Khan!!!!
Pittsburgh Comicon report….some brief thoughts that stuck out from this year’s show.
First up, I have to say thanks to the promoters, Michael and Renee George. They’ve always done a hell of a job doing good for comics in the local area, as well as raising TONS of money for charity. They treat us right, can’t thank em’ enough.
I got to meet WIZ ROLLINS, our current fearless writer here at Yirmumah, nice guy. I wish we all lived closer so we could hang and write. I think things we’d come up with in person would MELT THE EARTH WITH DARK LAUGHTER! And also, good ol’ Bob, our old writer, was helping me out all weekend. Bob and I have had our ups and downs over the years, but what can I say, we’re like hetero-lifemates. He wants me to buy boxing gloves so we can fight, but I decline. Could you imagine the type of genius that would go down with Wiz and Bob in the same room? They’ll probably pass a law against it.
The old school fans and Yirmumah: Yirmumah fans are the greatest. They always have been. I get to see more of them in Pittsburgh since Yirmumah is local sort of cult following thing. They, as well as club members who have read the original minicomics know what Yirmumah was originally about, so they’re thrilled to see the success or the awesome fate like irony of me working on my own super hero universe and living the dream. So, big props to all the old hardcores, see you again soon!
You know there was a big difference his year that I’ve never experienced. I’m use to being on the indy/small press side of the biz, where you’re “hard selling” and competing for that LAST dollar that convention goers had. Often you have to convince them that your little project is worth checking out. It can be tiring and a grueling long, punk rock kinda road. But as anyone in small press can tell you, even when you don’t cover your table costs, or just break even, it’s a creative high like none other. So this time was different… this time, a lot of people’s first stops at the show were to come and seek out Hero By Night, because they saw the local writeups, heard about it in Wizard or have had it highly recommended by friends. It was an odd feeling to have a book practically selling itself. It had us thinking many times, “why didn’t we do this sooner!?”
The Hero fans: I’m still not use to it yet, I may never be use to it, but it was amazing the amount of people who came up and had either read both issues already with HBN on their pull list, or have sought out issue 2. Or again, the amount of people who really wanted to check it out because they’ve heard the good reviews from friends. I’d say 90% of those people who really got to talking about the story want it to be an ongoing title, which I was happy to tell them that Platinum editors and I are working out the scheduling details for just such a thing. It was awesome to see people excited about that. I had several fans make requests for characters from the online journals to appear in the book series, like the Golden Glove or Saul Simian, etc. People are just DIGGING Hero By Night and that is… well, exciting and very humbling.
There was one guy who sticks out in my mind. I think he said he was in his 60s, nice suit, little “DC” pin on his coat. I thought he was just looking over the table deciding to buy, but he was waiting to meet me because he had already bought and read both issues at his local shop. He thanked me for putting out something that was fun and accessible. Somewhere in that conversation a line about target audience age came up and he said “this is like ages 7 to 70″ - I liked that a lot and I used it the rest of the weekend. A truly ALL AGES book.
The Kids: Seeing kids light up over the book is an amazing feeling. I already experience it with my own kids, but seeing other kids just cements the fact that this project really has legs in that market. There was a 5 year old kid with his Dad who wanted to know all about the story of the ring on the table, then he wanted to try it on to see if it gave him powers! He actually had his Dad bring him back later for me to tell him the story of the Hero’s ring again. That was awesome. Then there were the teenagers who were digging the concept as well. It was interesting to just see this whole age range at the show, boys/girls… you name it.
The Retailers: Here’s something I’ve NEVER experienced at show. Retailers from all over the tri-state area (Ohio, PA and WV) and some as far south as Georgia, and some from New York I spoke to– some came up to just shake my hand and tell me the book was great, selling well, or like many readers have told me online that they’ve had to reorder because they can’t keep it on their shelves when it comes in! One retailer from Ohio told me this was the perfect title for not only new readers and younger audiences but also a “gateway” comic to bring people who read other things back into super hero comics or fun adventure type titles. Many of them also asked HBN would become an ongoing title. Talking with these retailers was fun. It made me want to send them each something special to hang in their shops as a “thank you” to them. I’ve had a lot of lousy experiences in bitter comic shops in the past, with cranky managers, but all of these cool friendly retailers coming up and talking shop with me really enthused me.
The Buzz: Maybe it’s from working in a semi-vacuum here, but I had envisioned having to explain to some old creator friends I know at shows what I’d been doing, but when I’d come up to their tables to say Hi, they already knew and would shake my and and congratulate me or talk about this “good buzz” going on about HBN or my work. It had never really came into my mind that this might lead to other work or being sought out, but I was asked that a lot this weekend, if I’d be interested in writing for other comic books. The folks from ComicMix.com came by to do a little interview, he asked me that off tape saying he was surprised I hadn’t had any offers yet because this project has come out of the blue and made some waves. — to which I replied, not yet, but I guess I’d be interested in hearing offers if companies approached me. He also mentioned how perfect Hero By Night was for doing crossovers with other big companies. To which I replied, baby steps!!!
One big thing came up over the weekend that did peek my interest…
JEn Contino from the PULSE comic news said she read my book and loved it, said it was one of the best comics she has read in ages. No kidding. So she had come across the people who have the license on the THUNDER AGENTS book, and they told her they were looking for a writer who could do a “silver age mentality in modern times” something like “New Frontier” from DC. She immediately referred them to me, and ran to give them a sample copy of HBN to read over. So, who knows where that will go, the publisher said he’d send me some material to read… the cool thing with this is, it’s a WALLY WOOD created series which was really appealing to me to work on something he had a big part in. I have to learn more about it though before I’d be willing to sign on to writing anything they’d offer.
My main focus though now is trying to make Hero By Night into a NEW super hero icon. That’s my goal… so far, so good! Up until this point, I didn’t know for sure if it would be possible. I wasn’t sure how super hero fans would react to it, or if it was possible to give them something familiar but FRESH. But now I know I’ve done that. Now it’s just a matter of getting it out to more people. Tough these days in the direct market, but I’m so lucky to be working with Platinum Studios who have so many great people and great ideas for the future. I wasn’t kidding when I told them I wanted to create their superman or batman. I’m dead serious. We’re just getting started here.
All in all…. great weekend. Now I’m off to mow my lawn and get some much needed exercise!
