A Note of Thanks To The Artists at the Hartford ComicCon

I have always found it remarkable how people don’t understand how truly talented they are.  Everyone reading this has a talent which is admired by someone.  The problem is we are never told how much we are admired and when we are we tend to shrug it off.

Why is it that we would love to be complimented then when we are we say, “Oh, it’s really nothing.” or “Anybody can do what I do”.  It’s an odd trait that we all have.  That trait was never more obvious than at the Hartford ComicCon this past weekend.

It’s no secret to anyone that knows me that I have my own group of favorite artists, writers, etc.  We all do.  But it’s rare to find many of them in one spot on one day and you can meet them all.  This is what happened to me.

With the risk of leaving anyone out my personal favorites are:

Paul Ryan:  Iron Man, Squadron Supreme, Thor and the Thing to name a few
Mark McKenna:  Listed on more than 500 comics and inking over 8,000 pages
Mark Texeira:  Jonah Hex, Ghost Rider, the original Guardians of the Galaxy to name a few
Steve Orlando: Midnighter and Eisner Award Nominated Outlaw Territory to name a few
Kurt Busiek:  Astro City, AutumnLand, Trinity and Avengers to name a few
Chad Hardin:  Harley Quinn, Traveler, The Warlord to name a few
Ray Fawkes:  Batman Eternal, Constantine, Gotham by Midnight to name a few

They are all incredibly talented and I got to meet all of them except Kurt Busiek and Steve Orlando.

The thing that I noticed about all of them, though, was their incredible modesty.  The art that they have created is amazing and all of them were almost surprised at how much of a fan I was.  None of them asked me to pay for the autograph, although two did ask for a small donation to a special cause they were supporting which I gladly donated to.  On top of that several of them did something special for me as a fan.

Mark McKenna was extremely kind and more than willing to sit and talk.  Although he was drawing a custom picture for someone he told me how he much preferred speaking to the fans over drawing custom pics.  Since I did want a custom pic he offered to draw something special and personal if he could draw it at home and I pay a nominal fee (which is well worth it).

Paul Ryan took the time to talk about the cause to which he was taking donations.  He spoke with my son and I like he knew us forever and gladly signed autographs.  Not once did he ever make us feel rushed or that we were just another fan.

Mark Texeira was someone who enjoyed his work and it showed.  He was even surprised at how much we loved his work.  The thing about Mark was that he gave more than you asked for.  He not only signed my comic but he also drew a picture on the comic.  He didn’t stop there, though, he asked for the plastic that we kept our comics in and drew a picture on them!  I now need a plastic sleeve for my plastic sleeves.  He also asked for a modest donation to a cause and I gave him more than he asked for.

Chad Hardin was the first person I got to interact with and he was also incredibly friendly.  Although I did have a Harley Quinn comic for him to sign he was also selling a special Harley Quinn comic of which there were only 1,000 made.  For a nominal fee I bought the comic and he drew a picture of a zombie Joker on the front cover.  For those of you who follow me you know that I asked Neal Adams, at a previous ComicCon, to draw me the world’s only zombie Joker.  It was nothing short of awesome.  But Chad Hardin’s zombie Joker easily matched it.  The Joker he drew looks like it is actually part of the cover.

Ray Fawkes had a funny reaction to us coming to his table.  I was looking all over for him and simply could not find him.  It turns out I must have walked by him and his table 10 times and not seen him.  The reason?  Ray had no backdrop of his work, no fancy signs introducing him like the others had and was very modest.  When I told him we were looking all over for him he said, “For me?” as if he has never done anything worth talking about.  Ray was kind enough to take a picture with me and talk a little about his work.  He told me he was working on a really cool project that was being launched soon but said he couldn’t give any details.  Ray took my award for best dressed artist.

The bottom line is this;  ComicCons all over the world bring together some of the top comic artists together under one roof.  One would think that there would be a lot of big egos all fighting for the right to be the best, but there was no sign of that.  What I found instead were a group of absolute professionals, with a modesty like I’ve never seen.  All acted humble when I complimented them, most were surprised that I like them and their work (who doesn’t?), and all of them went the extra mile to make me feel like I was the only fan they had.  It could not have been a better day.

A note to Steve Orlando and Kurt Busiek, I hope to meet you face to face soon.

Follow The Comic Whisperer on Social Media:

Facebook:  The Comic Whisperer

Twitter:  @comic_whisperer

Instagram:  The Comic Whisperer

Website:  www.comicwhisperer.com

10 International/Non-U.S. SuperTeams I Bet You Didn’t Know About

Justice League International set off a ripple into the comic community, but only with those who haven’t been around as long as us old time collectors.  There were actually numerous international teams other than Justice League International, 10 of which are listed here.  There are others but 10 is my limit.

So, for your viewing pleasure, here are The Comic Whisperer’s 10 International/Non-U.S. SuperTeams I Bet You Didn’t Know About.  These are in no particular order.

10.)  Alpha Flight  OK, you probably knew about this one.  I threw this in as a gimme’.  This team came well before Justice League United as the first Canadian SuperTeam.  In the 3 decades that they have been around they have had 4 series that were their own.  Many of you will know them as somewhat of an offshoot from the X-Men brand.  Considered more the Canadian Avengers, this group of mutants has had many changes, and deaths, over the years with one spinoff - Omega Flight which was short lived.

9.)  The Great Ten  Who?  Premiering in 2006, this was DC’s premier Chinese SuperTeam.  The thing that made this great was that it had 10 all-new characters that were based on Chinese Mythology.  They made appearances in Checkmate (one of my favorite titles...seriously) and had a 9 issue series all their own.  We can assume each one wasn’t based on a single character....do the math. The concept, though completely original and unique, was canned after a brief stint.  The most famous of all these was August General in Iron who made a cameo with Justice League International.

8.)  International Club of Heroes  Let’s add some confusion to the mix.  International Club of Heroes started as Batmen of All Nations in 1955 in Detective Comics #215 years later renaming itself International Club of Heroes.  Batman Incorporated helped to bring these characters into the New 52 but neglected to talk about it’s long lineage.  After Batman Incorporated ended, so did the memories of those heroes.

7.)  The Global Guardians  I do have these comics.  Making their first official appearance as The Global Guardians in DC Comics Presents #82, this team was somewhat of a spinoff from the Super Friends.  The team didn’t have a very long run as the United Nations shut them down when the Justice League International was formed in 1987.  They made another appearance as mindless drones of the Queen Bee at one point and then were murdered “off panel” in Justice League:  Cry for Justice in 2009.  They never made the New 52.

6.)  Justice League International  OK, OK, you’ve heard of this one too.  This, however, is one of the oddest teams in comicdom.  Made up of the B and C list superheroes, this international group has shed it’s A-Listers to the Justice League...um...National?  The regular Justice League.  Justice League U.S.  You know who I mean.  The New 52 title didn’t fair too well as it was cancelled after 12 issues and an Annual.  The only solace to this team?  One of my favorite characters, Mr. Miracle is on the team.  He too is not on the “popular” list.

5.)  People’s Defense Force  If you know this team give yourself a 5 gold stars.  The People’s Defense Force were the Chinese response to the Avengers.  They replaced the China Force.  They appeared in Mighty Avengers and were decimated by the Unspoken after their first appearance.  

4.)  Excalibur  Some of you may not have put this team on the list, but it is international.  It consisted of 2 Brits, 2 Americans and a German elf (gosh, who could that be?).  Many put this as an X-Men spinoff as some of the incarnations have had Dazzler and Juggernaut (who, for your information, is NOT a mutant).  Previously known as Captain Britain and the MI-13 this book was really just the lovechild of Alan Davis (who was from Britain) and Chris Claremont (who loves the U.K.).

3.)  The Winter Guard  One of my personal favorites, this Russian team has been defending the motherland since 1988.  This is from the creator Kurt Busiek (also the creator of a new passion of mine Astro City) and Sean Chen.  The team is actually some of Marvel’s soviet characters who have been made villains trying to sabotage the American Dream and everyone in it while being heroes in Russia.  It was a common theme back then as can be seen by the Winter Olympics where hockey took center stage with the Americans beating the invincible Russian team.  You can see that story in the movie Miracle.

2.)  Big Hero 6  It’s no coincidence that the Ben 10 co-creators created Big Hero 6.  They must have had something for numbers in the name.  Steven T. Seagle and Duncan Rouleau created this team during their time working on Alpha Flight.  It’s an intriguing backstory that involves Japanese authorities working with businesses to build a strong super team.  I particularly loved the character names such as GoGo Tomago, Honey Lemon and Wasabi-No-Ginger.  If you find the name familiar it probably is...it’s the name of the Disney/Marvel movie of the same name.  Prior to the movie they had some mini-series which few paid attention to.

1.)  International Ultramarine Corps  Ummmm, who?  They lived in a Grant Morrison created burg of Superbia (not to be confused with the BOOM! series of a similar name).  It was above the ruins of Montevideo.  They were virtually invisible to the comic reading community appearing from a storyline during Morrison’s JLA run.  They went completely off the grid until Morrison brought them back during the JLA Classified run only to be smoked by mind-controlled gorillas.  I’m not sure what kind of super team can be crushed by mind-controlled gorillas.  Either they were some incredible simians or the International Ultramarine Corps were not drawing enough readership.  Either way don’t bother collecting comics with the IUC in it.  What does Ultramarine mean anyway?

And there you have it.  How many did you recognize?  Be honest.  I knew...ummm...all 10...yea...and I have every edition where each made their appearance...and....they’re all signed by the writers and artists....and they’re all mint...bagged and boarded.  Honestly, I knew 7 of them.  The others were a mystery.  If I didn’t have Google I would have never found pictures of some of these groups.

So, there seems to be a huge chasm in the International SuperTeam Community and a niche market for writers and artists trying to make an impression.

Follow the Comic Whisperer on 

FB at The Comic Whisperer

Twitter at @comic_whisperer

Instagram at The Comic Whisperer

Our Charity at http://www.gofundme.com/comicshelpkidsread

I’m Buying An Apartment In Astro City

OK, OK I will admit I missed the bus on this one.

I remember the day it hit the shelves actually.

The beautiful art on the cover, the intriguing title, the comic company I had not yet had the honor to get books from, Homage Comics, and the incredibly talented writer Kurt Busiek of a Red Tornado Limited Series, Power Man and Iron Fist comics and a run with the Avengers.

It was a powerful combination but I already had far more comics in my hands than I had the money for (I have 10,000+ comics, so I really don’t NEED more, but I WANT more).  I just couldn’t justify putting down a favored comic for an unknown.  What a mistake.

I need to take a step back here and say that I am a fan of Kurt Busiek.  If you have ever read about Kurt’s background you will see that he has had an interest in comics for many, many moons and he fought hard to break into comic writing.  I don’t know Kurt personally (although I’d love to) but I can tell you that he fought for what he wanted and deserved what he got...an Eisner Award winning comic in Astro City.  It won Best New Series, Best Single Issue (for the first issue) and Best Cover Artist.  This is the cover for that game changing comic:

Recently, however, I was given a second chance.

The flea market where I am known as The Comic Whisperer recently had a run of Astro City available.  The price is unimportant...me having the run was VERY important.

It could NOT have been a better purchase.

In short, Astro City is about a fictional American city of the same name.  The first series debuted in 1995 published by Image Comics and since published by Homage Comics, part of the Windstorm Signature Series.  It’s written by Kurt Busiek with character designs and cover paintings by Alex Ross.

Astro City was published from 1995 - 1998 then came back again in 2003 with "Local Heroes" and "Dark Ages" story arcs.  The Dark Ages ran 16 issues.  In those issues the characters pondered the functions and motivations of superpowered beings and their fit into the community (it was very “Watchmen-esque”).  Dark Ages went from 2005 - 2010.  Then in June 2013, Astro City went monthly published by the powerhouse Vertigo Comics.  The thing that makes Astro City stand apart, besides its incredible art, is that the stories are told as third person OR told by the criminals or heroes from their perspectives.  The writing and art wound up taking up a style all their own completely different from the comic books I have read since childhood.

Not to sell other writers and other comics short, but the issues are captivating with their art alone.  The art is magnificent.  Take a gander:

It’s almost as if it’s from a different age.  Every panel looks like a mural someone would have painted on the side of a building.  EVERY PANEL.   It also takes me to a different time.  A time when things were easier, the colors brighter, the women more beaut.....well, you get the point.  I will honestly say that in the 45 years I have been writing and collecting comics there has never been a series that has captivated my attention like Astro City.  As I have read over 10,000 that’s saying something.

If you have already read it, you know what I am talking about.  If you haven’t read it already go out and buy it.  You certainly won’t regret it.