Baltimore-Comic-Con-2014

One of the things I love about Baltimore Comic-Con is that, unlike some of the other conventions, it really still is a comic con. No movies or TV shows or sparkling vampires (unless they’re featured in a comic book). At least, that holds true in the main events of the convention. In the artists alley/vendor area anything goes. The majority of those are also comic book related, every once in a while there are some different products there. As I was wandering the convention center I me across the booth for Coral Hare. The manga cover drew me in, I thought perhaps it was a war-themed comic. ...

The Occupy Wall Street protests started almost exactly 3 years ago. Three years before that, the irresponsible actions of the banks nearly caused the collapse of the Western World as incredible amounts of money simply vanished. Various governments poured money into the companies involved and in 2011 as some parts of Europe found themselves no longer in control of their own countries, there was a disappointing lack of anyone being held responsible. At the time we still believed in the power of democracy and being vocal and so many took to the streets in an attempt to move the political will. Eventually the protests fell apart for various reasons - some inevitable and some nefarious - and nothing truly changed. But we continue to believe in democracy and no one is seriously courting rebellion.

Baltimore Comic-Con has a really great artists alley/vendor area and a visitor can see some pretty great indie creations (like webcomic Altar Girl). One that caught my eye right away on the first day was a little outfit called Little Petal. After looking at the women at the booth and the samples on the table, I had to know more. So I interviewed the owner, Danielle Ward. ...

I attended two panels on Sunday, Dynamite’s Pulp panel and Christy Blanch (with guest appearance by Mark Waid) on the Lois Lane Mort Weisinger Panel. Pulp at Dynamite (excuse the cut in the audio, my recorder ran out of batteries) Your browser does not support the audio element. Dynamite Pulp Panel 2 I wanted to attend this panel because I found it so interesting that, as a publisher, Dynamite was revisiting the pulps. Most of the conversation around comics usually revolves around superheroes or fresh new stuff a la Image. But in my personal life I’ve gotten back into reading, particularly anthologies and neo-pulp; I also really dug Gail Simone’s first Red Sonja arc. So I was curious about the appeal of The Shadow, The Green Hornet, and others. This panel was, in some ways, one of the best panels of the show because of all the historical facts. I’d recently learned that Batman was at least partially based on The Shadow, but I didn’t have any idea of the extent until our panelists spoke of talking to the original pulp writers. (Nothing against the other panels, but I’m a huge history nerd - including comics history) Mark Waid summed up the reason for the resurgence in pulp best by talking about how, at its heart, these are human stories and the conflicts are the same today as they’ve always been. The difference is that Mark has had to make some of the decisions Green Hornet has to make a little more grey morality. ...

The final day of Baltimore Comic-Con 2014 Cosplay gallery! Pretty amazing bunch of photos where all the super heroes came outside to take photos together. Nick Fury Laughing Nick Fury Let's Talk: Batman to Batman Ms Marvel Sailor Venus Pink and Green Lanterns Harley and Joker Harley Blade vs Jade Claw Baltimore Comic-Con Day 3-1 - web Baltimore Comic-Con Day 3-3 - web Wonder Woman and 'Friend' Neat Scary Superman Spider-Man from the Clone Wars Mutant Protesters Deadpool and Bob Slave Princess Leia Deadpool's Killer Poison Ivy and Daughter Cable and Baby Hope Summers Belle and Human Beast Bert, Mary Poppins, and a threat Some Comic Book Women Some Comic Book Women 2 Red Hood and Cyborg Cat Woman vs Green Arrow Green Arrows Nearly All the Marvel and DC Cosplayers Nearly All the Marvel and DC Cosplayers 2 Nearly All the Marvel and DC Cosplayers 3 Nearly All the Marvel and DC Cosplayers 4 Nearly All the Marvel and DC Cosplayers 5 Nearly All the Marvel and DC Cosplayers 6 Attacking the Protesters Marvel-Only Marvel-Only 2 Marvel-Only 3 Marvel-Only 4 X-Men The Battle Joker and Harley DC Comics Only DC Comics Only 2 DC Comics Only 3 A Good Laugh Cosplay Love Cosplay Love 2 The Future Foundation The Fantastic Four Part of the Future Foundation Superman and Wonderwoman Only Superman and Wonderwoman Only 2 Villains Baltimore Comic-Con Day 3-178 - web Villains 2 Killing Time Between Rescues The Mad Hatter and Red Queen Batman-Related Batman-Related 2 Batman-Related 3 Marvel Marvel 2 Avengers Zelda and Link Steam Punk Silk Spectre and Nite Owl Captain America What's that over there? Space Ghost I'm Surrounded by Assholes! Red Queen and Chicken Final Fantasy Bearded Superman Scott Pilgrim and Ramona Deadly Angel Super Hero Lunch Green and Pink Lantern Hawkguy and Pizza Dog Baltimore Comic-Con Day 3-286 - web Wonder Woman Harley Quinn Harley Quinzel Wonder Woman Pirate Young Super Hero All the Lanterns Zatanna Riddler and Poison Ivy Suicide Squad

If there was one person who could rival Mark Waid for being mostin-demand at Baltimore Comic-Con 2014, it was Gail Simone. This writer was on multiple panels, gave the keynote speech at the Harveys, and spent nearly every OTHER hour of the convention signing autographs and speaking to her fans. But after reading her first Secret Six arc and her first Red Sonja arc, I REALLY wanted to talk to her. So, I think it was quite fitting that my Red Sonja analysis was one of the shortest I’ve written since the relaunch of the site and this interview is the shortest one I did at Baltimore Comic-Con 2014. I spoke to her about one of the key issues I’ve seen across her work: sisterhood. ...

Don’t know how much liveblogging I’ll get to do as the data connections were horrible yesterday with so many people in one place. But, I’ve got things setup just in case. [liveblog]

There were a few cosplayers out on Friday, but today they came out in droves! Lots of amazing costumes! I noticed a few trends this year. First, lots of gender-bending. Especially a lot of female Captain Americas. Second, lots of race/ethinicity bending. This is awesome because something as silly as skin color should never stop you from cosplaying as your favorite character. Finally, lots of victorian, steam punk, and other types of time-bending with the costumes. ...

I am extremely against censorship, I speak about that more often on my personal blog, but it is can sometimes be a real issue with comic books. Within this interview I mention the panel about the Comics Code and it certainly was harmful to the industry. It is at least partially responsible for the fact that we’re just now getting back to where we were in the 50s in terms of comic book genres. But I wondered, with the Internet around and (in the USA) unregulated, what does the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund need to do? So I spoke with Charles Bronstein about it. ...

Just like when I spoke with Mark Waid two years ago, he is a VERY busy man at this convention. He is on nearly every panel and is incredibly popular with attendees seeking to speak with him and get his signature. So, first of all, a huge thanks to Mark for taking 5 minutes to talk with me. The conversation focused on the present and future of digital comics this time: ...