In short, blog updates have taken a backseat to not spilling the fish:

I’ll try to catch up online once I’m finally able to catch my breath.

This is the first convention in awhile where I just went to have fun and check out the show, rather than working as a Christian Comic Arts Society volunteer organizing exhibitor tables or panel discussions. Long Beach is a new event compared to established conventions like Wondercon, San Diego, or the monthly comic/sci-fi show in Los Angeles. The LBCC is only a couple years old at this point and doesn’t draw nearly the same size of crowds, but it is professionally run, has a lot of great guests and scheduled events. I hope it continues to grow and do well.

I arrived too late in the afternoon to catch the panels I was interested in (such as the spotlight on Sheldon creator Dave Kellett) but I was able to enjoy several hours browsing the exhibit hall and meeting up with several other friends who were in attendance. There were a lot of fans there in full costume, but I forgot my camera. D’oh!

There was a nice range of comic dealers in the exhibit hall, but I made sure to keep myself to a budget — which is good because there were several tables overflowing in “bargain priced” Silver Age and Golden Age comics where I would have happily bought armloads of books if money had been no object.

But even on a budget, here’s a few of the gems I picked up at the Long Beach Comic Con, either for myself or as gifts for others…

Besides the regular comic dealers, there was also “Artist Alley”, where I was able to meet Ethan Nicolle, co-creator of “Axe Cop”, and commission a sketch from him. (For those unfamiliar with Axe Cop, it’s an action-comedy webcomic, drawn by a thirtysomething-year-old artist and written by his seven year old brother. It’s the kind of insanely non sequiter raw creative genius that only a kid can come up with.) Anyway, the sketch he did for me is of one of his many fun supporting characters who plays a small part (ha!) in the series: The Best Fairy Ever.

While at the show, I was also able to get a sketch from cartoonist Dave Kellett, creator of my personal favorite webcomic, Sheldon. I asked him draw a sketch for my wife, who was home recovering from an injured knee and unable to attend the show with me. In honor of her slow but steady recovery, I had him sketch his strip’s newest character, an accident-prone cat named “Lil’ Butter”. (Luckily, my gamble paid off, and my wife laughed out loud at the gift rather than just smacking me upside the head.)

Good times. Good times…

I think I many need to reconsider this blog, and maybe look into other blogging options. I seem to spend more time on maintenance for this WordPress installation than I do with actually writing for it.

I’ll also be helping out with the three CCAS panels over the show. (As a co-moderator for Thursday night’s mixer, and helping with the audio/video recording for Saturday and Sunday). Here’s the official writup from the comic-con.org programming guide…

Thursday, July 21

7:30-9:30 Open Meeting of the Christian Comic Arts Society— Fans and creators alike are invited to an informal after-hours time of Christian fellowship, networking, laughter prayer, and shop talk about the Christian comics movement. Special giveaways will be on hand for those in attendance. (Think of it as the fellowship hour after church…just with comic books instead of cookies and punch.) Hosted by CCAS members Kevin Yong (Ragged Capes) and Ralph Miley (New Visions Anthology) of NewCreationNow.com. Room 24ABC

Saturday, July 23

6:00-7:00 Spirituality in Comics: Is Mass Media Our New Church?— In comics, movies, and even Broadway musicals like The Book of Mormon, spiritual themed work seems to be unexpectedly coming from the least religious of sources. Panelists Sergio Cariello (The Action Bible), Buzz Dixon (Hits & Misses), Mike Shields (Blue Blazes), and Russell Dalton (Marvelous Myths: Marvel Superheroes and Everyday Faith) discuss how a new media world of comics and pop culture is exploring timeless truths. Special giveaways for those in attendance. Brought to you by the Christian Comic Arts Society. Room 4

Sunday, July 24

2:30-3:30 Christian Comics: The Calling of the Artist— What unique challenges do artists face in developing work for both mainstream and religious audiences? How can “Christian media” avoid becoming just a pale imitation of their secular counterparts? Panelists Sergio Cariello (The Action Bible), Eric Jansen (Missions Press), Steve Blount (Kingstone Media), Robert Luedke (Eye Witness), John Shore (I’m OK – You’re Not), Mike Shields (Blue Blazes), and moderator Buzz Dixon (Hits & Misses) discuss the challenges and rewards of following the call of personal faith and the creative arts. Special giveaways for those in attendance. Brought to you by the Christian Comic Arts Society. Room 23ABC

As always, we’ll be posting a full convention report and photos upon our return.

I’ve felt a couple different conflicting reactions to this. From a superheroic standpoint, I’m underwhelmed. It helps to keep in mind that this new plot of “Superman stands silently for 24 hours and then renounces his citizenship” comes on the heels of the multi-part “Superman takes a long walk” epic. Wow. Way to highlight the action and superheroic adventures in your comic books, DC.

From an internal storytelling logic standpoint, I don’t see how Superman can renounce his “citizenship” since he doesn’t really exist as a citizen. “Superman” is just a pseudonym for a costumed identity. Is there really a birth certificate, social security number, or voter registration listed in the name of “Superman”? So unless Superman plans to publicly reveal his true identity as Clark Kent, and then renounce Clark Kent’s citizenship, this whole plot point is, well, pointless. And a bald-faced lie.

(If I recall correctly, this question would have been a moot point back in the Silver Age, as the UN already granted Superman worldwide citizenship to every country on Earth in honor of his continually saving the entire planet.)

From a “political relevance” standpoint, the story feels painfully naive and thus ruins my suspension of disbelief. I can accept a space alien hero with super powers; I don’t accept that merely “standing in solidarity” will help protect a crowd of tens of thousands of unarmed demonstrators against a murderously oppressive regime with a long track record of brutalizing and killing those who oppose it. I’m supposed to believe that the unarmed protesters will somehow not be rounded up and shot as soon as Superman flies away from the scene? And that (as shown in the story) after Superman flies away, a protester and soldier will shake hands and exchange a flower? Really? This must be taking place in some whimsical fantasy parallel universe of rainbows and unicorns, because that’s not the results I’m seeing here in the real world at the time this comic was published.

(And speaking of parallel universes, I wonder what Ultraman is up to on Earth-3. He’s supposed to be the mirror universe version of Superman, so what’s he doing as Superman renounces his citizenship? Is he suddenly turning patriotic? Is he pulling a double negative and renouncing his non-citizenship? Inquiring minds want to know! Or, at least, geeky ones do.)

If I was really cynical, I’d suspect that the editorial direction of this had something to do with the fact that DC/Warner Brothers lost their legal battle for ownership of the Superman copyright in America but still retains full ownership of Superman’s international copyright. Hence, any profits that DC/WB makes from Superman sales in the USA have to be split with the creators’ heirs, but DC/WB gets to keep 100% of the profits from the international audience. Thus, there is a strong financial incentive to increase the international appeal of the character and downplay any American ties. (Y’know, if I was the cynical type, that is.)

From just a personal standpoint, DC continues in their quest to completely alienate me as a reader.  Since their efforts to sever Superman from the trademarked motto of “Truth, Justice and the American Way” make little sense as a story, I can only assume it was meant as some sort of publicity stunt or political statement. Either option leaves me discouraged that nobody at DC seems able to articulate what “the American Way” is, or why it still might be something worthwhile for Superman to promote in a world of authoritarian dictators who gun down their protesting citizens in the street. (For one of the best summaries I’ve heard on what “the American Way” actually is, I recommend this YouTube clip of Dennis Prager’s lecture on The American Trinity: Liberty, In God We Trust, and E pluribus unum.)

Final thought: I miss the Golden Age heroes of the 1940s… superheroes who didn’t fuss and worry about the political ramifications of punching Hitler in the jaw. I mean, if your superhero comic book is going to dive into geopolitical wish fulfillment fantasy, go all the way!

Lev Gleason's Daredevil #1 (1941) - copyright expired, now in the public domain

No, this is actually the latest gem I’ve discovered from the Golden Age of comic books: the Tiger Man — a man with the boiling fury of raging tiger blood, before tiger blood was trendy.

He first appeared in 1946, and lasted through Rangers Comics #28-46, published by Fiction House. (Listed as Rangers of Freedom at the Grand Comicbook Database.)

Short explanation of the character: Bob Benton is a wealthy adventurer who works as a private investigator offering his services for free to those in need. He has used his wealth to outfit himself with a tiger-plane, tiger-car, etc. And whenever he gets angry, he’s pictured with a growling tiger head superimposed in the background, while the helpful narrative captions describe the fury of raging tiger blood within his veins as he performs some incredible feat of strength.

Or just punches someone. He does lots of punching in this series.

As to his origin story, I haven’t been able to track down a copy of it yet. However, according to the mumbling of Tiger Man himself, his backstory involves an adventure in Burma with “A strange story… ancient temple… voodoo priest… blood of the tiger that mangled me…” Sounds like fun times.

Tiger Man’s comics, like many others from the Golden Age, are now in the public domain, and have been scanned and made freely available at sites such as goldenagecomics.co.uk and digitalcomicmuseum.com. The “public domain superhero wiki” is also a useful research tool, and is where I discovered “Tiger Man” in the first place.