April 2010 is Comic Book Month in Portland, Oregon
And to kick off the event – Stumptown Comics, the Sequential Art Gallery and McTarnahan’s Brewing Co. hosted an art show at the Portland Center for Performing Arts.
Dan Robertson and I attended, had a few drinks with locally distilled vodka and brewed beer, then took in the art. Mayor Sam Adams made an appearance and officially proclaimed April 2010 to be Comic Book Month in Portland, Oregon.
Free guided tours featuring the PCPA exhibit as well as other local galleries (City Hall) will be provided to Stumptown attendees during the fest. Lots of cool artwork up on the walls. Really stoked for the Stumptown Comics Fest at the end of the month.
Check out a video I put together of the Mayor’s speech. An entertaining, funny and laid back dude.
A List of the 40+ Featured Artists:
Lobster Johnson: The Iron Prometheus *Guest Blog*
Dan Robertson will be guest reviewing Lobster Johnson: The Iron Prometheus by Mike Mignola and Jason Armstrong.
First impression is that it looks pretty good for a comic not drawn by the man himself. The Mignola feel really is something that helps the reader into his creepy world of demons and morally grey heroes. Here Jason Armstrong gives a good imitation of Mignola’s very unique style, but that’s all it is, and you can feel it.
Much like Hellboy we find our hero Lobster Johnson fighting the Nazis and in the process finding all sorts of paranormal trouble. It occurs to me that the masked vigilante in New York City has been done about a million times before but I just can’t help getting sucked into the world of Hellboy.
It’s funny, much of what makes Lobster Johnson a superhero is really just what the reader brings to him. From the second you see him you fill in the blanks of things like: how he operates, what kind of people he works with, what kind of man he is. These are all taken from other superheroes and really don’t bring much to the table here. In fact there are some really glaring things that kinda bugged me about the setup of the character.
First, with no real superpowers to speak of, the Lobster has to rely on his band of merry men. It’s hinted that his sidekicks are loyal to him due to wookie life debts, the same way the Shadow recruits (he saves your life, and Godfathers you into service *holy crap that was a lot of references!) Also he disappears when you are talking to him, which is rude. Another character even has the nerve to remark, “He does that.”
Ouch. He also sports a very Ninja Turtle like hideout within the sewers of the greater NYC area. In a throw away line one character remarks on the cannibals that live in the sewers, and here I thought crooks were bad. That aside, there is some great stuff that the Lobster presents; like branding his victims (alive or dead) on the forehead with a lobster claw symbol hidden in his right glove. It ends up being used as a last-ditch weapon too!
Oh, he also has a very Tick like battle cry that I must admit is pretty cool. He turns and says, “Time to taste the Lobsters claw!” Or, if an enemy has just burst into flames he might say, “Burning justice is served.” Makes me think of how delectable lobster tastes. And isn’t the thought of delicious lobster enough to pick up this book?
Lobster Johnson turns out to be a really fun character that just keeps popping up in the Hellboy-verse too, so far he has made his way into nine publications! I am going to pick a few more up and get my Lobster Johnson fix. And maybe just a regular lobster fix too…Mmmm, burning claw of justice.
|Guest Blog By: Dan Robertson [@DanielZRob] |
The Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense
LINK LOVE
Dan
tinyheroes
Tiny Heroes 