IT’S CON TIME!
I’m posting this a little earlier than my Friday regular posting day because this Friday starts the first day of the 30th Anniversary of Heroes Convention here in Charlotte, NC. This year not only marks the big 30th year that the con has been going on for but it also brings in one of the biggest names in the comic book world, Stan Lee.
That’s right Stan “The Man” Lee is going to be making his first appearance here in the Queen City for a con. I’m sure the man has passed through Charlotte before, on a trip, going to a meeting, or whatever but this time he will be actually staying to do signings, having a panel, and being at the con and I’m excited.
I’ve met Stan Lee before at Dragon Con but only got his autograph on a Spider-Man 3 movie poster, which I really like but it’s not what I want. Which is why I’m pretty stoked about having the chance (however slight and small a time frame that I will get) to meet Stan Lee again but this time I’m getting him to sign issue #33 of The Amazing Spider-Man. It’s a first print, though sadly it’s not in great shape, but no rips or tears, it has all the pages, the cover is attached, and no bends so for me that’s good enough to have the man that wrote it put his autograph on it so I can frame it.
At any rate, I’m not posting this early so I can talk about the comic that I can get signed, I’m posting early so that I can get the word out before Friday to anyone that might still want to go to Heroes Con this weekend June 22-24 to be able to go. Now if you think that Stan Lee is going to be the only one to see at the con then you’d be wrong. There are so many people that will be at the con that are big names in the comic industry. Here’s a short list of some of the people.
Stan Lee
Neal Adams
Mark Bagley
Ivan Brandon
Mark Brooks
Chris Brunner
Frank Cho
Clayton Crain
Shane Davis
Adam Hughes
Ed McGuinness
George Perez
Ivan Reis
Louise Simonson
Lee Weeks
Skottie Young
As I said, that’s just a extremely short list of some of the guests that will appear at Heroes Con but as cool as it is for these people to be making an appearance there’s also all the stuff you can buy while there. I’ve been to Heroes Con for some number of years and it gets better and better each year. There’s always new items to there, some that are really awesome like Hand Made Stuff, which are hand made dolls of characters that look awesome and cute at the same time, I can’t wait to pick up a Harley Quinn. And as always there’s a ton of comic books to be found with dealers from around the US coming in to make some deals. Each year I find some great deals on graphic novels that lets me get stocked up for a year on them without spending that much money.
Though Heroes Con is not the only upcoming convention. Summer always brings in the conventions and how I wish I had the money, time, and resources to be able to hit them all up. Here are just some of the cons that are coming in the next few months.
1) Celebration 6 August 23-26 or commonly known as C6 will be held in Orlando, FL, is the official Star Wars con that will feature so many of the people that work with the Star Wars universe. This year Ian McDiarmid aka Emperor Palpatine, Carrie Fisher, Seth Green, and so many others will be there. In past Celebrations George Lucas has been there to do signings as well as Mark Hamill so getting in to this con would be a dream come true for some fans, namely me and it was close to happening, but due to circumstances of something else coming to Charlotte September 3-6 I can’t go, I still get to pay my side of it, so it’s so nice knowing that my money gets to make the trip while I stay in town working.
2) San Diego Comic Con July 12-15, tickets are already sold out and from what I was told they sold out almost instantly. So unless you are willing to pay a lot you probably won’t be getting in. Some of the past cons passes are selling for $45+ and that’s just for collecting so just imagine what the pass will cost now to get you in.
3) Dragon Con August 31-September 3, held in downtown Atlanta, GA, it takes up pretty much the whole of downtown. It’s one of the most fun times I’ve had and the con is by far the greatest con I’ve ever been to. I’ve said that the con has something for everyone and it really does. There’s so much more to it than just the comic book, science fiction, and the celebrity signings, there’s the stores, the shows, the panels, the parade, the costume contests, the photo shoots, and so much more. There really is something for everyone there. There were panels that dealt with how to direct a movie, produce a movie, one on being an editor, photography, writing books, there is just so much at Dragon Con that I would spend days writing up all the things that could be done and seen there and I still wouldn’t fit it all in. But if none of that sells you on going, the parties that happen in the lobbies from the day before to the last day there that go on for all day and night, literally, are so much fun that it’s something that can only be experienced and not talked about.
4) Charlotte Comicon, August 5, Charlotte, NC at the Charlotte Crown Plaza, admission is only $3 and if you go to Dave’s Comics in Fort Mill, SC before the show you can find out more, but the show is always fun. This one is just comic books, there are signings going on with local artists and some from the industry. If you want to find a missed comic or one from the past or maybe some toy or statue this is the place to do it because it should be there. There’s also prizes that are given away ever hour on the hour that makes going a little extra bit of fun.
5) The Great Allentown Comic Con, Allentown, PA at the Merchants Square Mall, August 4-5. Ok this one I don’t know about since I’ve never been to it but I figured I’d throw in one that wasn’t on one of the coasts. Here’s the site for more info.
www.allentowncomiccon.com/
I’m sure there are more cons that will be going on between now and September that I don’t know about happening in small towns and other cities around the US. If you know of one that you think needs to be mentioned, throw it in the comments page and I’ll try to bring some attention to in later blogs. For now that’s the list that I got.
BATMAN MEETS SUPERMAN:
Ok, this don’t seem like news, afterall Batman and Superman have met before right? Well, yes and no, mainly no for this discussion. Setting aside the mainstream comics, cartoons, animations, and books there is a new first time meeting for these two icons. If you are a Smallville fan then you should know that the 11th season of the popular television series is being published first as a online comic and then put into printed format. Well, guess what?
Batman is making his first appearance in the series!
That’s right, Bruce Wayne, Batman himself, finally gets put in the Smallville world where Clark Kent meets him. But that’s not all, there’s even more cool news.
Nightwing will be making an appearance along with Batman. But not the Dick that’s Nightwing this time, it’s Stephanie Brown that’s in the suit. If you’re wondering if this is the same Stephanie Brown from the comic books who was Robin for a brief time and then the third Batgirl. Though she’s from the comics she won’t be the exact same heroine that we know.
This is some exciting and cool news because we’ve been teased with getting a Batman/Superman team up in Smallville for years now and with each passing year we never got one. Then when season 10 was announced that it was the final season for the series it was hoped that we would get that match up but in the end there was yet another big disappointment when it didn’t happen. Now it’s finally here and though the luster, the shine, and the thrill of getting to see a live action meeting of Batman/Superman it will have it’s own benefits.
Namely now they can do pretty much anything they want to. Having Batman in a cool suit, taking the action to points that the show wouldn’t and couldn’t reach, but mainly the printed and digital version now gives us the chance to see the first meeting of Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne in the Smallville mythos. Not much is known about it yet but there will be a 12 week run for the meet up with the digital comic and then later printed, well I don’t know how they will do that but I’m going to buy it cause I love my printed comic.
SOME OTHER NEWS IN THE COMIC WORLD:
Don’t forget these events that are happening this summer.
1) Amazing Spider-Man the movie is coming out July 3
2) The Dark Knight Rises the third and last installment of the Batman movies comes out July 20
3) Lego Batman 2 Super Heroes the video game came out June 19, I got the first and this one and both are a ton of fun to play.
4) Before Watchmen comic titles that will feature stories on all the characters and started coming out on June 6 for Minutemen #1, June 13 for Silk Spectre #1, and June 19 for Comedian #1 so start looking for these titles (if you missed them check out some of the cons they will be there) and start going to your local comic shop to pick up the future issues cause these will be hard to find in the future.
5) Walking Dead #100 comes out July 11 and will be a tough issue to get so go get it. Considering what these books are going for now (and I’m kicking myself now cause I passed on getting them when they first came out) if you like the show then you will like the comic. To catch up on it there are collected graphic novels with all the issues in them.
CHARACTER OF THE WEEK 26
Silver Sable
Ok yeah she’s a mercenary, a gun for hire, and at times seems like she could be on the wrong side of the law but she has always been a very cool character. I remember first reading about her in a Spider-Man storyline called The Assassin Nation Plot and was very cool, plus it didn’t hurt that Todd McFarlane was the artist. She is tough, she is powerful, she can hang with the likes of Spider-Man, and all the while she has no superpowers at all.
I bring her up now because I just finished reading the story Ends of the Earth in the Amazing Spider-Man title, which has Silver Sable helping Spidey out to fight Doc Ock from destroy Earth, but the ending of it has me in a not so good mood. I won’t give away the ending but I didn’t quite care for it.
