Category: comic art

Long Beach Comic Con 2015 Report: Day 1


The Long Beach Comic Con held on Sept. 12th & 13th has greatly expanded this year with a larger amount of space covering comics, toys, media and even space exploration!

 Special guests this year included never before seen guests like Stuart & Kathryn Immonen (Uncanny X-Men, Journey into Mystery), Adam Kubert (X-Men) Clayton Crain (Ghost Rider), Jim Calafiore (Red Lanterns, Secret Six), David Peterson (Mouse Guard), Art Adams (X-Men, etc.), and returning guests such as Kris Anka (Spider-Woman), Tim Bradstreet (Punisher), and Garry Brown (Catwoman).

 
Media guests such as John Barrowman (Torchwood) and Chloe Bennet (Agents of SHIELD) and cosplayers such as Vampy Bit Me, Nicole Jean Marie, Destiny Nickelson, etc.

There were photo ops available with the Supernatural Impala car as well as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles van!

Long Beach Comic Con Announces Highlights From Its Guest List, Full Programming Slate & Key Initiatives for September 12 & 13th, 2015

Long Beach Comic Con Announces Highlights From Its Guest List, Full Programming Slate
& Key Initiatives for September 12 & 13th, 2015

Long Beach, CA (September 2, 2015) – In advance of the seventh annual Long Beach Comic Con, MAD Event Management announced today highlights from its guest list, the full slate of programming for the convention and several major initiatives. All told, the convention will play host to more than 175 guests, 100 panels, and 300 artist alley exhibitors and more than 475 exhibitors. The convention will be held September 12th and 13th in the main exhibition hall at the Long Beach Comic Convention Center.

This year’s Long Beach Comic Con guest list is amazingly diverse with over 175 guests, including:
  • Popular TV, Film & gaming stars:
    • John Barrowman (Merlin from ARROW);
    • Chloe Bennet (Skye on MARVEL’S AGENTS OF SHIELD);
    • Peter Shinkoda and Tommy Walker (Marvel’s DAREDEVIL)
    • Maitland Ward Baxter (BOY MEETS GIRL).

  • Acclaimed TV & Film writers:
    • Tara Butters and Michele Fazekas (Marvel Entertainment’s AGENT CARTER);
    • Christos Gage and Ruth Fletcher Gage (Marvel’s DAREDEVIL);
    • Marc Guggenheim (ARROW);
    • Jeff King (WHITE COLLAR);
    • Man of Action’s Joe Casey, Joe Kelly, Duncan Rouleau and Steven T. Seagle), the creators of BEN 10  and the team/characters in BIG HERO 6

  • More than 150 comic book writers and artists:
    • Legendary artist Art Adams (GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY TEAM UP);
    • Kris Anka (Marvel’s CAPTAIN MARVEL)
    • Joe Casey (SEX)
    • Adam Kubert and the Joe Kubert School, making their first appearance at a Long Beach Show;
    • Joshua Hale Fialkov (THE LIFE AFTER);
    • Kyle Higgins (C.O.W.L.)
    • Joe Kelly (I KILL GIANTS)
    • Dustin Nguyen (DESCENDER);
    • David Petersen, celebrating the 10th anniversary of MOUSE GUARD;
    • Duncan Rouleau (THE GREAT UNKNOWN)
    • Stan Sakai, the legendary creator of USAGI YOJIMBO;
    • Steven T. Seagle (It’s a bird …)
    • Marc Silvestri, popular artist and CEO of Top Cow Productions;
    • STAR WARS artists Stuart and Kathryn Immonen;
    • Legendary writers Len Wein (SWAMP THING) and Marv Wolfman (NEW TEEN TITANS).

  • Cosplay fan favorites:
    • Nicole Marie Jean
    • Miss Chrissy Lynn;
    • Raychul Moore;
    • Destiny Nickelsen;
    • International Cosplayer Giada Robin;
    • Vampy Bit Me;
    • Vegas Power Girl.

“Long Beach Comic Con is a celebration of the creative arts,” said Long Beach Comic Con Executive Director and Co-Founder Martha Donato. “In addition to panels devoted to DC Entertainment, Marvel Entertainment, Aspen Comics, Image Comics and Dark Horse Comics, we have amazing, family-friendly programming dedicated to animation, tv, film and novels and exhibitors and sponsors such as Columbia Memorial Space Center, Lionsgate Films, and T-Mobile and sponsors like Bernina and Kettle.

Programming highlights include:
  • Anniversary panels for 30 Years of ROBOTECH animation and 10 years of MOUSE GUARD graphic novels;
  • Breaking Into Hollywood A conversation with Ralph Garman (BATMAN ‘66 MEETS THE GREEN HORNET), Joshua Fialkov (AFRO SAMURAI: RESURRECTION), Marc Guggenheim (ARROW) and Kyle Higgins (THE LEAGUE), moderated by Aaron Couch, LA Digital News Editor of People Magazine;
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer panel;
  • “Couples Therapy”, in which KROQ ‘s Ralph Garman talks with Hollywood power couple Tara Butters (MARVEL’S AGENTS OF SHIELD) and Marc Guggenheim (ARROW);
  • The Devastator Presents: Funny Book Fest;
  • Dwayne McDuffie Awards Announcements of nominees for the award, to be presented at Long Beach Comic Expo next spring;
  • GeekFest Film Fest, including three full length feature films, short films, web series and fan films including a “Star Wars Musical”;
  • How to Conquer the Animation World with James Ganiere (CEO at Rio Vista Universal), Dean DeBlois (writer and director of HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 3), Mike Morris (Animator for THE SIMPSONS), Terran Gregory (Project Director at Blizzard Entertainment) and Forrest Whaley (ForrestFire101 – Maker Studio/YouTube).
  • #PerformanceMatters. Creating your Character in Video Games. Troy Baker (BATMAN: ASSAULT ON ARKHAM), Crispin Freeman (WORLD OF WARCRAFT), Phil LaMarr (MWETAL GEAR SOLID 2), Liam O’Brien (WORLD OF WARCRAFT), America Young (HALO 5) and Thom Willams (MIDDLE EARTH: SHADOW OF MORDOR)
  • Psychology of Daredevil. Join Dr. Andrea Letamendi, who has a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, Christos Gage and Ruth Fletcher Gage, writers on Netflix’s original DAREDEVIL series, and actors Tommy Walker (Francis) and Peter Shinkoda (Nobu) as they discuss the intersection of psychology and comic books, specifically focusing on the characters they write and play on DAREDEVIL.
  • A Q &A with John Barrowman;
  • Shades & Shadows Reading Series including a live show;
  • A STAR WARS panel with Brian Miller , illustrator for Topps, novelist Cecil Castellucci (STAR WARS: MOVING TARGET), and Stuart Immonen, artist for Marvel’s best selling STAR WARS comic books.
  • 2 days of #MakeComics panels devoted to teaching aspiring writers and artists how to make comics.

New initiatives and exclusives include:

  • Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles
Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles
Due to generous donations and grants, 200 greater Los Angeles girls—including 100 girls from underserved communities—will take part in a program that includes meeting comic professionals, playing laser tag and attending a workshop where they can earn their Comic Book Artist and Novelist badges. This year actress Chloe Bennet, who plays Skye on MARVEL’S AGENTS OF SHIELD, will be presenting the girls with their Comic Artist badges.  

“At the Long Beach Comic Con, middle school and high school Girl Scouts will be able to work one-on-one with professional comic book artists, writers, editors, and young adult novelists to create a comic book page from start to finish,” said Lise L. Luttgens, Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles’ Chief Executive Officer. “Girl Scouts is all about giving girls access to hands-on experiences that empower them to discover and pursue their passions, and this unique collaboration with the Long Beach Comic Con is a perfect example of that.”

  • Golden Apple LBCC-Exclusive STAR WARS variant cover
Exhibitor Golden Apple Comics will sell a Long Beach Comic Con exclusive edition of STAR WARS: SHATTERED EMPIRE issue 1 with a cover by artist Phil Noto. The comic is an exclusive available through Golden Apple and GameFly. Golden Apple will be exhibiting at LBCC at booth # 1024.

  • The Hero Initiative Limited Edition Beer designed by artist Clayton Crain
The Hero Initiative, a charity dedicated to helping comic book creators in financial need, has partnered with Los Angeles brewery MacLeod Ale for a limited-edition label for The King’s Taxes Scottish Ale, designed by GHOST RIDER and CARNAGE artist Clayton Crain. The art will appear on a limited run of bottles, signed prints and commemorative glasses. Hero Initiative will host a special tasting from 6 PM to 9 PM Saturday, and have a full selection of The King’s Taxes merchandise available.

  • LifeStream Blood Bank, a not-for-profit blood bank with host a blood drive on site

  • A MAGIC: THE GATHERING tournament
CoastCardsAndCollectibles.com will host a Magic the Gathering tournament, which will include on-demand Origins Drafts and Standard Constructed as well as running Standard Constructed and Modern Main Events.  Kids(12 and under) will also have exclusive Pokemon and MtG events on both days!”

  • The Inaugural Long Beach Space Expo
The Columbia Memorial Space Center is partnering with Long Beach Comic Con for Space Expo 2015, an innovative and one-of-a-kind program that will connect comic book convention attendees directly with the world of scientific discovery. Panels will be held featuring top aerospace industry notables discussing hot button scientific topics and there will be interactive exhibits featuring robotics, 3D printing, and even a spacesuit – all curated by Columbia Memorial Space Center, the prestigious CA-based learning center dedicated to bringing the wonder and excitement of science to audiences of all ages and backgrounds.

“The Space Expo is an innovative way to connect the public to space and science,” said Columbia Memorial Space Center President Ben Dickow. “Instead of making people come to us, we’re taking science and technology to them with two full days of activities and speakers who are at the top of the space field. The Expo will give the public the opportunity to interact directly with NASA professionals and space explorers. We’ve put together the largest collection of JPL scientists we know of, outside of an academic conference, all ready to share their love of space with you!”

Enjoy an exciting weekend full of exceptional guests and exhibitors, and engaging panels, at Long Beach Comic Con, Saturday, September 12 from 10:00 am – 7:00 pm and Sunday, September 13 from 10:00 am – 5:00 pm at the Long Beach Convention Center. The show opens to advance ticket holders both days at 9:30 AM. Tickets are available now through the website: www.longbeachcomiccon.com.

San Diego Comic Con 2015 Report: Part 3


Other events and stuff! With Star Wars and its new film around the corner there was a big sneak preview with an orchestra with the main actors from the film hosted behind the convention center. We were luckily, though surprised, to learn the event since we had a view of the fireworks from our hotel room and only found out it was Star Wars related the next day.

There was also a Nintendo exhibition event at the hotel where attendees can play games and win prizes. 

The big outside event this year was talk show host Conan O’Brian hosting his show at the downtown San Diego theater. Guests of his included Game of Thrones, Walking Dead and more.

Right outside the convention center was also an Assassins Creed outdoor obstacle course (ala American Ninja Warrior) and a barbershop onsite! There was a Heroes tv outdoor set experience and small events sprinkled throughout the Gas lamp District as well.

San Diego Comic Con 2015 Report: Part 2


Why do we attend Comic Con? It’s mostly due to meeting the comic creators that do not show up at other Southern California shows. This year at the DC, Marvel, Dark Horse and Image booths we were able to meet and get signatures and sometimes sketches from creators such as Billy Tan, Siya Oum, Chrissie Zullo, David Finch, Jock, Marjorie Liu, Chip Zdarksy, Tom Yeates and Len Wein.
The Marvel booth is usually the busiest booth (non-product related) on the floor but this year with no movie premier event happening the location was more subdued though still traffic heavy. 
There was a lack of big-name artists/writers appearing there and the usual people that appears such as J. Scott Campbell, Mark Brooks, Humberto Ramos either didn’t have appearances there or no longer even sketched for free. 
DC’s booth was split into two signing areas which did cause confusion with attendees at times when which table a creator would be appearing at was unknown causing line-ups for them to spiral into oblivion. 
One of the quicker booths to get autographs and sketches was Dark Horse, possibly due to having some not-as-well know creators signing which caused be to go ahead and get in their signing queue since it was very quick and Dark Horse providing free posters or mini-prints for the creators to sign. 
Image had a more wrist-band needed line-up this year (e.g. Chew, Snyder, McFarlane, etc.) but was a bit more easily obtained if you went directly to their booth once the doors opened. Fortunately Image had limits on the amount of wristbands they gave out which helped fans not get cut-off due to time limits of the creators.
IDW had some good signing events throughout the week and creators such as Mike Zeck and Don Rose appeared and signed happily for their fans.

San Diego Comic Con 2015 Report: Part 1


Another San Diego Comic Con has come and gone and while the convention keeps getting bigger and bigger, this year’s comic-centered events seemed a bit more low-key (if that’s possible at SDCC) that previous years. Possibly due to Marvel not bringing in a movie-themed property to their booth or DC only bringing in their Batman v. Superman cast for one appearance, the excitement to meet comic creators didn’t wow or go as big as even SDCC 2014. 

It’s still an overwhelming event and one that is set to dull the senses, Comic Con was a fun event to attend and experience even though SDCC 2015 wouldn’t be ranked among my highlights of all comic conventions this year.

Preview Night

Badge pick-up was smooth with a quick line up and then the corralling into the Sails Pavilion in order to get to the main hall. For a 3-hour day that opens at 6pm, people were lined up already around 1pm.

As usual the herds of people and scalpers marching into the convention hall on preview night meant the hot exclusives would be gone even before we made it onto the floor. Exhibitors are well grounded on getting to the lines of retailers first, even swapping out their exhibitor badges with general passes in order to circumvent some of the line rules.

An infuriating item for me this year as the DC Comics Jim Lee Batman sketch exclusive figure which  was set to retail for $300 but DC decided to dived the 150 figures to floor retailers for some reason meaning by the time the doors first opened they were already marked up to $1,000!

Due to the inevitable long lines for all the SDCC exclusives this was the first year we did not line up to buy any of the con exclusive items.

Jim Lee, J Scott Campbell, Adam Hughes, B. Booth OA Page Prices from 1996!

I just picked up the James Robinson “Leave it to Chance” book from the 90s and on the back page of the books Wildstorm was selling original art pages from their studio that you could purchase directly from them. 

Now I thought pages from ’96 would have been cheaper, but it looks like even back then the prices for the “name” artists were still steep back in the days. 

Prices listed below due to the bad photos.

Jim Lee

  • Wizard trading card: $300
  • Wild CATS pages: $200, $450, 
  • DefCon 4 cover: $600


J Scott Campbell

  • Gen 13 pages: $275, $225, $200, $325


Adam Hughes

  • Gen 13 pages: $225, $275, $225, $225

Brett Booth

  • Backlash/Spider-Man series: $200, $225, $800
  • Backlash/Spider-Man series: $200, $350, $325, $450
  • Backlash/Spider-Man series: $175, $175, $225, $150

Comic Book Creator Event: Erik Larsen (Savage Dragon, Amazing Spider-Man artist) at Phat Collectibles, Anaheim

Comic artist, writer and creator Erik Larsen (Savage Dragon, Amazing Spider-Man, TMNT) appeared at Phat Collectibles comic book store in Anaheim, CA.

The Image Comics Co-Founder, Larsen,  was happily signing books and taking photos with fans as well as sketching commission artwork ($200-$300) for his fans and a few lucky attendees who won raffles for a quick sketch as well.

Long Beach Comic & Horror Convention 2012: Convention Report

Here is the report for the 4th Annual Long Beach Comic & Horror Convention held in Long Beach, California 2013. 


A fun convention with the ability to interact with the creators in a more personal, less-heavy traffic convention compared to San Diego Comic Con. Attendance seemed a little lower this year than last year with the possibility of the Con being held after Halloween this year and also not being part ofa  “Zombie Walk” that Long Beach held last year to try and break a record.

A few non-returning creators such as David Finch, Bob Layton, etc. also meant a few less artists to drive fans on attending both Saturday and Sunday. My eye spotted less buyers as well unless a booth had 50% off trades or the one 50 cent back issue booth which stayed packed.

Purchasing your tickets in advance allowed you to get a free copy of Creator Owned Heroes by Jimmy Palmiotti and Steve Niles with a special Long Beach Con cover by Amanda Conner as well as a 30 minute early admittance to the convention on Saturday.

Photo Report Review! Images are called out clock-wise.

A. The convention and cosplayers.

  • The line to get in the comic convention which is at the bottom floor at the Long Beach Convention Center with panels on the main floor. There was an indoor garden expo happening that same weekend.
  • Thundercat’s Cheetarah and Pumyra
  • Lady Punishers x2
  • Walking Dead-type Zombie
  • She-Ra
  • Baroness and Ms. Marvel
  • Stilt-Waking Spider-Lady with Dr. Who and Angel Baseball Fan



B. The Artists & Creators

  • JonBoy Meyers (G.I. Joe, Hulk)
  • Tim Vigil (Faust)
  • Bernard Chang (Deadpool, Wonder Woman)
  • Trent Kaniuga (Creed, Ghost Rider, Twilight Monk)
  • Amanda Conner (Silk Spectre, Power Girl)
  • Tommy Yune (Speed Racer, Robotech) being interviewed
  • Jon Bogdanove (Superman, Power Pack)