Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, entertainment, james o'barr, NYCC, Simon & Shuster, the crow

NYCC: Chasing the Crow: A Guide to NYCC 2014

Published Fri, 10 Oct 2014 08:30:19 -0500

Kaelyn Kelly-Colon writes for Bleeding Cool:

I'm somewhat new to The Crow franchise, but when I fall in love with media, I fall hard and fast. Truth be told, I was always very self-conscious about my interest in a variety of things growing up – The Crow included. After I heard about the panel with creator James O'Barr, I went on a mission: I would find all The Crow related content available at the convention this weekend and finally indulge my curiosity.

I found what I was looking for easily – James O'Barr, tabling at #, has an impressive assortment of art prints from the franchise, and Simon and Schuster Inc. at booth #1828 is selling the original collection for 20% retail sale value. O'Barr stopped by to sign some of the special edition trade paperbacks at 5pm this afternoon, and will also be available to sign action figures, comics, and prints tomorrow. Still, I was surprised, after never having known anyone who was even remotely into The Crow, to see so many great cosplayers mulling around the panel earlier this evening. I never knew it enjoyed this level of popularity, and I was kind of giddy to stumble upon such a thriving community. What is it that keeps this franchise enduring? What keeps it feeling new, twenty years later?

"The themes are timeless," O'Barr mentioned in his evening panel, moving on to name love, loss and redemption as the main concepts in the franchise. And maybe that's why, despite years passing between the first publications and now, it continues to convert new fans like myself. There is something that remains horrifyingly relevant about The Crow and it's exploration of power dynamics, and how this story template gives power back from victimizers to their victims. The Crow always achieves justice in a narrative that, despite supernatural elements, feels very close to the reality of living life in an unjust Western society.

I'm very glad I found The Crow as an outlet just a few weeks before the convention – I mean, maybe I'm still in my honeymoon stage, but that special edition down at Simon and Schuster's has got my name all over it. Now is certainly a good time to become a fan if you are not already – this convention offers a rich primer on all things Crow to satiate the hungry and self-conscious beginner.

Kaelyn Kelly-Colon is a writer of comics, prose, poetry and SEO content. Follow her at @spk1k on twitter.

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