NOLA Comic-Con 2011 Preview

That's right you can come see me at the third annual NOLA Comic-Con 2011. This will be the second appearance of my comic Strange City Heroes at NOLA Comic-Con. I will be selling comic books, posters, and sketching. Comic books range in price from $2.00 - $4.99, Posters $15 and sketches start at $15. Come on out and support local artist.


The Info:
The third annual NOLA Comic-Con will have a dealers room with a large selection of comics, toys, anime, manga, statues, original art, and more. It has expanded to now feature panels, cosplay, and contests!

Saturday, May 14, 2011
10:00am-6:00pm

Sunday, May 15, 2011
10:00am-6:00pm

Admission is $20 per day, or $30 for a two-day pass.
Children seven and under are admitted for free.
Validated parking for convention is $5.00 for up to 10 hours.

The Westin New Orleans Canal Place
100 Rue Iberville
New Orleans, LA‎ 70130
(504) 566-7006‎


Who will be there:501st Legion
The Barely Rotten Girls
The Blind Eye
Bluecamp Arts
Mitch Bird
Kody Chamberlain
Michael Champion
R.J. Clark
CONtraflow
Jessie W. Craig
Deaf Samurai Productions
John Dell
Derec Donovan
Garage Raja
Agnes Garbowska
Rob Guillory
Samantha Hallenus
John Holland
Kevin P. Johnson
Andy Kuhn
Robert James Luedke
Tim Lattie
Louisiana Ghostbusters
Francis Manapul
Robby Musso
Brent Peeples
The Rebel Legion
Red Stick Rebellion
Seraphemera Books
Vernon Smith
Voodoo Maverick Publishing

3 Alarm Comics
Captain Comics
Crazy Ed's Comics
Louisiana's Double Play
Magic Comics and Hobbies
Media Underground Comics
Skip N' Whistle
Time Machine

Panels

Saturday, May 14
11:00am-11:45am
Star Wars Collecting and the Current Economy: A Round-table Discussion
hosted by The Red Stick Rebellion

12:00pm-12:45pm
Lord Vader Wants You! Meet the 501st Legion
hosted by the 501st Legion Bast Alpha Garrison

3:00pm-3:45pm
Q&A with Francis Manapul
moderated by Blake Petit

4:00pm-4:45pm
Local Talent: Making Your Mark in the Comics Industry
moderated by Blake Petit

Sunday, May 15
11:00am-11:45am
Giving Yourself to the Dark Side: Costuming with the 501st
hosted by the 501st Legion Bast Alpha Garrison

12:00pm-12:45pm
Creating Custom Cardbacks
hosted by The Red Stick Rebellion

1:00pm-1:45pm
Q&A with Andy Kuhn
moderated by Blake Petit

2:00pm-2:45pm
From Pencils to Pixels: A Webcomic Round-table
moderated by Blake Petit

3:00pm-3:45pm
Plastic Surgery: Action Figure Customization
hosted by Scott Rivet

Information collected from NOLA Comic-Con

Free Comic Book Day at Magic Comics and Hobbies

Free Comic Book Day is an annual event happening the first Saturday in May for comic book fans and newcomers to gather in comic book stores around the country to get samples of mainstream and independent comic books and plenty of kids comics as well. As a fan of almost every style of comics and art I try to get as many of the offered books as I can and most years I visit multiple stores to see if they may have something different or have a store special and as a rule I will buy something at each store that I get free comic books from because I know that what is Free for me is not free for the comic shop.

This year I spent the day at Magic Comics and Hobbies in Slidell, LA as a guest artist along with Transformers artist Robby Musso and upcoming artist Mark Rhodes who plans to produce comic books in the near future. I only did two sketches but I had fun seeing old friends, talking about comics, video games of yesteryear, and just about everything else under the Geek Sun.

Here's what I drew:

There are a lot of free comics to be found on Free Comic Book Day at Magic Comics and Hobbies and they let you take whichever ones you want. Owner David Strecker does a great job of having a large supply of the comics available and most customers get the comics they were looking for in the program. For me I as I said before I want to get as many as I can (my collector brain loves free stuff) below is a list of comic books that I got this year (A major haul).

What I got :

Sideshow Collectibles Catalog

The Tick: FCBD 2011

Green Lantern Flashpoint Special

Locke & Key FCBD 2011

World's Of Aspen 2011

Young Justice Batman Super Sampler

The Mis-adventures of Adam West/Things To Come . . .

Jake The Dreaming

The Amazing Spider-Man

Elric: The Balance Lost FCBD

Path of the Plainswalker

Mouse Guard/The Dark Crystal

Super Dinosaur: Origin Special!

2000 AD

Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse

Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Predators/Top 10 Deadliest Sharks

Inspector Gadget/Johnny Test

Chip 'N' Dale Rescue Rangers/Darkwing Duck

Geronimo Stilton and The Smurfs

Atomic Robo/Foster Broussard/Moon Girl

John Stanley's Summer Fun!

Pep Comics featuring Betty & Veronica

Rated Free For Everyone!

Witch & Wizard

The Stuff of Legend/The Intrepid Escape Goat

Bongo Free-For-All 2011

Baltimore/Criminal Macabre

Top Shelf Kid's Club

Spontaneous

Captain America and Thor The Mighty Fighting Avengers

Sonic The Hedgehog

Richie Rich in Eruption Disruption!/Kung Fu Panda

Silver Scorpion

Loose Ends/I.C.E. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

The Darkness: Confession

Star Wars: The Clone Wars/Avatar: The Last Airbender

Civil War Adventure

White Lantern Ring

Black lantern Ring

IDW Star Trek Infestation Patch

Sideshow Collectibles Keychain

Green Lantern Hero Clix figure

Ultimate Flame-O (Strange City Heroes) Sketch

I love that there are so many comics and that there is a such a great variety of art styles that makes every comic stand out as a star. I have only read one so far but I keep looking at the pile and am ready to jump in and read things I may never have been exposed to if not for Free Comic Book Day and Magic Comic and Hobbies.

I hope that the tradition of free comic book day continues for years to come because it seems to get bigger and better each and every year.

Another big tradition at comic book events is that the Louisiana Chapter of the 501st Legion Bast Alpha Garrison show up and help bring in the crowds who want to take pictures with official looking replicas of the characters from the Star Wars movies and these guys take it very seriously when it comes to making their costumes look authentic. The 501st Legion has branches all over the world and make appearances at events and raise money for charities of all sorts. Along with the Star Wars characters a beautiful pirate lady showed up and posed for pictures as well.

Free Comic Book Day 2011 was great fun. I'd like to thank David Strecker and the Magic Comics and Hobbies staff Trey and Mikey for allowing me to be a guest in their store and for being such a great place that helps spread the love of comic books. The customers there are also great and there is always a great conversation to be had. If you're in Slidell check them out its an awesome place with an awesome supply of comic books, toys, models, games, statues and action figures (and probably a heck of a lot more.)

Magic Comics & Hobbies LLC
727 Robert Blvd.
Slidell, LA 70458
(985)649-4171

Thanks for reading,
Kevin P. Johnson

Copyright © 2010 Kevin P. Johnson

Thor - The Movie

I just saw the Thor movie and I must say that I think it was really good and I fully enjoyed it. I think that most of comic book fans would agree that this movie was made as an into to the Thor character so that people would know him in the upcoming Avengers movie. This movie was so that Thor already have an established history on the big screen along with Iron Man, Hulk and Captain America (coming this summer). With Marvel leading the way on most of their movies these days Thor worked really well on the big screen.

Without spoiling the movie too badly Thor is to become king of Asgard when there is an attack by the Frost Giants. He takes it upon himself to enact revenge against his father Odin's wishes. Odin finds out about this and banishes a powerless Thor and his hammer Mjolnir to earth and he must find his way back to Asgard if only he can regain his power and lift the hammer.

The movie did a good job of including a fair amount of scenes on Asgard and Jotunheim (home of the Frost Giants) as well as earth to allow us to understand that there are more things out there besides us. The costumes looked great Thor looking like the modern comic book version (with a beard) and a lot of the characters kept a close look to the way that they appear in the comic books. Loki's helmet had the classic bent horns and that was enough comic book reality for me.

I think that they did a real good job of telling the story and it seems to me that it's pretty close to the way things happened in the comics (I haven't read the old stories in a long time). All the characters seemed to be playing the roles they were supposed to and it felt just like a comic book on the screen to me . . . and it had humor sprinkled throughout that kept the movie from being stale.

For those wondering the characters that make an appearance are : Thor, Odin, Loki, Heimdall, Laufey (King of the Frost Giants), Volstagg, Sif, Fandral, Frigga, S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Phil Coulson (from the Iron Man filems) & The Destroyer. Nick Fury also appears after the credits.

My only complaints about the Thor film and they are minor. First Volstagg wasn't fat enough . . . I like the guy that played him I just think he needed a little more belly fat which they could have done with costume effects. Secondly the battle with The Destroyer was pretty cool but wasn't epic enough. I could have used 5 more minutes of the fight to make it more awesome.

Thor worked well, it looked like a comic book, it felt like a comic book it had adventure and fun and built a character for the future of Marvel Comics movies and I'm happy with it.

Thanks for reading,

Kevin P. Johnson

Copyright © 2010 Kevin P. Johnson

Image is copyright © 2011 Marvel Studios and used as a Fair Use Review image only. Image will be removed upon the request of Marvel Studios.

SUPER DINOSAUR #1

They had me at Super Dinosaur.
They had me at armored rocket launching T-Rex.
They had me at talking dinosaur people from the middle of the earth.
They had me at Robert Kirkman has a new comic book out called Super Dinosaur.

I wasn't expecting this comic book . . . hell I didn't even know that it was coming out until I saw a video by Jason and Monty of BSI Comics where they talked about it. Well I went over to the store and bought it and it was soooooooo worth it. This comic is what I'd like to call crazy . . . good crazy . . . fun crazy. You've got mad scientist, a talking T-Rex, a bunch of dinosaur men that can also talk, a genius kid that helps his scientist dad figure out how to make things work and some robots just for fun. Oh and before its over there is a work crew that reminds me of some sort of modern day Speed Racer pit crew.

The basic plot is that Super Dinosaur and young Derek Dynamo (son of Doctor Dynamo) and his robot Wheels are a team that each day set out to stop the evil plans of the evil Dinosaur Men created by Max Maximus. They do pretty well with this but the armor Super Dinosaur is not quite strong enough to do the job and the new "Pit Crew" comes in and helps fix all the problems making Super Dinosaur and super bad-ass missile shooting talking T-Rex. Oh and lets not forget the rebellion amongst the dinosaur men.

The book is fairly fast paced and makes great strides in its efforts to include a little bit of the many directions this book will go and introduces a cast of characters that all seem to have unique personalities. The book knows its crazy and all about a Super Dinosaur but I think Kirkman and the gang have set themselves up to have great fun and play as if they were 8 year old's. It seems I'm never in on that comic that is really cool and everyone loves and just a few months later its all sold out and the 1st issue is marked up to $20. Well I don't know if it'll be like that but it feels like a special title that everyone should read if they like having fun with comic books.

If you don't believe me that its is awesome you better be sure to pick up the FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2011 - SUPER DINOSAUR ORIGIN SPECIAL! Get it on Saturday May 7, 2011 at your local comic book store. It'll be free.

Story by Robert Kirkman, Art & Colors by Jason Howard, Letters by Rus Wooton, Cover by Jason Howard, Publisher - Image Comics, Cover Price - $2.99, 28 pages, full color.


Thanks for reading,

Kevin P. Johnson

Copyright © 2010 Kevin P. Johnson
Images are copyright © 2011 Image Comics are used as Fair Use Review images only. Images will be removed upon the request of Image Comics.

Teen Titans: A Kid's Game (Trade Paperback) - DC Comics

Teen Titans . . . can't say that I have ever read anything about the team besides the Uncanny X-Men and The New Teen Titans crossover from 1982 . . . and I read that probably in the late 1980's . . . and I can't say that I have any memory as to what happened in that comic (maybe I'll have to read it again) but it is the only connection I can think of that I have to the Teen Titans.

I bought this trade because the Boarders bookstore in my town was closing and there were great discounts to be had and I tried to get as many trades as I could afford before they shut the doors. I got A Kid's Game for $4.99 which is a great price but when I got home I found that the cover is detached from the spine so I'm pretending that it is a slipcase edition and it's cooler than everyone else's copy (yes I know I need help.)

So the reason for buying this besides the super sale price was to try to get to know a little more about the characters in the DC Universe. And maybe get introduced to a few that I had never heard of or never read about very much about in my brief knowledge of DC Comics.

The book is set up where a new team of Teen Titan's is forming and most of the young heroes are being sent to be part of the team by a mentor hero like Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. The group is set up as a weekend warrior type thing for these kids and they will go back to their regular lives after the weekend is over. So the young heroes are brought together and almost instantly they are confronted with an attack by Deathstroke who is bound and determined to kill one of the Titans so that their will be no more groups of children brought together as a super team.

The speedster Impulse is shot in the knee by Deathstroke and the Justice League shows up with fighting amongst friends quickly ensuing over mixed beliefs on how things are to be with the team. Starfire and Wonder Woman clash, Impulse full of angst goes a little tantrum-ish and becomes Kid Flash no matter what anyone says.

The book set's up friendships between Robin and Superboy, Impulse and Wondergirl and a blooming romance between Superboy and Wondergirl and gives lots of room to grow. My favorite line in many years of reading comics has to be when Wondergirl states to Robin ". . . wait a second. You just lied to Starfire?!" and he responds with "I lie to Batman." To me that is how you know Robin is the real deal.

By the end of this book the terms of the team are settled the JLA and Teen Titans are in agreement how things will work, but I think Wonder Woman isn't happy about it, a twist in Deathstroke's character is revealed and Superboy gets a dog.

I really enjoyed this book and will try to find more of the trades in the future. Another small note Deathstroke has one of my favorite costumes of all times and was the sole reason I bought many issues of the Deathstroke: The Terminator series back in the early 1990's . . . he's also an awesome villain.

This book also includes Cover pages and sketch cover art, Mike McKone's sketches, and a character description pages of all the Teen Titans and Deathstroke.

192 pages Trade paperback
Geoff Johns - writer
Mike McKone - pencils
Marlo Alquiza - inks
Jeromy Cox - colors
Comicraft - colors
Covers and backup art by Michael Turner
Other artist featured on backup section.

Thanks for reading,
Kevin P. Johnson
Copyright © 2010 Kevin P. Johnson

Images are copyright © 2011 DC and Marvel Comics are used as Fair Use Review images only. Images will be removed upon the request of DC or Marvel Comics.

What's In The Box - May 2011

As you may already know if you have gone back to the start of this blog I order my monthly comic books from Discount Comic Book Service (DCBS) in order to get the discout that I need to be able to get most of the comics I want within my budget. I do try to support local comic shops (LCS) as much as I can by buying trades and when I want to try out a new series.

Now when I get my comics its usually a month or more after they have been out so I can never have the hot new issue when everyone else does and sometimes I'll go buy important series from my LCS because waiting for some comic books just isn't fun and worth the extra few dollars to get them as they come out Civil War, Fear Itself, Final Crisis to name a few of the titles I did this for. 

I think this section of the blog will replace the "Pull List" I've done so that I can put a picture of what I got in and if anyone wants to discuss what I got we can go from there and I always enjoy seing pictures of what other people added to teir collections.

So this is what's In the Box recieved in May 2011:

The Amazing Spider-Man #658-659, Annual #38

Justice Society of America #50

Usagi Yojimbo #136

X-Factor #218

Justice League of America #56

Brightest Day #23-24

The Avengers #12

Captain America #617

The New Avengers #11

The Mighty Thor #1

Journey Into Mystery #622

X-Men Legacy #247

Secret Avengers #12

Uncanny X-Men #535-536

Batman #709

19 comics this month I usually average about 22 - 25 but I think a few series ended the month I made this order. I hope that this was mildly interesting and that you'll check in for my next review.

Thanks for reading,

Kevin P. Johnson

Copyright © 2010 Kevin P. Johnson

Mini-Comics: Zombie Crisis - Dollar Bin Productions

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ZOMBIE CRISIS! Sounds scary doesn't it well this mini-comic is a quick read that has a moment of scary, a moment of shock, a moment of kicking ass and a moment of relief. Zombie Crisis is a black and white 11 page wonderfully drawn comic that really gets the message of the story across quickly. It uses all 10 of its story pages to create a mood and feel that fully explain where you are and how it feels to be in Columbia, South Carolina that kinda tragic day when the zombie came.

Written by Adam Daughhetee of the Dollar Bin podcast with editor Ted Tarver a fun horrific zombie tale is quickly told on a hot summer day in South Carolina, a day that the citizens will never forget . . .well at least they won't forget that guy that kicks ass on zombies. Andy Jewett's art is wonderful and includes a lot more detail than I have seen in the few mini-comics that have been able to acquire in my years of collecting comics.

Contact Adam at the Dollar Bin to see if you can get your hands on this awesome looking little mini-comic. 11 pages, B&W, No price on the comic.

Note: There is a drawing on the back cover of a zombie fairy and zombie godmother signed by LATTA not sure who that is but it is really cute and awesome and I would love to see more art by that person (you'll have to get a copy of Zombie Crisis to see that . . . for now).

- Kevin P. Johnson

Copyright © 2010 Kevin P. Johnson

Images are copyright © 2010 Dollar Bin Productions and are used as Fair Use Review images only. Images will be removed upon the request of Dollar Bin Productions.



A Call For Links

Hey there everyone I am about to set up a links page for this blog and I am looking to link to comic book creators, comic book companies, webcomics, comic blogs and anything that relates to comic books. I won't bother you for anything more than a link. If your sight contains material that is pornographic I will not link to you (I'm going to check). I'll have the link page up soon.

Thanks,
Kevin P. Johnson

Mini-Comics: Zombie Ween - An Up An Adam Product

Zombie Ween . . . what happens when Roger a changeling has to pick a costume for Halloween when he can be anything that he wants? Well of course he chooses to become a zombie . . . who wouldn't . . . the problem with that is well zombies aren't that smart and might not remember how to change back.

This little mini-comic is a fun and cute little zombie story for all ages and its a quick read too. I've read this little comic maybe thirty times (it only takes about a minute) and I smile every time. Zombie Ween is a comic filled with simple one panel little drawings and just a few words on each page that allow you just enough to understand what is happening. I'm not sure how available these comics are but you should try to get one by contacting Adam at his pod cast website (linked below) and I'm sure he could hook you up.

19 pages B&W by Adam Daughhetee and Duane Ballenger there is no cover price on this little gem. Adam is one of the host of the podcast The Dollar Bin and has published several mini-comics and compilation comics for his show.

- Kevin P. Johnson

Copyright © 2010 Kevin P. Johnson

Images are copyright © 2010 Adam Daughhtee and are used as Fair Use Review images only. Images will be removed upon the request of Adam Daughhtee.

Hero By Night (Hardcover) - Platinum Studios Comics/ Top Cow

Hero By Night . . . never heard of it . . . me either.

So I went into BSI Comics in Metairie, LA and as I am looking through the used trade paperback and graphic novel section and what catches my eye besides Hero By Night and its awesome blue flame cover (my photo does not do it justice). The cover has a foil stamped logo and some of the flames are also treated the same way.

The basic story is that a young man who isn't really living up to his fathers expectations finds the hidden base of Hero By Night a superhero who was last seen in 1956. He soon finds out that a ring that is included with the journals and costumes gives him power.

As any broke young person might think he quickly decides to sell his findings on eBay. This only notifies the bad guys that the ring has been found. Before you know it our young friend (Jack King) is thrust into becoming the new version of the superhero Hero By Night.

I'm not going to spoil this comic any more for you because I want you all to read it. It's a really fun read and can be found online for free at this link: Hero By Night the website includes the entire book in the Mini-Series section but the really cool thing about the site is that it also includes the Journals from 1945-1956 of the original Hero By Night and then there is an Ongoing Series section that seems to have ended in 2008.

Hero By Night does a good job of being fun and original and I think that people who have read and enjoyed The Escapist will find a familiar feel about this book and will have a great time reading it as I did.

Note: I have not yet read the webcomic pages yet but I do look forward to it it looks just as fun as this book.

Hero By Night is written and drawn by D. J. Coffman with colors by Jason Embury. Hardcover, 96 pages, full color. Cover price $12.99.

- Kevin P. Johnson

Copyright © 2010 Kevin P. Johnson

Image is copyright © 2007 Platinum Studios Comics and used as Fair Use Review images only. Image will be removed upon the request of Platinum Studios Comics.