LAST WEEK’S COMICS TODAY With Christy Blanch

Hellboy, Black Hammer, Trinity — and the importance of conventions.

christy-blanch

Sean Von Gorman

Christy Blanch has been a friend of 13th Dimension since our early days and she’s popped in from time to time. But now, Christy is back as a regular columnist. She’s a comic book writer, owns Aw Yeah Comics in Muncie, Indiana, is a comic-book scholar who sits on the board of the Comic Scholar Society (CSS), a panel moderator at comics conventions and an educator. She lives with her kids and her dog, Luna aka Shopdog. Welcome back, Christy! — Dan

By CHRISTY BLANCH

Hi, comics peeps and welcome back to Last Week’s Comics Today! And what a week of comics it has been! While I’m still catching up on some reading, there were some real standouts this week!

First, from Dark Horse came Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: 1954 — Black Sun #1. This has a great The Thing feel to it, which is good because I LOVE that movie. And I did not see the twist coming! Even if you haven’t read any Hellboy before, you can pick this comic up and start here! With all the great comics out there in today’s market, having a #1 that anyone can pick up is so important. Mike Mignola, Chris Roberson, Stephen Green and Dave Stewart seem to understand this.

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Also from Dark Horse, make sure you check out Black Hammer #3 by Jeff Lemire, Dean Ormston and Dave Stewart. This series, besides being an homage to the Golden and Silver Ages of comics, is all about trying to be a part of something and not fitting in, which is how I feel most of the time. I feel for each of the main characters in one way or another. And while I still try to move things using the force (it hasn’t worked yet but I am still holding out hope), I think I will add saying Zafram to my repertoire just in case it works.

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Then there is Trinity from Francis Manapul and DC Comics. I love, love, love this book. Seeing these characters becoming friends and being hopeful is exactly what I wanted. It’s beautifully written and beautifully drawn. There is nothing that I did not love about this book. Well, except that I have to wait for #2. The whole Rebirth line has been outstanding and this book takes it to a whole new level. Get this book.

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Lightning Round: Seven to Eternity #1(Image). Amazing Spider-Man #18 (Marvel). The Doctor Strange Omnibus Vol. 1 (Marvel). Oh, Doctor Strange — how I love thee!

Now let’s talk a little about comics conventions. I have been to three comic conventions in the last month and I am attending several more before the year ends. And what’s crazy is that I don’t even attend as many shows as a lot of comics professionals do. I attend in various capacities — as a creator, a retailer, a moderator, a panelist and sometimes a fan, which can all be exhausting but I wouldn’t trade the experiences that I have had for anything.

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The field of comics is a unique one and conventions are a big part of that. It’s like living in a big small town. You can meet your favorite creators, discover upcoming talent, obtain unique trinkets, cosplay as your favorite character, attend amazing panels and so much more. Conventions are different experiences for everyone. When the whole debate about digital comics killing the print market was raging, I was confident that it was not going to happen for many reasons and conventions is one of the big reasons — it’s hard to get a digital comic signed (but not impossible – I have signed an iPad before).

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If you haven’t attended a comics convention, you should do so. I am not 100 percent positive, but I am pretty sure that if you wanted to, you could attend a convention every weekend of the year and many weekends there are multiple conventions to choose from. When you do attend, make sure to support the creators because they are there for you!

Annie Nocenti, Scott Snyder, Forrest Helvie, Christy Blanch and Shawn Martinbrough at New York Comic Fest in 2014!

Annie Nocenti, Scott Snyder, Forrest Helvie, Christy Blanch and Shawn Martinbrough at New York Comic Fest in 2014!

If you are at Cincinnati Comic Expo this weekend or NYCC in a few weeks, make sure to say Hi and let me know what topics you would like to see covered here! Keep up with more adventures in comics by following me on Twitter at @christyblanch (and @13th_Dimension) and if you are so inclined, tell us about your best comic convention experience!

Until next week, keep reading comics!

Toodle-Pip!

Author: Dan Greenfield

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