1.
New York Comic Con
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The New York Comic Con is an annual New York City fan convention dedicated to comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, toys, movies, and television. It was first held in 2006, ReedPOP is involved with other events, including Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo and PAX Dev/PAX East/PAX Prime. ReedPop and New York Comic Con were founded by Greg Topalian, the first con was held in 2006 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. Due to Reed Exhibitions lack of experience with comic conventions, attendance was far more than anticipated, despite crowding on Friday afternoon, tickets continued to be sold due to low pre-reg numbers, and the non-counting of professionals and exhibitors. The main exhibition hall hit capacity Saturday morning and was locked by the marshals until people left. Major guests, including Kevin Smith and Frank Miller, could not enter the main hall, the line to enter the convention wrapped around the building with waits of two hours to enter, and many were turned away. Ticket sales for Sunday were suspended, Reed announced that additional space would be acquired for the 2007 show. The second con was held in 2007, with the convention organizer booking double the floor space than the previous years space, the show on Friday was again only open to industry and press until 4 p. m. when it opened to the public. Due to better planning, advance sales were controlled. Lines started forming at midnight Saturday to enter the convention, and by Saturday morning, crowding was a problem in the Artists Alley, which was off the main convention floor, causing it to be moved to the main floor for 2008. The American Anime Awards, hosted by New York Comic Con, was held on February 24 at the New Yorker Hotel, the third con held in 2008 moved to April, continued to grow, and occupied most of the main level in the Javits Center. Stan Lee was awarded the inaugural New York Comics Legend Award at the Times Square Virgin Megastore before the Comic Con, kids Day programming was added to the convention on Sunday with the help of Kidss Comic Con. The fourth con held in 2009 returned to February and featured a charity art auction to support The Hero Initiative, the New York Anime Festival, previously a separate event created by Reed, was also merged into Comic Con. The main floor of the center was split by a large construction area due to repairs to the Javits Center. Intel Extreme Masters Global Challenge – New York took place in Comic Con 2011 and it featured eSport tournaments for games such as StarCraft II, League of Legends, and Counter-Strike. In 2011, the convention was expanded to four days, the first day of the convention was initially limited to press, professionals, and fans that purchased a four-day pass. This changed in 2013, when single day Thursday passes were put on sale for the first time. With this addition, attendance at New York Comic Con grew to over 130,000, in 2016, it was announced that everyone attending NYCC2016 would be required to complete a Fan Verification profile
2.
Glossary of comics terminology
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Several attempts have been made to formalise and define the terminology of comics by authors such as Will Eisner, Scott McCloud, R. C. Harvey and Dylan Horrocks. Much of the terminology in English is under dispute, so this page will list and describe the most common terms used in comics. Comics is used in the singular, in the way the politics or economics are, to refer to the medium. Comic as an adjective also has the meaning of funny, or as pertaining to comedians, comic as a singular noun is sometimes used to refer to individual comics periodicals, what are known in North America as comic books. Underground comix is a term first popularized by cartoonists in the underground movement of the 1960s and 1970s in an attempt to move the word away from its etymological origins. Alternative comics is a term covering a range of American comics that have appeared since the 1980s, a panel, frame or box is one drawing on a page, and contains a segment of action. A page may have one or many panels, and panels are frequently, the size, shape and style of a panel, as well as the placement of figures and speech balloons inside it, affect the timing or pacing of a story. Panels are used to break up and encapsulate sequences of events in a narrative, what occurs in a panel may be asynchronous, meaning that not everything that occurs in a single panel necessarily occurs at one time. The gutter is the space between panels, vertical gutters can be made thinner than horizontal gutters in order to encourage the reader to group each row of panels for easier reading. A tier is a row of panels. A splash or splash page is a large, often full-page illustration which opens and it is rarely less than half a page, and occasionally covers two pages. Often designed as a unit, its purpose is to capture the readers attention. A spread is an image that spans more than one page, the two-page spread is the most common, but there are spreads that span more pages, often by making use of a foldout. A speech/word/dialogue balloon or speech/word/dialogue bubble is an indicator, containing the characters dialogue. The indicator from the balloon that points at the speaker is called a pointer or tail, the speech balloon bridges the gap between word and image—the word made image, as expressed by Pierre Fresnault-Druelle. In early renderings, speech balloons were no more than ribbons emanating from their speakers mouths and its shape came to convey meaning as well. A thought balloon contains copy expressing a characters unvoiced thoughts, usually shaped like a cloud, emotions can be expressed by the shape of the balloon—spiked balloons can indicate shouting, and dripping balloons can indicate sarcasm. In a caption, words appear in a box separated from the rest of the panel or page, usually to give voice to a narrator, but sometimes used for the characters thoughts or dialogue
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Jim Lee
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Jim Lee is a Korean American comic book artist, writer, editor, and publisher. He entered the industry in 1987 as an artist for Marvel Comics, illustrating titles such as Alpha Flight and The Punisher War Journal, before gaining popularity on The Uncanny X-Men. 1, the 1991 spin-off series premiere that Lee penciled and co-wrote with Chris Claremont, remains the best-selling comic book of all time, on February 18,2010, Jim Lee was announced as the new Co-Publisher of DC Comics with Dan DiDio, both replacing Paul Levitz. He has received a Harvey Award, Inkpot Award and three Wizard Fan Awards in recognition for his work, Lee was born on August 11,1964 in Seoul, South Korea. He grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, where he lived a typical middle-class childhood, Lee attended River Bend Elementary School in Chesterfield and later St. Louis Country Day School, where he drew posters for school plays. Having had to learn English when he first came to the U. S. presented the young Lee with the sense of being an outsider, as did the preppy, upper-class atmosphere of Country Day. As a result, on the occasions that his parents bought him comics, Lees favorite characters were the X-Men. His classmates predicted in his senior yearbook that he would found his own book company. Despite this, Lee was resigned to following his fathers career in medicine, attending Princeton University to study psychology and he submitted samples to various publishers, but did not find success. When Lee befriended St. Lees work on the Punisher, War Journal was inspired by such as Frank Miller, David Ross, Kevin Nowlan. During his stint on Uncanny Lee first worked with inker Scott Williams, during his run on the title, Lee co-created the character Gambit with long-time X-Men writer Chris Claremont. Lees artwork quickly gained popularity in the eyes of enthusiastic fans, in 1991, Lee helped launch a second X-Men series simply called X-Men volume 2, as both the artist and as co-writer with Claremont. Lee designed new uniforms for the series, including those worn by Cyclops, Jean Grey, Rogue, Psylocke and Storm. Actor/comedian Taran Killam, who has ventured into writing with The Illegitimates, has cited X-Men No.1 as the book that inspired his interest in comics. Stan Lee interviewed Jim Lee in the documentary series The Comic Book Greats, the other major series of the initial years of Wildstorm, for which Lee either created characters, co-plotted or provided art for, included Stormwatch, Deathblow and Gen¹³. The miniseries would consist of four books, two each produced by the respective companies, plus a prologue and epilogue book. Wildstorm produced Deathmate Black, with Lee himself contributing to the writing and he illustrated the covers for that book, the Deathmate Tourbook and the prologue book, as well as contributing to the prologues interior inks. Lee and Rob Liefeld, another Marvel-illustrator-turned-Image-founder, returned to Marvel in 1996 to participate in a reboot of several classic characters, while Liefeld reworked Captain America and The Avengers, Lee plotted Iron Man and wrote and illustrated Fantastic Four
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Scott Williams (comics)
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Scott Williams is an American comic book artist and inker. Williams has provided inkwork for comic book illustrators such as Jim Lee, Whilce Portacio and Marc Silvestri, Williams has previously worked on X-Men, WildCATs, Gen¹³, Batman, Superman, and the crossover WildC. A. T. s/X-Men as well as Justice League. He has inked All-Star Batman and Robin, which is pencilled by Jim Lee, in 2012 Williams received the Sinnott Hall of Fame Award by the Inkwell Awards. New Mutants Annual #6 All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder #1 Batman, Hush 1993, Eisner Award for Best Inker (nominated, for X-Men,2012, Sinnott Hame of Fame Inkwell Award Scott Williams at the Grand Comics Database Scott Williams at the Comic Book DB
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Astro City
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Kurt Busieks Astro City is an American superhero anthology comic book series centered on a fictional American city of that name. Created and written by Kurt Busiek, the series is illustrated by Brent Anderson, with character designs. The first series debuted in August 1995, published by Image Comics, the first Astro City series was published from 1995–1998, and then returned in 2003 with the Local Heroes and The Dark Age story arcs. The Dark Age was set in the 1970s and 1980s and ran 16 issues, in it, the citizens of Astro City ponder the functions and motivations of superpowered individuals, and their overall positions within the community. The Dark Age began publication in 2005 and ended in May 2010, in June 2013, another Astro City monthly series debuted from Vertigo Comics. Astro City is a series that focuses on a large cast of characters. Most of the characters live within Astro City, a center for super-powered beings, some issues are told from the viewpoint of heroes, some from the vantage point of average people, others from villains and shady criminals. Stories also vary greatly in length, from one issue to sixteen in the case of the story arc Dark Age, Astro City explores how people—both ordinary people and the heroes and villains themselves—react to living in their world. For example, the nearby Alcatraz-like penitentiary, Biro Island, is a reference to comics creator Charles Biro, Shadow Hill, protected exclusively by the Hanged Man, is featured and focused on in several stories. Notable locations in Astro City are the Astrobank Tower, home of the Astro City Beacon, the warning beacon. Other locations include Grandenetti Cathedral, the Outcault Bridge, Bruisers, a bar catering to heroes, Butlers, a club for the superhero set, and Beefy Bobs. Astro Citys world is populated by additional fictional towns, as well as real ones. One other fictional town is Buchanan Corners, which is a long overnight bus-ride somewhere to the east of the city, some of the more prominent Heroes and Villains of Astro City are listed below, see the article on Astro City Characters for a more complete listing. Samaritan – An extremely powerful hero and Superman analog, time-traveler, appeared in this era in 1985, active as a hero since 1986. A current member of Honor Guard, is sometimes referred to as Big Red. Was the first hero in the series to receive an origin story, the Confessor – A mysterious vigilante detective, apparently active from the 1950s to the mid-1990s. His history is a blur of myths and assumptions, as dark as his crime fighting methods, in the Confession arc from the second volume of the series, even his new sidekick struggles to know more about his mentor. He is eventually revealed as a vampire and killed, but his sidekick takes over the role four years of training
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Alan Moore
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Alan Moore is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books including Watchmen, V for Vendetta and From Hell. Frequently described as the best graphic novel writer in history, he has been recognised by his peers. Moore started writing for British underground and alternative fanzines in the late 1970s before achieving success publishing comic strips in such magazines as 2000 AD, during that decade, Moore helped to bring about greater social respectability for comics in the United States and United Kingdom. He prefers the term comic to graphic novel, despite his own personal objections, his books have provided the basis for a number of Hollywood films, including From Hell, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, V for Vendetta, and Watchmen. Moore has also referenced in popular culture, and has been recognised as an influence on a variety of literary and television figures including Neil Gaiman, Joss Whedon. Moore was born on 18 November 1953, at St Edmonds Hospital in Northampton to a family who he believed had lived in the town for several generations. He grew up in a part of Northampton known as The Boroughs, an area with a lack of facilities and high levels of illiteracy. I didnt know there was anything else. He lived in his house with his parents, brewery worker Ernest Moore and he read omnivorously from the age of five, getting books out of the local library, and subsequently attended Spring Lane Primary School. In the late 1960s Moore began publishing his own poetry and essays in fanzines, eventually setting up his own fanzine, through Embryo, Moore became involved in a group known as the Northampton Arts Lab. The Arts Lab subsequently made significant contributions to the magazine and he began dealing the hallucinogenic LSD at school, being expelled for doing so in 1970 – he later described himself as one of the worlds most inept LSD dealers. Whilst continuing to live in his parents home for a few years, he moved through various jobs, including cleaning toilets. In late 1973, he met and began a relationship with Northampton-born Phyllis Dixon, soon marrying, they moved into a new council estate in the towns eastern district while he worked in an office for a sub-contractor of the local gas board. Moore felt that he was not being fulfilled by this job, abandoning his office job, he decided to instead take up both writing and illustrating his own comics. He had already produced a couple of strips for several alternative fanzines and magazines, mouse for the local paper Anon, and St. Pancras Panda, a parody of Paddington Bear, for the Oxford-based Back Street Bugle. Alongside this, he and Phyllis, with their newborn daughter Leah, not long after this, in 1979 he also began publishing a new comic strip known as Maxwell the Magic Cat in the Northants Post, under the pseudonym of Jill de Ray. Earning a further £10 a week from this, he decided to sign off of social security, to learn more about how to write a successful comic-book script, he asked advice from his friend, comic-book writer Steve Moore, whom he had known since he was fourteen. Interested in writing for 2000AD, one of Britains most prominent comic magazines, Alan Moore then submitted a script for their long running, while the first few were rejected, Grant advised Moore on improvements, and eventually accepted the first of many
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Top 10 (comics)
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Top 10 is a superhero comic book limited series published by the Americas Best Comics imprint of Wildstorm, itself an imprint of DC Comics. The series includes several references and visual sight gags relating to the genre. For example, a caped street-corner watch-vendor uses a cardboard sign advertising signal watches, One plotline involves a boy-band called Sidekix whose hit single was called Holy Broken Hearts. The primary Top 10 series was a 12-issue series between 2000 and 2001, follow-ups included 2003s 5-issue mini-spinoff Smax and 2005s graphic novel Top 10, The Forty-Niners. 2005 also saw the publication of a 5-issue mini-series, written by Paul Di Filippo and illustrated by Jerry Ordway, titled Top 10, Beyond the Farthest Precinct. In 2008-2009, another 4-issue series, Top 10, Season Two, was written by Zander Cannon and Kevin Cannon, a single issue Special set Two weeks later was also produced. Fresh from the academy, Robyn Toybox Slinger is headed for her first day on the job at Precinct 10, despite a cold reception from her new partner Jeff Smax, Robyn quickly helps with investigating the scene of a homicide in the robot ghetto, Tin Town. The dead man, Stefan Saddles Graczik, leads the police to a drug factory, headed by none other than Professor Gromolko. When a telepath is brought in to interrogate the evil scientist, the next day, Shock-headed Pete and Dust Devil discover the body of a local prostitute with her head severed, indicating the horrific Libra killer is back. Elsewhere, Detective Synaesthesia gets the idea to use zen taxi driver Blindshot to track down Marta Boots Wesson, girlfriend, Boots reveals that Gromolko had a special delivery for a unique client. At the museum hideout where Boots and Saddles had been staying, back at the station, Hyperdog and Peregrine interview Annette Neural Nette Duvalle, a prostitute who was able to survive an encounter with Libra. She leads Hyperdog and Peregrine, along with Dust Devil, Shock-headed Pete and Jack Phantom, the police are able to arrest Libra, who is revealed to be former science hero Mrrgla Qualtz, an alien shapeshifter who assumed her natural form to feed during her metamorphic period. After Qualtzs arrest, several of her former Seven Sentinels teammates come to give her their support, even as she professes her innocence, Qualtz continues to use her telepathic powers to try and trick officers into freeing her from captivity. Meanwhile, King Peacock travels to Grand Central, a dimension where the Roman Empire never fell and is filled with countless Roman myth-based creatures. It was here that Saddles was to deliver the drug, but before Peacock can investigate anything, though he is victorious, King Peacock despairs that he had to assault and even kill fellow law officers. Smax and Toybox are called to the scene of an apparent suicide, only to discover the victim, back at headquarters, the precinct welcomes Commissioner Ultima, visiting from Grand Central for an inspection. Detective Synaesthesias special senses reveal that Ultima was involved in the drug dealings, Ultima goes berserk in resisting arrest, killing Girl One, Mrrgla Qualtz and injuring Toybox before she can be brought down by forcibly giving her the drug and causing her to overdose. In the aftermath of the attack, Joe Pi from Precinct 9 is transferred to replace Girl One
