organized in a very smart display - a range of offerings, some merch, and even a promo for an upcoming book. I took notes and at my next convention I'm going to follow many of his methods.
Panel 5: Erik Whalen, artist
I got to spend some time with Erik Whalen, the artist on Spirit Drifters, in the hours after the show floor closed. I was inspired by Erik's passion, integrity, care about craft, and his work ethic. Erik arrived at the show after driving from Detroit non-stop, without sleep. He scorched through a number of beautiful commissions with velocity and without compromising quality. He told me and Rick a pitch about an upcoming sci-fi project he wants to do, and it sounds gloriously epic.
Panel 6: Jason Lewis, colorist
I can't remember how we met Jason but he joined our after-show table at some point and was immediately one of my favorite comics people I've ever meet at a show: he's got a rapid-fire, unfiltered, brutally honest approach to talking about the comics industry. I learned a lot about colorists' perspectives and roles in the industry. Jason riffed on the difficult choices that some colorists can be put into by the "big 2" publishers - if a colorist saves a project that's at a last-minute deadline, and pulls off a miracle with insanely fast turnaround, their long-term prospects can suffer as a result because they'll get judged on the same scale as someone who'd had a full month to work on a book.
Panel 7: Derek, "The Comics Alternative" podcast
One of the highlights of the show was finally getting to meet Derek, the co-host of the smart podcast The Comics Alternative. Derek and I have chatted on occasion in the Comics Alternative's Slack channel, where we tried to coin terms to replace "slice of life" as a descriptor for more grounded comic stories. Derek interviewed me for the show, and also Dave Chisholm (pictured above), the episode with these interviews and several other creators from the convention is now online.
Panel 8: Bryce Carlson & Vanesa R. Del Rey
I got to meet Bryce Carlson and Vanesa R. Del Rey, the creative team behind the comic series Hit, a crime/noir. I've been a fan of Vanesa's art for several years, often sending links to her work to other artists as a point of inspiration. Bryce is currently an editor at BOOM! Studios and was generous with his time in helping me with suggestions on how to pitch to publishers.
Panel 9: Tres Dean will draw Kurt Russell all day long
My favorite sign at HeroesCon was the sign in front of Tres Dean's table - he pledged to draw Kurt Russell sketches for any price. When I went to his table, there was a stack of Kurts and he was in the middle of drawing a new one upon request. Tres first caught my eye as he was walking the floor, sporting a classic Astros jersey. I picked up a copy of Tres's book Kill the Drug War which is an homage to the third-act tropes of 80s action movies.