HeroesCon 2019 – Craig’s Report

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It’s hard to believe that it’s been a week since HeroesCon 2019 kicked off.  We’ve been going to the show for decades and it’s always a treat.  Here are the highlights…

I went to the show hoping…

Friday
My first stop was Richard Cox’s table.  My buddy, Little John had told me that Richard’s list filled up on Thursday night.  I thought LJ was messing with me and it turns out he was.  I was able to get on Richard’s list.

I was also able to get on Pan Quinn’s and Dan Panosian’s lists.  Matthew Childers’ had my sketch ready and also shared some cover commissions that he was doing for fans.  Little John had ordered a cool one to add to his Search for Superman theme.  Matthew also was working on a Batman & Godzilla cover.  Inspired pairing, that one!

I met Shane Douberly for the first time and commissioned a Rocky head sketch from him.  I then spent the bulk of the day visiting with old / new friends and walking the convention floor.  My sketch commissions were set up, so the pressure was off.

Little John and his wife Patricia, along with my better half, Doralya, and son Chris headed over to the Red Ginger for a great hibachi dinner.  LJ repeated his feat of draining the saki sprayed from the bottle.  Luckily, there were no college kids at our table this year to try to replicate this feat.

After dinner we headed over to the HeroesCon Drink and Draw for charity.  LJ and Patricia scored a few very nice pieces.  Chris Flick created 3 sketch cards for the charity.  LJ picked up two and I scored the other (Stallone from Expendables).  Yeah, Chris knows what I like.

Saturday

Because of flight issues (detailed at ME’s blog), Mark Evanier and Sergio Aragones weren’t able to arrive until Saturday.  So ME was my first stop.  I was able to meet Mark Evanier and get his autograph in my Kirby hardcover.  I also attended a panel that ME moderated.  The panel featured my best bud, John Beatty along with Mike Royer and Klaus Janson.  The panel was informative and it was nice to see so many people there to hear inkers talk about their craft.

Today was art pick-up day.  Richard Cox had a great Rocky (III) painting waiting for me.  Dan Panosian’s piece was ready as well (Rocky II).  Dan’s sketches are second to none. (By the way, Dan was turning all of the proceeds of his head sketch commissions over to the Heroes Initiative charity.)  When I picked up my sketch, I also purchased Dan’s second sketch book.  Pat Quinn created a very cool Jack Carter sketch for me.  Chris Visions was still working through his sketch list but assured me it would be ready by Sunday.

Hainanu Saulque goes by the name Nooligan.  I’d never met him before, but after seeing his Rocky: Once and Future Champ print, I knew he was an artist I wanted to meet.  Nooligan is an amazing artist with a unique style.  We spoke about Stallone, films, comics and more for the better part of an hour.  I usually don’t buy prints, but I purchased both Nooligan’s Rocky and John Wick prints.  Hopefully some day I’ll get a Nooligan original for my Stallone art collection.  Meeting Nooligan was a definite HeroesCon highlight this year.

Dinner that evening was at the Redeye Diner with my wife, son, Little John & Patricia, Richard Cox and his wife.  My only regret about eating at the Redeye Diner is that we only made it there once this trip.  Great atmosphere and food.

Our next stop was the HeroesCon Art Auction.  LJ showed a lot of restraint purchasing just one piece — a painting by Josh Greathouse.  I made it most of the way through the auction but called it a night before it was over since we were heading home early Sunday.

I proud to say that I was able to complete all of the things I had hoped to get done.  It was great meeting Mark Evanier after following his blog daily for nearly 20 years.  I was happy that my son Chris joined me at the show on Saturday.  Comics aren’t his thing, but he had fun at the panel (he’s known John Beatty his whole life) and art auction.

It was great seeing old friends and meeting new.  The art on display was, as always, jaw-dropping.  I need to give a special shout out to Casey Jones.  His art book was filled with page after page of beautiful art ranging from sketches to inked pieces to published pages.

I’ll be posting my art pick-ups in the coming weeks.

A few years ago, we began going to Charlotte on Thursday night to meet with friends before the show starts on Friday.  Sadly, we usually cut out before the show ends on Sunday.  Little John has convinced me that we need to stay for the full experience.  Starting next year, that will be the plan.  Let the countdown begin!

Pandemica by Maberry, Sanchez and Fotos is Coming!

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Jonathan Maberry is teaming with artist Alex Sanchez and colorist Jay Fotos to present Pandemica a new comic series coming from IDW.  Maberry describes Pandemica…

“Pandemica reflects a lot of fears about the direction in which our country and the world is going,” says Maberry. “It deals with a diverse group of people who discover that a secret organization is selling designer pathogens for use in ethnic cleansing. My story is about the kinds of people who take a stand against this, who find the courage to fight back, who put themselves in harm’s way to protect the innocent.”

IDW’s press release states…

The first issue of Pandemica, slated for release in September, will depict an America on the verge of war, as a shadow government prepares to launch “purity bombs” for ethnic cleansing, and a small group of scientists and former SpecOps shooters bands together to avert this disaster.

If this sounds like something you’d like be sure to let your local comic shop owner know.

The 50 Best Comedy Movies Ever

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Film School Rejects posted their choices for The 50 Best Comedy Movies Ever.  It’s a good list.  Using just their list here are my top five choices along with a few thoughts…

5.  Airplane (1980):  I saw this on it’s initial theatrical release with a full theater.  Rarely have I ever seen and heard so much laughter.  Granted, repeated viewings are still funny, but there is nothing like watching for the first time with an audience that gets it.

4.  Blazing Saddles (1974)
and
3.  Young Frankenstein (1974)  Again, two more films I saw in packed theaters on their initial release.  Mel Brooks was on a roll with his comedic love letters to westerns, movie-making and horror films.  They still hold up!

2. Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)  A comedy with a message and neither suffers at the expense of the other.  Remember, “There is no fighting in the war room.”

1.   Arsenic and Old Lace (1944):  I love this movie.  It’s one I like to share with folks who’ve never seen it.  It’s also one I like to revisit every so often.  

Two movies that didn’t make the list but should have:  Richard Pryor Live and Step Brothers.

Justin Bieber vs Tom Cruise + Conor McGregor vs Mark Wahlberg – Craig’s Thoughts

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So Justin Bieber issued a challenge to fight Tom Cruise in a cage match.

Any way you look at this…

If Bieber did it for free publicity…

If Bieber thinks Tom Cruise is a real fighter because of his movies…

If Bieber believes he is a tough guy and wants to prove it by fighting Tom Cruise, an actor who is more than twice as old as Bieber…

…it is just plain stupid.

If Bieber wants to prove he’s a tough guy, then he should challenge someone known for fighting like say, Nate Diaz.  Nate would probably show up at any location for free if Bieber called him out.

How could this get any dumber?


Oh, boy.  I shouldn’t have asked.

So Conor McGregor, the former UFC Champion and now also a sports and entertainment promoter has offered to promote/host the Bieber vs Cruise fight should it ever happen.  If it wasn’t for the fact that McGregor is already known for saying outrageous things and looking for free publicity where he can get it, I’d say he should know better than to get involved in something so stupid.

Well, at least McGregor didn’t go full on stupid and challenge an actor to a cage fight.

Are you kidding me?

So McGregor has upped the ante and challenged actor Mark Walhberg to a cage fight?  For my thoughts on this please refer back above to “Any way you look at this…” and substitute McGregor’s name for Bieber and Wahlberg’s name for Cruise.

I also offer the same suggestion as to an alternate fight — McGregor should challenge Nate Diaz to a cage match.  They’ve already fought twice with each man winning once, so a third time would make sense.

Hey!  I’ve got an idea: How about Bieber and McGregor fight each other?  McGregor could promote it and each of them would get what they want.  Bieber would get a chance to prove he’s a tough guy.  McGregor would get to fight a celebrity.

The reality is of course that Bieber would get knocked out.  McGregor would be ridiculed for taking the fight and hardly anyone would tune in.

You know I started by saying that Bieber challenging Cruise was stupid.  I still think it is, but I will say this, Bieber is sure getting the publicity.   The news of his challenge is blowing up everywhere.  Heck, in all my years of blogging, I’ve never mentioned Bieber even once.  Yet today I’ve devoted a long post to him.

Well played, Justin Bieber.  Well played.

Sebela and Visions: New Supernatural Crime Series!

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Trust Fall by Christopher Sebela (writer) and Chris Visions (artist) is a new comic series that’s worth a look.  Here’s how Aftershock describes it…

Ash Parsons was raised to believe she’s special. As someone with a quirk of genetics that lets her teleport things, she’s the golden goose of her family — the foundation of a struggling criminal outfit.

Ash is able to pop out whole fleets of cars and entire bank vaults. But while she can teleport valuables and her accomplices, she can’t teleport herself — making every job a trust fall with her family there to catch her and escort her to safety. It’s a perfect setup, but as things begin to change and the Parsons move up in the world, Ash will find herself pushing back against her golden cage, with deadly results.

Dead Letters’ Christopher Sebela (COLD WAR, Shanghai Red) and Chris Visions (Spider-Gwen, Bitch Planet) reunite for a criminally provocative tale of give-and-take with a style all its own.

If you’d like to see a preview of Trust Fall, you’re in luck because Syfy has an exclusive nine page preview!

McKay’s Used Books and Collectibles Stores!

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Today my wife and I are going to do something we really enjoy.  Any guesses?

No, not that.  Get your mind out of the gutter.  Try again?

Good guess, but HeroesCon doesn’t start until Friday.  Give up?  Ok, I’ll tell you.

Today we’re going to go to two McKay’s Used Book Stores.  We’ll be swinging by the Greensboro and Winston-Salem locations.  Later this week we’ll go to the Knoxville location.  Yeah, we’re used book store junkies, but especially McKay’s Used Book Store junkies.

McKay Used Books was founded in 1974. The idea was that it would be a…

…book store that would contain a wide variety of books that an individual could obtain cheaply, keep as long as they wanted to, and return for credit on other books in the future… Since that time, the brand split ownership and McKay’s was born in Tennessee. In 1985, the first Tennessee location opened in Knoxville. Since then, two more TN locations have been added: McKay’s Chattanooga opened in 1990, and McKay’s Nashville opened in 2007…  During this time, the original idea of a bookstore has expanded to include music, movies, electronics, games, musical instruments, collectibles, and more!

We love McKay’s not only because of the wide variety of books, music, movies and other things that they carry, but because we can trade in similar items we no longer want for either cash or store credit.  (Give us store credit, please!).  Plus McKay’s prices are reasonable and they always have sales.  (Where you will usually find my wife.)  I love finding books I need for my collection and discovering new authors thanks to McKays.  The only thing that would make McKay’s Used Book Stores better is if they had a central Florida location.