HeroesCon Photos

 Here are my photos From Heroes Convention 2018. It is held in Charlotte, NC every year. One of the best in the country. If you want to be able to spend time talking with creators this is the Con to do so. Plenty of artist. Plenty of comics. Plenty of fun.

BDS

Heroes Convention Should Invite Professional Cosplayers

 This is basically my opinion. It comes from over a decade of attending Heroes Convention. I have watched Cosplay become more than just the dressing up of fans. Now there is a Contest. That is a good thing. Every now and then there is a panel. Sadly, the panels I have attended were not really accessible for the novice Cosplayer. The ones I have attended really made me even more self conscious about participating. 

I left Heroes last year after meeting a very nice lady named Ashley Du. I met her because of getting Pepsi Fires for Amy Chu. She told me the Photo Cover model for the Red Sonja Dynamite Comic was at the Convention. I met Ashley and she is the nicest person you will ever met. I started following her on Twitter and then interacted with other Dynamite Models. If you think

this is a small thing, let me just list the models Dynamite has used on the covers of various comics.

Twitter/Instagram Listings

Ashley Du - @Undeaddu
Tatiana Dekhtyar - @Tatiana_Dekhtyar
Kat Sheridan - @Katkombat
Jennifer Rose - @Jinglebooboo
Deanna Davis - @Itsrainingneon
Krystle Starr - @Thekrystlestarr
Amanda Kitson - @Thekitcandela
Cervena Fox - @Cervenafox
Casabella - @Casabellacosplay
Ireland Reid - @Irelandreid
Dangrr Doll - @Dangrrdoll
Joanie Brosas - @Joaniebrosas
Claire Ana - @Claireana
Anna Quinn - @Anna_Quinn_UK
Villainlily - @Villainlily
Violet Love - @Violetlovecosplay


 All the above women have been on the cover of a comic. Vampirella, Red Sonja, & Sheena are all represented in the Dynamite 2017 Convention Cosplay Cover Special. Ashley Du has been the exclusive Sheena Cover model. I would put out social media request for Ashley & Joanie Brosas. It would be awesome to see them at HeroesCon. I was able to talk with the man over Heroes at my LCS convention and felt really dismissed. It was an explanation that Cosplers just show up and we do not invite them. I was really just bummed after this interaction.

What really gets me is that the Cosplayers that are Charlotte locals and have the "official access" as the contest coordinators just have this clique feeling to me. I have never felt comfortable talking with them. There is also this head-scratcher of the people that seem to get invited and they don't seem really comic related. Maybe they buy a table, not sure. I have been to panels where these people have weird advertisements for there book about comics. I just do not get why Models that poor there own money and talent into creating costumes, then get recognized by a company to be the face of that book are not considered worthy of an invite.

Maybe Dynamite could show up and have the ladies as there guest and draw people to the booth. I would love to see Dynamite invited. They are doing some awesome work. They have some of the best Writers & Artist working on their titles. Sadly, Dynamite and other companies were not at Heroes and were at a Con in Denver, Colorado instead.

It cannot be space. There is plenty of unused space right now in the Convention Hall. The use of the entire facility floor makes this a non-issue. I feel like Heroes is missing an opportunity here to broaden the comics experience. 
Other Cons are inviting these Ladies. How they are treated will also be seen by other parts of the industry. It just seems like people that are part of the art of a comicbook cover would qualify as worthy of being invited to a Convention.

BDS  

The ladies I have used cover images for are Ashley Du & Joanie Brosas.

The Unexpected Sketch

#HeroesCon2018

Getting sketches has become part of my Heroes Convention budget. I started some years back with a black sketch book that has a variety of characters & images. Most are from HeroesCon, but there are a few others. I had a Batwoman Sketch cover done and a really cool Jessica Cruz in the book. I really thought that was it for this year, budget was met.

I had seen the late addition of Adam Warren. One of my guilty pleasure comics is his Empowered series. I love that a creepy commission request turned into a very cool super hero book that shines light of insecurities and how you can overcome bullies and haters. I had kept my eyes scanning to see his table. Well, because he was a late invite he was stationed at the Hero Initiative table. He had a great deal. For $20 you got the 9th Empowered book, his signature, & a sketch.

It turned out I was not done with sketches after all. I got to talk with him a bit, which is one thing HeroesCon is awesome about. I was able to let him know my favorite character interactions and how they just made me laugh. I guess most people got an Emp Sketch. Me, I had to have my girl Ninjette. She is the booty shorts New Jersey Ninja Clan Princess. I love her character and how she is a great example of a true friend.

This made for a great moment for me this year.

BDS

Every Year after HeroesCon I think I will Blog more......

 It is that time of year again. I went to #HeroesCon2018 and took my pics. I didn't do the usual Photo dump each evening like normal. Why? Tiredness and wanting to change the dynamic a bit I guess. You see I really do want to get back to Blogging on a regular basis. I have let depression & my roller coaster health distract me enough. There has been a great deal of change this year in my life. So positive and some in an odd category.

About two weeks before Heroes Convention I was in the hospital with diverticulitis. I know I probably misspelled it, but just not gonna do the work yet to change it. I am still learning how my chromebook works in some ways and using things that the PC had easily is something I am working on. I really was worried about how I would be during the convention. This is my vacation. I don't go off to beaches or mountain resorts. I love comics and all that surrounds them. To me this is fun and enjoyable. So my health was threatening my fun.

I had wanted to do an ambitious cosplay. I just didn't have the time. I went with a plan B. Halloween the theme for the church event was Pirate. I did a very simple Pirate Batman. I took the week before the Con and rallied to beef up my Cosplay. I still am very "low rent" compared to the majority of cosplayers, but to me I had the best one I have ever done. My sword threw people, but most got the character. The story was that I ransacked a ship during a stint in the waters around Asia.

Somewhere there may be a pic of me where someone makes fun, all cosplayers have been subjected to this, but it does not diminish the fun you can have doing this activity. I always have anxiety before the day begins. When the day ends I am at ease. I am not as socially awkward. It amazes me that when I am around this community I am able to feel like a person. I am sorry, this is heading into a different direction.

I hope to do better and post more. I think my new goal is just to do like I have done cosplaying, just push through the troubles and share what I love. Comics has brought so many people together that come from such diverse places. It is a passion that can overcome the divisions we face as humanity. In these days of children being ripped from their parents arms we need something to unite us so horrors like that can be fought. Then we can become the heroes we pretend to be.

BDS 

Wonder Woman #37

Writer - James Robinson  Pencils - Carlo Pagulayan & Stephen Segoyia

Inks - Jason Paz, Art Thibert, & Raul Fernandez  
Colors - Romulo Fajardo Jr.

Letters - Saida Temofonte  

Children of the Gods  Conclusion

Let us start this review off by saying that the story by and large is not bad. It just was not needed as a part of the regular Wonder Woman series. It is really strange how DC Comics could take the excellent run by Greg Rucka that coincided with the outstanding movie by Patty Jenkins and then take the Wonder Woman comic into a storyline that places Diana on the sidelines. That is the big flaw of this story. It would have been better to have made this a mini series and keep the focus of the Wonder Woman comic WONDER WOMAN. It is clear this was a story to remake the over used Darksied into an adult.

It is a good fight even if it is between Zeus and Darksied. Robinson really seems to not get that Wonder Woman is relevant now. She has been treated as a strong character and given great stories. He places her as the defeated daughter that just has to watch as events go around her. Even as he wraps the story up he has her resentful to see her teammates. Diana is not the petty woman he made her. That is a shame as in 2017 she truly became a flagship hero for DC.

My hope is that soon in 2018 DC has the sense to let one of the talented women that are writing in comics now have a long run on Wonder Woman. I would love to see Amy Chu be given the character, but Dynamite unlike DC has seen the value of her talent and has her busy. They do have the Bensons & Bennett who could do an awesome job. Keep the Wonder Woman love going DC. We need her in this messed up world we are living in right now.

BDS

Batwoman #10

Writer - Marguerite Bennett  Artist - Fernando Blanco & Marc Laming

Colorist - John Rauch  Letterer - Deron Bennett

Kiss From A Rose

This has been a strange trippy tale of Batwoman. It harkens back to the earliest appearances of this incarnation of Kate Kane. She was wandering in the desert when all this began. It lead her to a cage shared with her Daddy’s favorite Colony Prime. The two were then tortured by the Scarecrow. It was a breakdown of Kate Kane that is brave at this juncture in her Rebirth life. Like all heroes, Kate fights back.

In this concluding act of the story, Batwoman has embraced her inner demons and now the Scarecrow should be afraid. It is a great battle of the mind that has been made real by technology. You really have to read it to fully grasp the greatness of this ending.

Kate’s dad makes an appearance and we get more of the obsessive “you picked Batman” angst he brings. She does show she is more than a female Batman. Batwoman is her own person and her own justice bringer. That is one of the great things about this book and I do hope DC Comics can see that fact. We need books like this one. It helps broaden the reach of comics aby the role model Kate Kane is and can be.

BIG surprise at the end. I loved it and look forward to seeing where it goes next. I also hope Batwoman stays out of Gotham a bit longer. It is nice to see her outside the shadow of the Bat.

BDS

Patreon

I know my posting just dropped, but life has demanded my attention.  I am going to get back to reviewing comics and chatting about my favorite things.  It will just take some time.  Meanwhile my mind has been trying to figure out a way to try and find new sources of money.  As I have been visiting people I meet at Cons and those I read stories by I have been thinking of joining
Patreon.  I wonder if anyone would read my stories.  I also think it might be a good place to start writing the book in my head.

Another idea is that I could review the trades & Graphic Novels I have.  Some are of a nature that only grown ups should read and I have always shied away from posting on the Blog.  The attacks when i was at this one church about my reviewing comics has the still bitter taste of anger and regret.  On Patreon the people that read it would be paying to do so and it could be a place only those that want to see my reviews of those books can.  I also think the Trades could allow me to make sure i have content up.

I am reading some good stuff right now.  DC mainly, but Dynamite comics have been providing a strong line of books.  I would mention Lights book Skin & Earth.  It is wonderful and the fact that her just released album has songs that match each story is amazing.  A horror trade I have gotten is The Beauty.  That would be a book on Patreon if and when I start one.

I am inspired to write more.  Just need the willpower, lack of Depression, & hope.

BDS