Once More into the SPACE, Old Friend
A Graphic Content Editorial
By John Wilson
Day two of SPACE started with a trickling of people that has now become a strong stream of folks that covers a vast demographic. In addition to the regular comic's faithful, there are mothers with children, older individuals and at least one Bushido warrior complete with sword.
Easily the most enthusiastic of all the creators here at SPACE is the gang from Freestyle Komics. Hopping on the microphone, screaming from their booth or promoting a scavenger hunt (which was won by an 8 year old girl), they know how to draw attention to themselves. Their book Hotshot looks at an early glance to be great fun. And their connection to a Columbus Art college makes it even more interesting to me. Creator Mike Watson deserves a degree in self promotion. Make sure you check out Chuck's interview with this young man elsewhere on the Comic Related site.
Another cool acquisition comes from Mean Goat Comics. The book Euni the Unicorn by Kris Lachowski was receiving such an enthusiastic round of laughter from my Comic Related colleagues that I felt that I had to go check it out. Once there I found a brown bag stamped with the face of an annoyed goat and inside were several great mini comics including Broken, Election 2020 and the Mean Goat Gross Jam among others. All great fun. Steve Peters gave me a multimedia experience with the comic Runner's Paradox and a CD of his original music, also called Paradox. With song titles like I'm Not Sorry, Render unto Caesar and I Give Up, I can't wait to pop this into my stereo and read the comic to the musical accompaniment.
Visuals were a major draw for me today. I purchased my second piece of art work from Molly Durst, this being a stoic looking gentleman with shocks of white hair. A two foot bust of a monkeygoat boy named Steve brought me to the table of Bad Monkey Brain Studios where I found Freak Central, Steve's home comic about a newspaper tabloid staff and Flounder by Brian Maze, whose cover character sinks to the bottom of still blue is very enticing. And the interior art is even more so. One of the drawbacks of shows in general is that there is simply too much going on to give books the readings that they deserve. Flounder looks like a comic that deserves a quiet place, a comfy chair and my full attention.
One of my best acquisitions comes from the tables of Bad Place Production. To begin with, I am now a proud member of the junior Serial Squad, complete with glow in the dark decoder ring. The two issues of Serial Squad that I acquired look to embrace the best aspects of the Golden Age of comics and Woodboy shows the feel of a fantasy and horror anthology, speaking to those who love a good story but shy away from the cape and tights ideal.
SPACE is vast. SPACE is full and most of all SPACE is about community. That genuine sense of being part of something that is special, that is unique and that is precious is very apparent here. There is something going on here that the rest of the comics' world needs to know about. Independent creators are the future. The mainstream will always be the mainstream but for personal stories, intelligent commentary and comics that are without the same old capes and tights, Indy comics are the way to go and as a creator, where I want to be.
There will be a veritable flood of articles, podcasts and photos from the SPACE convention. Make sure you jump in with both feet and surf the waves. You'll be glad you did and absolutely kicking yourself that you missed this incredible show. But don't despair... there is always next year.
John Wilson - John Wilson is a life long comic book fan and recent comics professional. In addition to his Graphic Content column of Comic and How-to book reviews on Comic Related, he writes content for Sketch Magazine.net, is a digital colorist for Unleashed Press, a moderator on the Art Unleashed forum for Blue Line Pro and Sketch Magazine and writes his own comic stories. John is also an Art educator, Multi-media artist and graphic designer. In the other five minutes of his day, he spends time with his wife, Kim and their two dogs and reads more magazines than should be humanly possible.
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