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Image Comics Expo Day Two by Peter Svensson

Published Sun, 26 Feb 2012 12:00:49 -0600

Last updated Mon, 27 Feb 2012 13:29:46 -0600

Despite our best efforts to stop him, Peter S. Svensson continues to write for Bleeding Cool from the Image Comics Expo.

Day Two of the Image Comics Expo had the secret origin of Image Comics revealed! Massive lines for the Image Founders, Ed Brubaker and the Walking Dead cast members! And panels filled to capacity!

This continues to be a wonderful, intimate convention. The sort where you can spend almost an hour talking Final Fantasy with Saga artist Fiona Staples (her favorite is FF12 BTW), or catch legendary letterer Tom Orzechowski, Fables inker Steve Leialoha and Wildstar inker Al Gordon geeking out over Kirby pages. Given that this convention only arose to fill the gap WonderCon's temporary relocation to Anaheim made for the SF Bay Area, (well that and the whole Image 20th anniversary thing), it's unlikely that we'll see this precise convention again. Nevertheless, those who have felt that SDCC has become unmanageable would find ICE to be a breath of fresh air. It's a pure comics convention. Kudos Image.

The various Walking Dead events were swiftly and quickly filled, leaving some fans new to the convention experience frustrated by their inability to get in. Still, the lines were tiny in comparison to what they would have been at a larger convention, and percentage-wise most of the fans were able to get in.

Oddly enough, while there were a handful of cosplayers, only one of which was for an Image character. And that wonderfully done classic Atom Eve was working for Image. You had a Crossbones from Marvel, a Casey Jones (though I suppose you could include the time when the TMNT were published by Image to make him qualify) and an Aang. I had expected to see at least one Spawn, and thus was disappointed. Though there's one day left, perhaps I will be surprised.

The booths were a mix of larger publishers such as IDW and Aspen, Image creators such as Jay Faerber who was showing off his work on Near Death, and small independent creators with titles as varied as Comic Book Junkies, a oneshot about the shady practices retailers would engage in the 90s to the quirky psuedo-sitcom Space-Time Condominium which is set to arrive in comic shops soon. You had your handful of artists selling prints and doing sketches, none of whom seemed to have been dismayed by Gary Friedrich's legal issues and were churning out Marvel characters as if nothing had changed, which arguably is true.

News from the floor:

Munchkin, the popular geek card game produced by Steve Jackson Games, will be making an expansion for
Skullkickers, based on the hilarious Image comic by Jim ("Makeshift Miracle") Zub and artist Edwin Huang. This will be following on the footsteps of Axe Cop and The Guild themed supplements for the fantasy-adventure themed card game.

Writer Shane Houghton of Image-published Reed Gunther had to leave the convention due to having been double booked with an appearance at the Peanuts Museum. He writes a comic about a cowboy who rides a bear. They run into monsters. It is that rare example of an all-ages book that is truly enjoyable by all ages.

The Kirby Museum has a booth fundraising for a storefront museum in the East Side of New York, close to where Kirby grew up. They are raising an initial $30,000 to get the museum in place late this fall.

Eisner-nominated writer Derek McCulloch showed off pages from his upcoming Vertigo GN with Colleen Doran and Jose Villarubia, Gone to Amerikay. The book is gorgeous, dealing with the history of Irish immigrants to New York in the turn of the century. This is one of those titles that has slipped under the radar and will take people by surprise when it comes out.

Nick Spenser hopes to finally get his infinitely delayed Image title, Infinite Vacation finished. He made sure that issue 4 was completed before heading out to the convention knowing that otherwise he would be eaten alive by the fans.

The Chew Variant covers are almost gone. At the end of the day there were only 35 left. We will soon see how many people were willing to pay more for the ability to resell it on eBay!

Day Two panel coverage is forthcoming. Stay tuned loyal bleeders!

Peter S. Svensson writes for Bleeding Cool. He also manages SpaceCat Comics in San Jose. Somehow he manages to find time to sleep in there as well.

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