(Press Release) – Join tens of thousands of fellow fans as they converge on the Austin Convention Center at Austin Comic Con to celebrate the best in pop culture. Austin Comic Con brings it all – Movies, Comics, Toys, Video Gaming, Games, TV, Horror, Wrestling, MMA, Original Art, Collectibles, Anime, Manga & More! This is Texas’ best new Comic Con! Austin Comic Con is brought to you by the group who produces the most widely attended Comic Con tour!

FRIDAY
2:00-2:45 P.M.
WIZARD ART SCHOOL W/GREG HORN
Superstar Marvel and DC artist Greg Horn (Blackest Night covers) leads a discussion on digital art and takes you through his creative process.

3:00-3:45 P.M.
THE INCREDIBLE HULK Q&A W/LOU FERRIGNO
The original Hulk, Ferrigno sits down for an exclusive Q&A about the classic show and his status as a pop culture icon.

3:00-3:45 P.M.
THE ART OF ‘CHEW’ AND ‘SWEETS’
Indy art sensations, Rob Guillory (Chew) and Kody Chamberlain (Sweets) join the Wizard World Tour and discuss their breakout Image hits.

4:00-4:45 P.M.
WOMEN OF WRESTLING W/TORRIE, LITA, TARA, CHRISTIE AND JACKIE
Join Torrie Wilson, Amy Dumas, Lisa Marie Varon, Christy Hemme and Jackie Haas as they talk about the ups and downs of being a woman in professional wrestling.

WIZARD ART SCHOOL W/ALÉ GARZA
Fan-favorite artist Alé Garza (Superman/Batman) takes fans on an artistic tour of his style and storytelling.

5:00-5:45 P.M.
BIONIC BUDDIES
The Bionic Woman, Lindsay Wagner, and co-star Richard Anderson discuss the pop culture hit and its continued popularity with fans across the world.

5-5:45 P.M.
WIZARD SCHOOL: HOW TO SCULPT WITH THE SHIFLETT BROTHERS
The fan-favorite sculptors take fans and aspiring toy and statue makers through their creative process.

6-6:45 P.M.
JAMES O’BARR Q&A
The Crow creator talks about his dark creation and the plans for a new Crow franchise in the movies.

7:30-10:00 P.M.
THE MATRIX SCREENING (FREE)
Relive the movie phenomenon that changed filmmaking for a generation! Starring Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne, this visual feast is NOT to be missed.

8:00-10:00 P.M.
DRINK & DRAW W/UNCLE STAPLE
Join Uncle Staple of STAPLE! Independent Media Expo, and some of comics’ top artists and newcomers, as they join forces to raise cash and art for charity. (Club Deville, 900 Red River St.)

(more…)

(Press Release, NY) – Gareb Shamus, CEO of New York based Wizard Entertainment, yesterday announced the launch of Austin Comic Con 2010 Wizard World Convention, to be held at the Austin Convention Center from November 12-14, 2010.

Fans have been asking for this event for some time. In an e-mail to Shamus, Larry Nickels Jr. wrote, “There are many people that I know of personally who would love to attend the convention if it is returned to our great state.???

Another fan, Matthew Adamic put it more succinctly with, “Bring back Wizard World Texas.???

“The fans have spoken and they want us back in Texas. We previously had a great experience here and are thrilled to be back,??? said Shamus. “It’s a great city with a top-notch convention center and we’re really looking forward to seeing our fans at the type of pop-culture festival only we can bring.”

Austin is now the seventh city in the Wizard World Comic Con tour. Attendees can anticipate the strong caliber lineup of stars and exhibitors that fans across the nation have come to expect.

For information on Austin Comic Con and other Wizard events, visit www.wizardworld.com.

WIZARD WORLD COMIC CON TOUR
Toronto Comic Con, Direct Energy Centre, March 26-28, 2010
Anaheim Comic Con, Anaheim Convention Center, April 16-18, 2010
Philadelphia Comic Con, Philadelphia Convention Center June 11-13, 2010
Chicago Comic Con, Donald E. Stephens (Rosemont) Convention Center, August 19-22, 2010
Big Apple Comic Con, Pier 94, October 7-10, 2010
Austin Comic Con, Austin Convention Center, November 12-14, 2010
New England Comic Con, TBD

Predator by Terry Parr. See him and his work at Staple 09!

So with the economy in it’s current state, “The Powers That Be” have decided to pull one of the biggest comic conventions in Texas (and L.A., too). Wizard World Texas (and L.A.) will be postponed this year.

This sucks. Wizard World Texas always seemed to get the shaft with publicity and numbers. It wasn’t because there are a small amount of fans here… not at all. It just seemed like the season for comic conventions was already wound down by the time WizWorld Texas came around. As a result, the bigger companies like Marvel and DC had not been coming and this past year hardly ANY comic companies opened an exhibitor booth. They primarily relied on Artist Alley and private sellers with a few indie exhibitors. Coupled with Diamond’s new distribution policies to small indie shops, this may not bode well for the indie comic creator and indie comic lover.

So what is a Texas comic geek like myself to do? Why, find alternate routes of fun, of course. Wizard may have really messed up. Instead of giving me one big con to look forward to, I think I may frequent a few. A quick search online pulls up the following:

Dallas Comic Con (Richardson Texas, Jan 24-25)
JMV Comic Show (Austin Texas, Jan 25th)
JMV Comc Show (Killeen Texas, Feb 22nd)
Fear Fest (Dallas TX, March 13-15)
All-Con (Addison TX, March 13-15)
Screw Attack Gaming Con (Dallas Tx, July 3-5)

And don’t forget STAPLE! (Austin Tx, March 7th), where we will actually be among the exhibitors!

Happy conventions, everyone.

-T. Danger

Timothy Danger @ Project 4 booth - Wizard World Tx 2008

Wizard World Tx rehash with T.Danger 

Let’s talk comics, shall we?

I had the opportunity to chat a little with Hugo Cantu (comic artist, colorist, writer and inker) from Project IV studios out of Laredo Texas while loitering at Wizard World Texas. Why is that cool? Project IV is the leading independent small press comic publishing house/studio in Laredo.

There’s a lot to be done before you can just get up and work for Marvel or DC, my aspiring friend. It usually begins with your own books. So what if you can’t find a good creative team to help bring your new super hero tale to fruition? You hook up with these guys! “We’re always looking for writers, artists, colorists, people with talent and ideas so we can work with their stuff,” Cantu said.

In a world where print media is slowly dying out, the die hard comic fans are looking for more and often they can find it in the DIY world of indie comics. If indie comics can be compared to indie music, it’s often much more exciting.

Project IV works on several projects. Besides titles like HIRED GUN and DRAUM, they also do a sort of hodge podge collection of short stories called FUSION X. This book really lets the wide array of artists and writers show off their various ideas and stories in the form of short one shot viginettes. It’s not unlike taking several sports cars for a spin.

Another fun part of FUSION X and Project IV is their mascot, Fan Girl. “She does everything, she’s always on her adventures,” Cantu adds. A quick look at the prints and covers on the tables confirms that. Here, she is doing an homage to KILL BILL, in another she is a gun girl, and another a pin up chick.

For Project IV, variety is the spice of life. “We try to show off as much as possible,” Hugo said. He flips through the various pages of FUSION X and discusses the different techniques that were used.

And then it hits me. This is a man who is passionate about his work and books. It is what makes going to Cons so much fun; to speak with a creator who is into their work so much, it makes you excited to check it out.

Keep an eye out as we keep reporting on Project IV’s up coming projects.

To check them out, go to www.project4publishing.com.

-Timothy Danger

Even heroes would rather face villains than angry girlfriends

We here at busygamer.com have a problem; we really are superheroes. While that is cool and exciting to the rest of you in Nerdland, it is positively awful when we have to explain it to any hapless girlfriends we seem to acquire and lose. “Yes, dear… I really DID fight a 20 foot tall beer monster, that’s why I smell like this,??? or “Lipstick? No, Dr. Chaos has been going through some issues lately and I had to put him away.???

Living with this problem isn’t easy, so we are glad to see a comic like LOVE AND CAPES out in indie comic land. We were even happier to see it in Wizard World Texas this past weekend so we could take the time out to talk with creator Thomas Zahler.

“I’ve been working on it for about 2 or 3 years,??? Zahler said. That’s a long time in self publishing years, and rightly so that we should see IDW printing its version in trade paberback THIS MONTH.

“Love and Capes is a superhero romantic comedy… He’s a superhero that says ‘I love my girlfriend, and I’m going to tell her that, but if I tell her that I have to tell her everything’,??? Zahler explains. He brings up good points, “Is it ever a good time to tell your girlfriend you have X-ray vision????

If it sounds like a crazy sitcom, well surprisingly enough, it has roots in it. “I had written a sitcom pitch for a contest kind of like Project Greenlight, and I found I really like doing that, and I was doing an adventure book at the time and I need to find something to marry my love of superheroes with something funny,??? Zahler said. “It was that ‘chocolate/peanut butter moment’… “The most common comment I get is from people who say ‘My girlfriend doesn’t normally read comics but I gave her your book and she’s hooked.’ ???

There are 8 issues of the book out now, #9 will be out in January, and #10 will be for free on Free Comic book day next spring.

You can find the book at www.loveandcapes.com

If you want to get hooked, you can read the first issue on the website.

The trade paperback will be available at most online sites, (Amazon, Barnes and Noble,
comic shops, etc.)

-Timothy Danger

The team at the Gabriel / Project 4 Booth

It’s not a secret that vampires are “in??? nowadays. You can’t go a year without seeing at least one vampire movie or novel make it big. HBO has True Blood, the Tweens have the new Twilight movie, but what about the rest of us?

Enter GABRIEL, an indie produced black and white graphic novel that was featured at Wizard World Texas. The book follows a vampire named Gabriel, as he roams the streets of El Paso and Juarez Mexico. The thing we love about GABRIEL is that it pulls no punches. You won’t find any sissy boy pretty vampires here. In this book, the undead are damned and gritty, and the main character Gabriel would have it no other way.

The story is based on real events happening around El Paso and Juarez Mexico. It was originally meant to be a novel but writer Jaime “Jimmy??? Portillo decided to make it into a graphic novel. There was only one problem… he can’t draw well.

“I’m not much of an artist, I had my friends act out the scenes and I converted it to black and
white.??? Portillo says. “It gave it a dark feel, it gets a lot of praise, I’m pretty happy about it.???

Another treasure the books boast is the locations in Texas and Mexico. Portillo seems to
have a real love for the history of the two towns. The reader becomes immersed in the town’s
history as well as certain “vampire??? explanations of how things went down.

As mentioned before, the main character Gabriel, isn’t a nice guy once he turns, as a matter
of fact he becomes a bit of a jerk, and although you know you should really hate his guts, you
sort of find yourself rooting for him once the chips finally stack up against him.

The book was produced with help from the Xeric Foundation.

You can purchase the book for 15 bucks at www.Indyplanet.com.

Or contact the creator at Gabriel-vampire@hotmail.com.

-Timothy Danger