We’re Going to Need a Bigger Bookcase
I just returned from a wonderful visit to the HeroesCon comics convention. I went for the first time last year and had a blast, and was equally pleased this year. I am not big on the comics convention circuit, but from what I understand this is a fairly small gathering compared to others like the one held every year in San Diego. This convention had an excellent book fair, at which I spent a lot of money, and offered several interesting hour-long panel discussions. Every hour there were about three panels to choose from. On Saturday, I attended a panel discussion on the experience of collaboration (something that happens a lot in mainstream comics), a panel discussion with several contributing artist to the upcoming anthology of visual interpretations of the lyrics of Tori Amos, and finally a panel that hosted a conversation between indie comic greats Mark Dorkin and Jaime Hernandez.
The Savannah College of Art and Design had a significant presence at both this year’s and last’s years convention, though they hosted more panels last year. Last year seemed more devoted to the craft of comics while this year seemed to focus on the industry itself. In either case, I learned a lot—especially at the collaboration panel, but that is for another blog.
This convention appeals to me because it offers a great selection of books from indie or alternative comics publishers like Ad House Books and Top Shelf Productions. Last year I bought several books from both vendors—including a sweet anthology of love stories from Ad House and a gorgeous, hard-bound book called The Ticking by Renee French from Top Shelf. The Ticking is all done in delicate pencil sketches and tells the story of a disfigured boy trying to find his place in the world. It is grotesque and beautiful, funny and heartbreaking. This year I bought Super Spy by Matt Kindt from Top Shelf. This is a collection of short stories about the lives of spies. Again, beautiful and tragic. What I love about these publishers is that they are putting out works of art—the stories are artful, literary and moving, the images that convey the story are arresting and surprising, and even the binding is finely crafted and makes the book a delight to read and to display.
I bought a lot more, but I’ll leave it at that. All in all, the convention was a big success. I bought a lot of good books, learned some valuable lessons (and not just “maybe it’s not such a good idea to tattoo Hello Kitty’s face on your own forehead,” a lesson at least one convention goer would do well to learn), and enjoyed myself immensely. I’ll share more from the panel discussion nest time and also talk more about why I love literary comics and who some of my favorite writers and artists are.