From: [j--t--r] at [juliet.caltech.edu] (Jeitner, David M.)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.misc
Subject: DJ's SDCC review: Axis,Comico,Continuity,Continuum
Date: 26 Aug 1993 05:31 PDT

AXIS:

Well, I stopped by to chat with the folks at Axis to try and clear up my
confusion over who is publishing what issues of Tribe and when.  I talked to 2
people from their marketing division.  They told me that Tribe is just
essentially becoming Axis' Tribe, and will begin with #2, which would have been
Image's #2.  It should come out "very soon."  I guess there was some
miscommunication between them and the people at Previews and Advance Comics
over what issue would be out in October and what would be in it, so the ads
were wrong.
The only other thing of note was that they were selling unsigned Tribe #1's at
cover price (and I saw them for $.50 in the dealer area), signed ones at $10,
and signed "ivory" ones at $20.  
I saw neither Todd Johnson nor Larry Stroman.

COMICO:

Comico did not appear to be at the convention.  A shame, as I had many
questions for them.  I would bet that many Elemental fans would have had a lot
of questions for them--which may explain their absence.

CONTINUITY:

I also did not see them there, but I heard they were.  I don't get any of their
comics, but I would have like to ask them about why they are so late.

CONTINUUM:

I have been wanting to see some issues of "The Dark" for a while, but
heretofore have not had the opportunity.  They were selling some issues, and
after perusing them, I bought a few.  The story seems to hold together, and is
a cool Gilgamesh/Highlander/Eternal Warrior/Grendel kind of thing, with a good
script, dialogue, and very nice art by both M.D.Bright and Larry Stroman (with
some pinups and covers by Perez).
Now I just need someone to explain to me what the chronology of the character
is--and whether or not Volume 2 is reprinting Volume 1.
They were also selling "The Dark Convention Book" and a signed trading card.
Apparently, they also have a newsletter, and I put my name on the list.
All in all, some friendly people who are publishing an interesting book.


DARK HORSE:

Dark Horse was nice enough to publish a comic specifically for the con.  It was
included in the package I got upon registering.  Among other things, there are
short Concrete and Sin City stories therein.
I didn't spend any time in the Dark Horse booth--in fact, I don't remember
seeing it.

DC:

As you can imagine, this was kind of a mob scene.  There was a really big guy
in a Batman costume (the old, normal, costume) talking to kids and
stuff--pretty cool.  Then there was a really big video screen showing Superman
stuff and interviews with editors and such.  There were separate tables for
"main" DC, Milestone, Piranha, and Vertigo.  Look under my report on Milestone
for info on them.
DC also gave away, at registration, free copies of the Lobo Convention Special. 
I thought that was really cool of them. (I wish I had known, so I wouldn't have
ordered one from my subscription service.)  I hear there were mob scenes at the
Superman and Batman presentations, since they were giving away "platinum"
comics.  *OOOOOO!!!* (he says with sarcasm.)  
The Vertigo people were mobbed, so I didn't bother.

DEFIANT:

Defiant had a really big section, with some big cardboard Plasm characters and
stuff, but, no big names were there, so there was little to no excitement.  Jim
Shooter was giving talks most of the time that I was there, I guess.  There was
some person who I never heard of sitting at a table that had a couple other
chairs.  I guess he was willing to look at portfolios, but he just seemed
bored--nobody was going near him.

DIAMOND:

Diamond was there advertising their new computer-controlled inventory system
that enables them to meet orders more efficiently and will supposedly help them
with reorders.  They're happy about the new UPC Codes on Direct Sales books.
They were giving away free copies of the latest Previews.
Whie I was there, they were having a discussion with some people about why they
don't polybag like Advance Comics--(a) it wastes plastic bags, (b) they want to
bind-in their freebies so dealers, etc. won't just tear open the bag, take out
all the stuff, and then either trash (waste) or sell (rip-off the customer) the
remainder, and (c) they want the customer to know what s/he is getting.



ECLIPSE:

I stopped by the Eclipse section to ask if they had any Soulsearchers & Co.
#1's.  They did not.  They had Deadbeats, though, so I got that.  They had #2's
of Soulsearchers and Phantom of Fear City also.  They gave me a number to call
to order Soulsearchers, if they still have it in stock.  (The number is also in
the latest issues of all 3 comics.)  The guy seemed pretty clueless about the
company, and there were only 2 other people there--just watching the back issue
section.

HARRIS:

I stopped by there to ask one question, and one question only.  Where is
Twister?  
They told me that Twister got poor sales, but very positive reader/dealer
response.  So, they're eliminating the polybags on future issues, and will
resolicit the entire series starting in January, beginning with a new version
of #1, so new people won't feel like they already missed out.  They are
apparently going to undertake an aggressive marketing campaign this time.
Personally, I really enjoyed #1, and have been eagerly awaiting the rest of the
4-issue series for about a year now.

HERO:

They had a drawing for a Batman #6.  I didn't win.  I had no other interest in
them.

IMAGE:

This was really funny (for us, anyway).  My friend had been there since the
start of the day, and told me there was a huge line to get into the Image
section, and that it was a high security area so you couldn't just cut the
line.  We didn't really have any interest in getting in there, so we were just
going to skip it.

So, we're walking down this aisle, looking at random stuff, not really paying
attention to where we're going, when we suddenly look up and there is Image
stuff all over the place.  So, we're thinking, "Oh, I guess we have to go
around this somehow."  We turn around, and there are a couple of security guys
keeping the crowd back.  Somehow, we had walked right past them, and were
actually in the Image area.  We figured since we were there, we might as well
look around and get some free stuff.
So, they were giving out ashcans of a new series by Valentino called "The
Pact."  It looks OK--similar in feel to "The Savage Dragon," but lacking the
heart.
They also gave out some Shadowhawk II pin, and one of those books that has the
pictures and bios of all the Image people (I only took the pin).
Probably the most bonus thing was that they were selling copies of Extreme #0,
a special SDCC version, for $5.  So, I bought one.  There are 6 or 7 short
stories in it, each one (completely) done by a different Extreme person.  Some
of the stories look like they have potential, and some of them sucked.  If you
really care, e-mail me, and I'll consider a review.
There were no big names there while we were, but the only one I would have
wanted to meet anyway was Erik Larsen.  Oh, well--at least we didn't have to
wait in line.



LEGACY:

Legacy had a big section, and was pushing all their new projects a la Plasm. 
all their first (0?) issues are the binder/trading card format.  They seem to
have a lot of stuff planned for the future.
The art on the Legacy #0 card set looked pretty good, actually, and there was
another series that had a big purple alien-looking dude and a "normal" woman
that also had nice art.  (I say she was "normal," but she was one of the
"perfect" comic book women.)  I guess the coloring is not finished on any of
the card sets yet.
They were selling ashcans of the 0-issues, but I wasn't buying.

MALIBU (ULTRAVERSE only):

The Malibu section was really big.  They had a different table (and line) for
each of the Ultraverse titles.  They were giving away these big cards (maybe
6x8"?) that had the name of each book, a picture of the character(s), and an
area for a signature by writer, artist, etc.  So, you could wait in 11 lines to
get all of them--what a deal! :) Other than that, they were giving away the
normal stuff-Malibu Sun 28 and Ultra-Monthly 2.  I saw big names, but wasn't
willing to wait in lines. 
There was a big video setup like at DC, which was showing parts of the videos
from upcoming Ultraverse titles.  There was also a demo of the Dinosaurs for
Hire home video-game (Nintendo? Genesis? whatever...) which had really nice
graphics.
There was a woman wandering around dressed like Mantra. Wow.

MARVEL:

The Marvel section was a mob scene, and as I had just recently decided to drop
almost all of the Marvel titles I get, I had no real interest in upcoming
stuff.  In addition, I thought it was pretty crummy of them to not have any
giveaway thing like DC and Dark Horse did--like a Spider-Man or Hulk map to the
convention or something.  Of course, if they did, there would probably be 4
different versions, and people would be selling and buying them to get them
all. :)

NEC:

NEC did not have a booth.  I encountered the Paul-the-Samurai-guy-whose-name-
I-can't-remember over in the Artists area, and he told me that Ben Edlund was
too busy working on the Tick animated series (yay!) to come out for the con.
The Paul-the-Samurai-guy was leaving just as I found him, so I didn't really
talk to him very long.




NEMESIS:

Who?  I guess they're an imprint of somebody or something--Harvey, maybe?  They
are putting out the next Ultraman series (by Larry Yakata and Ernie Colon), and
"Frank," some kind of modern Frankenstein thing by D.G.Chichester, Denys Cowan,
Mike Manley, and J.J.Birch, and SeaQuest DSV by D.G.Chichester and Ernie Colon.
They gave out an ashcan edition that contains previews of Ultraman and Frank,
and an ad-page for SeaQuest.  Ultraman looks bad, but Frank is intriguing,
except the preview was too short to really tell.

NOW:

I went to Now to see Mr.T.  He was there on Thursday only, though.  

SLAVE LABOR:

Slave Labor was selling a lot of stuff--books, shirts, posters, etc.  I got a
Milk&Cheese "Onward to Mayhem" shirt, and a copy of the third #1 for a friend. 
Evan Dorkin was in the artists area drawing stuff for people, and I was happy
(for him) to see that he had a small crowd.  He had also brought along a bunch
of original art from M&C, but I don't think it was for sale or anything--just
display.  As this was the first time I saw him in person, I thought he
resembled Bill from his Bill and Ted series.  I wish I had brought my Fight-Man
for him to sign.

TOPPS:

Topps had a Topps #0 giveaway, and was hyping the Dracula v. Zorro mini, and
the Zorro series that will debut following it.  In the Topps 0, there is a
prequel to D v. Z #1, and, I think, it looks pretty cool.  Jack Kirby was
there, and my friend got to shake his hand and tell him how much he enjoyed the
original OMAC series.  I think Kirby's response was something like "I really
had a good time with that one."  When I stopped by, he was in a heavy
conversation with someone, so I didn't get to compliment him on my
Kirby-favorite: The Demon.

VALIANT:

The Valiant section was dead.  There were no writers or artists there--just
office-types.  There were no presentations or giveaways or anything like that. 
And there wre no fans.  It was kind of spooky, actually--a big empty area in
the middle of a teeming crowd.
We just went there to see Mike Baron, but he had a scheduled signing in another
area.  So, we went over to that, and it hadn't begun yet, so he was just
sitting at his table looking around.  We got as close as we could, and then
talked to him.  He says Badger is coming very, very soon!  We heaped many
praises on him, and then left.
That was actually a main attraction for us--the last time we were in San Diego
was 4 years ago, and M.B. was supposed to be at a First panel on upcoming
projects, but he didn't show.  First had all these big plans for mini-series
and stuff (I remember Peter David being there and talking about Dreadstar), but
a few months later went bankrupt.  First Nexus, soon Dreadstar, and now Badger.
This makes me happy.




The Artists' area/arena/alley :

I really wanted to meet George Perez, but he wasn't there.  I met a guy who had
a lot of Perez's original art (like from Future Imperfect and Wonder Woman),
but he said that Perez was too busy working on Topps' Jurassic Park book to
come out.  He says he thinks it'll be late.

There was a big crowd around Greg Capullo.

As someone else earlier mentioned, a lot of people were drawing "Death."

Evan Dorkin was drawing the "innocent, angelic" Milk & Cheese for someone when
I stopped at his table to watch.  He seemed really friendly and quiet, and at
the same time bitter and obnoxious, both without really saying much. :)

The Paul-the-Samurai-guy was there drawing Paul-the-Samurai.  He looks
remarkably like his character.  So much so, in fact, that for the life of me I
can't remember his real name, and he has now become one with the character in
my mind.  He told me Ben Edlund is busy working on the Tick animated series.

That was all I really remember--I just made a quick pass through (I wasn't at
the con for very long).


The Dealers' area :

I saw a lot of recent stuff going for low prices.  The worst was Tribe #1 for
$.50.  I really like The Tribe, myself.

Valiant stuff seemed to be sitting still.  Especially, the high-priced stuff
like Magnus 12.  I saw prices ranging from about $50 to $85, but everyone told
me it was just sitting.  I saw Archer & Armstrong #8 (1st Ivar) at everything
from $4.50 to $11.

Very few people had the current week's releases (except for Batman 500).  Only
3 dealers that I saw had CyberForce 4, and only one had Street Fighter 1
(which, by the way, really sucks, and at $2.95, is a _complete_ rip-off).

Kingpin Comics had a big area, and I was able to finally find a copy of
Lightning's Bloodfire #1.  The art is _bad_, but, somehow, the story seems to
have potential.  Who knows? I think I'll look for #2.  Not.

I didn't see Mile High Comics, which I thought was odd.

Silver Age, Silver Age, Silver Age!  Everybody had it, and I wanted it all. 
But, I collect mostly low-to-mid grades, and it was just all too nice for me.

We were in search of "The Adventures of Rex the Wonder Dog," but weren't able
to find any.  Anybody out there have some?

I bought some videos I have been seeking.  The Fleischer Superman's--can not be
beat--they are great!  The Filmation DC cartoons from the 60's with the Flash,
Green Lantern, Atom, Hawkman, Teen Titans, and JLA--they suck--a disappoint-
ment (except for the Teen Titans).  And, finally, the Legends of the
Super-Heroes "Challenge" and "Roast"--sucks big-time.  Thank God for the
Superman tapes, or I'd be one unhappy dude.  Next on my list are the 60's
Spider-Man cartoons.

That's about all I remember--not much anime, and not a lot of recent comics.





MILESTONE:

Probably the biggest attraction for me during the time I was there was the
Milestone presentation.  I got done registering about 10 minutes before it was
supposed to begin, and then headed straight for it.  A line had begun to form
because of a belief that a platinum something would be given away.  There was
some guy about 3 people ahead of me in line who kept asking the people around
him if they knew what the platinum book was gonna be.

I wanted to kill him.

The guy in front of me told me that DC was giving away platinum books at their
presentations.  This one turned out to be a platinum Static #1.  Before giving
it out, Michael Davis told us it was going for $225 in New York, and $80 down
in the dealer area.  Well, not after this infusion of them, anyway.



Possible SPOILERS.



You have been warned.  There are only a couple, and they are very, very small. 
I would advise that if you are interested in the current and future state of
Milestone that you read this anyway.  I hate SPOILERS, and I was not bothered
by any of this info.  The Milestone crew was very wary of giving out any
information like that.








I was pretty excited about seeing Cowan, Turner, and McDuffie.  They were
there.  So was Chriscross, their young sensation, and a bunch of other people I
hadn't really heard of.

First, they gave us a little video presentation, that included footage from
their appearance on MTV News.  There was a lot of digitized artwork from the
comics, also.  The sound was atrocious, and the screen was at a bad angle (for
me), so it wasn't the best setup.

After that, Michael Davis (editor-in-chief?) introduced everyone on the panel
and then opened it up for questions and answers.

I don't remember it all, but her's what I do recall:

The Shadow War (?) will be taking place beginning in the November titles. 
There will be some kind of cool, enhanced covers, but the cover price will
remain the same.  Two books will spin off, Shadow Cabinet (which they didn't
describe), and Xombi (which, I think, stars an Asian-American character) that
was referred to as "what Vertigo is to DC, Xombi is to Vertigo."  Or something
like that, anyway.

Many, many characters are getting mini-series: Brickhouse, Deathwish, Rocket, 
you name it.

There will be a Static/Rocket mini sometime in the future, where they time-
travel back to 1963 to try to prevent the assassination of somebody famous 
(I wonder who...:) ).

The "Is Rocket pregnant and if so, what's she going to do about it?" storyline
will wrap up soon, for better or worse, and it will probably not be what you
expect.

A female version of Hardware will be appearing soon.

"Dead is dead" in the Dakota universe.  So, if you've seen someone die, they
won't be back.

The Dakota universe is just like the real world, but with a city called Dakota,
located somewhere in the (upper) Southeast.  It's called "Dakota" because they
liked the name--no relation to a real name of a real place.

The "conservativeness" of Icon will not play a very important role in the near
future.  They say it's just the way he is, and he's not going to go around
spouting political statements all the time.

Icon's past will be explored in detail.  They're toying with a mini-series for
him set in the early 20th century.  He will travel to his home planet (by which
they described this, dripping with sarcasm, "Krypton's still there") sometime
around issue 14.

Characters will not do things like: get hit in the head and think "one more hit
like that and I'm finished."  Instead, they will think "Damn! That hurt! I'm
outta here!"  They won't mentally or verbally describe their gymnastics and
other fighting moves in the midst of action.  They're going for an attempt at
what people would "really" be like in the normal world (admittedly where people
are flying around and shooting blasts out of their hands).

"Milestone for Kids" will debut soon as a magazine.  It will contain some short
stories aimed at a younger audience, as well as puzzles, crafts, etc.  "Lock
'em in a room with this and a little water and it'll keep 'em busy for days."

They hope to have an ongoing book with a female lead character soon.  They're
introducing some new character (that I don't remember the name of, which is
sad, considering I'm the one who asked this question), and she'll get a mini, 
and they're hoping the response will be big, and then she'll be able to move to
an ongoing.

They just signed some new talent, but the stipulations in the contract
prevented them from announceing who.  Davis said it was one of the biggest
names in comics--"big, big, BIG!"   Keep your eyes glued to the Milestone
editorial page for further info.

Chriscross gave us his story of how he got his start at Milestone.  It was very
long, but the point was that he "just went out and did it."  He didn't have any
money, showed up at Milestone one day, showed them what he could do, and they
liked it.  Davis made sure we all understood that, now that Milestone is
established, that procedure is no longer possible for you people looking for
work.

The final thing was a drawing for some Milestone clothing--a baseball jersey, a
hat, and a jacket--and a platinum Hardware.  The worst part was that they were
drawing from people who had entered by filling out a paper down at the
Milestone table.  This, of course, meant that a lot of people filled out
entries and did not actually come to the presentation.  So, Davis wound up
drawing about thirty names to giveaway only 4 prizes. 

The Science Fiction channel (that's what Davis said) filmed most of the
presentation, and may air a special on it sometime.

I can't remember anything else at all, but if I do, I will post.

Go read all the Milestone titles.  They're some of the best comics being
published today.

That was just my opinion.

Dave Jeitner
[j--t--r] at [juliet.caltech.edu]