Hello everyone! Please enjoy the news and review I wrote this week for Comic Frontline as well as some reprinted articles.

News: The Booker award-winning author Margaret Atwood (The Handmaid's Tale) announced her first graphic novel. She was even kind enough to retweet the news story. In more Margaret Atwood related news, I posted about how Dark Horse is publishing The Secret Loves of Geek Girls anthology, which includes prose and comics featuring over 50 different creators.

Review: The second issue of Black Magick was more police procedural than magickal. Unfortunately, this led to a much less impactful issue. See my full review on Comic Frontline.

COMING SOON: Comic Characters You've Never Heard Of #2, my second video which will include two not-so-well-known comic book characters. The end of the year awards at Entertainment Fuse will also be coming up in a couple of weeks, as well as my best and worst comic book covers of the year lists.

​Here are my reprinted articles this week:

"Moriarty seems to have quite a following. First, Image Comics gave him his own ongoing series Moriarty. Now, Dynamite Entertainment’s David Liss is taking a swing at Sherlock Holme’s greatest nemesis."

"Ron Richards has been hired to be Image Comics business development director. Image Comics is growing in popularity that publishes several titles a week (including like of the not-so-happy Happy and Todd, The Ugliest Kid on Earth). Richards will be focusing on sales and marketing strategies for the publishing line. This includes print and digital products and extending the Image Comics brand to wider audiences. He will be working closely with Image Comics publisher Eric Stephenson and the PR and Marketing Director Jennifer de Guzman to increase awareness and the availability of Image using Diamond Distribution, retail stores, digital initiatives and other sales and marketing programs."

"This holiday season we have a new Christmas series. But don’t expect it to be filled with too much holiday cheer because our “hero” is the Krampus. Worse than the Grinch, the Krampus is a famous creature of lore who punishes naughty children."

By: Nicole D'Andria
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On November 21st, 2015 I went to the first day of the weekend comic book convention New Jersey Comic Expo (NJCE). This was the first time a big convention like this was held in Edison, NJ. Could this possibly be the next Philly Comic Con? It very well could be since it was already announced that there will be another NJCE next year.

My mother and I decided to enjoy a day at the con together. It’s a known fact among my mom and I that we will always get lost the first time we go to a new convention – ALWAYS. So, on our way to Edison, NJ my mother and I somehow ended up going over the bridge to Staten Island, NY; a mistake which cost us a $14 toll. Even worse? The convention center was pretty poorly marked. So when we got back to NJ and were in the vicinity of the convention center, we accidentally ended up in the UPS truck depot.
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When we finally got to the convention, I was surprised at how big it was while still having room to stretch out my arms. I’ve heard horror stories about the crowdedness at NYCC and walked into NJCE assuming it would be pretty small and not very crowded.  I was pretty pleased that NJCE was not only in a big convention center with plenty of exhibits, vendors and panels to go to while also not being too overwhelming for someone like me who can get nervous in really crowded places. As a somewhat socially anxious person, I sometimes shut down when surrounded by a lot of people.  While there were some points where I felt this anxiety kicking in, the convention center provided a nice food area for me to sit and sulk quietly until the anxiety went away. If you’re trying to work your way up to NYCC like I am, I think this is a good place to start after smaller cons such as Allentown, followed by Philly Comic Con.

There were plenty of great guests such as comic book writers Chris Claremont (the man who made X-Men popular), actress Amy Acker (Angel, Dollhouse) and many, many others. I had three goals when I went to NJCE:

1. talk to and get New Mutants #1 (featuring the first appearance of Deadpool) and Cable & Deadpool Ultimate Collection 1 signed by Fabian Nicieza, the co-creator of Deadpool;
2. talk to and get Jonah Hex #1 signed by Justin Gray
3. meet the crew over at Action Lab Entertainment, who I’ve had an internship with over the past couple of months.

As a person who gets star struck by comic book writers since I’m aspiring to be one (and the fact that Nicieza and Gray have both written things I LOVE), I was really nervous to approach both of them. Nicieza had a line, which turned out to be pretty beneficial to me since having a bunch of guys around sparked a great and long conversation with Nicieza that required very little input from me.
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He talked about a lot of interesting facts including how Deadpool’s cancer was inspired by his mother-in-law’s cancer. He mentioned how if you look at the Fabian Nicieza stories from the early 90s, many of his characters had cancer: Deadpool, Diamond Lil from Alpha Flight who suffered breast cancer and one character who visits the future and discovers the exact day he is going to die is several months away—not exactly cancer, but the connections are there. This insight into the background of one of my favorite characters was one of the highlights of my trip at NJCE. Nicieza also mentioned how Deadpool wasn’t really his favorite character to write but that he had a banner behind him with Deadpool on it because it was the best way to attract people—if he had a picture of Speedball, it would definitely be much less advantageous. The one thing I didn’t really enjoy? The fact that we had to pay $10 per autograph for Deadpool related comics… but it was worth it.    

Later in the day I decided to talk to Justin Gray and I picked a good time to do it. He was actually packed up and looked about ready to leave, completely alone. I had a great one-on-one conversation with him when I mentioned I was interested in comic book writing—I think it also helped that I told him his Jonah Hex run was by far my favorite run of the character, which is completely true. He shared a ton of useful advice on comic book writing (I should have been taking notes). He mentioned that it would be a good idea to publish on your own rather than work for mainstream companies if you want to create your own creator-own books, an opinion echoed at the #MakeComics: Writing panel.

Gray also shared a pretty interesting tidbit with me: He unexpectedly got a check in the mail from DC. Apparently a throwaway character he wrote, a mayor, actually appeared on the television show Gotham.

My only regret when I talked with Justin Gray? I really wish I had brought more Jonah Hex, Power Girl and Batwing comics since Gray seemed more than happy to sign anything (for free, no less).

​Another great experience I had was finally getting to meet some of the Action Lab crew. I met Bryan Seaton and Jamal Igle, two kind guys who really seem to care about comics. The biggest things that struck me about their table was how much Action Lab has grown in such a short time.  A couple of years ago I went to their table, two tables pressed together with a handful of books and other merchandise.  Now, there are several tables, all chock full of comics, cell phone cases, plushies and more.

During the convention I attended one panel, the #MakeComics: Writing panel. There were four presenters: Bryan JL Glass (Adventures of Superman, The Mice Templar), Todd Dezago (Sensational Spider-Man, Young Justice), Joey Esposito (Footprints) and Erica Schultz (Revenge). Schultz crashed the panel when she heard no female writers were part of it. Go Schultz! Chris Cerasi (The Official Star Wars Fact File) was supposed to attend but could not make it.

This was a helpful panel for aspiring writers in a small, intimate setting. The creators answered questions compiled online as well as in the small audience. There were several important tidbits that stuck in my head (and those that didn’t are in my extensive notes, which I definitely did not lose).

Dezago mentioned how he was often typecast as the “funny guy” despite the gritty stories he wanted to tell and how it was important to write what you wanted to write and not what people thought you could write.
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Schultz mentioned how it’s important to know who you are writing for; her Revenge series was a Marvel/ABC collaboration, so after having Marvel go through the script, then ABC would look at it and possibly have problems because of moments in the script that would conflict with moments that were going to happen in future episodes of the show. 

Glass mentioned how important the artist is in the process of a comic; specifically, he talked about how his artist once went in a totally different direction with a character by giving him a gauntlet, which led to Glass wondering how he could have gotten the glove, causing him to create a whole new story with the character, who would go on to become a fan favorite. He also shared another little anecdote about a creator-owned parody comic he made titled Lycra-Woman & Spandex-Girl: Adventures of the Aerobic Duo. This comic parodied the adventures of Batman and Robin in the form of Lyrca-Woman and Spandex Girl, two heroes who were also aerobicize instructors.  Unfortunately, Glass didn’t realize Lycra was trademarked and he was sued by the DuPont Corporation for trademark infringement… though he was able to revive Lycra Woman by turning her into Flex Woman.

He sure knew how to add humor to such a dismal situation!

All the creators, just like Justin Gray, also mentioned how if you want to create your own characters, it is best to self-publish online rather than go to Marvel or DC.
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I also shopped around for some comics, of course! Some of my best finds included the first two issues of Avengers Academy (both of which I read and really enjoyed), the complete Spike vs. Dracula and Osborn: Evil Incarcerated (actually written by Captain Marvel writer Kelly Sue DeConnick) mini-series, some Daken: Dark Wolverine comics, and a lot of other Wolverine-related first issues including Wolverine Origins #1, Wolverine and the X-Men #1 (2011) and… Wolverine and the X-Men #1 (2014). I also bought Justice League / Avengers… then walked a couple of vendors over and found it for $10 cheaper. Yeah… make sure you check several vendors if the comics start going into the double digits. 

One of the other things I bought were some “manga comics,” manga in American comic book format. This included several issues of Saint Tail. One of the first animes I remember watching (and enjoying), these comics look to mostly contain the same material as the show. My interest in anime actually got a little more love at the con when I came across a stand with tons of anime plushies, some of which came straight from Japan. They were a bit pricey, but this little Bebe from Madoka Magica (about $35) was worth it.
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Despite my initial anxiety, I enjoyed New Jersey Comic Expo and will definitely consider going next year. I might even work up the courage to go to NYCC… maybe…

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. Here are my latest articles, reprinted posts and future plans.

Features: I kickstarted the week with The Gem Users graphic novel and interviewed writer Michael Walton.

News: Batman meets the TMNT in an upcoming crossover written by Batman Eternal ​writer James Tynion IV.

COMING SOON: I'm still working on the next "Comic Characters You've Never Heard Of" video as well as my account of the New Jersey Comic Expo.

"Trouble Point #1 is a below-average book that should be more. It is kneecapped for the same reason as it’s predecessor (despite having no obvious connection to it in-story). In both issues, the unique premise should make the issue stand out, but instead it seems average. Story choices and dialogue make the issue hard to follow and not worthwhile, and the artistic choices could easily be improved."

"Dynamite Entertainment has announced a creative partnership with the merchandise development company, The Brewing Factory.  New three-dimensional merchandise will be created including collectible statues and toys.  The first series of creations that will be coming out of this new partnership is Women of Dynamite which features some of Dynamite Entertainment's female comic book characters.  The first statue will be Vampirella."