Can’t find your trusty bootleg copy of “The Smurfs?” If you went to the Cincinnati Comic and Anime convention, you would have been in luck.
The first convention to come near Cincinnati in a long time, the Cincinnati Comic and Anime convention took place at the Covington, Ky., Radisson Saturday, Nov. 7, and Sunday, Nov. 8. Largely a trade show for industry aficionados, this convention had a wide selection of collectable wares on exhibit, along with some of the creators and artists responsible for the very goods on display.
Admittedly, this was my first Comic con. While I did attend a New Jersey horror film convention several years back (mostly to sit in the same room as George Romero), I didn’t know what to expect from this event. I was expecting the room to be larger. The limited space forced traffic to move faster than I anticipated, making it uncomfortable to peruse as casually as I would have enjoyed.
Brian Williams of RavenHammer Comics was in attendance, promoting his newest comic “Lucius Hammer.” Allegedly the bastard son of John Henry, the steel-driving American folk hero featured prominently in tall tales and blues songs, Lucius Hammer is a young, rural black man with extraordinary strength and power.
“I tried to mesh Shaft with Superman,” Williams said. “Although I’ve always wanted to make a John Henry comic.”
The premiere issue of “Lucius Hammer” begins with a brief glimpse into his childhood, where his powers are revealed in infancy. As he grows up, he faces the challenge of identifying his place in society by experimenting with many different facets of the community — from a Chicago gangster, to MLB All Star, to World War II hero to superhero … all within two pages. While this promotional issue is used more to introduce readers to a potential new favorite character, the pacing seemed rushed and little real characterization was available within the tight confines of a 10-page comic. I generally just wanted more after finishing the comic, which means Williams and Christian Colbert did something right.
The pencil and color artwork, provided by Colbert is brightly colored with bold, black outlines, evoking a visual style similar to the latest interpretation of Batman featured on Cartoon Network, “Batman: The Brave and the Bold.”
There were not nearly enough people in costume when I attended Saturday, which was definitely a bummer. Upon arrival I saw a couple walk hand in hand from the Radisson, dressed in unidentifiable (to me) obscure fantasy-anime garb. My girlfriend dressed as Triana Orpheus from “The Venture Brothers” (super hot), but that was pretty much it. Aside from a trench coated fellow with a gas mask and a fedora, there were generally far too few costumed in attendance while I was there.
Without going too deep into it, I was pleased with the potential introduced by the Cincinnati Comic and Anime convention, but will probably reserve attending another until the next really big one (Ohayocon 2010?). There’s no telling who will show up, so it may be best to keep your nerdy eyes and ears open for the next convention, be it Star Trek, Star Wars, anime or a new comic you’ve never heard of. Heck, even Superman started out as “just another comic,” so you’ll never know until you give it a shot.
Do you go to many comic and anime conventions? What is your favorite part of these events? Did you dress up at the Cincinnati convention and want to show off your costume on our web site, www.newsrecord.org? E-mail me, slacker.solutions@gmail.com and title your message “Comic Con.”
