Posted by
Icarus on Tuesday, May 13, 2008 1:27:31 AM
It was a celebration of superheroes, supervillians, vampires, zombies, freaks, femme fatales and just enough soft core adult content to satisfy the biggest geek and make most parents wonder what their kids will become (most parents, that is, outside of Seattle).
The Emerald City Comic Con came and went. A lot of folks had a good time dressing as their favorite pop culture characters. And even more spent money like there was no economic crisis (and there isn't, unless you are a media hack working for B. Hussein Obama).
A shot of the crowd streaming into the Washington State Convention Center. Don't they all look like they're about to lose their homes or be kicked out of Mom & Pop's basement and forced to fend for themselves?
This pleasant looking gentleman is Richard Starkings, the writer of the
Elephantmen comics. I started reading this series while living in Orange County. What drew me to the title was a George W. Bush quote, printed on the inside cover of Elephantmen Issue #1,from the 2006 State of the Union Address, which closes with the line, "Human life is a gift from our creator, and that gift should never be discarded, devalued or put up for sale." This isn't to say that Mr. Starkings is a big Bush fan. I would safely bet that he is not; though I don't know for certain. I do know that he is a Buddhist and a vegetarian.
Mr. Starkings told me he wrote Elephantmen because the sci fi story he wanted to see wasn't being published anywhere. I pressed slightly on the themes and ethical issues the stories raise. His only response was, "Of course the ethical issues are going to come up." As I browsed the website linked above, I don't think the ethical issues I see are the ones Mr. Starkings has in mind, which only means that anyone, right, left or center, can read his books and come away with what they like. There are also issues in which Mr. Starkings quotes the Bible. I probably wouldn't agree with Mr. Starkings on much politically speaking, but he does write some fascinating comics.
On the hand there is Brian Hurtt (the smiling guy on the left). He is an Oni Press artist doing work for the book titled "
Damned". Oni Press descriibes this work as:
"a sinister web of murder, kidnapping, betrayal, and damnation, ... [a] ruthless [war among] demon gangs. This [is an] action-packed prohibition-era thriller..."
When Mr. Hurtt described it to me I thought, 'Oh, kind of like Hellboy meets Road to Perdition.'
What caught my eye in Damned - "Prodigal Sons", Issue #1 of 3, was a few panels that prominently display a Cross on story's hero. When I pointed out the images, Hurtt was quick to distance the book from any kind of Judeo-Christian morality in the sense of good versus evil. He backed away saying, "It's a war, so there's no real good guys or bad guys." Wow. Not exactly the brightest of comments. I hope that if he actually gave this a few moments thoughts he would see the idiocy in this sentiment. He seemed like a fairly bright guy, who would be quick to acknowledge the presence of good guys and bad guys in WWII. But, then again ... he does just draws pictures for a living.
One of the most fascinating moments came early on Saturday as I entered the Convention Center floor. ECCC had several "exclusive" offerings for sale at the ECCC booth. The crowds immediately flocked to it, stood some five to six people deep, holding cash over their heads trying to get limited prints or comics. There didn't seem to be any economic crisis among these guys flashing cash likes drunks in Las Vegas. Someone needs to tell these folks that the economy is about to implode. The Seattle P-I and the rest of MSM aren't doing their jobs.