Secret Identities Coast-to-Coast

On Saturday, July 18 in Baltimore, Maryland, Keith Chow, Jerry Ma, Alex Tarampi, John Franzese and Larry Hama will be hosted by Geppi’s Entertainment Museum beginning at 12:30pm. The museum presentation will be followed by a special signing event at Ukazoo Books in Towson, Maryland at 6pm that same day. Finally on Sunday, July 19 at 1pm, veteran DC and Marvel artist Greg LaRocque will be joining Hama and the Secret Identities team for a meet & greet and signing event at The Avenue’s Barnes & Noble in White Marsh, Maryland.

http://www.secretidentities.org/

DC-Area Free Comic Book Day Signings!

This weekend (May 2, 2009) is Free Comic Book Day, and DC-area stores have a bunch of creator signings. I'm going to err on the broad side here, so you'll see locations up through the Baltimore area too -- gas up those cars! Please note, this information is all up on the FCBD web pages with the exception of the Virginia information below, and I just happen to have stumbled upon it via their webpages. If you have further information, please contact us and we will update this posting!

DC:
Fantom Comics
4500 Wisconsin Ave.
Washington, DC 20016
(202) 362-5053
Scheduled Creator & Character Appearances
Arvid Nelson (Rex Mundi, Kull) 12 Noon - 2 PM; 4 PM - 6 PM
Jim Dougan (Crazy Papers, How I Lost My S*@t at the Apple Store, Sam & Lilah) 12 Noon - 6 PM
Molly Lawless (Infandum!... Ad Infinitum) 12 Noon - 6 PM

Prize Wheel for prizes every hour on the hour.

Krispy Kreme donuts. A whole table's worth. Be sure to bring pants with a stretchy waistband.

Maryland:
Beyond Comics
Lakeforest Mall, 701 Russell Ave.
Gaithersburg, MD 20877
(301) 216-0007
Scheduled Creator & Character Appearances
Gene Ha (Alan Moore's Top Ten)

Beyond Comics
5632 Buckeystown Pike
Frederick, MD 21704
(301) 668-8202
Scheduled Creator & Character Appearances
Mike Imboden (Creator/writer: Fist of Justice)

Big Planet Comics
7315 Baltimore Ave.
College Park, MD 20740
(301) 699-0498
Scheduled Creator & Character Appearances
Lamar Abrams

Cards, Comics & Collectibles of Reisterstown, MD
100 A Chartley Dr.
Reisterstown, MD 21136
410-526-7410
Scheduled Creator & Character Appearances
Frank Cho (Hulk, Mighty Avengers) from 1pm-4pm
Steve Conley (Star Trek) from 11am-7pm

Collectors Corner Inc.
8108 A Harford Rd.
Baltimore/Parkville, MD 21234
Scheduled Creator & Character Appearances
All artists and characters will appear from 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM on May 2nd

Writers and artists:

Jo Chen (Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Runaways)
Pat Carlucci (Hotinks Studios)
H.C. Noel (Mr. Scootles)
Michael S. Bracco (Birth & Novo)
Nathan Getz (No One)
Tony Calandra (No One)
GW Fisher (Image Comics' Shadowhawk)
Frank Zeigler (Waki & Rusty)
Patrick Kelly (Local Artist)
Carlos Taylor (Local Artist)
Chris Hewitt (The Living Corpse)
Tom Arvis (Sureshot Comics)
Ver Curtis (Moonstone Comics)
Kata Dales (Lost in the Woods)

Character Appearances : (Spider-Man, Captain America, Black Cat, Elektra, Supergirl, Rorschach, Venom, Iron Man, Wolverine, Hawkeye, Ozymandias, The Comedian, Batman, War Machine, Hulk, Deadpool, Superman, White Queen, Daredevil, Green Lantern, Thor)

SALE all DAY - 20% Off Everything in the store on Free Comic Book Day!
25 Cents Back Issues (5 for $1.00) - 1000's to chose from!

Charm City Roller Girls (Baltimore's Own Pro Roller Derby Girls)
Vu Skateshop : Gary Smith - Professional Skateboarder

Plus, Live Music and Free Pizza & Refreshments All Day!

Game demonstrations, MTG, D&D, HeroCLix and BOARD GAMES too!

BAND list and schedule:

Playing in front of the Gaming Clubhouse in the back parking lot behind the store

12:00 – 12:40 – The Alameda
1:00- 1:40 – Bene Gesserit Witch
2:00 – 2:40 - Davey G and the Keyboard
3:00 – 3:40 - Muscle Twin
4:00 – 4:40 - Person Parcel (Gary B)
5:00 – 5:40 - Mandroids

Super Villains Comic Book Shop
4361 Ebenezer Road
Nottingham, MD 21236
(410) 870-1253
Scheduled Creator & Character Appearances
Greg LaRocque (Spiderman, Flash, Iron Man, the Avengers & many more - http://www.greglarocque.com/)
Keith Chow & Jeff Yang ("Secret Identities")
Adam Russo ("The Dreaming")
Car Import Super Model Jasmine Mai (http://www.myspace.comultimatejasminemai/, signing her convention exclusive comic book!
more guests TBA

$1.00 back issues with over 150 long boxes to choice from!

Character Appearances
Spiderman, black & classic red
The Joker
Rorschach from the Watchmen.

Free Pizza!!
Chances to win tickets to the Baltimore sneak peek showing of 'Star Trek Countdown'

Washington Street Books
131 N. Washington Street
Havre de Grace, MD 21078
(410) 939-6215
Scheduled Creator & Character Appearances
Greg Cox (Author: Novelization of the DC Comics' "INFINITE CRISIS", "52" and "COUNTDOWN" along with various Star Trek Novels)
Jim Clatterbaugh (Monsters from the Vault Magazine)
Garth Gerhart (Bitterman and Beelzebum Comics)
Chelsea Carr (Baltimore Betty & Political Cartoonist)

Virginia:

Laughing Ogre Comics
Lansdowne Shopping Center
19340 Promenade Drive
Lansdowne, VA 20176
Scheduled Creator & Character Appearances
Chris Giarrusso (writer/artist of Mini Marvels and G-Man) from 11 am- 3 pm

Laughing Ogre Comics
University Mall
10647 Braddock Road
Fairfax, VA 22032
Scheduled Creator & Character Appearances
Fillbach Bros (writer/artists of Star Wars Clone Wars Adventures) from 11 am- 3 pm

Baltimore's Greg LaRocque interview on Newsarama

Baltimore's Greg LaRocque has an interview on Newsarama. LaRocque was one of my favorite DC artists in the late 80s, and I got to meet him and buy some art at one of the Baltimore Comic-Cons. Here's links to his website and Myspace pages.

May 3: Free Comic Book Day signings

Randy T. had put this in a comment, but I think it's important enough to move it up into a post:

Pretty disappointed to see so few creator signings locally to coincide with this event (http://www.freecomicbookday.com/creator_signing.asp).

I did, however, notice that Matt Dembicki and Andrew Cohen will be signing at Beyond Comics in Gaithersburg, MD. I only found that since he was signing last year at Big Planet's Vienna, VA store and I figured he'd do so again this year, even though it's not on the creator signings listing at FCBD's web pages.

If you feel like traveling, though, try the following:

Cards, Comics & Collectibles in Reisterstown, MD is having Jimmy Gownley (Amelia Rules!), Steve Conley (Star Trek), and John Gallagher (Buzzboy).

Collector's Corner in Parkville, MD is having Michael S. Bracco (Novo), Tony Calandra (No-One!), Pat Carlucci (Marvel Masterpieces), Ver Curtis (Moonstone Comics), Kata Dales (Lost in the Woods), J.D. Dracoules (Trailer Park of Terror), G.W. Fisher (Shadowhawk), Nathan Getz (No-One!), Ross Kerr (Lost in the Woods), Sunny Lee (Gen 13) [tentative], Chris March (Trailer Park of Terror), H.C. Noel (Mr. Scootles), and Frank Zeigler (Waki & Rusty).

Super Villains Inc. in Nottingham, MD is having Greg LaRocque (Legion of Super-Heroes), Arvid Nelson (Rex Mundi), and Jeff Parker (Marvel Adventures: Iron Man – FCBD 2008 Ed.)

And Washington Street Books in Havre de Grace, MD is having Chelsea Carr (Baltimore Betty), Greg Cox (Star Trek), and Gale Heimbach (Green Hornet).

Greg LaRoque article in Sun

Greg LaRoque, who lives outside Baltimore is featured in "LaRoque: Quick on the draw; Illustrator to put his touch on Velocity miniseries," By Michael Sragow, Baltimore Sun Movie Critic, March 9, 2008.

I always enjoyed his work and got to tell him so and buy some original art at last year's Baltimore Comic-Con.

Baltimore Comic-Con UPDATE 2 - now with more pictures

Because YOU (well, Richard Thompson at least) demanded it, here's some pics with commentary to follow later. I will say this is the busiest I've seen the con.

Greg LaRocque was sitting, possibly with his son, sketching. I always liked LaRocque's smooth style in the 1980s on the Legion of Super-Heroes and the Flash. I bought some DC tryout pages he'd done of Batman facing down Darkseid - lovely work. He should be still getting all the work he can handle. He's working on a new book for a small company - when I find the ad again, I'll mention it as he's a Northern Baltimore creator.


Me with Al Feldstein, EC artist, and Mad editor in chief during the glory days.



Jim Shooter, former Legion of Superheroes writer, Marvel Editor-in-Chief and Valiant EiC.


Jim Shooter was quite friendly - one of the guys in front of me had a pile of Avengers comics to be signed. Shooter told an anecdote about 3 of them. In one, artist George Perez added in art that wasn't in the script, like a nun answering the door when the Avengers were in hot pursuit. So Shooter called someone at the local Berlitz and had the Beast speaking correct Latin to the nun. He said they were planning to pay, but the translator was so tickled to be in a comic, he didn't want it. The issue of the Avengers with Ant-Man shooting up full-size and hitting other Avengers? Rob Liefeld told Shooter it was the best comic ever. Finally, in the first What If series - What if the Avengers Never Existed? - Archie Goodwin provided the main plot for the story by telling Shooter, "You have to kill Iron Man." Shooter spoke briefly about the fun times the old Marvel Bullpen was, and then signed my Avengers: The Korvac Saga and the DC Legion of Superhero Archives 6-7 - without mentioning this! "OFFICIAL: JIM SHOOTER RETURNS TO DC'S LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES"
by Matt Brady, Newsarama (September 6, 2007).

Don Rosa, heir to Carl Barks on the Disney Ducks.


Herb Trimpe drawing Wolverine.

John Romita Sr. and Herb Trimpe getting together.

The line for Herb Trimpe was always long, which I was pleased to see. He had written an article for the NY Times a year or so ago about being forgotten by comic book companies, but people reading comics in the 1960s and 70s saw his work all the time, especially on the Hulk. When John Romita Sr., the former Marvel art director stopped by, they hugged and then kept giving each other credit for creating Wolverine. Apparently Trimpe came up with the character and Romita the costume. Trimpe's got a book out - The Power of Angels: Reflections from a Ground Zero Chaplain. I had him sign that and a copy of Origins of Marvel Comics that my wife had signed for me by Stan Lee in 1991. Trimpe took a great pleasure in asking if he could sign the page over the top (ie higher) than Stan Lee. Fine with me.

Joe Kubert, caught at his Kubert School table, signs a few comics, but not for me, sigh.

Claire was quite taken with the Girls with Slingshots table decor.

More photographs, courtesy of Joel Pollack of Big Planet Comics:

Arnold Blumberg, curator of Geppi's Entertainment Museum
Sergio Aragones
Kyle Baker
Joe Kubert
James Jean
Frank Cho

And here's a press show interview, "Catching Up with Baltimore Comic-Con's Marc Nathan," by Tim O'Shea, September 5, 2007.