Comicon San Diego - 2011

UPDATED! Second Marvel signing added!

Here's my schedule for San Diego. I'll be at the con the whole weekend.

THURSDAY, 21 JULY:

6:00 - 7:00: Marvel Comics, Booth #2329. Signing NAMOR, 1 MONTH 2 LIVE, and whatever else you've got.

SATURDAY, 23 JULY:

1:00 - 2:00: Dark Horse Comics, Booth #2615. Signing the brand-new one-shot CONAN: THE MASK OF ACHERON, based in part on the new film.

4:00 - 5:00: Marvel again, Booth #2329.

If you see me, ask me about TEACH, LIMBO, Botfriend, and FABLES FOR JAPAN. Don't ask me about JOHN CARTER or Spider-Man -- I can't tell you yet!

Conventions

Here's where I'll be sailing to, this year:

JULY 20-24: Comic-Con 2011 San Diego! The big one, the mob scene, the one that separates the literati from the Wookies. I got a nice hotel room this year, so there was no turning back.

AUGUST 11-14: Chicago Comic Con / Wizard World. I'm an official guest at this one, baby...haven't been to Rosemont for several years, and I'm really looking forward to it. From the looks of the guest list, I'll be the meat in the Bruce Campbell/Morena Baccarin sandwich (rrrowr!).

OCTOBER 13-16: New York Comic Con. The big new kid on the block, and the best con of all if you're looking for Brits still hungover and cigarette-deprived from their transAtlantic flights. Fun, except I have to commute home every night.

Details on appearances & times to come. Hope to see you all out there -- and bring the kids. You can trade them in for old issues of KOBRA!

Signing @ Jim Hanley's Tonight - 6-8 PM!

NAMOR #10 will be out. And if you think you know who that old guy on the cover is...



...well, just read the book. We're building up to the big climax in #11, and penciller Carlos Rodriguez has really hit his stride.

Here's the details on the signing:

Jim Hanley's Universe
4 West 33rd St.,
New York, New York
(opposite The Empire State Building)

Meet creators Stuart Moore (writer of this week's Namor #10), Reilly Brown (penciller of this week's Amazing Spider-Man #662) and Khary Randolph (penciler of the new series Charismagic) EXCLUSIVELY at Jim Hanley's Universe in New York City, Where Fans and Creators Meet!

And on NAMOR #10:

NAMOR: THE FIRST MUTANT #10
Written by STUART MOORE
Penciled by CARLOS RODRIGUEZ with SERGIO ARINO
Cover by PHIL NOTO
"The Fire Down Below" continues! After last issue's shocking death, Namor sets out for revenge against Commander Krang and his lackey, Selach. But as Selach prepares to destroy both New Atlantis and the X-Men's island Utopia, Namor must accept help from an unexpected ally. The wild card: a mysterious cloaked figure who knows an awful lot about Namor. But who is he?
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$2.99

The Winners

Update 1/31/11: The prizes have all gone out except for Cameron Rogers'. Send me your mailing address, Cameron, and I'll get it right out to you.



To recap: I offered to give away two copies of NAMOR: THE FIRST MUTANT #5 to the people who could tell me, in 50 words or less, why they like Marvel’s underwater mutant. It took me longer than I expected to pick the winners…because the entries were all great.

So I decided to dig deep and give away FOUR copies instead of two. Here are the winning entries:



Kieran Maddy Wisser had a great take on Namor: “I'll be Frank, I like Namor because I'm a big fat nerd from Hawaii who likes the character because he's my two favorite things in one -- he's from Atlantis, my favorite mythical city, and so much of his character involves science and mysticism, usually in a way that keeps you wondering how they thought of this guy! He's not a particularly unique character, but he still stands out from the crowd of other water/fluid based superheroes and villains. Thank you for reading this message, and good luck!”

Rob Gorman won over this Jersey boy by saying: “I like Namor because he is the king of his domain (kind of like I & a lot of others feel). Also, I like that I have heard various pronunciations of the word Mariner over the years (my favorite being from stan lee in the history of marvel comics documentary). Finally, the fact that he went after sue richards reminds me of the Situation from Jersey Shore. lol!”

(Mariner’s too hard to pronounce. That’s why we went with Mutant.)



Leila Mae Moghimzadeh proved what I’ve always known: Namor’s got a lot of female fans out there. “After seeing some fan-girl spam posts on Namor, I couldn’t stop. His punch-in-the-face egotism and blunt remarks are some of my favorites. I also enjoy his romantic interest in Sue Richards. Nothing intimate will ever happen except in a “What If…” circumstance, but that’s what I enjoy about it.”



And Cameron “Battlechop” Rogers had the most inspiring story of all: “Subby's been my fave for the better part of 35 years and oddly enough, he was probably one of the subconscious reasons I got into submarines when I joined the Navy! A mutant anti-hero with a bad attitude in an age of square-jawed do-gooders; what's not to like? Plus, there's something to be said for a dude in a Speedo who can duke it out with the Hulk and occasionally come out the winner!”

There sure is, Cameron. Thanks.

Honorable mentions to go: Alex Hopf, David Vey, Lawrence Woods, and Dale Walker, who gets extra points for mentioning the film “Goldie and the Boxer.”

All four winners will receive NAMOR #5, plus a little extra or two from my comp pile. Congrats!

And just so we all don’t forget: on sale tomorrow, January 26th…



NAMOR: THE FIRST MUTANT #6. Namor Goes to Hell, Part One!

NAMOR #5 - Free!

Update: The competition is closed. I'll reveal the winners by next Monday the 24th!



So NAMOR THE FIRST MUTANT is my ongoing monthly comic book from Marvel. It tells the continuing saga of Prince Namor of the underwater kingdom of Atlantis, one of Marvel’s oldest and most fascinating characters. Issues #1-4 introduced the Aqueos vampires in a story called ROYAL BLOOD, which tied in loosely with the X-Men’s CURSE OF THE MUTANTS storyline.

Issue #5 tells the story of three women in Namor’s life, all connected by an ancient Atlantean amulet. It spans a period from 1940 to the present day, and it features lovely artwork by Ariel Olivetti (modern sequences) and Brian Ching (1940s scenes), with a stunning cover by Mike Mayhew. It’s called FACES, a title that refers to the different faces of Namor himself: Destroyer, Lover, Egotist, and Hero.

I’m very proud of this issue. But it was released as it was over the holidays, and it got a little lost in the shuffle. So I’m giving away two copies of it to readers who haven’t yet jumped on the Namor bandwagon.



All you have to do is tell me, in 50 words or less, what you like about Marvel’s underwater mutant. It can be funny, sincere, tragic, or wildly inappropriate. I’ll pick my two favorite responses and mail you NAMOR #5, along with another extra or two from my comp collection.

You can post your entry here; send me a message on Facebook; or email it to stuartcomics@mindspring.com . Just do it by MONDAY, JANUARY 17th.

Simple, right?

If you get the book and like it -- or if you’re already reading it -- please spread the word. NAMOR is continuing -- I’m about to start work on issues #9-12 -- but the market is crowded right now, and sales could be better. Issue #6, by me and Ariel, begins the story arc NAMOR GOES TO HELL, which I guarantee isn’t what you expect. It comes out on January 26th. And the trade paperback of ROYAL BLOOD will be available in February.



As Namor would say: Imperius Rex!

My Very Own Rocky Mountain High

So here's a little story about the origins of a loser. It's a bit embarrassing, so I don't tell it too often. But it's topical today, so here you go.

The Associated Press just finally declared Democrat Michael Bennet the winner of a very close Senate race in Colorado. According to Talking Points Memo:

"Bennet had been written off by some after he struggled to win the party primary in August. He faced a strong challenge from Republican Ken Buck, who was backed by Tea Party members, and Bennet appeared destined to become one of this cycle's Democratic casualties. But in the end, helped by a series of gaffes committed by Buck, Bennet managed to pull it out."

I hadn't been following this race, but the name Ken Buck rang a bell with me. Took me a little while to remember why.

When I was an underclassman at Princeton University, the people running the main university dining halls decided, at some point, to crack down on people taking food out of the halls to eat later. Apparently there was an epidemic of students just dying to smuggle tough, gristly chicken wings out for delayed consumption. Or maybe it was those awesome "omelets" made out of melted tires. Who knows.

Nobody really took this edict too seriously -- except for one door-checker. One tireless defender of law and order. A big man with big principles named Ken Buck.

My friends and I thought the policy was ridiculous, and we'd seen this future Tea-Party lunatic stop people and make them return half a slice of pizza before exiting the hall. So we decided to Get Away With Something. We didn't care about the food -- as noted, it wasn't really worth stealing. We were just in a mood.

So I stood outside the dining area, by a disused turnstile, while a friend of mine handed off a small paper bag of...donuts? hot dogs? Who knows...to me from inside. And as I headed toward the door, I heard a commanding, stentorian voice ring out:

"YOU! STOP!"

So I ran. And what did Ken Buck -- the man who, decades later, would refer to an alleged rape as "buyers' remorse" -- do? He did what any sane, rational right-wing nutjob would do. He left his post and took off in pursuit. He chased me down Nassau Street and around the corner into Holder Courtyard, where he tackled me to the ground. Then he held up my illegally acquired bag of inedible gruel and shouted triumphantly, "WHAT'S THIS?"

Now, this is the embarrassing part. Old Ken was quite a bit stronger than I was, and he managed to drag me all the way back to the dining hall in an iron grip. The university officials were kind of douchebags about the whole thing, too. I guess they felt they had to back up their man. I was friends with Ken's boss in the dining hall, however, and one of his fellow football team members. Both of whom later went to him and basically said, "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

Whatever it was, I guess it's still wrong. And I haven't heard the name Ken Buck since that day; I had to check Wikipedia to see if he was the same jizzbucket I remembered. Lo and behold, he was.

I don't know where you are or what you're up to now, Ken old buddy. Well, I guess I do know where you are: Colorado, not Washington. But as you pursue your tireless quest to improve the moral fiber of America, if you should happen to stumble across my humble little blog posting...well, please just take this final sentiment in the spirit it's offered:

I hope today hurts like a bitch.

New York Comic Con - October 8-10

I'll be there the whole time! Here's where:



FRIDAY - SUNDAY: Artist Alley table #M-7. Signing everything and selling copies of SHADRACH STONE.

Friday 6:00 - 7:00 PM: IDW, booth #2115. Signing copies of STAR TREK CAPTAIN'S LOG: PIKE, along with illustrator extraordinaire J.K. Woodward.

Sunday 2:00 - 3:00 PM, Marvel, booth #1843. Signing SPIDER-MAN: BACK IN QUACK (out this week!), NAMOR (second printing cover below - also just out), ONE MONTH TO LIVE, and hell, anything really. CAP'N QUICK & A FOOZLE, probably, if you put it in front of me.



And if you can't make it -- or even if you can -- check out this free webcomic by me and the incredible Rick Geary, just up on Act-I-Vate. I've loved Rick's work for years...working with him was (wait for it) legen



dary.