Philly Comic Con: The Do's & Don't of a Career in Comics

Hello Infinites! Welcome to another convention report. It's Broken Infinite (former CBC) EIC Frankie Rodriguez. You know. The guy that almost killed Stan Lee. *sigh*

    Anyway, I mentioned that I had attended some of the panels during the Convention. Here is one of them. The Do's and Don'ts of a Career in Comics was on Friday night and it featured three artist: Carlo Pagulayan; most notably known for his art during Planet Hulk; Harvey Tolibao; currently artist on Green Arrow; and finally  Stephen Segovia;who is mostly known for Ultimate Avengers vs. New Ultimates.

    As I sat down, the moderator gave the three artists the floor and allowed them to introduce themselves and their current works. As each of them talked, fans were excited to listen about how these men all broke into the comic book industry. After some comical antidotes from the trio, particularly Segovia chirping in to keep the audiences attention, they opened the majority of the panel for questions.

   After a fan how each artist learned to draw as the artist all pitched in their answers. Pagulayan stated with, "We're all self taught. We all didn't go to school for this. I would deconstruct Joe Quesada, Marc Silvestri . . . practicing all their styles while coming up with my own. . . I put in my first submission to a talent search in 1997 but it was lost in the mail."

 Segovia added, "When I was a kid, I wanted to be a sketch artist. . . I drew children's comics because there really wasn't any super hero comics in the Philippines."

And Tolibao chirped with sound advice to potential artist, "To be a comic book artist it's to be a comic book artist for life. You can't stop believing in yourself. I wanted to be a comic book artist since I was 4. If you want to be an artist . . . you need someone to who is in the industry who knows their stuff and tell you honestly about your artwork."

 Pagulayan continued more of Tolibao about being an artist and how to make it as a comic book artist. "You will have to take criticism and be your own worst critic. If you are aware of your own short comings, than work on it."

 "If you are gonna be an artist, buy comics. Study comics. Copy and learn the work of others and let that help you with your own work," replied Segovia.

   As more questions about breaking to the business were given out, the three artist shared stories about their experiences that many felt were good, inspirational ideas. Just before the panel closed, Harvey Tolibao left the attendees with these words:

  "If you want to make it in comics, you need to be comfortable. You have to love what you are doing."

After that, the panel wrapped up with fans thanking the artists for their time. It was a great panel with a lot of solid advice for any artist who wants to be in the comics industry.

   Ah ... that was fun. Hmm . .. what is next?

Countdown: Top 10 Avengers

by Darryll YTC Carter

Two weeks ago I posted my top 10 mutants showing the people I'm rooting for during the Avengers vs X-Men event. This time its the Avengers' turn. Let's get to it.

Captain America

     Without any contest remotely, Cap is my number one Avenger. I mean…. He’s Cap. He earned my respect from the pages of the Ultimates back in my high school days. I’m pro-American and Cap is as pro-America as it gets (before it becomes unhealthy or just racist). He is pure American everything that we should be. Everything that any self respecting and aspiring hero wants to be.  Then there is the shield. He’s surgical with that thing. Not to mention till this day he’s the only man I’ve seen literally walk up to the Hulk and just slug him one.

 Hulk

     If you would have seen me when I first saw the Incredible Hulk or maybe the time I saw the Hulk jump out of a nuclear explosion, you would know my appreciation for the Hulk is borderline orgasmic. That’s right I swoon folks, swoon when I see the Hulk go on his rampages and exert his power and the devastation it relinquishes upon the battlefield or an unsuspecting alien’s face. “Hulk Smash!” = Me happy.

Spider-Man

     Good ole Parker. My favorite superhero tied for first place with none other than Bruce Wayne himself. He’s got the jokes, he’s got the smarts and he had the girl… redhead that is. She’ll be back again don’t even worry about it Pete. We’ll be okay. We’ll be okay… Maybe you can hook up with Patty Spivot, she looks a lot like your recent ex, especially since she wants nothing to do with Flash.

Scarlet Witch

     

      Mmmm, Wanda. I said why I liked her in the Mutant countdown and interestingly enough she clutches the #4 spot again. I like her enough that she appears on both lists. Here’s an excerpt from the Mutant countdown on Wanda:

Often viewed as the favorite child of Magneto, Scarlet Witch is a top tier mutant not to be trifled with. Scarlet Witch manipulates probability fields and reality via her hexes. While she has been deemed unstable on more than one fair occasion, Wanda once firmly warmed a seat in the Avengers alongside her love, Vision. To put into perspective just how powerful Wanda is, I only need to mention House of M. Don’t know what that is? Google it or go buy it. Man I love women with power.

Valkyrie

      Valkyrie is pretty much what I’d go for if I were a superhero. Like Wanda she is a mesh of power and beauty. Besides riding shotgun and being the resident strongman for the first version of the Secret Avengers she has a very poetic and archaic way with words. And who doesn’t like a girl who can wield a big ass sword. Ring Ring. Hello? Valk, it’s for you. Cloud wants his buster sword back.

Iron Man

      Tony Stark would probably have been number three or four on this list before Civil War went down. While his side did come up on top, we all know he regrets the brunt of his actions. Downey and the Iron Man films saved Tony for me. Saved him from the abyss he was doomed for in my mind. That said, Its hard to hate the guy. It is like really hard. You have to try. Like discover a new element try.

               

Black Widow

     Scarlett Johansson.

She Hulk

      Banner’s cousin Jennifer Walters; experienced and great lawyer by day, big green, sexy, muscle pounding machine by choice. The beauty of She Hulk’s character is that she chooses to be She Hulk. She’s in perfect control of her transformation, thanks to the opposite effect it had on her as opposed to her cousin.

Wasp

     I’m not sure how to explain how or why I like the wasp. Is it that I like the Wasp or is it that I like what happened to the Wasp? Vague? I’ll explain. In the Ultimates, the Wasp was married to Hank Pym, Giant Man, who also happened to be abusive. One day after an argument he decided to spray her with some bug spray and have his mind controlled ant army ravage her. (Not like that…) They roughed her up a bit… a lot. Cap handled that nasty business. I’ve always thought that was an amazing writing choice. To put that in there. A hot head hero, who abuses his mutant wife, who can shrink down to the size of an insect and sprout wings, with bug spray. It was near genius.

Thor

     “By Odin’s beard!” That’s pretty much the extent of my appreciation. LMAO. Who says that? Thor, that’s who. Oh and Mjolnir. It doesn’t take much to please me folks.

HECTOR'S TOP 11 COMIC MOMENTS OF 2011

Hey there clashers with 2012 right around the corner I thought id take a look at those special panels that made 2011 a great year for comic fans. Up, up, and away we go.


11.Casey Jones dawning his mask for the time in the series: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles- I don’t know about you guys but that was one of those moments that hit with a dash of  awesome with a pinch of nostalgia. Any fan of the franchise following this series knows they were itching to see that since he was introduced as Casey Jones. Any comic fan that likes costumed characters knows that the moment you see that character in that iconic costume is a big deal.  


10.Logan sending Matt Murdock to sue the Hellfire clubs’ Black King: Wolverine and the X-Men- I know doesn’t seem like a big deal but hear me out. First off the little brat has been a thon in the X-Men’s side for quite a while being a large element leading to Schism providing the ’Super’ Sentinel that attacked Utopia. Then doing all he could to destroy the Jean Grey school he’s lucky he wasn’t dealing with old Logan who would have gutted the twerp without a second thought. But the new sensible Logan sent one of the most iconic lawyers in the Marvel universe after him, the only other acceptable alternative would have been sending She-Hulk but I believe the subtlety of Matt played out very well.


9.Aunt May pulling a revolver on Electro in Death of Spiderman- Before the DOSM series, I didn’t really read Ultimate Spiderman all like that; so I’m used to seeing Aunt May as a frail little old lady that the last thing I would have expected to see is her pulling this big old gun out of her glove compartment and busting a cap in a highly powered super villain. I was astounded I applaud Mrs. Parker for her courage and homage to Dirty Harry.

 
8.The Hulk punching a hulked out boar so hard he traveled from the Earth’s core through the ocean floor and landed on an icy tundra: Incredible Hulk: Well that was quite a bit to type but I had to have this on my list. You see since being separated from Banner Hulk doesn’t really seem angry any more so some readers might say he doesn’t have it in him anymore. Some may go as far as saying he went soft but in moments like that he reminds us all ’hey I may have found inner peace but I’m still the Hulk and Hulk is still the strongest there is.’

7.Nick Fury and his hulked out Avengers team up with the Ultimates to stop super powered anarchy in Asia : Avengers Vs. New Ultimates- Seems like just a clean up scene but seeing as the scene before had them pitted against each other I rather enjoyed it. That surprise team-up element gets me every time and the hulked out aspect helped. Hulks smash on.

6.Thor frying Gregory Stark: Avengers Vs. New Ultimates- Call it a dark sense of humor but I found it hilarious and the way Thor answers to Tony when he freaks….Priceless. After everything Gregory did selling super powers on the black market pitting Danvers and Fury against each other an causing worldwide panic lets just say karma is a cruel mistress. Thor I raise my glass to thee.


5. Miles Morales receiving his new costume from SHIELD: Ultimate Comics Presents All New Spiderman-As I mentioned back at number 11 the first glimpse at that costume is a big deal. Even more so when the character receives said costume as a right of passage. To me this moment symbolizes Mr. Morales truly being accepted into the Marvel universe. That being said I salute you Miles, wear that costume with pride and make us proud.  


4.Spidey combining his spider-sense with his kung fu training: Spider-Island- after losing his spider sense Pete sought kung fu training to bridge the gap but after getting it back during Spider-Island it just made him that much better. It was like he was unstoppable 3 steps ahead of everyone it was like Bruce Lee in the Matrix. Well done Peter, well done.

 
3.Superman bum rushing Green Lantern: Justice League- I’m not sure but seeing teammates fight before they form a team gets me all giddy inside and I know I’m not the only one. Another thing that made this moment epic was the fact that it happened after a major ego trip from Hal. Most readers will say Mr. Jordan was quite arrogant in his first years and would probably join me as I tip my hat to Kal-El.


2.The arrival of Darkseid: Justice League- Just as first suit up is a monumental occasion so is the first appearance of a major villain especially one that’s been redesigned. Kind of came off like Michael Weston from Burn Notice with that comment. Any way his arrival took up the majority of a two page spread and with good reason. He is one of the Leagues greatest adversaries what better way to bring them together. His appearance has just paved the way for an epic story arc.


1.The return of Johnny Storm: Fantastic Four: Some readers may be angered that he’s back because they don’t like that comic characters rarely ever stay dead. Well those naysayers need not agree with me for I was ecstatic at Mr. Storm’s return. His ‘death’ was a big moment in comic history making his return that much more epic. The man has been through hell and back and is that much greater for it. Welcome back Johnny you have been missed.


Well that’s it folks its been a great year in comics and I’m glad I could share it with you until the new year this Hector signing off until next time friends. Keep Clashing