Image Comic Expo: A lot to love in this little show

I managed to wrest a day away from the clutches of my writing schedule and my boring mundane stuff to get myself over to the Image Comic Expo, held at the Oakland Convention Center this past weekend, February 24 - 26. I'm extremely glad I did, as this show netted a lot of great people, new contacts, and what must be 25 pounds of comics to review. More about that at the end.

Billed as "A 3-day celebration of creator-owned comics," it was primarily put on by Image, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, and most of the signings and panels were focused on their titles, and a lot of that was focused on Walking Dead, which didn't interest me personally as I'm suffering from complete horror fatigue in my choices of entertainment. However, some of the other panels featured topics such as "Womanthology" which discussed not only women in the field of comics, but diversity in general, and "Pro Tips with Todd McFarlane" which offered insights into his creative process.

For me, the real highlight was not the TV stars or the signings, but the people and the tone of this show in comparison to others. Comic-Con San Diego is no longer a place for fans and industry professionals to gather and talk about what they love, it's an epic 50-ring circus where you have to shout to be heard and you risk being crushed in the wall of humanity trying to occupy a finite space. The Alternative Press Expo (APE) show in San Francisco is interesting, but it goes beyond traditional comic books and encompasses art projects, cartoon art, and what used to be called "underground" comics, still done as folded and stapled printouts. Which I respect, but it's not what I'm after.

I was surprised by the high level of participant quality at this show, considering its relatively small size. Image was there, of course, but so was Archaia, IDW, Top Cow, Comicraft and a number of excellent vendors. Artist's Alley was impressively skilled and the level of creativity in the new projects I saw was encouraging. Sure, the usual "show artist" was there, cranking out fan art sketches for the money, as well as the occasional "are they at the right show?" type of vendor, but the Image Comic Expo hit all the right notes for me, the right middle ground which is the current vibrant heart of the comic book industry.

It's about the people who are in this because they love it, not to be part of some mega-corporation who lost touch with what real people want ages ago. Archaia and Top Cow and Image get it. The people who run them understand that not everybody is the same, not everybody wants spandex... but some people do, and that's fine too. These companies at this show understand that talent can be found when you stop to listen and look at what's around you. They're not writing just to the 18-30 year old male demographic as discussed in the previous article. They write for everybody.

This show is inclusive. That makes all the difference in the world.

While there, I met up with old friends, made some new ones, and walked up to booths and said "Talk to me about your best titles." This is because the show is on a human scale, and you can actually talk to people instead of trying to shout at each other for 30 seconds before giving up and rushing off to another panel, signing or party. I never got the vibe of "buy something or get out of the way" as I have at other shows. As a result, I have never walked away with so many fantastic books as I did at this show.

Upcoming reviews will include (in no particular order): Lucid, A Tale of Sand, Elephantmen Volume 4, Invincible Ultimate Collection 1, Locke & Key, The Power Within, Witchblade Rebirth, Silver, Hello My Name Is Asshole, Vescell, Flying Sparks, The Last of the Greats, The Mark of Aeacus, Marineman, and The Pound.

I hope Image does this show every year, because I will be there. I can see it being perhaps twice as large, but no more than that or it'll lose the reason to go and become just another comic book convention. Well done, Image. As my father used to say, "And a good time was had by all."

Archaia flying boldly ahead, sans costumes

"We don't do superheroes, and we never will," said Archaia Editor-in-Chief Stephen Christy, which may sound like a dire statement to some, but not when you take a look at the projects Archaia has coming up this year and into 2012. This rapidly growing company is truly one to keep your eye on. At the panel Saturday morning, they outlined several major projects in the works, including the ancient Greek action film Immortals, starring Henry Cavill, coming out 11/11/11. UFN prefers to cover the present-day, however "alternate universe" that present may be, and other media outlets are all over Immortals, so we decided to focus on some of Archaia's other offerings.

Their partnership with the Henson company has gained them access to Jim Henson's vaults, including stories and screenplays that were created but never produced. One of these is the beloved television series, The Storyteller. Several episodes that never saw the light of day were discovered, and new ones are being crafted into a volume of graphic novels by different writers and artists in the same style.

A project I'm excited about is A Tale of Sand. It's a complete original screenplay that was created in the 1960s when Jim Henson was still an up-and-coming indy filmmaker, and Archaia is making it into a word-for-word graphic novel adaptation from the script. As the story goes, a man wakes up and finds that he's in the middle of a desert, but doesn't know how he got there, what happened to civilization, or how to get out to safety. It's his journey across the sand to try and find his life again. "I describe it to people as 127 Hours meets Alice in Wonderland if directed by Jim Henson," said Christy when asked what the story is about.

I'd seen the name Lucid being tossed around before, but didn't really know what it was, so I was excited to learn that this is one book I'll be buying for myself when it comes out this fall. It's on the "Archaia Black" label and is also a project of Before the Door, one of the partners of that company being Zachary Quinto. Lucid has manga-style artwork by Anna Wieszczyk and is written by Michael McMillian, who I had the pleasure of meeting at a signing on Saturday. What if Harry Potter grew up and went to work for the government as part of a secret cold war of magicians? That's the premise of Lucid, and it's one I greatly look forward to.

One more project particularly caught my eye, and that's Bleedout. I've been aware of peak oil for years, so to have a comic book devoted to different scenarios of how we'll be living when the oil runs out is very exciting. Since the earth is not gifted with a creamy nougat center of oil, or self-replenishing, we will be running out some day. This book, coming out in the fall, features a number of new writers and artists telling their post-oil stories. I have some scenarios of my own, so I can't wait to see what other people think about how this very real future will play out.

The Archaia folks are gracious, smart and true rising stars in the industry, with unique media partnerships and sharp attention to detail. The high quality of all their products is a clear sign of their commitment to a print publishing future. Specially-bound books, thick papers and high-quality printing are all designed for a tactile experience that you can't get on a Kindle or at the variety store spinner rack (yes, they still exist). Again, keep an eye on Archaia, they're headed for the stars.