The lost con photos: HeroesCon 2014

(My kids running the Crooked Finger Press table.  Rich Tommaso on the right .)

So... I was recently (in the year 2021) trying to find some old photos and realized that I never posted this con report from 2014.  So here it is, I don't think it's even finished but after seven years I may as well let it fly.  Enjoy. 

In the long ago days of June 20th through June 22nd 2014, thousands of comics enthusiasts gathered together in Charlotte NC for America's most beloved comic book convention, HeroesCon.
I've been an exhibitor at HeroesCon many times in the past but this year would be different as I would be taking my family with me.  I had told my 12 year old daughter Kassidy that if she finished a full length minicomic that I would print it up and take it and her with me to Heroes Con.  She met the challenge so we decided to make a sort-of family vacation out of the trip to Charlotte.
We left for Charlotte on the Wednesday before the show.  Usually, I would just make the four hour drive down from southwest VA the morning of the first day of the show and spend the weekend in a sleep deprived fog.  I gotta say that driving down well in advance is great and a major stress reliever. 

(The hotel hallway was very long.  I walked to the end to make sure that it was real.  When I got there I found an old man in a bed.  He looked like my grandfather.  It was full of stars.)

As this was a family trip we decided to stay south of downtown in a more family friendly hotel.  And by family friendly, I mean a hotel with a swimming pool.  I like the hotels in downtown Charlotte fine.  The beds in the Westin are super nice.  But none of those hotels have swimming pools.  Last I checked the Westin did not even have free wifi.  Hell, the Westin does not even have free parking included with the price of your room.  Kids, they need swimming pools and wifi.
We stayed at a Residence Inn and it was super nice.  The room was huge with a full kitchen, couch, bar, desk etc.  The hotel had swimming pool, weight room, hot tub and a gas fire pit.  Loved it.  I would miss getting drunk with pals in the Westin lobby but I wouldn't miss it enough to give up the hot tub and the fire pit. 

(Planet Snoopy at Carrowinds is totally related to comics and therefore should of course this photo should be in a HeroesCon report.)

I've been to Charlotte many times but the only thing I've ever done there is go to the convention center and some surrounding eateries.  We didn't want this trip to be just about sitting at a comics show so we let the kids pick out something to do the day before.  We ended up choosing Carowinds.  I was super happy with that choice because I love roller coasters so very much.  My youngest daughter, Alana, is 7 so this was her first amusement park visit where she was tall enough to ride all the fun rides.  She had a fantastic time.  The first thing she said at the end of almost every ride was "can we ride it again?"  My wife and older daughter also had a nice time but I think they would have enjoyed it a lot more if it had not been 96 degrees that day.  It was hot.  Not gonna lie.  It was super hot.

(I grew a tail.  You know who else has a tail?  Rocket Raccoon and Rocket Raccoon is in comics therefore of course this photo belongs in a HeroesCon report.)

(My understanding is that this is a photo of a giant stuffed dinosaur dressed up as Spider-Man.  Relevant!)

(Obligatory we-are-in-the-Carolinas-so-here-is-a-picture-of-Dale-Earnhardt's-car picture.)

(The Crooked Finger Press booth.  Also known as Shannon Smith's table on Indie Island as ran by Alana Smith and Kassidy Smith.)

(Kassidy Smith shows off her first full length comic Hula-Hoop Girl.)

(Best bros forever.)

(Patrick Dean, Shannon Smith (a.k.a. me) and Brad McGinty.)

(These are happy people waiting in lines.)

(Brad McGinty talking to a dude in a luchador mask because comics.)

(Kids could bounce under Spider-Man's crotch.)

(Patrick Dean and Henry "our most beloved" Eudy.)

(Alana decided to get in on the act and sell some pony paintings.)

(My daughter is now a T.A.R.D.I.S.  Thanks a lot HeroesCon.)

(We out Scoob.)

Other Comics News Parade-O-Links 02052021

 (The Overwhelming Motörhead Rock Commando July 1980.)

Here are some things I found interesting in the world of minicomics, comic books, graphic novels, small press, self publishing, zines, webcomics, cartoons, digital comics, other, etc. during the week weeks ending 02052021. 

• Hello sisters and brothers and undecided others and welcome to another episode of your Other Comics News Parade-O-Links.  My name is Shano and I'll be your host.  Remember over a month ago when fired up the file under other machine and I was going to start posting these things again?  Me either. 
• No one close to me died since our last episode so, progress. 
• Marvel and DC superheroes trend on the social meeds every day but it's rare when the comics trend and even rarer when a specific comic book trends so when it does you know it's either going to be misogyny or racism.  Immortal Hulk #43 decided to go with the racism this go round.  Everyone makes mistakes but racism is almost never a mistake and there are some mistakes you don't get to make if Disney is paying you. 
• In dumb comics movie click bait news: Nah, that's just stupid. 
• Speaking of things that are not comics, that HBO Max deal has finally added the greatest DC Comics based TV show of all time, Batman: The Brave and the Bold.  Check it out heathens. 
• I just got a phone call from my close personal friend Doctor Fauci and he gave me some great news.  America's most wholesome cartoonist, Josh Latta, has a new book out.  Suck on that 2019-nCoV acute respiratory disease.
• Well, it's finally happened.  Ashley Holt has finally gotten so sick of your bullshit he's left the country.  This country has two Carolinas and neither one of them were good enough for our man Ashley.  Good luck Germany! 
• Do you guys read the comics?  I read the comics.  What comics do you guys read?  Maybe respond in the comments.  LOL HAH HAH HAH no one is ever going to respond in the comments.  Maybe twitter though.  I've been reading a lot of oddball late 80s stuff lately like post-Crisis Suicide Squad and the pre-Grant Morrison* Doom Patrol.  (With the intention of going through the Morrison stuff again afterwards because I'm obsessed with that Doom Patrol TV show.)  Been reading lots of comics with characters in brown and orange costumes in stories where they go into cold war era made up jungle islands. That was a weird period in comics, before DC thought these things had value, before the movies, when they were just like, "well, all these non-primary color characters are never going to catch on so we may as well dump them in a team and kill one of them off every issue".  Fun stuff. I recommend you go to Ollie's and buy the first few trade paperbacks of both series for about $3 each.
• Speaking Doom Patrol, you guys have watched the first two seasons of the TV show now right?  It's the best right?  What do you want to see in the 3rd season?  I want Doom Force.  

• And speaking of other things that are not comic books, sure, yeah, I like WandaVision just fine.  I like it better when they don't explain things for the normies.  I don't want the normies to have anything else.  They have sports.  That's enough. I think showing us the MCU "real world" outside of Westview as a catastrophic mistake for the show.  Those scenes are poorly written and poorly acted and just look like low budget television.  The stuff of Wanda's creation inside Westview, which is supposed to be low budget television looks fantastic.  Just, spare us the MCU please.  
• My MCU ranking goes as follows 1) The ones where Iron Man plays AC/DC. 2) The ones where Captain America takes his shirt off. 3) WandaVision.
• That Vision "content" you really wanted. 

• If I hadn't been trapped in the Trump version of Westview for the past year I might have given you guys a list of my favorite comics from 2020 and I probably would have mentioned Jeremy Massie's Holler.  You can get on board with the 3rd issue now. 
• Current reigning defending best at drawing on Earth, Brad McGinty, recently did the cover of We Do What We Want 2. It's great and the magazine is a lot of fun.  The magazine has an article where Gerard Way talks about his The Real Ghostbusters toys.  I didn't make that up.  For real, if you like the things that are the good things then you will enjoy this magazine.  Also, if you like the things that are rad you will like this High on Fire t-shirt Brad did for the Holy Mountain Printing folks. 
• The great Annie Koyama is leaving escaping  changing her relationship with comics.  Our man Rob Clough weighed in on her impressive legacy. 
• Related, Ed Kanerva and RJ Case are also fleeing pursuing their future endeavors. 
• 24 Hour Comics Day went down again and I read a lot of the comics but when I think about it, most of what I saw were from the folks I follow on twitter and Instagram that are already posting comics weekly or more frequently in that format so, really, the day just felt like any other day in my social media feed.  A lot of folks have really mastered Instagram's 10 photo limit for posting comics in a reader friendly cell pad pod phone environment.  I'm thinking about folks like the world's most dangerous man Henry Eudy, your dad Mike Dawson, that lady at the petting zoo Lisa Hanawalt , your favorite teacher Mayday Trippe, that dude you used to work with Gabby Schulz, that dude on the bus Josh Bayer, that dude you know who has transcended flesh and draws with his mind now Patrick Dean and so many more just killing it every day.  I salute you doers of things. 

THE BEST NEW COMIC I READ THIS WEEK

Malarkey #5 by November Garcia available at Birdcage Bottom Books

This is a great looking minicomics sized collection of comics with bigfancycomics production.  These are mostly diary style comics with a few more ambitious art comics pages to mix it up.  Garcia's color stuff is really interesting.  Like that fantastic cover where it looks like it's raining what could be bubble gum or guts depending on how dark your day was. Thematically this issue is dealing with, well, kind of 2020 in a nutshell.  Death and the plague and how you just have to deal with it.  I think we call can relate.  Also, there are jokes. 

• Before we go we'd better check on our boy Francis and make sure he's okay.

• Remember pals, life is hard.  Never stop running unless it's to pick up a friend.  Read comics and chew Glorp every day and you'll keep on livin' until you're dead. 

Your best pal ever,

Shannon Smith

p.s. I write comics.  Do you make comics?  Maybe you should hire me to write comics. 
p.p.s Say you want a leader but you can't seem to make up your mind. I think you'd better close it and let me guide you to my twitter feed.
p.p.p.s.  Yeah, I do Instagram too.  Maybe if 100,000 of you follow me there I'll be as famous as the average Cambodian teenager with a milk ring collection. 

The best comics of 2018.

Here are the three best comics from 2018. Brad McGinty’s “Romantic 3D Sci-Fi Nightmare Goes to War No. 2”, Patrick Dean’s “Eddie’s Week” and Josh Simmons’ latest “Jessica Farm” minicomic. Sorry if you wasted your time making a list before I posted this.

A post shared by Shannon Smith (@shannogram3000) on Jan 9, 2019 at 7:06am PST

Other Comics News Parade-O-Links 09042016

(Marvel Premier Featuring issue 45 from 1978.  Cover art by George Perez and Bob McLeod.  Image stolen from SellMyComics.)

Here are some things I found interesting in the world of minicomics, comic books, graphic novels, small press, self publishing, zines, webcomics, cartoons, digital comics, other, etc. during the week month years ending 04042014 09042016

"Hear me, arisen Tyrk!  In the name of my comrades Sashiel and Barq, I swear vengeance from this moment on... The Man-Wolf is out for your stinking blood!"  - Col. John Jameson, The Man-Wolf.

• Hello sisters and brothers of teh intronets and welcome to another episode of your Other Comics News Parade-O-Links.  My name is Shannon and I'll be your host.  This is the first Parade-O-Links in quite some time.  I know most of you are thinking, "Where has the Parade-O-Links been during this darkest time of my life when I had nothing to live for and teh intronets completely let me down and all my favorite comics were canceled and the antidepressants had bad side effects and my favorite sports teams lost and all of my pets pooped in places I didn't want to clean?  Where was the Parade-O-Links when the world stopped turning?!?"  Look, friends, pals, I'd love to tell you everything that has happened since the last Parade-O-Links but quite frankly Frank Quitely, I don't remember.
• So, let's start fresh.  I feel like I have solid memories of life on Earth going back at least to June of 2016 so we'll star there.  Fair enough? Good.  I'm glad we agree.  I appreciate your respect and understanding.  And, might I add, you look great today.  Fantastic choice of footwear. I'm digging it.  Magnificent.  I've always said that only the sexiest of the sexiest people read the Parade-O-Links and it's as true today as it was a few seconds ago when I made it up.

(The Jack Tales wall based on Charles Vess art at Southwest Virginia Community College.)

• At some point in the epic adventure that is my life, the powers that be in acedemia decided that I am not only a genius and that I smell great but that I am also a comics scholar.  I was approached by the Appalachian Heritage Writers Symposium to present a workshop on writing for comics and graphic novels.  I turned that opportunity yes and put together a powerpoint presentation focused on the differences between writing for prose and writing for comics. 

I don't even know what a graphic novel is so these folks are in for a treat.

A photo posted by Shannon Smith (@sandfarmer) on Jun 10, 2016 at 7:00am PDT

 Most of the writers at the symposium were pretty up on their plain old writin' words kinda' writin' but they needed to know how to write so that an artist could actually do something with it.  A drawing is a hell of a thing to have to write.  I bestowed upon them this great knowledge along with a little minicomic full of blank panels so that they could practice writing using thumbnails.  I look forward to taking a sip of my cocktail and giving a knowing nod when they all thank me during their eventual Eisner acceptance speeches. I taught for two hours and met a lot of great folks.  Sharyn McCrumb was they keynote speaker.  I was able to attend her workshop and picked up a lot of neat ideas.  Southwest Virginia Community College hosted the event and they have a lot of Charles Vess art on display including a huge brick sculpture based on his design.  (I took some more photos of it that you can find on my instagram.)  Also, we had lunch.  It was a great experience and I'm grateful for the opportunity. 

• Did you guys know that not only am I a comics scholar but I am also a professional comic book writer? This is a true and well established fact.  Human beings have paid me to deliver to them words which have then been printed in comic books.  Perhaps you've read some of the comics? Perhaps you are a fan?  And who isn't? But how hardcore are you?  Do you have my earliest work?  Did you know that I did some work for the Glorp Gum Company back in the 90s?  Hah!  You didn't know that did you Mr. Fancypants? It's true.  Way back in 1991 the Glorp Gum Company hired me to do some scripting on a new comic book they had in the works.  I remember it like yesterday. I was sitting there in my dorm room, freshman year, smelling like teen spirit, listening to my favorite Bronze Vestal Virgin cassette tape ("Double Dead Again 2: Tokyo One Night Only") when the RA came a knockin' on my door to let me know that I had a phone call.  I figured it was the usual, some band wanting me to replace their guitar player or whatever, but when I answered the phone it was none other than comics legend John Sourcup. (RIP)  I thought the guy was already dead but here he is on the phone offering me a job.  Turns out he had read some of my Megaforce fan fiction in Slasher magazine and I thought I was just the guy to help him out with some last minute scripting on the revival of Glorp's comics line. I worked out some dialog for a little eight page skateboarding story called "Safety First Skater Later" that was printed up in the back of Glorp Comics and Stories.  Now, most of you are probably familiar with the story of how Glorp debuted the comic at a big skateboarding event and about how all those people and vee jays died. I don't really want to get into all of that.  I don't really like to talk about it. I was a big fan of a lot of the pro skaters that died that day... Anyway, as I'm sure you all know from the various TV documentaries, all of the comics were destroyed in the fire.  Or so we thought!  Friends, life is strange.  Years ago, there I am writing for the Glorp Gum Company and then one day, decades later, my pal Brad McGinty buys the Glorp Gum Company!  Can you believe that expletive? Sure enough, my friend and yours, Brad McGinty buys the Glorp Gum Company and what does he find when he's digging through the vaults?  You guessed it, the only remaining copy of Glorp Comics and Stories on the planet. But wait, it gets better.  My man, Brad McGinty, recently fired up the Glorp presses, pulled the lever down from the t-shirt setting to the comic book setting and knocked out a fat stack of Glorp comics that you my friend can pay for and read with your own damned eyeballs.  It's a damned hot boiled miracle. I've got to pause for a moment and just let it roll over me...
• Whew.  I'm back.  Ain't that somethin'?  
• Friends, this is real talk right now. This is serious business.  You, and not the collective internet you, but YOU, you right there, with your elbows and other unique characteristics, you can click this link right now and buy Glorp comics. And not just Glorp Comics and Stories!  No!  Other comics as well!  McGinty and fine people of the Glorp Gum Factory have printed up long lost copies of the legendary Moss Rot and Twin Cities Freakout.  These are two of the craziest comics I've ever witnessed.  Did you even ever imagine you'd have a chance to buy these legendary comics!?  On newsprint!?!  McGinty printed them on newsprint!  Do you guys understand the gravity of the opportunity that Brad McGinty is giving you here? These comics will dunk your donut! You can buy Glorp Comics, Moss Rot and Twin Cities Freakout all for one low price!  Or, for multiple individual low prices but that would be kinda stupid.
• McGinty done did it again.
• Santa Claus is crying himself to sleep wishing he could do for the children what McGinty has done for all of mankind. 
• Just let it roll over ya.

• Another thing I did this summer was take the kids to America's most beloved comic book convention, HeroesCon.  I've been going to HeroesCon fairly consistently since about 2004 but this was the first time I went as a regular old customer and not as an Indie Island guest or Artist Alley exhibitor.  I just went for good ol' fun and boy oh boy was some good ol' fun had.  The show has become enormous but, to its credit, it remains a comics show.  Sure, like every other show, it has become infected by the prints epidemic but at least most of the prints at HeroesCon are comics related and on Indie Island the prints are actual original creations and not just sexy Harley Quinn.  It's a still a show where you can shop for comics of pretty much any kind.  The kind I shop for are the kind that cost 25 cents or less.  I bought about as many comics as a grocery store bag could hold for $11. And boy do they smell terrible.  Sweet, sweet, mildew how I love you.  Pretty sure most of the comics I picked up had bong water spilled on them at least once.  Glorious!  I love it.

  

The only new books I picked up were on Indie Island.  Rich Tommaso was there with the first issue of She Wolf.  I've been a huge fan of Rich's stuff forever and this might be his best work yet. I love this comic. I got the new Atomic Elbow, the latest J. Chris Campbell mini, all of the Glorp comics (have I mentioned the Glorp comics?) and an original Blue Snaggletooth drawing by Patrick Dean.  And that's pretty much it.  There were a lot of folks there I would have liked to have talked to and picked up their latest stuff but they had solid lines or crowds around them and I ran out of time.  And that's cool.  I'll pick up their stuff online or at the next show. I'm happy to see their audiences growing.  I was just on the convention floor on Saturday and honestly it was a bit overwhelming for me as a customer.  There was just so much to look at. My usual con strategy is to walk the floor once before I spend money but by the time I walked HeroesCon I was ready to lie down.  My kids picked up some cool stuff.  My nine year old got a hand made sword because why not.  My fourteen year old picked up some Gravity Falls stuff and some rad buttons and stickers.  Thankfully, comics is currently in a place where there are some fantastic female creators working on books accessible to teens and some of my daughter's favorite lady creators were at the show.  I think it's the first show where my daughter had specific artists she wanted to seek out.  She left the show inspired and literally knocked out a new minicomic in the month following. (More on that in a future post.)

We also checked out the art auction. I was a bit underwhelmed by the art on display. Most of it appeared to be work done on the floor that day as opposed to some of the bigger more ambitious works I've seen there in the past. That said, Jared Cullum's giant Fantastic Four at HeroesCon painting was amazing and as good as anything I've ever seen at the show.  It went for around $7,000 bucks if I remember correctly.  A lot of my pals are friends with Jared so there were a lot of proud beaming faces in the Westin lobby and bar that Saturday night.

I love these guys. Damned degenerate comics Butch and Sundance. #heroescon2016

A photo posted by Shannon Smith (@sandfarmer) on Jun 18, 2016 at 10:44pm PDT

Speaking of which, the main attraction of HeroesCon for me is getting to hang out with all my pals.  

It was super great to see my former Atlanta bro doggers Brad McGinty and Josh Latta (and Erin of course, Hi Erin!).  Brad helped me with my first minicomic in 2002 and I've been sharing table space and hotel rooms with Brad and Josh for years now.  We all lived in the Atlanta area back in those days but have since all moved to different states so Heroes Con is about the only time we end up under the same roof now.

Also super great to see all my other pals that I see slightly more frequently, Patrick Dean, Robert Newsome, Rich Tommaso, J. Chris Campbell, Duane Ballenger, Rob Ullman, Adam and Shawn Daughhetee, all the Dollar Bin bros, Heather and Seth Peagler and all the HeroesCon staff, my man Jeremy Massie (who I live about 30 minutes from but see at comics shows more than I do in the wild), Matt Smith, all the folks I'm too lazy to list, all the folks I saw but didn't get to speak to but just waved and said "hey man!" to... everyone.  Everyone that has every lived.  I was super happy to see them and/or missed them terribly. 

I'm now the Mayor of Viking Hall and there is nothing you can do about it. #RobCon #Swarm

A photo posted by Shannon Smith (@sandfarmer) on Jul 31, 2016 at 9:17am PDT

• I was a guest a RobCon at Viking Hall in Bristol TN, this summer. The show was nice and packed with vendors and cosplayers but suffered some for being scheduled on the same weekend as neighboring Abingdon, VA's big summer festival.  I did well enough.  Sold original art and comics and my daughter Kassidy sold some art and her new minicomic Idea Box. I'll talk about Idea Box more on file under other once we print up more copies. 

Kassidy making art happen. #RobCon #StevenUniverse

A video posted by Shannon Smith (@sandfarmer) on Jul 31, 2016 at 11:55am PDT

Cooks and Books at the Saint Paul farmers market. Drop on by. What's better than reading and eating outside?

A photo posted by Shannon Smith (@sandfarmer) on Jul 30, 2016 at 2:48pm PDT

• Because I'm a super successful and popular comics creator in high demand, I had another apperance on the same weekend as RobCon.  I was a guest at Saint Paul, VA's Friends of the Library Cooks and Books event.  This is an annual fundraiser where area authors and area cooks are set up outside to sell books, eat food and drink wine and beer. It's pretty great.  The music was mostly Huey Lewis and the News so that's a major win for any getogether. I did well and the library picked up some of our comics for their shelves. 
• So, at this point in the post I've typed about a half million words about myself and my friends.  It's fine.  But maybe you want news?  Maybe you want the hard hitting critical analysis of the state of the comics industry at this exact moment?  Maybe I'll do that next week. This post was essentially a housekeeping post, we'll get back to the real nitty gritty soon.  But before I do I do have to acknowledge the redcent birthdays of comics titans Jack Kirby and Gene Colan. August 26th was also the birthdy of my father David Smith.  He would have been 67.  He's with me ever day.
• And finally... Let's check in on our old pal Francis.  Gotta catch 'em all Francis.

• Remember pals, life is hard.  Read comics every day, chew Glorp every day and you'll keep on livin' until your dead. 

Your best pal ever,

Shannon Smith

p.s. Say you want a leader but you can't seem to make up your mind. I think you'd better close it and let me guide you to my twitter feed.

p.p.s. Let's pretend we went to high school together on facebook.

p.p.p.s. Google + is another place you can read the same thing I posted here.

p.p.p.p.s. I'll tumblr for ya.

p.p.p.p.p.s.  Yeah, I do Instagram too.  I guess it's a law or something.

Other Comics News Parade-O-Links 03282014

(Star Wars issue 103 published by Marvel in 1985.  Cover art by Cynthia Martin.  Stolen from ComicVine.)

Here are some things I found interesting in the world of minicomics, comic books, graphic novels, small press, self publishing, zines, webcomics, cartoons, digital comics, other, etc. during the week ending 01052014 01132014 01192014 01222014  03282014

"To hell with every greedhead operator who flocked here throughout history because you wanted what we had, but wanted us to go underground and get it for you.  To hell with you for offering above-average wages in a place filled with workers who’d never had a decent shot at employment or education, and then treating the people you found here like just another material resource—suitable for exploiting and using up, and discarding when they’d outlived their usefulness.  To hell with you for rigging the game so that those wages were paid in currency that was worthless everywhere but at the company store, so that all you did was let the workers hold it for a while, before they went into debt they couldn’t get out of."  -Eric Waggoner speaking on the situation in West Virginia and/or the situations the majority of Americans are living in right this second.

• My kitty cat Choo Choo died a while back but this is the first time I've posted since then.  I still miss her.  She was the best cat.  She loved me like crazy.  She talked to me and played games with me.  She would play hide and seek with me.  Death is stupid.  One day, probably after I die (I will never die) I will murder Death.  I will murder Death dead and no one will shed a tear for that jerk.  
• I started this post months ago then things happened.  Look, I know you don't wanna know my bizness so I won't go into it.  I'll just say that almost everyone in my family has been hospitalized since Thanksgiving of last year.  So, I've been busy.  It has sucked.  Feel sorry for me.  Thanks.  Whatever.  Most of this post was written in the way back times so it will be old news to you. Also, whatever.  Look, I don't know why I didn't hit the "publish" button on this sometime back in January.  I just didn't.  Sorry.  Whatever.  Hang in there and maybe I'll get back to regular updates with more recent news.  Maybe.  Whatever. 
• Hi frequent readers.  Some of you may have noticed that I often (almost always) post videos with no explanation.  Some times that is because there is no explanation.  They are just dumb videos I liked.  Other times, they are there for a very specific reason but I want you to guess what it is.  Like, it's this game you and I are playing but only I know we are playing the game.  That way, I always win.  Sorry.  But today I want to post a video and tell you exactly why I posted it.  Below is a video from Blake Werts where he talks about minicomics.  It is great for a lot of reasons.  Werts is charming and has that cool accent.  Also, it's about minicomics and I love minicomics.  Blake shows off a bunch of physical copies of some fascinating rare comics.  (As well as some that are not rare but just too expensive for me.)  He does a very good job of making sure the viewer gets a chance to see these comics and put faces with names.  But what I like most about the video is that he is not talking to you and I the comics reader.  As someone who normally makes videos about records, he is talking to an audience that does not necessarily know anything about minicomics.  I feel like we need more of that.  We get too insular and sometimes forget how to talk to people that don't already speak the language of comics.
• And here is a follow up if you enjoyed that one. 
• Speaking of minicomics... yes, put a price on the dang things!
• Did I tell you guys about this big anthology of minicomics that I'm in that is on sell at Amazon?  Well, I am.  Go buy it.  I bought it.  I like it. It's very nice. 
• Hey guys, it's time to go register for the Fluke Minicomics and Zine Festival in Athens, GA USA.
• Oh man, sorry pals.  Fluke registration filled up in just a few hours.  Dang, I probably should have mentioned that in the bullet point up above these words.  I might be a jerk. Hey, don't cry.  They have a waiting list. I personally DID register for Fluke.  I hope to make it.  I missed the past two years.  It's going to be tight to fit that trip in since it is the day before Easter but I'm working on an elaborate plot to make my children believe that the Easter bunny has been kidnapped by Robert Newsome and the only way I can set things right is to go to Fluke.  Again, I might be a jerk. 
• Robert Newsome has a new issue of The Atomic Elbow out. 
• Josh Latta did some talking words on The Busy Creator Podcast.
• Finally a New Yorker cartoon that made a lick of sense to me.  
• Patrick Dean is the best.  Go read these comics.  Also get super excited about the privilege you will have of buying Patrick Dean comics from Recoil. Also, you can be Ant-Man.  Always be Ant-Man. 
• Brad McGinty has a bunch of super rad new shirts and stuff.  I just got a shirt and those patches.  You seriously will not believe how awesome those patches look until you hold them in your hands and look at them with your eyeballs. 
• My pal Jeremy Massie now has two issues of his All My Ghosts comic up on comixology.  You should buy and read it.  
• In a move that was surprising only in that it took this long to announce, Disney has finally made it official that they will move the Star Wars license from Dark Horse Comics to Marvel in 2015.  A date that is not all coincidental as the first Disney Star Wars movie is scheduled for 2015.  I have mixed feelings about this.  I'm a big Star Wars fan and in my own personal connection to Star Wars the Marvel Star Wars comics from 1977 to 1986 are second only to the films themselves.  Marvel did a great job with those comics but they were made years ago when Marvel was an entirely different company and there is no reason to expect that any of the people that made those great comics will be involved with the new Marvel Star Wars comics.  There is also the fact that Dark Horse has done a good job with the line as well.  And that is where one of my main concerns lies.  I would hope that talents like John Ostrander and Jan Duursema, for example,  would be welcome in Marvel's Star Wars line.  That is Marvel's loss if they are not.  And the fans' loss too I guess. 
• Who knew that when comics finally got its own mainstream celebrity comedy slow motion trainwreck it would be Shia LaBeouf?  (UPDATE:  Not really an update.  When I started this post Shia was still new news.  Old news now.  But one of the things interesting to me about the whole deal is that Shia is a guy that makes comics.  His biggest moment in the public eye however is playing a character that was created by Marvel Comics.  Spike/Buster Witwicky was created by Marvel for the comics and the TV cartoon.  Not by Michael Bay, Hasbro or any of the companies Hasbro bought the Transformers toys from.  But despite the fact that Marvel created most all of the characters of any value in the Transformers franchise, they don't get a penny for anything from those movies.  They don't get a penny for the Witwicky characters they created.  But Shia does.  So yeah, Shia LaBeouf, bane of the comics world, probably has made and will make more money off those characters Marvel created than anyone at Marvel ever did or ever will.  Shia is currently worth about $25 million.  But hey, at least we got that week or two where people in comics got to feel superior to the millionaire.  Comics everybody.)
• Hey guys, guys, guys.  Do you like looking at things that are funny and great?  Well Patrick Dean has a new tumblr where he gives you illustrated cosplay ideas. 
• Also, that wrasslin' book Patrick Dean did the cover for is out. 
• Matt Fraction wrote about alcoholism and drug addiction.
  Julia Wertz also talked about (and drew about) her issues and other things at Narratively.  And, there is going to be a Fart Party Omnibus. 
• The Doctor Who comics are moving from IDW to Titan.  I'm kinda bummed about that. I thought the IDW Doctor Who books were pretty good.  I don't know that I've ever held a Titan comic in my hands. 
• Yeah, sure, give Bill Finger a Google doodle.  Also, go read that Ty Templeton comic.
• I'd like to take second to point you in the direction of the Punching the Clock webcomic.  Mainly to point out that Jeff Manley is back on the comic after being away due to some family health issues.  I like Manley's style, he's a sweetheart of a guy and he works really hard at comics, family, life etc.  Good to see him back at it. 
• I wish all history could be delivered in a one panel Rob Ullman cartoons. 
• I feel your pain Mike.  But on the bright side, at least it's not Jessie.
• "I have learned never to engage with people I don’t already know, as you will likely be wasting hours of your time arguing with some political zealot."  Um, well, good luck avoiding the human race.  I mean, I guess it gives you more time to draw and color insane looking comics so... 
• “...the business in the direct market [the comics shop market] is a much stronger model and try as we might, we have not been able to make the comics newsstand model work for years, I don’t think anyone has.”
• That new Miracleman comic costs way too much and I'm super, super, extremely pissed that it did not come with the digital code at that price but... it's always good to hear that people are going to get paid.   
• Must have Howard Chaykin blanket now!
• I really like this Ryan Andrews comic that The Comics Reporter pointed out earlier this week.  Reminds me of Josh Simmons and Gabby Schulz.  
• This is a world where people cheer when someone gets health insurance. 
• Never stop turning the knife.  Never let them catch their breath.  Never stop kicking them until they stop trying to get up. 
• We are all going to die.
• Also dead, the internet. 
• Some good advice on 2000AD's submissions page.  "THE FIRST PERSON TO SPEAK SHOULD ALWAYS BE ON THE LEFT."
• I want to marry the Baxter Building. 
• Can't we just let this be the next Fantastic Four movie?
• One man's space garbage is another man's gold. 
• Here is a neat look at Kirby's 2001. 
• Retrofit has posted its lineup for its next subscription run.  Remind me try to get on board that as soon as I get paid.  (Especially since it was my new year's resolution.)  Rob at Panel Patter talked about Retrofit's digital expansion. (UPDATE:  I did subscribe.)
• I wanted to share a link to the interview Chris Sims had with Mark Waid but that giant transitioning link box thing at the top of Comics Alliance's webpage made me so angry I just gave up on finding the link.  The future is stupid. 
• I enjoyed this Paul Pope interview at TCJ.  I'm a big Paul Pope fan but I have not yet read Battling Boy.  I keep bidding on it on eBay and losing. Comics are very expensive. 
• So, that Alan Moore interview.  First of all, it is not an interview.  It is an essay.  Or, several essays.  And I think I'm done with Alan Moore's essays.  Alan Moore is a great comics writer.  Is, as in still IS a great comics writer.  As in, despite often acting like he is retired from comics, he is still writing new contemporary genre comics.  And he is still very good at it.  But I'm through with the essays.  Let me know when someone draws them as comics. 
• There was that day my pal Robert Venditti was mentioned in the USA Today for being a part of the new team on The Flash.  No big deal. 
• Comics art from the collection of HeroesCon founder Shelton Drumm is on exhibit about 45 minutes from my house.  I need to go to that!
• I'm excited that the powers that be have finally decided to take our money for a home video version of the Batman TV show.  I'm also excited that I can already watch the show every Saturday night at 7 PM on MeTV. 
• Listen, we're all *possibly* Frank Sinatra's son.
• And finally... I don't wanna live in a world without Nintendo.

Your best pal ever,

Shannon Smith

p.s. Say you want a leader but you can't seem to make up your mind. I think you'd better close it and let me guide you to my twitter feed.
p.p.s. Let's pretend we went to high school together on facebook.
p.p.p.s. Google + is another place you can read the same thing I posted here.
p.p.p.p.s. I'll tumblr for ya.
p.p.p.p.p.s.  Yeah, I do Instagram too now.  I guess it's a law or something.

Other Comics News Parade-O-Links 11282013

(John Wayne Adventure Comics #25 from 1949.  Image stolen from My Comics Shop.)

Here are some things I found interesting in the world of minicomics, comic books, graphic novels, small press, self publishing, zines, webcomics, cartoons, digital comics, other, etc. during the week weeks months ending 11282013:

"Don't get caught with your tailgate down."  -My dad, David Nelson Smith.
   

(My dad and I, probably in 1974.  I'm the one in the diaper.)

• Hello brothers and sisters of teh intronets.  I've been away from the Parade-O-Links for a while.  A lot has been going on with me.  The biggest thing was that my father died in a farming accident on September 5th of this year.  He was a good man.  He was my best friend.  I miss him.  The text below is from his obituary, which I wrote. 
• David Nelson Smith of Saint Paul, Virginia died Thursday, September 5, 2013 in Cleveland, Virginia at the age of 64.  He was born in Lebanon, Virginia the son of the late Geneva Ray Kiser Artrip. He grew up in the Spring City area on the Smith family farm.  He was a graduate of Lebanon High School where he played basketball and football and was active in the 4-H Club.  He studied Environmental Science at Clinch Valley College and earned a Regency Bachelor of Arts degree from Bluefield State College.  In his career he showed cattle and worked as a Herdsman Manager in New York state.  He worked at Stewart’s Furniture and was the owner of the Montgomery Ward store in Saint Paul, Virginia.  In 1985 he began work with the U.S. Forest Service as a Forest Technician and Law Enforcement Officer.  He worked primarily in the George Washington and Jefferson National Forrest out of the Clinch Ranger District office in Wise, Virginia but also traveled across the country with the Forest Service.  He was an arson investigator.  He worked on forest fires in California.  He worked on the recovery of natural disasters including Hurricanes Hugo and Katrina as well as working on the recovery of the Space Shuttle Columbia in Texas.   He retired from the U.S. Forest Service in 2006 after 22 years as a Law Enforcement Officer.  He received multiple honors from the U.S. Department of Agriculture as well as recognition from the Wise County Sheriff’s Department for his work and service.  He is survived by his wife, Sally Smith; one son, Shannon David Smith and wife, Jeri of Saint Paul, Virginia; two granddaughters, Kassidy Smith and Alana Smith; father and step mother, Lowell Nelson Smith and wife, Jackie of Cleveland, Virginia; one brother, Greg Smith and wife, Sandy of Lebanon, Virginia; several nieces and nephews and their children.  He loved hunting, fishing and the outdoors.  He was a loving and devoted husband, father and papaw.
• So yeah.  It's been a busy few months. I'm going through a separation/divorce.  My health went wonky.  I have medicine now and that is going better.  I've been busy with work etc.  But, whatevs.  Through it all I've still read stacks and stacks of comics and teh comics intronets have kept on keeping on.  So, let's talk about some of that junk that has gone down since the Parade-O-Links last graced the screen of your monitor and/or cell pad pod phone. 
• There is this blog called 10 Rules for Drawing Comics.  I liked it so much that I came up with my own even though no one asked me.  In light of my health issues, I seriously hope you pay attention to number 7.  And in light of my total repulsion at seeing dry elbows, please live by number 6.
• Another place I blabbed my blabbing hole at was The Comics Reporter where I talked about just what exactly I want the comics biz to give me in exchange for my money. 
• I also sold some comics and junk to kids at a library with pal Jeremy Massie. 
• Since we are talking about our agreed upon favorite subject, me, I also posted some pictures of my new "studio".  I like it.
• I had one of those birthdays with a zero at the end.  It was stupid.

• Oh hey, it's Thanksgiving.  Unless it isn't.  I'm thankful for Bill Mantlo. 
• I'm also thankful that Josh Latta has started posting new Rashy Rabbit comics.  I'm also thankful that they let him back on facebook after kicking him off for being retarded.  Aw, Jeez.  Did I just get kicked off blogger for calling Josh Latta retarded?  Language is hard.  I wanted to post a link to the deal where facebook suspended Josh but I can't find it.  Maybe I'm not good at the internet or maybe they made it disappear just like the car JFK was murdered in and Jackie O's dress.  Do any of you guys work for the NSA?
• I'm thankful for Brad McGinty and the awesome t-shirt and Glorp Gum stuff he sent me.  Brad has his new holiday cards ready for you to buy and send to your loved ones/enemies. I'm also thankful for Brad's amazing art in recent issues of Adventure Time and Regular Show.  At last when my kids want me to buy something it's the exact same thing I already wanted to buy.
• I'm thankful for Patrick Dean for making all of the best comics of 2013 and for his Haint Book making my family's Halloween so much fun. 
• I'm thankful for Robert Newsome's podcast making one hour of my 45 hour work week a lot better. 
• I'm also thankful for you dear reader for dropping by and reading file under other.  I'll admit that this post might be a mess.  While my life has been a mess recently, I've still been saving links for this post and now that I'm finally putting it together, instead of having a week's worth of links to go through I have about three months worth of links.  And it is hard.  There is a ton of stuff that I want to talk about that I'm just going to have to get to later.  Or never. And a lot of what I will end up talking about here is old news.  Honestly, trying to get back into the swing of things has been a lot harder than I expected. Sorry.  Thanks for your patience. 



• I'm excited about all the Doctor Who 50th anniversary hubbub.  Yep.  I sure am.  It was good.  Jeremy Massie drew Tom Baker and it is rad. 
• They, and by they I mean people I don't really know who do things, are making a movie based on a comic by some guys I do know, Matthew Smith and Jeremy Massie.  That Bee Sting comic was great.  Looks like the movie will be neat-o.  So, check it out and stuff.  Maybe even give them some money.  
• Y'all saw that Batkid stuff right?  No need to link that here I guess. 
• Speaking of that link above, that title.  Man, dang.  "Holy (insert whatever your story is abut here) Batman!"  I've gone from getting ill over those kind of news article titles to just embracing them.  Ya know what?  The Adam West Batman TV show was as good as human art and entertainment gets.  The freaking pinnacle. So if we gotta have "Holy...Batman" and "Zap, Pow!" in everything then so be it.  Good!  Zap Pow everything!  Holy Zap Pow everything Batman!
• Wiggle much?  As much as the law allows. 
• I don't know what you plan on doing when you retire (you are probably an American so you will never retire) but the greatest filmmaker of the last century, he likes to draw some comics. 

• In light of the  Brian Wood controversy of the past few weeks, the collective conscious of comics has decided that never again shall a male comics professional or enthusiast hit on or attempt to have a sexual relationship with a female.  If we all work together on this, we can prevent the reproduction of any future cartoonists within a generation.  Once we get rid of cartoonists we can move on to actors because, look, men like to try to get laid. 

• Dickwolves everybody.  Dickwolves. 
• I'm lucky that I am physically incapable of sexism because I have a girl's name.
• Jokes.  Jokes people.  Sexism is bad.  Duh.

 

• While I was away, Villains Month happened.  Some people did not enjoy it.   I liked it.  My daughter was super into it.  See, most of those comics were self contained comics.  Self contained comics are the best.  Also, most of those comics were origin issues.  Origin issues are great for kids.  Kids like beginnings.  I also liked the fact that DC used a lot of veteran talent on those books.  And the covers, some of them were really cool.  You didn't have to buy them if you didn't want to.  It's just a product.
• Former female writer for The Comics Journal suggests they hire some female writers.
• This writer, me, Shannon Smith, suggests they actually put a magazine out that costs less than $30 a pop.
• I'm ready to replace you all. 

 
• I was sad to hear about Joey Manley passing away.  I used and enjoyed a lot of the services and platforms that he made possible.
•  "We had a huge Halloween party and a costume contest with the Burbank office and New York on a remote screen. We use all the best technology to make sure we’re remotely connected. But it still always falls apart."  DC Comics Entertainment president Diane Nelson on why you move a publishing company from the planetary heart of publishing after 80 years.  Apparently Time Warner's AV club's skills are less than adequate. 
• Oh Diane, who am I kidding?  I'll move to California to look into those big blue eyes and I'll never look back!

 
• Brian Marcus, owner of a comics shop the next county over from me, landed a huge collection with complete silver age runs. He showed me some of those books and they look like they came right off the spinner rack.  Very cool to look through those old Neal Adams comics. 
• Dean Trippe's comic Something Terrible is very good. You guys have all read it right?  He talked about it here. 
• I am very much looking forward to Box Brown's Andre The Giant book.
• "Well, that just reproduces my experience perfectly. After twenty-five, thirty years of this shit, I’m no closer to knowing anything, and everything that comes up just seems to make the matter more complicated, more murky."
• "An average writer working for the big two...and I am saying AVERAGE...makes about 2 grand a book. The average writer has one book...and maybe at times gets a second title if lucky. Break that down to $500 bucks a week...before taxes. So lets go as far as saying they have two books a month...and remember, 90% make no royalties...this person makes about 48 grand a year...before taxes. Not working for the big 2 and its MUCH less. We also pay our own medical coverage...because the companies don't. After taxes, medical and so on...this person makes around 32 grand a year writing 2 books for the majors. Does this make sense or just plain scare most of you?" - From Jimmy Palmiotti's facebook page.
• That Kim Thompson, he was a good one. 

• SDCC happened about 10 thousand years go but I bookmarked this picture of Marv Wolman with one of the Teen Titans he created because it made me smile. 
• I love the Mircronauts way too much. 
• You guys read Dean Trippe's Something Terrible comic right?  I just linked to it twice.  It's that good.
• That time Robin and Frank Zappa made a record. 
• Irving Forbush?
• The most important con report of 2013, GhostManorCon 2013. 

(Like a damned Lee Greenwood song come to life.)

• So gross.
• "We all hated him, frankly." -Carmine Infantino on Bob Kane. 
• Dean Haspiel on Howard Chaykin. 
• "It was foul language and it was violence to a lady, she gets hit. But there was no rape scene." 
• You guys saw these Wonder Woman shorts right?  Not, short shorts like you'd like to see Wonder Woman in but short cartoons that you'd like to see Wonder Woman in.
• There has been a lot of discussion/debate/yelling about criticism in comics lately.  Dang people.  Relax.  All the same jerks that have been writing about comics for the past 15 years are still out there.  Just because you got so wrapped up in twitter that you totally forgot to move your google reader over to a new blog reader and you fail to keep up with all the blogs does not mean people are not still writing. Do I have to mudderducking teach you people how to use the damned internets?  Try google search and quit your bitchin'.  Just because The Comics Journal fired Dirk Deppey, deleted its message boards and decided it would be better to have a magazine style website that sucks and never put out a damned magazine I can ever afford does not mean people are not writing about comics.
• Congratulations to my one time high school drama team teammate Steven Wiliams on getting married.  You might know Steven from his YouTube personalities Boogie2988 Jessie and, um, what's that other guy?  Oh yeah, Francis. Good luck Boogie!
• And finally... I didn't order anything, I promise.

Your best pal ever,

Shannon Smith

p.s. Say you want a leader but you can't seem to make up your mind. I think you'd better close it and let me guide you to my twitter feed.
p.p.s. Let's pretend we went to high school together on facebook.
p.p.p.s. Google + is another place you can read the same thing I posted here.
p.p.p.p.s. I'll tumblr for ya.
p.p.p.p.p.s.  Yeah, I do Instagram too now.  I guess it's a law or something.