Tag: the flash
November 24 / / Cons

Heroes & Villains FanFest 2015 Recap And Review

This past weekend in the spacious San Jose Convention Center, a unique convention took place that blew my socks off. Aptly named Heroes and Villains FanFest for the mission to bring together celebrity and artistic talent under one room for the fans. That’s why it’s called “FanFest” because the group that organized this event wanted to focus on the fans and not the talent invited to attend. It’s an interesting idea that is quite refreshing amidst the larger conventions that focus on either too many things or limit the celebrity interaction.

Heroes and Villains FanFest in San Jose is actually the first time this type of convention was held anywhere. The creators and organizers of this FanFest all were a part of Walker Stalker Con held in various cities. And their main mission was to somehow capture this idea of connecting fans with celebrities and providing a memorable experience. In my opinion, they did a great job and Heroes and Villains FanFest was one of the most fun and memorable experiences I’ve had at a convention in awhile. This was made in part by the amount of celebrities present such as Stephen Amell, John Barrmowman, Lord Mesa, Paul Blackthorne, Karen Gillan, and Hayley Atwell.

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June 16 / / Guides

SDCC Guide: Artist Alley

We continue our countdown to San Diego Comic-Con 2015 by talking about a big part of the show, in my opinion, the artists! Comics wouldn’t be what they are without the talented visual artistry of these individuals who bring countless stories to life. They create these elaborate worlds where we can live in, interact with the characters, and see how the stories play out, albeit in the pages of the comics we read. And, San Diego Comic-Con bolsters tables after tables of these skilled artisans, creating sketches, signing autographs, and selling art fit for framing.

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I tend to spend a lot of time at Artist Alley, just walking up and down the tables, seeing if anything catches my eye. I’ve fallen in love with a few artists along the way as a result of this, and as a comic fan first, if the art grabs my attention as I pass by, I’m more or less going to grab it for my Batcave wall. Since this is a guide, I’m going to try to give a few suggestions on getting the most out of Artist Alley. In the ever-capable words of Benedict Cumberbatch,

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    1. Get familiar with the artists

    The key is to know who is going to have a table at Artist Alley. Some big names like Francis Manapul, previous writer/artist on The Flash, Joe Benitez, known for his latest creation, Lady Mechanika, and Stanley Lau aka Artgerm, known for being an awesome digital artist, have had tables in Artist Alley in years past. Artists like Stanley Lau typically will cap the number of prints he sells per customer and you can bet your bottom dollar that certain characters will sell out each day (he allocates a certain number of character prints per day in order to give patrons a chance to purchase the character they want). So if you really want to get certain prints from a certain artist, you may want to dedicate visiting them first thing! I typically follow my favorites artists via Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and they typically will have a nifty advertisement of what they are selling at SDCC. I know that helps me decide on hitting up Artgerm before others if there’s a character print or art book that I want to pick up. You can check out the list of artist who will be at Artist Alley here.

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April 27 / / Industry

Recommended Discussion: Retcon

Retroactive Continuity, or Retcon, for short is a term that is all together too common in the comic book world. It basically means that there’s an alteration to an established fact within continuity, and comic book writers use this strategy to add, remove, and of course, alter stories.

With all the stories being written and new creative teams taking the reins for various properties, there always a chance things will get retconned. As a reader, it’s something that I don’t personally enjoy but I understand where publishers and writers are coming from. It sort of reminiscent of the music industry where nothing is original anymore. But with so many talented creatives entering the comic book industry, new stories are being thought up with fresh perspectives such as Scott Snyder’s addition to the Batman canon with his Court of Owls story arc or Francis Manapul’s work on The Flash.

But retcon examples litter the stories we read.  A prime example when a writer added something that wasn’t already established within continuity is what Brian Wood began on IDW’s Star Wars before Kieron Gillan picked up the mantle when it moved over to Marvel. Wood started to write stories that involved all our favorite Star Wars characters from the point after the Battle of Yavin, right after Episode 1: A New Hope.

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November 12 / / Guides

The CW’s The Flash Character Guide

UPDATE: May 20, 2015

One of the awesome trends happening in pop culture entertainment the last few years is the influx of high-quality TV shows based on comic books. A combination of great screenwriters and comic book writers working together with TV producers and directors have brought the Marvel and DC universes to the small screen. As a result, we’ve got Arrow, The Flash, Gotham, Agent’s of S.H.I.E.L.D., and Constantine, with others in the works such as Daredevil, Teen Titans, Agent Carter, Supergirl and The Defenders. Who knows what else!

As new viewers and fans watch these shows, it’s often challenging to know who’s who, especially if you haven’t read the comics religiously. Several characters are introduced and they may have a deep history in the comic universe, and just knowing a little bit more about these characters creates a more immersive and complete viewing experience. We’ve done the work for you.

Jump : Everyman / Bug-Eyed Bandit / Trickster / Golden Glider / Peek-a-Boo / Pied Piper / Reverse Flash / Rainbow Raider / Green Arrow / Blackout / Girder / Plastique / The General / Gorilla Grodd / Felicity Smoak / Captain Cold / Heat Wave / Firestorm / Mist / Multiplex / Simon Stagg / Weather Wizard / The Flash
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January 21 / / Industry

Creative Team Hot Potato – Following Your Favorite Creators