East Coast Comic Expo 2013 Roundup

The first annual East Coast Comic Expo has come and gone and it was just about perfect.  I was able to help out with it and every vendor and artist I had a chance to talk to had a good time and a successful day.

The event was held at the Beaver Curling Club in Moncton, NB, which was a really good venue but it is being shut down so a new place will need to be found for next year. The picture below was taken near the end of the day when things were slowing down, but we reached 700+ attendees which beat what we were needed to attend in order to make it a success and worth doing again.

 

 I helped run the kid's art corner for the morning.  We had a balloon twister and a face painter as well as colouring pages (all drawn by artists attending that day) and blank comic pages for some comic day creating.  I can't wait to see what this section can become next year.

Brenda Hickey and Troy Little came over for the day and they were very busy.  Brenda (below) is working on a My Little Pony comic for IDW, so she was a big hit.  Her husband, Troy was not able to tell us about his big new project, but he really really wanted to.  IDW publishes original work as well as licensed characters, so my guess is that he will be working on a licensed character soon. Or not - either way I look forward to it.

Becky Cloonan and her husband Andy Belanger came in from the weekend as well.  They were great.

I got a Thor/Viking sketch card from Brenda and I got to watch Andy draw this Swamp Thing picture for some lucky fan.

 

Nick Bradshaw and his Wolverine and the Xmen partner, Ramon Perez were very busy all day.  I just missed getting a sketch from Ramone on Saturday I did get my copy of  his Eisner award winning book, Tale of Sand signed with a sketch on Sunday.

My only complaint about the day is that I made the kids t-shirts for the day but it was so cold they couldn't take their sweaters off all morning.

 I kept the Fan-Boy inside me settled until right at the end of the wrap-up guest/volunteer dinner on Sunday.  As everyone was leaving I saw this on the table.  A napkin with a Batman and Mole-man picture drawn by Becky Cloonan.  Awesome!

What a great day.  Stay tuned for what's coming next.

Scott Tingley

Please check out my other sites:
http://www.thechesscomic.com/

http://comicsintheclassroom.net/

http://wefightrobots.blogspot.com/ 
Comment below or contact me at: comicsintheclassroom at gmail.com

 

Free Comic Book Day is Here at Last!

Article by Scott Tingley, May 05, 2011

Since not many stores let you take one of everything, I will now justify getting most of the books a week early by briefly talking about a lot of them. BTW, thanks Gamezilla!

In no particular order (I’ll just take them from the stack), here are the comics:

 

The Amazing Spider-Man

Written by Dan Slott and Drawn by Humberto Ramos = a win. A two page run-down of the Spidey origin and a rip-snortin’, no-holds-barred slug-fest between Spider-Woman (who is being controlled by The Mandrill...a super-villain talking monkey.

I have to stop there because I’ve reached my quota for awesomeness and hyphens. Great for teens and up, and not too bad if a younger kids gets his/her hands on it.

 

The Tick

The story is a mostly an ad for various Tick collections now available. Although I have not enjoyed the newer Tick material I LOVE the original stories (Tick: The Complete Edlund) and the Man-Eating Cow series (Man-Eating Cow & The Chainsaw Vigilante, The Complete Works), so this being an advertisement for those books and more isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I wouldn’t spend a pick on it. I would, however, walk over to the counter with it and order a couple of the collections from it.

Bongo Comics Free-for All

AKA: The Simpsons Comic

If you like the Simpsons this is the book for you. If you don’t, it isn’t.

The FCBD Simpsons books are always well done, so worth a pick if you like the series.

 
Pep Comics Featuring Betty and Veronica

The Archie FCBD comic.

Just like with the Simpsons book, if you like the Archie gang you will likely want to pick this up. Once again Dan Parent wrote and drew the comic – to me he is reminiscent of the old-school Archie artists and the best the company has at the moment.

 

 


Captain America and Thor: The Mighty Avengers

An all ages, well written and illustrated comic perfect for a summer featuring big-budget movies for both these characters. In my opinion this would be a good pick for younger or older readers. If you like superhero adventures this is a done-in-one comic you might want to spend a pick on.

Mouse Guard / Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal (flip book)

I’m not a huge Fantasy fan, but The Dark Crystal is beautiful looking, likely worth a pick on its own if you are a fan of the genre.

The Mouse Guard portion of the comic makes it the biggest pick for my FCBD and I haven’t even read it yet. I love the Mouse Guard books too much to rush through it - I am going to wait, but you shouldn’t.
Go line up now for it. Beautiful painted artwork, great storytelling and mice with swords. Win! If you like adventure stories and epic battles you should like this.

Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Creatures / Top 10 Deadliest Sharks

Brought to you by The Discovery Channel...that’s what I said - The Discovery Channel!

Who knew?

The dinosaur story is beautiful and monsterific. The Shark side of the book tells the tale of one of the worst non-fatal great white attacks. Lots of blood and other cool stuff. I think the ten year old me would have absolutely loved this comic. Vicious and educational. Perfect!






Atomic Robo

THERE'S AN ATOMIC ROBO COMIC!!!  If you only have one pick - make this it....This or Mouse Guard...or this.

I don't have it yet  - but I MUST!



More selections coming tomorrow.  See all the comics HERE.

Please check out my other sites:

http://www.thechesscomic.com/
http://comicsintheclassroom.net/

http://wefightrobots.blogspot.com/

Comment below or contact me at: comicsintheclassroom at gmail.com

The Comic Hunter nominated for a Joe Shuster Award

Article by Scott Tingley, March 19, 2011

I thought it would be a good idea to mention an honour that has been given to one of my  local comic shops.  The Comic Hunter (Moncton) has been nominated for a Joe Schuster Award: The Harry Kremer Award for Outstanding Comic Book Retailer.

From the Joe Schuster Award website:

Named after the late Harry Kremer, original owner of Now & Then Books (in Kitchener, Ontario). Shops are recommended by the general public and a separate Retailer Award Committee reviews all materials received and select a short list of stores that has shown merit in a variety of categories such as: (1) Support of a wide variety of innovative material, (2) Overall appeal of the store and usage of space, (3) Knowledge, (4) Community activity, and (5) Adherence to standard ethical business practices.

 

§                     AMAZING FANTASY (Red Deer, AB)

§                     AMAZING STORIES (Saskatoon, SK)

§                     ANOTHER DIMENSION COMICS(Calgary, AB)

§                     COMIC BOOK ADDICTION (Whitby, ON)

§                     THE COMIC HUNTER (Moncton, NB)

§                     COMIC READERS (Downtown Regina, SK)

§                     GOLDEN AGE COLLECTIBLES (Vancouver, BC)

§                     HILL CITY COMICS & GAMES (Thunder Bay, ON)

§                     L’IMAGINAIRE (Quebec City, QC)

§                     PLANÈTE BD (Montreal, QC)

I have frequented all three of the comic shops in Moncton, but what I have appreciated about The Comic Hunter is how Remi LeClair (owner) makes his shop work.  He regularly updates his “want list” page which means he is actively looking for books his customers want AND he is giving an opportunity for collectors to trade in some of their collection for store credit giving them an affordable means of getting more stuff. 

Stereotypically, comic shops are not necessarily comfortable places for newcomers to comics and I have personally been in the store to witness Remi and his staff interact with newbies of all sorts and been impressed with their attitudes. 

My kids enjoy browsing their selection of more all-ages comics and the material that is (in my opinion) not appropriate for them is, while not hidden away, is not usually at their eye level.  The store caters to people interested in gaming, comics and just about every sort of “genre’ interest.

I think that an award for one Moncton store can be beneficial for all of the comic shops in the town.  Increased awareness for one shop can bring attention to others.  So, way to go Comic Hunter.

BACK TO HOMEPAGE.

Also, check out my other sites:

http://www.thechesscomic.com/
http://comicsintheclassroom.net/

http://wefightrobots.blogspot.com/

Comment below or contact me at: comicsintheclassroom at gmail.com