When the SO and I were cleaning up a few weeks ago to make room for our expectant arrival. I came across my old collection of Heroclix figures. About five years ago, I was a total fiend and bought tons of figures from the first two sets of both the Marvel and DC versions of the game. I even picked the Indy Heroclix starter and some boosters. I had to have the Judge Dread guys after all.
I quit getting them for several reasons, the biggest being that I wasn’t really gamming with Heroclix all that much. I was also annoyed that the paint jobs were terrible considering the price, and like all “collector” games you never knew what you were gonna get and thus duplicates abounded. So I threw what I had into a container and forgot about ‘em.
When I “rediscovered” my figures recently, I got curious. What had Heroclix been up to these last few years? Well, by going on line, I was surprised to find out that the quality of the paintjobs had improved. But what really got me, though, was the fact that many of my favorite, b-lister characters had been made into figures. I found the Supernova set particularly appealing with its Guardian of Galaxy and Squadron Supreme figures.
Two weeks ago, I dropped by Cosmic Monkey while on the eastside and noticed they had old, loose, Heroclix figures for 50¢ each. I bought several and this wet my appetite for more. So this last weekend, I swung by my usual comic store and purchased two sets of Marvel Supernova, and a set of DC Crisis. The figures in the Crisis set weren’t all that special except for a batgirl version, but I was really happy with the supernova guys. The best thing is that I got a Colonel America Zombie figure! It’s my understanding that this dude is very rare. Considering the fact that I’m not even interested in the other marvel zombie Heroclix characters, it was an amazing thing to rip open the package and just find him there. I lucked out this time. It kinda’ made up for all those lame duplicates I wasted my money on years ago… …OK, not really, but it was nice to get a “hard to find” character that I actually wanted.
I plan on buying a few booster sets here and there, but mostly I think I might try hunting for individual figures at stores and conventions. I feel this could actually be sorta fun, like antiquing for geeks. Too bad I didn’t shop for anything at Emerald City Comic Con though; I bet I could have found some good Heroclix deals. Regardless, I’m happy with the Zombie Colonel. I have him next to my computer between Papa Smuf and No-face.
Free Comic Day Came and much fun was had by all. It started with me getting to the movie theater just a tad late to meet Dean Wormer and his gaggle of Deltas to see Iron Man but all was well. It looks like Marvel Studios is off to a great start and Iron Man might not be such a B-Lister (as the Press has dubbed him) anymore. There were many things I enjoyed about the film but the choice of actors and the humor rose to the top for me. I’ll have a longer review later. What was also very cool was seeing this film with kids; sometimes I forget how exciting these things can be for the younger set. Plus, nobody kicked the back of the chairs, spoke on their cell phone, or mouthed off during the film. What more could you ask for?
Excalibur Comics They've got a ton of back issues here!
After a dim sum lunch at a Chinese restaurant, we headed over to our first comic store, Excalibur. They still had a great selection of free comics available and all of us picked up several titles. I think I was most happy with the EC reprint myself. The kids had a lot of fun exploring the store and it reminded me of when I discovered the comic book store for the first time. What’s really interesting is that the Excalibur owners and staff are very serious about their comics. It’s the best place for back issues in the city and they are very knowledgeable about the comic book field. They don’t go in much for extras like toys and games and consequently carry a decent selection of indy and mature titles. Dean was feeling little punch drunk from the Indiana Jones 4 trailer and so he picked up Vol. 1 of Dark Horse’s Indiana Jones omnibus.
Cosmic Monkey This is the sign on the side of building. How many comic characters can you identify?
For round two, we zipped off to Cosmic Monkey. Dean and the deltas hadn’t been to the store’s new location so part of the fun was watching their reaction to what turned out to be an incredibly fun leg of our free comic book day tour. The experience didn’t disappoint, as a herd of comic creators (mostly from Periscope) was inside along with a bunch of hipster fans. We all raided the free comics and I got a copy of Gumby this time around. Dean was impressed with the selection of new titles and he picked up the 2nd issue of the Army of Darkness / Xena crossover that he’d missed out on. While the kids got some Iron Man sketches from Jessie Hamm, Dean revealed that one of his female offspring was really into horror comics. This told me several things: 1, Dean is a very cool dad; 2, his daughter is very cool (but I already knew that as all his kids are very cool); and 3, Comics have changed permanently and thank goodness for that. Some of the kids also picked up some Harvey Dent buttons.
I hope the World of Comics is a little less Secret nowadays. heh heh
Andy Mangels and Kurt Busick Andy had a new book out on the history Iron Man and Kurt had copies of his Conan and Astro City titles.
Some of the Creators at Cosmic Monkey That's Ron Randall with his back to the camera talking to David Hahn. Paul Tobin is covered up by Ron and then next to him is Colleen Coover with Kieron Dwyer (reading to whom I assume is his son) next to her.
Shannon Wheeler and Carolyn Main Shannon is known for Too Much Coffee Man and Carolyn for her deliciously naughty cartoons
A Cosmic Monkey Comic! Hey remember that 24-hour comic party that CM had a about an month ago (see here)? Well Jim Valentino produced a comic for CM with their very own mascot. It's great and only available at Cosmic Monkey. Lucky me! Thanks to Andy for allowing me to post a couple of pages.
Cosmic Monkey T-Shirts! Cosmic Monkey, the local sensation.
Things From Another World A bike next to a comic book store sign, now that's Portland!
Our last leg of the comics’ journey led us to Things From Another World, a chain in the Portland metro area. TFAW is more of a corporate style of store and has lots of toys, other knickknacks in addition to comics. The place was jam-packed with kids. All the stores had grade-schoolers but Things had the most. That might be because there was a big sale going on and their parents might have found the reduced prices too enticing. The sad part was that most of TFAW’s free comics were gone by this point and so I just picked up the Hellboy Golden Army giveaway, It wasn’t that big of a deal anyway as these guys like to stamp their info on the comic covers, which I think is kinda lame. While perusing the store Dean convinced me to pick up the first issue of the D.C. Fontana’s Star Trek by IDW. I was really turned off by the last Year Four title but this one is much better.
A cute Vietnamese family was buying a bunch of stuff when I snapped this shot.
The kids had great time, Dean had a great time, and I had a great time. Free Comic Book Day rules!
It was 24-hour comic day on Saturday. I’ve never indulged in this artistic test of endurance but I think it’s a fantastic idea. The concept is to create a complete comic book, drawn and inked, during a single 24-hour period. The excellent Cosmic Monkey Comics hosted a 24-hour comic event called the 24-Hour Drawpocalypse, so I swung by the store to check out the scene. Andy, the majority owner, was gracious enough to let me snap a few shots of the artists hard at work. I got there about 7:30 PM.They had been working since 10 AM, so the gang only had only 14 and half hours to go!
here they are drawing their stories. Nobody looked tired yet. That's Jim Valentino on the left with the star on his chest. I loved his Guardians of the Galaxy series. Maybe I'll have him sign my copy of the GOTG trade at the Stumptown Comics Fest... If I don't have to work that weekend.
David Chelsea's inking his work. He was using an interesting diagonally lined paper to create his comic.
I didn't ask this guy his name but I liked what I saw of his work. (following pic has a close-up)
I climbed the stairs to get this shot. I felt bad because they creaked loudly and everybody stared at me, and wondered what I was doing.
The Wacky and Wild owners of Cosmic Monkey Comics, Andy Johnson and Adam Healy.
Part of the time I was in the Cosmic Monkey, I roamed the trade paperback section, which is fantabulous by the way, when a 20 something gal asked Adam Healy who Jack Kirby was. He directed her to the Jack Kirby shelf and explained that he was called “King” because he was an innovator when comic books first stared out and that he co-created many famous characters like the Fantastic Four, X-Men, and Captain America. He handed her a copy of a Twomorrows book about Jack filled with tons of his art, and she began to leaf through it. In the picture above you can see her on the left looking through the book. I was intrigued. Why was this gal suddenly interested in Jack? I guess it makes sense that if you don’t read superhero comics you wouldn’t know who he was but what was going on? In a stealthy way, I followed her as she walked back to her friend/boyfriend (that was participating in the 24-comic event) and talked to him about Jack. I was trying to eavesdrop, to figure out her motivations, when the guy she was talking to mentioned the Mayor of Portland declared that April was Portland Comics Month. Was this true? Well sure enough when I got home and did a net search I discovered that Tom Potter did indeed make this pronouncement.
The Stumptown Comics Foundation is delighted to announce that later today, Mayor Tom Potter will declare this April Portland Comics Month. The proclamation officially recognizes both the cultural importance and creative influence of this vibrant art form on the entire city.
Portland has deep roots in the comic-book publishing world, as it is home to scores of comics industry professionals and to three of the nation's most prominent independent comics publishers (Dark Horse Comics, Oni Press, and Top Shelf Productions). Moreover, the local comics community has seen sizable growth in the past few years, further bolstering the Rose City's defining ties to the creative arts and industries. To champion and support Portland Comics Month, the Stumptown Comics Foundation has catalogued a staggering number of comics-related events in the Portland metro area for the entire month of April.
How amazing is that. I’ve been telling folks for years how special and unique the comic’s scene is in Portland and now through the hard work of many folks, including the Stumptown Comics Foundation, it’s official.
I never did find out why this gal became interested in Jack Kirby, maybe she’s an indie creator and she was trying to check out the origins of mainstream comics. Or perhaps she was trying to enter the world of her friend/boyfriend. I dunno… what I really wanted to know was her opinion of Jack's art. Oh well, if I hadn’t tried to listen in, I wouldn’t have learned it was Portland Comics Month.
* Link to the person who tagged you. * Leave a comment on their blog so that their readers can visit yours. * Post the rules on your blog. * Share the seven (7) most famous or infamous people you have met. Or go with the original 7 weird things about yourself. Or with Sandra's change and list your 7 favorite writing websites. Lots of choices! * Tag 7 random people at the end of your post. * Include links to their blogs. * Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
I’m going with 7 famous people.
Bruce Campbell Bruce was showing his film Bubba Ho-Tep around at various venues in 2002 to interest a distributor. Dean Wormer and Misses Dean were kind enough to invite me and the SO along. We waited for hours outside the Hollywood Theater in the cold to get in. Well, the gals waited outside as Dean and I got to go inside and wait in another line to do a meet and greet with the B-Movie legend before the film started. I had brought my DVD copy of The Evil Dead for Bruce to sign. While there, I decided to buy a hardback copy of his book If Chins Could Kill. I thought: “hey, why not get two things signed.” Well just before I got to meet him the crew told me that Mr. Campbell only signs one thing per fan. Oh well, I did want to read his book at some point.
Bruce was very nice and shook my hand and I sat and talked with him a few moments. As he signed my DVD with “Stay Groovy.” I mentioned that I really enjoyed his mini doc Fanalysis that was on the DVD and wondered if he was going to do another one. He said that they had something in the works. I never saw it but I’m sure it ended up on some DVD. I then blabbered some dumb crap about myself that he could have cared less about, but I was feeling ill so I wasn’t thinking clearly. I did have the good sense to say that I enjoyed his work and wished him well before I left.
Mr. Campbell was nice of enough to meet all the folks that had waited to get something signed, so nice in fact that the showing of Bubba Ho-Tep was delayed much to the dismay of our spouses waiting outside in the cold. Eventually, we all sat down together and, after a lively introduction by Mr. Campbell, enjoyed the film.
Erin Grey I think it was in 1998 when Erin Grey stopped by Portland during a comic convention. I had a big crush on her when I was in grade school because of her staring role as Wilma Deering on the Buck Rodgers TV show. You know the one that was a little too disco for it’s own good right? Well, as the years went by I realized that she was the best part of that program (well, her and Doctor Theopolis that is) so; when she came to Portland I decided to meet her.
When I got to the comic show, I realized I was actually a little nervous, which was strange because it’s not like she was mega famous anymore but, maybe it was due to the fact that hardly anybody ever came to Portland. She looked great, Erin had taken care of herself over the years and she reminded me of one of those hot moms. I talked to her a little bit and asked if she had anything coming out, and she responded that she up for a role and she hoped she was going to get it. That made me a little sad because I think that Grey is good actor, but Buck Rogers typecast her. She was seriously considered for the role of Janeway on Star Trek Voyager. How awesome would that have been?
I bought a signed copy of one her Buck Rogers pictures and I also bought a copy of her book Act Right. Incidentally, it was at this convention that I realized the Portland Comic book show was held in really awful space, the basement of the Memorial Coliseum. I felt a little ashamed that guests had come from all over the place and were stuck in this dank, dark dungeon. And Sure enough, she never came back to Portland just like all the other media guests that have come for the convention.
Will Eisner Yes, the godfather of American comics and the creator of the Spirit actually came to Portland once thanks to Dark Horse Comics. In august 2000, Things From Another World (Mike Richardson’s other company) hosted the meet and greet with the grandmaster. He was obviously in town to convene with the Dark Horse bunch and it was a simple matter for him to cross the street for the event at the comic shop.
I was having trouble deciding what to have him sign, but I ended up bringing the first two volumes of the Spirit Archives that had just been published previously that year. I arrived early with my niece and we ended up being the first in line. My niece didn’t have a clue who Eisner was but I hoped that someday she’d realize how special it was to meet him, although I’m still not holding my breath.
When Will Eisner came into the shop, he looked just like I thought he would, like a kindly grandfather. He was very affable and was very happy to sign my copies of the Sprit archives especially since he hadn’t seen them yet. When he recognized that Alan Moore wrote the forward, he examined fondly “Oh Alan!”
My niece got mildly annoyed because he kept confusing her name with the name of one his great-granddaughters, but I had great time. I would have loved to chitchat with him but the line was already very long. I had my picture taken with Will and I used one of those disposable cameras, which I promptly lost. Oh well, it was great to meet one of my comic creator heroes particularly given that he passed away a few years later in 2005.
Linda Harrison Linda played Nova in the first two Planet of the Apes films which are part of my favorite Science Fiction film series of all time, so there was no way I was gonna’ pass up seeing her. She came to Portland in 2004 (I think?) to the Portland comic convention.
I hauled along my Niece again, she didn’t know who Linda was either but I figured she might watch the Planet of the Apes movies eventually. Linda was very nice and agreed to have a picture taken with my niece. As you can see from the shot, she looked great. I bought and had her sign one of her photographs. It was she, the cast and the crew from the first POTA film. Everybody was on the beach where they shot the scene in which Dr. Zaius gets tied up. When I later took to look at the picture, I realized that everybody in that photo was dead expect for Linda Harrison and “Chuck” Heston.
Cat Yronwode Author, critic, hippie, and sex magic promoter, Cat Yronwode, has worn many hats throughout her life but I knew none of that when I went to see the Eclipse Comics booth back in 1985 or 86. At that time, she was the editor-in-chief of one of my favorite comic companies and that was good enough for me as a pimply-faced teen. Being a huge fan of Eclipse Comics because they published lots of different genres, I collected many of their titles and I couldn’t believe they were actually coming to Portland. Plus, I had read many of cat’s editorials so meeting her personally was something I built up in my mind.
When I first got to the Eclipse table, Cat Yronwode wasn’t there but she soon walked up with some Eclipse titles in hand. She commented to her crew how she was able to find some good back issues to add to their library. I knew what she was talking about because Eclipse had been flooded out a few years before and all their back issues were lost. Cat then sat right down and began interacting with the fans.
Now being a celebrity novice, I didn’t realize that bringing a ginormous stack of comics for her to sign was a pretty rude thing to do. But she was very cool about it and said something nice about what great fan I must be. I realized my mistake when Dean Mullaney, Eclipse’s publisher, said he was only going to autograph one title and suggested she do the same. She ignored him and went right on putting her name on all my Scout comics, Miracle Man comics and Alien Encounters comics (my three favorite titles). Then, when she was done, she handed me one of the Eclipse Comics metal buttons they were selling because I was such a big fan. I wore that button proudly for many years before I stored it away someplace.
Cat Yronwode became one of my favorite comic book people that day. She treated me so nicely when she could have totally blown me off. Cat didn’t and so created a very loyal Eclipse Comics fan. I always felt she was the major reason that Eclipse had been such a success in the 1980s. Eclipse Comics went out of business in 1994, but she had left in 1993. What does that tell you?
I met Paul Chadwick, the creator of Concrete, in 2005. He was nice enough to do an on camera interview:
Mike Richardson Mike Richardson is the founder of Dark Horse Comics. Back when the company was first starting out in 1986, Dark Horse always had a booth at the Portland Comic Book Show and Mike was often there. He was a soft-spoken, easygoing sort of guy that was happy to meet the fans. Nowadays, Mike’s a bigwig with 300, Sin City, and Hellboy, being huge media successes so he has no need to slum it with the little folk or modest comic book conventions that take place in dank dungeons, but this year he is gonna’ be at the Stumptown Comics Fest, so I think this newer, homegrown convention has, shall we say, arrived?
I’m just gonna tag Lady Bug… I broke the rules… sorry Moody...
My SO and I traveled around town yesterday after the morning errands and dropped a couple of bucks here and there to keep the economy from slipping into a depression. Our first stop was to the 3d Center of Art & Photography. It’s a neat little nonprofit that promotes 3D as a fine art and showcases various stereoscopic cameras. The Center currently has an exhibit by Claudia Kunin titled 3D Holy Ghosts. The themes in Kunin’s work are taken from the bible, folklore, and classical mythology. Medusa clearly was the most impressive piece from the show and Walpurgis Nacht was a close second. The erotic nature of the pieces is enhanced by Kunin’s use of photographic rather than representational images. We also were fortunate because the 3D Center had an amazing slide show of an African Safari. I’ve seen 3d images before but the combination of National Geographic quality with eye-popping depth was fantastic. There was one up-close shot of an elephant’s eye that blew me away because that’s not something I would ever experience in daily life. Another fascinating aspect of these stereoscopic photos was how strange water appeared. It’s hard to describe but the depth made the water seem almost plastic or jelly-like and yet it still come across as H2O.
We made a stop at Haba, a Japanese cosmetic store, so the SO could pick up some of “her” all-natural skin toner. It’s funny because Haba chose Portland of all the places in the U.S. to hawk their wares. Good for my SO, bad for most other Japanese in the states. On the way to Haba, we saw the Silver Guy. He’s a performance artist that stands motionless for hours until you drop money into his pot. The cash prompts him to lean over and shake your hand, leaving it covered in glitter. He’s been doing this for over a decade I think.
After heading over to the Eastside, we stopped by a game store I know to see if a buddy of mine was working. He wasn’t but the smelly, belly boys were out in full force playing Warhammer. There was a ton of D20 stuff on sale probably because 4th edition is coming out soon. I bought a post-apocalyptic game supplement that was half off. They had a copy of Arkham Horror; that made my mouth water…
After a nice dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant we enjoy, the SO and I swung by Cosmic Monkey. It’s a comic shop I would occasionally frequent when I lived on the Eastside. They had moved to a new location last year and yesterday I finally had a chance to check it out. I gotta’ say I liked the new digs a lot. The place was very inviting and comfortable like a coffee shop or an indy bookstore. They had a large selection of trade paperbacks, much better than my regular store, and a upper level had couches for folks to hank out and read. Of all the shops in Portland, this is the one I would bring someone to if they had trepidations about comic book stores. I talked to Andy, the owner, and he told me that they will be hosting some of the events scheduled for the Stumptown Comics Fest. The Trophy Awards will be handed out at Cosmic Monkey and the latest installment of the Comic Art Battle will be fought there as well. Sounds like fun! I picked up a copy of the collected New Mutants volume 1 before we headed back home.
Boy! I’m F-ing lucky. Why? because I almost missed an exhibition dedicated to one of my all time faves, ROM the Spaceknight. If I hadn’t gone out for Japanese food, if my SO hadn’t picked up a copy of the December 18th issue of the Asian Reporter, and if I hadn’t decided to skim it, I would never have read an article about Floating World Comics’ Rom Exhibition in downtown Portland. Whew! My wife and I went there today… the last day of the show. Man, I have to start paying a lot more attention to what is going on around town. A selection of ROM art (image from Floating World Comics website)
Check out the informative Asian Reporter, article by Toni Tabora-Roberts here.
The quick rundown is that Floating World Comics’ owner, Jason Leivian, decided to put on a fundraiser for Bill Mantlo, the scribe of the ROM comic series from the 80s. A car hit Mantlo in 1992 and left him severely disabled. All proceeds from this show are going towards his care. Leivian, like so many others, loves the ROM character and felt an exhibition celebrating him was great way to honor Mantlo and give back to a creator in need. Jason Leivian in front of many of the works on Ebay
Floating World Comics is a wonderful shop with a very diverse line of comic books, from the mainstream, to Indy, to the avant-garde. So, the venue was a perfect place for a ROM exhibition made up of artists with varied styles. Leivian did two innovative things with this show. The first was allowing artists from around the world to submit digital copies their work. This allowed Leivian to print out a limited number of high quality images for the show. Toni Tabora-Roberts dubbed this "Cyber Curating" in her article. I see a future in this. The second innovation Leivian used was a sliding scale for the digital prints. See, the first copy of any image had a low price of 5 bucks but each additional copy jumps in price by 5 dollars with the 6th print at 30 bucks. That way pieces by famous artists are balanced out with the less well-known work. The final aspect of the show was on-line auctions of ROM artwork by some of the artists featured in the show. The auctions have all closed by now and Leivian was happy to tell me that the auctions generated over $9,000.
I bought a print of Shane White's version of ROM (image from his blog here)
There were still some amazing prints available but sadly a few of the items I would have liked to get were long gone, but I’m not complaining because I might have missed the show all together and besides Leivian told me he plans on printing a limited run book that will contain all the art in show! Oh Yeah! That’s on the list.
Something that was amazing about the show for me personally was how I was drawn to the non-superhero style art. I guess there is just something universal about ROM that I never realized before. Maybe it’s his simple face that allows the viewer to add his or her own emotions character or it’s possibly ROM’s pseudo-retro, sci-fi design, I don’t know, but he seems to have a certain appeal beyond the comic book page. I was so inspired in fact that I’ve decided to whip up my own ROM artwork… and I’m not an artist. But that doesn’t matter… ROM is one of those galactic everyman characters that belong to all of us. Drawing your own ROM would make a great net meme, so why don’t you join me in creating one... …or two…
I didn't catch the name on this artist but nice work. (if you know it please leave a comment) ROM and Starshine on Tortillas! By Mike Scheer (image from Floating World Comics site) Guy Davis' ROM it went for big bucks on Ebay (image from Floating World Comics website) Colleen Coover (image from Floating World Comics website)
Here’s the Link for many of the creative images from the exhibition and auction.
image by Michael Russell
This is the sign on the side of building. How many comic characters can you identify?
I hope the World of Comics is a little less Secret nowadays. heh heh
Andy had a new book out on the history Iron Man and Kurt had copies of his Conan and Astro City titles. 
That's Ron Randall with his back to the camera talking to David Hahn. Paul Tobin is covered up by Ron and then next to him is Colleen Coover with Kieron Dwyer (reading to whom I assume is his son) next to her.
Shannon is known for Too Much Coffee Man and Carolyn for her deliciously naughty cartoons
Hey remember that 24-hour comic party that CM had a about an month ago (see here)? Well Jim Valentino produced a comic for CM with their very own mascot. It's great and only available at Cosmic Monkey. Lucky me! Thanks to Andy for allowing me to post a couple of pages.
Cosmic Monkey, the local sensation. 
A bike next to a comic book store sign, now that's Portland!
A cute Vietnamese family was buying a bunch of stuff when I snapped this shot. 
here they are drawing their stories. Nobody looked tired yet. That's Jim Valentino on the left with the star on his chest. I loved his Guardians of the Galaxy series. Maybe I'll have him sign my copy of the GOTG trade at the Stumptown Comics Fest... If I don't have to work that weekend. 
One of the guys drawing away.
David Chelsea
David Chelsea's inking his work. He was using an interesting diagonally lined paper to create his comic.
I didn't ask this guy his name but I liked what I saw of his work. (following pic has a close-up)
I climbed the stairs to get this shot. I felt bad because they creaked loudly and everybody stared at me, and wondered what I was doing. 
The Wacky and Wild owners of Cosmic Monkey Comics, Andy Johnson and Adam Healy. 
Jason Leivian in front of many of the works on Ebay
I bought a print of Shane White's version of ROM (image from his blog here) 
I didn't catch the name on this artist but nice work. (if you know it please leave a comment)
ROM and Starshine on Tortillas! By Mike Scheer (image from Floating World Comics site)
Guy Davis' ROM it went for big bucks on Ebay (image from Floating World Comics website)
Colleen Coover (image from Floating World Comics website)
