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Baltimore Comic-Con Recap, Part 2

Posted: Wednesday, September 24
By: Tim O'Shea

Baltimore Comic-Con Recap, Part 2

Part one of my Baltimore Comic-Con coverage can be found here, where I addressed CrossGen and DC’s panels. One addendum to my DC coverage, despite rumors that Karl Kesel and Tom Grummett’s Section Zero would be relaunching at DC, Kesel flatly denied this rumor. He’s unsure of the rumor’s origin, but he and Waid have never even discussed the possibility. Ever the savvy creator, Kesel did add that he wouldn’t mind folks expressing interest to DC about the possibility of them picking the property up to resume publication,

Saturday afternoon was spent pestering many independent creators, who fortunately were in great supply at the con. CBLDF had a major presence at the con as well, given that the More FUND charity anthology premiered at the con and there was an art auction held to benefit the CBLDF. As soon as SBC finds out the final tally from the auction, we will either update this story or post the details as a separate news item.

I was able to crash at Steve Conley’s Astounding Space Thrills booth. Steve is also one of the major creative forces behind the great comics journalism site, PULSE (and the newly elected head of SPX!). He and his wife Britt were just one of the many fine folks I got to chat with and spend some time catching up. Some of the success for the con can be placed squarely on his shoulders, given that he (along with Buzzboy creator and More FUND anthology organizer John Gallagher) made an appearance on local Baltimore television, promoting the show. Organizer Marc Nathan also aired a commercial on the local television stations and cable systems, which aired during such shows as Teen Titans, Smallville and the Simpsons. It is believed that this expanded media marketing blitz (the commercial aired more than 300 times) was another factor in the increased attendance at this year’s show.

I wish I could list all of the independent creators that I met, but most assuredly I would leave some folks off the list. Rest assured that SBC plans on interviewing many of the independent creators that I met over the weekend, so while they don’t get mentioned here, they will be covered in the weeks and months to come.

I had planned on taking in a Baltimore Orioles baseball game on Saturday night, but the con’s baseball fans had attended Friday night’s game, so I have to settle for next year (hopefully). Instead I took advantage of the flood waters from the hurricane having receded, and dined at a local posh seafood eatery by the Inner Harbor.

A scheduling change meant that I missed the JLA/Avengers panel (its time was flip-flopped with Jose Villarrubia’s art lecture). This led to some great comedy, as I sat through the thoroughly enjoyable Writers 101 panel (more on that in a minute) and stayed around for Avengers/JLA. When a swarm of college age students sat around me, I was bewildered. While I know the book had been a success, I assumed it was more successful with the ages 30 to 40 demographics. When Villarrubia walked in and there was no sign of Perez or editor Tom Brevoort, I knew I was in the wrong place. Sequential Tart contributor Denise Sudell (unable to make the con this year) politely reprimanded me (when we talked later on the phone) for bailing on the panel, given the opportunity lost to learn from someone of his caliber and talent. I convinced her my bailing on the seat afforded a real artist the opportunity to learn. Mike Kaluta participated on the panel with Villarrubia and it was one of the more heavily attended panels of the weekend.

I credit Marc Nathan, the con organizer, along with his wife Bonnie Nathan, for the show’s diversity and popularity. The two of them, along with their tireless con staff, kept things running quite smoothly the whole weekend.

The Writing 101 panel was another high point for me, thanks to the panelists--Waid, Johns and Brad Meltzer. Like many of the new comic writers, Meltzer brings an interesting context to his work, given that he is also a successful novelist. Meltzer, who is currently working on a super secret project for DC (he promised SBC an interview once he can start promoting the work), often deferred to the two more seasoned comic writers, while still adding his own insight.

The panel afforded the audience a great deal of insight into the submission process and the overall challenges of a creative effort like writing comics. They all agreed that the approach to plotting comic adventures is being influenced by the advent of TPBs. Revision is the key to most effectively weaving a 22-page story that balances between art and text.

Waid offered Alan Moore’s Watchmen as a “masterpiece of structure.” Waid also shared that he is written more than 500 comics and despite all this experience, he believes his work on the Fantastic Four is the first time he’s done a great deal of revision in a long time. Typically with FF, he would write a script over the weekend, send it Brevoort, only to send some revisions to a page or two by Wednesday. (As a Marvel aside, Brevoort seemed quite keen on the new Iron Man writer John Jackson Miller’s plans for the book [with Mystique's Jorge Lucas on art]. SBC hopes to have an interview with Miller in the near term).

There were plenty of other great creators and fans at the con, but unfortunately I could not talk to them all. Unless I’m mistaken Baltimore Comic-Con is on the cusp of becoming a major convention, and I hope it does. Any show that can deliver so much fun right after a hurricane deserves to enjoy a great deal of success for many years.

On a personal note, my thanks to Marc and Bonnie Nathan for putting on such a great con and answering my questions in the midst of the usual con chaos, as well as thanks to Baltimore Comic-Con staffer Brad Tree for all the assistance he provided members of the press like myself over the con weekend.