2014 tricon program - Tri-State Comic-Con

COMICS • CREATORS • TOYS • GAMES
10 AM - 6 PM
FREE
PROGRAM
The Tri-State Comic Con
May 31, 2014
$10 ADMISSION • KIDS UNDER 10 ENTER FREE
Mick Foley
AMAZING
COSTUMES
INDUSTRY
CREATORS
ILLUSTRATORS
AND ARTISTS
HUNTINGTON, WV • MAY 31, 2014 • 10AM - 6PM
TRICON 2014
2
WWW.TRISTATECON.NET
We got to work planning the 2014 Tri-State Comic Con (Tricon) on the floor of
the 2013 show. As we saw the success that the show was becoming, we knew we
had to step up the game or else we would plateau. But the question stood: How do
you come up with a better lineup than Robert Venditti, Duane Swiercynski and all
the other amazing creators that we brought on board for the 2013 show?
Eric answered that question early when he called James and said he was talking
with a bunch of new comic creators, the most exciting of them being Gail Simone,
and from there, the list kept getting better and better until, finally, it culminated in
the agreement made with one name in particular: Mick Foley!
Bringing on a talent like Mick satisfied a number of guest criteria. Sure, he has
wide appeal to the area thanks to his career in professional wrestling, but he’s also a
New York Times Bestselling author, and (most importantly) he’s currently scripting
comics! That’s right, Tricon brought in a media guest with a direct focus on comic
creation!
The challenges were there to make the third year of Tricon a big deal, and thanks to
a TON of planning and pre-preparation, we are happy to say that we’ve stepped up
to the plate and knocked the expectations of this year out of the park.
With creator names like Gail Simone, Jeremy Barlow, James Asmus, Jonathan Glapion, Daniel Way, Chris Sprouse, Billy Tucci, Tommy Patterson and more, we’re
very proud of our guest selections. And with the most amazing range of exhibitors
and guests to back up that list, we’re happy to say that this year’s Tricon is poised to
be one of the best comic-centric shows this region has ever seen.
As always, being comic creators ourselves, we want to push a spotlight on Independent Press. With our background as the heads of Broken Icon Comics, we have an
interest in gaining attention for both our independent label and others in the same
field. While the promotion of independent labels will never be as high-profile as,
say, Marvel or DC, independent presses make up a vital role in the comics industry,
and a lot of what Tricon stands for is geared toward helping the independents stand
out and provide an atmosphere where we all can thrive, so—as we said previous
years—don’t be shy about treating yourself!
James Maddox & Eric Watkins, Tricon Organizers
SPECIAL THANKS:
LIKE THE PROGRAM?
Program created by James Maddox.
If you have a special project that
could benefit from print promotion,
feel free to reach out!
[email protected]
www.jamesmaddox.net
We couldn’t have pulled Tricon off without the help and generosity
of a number of different contributors.
Mary Maddox - For keeping James from totally losing his mind
and providing the right words when times got tough.
Amanda Watkins - For putting up with long work nights &
sporadic tickle fights with Eric.
Ryan Zipperian - For hosting panels and being a comic gangster.
Darryl Banks - For our badge and cover artwork.
Nick Anderson - For helping get the word out.
Any and all who volunteered their time - You have given us the
opportunity to produce something amazing!
TRICON CREATORS
ERIC WATKINS
When Eric is not out saving
the world from Nazi penguins
or flying giraffes, he is stocking
Broken Icon with talented writers and artist. He also moonlights as a writer with titles like
G-Raver, Night of the Living
Tricon, and Chosen & Forsaken.
Currently he has plenty of stories in production like The Man
in the Kitty Coat, Mars and The
Cowboy’s Gauntlet.
Find more at www.brokeniconcomics.com.
JAMES MADDOX
After completing titles like the
critically acclaimed The Horror Show and Nightmare Unknown, Maddox has continued
his comic career with praised
stories like THE DEAD,
Clown,and the wildly anticipated Blue Nemesis. A versatile and
prolific writer/creator, Maddox’s
work has quickly found and impressed his audience.
He can be found online at www.
jamesmaddox.net and @jamescmaddox.
www.tristatecon.net
TRICON AT BIG SANDY SUPERSTORE ARENA
3
EXHIBITOR SPOTLIGHTS
ERIC ADAMS
BEN DURFEE
Eric Adams is best known
for the creator-owned comic
series Lackluster World. It
has been nominated for the
Howard E Day Prize, the
S.P.A.C.E. Prize and won the
2010 Champion City award
for Best Limited Series.
He is also the writer of
Reflection; the artist of Stuart, and a contributor to
Newsarama.
NICK “IOWA” WENTLAND
Iowa is one of the original
members of Broken Icon
Comics from back in 2009.
After a brief hiatus the man
nicknamed Iowa, is back
and taking the role as one
man wrecking crew on new
BIC title, G-Raver. Iowa is
back and no paper and pencil is safe.
RODNEY FYKE
From being a co-creator and writer
in the 90’s of the independent superhero team Superior Seven to currently working full-time as the creator,
writer, artist, inker and colorist for
his self-published comic book Peanut, Puddin’ n’ Jelly and his weekly
web-comic Hard and Soft Taco. Both
titles are published through Hazzum
Productions which he helped to
co-found with Tina McElhinney in
2010.
Rodney’s is currently working on the follow-up to the four
issues of PP&J with three individual stories. When not working
tirelessly on PPn’J, Rodney also does commissions, posters and
sketch cards, which he sells at cons and online as well as works
as a freelance inker and colorist.
Local freelance artist, Avid
vintage video game hunter,
and general dork/geek enthusiast. Ben Durfee has been
creating artwork based on all
of his nerdy interests since he
was boy, drawing his favorite
comic book heroes and drawing wizards, dragons, and
other staples of the fantasy
genre. He has degree in Media Arts and Animation and
enjoys doing all kinds of different art forms ranging from
3d modeling/texturing, video
editing, web design to graphic illustrations.
TODD FRAZIER
Todd is an artist reigning from the
Tri-State area. He is known for his
mixed media pieces. Todd is an
up and coming artist and will be a
household name soon.
JOSEPH SCHMALKE
Joseph Schmalke is the artist/writer of the Calamitous
Black Devils. He graduated
magna cum laude with a
BFA from the University of
Massachusetts and resides
in Westbrook, Maine with
his wife and daughters.
His work has appeared
in Wicked Hawt Magazine
and art shows throughout
New England. A lifelong
lover of comic books and
horror, he got his start
working as a tattoo artist
in New Orleans. He has worked as a freelance illustrator and
graphic designer for almost 13 years, creating comic strips,
concert posters and album covers (among other things).
SEAN FORNEY
Sean Forney- is a professional illustrator/comic book artist. His recent
color work can be seen in Notti &
Nyce and Blindside #2 (Contraband
Comics), along with two covers for
WarZone Girls #2 and #3 from Cyber
Holdings, Inc.
His pencil and ink work can be seen
in Cut the Rope from Titan Publishing. A new issue of his creator-owned
title Scarlet Huntress was successfully
funded on Kickstarter. Sean has also
worked on books from Image and
Zenescope.
CHRIS MCJUNKIN
Chris McJunkin is a comic illustrator and painter from South Carolina. He is the artist for Zero’s Heroes
from New Haven Comics and is
also working on Dogtown, an eight
part story that is appearing in the
anthology Science Hero.
TRESSINA BOWLING
A Doctor Who fanatic from Kentucky, Tressina has been making her
rounds to conventions to show off
her artistic ability. She is extremely
versatile in styles, from cartooning
to realistic, she is sure to make ripples in the art arena. You can check
out her webcomic HATEINK.
Find more
exhibitor
profiles at:
WWW
TRISTATECON
NET
GUE S T S
MICK FOLEY
WWW.TRISTATECON.NET
shows have already garnered a collection of stellar reviews from
around the globe. Chortle, the UK’s most respected comedy
source said, “onstage, Foley is charm personified: eloquent, selfeffacing and funny.” Best-selling author Paul O’Brien, writing
for The Layfield Report raved, “He always leaves them laughing. Laughing, standing at the end and always wanting more.”
Even the decidedly non-wrestling publication Broadway Babies
mused “If you’re interested at all in wrestling, you’ll love it; if
you’re not, you’ll like it.”
One of the cornerstones of WWE’s meteoric rise in the late
90’s, Mick Foley earned the nickname ‘The Hardcore Legend’
for his ability to absorb seemingly inhuman punishment in
some of the most dramatic matches in sports-entertainment history. Already a respected veteran for his 11 physically punishing years wrestling under the name Cactus Jack, Foley’s career
soared to new heights in WWE as ‘Mankind’, a character Foley
claimed was inspired by a combination of reading Mary Shelly’s
Frankenstein and listening to the music of Tori Amos.
As Cactus Jack, Foley won the 1995 ‘King of the Deathmatch’
tournament in Yokohama, Japan, and continued wrestling, despite the amputation of his right ear, in a match against Vader
in Munich, Germany in 1994. As Mankind, Foley was a 3-time
WWE Champion, but is best known for his epic and brutal
battle with The Undertaker in 1998’s ‘Hell in a Cell’ match,
during which he was knocked unconscious after falls both off
of and through the 16 foot Cell structure. Despite the injury,
Foley finished the match – with one of his front teeth lodged
in his nose.
Have a Nice Day The book remained on the Times list for
twenty six weeks. A follow-up, 2001’s Foley is Good hit number
one on The New York Times list as well. Foley has published a
total of ten books; four memoirs, four children’s books and two
novels.
After speaking at some of the United States most respected
colleges and universities – including MIT, Syracuse University,
Notre Dame and The University of Miami, Foley decided to
take his storytelling skills to the stand-up stage, making his headlining debut in 2009, before a sold-out crowd at the world-famous Hollywood Improv. Mick has since performed at both the
Montreal “Just For Laughs” Festival and the Edinburgh “Fringe
Fest” – the two largest comedy festivals in the world, and has
headlined tours of the UK, Ireland, Australia, and South Korea.
Foley’s acting credentials include 30 Rock, Warren the Ape, Now
and Again, G vs. E and Boy Meets World, and he was featured in
the critically acclaimed documentary Beyond the Mat. He has
done voice work on Squidbillies, Celebrity Death Match, and
Avatar: the Last Airbender and was featured in a 2012 episode
of Celebrity Wife Swap.
His list of guest appearances includes The Daily Show with Jon
Stewart, The Late Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Conan
O’Brien, Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Good Morning America,
Family Feud, Redeye, Larry King Live, and several appearances
on Today. He was featured in a 2010 story on ABC’s World News
Tonight for his work as an online volunteer with RAINN, the
nation’s largest anti-sexual assault organization. Foley was also
recognized for his work with RAINN at 2010’s Rally to Restore
Sanity and/or Fear – where he was awarded a Medal of Reasonableness’ from Jon Stewart.
GAIL SIMONE
Gail Simone is a critically acclaimed, fan favorite writer of comics and animation.
A former hairdresser, Gail Simone began her professional writing career writing Simpsons Comics for Bongo, Killer Princesses for
Oni Press, and quickly followed that up with a very successful
(but brief ) run on Deadpool for Marvel Comics.
She then went to DC, writing defining runs on books like
Bird of Prey, Secret Six, Action Comics, and Wonder Woman. During this time, she worked on animation for Tomb Raider, Brave
and the Bold, Justice League Unlimited and the Wonder Woman
animated film.
After several years as a DC exclusive creator, she now works
for many publishers, including Tomb Raider for Dark Horse,
based on the hugely successful game relaunch, and Red Sonja
for Dynamite.
Gail continues to work for DC, with her hugely successful
Batgirl run, and her cult favorite title The Movement.
She lives in Oregon with her family and dogs.
CHRIS SPROUSE
Chris Sprouse’s career spans over two decades in the comics
industry. The artist first garnered attention as the penciller for
DC Comics’ Legion of Super-Heroes spinoff, Legionnaires, but
he’s probably most well known for his work on Wildstorm/DC
Comics’ Tom Strong series, which he co-created with acclaimed
writer Alan Moore.
Sprouse has drawn numerous other titles for nearly every publisher in the industry, from Batman and Justice League books for
DC, X-Men and Spider-Man comics for Marvel, and an adaptation of the Star Wars novel Splinter of the Mind’s Eye for Dark
Horse Comics.
In 2004, Sprouse teamed up with fan-favorite writer Warren Ellis to work on the creator-owned graphic novel Ocean
(published by Wildstorm/DC Comics). In the last few years,
Sprouse’s work has appeared in numerous comics such as the
Number of the Beast mini-series and the first issue of Grant Morrison’s The Return of Bruce Wayne, as well as two brand new Tom
Strong mini-series (Tom Strong and the Robots of Doom and Tom
Strong and the Planet of Peril) and several issues of DC’s Action
Comics.
Sprouse has several books scheduled for release this year from
DC Comics: a story or two for the Batman ’66 series, a supersecret Grant Morrison project, and an as-yet-unannounced
Digital First series featuring one of the company’s “big three”
characters.
His multi-faceted career has seen Foley turn from 3-time WWE
champion to 2-time New York Times #1 best-selling author to his
present incarnation as a stand-up comic/spoken-word performer. Foley’s nationwide tour “Tales from Wresting Past” showcases
his unique style of surreal story-telling and his trademark blend
of wildness and warmth that promises to take both wrestling
and comedy fans on a memorable and entertaining ride. His
Check out a full Q&A with Mick on PAGE 7.
5
GUE S T S
JONATHAN GLAPION
Jonathan Glapion began his comics career in 1998 at Image, where
he contributed inks to such titles as
Curse of the Spawn, Sam and Twitch
and Universe. After spending several years at Marvel inking Elektra:
The Hand, Gravity and Ultimate
X-Men, he shifted his focus to their
distinguished competition.
Since 2007 he has worked on a
wide variety of DC titles, including Teen Titans, Green Lantern,
Legion of Super-Heroes, Final Crisis: Reverlations and Batman and
Robin. His celebrated work on Gotham City’s Dark Knight is
now featured in the pages of the all-new Batman. He also currently inks Batgirl, written by Gail Simone.
Jonathan has won numerous awards including Ink well awards:
2010 “The Props Award”, 2013 “Most Adaptable Inker Award”
and was nominated for the 2013 Harvey award for best inker.
BILLY TUCCI
Billy Tucci is a veteran soldier
and comic creator extraordinaire, best known for the
creation of Crusade Fine Arts
and Shi.
Billy’s created title Shi took
the comic industry by storm.
Shi #1 stood on top of Wizard Magazine for a record
two years and has been featured on numerous TV shows and in numerous publications.
Billy has also showed his military background and love for his
country in titles like Sgt. Rock: Lost Battalion, Shi: Through the
Ashes and Star Spangled War Stories, to name a few. Billy recently
finished Roll Hard for Adventurist Media.
POP MHAN
Pop Mhan got his start in
comics when he joined
Wildstorm Productions in
San Diego in 1996. Since
then, Pop has penciled
Spyboy, a comic book written by Peter David and
published by Dark Horse
Comics. He’s also worked
on Blank at Tokyopop, Batgirl and The Flash for DC Comics, Bionicle and World of Warcraft, Ghost Rider, Marvel Adventures: Spider-man for Marvel
and Gears of War for Wildstorm/DC. Pop currently pencils HeMan and the Masters of the Universe for DC Comics.
JAMES ASMUS
James Asmus has been
writing comics since 2008.
After working for years as
an award-winning playwright and performer in
Chicago, he was hired
by Marvel Comics and
gone on to write Gambit,
Generation Hope, Captain
America and Bucky, as well
as many different X-Men
projects.
Recently, he also co-wrote The End Times of Bram & Ben for
Image Comics and Thief of Thieves with Robert Kirkman for
Skybound, as well as relaunched Valiant’s Quantum & Woody to
great reviews.
JEREMY BARLOW
Jeremy Barlow is an Eisner Award nominated
writer and editor whose
graphic novel credits include R.I.P.D City of the
Damned, Mass Effect:
Homeworlds, Star Wars Rebellion and Metalocalypse/
Dethklok. based in Portland, Oregon- he’s a member of the famed Periscope
Studio.
HEATHER BRECKEL
Heather Breckel has been
working as a colorist for
only a few years now but
she has made a splash in the
comic industry.
While she started out in
small press, she’s gone on to
work for major publishers
like IDW, Dark Horse and
Image. Heather impressive credentials include My Little Pony: FIM, Peter Panzerfaust,
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Godzilla Half Century War, and
Number 13.
DANIEL WAY
Daniel Way’s first professional work
was on Violent Lifestyle #1, for which
he received the “Xeric Grant” award
from the Xeric Foundation. From
this Daniel was given an opportunity
to write a Deathlok mini-series for
Marvel and it was off to the races for
him.
From these humbled beginings,
Way went on to write Gun Theory, Agent X, Bullseye: Greatest
Hits, Ghostrider, Sabertooth: Open Season and many more titles.
Eventually Way began writing on the two titles for which is
most known for Wolverine: Origins and Deadpool. Way is now
considered one of the best Deadpool writers of all time. Way is
also credited with the creation of Daken, Wolverine’s son.
DARRYL BANKS
Darryl Banks is from Columbus, Ohio, and a graduate of the Columbus College
of Art and Design with a
bachelor’s degree. He began
his comics career in 1989,
working for various independent comic companies
such as Innovation and Millennium Publishing.
Darryl worked on titles such as Doc Savage: Man of Bronze,
The Wild Wild West and Justice Machine. In 1993 he started
working with DC Comics on Legion of Superheroes and later
on Green Lantern. Co-creating the Kyle Rayner Green Lantern,
Parallax, and other characters was a great honor and challenge
for Darryl’s costume design skills.
In addition to various other projects for DC, his work also
includes Captain America and X-Men for Marvel, Tomb Raider: Epiphany from Top Cow, GI Joe Reloaded for Devil’s Due
Publishing, Johnnie Zombie for Midgard Comics and covers to
Moonstone’s Phantom series. In August 2011, Darryl Banks,
Ron Marz and Terry Austin were reunited for the Green Lantern
Retroactive 1990s issue for DC Comics.
Darryl also does concept art and toy design. Clients include
Hawthorne Village collectibles, Hasbro, Mattel, Filsinger
Games, and many others.
HUNTINGTON, WV • MAY 31, 2014 • 10AM - 6PM
GUE S T S
MARK KIDWELL
WWW.TRISTATECON.NET
TOMMY PATTERSON
Mark Kidwell is the co-creator/writer of the ongoing Vietnam/zombie epic 68 from Image comics.
Mark is also the writer/illustrator/creator of the
splatterpunk horror mini-series Bump and provided
scripts for Frazetta Comics’ Dark Kingdom series
as well as the Frazetta western, Freedom. His recent
work with Jay Fotos and Jeff Zornow, Tyrannosaurus
Rex from Image Comics, sold out in one day.
Other projects include: Writing/illustrating the
Lovecraftian one-shot Creature from the Depths, the
story 39 Spikes for IDW and Gene Simmons’ House of Horrors and penciling/inking the horror
graphic novel Jack Lantern: War of the Soul for Castle Rain Entertainment.
He has illustrated gaming manuals for Reaper Games and Hackmaster and has designed creature
and makeup effects for Robert Kurtzman’s Precinct 13 studio on such projects as Dee Snider’s
Strangeland 2, Jack Ketchum and Lucky McKee’s The Woman and the upcoming John Dies at the
End by Don Coscarelli.
Tommy Patterson is a Kentucky native who has
used his impressive skills to draw some of the
greatest fantasy and science fiction comics on the
market.
Tommy’s credits include many film and television adaptations like The Warriors, science fiction
icon, Farscape and the hit novel/HBO series Game
of Thrones. Other comic works include Irredemable
and Tales from Wonderland.
Aside from interiors Tommy has wowed fans
with his cover work on titles like the Jungle Book
and Robyn Hood for Zenescope.
LORA INNES
BEAU SMITH
Huntington’s favorite comic son, Beau Smith has worked with
Eclipse Comics, DC, Image and IDW. He also writes a regular
comic blog for Comics Bulletin called BUSTED KNUCKLES.
A Marshall University graduate, his writing career has had him
scripting Green Lantern Querterly, Guy Gardner, Beau LaDuke,
Spawn, Wynonna Earp and many others.
MATT SLAY
Lora Innes’s romantic, time-travel adventure comic about the
Revolutionary War, The Dreamer (IDW), has been nominated
for four Harvey Awards, a CYBILS Award, and is the recipient
of the S.P.A.C.E. Prize.
In addition to The Dreamer, Innes co-hosts the Paper Wings
podcast, an educational show for aspiring comic creators.
ROB DUMO.
Matt Slay has been in production art for a decade most recently illustrating the Sci-Fi/Fantasy anthology Time Traveled
Tales. He also did covers for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Image Comics, The CBLDF, Upper Deck’s Marvel Premiere, Marvel Beginnings series 2, Iron Man 3, Marvel Masterpieces and
others; as well as Cryptozoic’s Tarzan 100th Anniversary sets.
Rob is a professional comic book artist from the Buffalo, New
York area. At the age of 17, he became a caricature artist at a
theme park while dipping into comics. Rob illustrated Nightmare Unknown, Chosen & Forsaken #0 for Broken Icon as well
as Robyn Hood #3 for Zenescope. Rob is the Art Director for
BIC and is currently working on SPF and The Eccentrix.
CHAD LAMBERT
JAMIE SNELL
Jamie has worked on various sketch card sets from Topps,
Brygent, UpperDeck and Rittenhouse. From Marvel, Indiana
Jones, Mars Attacks, Transformers to Star Wars. He also has
done a couple of posters for LFL and Acme Archives: Celebrations V and the 30th Anniversary of ESB.
He has also worked covers for Godzilla #1 for IDW.
1) What are the three personas of Mick Foley?
2) What Tricon guest illustrated Warren Ellis’s Ocean?
3) What two new comics will Broken Icon release at Tricon?
4) What profession did Gail Simone have before writing?
5) What podcast does Lora Innes host?
2)Chris Sprouse
3) Horror Show 2 & Calamitious Black Devils
4) Hair Dressing
TRICON TRIVIA
Chad Lambert writes the original tales Lost Grooves, Possum
At Large, Kill the Revisionist, and Return to Point Pleasant. Ray
Bradbury referred to Return to Point Pleasant as “superb and
frightening! Bravo!”
Chad was also one of the writers of the Megamind and Kung
Fu Panda comics (APE), also BloodRayne (Digital Webbing).
1) Mankind, Cactus Jack & Dude Love
6
5) Paper Wings Podcast
TRICON AT BIG SANDY SUPERSTORE ARENA
Q&A:
MICK FOLEY
7
SPONSORED BY:
Tricon was fortunate enough to have a brief interview with
Mick Foley, but instead of talking about his wrestling career (he’ll
get enough of those questions at the show), we wanted to talk to
him more about his writing endeavors.
TC: Your writing has become widely recognized by non-fiction readers, and your children’s fiction and contemporary fiction has
been gaining an audience, as well. Is writing
constantly practiced, or does it come to you
in jags and fits?
TC: You’ve had an extensive career doing a
lot of different things. Did you alway know
that you would try on all these different hats,
or did you simply pick up opportunities as
they made themselves available?
TC: You’ve gone out of your way to openly
support organizations like RAINN,
Make-A-Wish and the USO.
What charitable features tend to hold your
attention?
MF: I’m usually convinced following every
book I write that I will never write anything
again.
I’m currently the co-writer of the WWE
comic book, and I enjoy writing an occasional
meaningful post – but at this point, I don’t
see myself writing anything substantial in the
future. I do have some ideas – possibly concerning my journey into the comedy world,
and possibly something short and sentimental
about my fascination with becoming Santa
Claus – but I don’t see anything in the near
future.
If the feeling to write hits me again though, I
will try to fight it off – but if a particular subject keeps calling out to me, I may once again
put the pen to paper.
MF: Actually, I was completely focused on
wrestling until the opportunity to write a book
came up in 1999.
Honestly, if the ghost writer that had been
assigned to me hadn’t been doing a good job,
I never would have even imagined that I could
write a book. But once I finished writing that
book (by hand in 700 pieces of notebook paper) and saw that book hit number one on the
New York Times bestseller list, I realized that I
had the potential to at least try anything.
So when I see something that interests me
- whether it’s writing, performing on stage, or
volunteering – I tend to give it my very best
effort.
MF: I’m really proud of what I’ve been able to
do outside the ring when it comes to volunteering and trying to create awareness for certain
causes.
My wife and I have been sponsoring children
through Child Fund International since 1992,
so when Wrestling started treating me very well
financially, I had a chance to give back and
fund some small schools in West Africa, the
Philippines and Mexico.
Helping out kids that were facing life threatening challenges always seemed like a natural
extension of what we did in wrestling, because
visiting with these children at the matches was
a very regular occurrence.
But I read a book, given to me by the mother
of a friend of mine called Soul of a Citizen that
RYAN ZIPPERIAN
Panel Host
No stranger to comic books or characters, Ryan “Zip” Zipperian has
approached his career much like a
hero—and sometimes a villain.
Zip was born and raised in Huntington, WV. He currently works for The
Brew 106.3, as a digital manager and
on-air talent.
Zip has always loved connecting with
his audience. Known for his fanboylike postings and on-air personna, Zip
has become a staple in the local rockn-roll community. This is his 3rd year
as official MC.
“Comic books are a vein into which
the imagination flows,” said Zip. “It
doesn’t matter if you’re reading one of
the big boys or a story from the kid
in the dining hall. It’s art, and I’m so
happy that Tricon 2014 is coming
back to showcase the amazing talent
and awesome people right here in the
Huntington area! I’m honored to be
asked to return for some more amazing times!”
asks its readers to see the world’s problems as
a puzzle and find out for yourself where your
small piece might fit into that puzzle.
For me, that small piece turned out to be my
involvement with RAINN - The nation’s largest anti-sexual assault organization. I had previously thought of sexual assault as a cause that
only survivors and women could make a difference with. But the more I looked into it, the
more I realized that it was an area where someone like me to make the biggest difference.
8
HUNTINGTON, WV • MAY 31, 2014 • 10AM - 6PM
WWW.TRISTATECON.NET
MATCH THE CREATOR TO THE LOGO
SCHEDULE OF E VENTS
A SITDOWN WITH GAIL SIMONE
11:00 AM
ASK DEADPOOL DANIEL WAY
12:00 PM
INDEPENDENT COMICS
1:00 PM
Ever wonder what is on Gail Simone’s mind? Now you don’t have to. Gail will be sharing
her thoughts on comics, writing and everything in between. Ask questions and listen to
her as she shares her wealth of knowledge.
The creators we bring to Tricon are responsible for furthering some of the comic industry’s most
beloved characters and storylines. Here, we have some of this year’s featured creators on one side
and logos from the comics to which they may have added their talents on the other.
Read through their bios (Pg. 4&5) and match up the creator to the logo they are most affiliated
with! Some of these stories you may recognize and enjoy, some you may want to discover further.
Either way, be sure to talk to them about their work when you see these creators at the show!
1) Jonathan Glapion
A)
One of the best Deadpool of writers will answer questions and tell you about his success
run in comics on titles such as Wolverine Origins, Thunderbolts, Sixth Gun and of course
Deadpool.
Ever wanted to make comics? Do you know where to start? We have the perfect place,
this panel. Some of the best independent creators were hand picked by us for you to ask
questions to and listen to their advice.
MICK FOLEY C)
3) Jeremy Barlow
D)
4:00 PM
The Charity Auction will take great some of the best selections from the comics industry, our guests and our exhibitors, and will auction them for the Comic Book Legal
Defense Fund. The CBLDF is a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the First
Amendment rights of the comics medium.
Their work takes them into courtrooms, classrooms, conventions and libraries all over
the United States where they provide legal aid, education, and advocacy to protect the
First Amendment rights of the readers, creators, retailers, publishers, and librarians of
comics, manga, and graphic novels.
COSTUME CONTEST
2) Pop Mhan
2:00 PM
The famed WWE Superstar, Mick Foley, will be answering fan questions! So whether
you want to ask him about is storied career as Mankind, Dude Love or Cactus Jack; or
you’d rather ask him about his amazing writing career or standup comedy. This is the
time to ask!
CHARITY AUCTION
B)
4) Gail Simone
5:00 PM
The costume contest calls all the cosplay geniuses in the area to show their stuff! We are
offering a cash prize of $200 for the first place winner and a prize package donated by our
exhibitors and sponsors to give to the runner up.
5) Chris Sprouse
E)
F)
G)
6) Daniel Way
H)
7) James Asmus
8) Darryl Banks
I)
J)
1)A, H, J
5)A, E, J
2)D, J
6)A, B
3)I, F 4)B, G, J
7)A, C 8)A, C, H
TRICON AT BIG SANDY SUPERSTORE ARENA
The Tricon Creators - By Vladimir Popov
DANIEL WAY
THE WIDE RANGE OF COMICS
By James Maddox
Daniel Way may be best known in most
circles for writing such characters as Deadpool
and Wolverine, but his passion for indie comics
has been what brought him into the industry
and what will be a big part of his future career.
“So many of my contemporaries have circled back to independent comics, including
myself,” said Way. “We start as independent
publishers, go on to bigger companies, but ultimately came back to working independently.”
Way began in comics with the self-published
book Violent Lifestyle. After producing several
pages of the work, Way submited to the Xeric
grant in 2000 and was given $5,000 to help get
Violent Lifestyle into wider circulation.
Directly after his production of Violent Lifestyle, Way was picked up by Marvel. He was
soon to discover that the worlds of mainstream
writing and independent production were very
different.
“The emphasis in independent comics is more
on getting it right, instead of getting it right
now,” said Way. “Shipping is king in a mainstream book. With the indie books, there’s a lot
more time, and since there’s a lot less pressure
on me and editorial, there’s a lot more opportunities to make it better.”
All in all, Way said his experience working with mainstream books was a good one.
Though you had company guidelines to work
with, Way said he understood that different
people had different parts to play, different jobs
to do. His was to write and make his deadlines,
while others made money for the business.
“I had no expectations going in,” said Way.
“I started working for Marvel immediately in
my career, so in a lot of cases, I took the word
of people who had been there for a long time.”
One of Way’s best experience with mainstream comics came with his work on Deadpool. Since Marvel had no expectations of the
book, Way was pretty much left to his own
devices in producing the comic’s storylines.
Thanks to this, he was able to jump between
big action to big laughs easily.
“I kept the core of the character, but I just
wanted to do something different,” said Way.
“Why try to emulate Joe Kelly? You can find
his take on the character with no problem, so
there was no point in rehashing them.”
Way’s run on Deadpool became extremely
popular and even led to him writing the Deadpool video game in 2012.
“There are periods that you work furiously,
then you go dark, then they get back to you
to finish off new developments,” said Way on
video game scripting. “You have to be flexible,
but don’t lose sight of what you’re going for.”
But even with Way’s work in mainstream
comics, independent comics is where his passion has remained all throughout his career.
Way said he is working on several titles. One of
which, Gun Theory, is expected to be released
either late 2014 or early 2015. Beyond that,
Way is one of the founding members of the
Cherry Capital Comic Con (C4) in northern
Michigan, which focuses heavily on creators
and professionals from the comics industry.
Daniel Way will be at Tricon to sign his comics and games on May 31, 2014, but in the
meantime, he can be found online at Twitter
(@DanielKWay) and on Facebook.
Get your
TRICON
news on
Facebook
/triconwv
9
WWW.TRISTATECON.NET
TRICON 2014 SPECIAL FEATURES
TRICON VIP PRINT:
DC VILLAINS!
Leading up to Tricon 2014, we approached some of the best and most
enjoyable independent illustrators that were coming to the show, and asked
if they would join us in our love for DC Villains.
What resulted from this request was a selection of 12 different illustrations
from 12 different artists. Each illustration featured a different DC villain.
What you see below are some of the illustrations that will be found on the
exclusive VIP print. Stand alone prints will be available at the tables of each
artist who contributed.
This feature of the show is a great tradition, and the artists who bring it
together are very deserving of our gratitude! Be sure to stop by and show
them that the community of comic enthusiasts apprecaites their efforts.
CHARITY AUCTION
Original TMNT sketch by Kevin Eastman!
James and Eric are no strangers to comic conventions, so when packing up to hit last year’s
convention circuit, they loaded up with comics
and made their way to cons for autographs.
What they came away with was a stack of
comics signed by the industry’s top creators,
including an original sketch from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles creator Kevin Eastman, and
they’re putting all those items up for bid at this
year’s Tricon Charity Auction!
While the auction is still going to feature a
number of items from Tricon exhibitors and
guests, we’re spicing things up with this collection of autographed comics, and hope that
the money raised will be used to help this year’s
chosen charity:
The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund
CONTRIBUTORS
1. Chris McJunkin
2. Rodney Fyke
3. Joseph Schmalke
4 . To d d B e i s t e l
5 . N i c k “ I o w a” We n t l a n d
6. Seth Lyons
7. Kevin Steward
8. Michael Mayne
9. Marc Lewis
10. Ansley McDaniel
11. Rob Dumo.
1 2 . Tr e s s i n a B o w l i n g
11 HUNTINGTON, WV • MAY 31, 2014 • 10AM - 6PM
PRESENTS
TRICON COSTUME
CO N T E S T 2 014
1st Place: $200
Tricon’s Pick: $100
SPECIAL GUEST JUDGES!
TRICON 2013 PHOTOS!
Special thanks to Rob Walker and all who sent
photos. Make sure to send us more for 2014!
TRICON AT BIG SANDY SUPERSTORE ARENA
11
BROKEN ICON
PRESENTS:
COMICS
&
GRAPHIC
NOVELS