It’s less than a week until San Diego Comic-Con 2024 kicks off, and then Gen Con 2024 the week right after that. For those of us in comics, gaming, or pop culture heading to this Nerd Prom Twin Terror™©, we’re metaphorically already starting to line up for the gargantuan roller coaster looming before us, wondering if having those cheesy nachos for breakfast was a good idea…
Last year I did a rundown of why San Diego was such a special show, for the industry as a whole and me in particular. Feel free to wander back to those words and drink them in, because they’re still extremely relevant.
I’m excited, I’m nervous, I’m frustrated, I’m pumped. That’s just how it goes.
Dealing with water leaking into our newly ‘waterproofed’ basement after severe thunderstorms in Toronto and our hot water heater breaking down this week definitely made it more challenging than usual, but all I can do is keep my head down and keep working away, checking off items on my To-Do List even while unexpected new ones get slotted in.
Zub at SDCC 2024
I just put up my SDCC 2024 schedule in a separate post on my site and will keep it updated if things change. Make sure you head over there for details on panels, signings, exclusive variants, giveaways, livestreams…it’s gonna be quite a ride this year.
The New Zealand Avengers?
Back in 2018, as the Avengers: No Surrender weekly story was being released, a comedy show called New Zealand Today picked up on the weird bit that I used a town called Greymouth as a location during a montage of destruction around the world in Avengers #688.
NZT reached out to me through Marvel’s PR department to see if I could be in on a joke as part of a skit they were putting together. I signed the release form, filmed a couple clips with them (and yes, the Producer asked me to act annoyed and unimpressed), and then didn’t hear anything after that. I searched online and couldn’t find the segment, so I assumed it never got used.
Well, apparently it did make it to air back then, but wasn’t available online until this week when New Zealand Today returned to YouTube. So…Check it out:
It’s surreal seeing myself on a Daily Show-esque segment. It’s also a testament to how wildly popular the Marvel Cinematic Universe was at that moment. Good memories all around.
Q&A
I asked for questions from readers and several of you delivered – Bring ’em on, and feel free to post more!
Adriano asks: What’s a good use of my time as an attendee at a con like San Diego? I know what I want to do as a fan (which, usually, is empty my wallet on cool books), but what can I do to help my own comics career without coming off as “sales-y” or disingenuous?
“Networking” is one of those nebulous terms that seems impenetrable to people starting out and obvious to people who are more established, so let me be more specific – Meeting staff at publishers face-to-face can be a really powerful tool, especially if you have professional quality samples, you’re sociable and make a good first impression. Be aware that staff at a booth are working so they won’t be able to give you much time, if any, but it can still be helpful to touch base with them, get contact info, and then follow up after the convention.
Other things you can do:
• Go to “Breaking In”-type panels to get more information or ask questions.
• Check out Artist Alley and independent creator booths and make contact with potential collaborators.
• Go to social events after hours where new creators or comic professionals might be.
And through it all, do your best to be patient, polite, and kind because breaking into in any creative business can take a whole lot of time and a big swack of luck. The old saying is that you need the “right place, right time” to make things happen and that is true, so you need to create places and times for interaction, patiently getting yourself out there until the ‘right’ one comes along.
Lastly, there’s nothing disingenuous about wanting to create stories/art, or being passionate about wanting to be break into the business and make a career out of it, just try not to let that passion overwhelm your common sense or decency. We’re all doing the best we can and these conventions can be stressful even at the best of times.
Nacho asks: What would it take for a character created nowadays to reach an iconic status akin to Conan or Sherlock? I mean, sure, there is the matter of time, but the way culture is published and distributed has changed a lot from the beginning of the 20th Century. Also, what characters do you think can reach that status that were created in, say, the last 15 years?
Iconic characters like Conan, Sherlock Holmes, and Superman pioneered entire genres in publishing, so it’s incredibly hard to imagine what a future one could be because, if anyone could envision that, they would be set to trailblaze a new shift in the entertainment landscape.
Even some of the most recognizable ‘recent’ characters in fiction – Deadpool (1991), Sailor Moon (1991), Daenerys Targaryen (1996), Harry Potter (1997), Jack Sparrow (2003), Katniss Everdeen (2008) – move in well-established genres and it’s easy to argue that several of them have already ‘peaked’ and are on the decline in terms of their pop culture footprint.
In terms of current audience and global relevance, a lot of manga would certainly be worth looking at, but that industry also has a natural cycle of popularity wax and wane, with a handful of titles carving out their own powerhouse spot but many falling away over time. Will there be extensive discussion around the cultural impact of Monkey D. Luffy or Naruto in the 2100’s? Hard to say.
Harvey asks: This isn’t worded as a question, but I’d love to hear more about your Star Wars short story, the origins and process. I always admired the collection sitting there in the back of your videos.
Thanks! I actually cover that exact topic, working on From a Certain Point of View: Empire Strikes Back, in the podcast interview I did with Writing About Dragons and Shit I linked to last week.
If you want to zero in on the Star Wars stuff, jump ahead to the 24 minute mark of the episode because that’s where my anecdote about it starts and I go through it in more depth than I would have room to easily cover here in text.
Current + Upcoming Releases
Upcoming Appearances
| July 25-28, 2024 | San Diego Comic-Con | San Diego, CA, USA |
| Aug 1-4, 2024 | Gen Con Indy | Indianapolis, IN, USA |
| Aug 16-18, 2024 | Fan Expo Chicago | Chicago, IL, USA |
| Aug 22-25, 2024 | Fan Expo Canada | Toronto, ONT, CANADA |
| Oct 17-20, 2024 | Gamehole Con | Madison, WI, USA |
Links and Other Things
• There are a wild number of new projects and initiatives underway at Marvel and DC with the From The Ashes X-Men relaunch and DC’s All-In promotion. Calling out all the new books being put together by friends would take up more space in this newsletter than I have room/time to type but, suffice to say, it’s an exciting time full of possibilities in terms of ‘Big Two’ comics on the horizon. I’m eager to dig in to as many of these as possible to see what my friends and peers are building and discover new talent riding big waves as well.
• My friend Charles Soule put together a rock opera concept album for Curse Words, his creator-owned comic series. Such an unexpected and amazing project.
• My friends at the RAID Studio have a new indie comic magazine launching called Blitz and it looks pretty damn sweet. Lots of amazing work worth supporting in there.
• My friend Cavan Scott announced a new comic series at Magma called Night of the Slashers with artist Paul Fry that sounds really fun, especially if you’re a fan of 70’s/80’s horror movies.
• Not Just Bikes posted a fascinating video about how Japanese cities are designed – zoning, public transport, retail, traffic, bike lanes, and more. Lots of great info about Japan I find useful and appreciate even more now.
Jim
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