Northeast Comic Con Review

This last weekend, I went to the Northeast ComicCon, apparently also known as the Boston Southcoast Com!cCon. I went with my youngest daughter and a good friend.

The big draw was Jeremy Jordan as a media guest. Jordan plays Winn Schott on the Supergirl show. I love Winn as a character, thinking he represents the comic demographic. But my daughter loves Jordan not only for Winn but also for Newsies. She keeps hoping Winn will end up with Kara. I don't know I would have gone if Jordan wasn't there as a draw.

Keith Champagne was also there as a guest. Champagne inked the early issues of the Sterling Gates/Jamal Igle run on Supergirl so I was hoping to meet him and get some signatures. As luck had it, I was able to get a commission as well.

But otherwise, this was something of a sparse show held in an empty department store in a mall.

Review: Superman #30

Superman #30 came out this week and finished the side story of Superman battling Sinestro and Parallax. It is something of a free-for-all with all of the combatants fighting each other. This had the feel of a rest issue or an inventory story, a nice pause from the underlying plots that have been bubbling in the super-books while showcasing who Superman really is.

Writer Keith Champagne does a very good job of having Superman rise above and inspire. And this is especially powerful given he is surrounded by those who use fear as a weapon and fighting on the dead planet of Qward. If the Man of Steel can be a symbol of hope in those surroundings, he truly is a hero.

Champagne also gives us a great moment where we get to see Superman's fears. Despite his powers, Superman still can be afraid. And that sort of insight humanizes him, makes him the relateable aspirational figure he is. And his fears are fascinating.

The art is done by a trio of pencillers - Ed Benes, Tyler Kirkham, and Philip Tan. The styles are relatively similar so the issue unfolded well. There is a lot of wild, ring-slinging action that is sharp. And the colors by Ribeiro, Morey, and Gho sparkle as they lay out a dazzling array of yellows and gold.

On to the story.

Review: Superman #29

Superman #29 came out last week and was a nice little read, merging the Green Lantern mythos and Superman. The usual plotting team of Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason are not here. Keith Champagne, who I know mostly as an inker is writer here. Doug Mahnke is on art.

Champagne does a good job of bringing us the inspirational hero that Superman should be. Between tirelessly looking for missing children to spouting some words of wisdom to public to sacrificing himself for others, Superman is very much the classic hero. I even like how Champagne describes Superman's vision powers. As for the story itself, Superman as a symbol against fear makes perfect sense.

And Doug Mahnke brings his usual powerful style to the proceedings. In particular, the end scenes with the villain are incredible. Even the title page is fabulous, an almost poster worthy pose.

But this grand, superhero fights supervillain story was a bit welcome after the last history lesson issues. Trust me, I loved those issues. But getting back to the super-stuff was nice.

Granite Con 1 Week Away

The Granite State Comicon is only two weeks away and the crew and I will be heading up the highway to attend. Here is a link to the convention: http://www.granitecon.com/

This has always been a fun convention for me. There are great guests but not an overwhelming amount so I can relax a bit more and actually shop for comics at a convention rather than just running around and lining up to meet all the creators. There is a more laid-back approach to this convention so it ends up being a great day.

I was going to try to get a commission from Eric Powell, most famous for being the creator of The Goon. He provided great art for the three part 'Escape from Bizarro World' story in Action Comics. But he had to cancel. Too bad because I was hoping to convince him to do a Bizarro Supergirl for me. I think that would be a great addition to my collection.

With Powell gone, my commission list suddenly will have to be rethought.

Keith Champagne is going to be there.

I don't know if I am going to try to get a commission from him but I definitely will have books for him to sign. Champagne inked the earliest issues of the Sterling Gates/Jamal Igle Supergirl run. I have most of those issues already signed by Gates and Igle so Champagne's sig would make it the trifecta of writer/artist/inker.

And while I already have a commission from The Stuff of Legend artist Charles Paul Wilson III, I have seen him doing 'Pooh Bear-ish' style commissions recently and think one of those would be excellent.

There are other great creators attending including Chrissie Zullo, Ming Doyle, and others.

Should be a blast!