Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Angel Falling, Bayou BOund, Big City Comics, Blackbird, CAE Studios, comic conventions, Comics, convention, cullen bunn, entertainment, Fierce Comics, Florida comic publishers, Hardcore Luchadore, Jeff Kaufmann, Martin Dunn, Marvel Comics, Morning Star, Resistance Entertainment, steve gerber, Tampa Bay Comic Con, The Agency, whore

Tampa Bay Comic Con Shows Signs Of Growth With Lots Of Friendly Folks – Plus Photogallery

By Christopher Helton

This past Sunday I spent a day at the Tampa Bay Comic Con with my brother and a friend. The convention has been going for a couple of years, but this was my first time attending it. The attendance has been growing for the show, according to all reports. The exact numbers are not yet available, but according to my contact in the organizers, the attendance for the weekend broke previous Tampa Bay Comic Con attendance as well as records for the Tampa Convention Center. Definitely signs of a healthy convention here in the Tampa Bay area.

Sundays are typically the slow day for conventions, but there were still plenty of people milling about and shopping, and a number of cosplayers. I still have no idea who a lot of these cosplayers were playing, but there were some great costumes out there.

The two highlights of the convention for me were meeting Jim Steranko (unfortunately he was not allowing photographs so I have no proof outside of his signature on a very NSFW print that I purchased from him) and Nick Cuti. Cuti, for those who may not remember, is probably best known as the co-creator with Joe Stanton of the comedic super-hero E-Man. Meeting two legends like this is the reason that I love going to comic conventions.

I also had my first face to face meeting with Marvel Comics writer Cullen Bunn. Bunn and I have chatted on Twitter, and I interviewed him once for my blog. We chatted about gaming and comics, and he told me his Rich Johnston story.

The rest of the convention was spent wandering and talking with people. I met a number of local comic creators and publishers and spoke with some of them at length. One of the things that surprised me, even though it probably shouldn't have, is the fact that the creator-owned/indie comic scene in Florida is so vibrant.

The Tampa-based Hardcore Luchadore crew has produced a Saturday morning cartoon meets Luchadore wrestling comic that is exciting and energetic. And it manages to hit both of those descriptors in a funny and original manner. This is a comic that I want to dig into, and the enthusiasm of the creators is contagious. If you're a fan of professional wrestling, or just fun comics, check them out. Unfortunately I lost their card and can't remember the names of the guys.

Fierce Comics, out of my own Saint Petersberg, had some fun comics on display. As a gamer, their Midwalker comic looked like it would be something that I would be interested in reading more about. It is a modern fantasy/horror comic, and I just eat up stuff like that. I spoke for a little while with publisher Ben Filipiak about his company's comics, and he and I are going to talk more in the future.

Martin Quinn of the central Florida CAE Studios spoke for probably the longest. Being that it was Sunday, his stock of comics was running low, so I am going to look at their comics more in depth at a later time. Much like with the Midwalker comic from Fierce, their Joshua Black comic looked interesting. I am a sucker for supernatural thrillers, and I look forward to reading this book in depth.

And speaking of supernatural thrillers, Blackbird and Morning Star from Resistance Entertainment both look really good. I wish that I had more time, with all of my prep for Gen Con next week, to be able to dig more deeply into my stack of comics from the show. Their crime comic Conviction also looks really interesting.

A favorite of Bleeding Cool, I got a couple of comics from Jeff Kaufmann of Big City Comics. Kaufmann and I spoke about a love of comics, industry trends and how his son's autism influenced the story for his Angel Falling comic. The preview of his Bayou Bound also fits into my comic safe zone of supernatural adventure comics. It is sort of a Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Eureka, except that instead of being full of mad scientists, it is about a small town with supernatural troubles. The book itself comes out in the Fall and will be Kaufmann's return to monthly serial comics. If the ongoing is as fun as the preview, this is going to be a great book.

Another Bleeding Cool favorite at the show was Think Alike Productions out of Miami, and their comic The Agency. Just in case you haven't read the review, The Agency is a supernatural thriller (yes, I know…) about a world where magic is real and the titular agency is in charge of regulating and enforcing magical use. A really good, exciting read. After finishing it, I was sad that they only had one issue at the show. The writing reminded me a lot of Steve Gerber, particularly his last work, the reboot of Doctor Fate in the Countdown To Mystery miniseries from a few years ago.

This was really only the tip of the iceberg, too. I met a lot of cool creators who are doing interesting comics outside of the traditional comic machine. I am looking forward to reading more of these books and writing about them as well. Florida has a thriving comic scene, and I am excited to be diving into it.

And here's a photogallery from the show:

Christopher Helton is a blogger, podcaster and tabletop RPG publisher who talks about games and other forms of geekery at the long-running Dorkland! blog. He is also the co-publisher at the ENnie Award winning Battlefield Press, Inc.  You can find him on Twitter at @dorkland and on G+ at https://plus.google.com/+ChristopherHelton/ where he will talk your ear off about gaming and comics.

Christopher has a crowdfunding page to help raise money to defray the costs for going to the Gen Con gaming convention and cover it for his Dorkland! blog and Bleeding Cool. Please click here to go to the page and help out.

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