Author: JD Stockman

Who is JD Stockman?

[I am continuing the series started yesterday which will introduce you to the contributors on WonderWorldComics.com. You will note that so far, I am building a team with different strengths and interests.]

Greetings! I am JD Stockman: I am a student of life, an artist (professionally in tattoos), a writer, and a commentator. I’ve worked with Yahoo! for a few years; writing human interest, equal rights, science, philosophy, and education pieces mostly. If I were to identify my geekdom, I’d have to say I am a fan of other people’s fandom, mostly. I’ve long been an admirer of cosplay and the independent comic gone pro.

JD Stockman

JD Stockman

I also take a great deal of interest in the human quality of fiction, as well as whether or not the writers have struck it well. I enjoy a story that gives me enough fantasy to get lost in and enough reality to suspend my disbelief. Big sellers for me showcase the highs and lows of humanity.

One of my biggest pet peeves that seems to occur with greater frequency is the urge to retrofit the continuity of entire comic companies; and not always for good reason.

I am an avid reader, not collector. I don’t much care for slews of loose comic issues laying around; and that will become evident when you see my “must read” list below.

I love how comics are invading the rest of the media, but lets face it: DC is where you go for cartoons, Marvel is where you go for movies. Video game finally really caught on in the last few years; and for the record- I will kick all your asses with Auqaman on “Injustice”.

Finally, protests of “movies not being true to the comic” are met with scoffs that you should quit whining. Never in the history of movies has a book – comic or otherwise – translated exactly. That said, the industry does owe an apology for X-Men, Spider-Man, and Blade 3; Ghostrider, Bat-nipples, Daredevil,or Catwoman.

Likes:

Most comic movies, all of DC Animation properties, Wolverine, Batman, Spider Jerusalem, modern mythology, (eventual) aging of a universe, updating characters for modern times (not to be mistaken for retro-continuity), story legacy, Christoper Nolan, Venture Bros.

Hates:

Superman, commercially beating dead horses, endless or back-to-back company-wide story arcs, retro-continuity, “forever 21” characters, transparent plot devices, Rob Liefeld, Catwoman (movie), X-Men 3, Wolverine: Origins (comic or movie), Marvel Anime, tripping at the finish line of awesome story arcs.

JD’s Priority Reads:

Transmetropolitan

Superman for all Seasons (and I hate Superman, so take this seriously)

Astro City: Life in the Big City

Daredevil: Guardian Devil

Kabuki

V is for Vendetta

Watchmen

World War Hulk

Identity Crisis

Johnny the Homicidal Maniac

The Girls are Taking Over Comic Cons – A Guest’s Perspective

While attending the Dallas Comic Con, I happened to notice the abundances of female visitors. It’s one thing to hear that women are just as into comics as men, but another to actually see it. Moreover, where the guys will talk shop about their favorites; the girls are more prone to dress up.

;lkj;

The stereotype of the unwashed comic con fanboy is also coming to a close. The guys are starting to realize that girls are there, and they don’t want to be caught blowing one off for a ‘fake geek girl’.

And who started that insane slight on the girl nerd? I need not point any fingers. We all know where it started. That’s unimportant. The part that should be paid attention to is a that a mob of high school girls are showing up at the convention dresses up, and not just to get attention. I’m not sure how sexy a red-head dressed like she’s homeless with a mock busted lip and a sign “The end is nigh” alongside a female, cigar chomping, armored up Comedian is.

Here is the reality of it: like games, girls are not afraid to love comics; I suppose much in the same way Bronies exist.

100_0218This is not what we are seeing in the comic book world though. In DC Comic’s new line-up, we find noble she-warrior turn into a nymphomaniac with the memory of a gnat (Starfire), transitions from sex-symbol-to-woman-breaking-the-mold with empowerment get demoted to a second (or third) stringer girlfriend (Power Girl), and the culling of the female creative staff at DC from 12% to 1%. It’s time for comics to reflect the audience better.

But maybe Amanada Conner (former artist for Power Girl) had pointed out at the Dallas Comic Con: “I think in 10 years, you’re going to see way, WAY more female comic creators”

My mind goes back to the group of 16 year-old girls dressed like prominent DC characters, whom collectively named “Nightwing’s ass” as one of their favorite characters and “just died!” when they saw Neil Patrick Harris voicing Nightwing in “Under the Red Hood”. These are the girls that will make their way into the industry in the next decade.

Are we ready for this? I sure am. I’m mildly humored at the notion of the sexism boot being tried on a different foot. I am hopeful that once the girls try it on, we can all meet in the middle for a deeper level of mindless entertainment, fantastic adventure, new twists on old noir storytelling, and most of all: diversity.

100_0217Welcome to the club, ladies!100_0179

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Dallas Comic Con 2013: A Guest’s Review

This isn’t the comic book world I thought it would be when entering Dallas Comic Con. I’ve known it was changing, but I hadn’t realized just how far behind the comic world was to the real world. The male dominated industry should pay closer attention to the conventions. There were almost equal parts of men and women at the Dallas Comic Con, and the women are coming alone more than not, as well as coming younger.

Dallas Comic-Con 2013

Dallas Comic Con 2013

Big Sellers at Dallas Comic Con

Big sellers in the comic department are Walking Dead, New 52 titles, Blackest Night, Spidey, and any number of the Gotham titles (mostly Nightwing and Batman). The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles seem to be on the upswing still despite the controversy surrounding Micheal Bay vs. the fans. Classic title sales went to any of the older Marvels and Batman selections.

What Was the Top Attention-Getter at Dallas Comic Con?

The overall Dallas Comic Con winner for popularity in costume, fan paraphernalia, people’s choice, and vendor sales would have to be Deadpool.

 

Top WTF? Product at Dallas Comic-Con

The popular “WTF?” product was PopHeroes. These weird little figures are clearly the next “MiniMates”. MVP dolls were the Dallas Comic-Con exclusive Reverse Flash, the Black Flash, and Deadpool color swap version.

deuce

Biggest Letdown of Dallas Comic Con

Nathan Fillion had canceled at the last minute due to health issues. He made the announcement on his twitter, apologizing to his fans.

Biggest Crowd-Pleaser at Dallas Comic Con

Kevin Conroy was more than happy to pick up the slack of the missing writer/space pilot/pompous musical superhero. Batman saves the day once more.

The Ratings for Dallas Comic Con

The Location (4.5): I give the Irving Convention Center credit for being fresh, artistically appealing, and very accommodating for fantastical photos. The points deducted are for lack of sensible mobility upward. You can’t comfortably traverse floors without congestion unless you use the massive outside stairs… in Texas.

Dallas Comic-Con 2013

Dallas Comic-Con 2013

Access (2.5): The “merry-go-round” the ticket booth was a bad move. You stand outside and wait to get your wrist band, then go back out side and wait after you get your wrist band. Access to the main room on the first floor was also the same 10 feet of area that you needed to go on or come off the escalator. Five points of access to the main hall and they chose the access next to the escalator to be the only entrance.

Merchandise (4): With the number of people coming into this convention, I didn’t see much in the way of freebies for convention goers. BigFanBoy had a freebie room set up; but all they had was a few old movie posters, one or two new movie posters, and 3 different Tyler Perry movie posters. Do not bring Tyler Perry movie posters to a comic book convention. There was a Dallas Comic Con exclusive booth, but nothing free.

On the flip side, there was plenty to be sold and within reasonable prices. Nearly every comic was half off. T-shirts were $20 or less. Nearly every vender was motivated to empty out their backstock. VIP members had access to a small cache of loot for visit.

Dallas Comic-Con 2013

Dallas Comic Con 2013

Side Shows (3.5): There was a “Sunday Funny Paper” exhibit at Dallas Comic Con – neat historically, but falls flat with the modern crowd. Robotech Theater was also kind of cool but would have been a much bigger hit with all of the direct to video DC Animated movies.

The “Face-Off” workshop and booth at Dallas Comic Con with Heather Henry was an excellent idea with the constantly growing cosplay crowd. Comic book related or not, Darth Vader and Boba Fett from the 501st Troopers charity group went over well. Bigfanboy was bogus considering the extensive number of comic movies on the big and small screen alike recent and in the future yet nothing to feature. Again, whose bright idea was it to drag Tyler Perry posters into a comic book/sci-fi convention?

Fan Service (4): Shatner, Spiner, McFadden, and Burton were a nice turn-out for sci-fi lovers. John Romita Jr. owned the new generation of comic fans while nodding to the “old school” with reverence and legacy, while Jim Steranko commanded the respect of lovers of the “old school” of both heroes and horror in comics. The crowd demanded it, so Conroy managed to pick up 2 panels to address fans. Despite not being much of a Power Rangers fan, Jason David Frank was entertaining even for me. Adam Baldwin was a late add, and managed to prevent a full-scale riot for Firefly fans. The number of orange toboggans were insane.

Dallas Comic-Con 2013 Cosplay

Dallas Comic Con 2013 Cosplay

In the comic book alley at in the back of the Dallas Comic Con exhibition hall, Phil Noto stayed hard at work drawing fan requests, and could easily be named the hardest working fan server in the convention, second only to Romita jr. Amanda Conner couldn’t find much time for herself, even with her man – Jimmy Palmiotti – running assist along side her. The most approachable was John Lucas, making no bones about talking straight and frank to anyone opening their mouth his way. I even bought some Conan panels from him.

Also making a show, the infamous Delorean from “Back to the Future”, the Jeep from “Jurassic Park”, and the Dallas Ghostbuster’s Ecto PT Cruiser.

The down side it the lost their big hitter when Fillion bailed.

Bio Needs (3.5): This is an unspoken but highly important quality of a convention: bathrooms and food/drink. The bathrooms at Dallas Comic Con were regularly serviced, but occasionally I would find a facet that didn’t work. The concession stands had basic “ball game” food for slightly less than “ball game” prices, so I mark that as a slight plus. It was a rocky start on day one, but they picked it up and ran smoother on day two/three. Some food trucks showed up after opening, offering gourmet hot dogs and even a cupcakes. Great food, but also much more expensive.

Dallas Comic-Con 2013

Dallas Comic Con 2013

Final score: 4 (out of 5)

Dallas Comic Con isn’t the type of Con you travel out of state for without having an agenda. For us Texans, it is worth the time and travel. There are ways they can improve, such as the control of traffic and the method of dealing with tickets. There seems to be a need for more … not any particular “more”, but it seemed like the space wasn’t fully maximizes in some very slight ways. I was able to find unused rooms spread out here and there. Perhaps not banking the show on someone that has a history of bailing on events. Also, try booking in people that are more connected to the industry and happy to be there … not Andrew McCarthy.