BC Refugees Blog

I didn't make it to this event. But since I posted two separate articles on the nominees I wanted to follow through and list the winners here (thanks to Comic Book Resources) . . . . . The awards were presented during a special awards banquet on Saturday evening August 28th at the annual Baltimore Comic Con.

I arrived here roughly the same time as yesterday - - and just like then the line to get in was stretched outside and down a full block already. I passed on the opening 11 a.m. presentation choices, so this gave me an hour to mill about the show, checking out the special buys on trades, etc. and meeting an assortment of artists and writers. I knew that once I started attending the presentations that I would probably remain in the upstairs conference room following one session after another from 12 noon until almost show close. In preparation for that I ate a large breakfast, and subsided all day on a few dixie cups of water and a small pack of peanuts. One of the highlights of Day Two was meeting Sergio Aragones and hearing him relate his beginnings in the comics buisness. He is a very natural and easy going speaker with great recall, entertaining and amusing at the same time. I'm planning a longer write-up of his session for this site. My earlier plans were adjust...

Daredevil 502-507: In these compelling pre-Shadowland issues (just collected in the "Devil's Hand" TPB), Andy Diggle takes Bendis' and Brubaker's Matt Murdock to his logical next step in self-destruction. Unable to stop his old friends from being manipulated by Wilson Fisk, Matt throws himself completely into the task of making the Hand a force for Justice in Hell's Kitchen. He makes some very questionable choices, not the least of which is commissioning Shadowland to be built on the site that Bullseye blew up, but at this point he's still recognizably Matt. His Japan trip in #505-507 shows that Matt is being manipulated by the Hand's elders (which he knows) and betrayed from within his inner circle (which he doesn't.) Shadowland 1: This is my only real issue with Shadowland so far: At the end of DD #507, Matt has gone down a dark path, but he's still recognizably himself. Here, in the next issue following that, he's in a dark version o...

Whew! I'm beat. It's been a long and eventful day. I need to save some energy for Day Two tomorrow. If you've got the time to get here and you've been sitting on the fence trying to decide to come or not, make the decision to show up tomorrow. I don't think you'll regret it. I don't have the time, resources, or expenses to travel to several comics conventions every year - - so I'm glad that the Baltimore Comics Convention is so accessible and features so many guest artists and writers, exhibitors, and special informative presentations. I also don't have any other conventions to refer to or compare it to, but it rates highly in my opinion as as a very well organized and planned event. The attendance confirms that. Day One was jam packed with participants. When I arrived at the Baltimore Convention Center shortly before 10 a.m. the line waiting for the doors to open stretched out of the building and one block down a side street. Once I got inside the ...

Most of you have heard me talk about it; and more of you have read my writings about it and seen some pictures here during FCBD. But now, thanks to indie comics creator Ryan Claytor, you can take a tour of my favorite comic book shop - - - Captain Blue Hen Comics in Newark, Delaware. Check it out. http://www.captainbluehen.com/2010/08/26/theres-a-method-to-our-madness/ Maybe this will prompt you to visit and see what I'm excited about.

Now that Jeph Loeb's Red Hulk epic is concluded as of Hulk #24, it's time to go back and look at the stories that have come out since "Fall of the Hulks" Alpha and Gamma. I'm not going to name the Red Hulk's real identity here because the collection with that story hasn't come out yet, but beware: Marvel's not being coy about that identity anymore so if you read any solicitations or interviews with Hulk creators you're liable to get spoiled before you read the actual story. Hulk 19-24: Jeph Loeb's more sophisticated storytelling that I liked in #18 continues here, as the Intelligencia tries to capture the eight smartest people in the world and hook them up to a machine that long-time FF fans will recognize. This gives Ed McGuinness a chance to draw the FF, Black Panther, the X-Men and the Avengers, including their "Hulked out" versions at the end of #21. Since "Fall of the Hulks Gamma" Banner and the Red Hulk are working...

Thanks to the Baltimore Comics Con publicity machine I’ve got an advance look at the programs and presentations for the 2010 Baltimore Comics Con which begins this Saturday, August 28th.

Last month I  posted admiring the Michael Cho cover  to the 1940's  Adventures of Superboy  collection, and now that I've had a chance to read the actual book I found it to be kind of a revelation. I knew that Jerry Siegel had created the character, a matter of some legal dispute, but I didn't know that Joe Shuster had penciled so many of his early adventures. The first 100+ pages of this collection are all drawn by Shuster, and what a joy it is to see this vibrant work of his that I never knew existed. Unfortunately Siegel was in the military when these stories were written, so his contribution here is only the 8-page origin of Superboy that opens the book. (Which is pretty much word-for-word identical to Superman's origin story, by the way -- I wonder what that means to his legal claim?) Everyone's familiar with the Silver Age Superboy, who's a highschool-age teen living in Smallville with Ma & Pa Kent, working on the farm (later the general store),...

Philly.com (and I assume the Sunday Inquirer) had an article today about acclaimed Wildstorm writer John Arcudi, who lives in Philadelphia now. Rage against the superhero I knew he co-created "The Mask" and did a Hellboy run, but hadn't heard of his last graphic novel. Evidently it's getting great reviews for those who haven't seen/heard of it. Any reviews? Edited by Jeff to add: I can't get the pages to enlarge in my browser, but FYI I'm told that the graphic novel pages linked from the article are not safe for work or kids. Edited again to add: Bleeding Cool wrote about the "graphic" pages  here .

Time to discuss the Avengers titles, up to and including "Siege". As with "New Krypton", I think it would be boring to be evasive about the ending, and the hardcovers are out now. For those of you waiting for the trades, I'll continue after the jump so that nobody visiting the home page is accidentally spoiled.

I was eventually planning to write about "Thor: The Mighty Avenger", Marvel's delightful new all-ages reimagining of Thor, but NPR's Glen Weldon has beaten me to it  here . I like "classic" Thor more then Weldon, but he does a great job explaining the charm of the new series. Basically, if reading a completely different version of Thor won't make your head explode you should be buying this book. (Thanks to artist Chris Samnee's  web site  for the article link and the above cover to issue #6.) Edited to add: Preview art for #4 -- featuring Captain Britain, which makes me very happy -- is at CBR's Robot 6 blog  here .

                                                   ALONG THE WESTERN TRAIL, PART TWO THE SIXTH GUN  #1 – 2  (ONI Press, Inc)  Written by Cullen Bunn.  Illustrated & Lettered By Brian Hurtt  (both issues released July 2010) I’ve said this before in my May review of the Free Comic Book Day Edition of THE SIXTH GUN (same contents as Issue #1):  “This has the potential to be a rip-roaring supernatural western equal to the best of Lansdale and Truman’s classic Jonah Hex mini-series.”   If you’re a fan of those books or weird westerns in general you will appreciate THE SIXTH GUN.               Issue #2 doesn’t disappoint in any way....

                                          Science Fiction In Comics, Part One William F. Nolan’s LOGAN’S RUN LAST DAY #3  (Bluewater Comics)  Paul J. Salamoff writer;  Daniel Gete penciler; Joseph Baker colorist.           The saga of Logan continues to run and keeps impressing me with its fresh take on a familiar story.  I’m ready to forgive Bluewater Comics for the long wait between issues,  and hope that other readers are remaining patient.    There have only been three issues released in 2010 (the last, dated March 2010, didn’t hit comic stores until July) but it remains one of the better science fiction titles currently available in what might just be the tip of the renaissance iceberg for mor...

Portions of this article were taken from a Baltimore Comics Con press release. For more information on Harvey Kurtzman, the Harvey Awards, and the list of last year’s nominees and winners , go to www.harveyawards.org For more information about the Baltimore Comic-Con, go to www.baltimorecomiccon.com    Banquet ticket information is also available there.  Mark Waid has recently been added to the list as guest speaker.  Scott Kurtz is Master of Ceremonies. Continuing the list of nominees from Part One: BEST NEW TALENT Kevin Cannon, ‘FAR ARDEN”, Top Shelf Rob Guillory, “CHEW”, Image Comics Reinhard Kleist, “JOHNNY CASH: I SEE A DARKNESS”, Abrams ComicArts Nathan Schreiber, “ACT-I-VATE:  POWER OUT”, http://act-i-vate.com Matthew Weldon, “NEW BRIGHTON ARCHEOLOGICAL SOCIETY”,  Image Comics I’m only familiar with Rob Guillory here but I suspect he’d be getting my vote anyway.  CHEW is just one of the most original and creative titles I ...

Portions of this article were taken from an official Baltimore Comic-Con press release. The 2009 Harvey winners will be announced at a special awards presentation to take place at the Baltimore Comic Con on August 28th.   This is the fifth year that Baltimore Comic Con has hosted the awards banquet and ceremony.  Named in honor of the late Harvey Kurtzman, one of the industry’s most innovative talents, the Harvey Awards recognize outstanding work in comics and sequential art.             What makes them special and significant is that nominations for Harvey Awards are selected exclusively by creators - - those who write, draw, ink, letter, color, design, edit or are otherwise involved in a creative capacity in the comics field.  Also, only those professionally involved in a creative capacity within the comics field can vote.  This makes them the only industry award that is both nominated and selected ...