Category Archives: Indie Island

Who Let The Nerds Out? Heroes Con 2011 In Review

Posted on June 8, 2011 by Josh Latta| 19 Comments

Can you find me in the poster?

Hiya, folks. I just got back from Heroes Con and, boy, are my guts tired. No doubt from being puked out so much. Welcome to another Heroes Con wrap-up extravaganza brought to you by Bud Light and a lifetime of resentment.

All is quiet on the nerdly front.

Oh boy, where do I start? Oh yes, the beginning. My main man and love of my life, Brad McGinty, recently moved to Minnesota – so I was pretty stoked that he made the trek back to Atlanta to meet up with a coupla dogs in tow.  We felt kinda guilty leaving my ol’ lady to care for 5(!) dogs, poopin’ and ah’ peein’ the joint up, but you know, comics.  Anyway, Brad met me bright and early and, like we do every year, we met up with everyone’s best friend, J. Chris Campbell, in Greenville.  This year we shook it up a bit and picked up fellow letch Duane Ballenger too. Thank Gawd that we all travel light and without toothbrushes, ‘cos we were all packed in there tight and one thing you can count on, we will bring back a lot of junk.

The lovely Heroes Con staff.

Our comic caravan arrived at the Charlotte Convention Center, only an hour late. That’s a new record for us. We frantically set up our books so we could, I dunno, stare at them and freak out. Yeah, Friday is usually pretty slow, but cripes, I thought about burning my comics in a fit of rage and becoming an accountant.   Actually, it’s pretty nice for the early birds because I doubt there is any other convention where you can walk right up to the big names and get in some face time. Friday is good for this.  It’s also nice to have some time to walk around and see my pals like Ben Towle, Meghan Ansbach, Patrick Dean, Robert Newsome, Stephanie Gladden,  John Miller,  Joey Weiser, Drew Weing, Chris Schweizer, Andy Runton,  Chris Pitzer, Rob Venditti, Justin and Jason Gammon, Van Jensen, Heather McKinney, The boys (and girl)of Dollar Bin, Dustin Harbin, Dean Trippe, Jason Horn, Rich Tommaso, Hunter Jin Clark, Tucker Weston, Scott, Fletcher and the rest of the usual gang of idiots.

L to R : Sailor Moon,  Patrick Dean, Spider-Man 2099.

Robert Newsome

Sorry, didn’t mean to drop names that soon, but these things happen. Me and my butterfingers! Ho! Ho!

I like this gentleman’s bangs.

That night, I hit the booze pretty hard, so I spent most of my time spitting in Meghan’s face.  I wish that was a joke.

I have total disdain for my fans.

*side rant* Neal Adams was in attendance and he was charging 5 dollars just to sign something. Five dollars. Way to gouge the only people in the world that gives a shit about you, Neal. Mark my words, fans. I will never take advantage of you.

That’ll be 5 dollars, please.

Women in comics. L to R: Shannon Smith, Ashley Holt.

J. Chris Campbell and Brad McGinty.

Saturday fared much better for my table mates, Shannon Smith, J.Chris, Brad, Ashley Holt and I. We actually all sold some funnies, but not all that much. If I can be as so bold as to speak for everyone, sales weren’t all that hot on comics. Don’t cry for us yet though, we all spent the day drawing like mad. Y’see, this really isn’t a comic show. It’s a sketch show. As Shannon Smith pointed out, all the people that come to Heroes already have a pull box. They come to this show to get sketches. I’d always prefer to sell the actual comics to new readers, but beggars can’t be choosers.

Thor by Brad mcGinty

Thor by Josh Latta

Thor by J. Chris Campbell

Money has been a little tight for me this year (read: I am broke) so I stayed off the floor as much as I could to not taunt myself with shiny trinkets and other ephemera that I don’t really need. However, I did find myself constantly hovering around the Handmade Stuffs booth. I love toys, or more specifically, I love weird, off-model toys.  Jennifer’s custom plushies are adorable, brilliant and may even win the best in show ribbon, as far as I am concerned. Do yourself the favor and check out her work and buy something. She even does commissions. If I didn’t have such a hard-core coke habit, I would have bought one of each. Oh well, C’est la vie!

Lion-O by Handmade Stuffs.

There was another booth I kept finding myself drawn to:  Stephanie Buscema.  Holy crap, are you guys hip to her? Stephanie’s work puts me in mind of one of my all time faves, Mary Blair.  I am really in love with her work. I didn’t meet Stephanie, but I met her husband and I am in love with him too. What a righteous dude. I bought this charming Dr. Doom voodoo print from him and it’s become one of my most prized possessions.

Sorry for the bad pic, I made my own camera.

I take my own beer to the lobby.

That night – wait, do you guys even really care what I do at night? I sure hope so. That night, I got to hang out with some new friends that I made as well as my bedmates and Ashley.  We took our annual trip down to Phat Burrito. It wasn’t very good. The company was, though. We all bought beer and booze once we got away from the convention center. Seriously, what’s the deal with the lack of places to buy beer in town? No matter. I turned in a bit early (2 instead of 5 am.) What a mistake I made. I awoke to the sound of Shannon Smith puking and came to find out that Brad and Meghan went swimming in the fountain. I was made jealous by both these activities.

L to R: Hit-Girl and Kick-Ass.

L to R: Aquaman, Dr. Strange and Superman.

Sunday was actually a pretty strong day, sales-wise.  I think it’s because it’s the day the creators walk around and buy crap from the people they partied with the night before.  I did even more sketches to the point that I think I might as well just give my comics away and do the sketches for cheddar. It might be the only model for these shows. Anyway, Sunday was nice and I got to spend some time talking to my  brand new friends Holly Schwartz, Wes Brooks, Tara Harris, Molly Coffee and Hatuey Diaz.

My contribution to a Sesame Street VS Muppets sketchbook.

Hatuey and Molly live in Atlanta. Why haven’t I met either of them until now?  Looks like you two have a new stalker! I also had a great conversation with Rich Barrett about self-promotion. I think most cartoonists need to give this topic another look.

L to R: J. Chris, Brad, Josh, Shannon.

That’s a lot of facial hair.

It’s time to pour a 40 oz to my homies that weren’t able to make it this year, Rob Ullman, Pat Lewis and Sally Bloodbath. You were all sorely missed.

Heather McKinney

So that’s pretty much it. The end. Oh wait! Lemme tell you about some of the crap that I got.

Nerd X-Mas.

Spazz 4 by Emi Gennis

I’ve talked about Emi before, and I will talk about her again. I love her comics. Honestly, given a stack of comics, I will read hers first.  I love the Wikipedia strange deaths and her autobio stuff. I also love the fact that she draws herself peeing a lot.

 

Rocking So Hard by Shannon Smith

Shannon Smith is the hardest working woman in comics. Just kidding, Shannon is a guy, but he does always have something new and I always look forward to it. Shannon’s work is getting stronger and stronger.  I am really into the copyright infringing stories featuring Spiderman and Hulk, I mean, Thunk.

Nathan Sorry by Rich Barrett

I think Hollywood is gonna snatch Rich up before too long. He’s too good at spinning suspenseful yarns to be in the comic ghetto.

Chester 5000 XYV by Jess Fink

Yowsa! Every other page in the masterpiece has a Victorian-era girl banging a robot or another girl.  God bless you, Top Shelf booth.  To use the illustrious Hustler rating system, I give this three boners up.

My Buscema print.

Essential Fantastic Four vol 4 by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee

It’s my annual Heroes Con tradition to buy one of these cheap trades at the cheap trade booth. This year was no different. I had to roll the dice and pick FF vol 4 over Thor vol. 1. Why you ask? Well, I am gonna tell you, don’t be so pushy. I always loved the Fantastic Four in spite of, or possibly because of the fact that I never actually read it.  All I know is that I have flipped through it 85 times already.

Donald Duck figure and April O’Neal print. You figure out which one’s which.

Star Wars Star Tour figure Donald Duck as Han Solo

I am pretty much, in life, scanning everywhere I go for Disney ducks.  I caught a glance of this bizzaro amalgam in some random 5 dollar bin. I think it’s a pretty cool figure, but I don’t know why they gave Donald the hair.  I mean, all they had to do was put him in the vest and belt and we would have all figured it out.

Duck Tails By Henry Eudy.

The Pretentious Pervert and Sordid Tales  by Henry Eudy

This is what I want and so rarely see. Filthy, scummy mini comics made by jerks.  Why not? It seems to me the mini comic scene has been curtseying to an imaginary child audience.  Tips for cartoonist: Relish your underground!  We can do anything we want. I say we do.

Character Witness:  Portraits by Ashley Holt.

Ashey Holt’s caricatures are always spot-on.  They are sympathetic and sensitive to his subject even when Ashley isn’t.  He never is.  He’s a great cartoonist and all-around crank.

Well folks, it was nice to see all of you.  Thanks to everyone that came by and said hi. Until next time, true-believers! See ya in the funny papers.

 

All pictures ransacked from Robert Newsome and Heather McKinney.

 

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Posted in comic convention, comics, comix, illustration, Indie Island, Rashy Rabbit, reviews, sketchbook

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Heroes Con 2010 Report: Nerds Gone Wild

Posted on June 8, 2010 by Josh Latta| Comments Off

Oh, hello! I didn’t see you there. I guess I was too busy reading comics to notice you coming to this blog. Y’ see, it’s hard for me to do much else but read funnies after getting back from Heroes Con.

Travelmates/bedbuddies Brad McGinty, J. Chris Campbell and I met up and made the trek up to North Carolina- Oh wait, is Charlotte in North Carolina? I’ll have to ask our Father-figure slash roomie and all out organizer-for-us, Rob Ullman, when I get a chance. At any rate, we made the trek up to the greatest comic convention in the world, Heroes Con.  What makes it so great, you ask? Some nerve! Well, I mean like, besides the fact I get to see my favorite people in comics and/or world, I get more comics than I can shake a limited edition light saber sword at. Anyway, I am getting ahead of myself.

We came rollin’ up in my ’97 Corolla on Friday morning and decided to bite the bullet and park in a 20 dollar parking lot. I mean, like, dudes. We hadda lot of crap to carry, and I doubt you’d mistake Brad, J.Chris and I as people from your gym. (Rob Ullman, maybe, but still.) As it turns out, we didn’t move my car for the weekend so we got to slip out on Sunday sans paying for parking. Looks like we won this round, Heroes. Haha!

Friday was a bit slow on sales for all of us, well, everyone I talked to, but honestly, I didn’t notice. I don’t even think I was behind the table all that much,leaving my good friend Shannon Smith to man the table we shared as I was making the rounds and seeing what’s new with all my comic buddies. “Not much” was the resounding consensus. Comic people are so modest. I was pleased and surprised to see so many of my Athens pals (Robert Newsome, Patrick Dean, Joey Weiser, David Mack and Drew Weing) also seated in Indie Island. No wonder this show feels more like home that my hometown show ever does. Burn, Dragon*Con, burn!

That night Rob, J.Chris, Brad, Shannon and I met up with another good friend and favorite person in comics, Ben Towle, and had a costly dinner at some Chinese restaurant. Well, costly for us poor folks. We discussed comics(duh) and the breasts of our waitress and how they were all hanging out and stuff. Later on, we had a screening of Brad’s brilliant cartoons in the Dollar Bin suite. It always sounds funny to say, but sometimes I forget just how brilliant Brad really is. His cartoons slayed, and unlike last year, security didn’t squelch our party down plans, and party down we did,man! We drank like it was going out of style, just like comics books. We all woke up with hangovers the next day and ahead of schedule. Oh well, what can you do?

After a little hair of the dog, we got it together with some bagels and coffee and hit the convention. We got to see our pal, Ashley Holt, which of course, was really nice. Homeboy is smart.  Also, I got to spend time with my sister Sally Bloodbath and her boyfriend Matt Wiegle which was also very nice. Jeez, I need a thesaurus. Sales were pretty darn good, and I musta done, like, zillions of sketches.

That night we made our annual trek to Phat Burrito where I got to spend some time with Sally, Matt, Liz Ballie, Jackson New Jersey’s very own Meghan Ansbach and her boyfriend Lee. We mostly discussed records, n’ things, which was a welcome change from the 34 hours of comic talk. Ah, who I am kidding? We talked about comics too. Also, during the course of the evening, Brad, J.Chris, Rob and I had a beer with Tom Spurgeon and talked about the Atlanta comic scene. Surprise, surprise. I had only negative things to say about it. I read Comics Reporter daily, so this was a highlight of the show for me.

Later on that night, I got a chance to smoke a little grass* with my man P. Cleland and another unnamed cartoonist.
*Just kidding. We’d never really do anything illegal on the top of a parking garage.

Sunday is my shopping day, so shopping I did. I bought some weird, wacky comics for a dollar a piece, like this weird Daffy and Roadrunner comic (all the Looney Tunes birds,together at last!) and some peak Carl Barks Uncle Scrooge comics, because I can’t come home without duck books. Speaking of which, Boom! Studios was there with there new Disney comics, which I am a big fan of, especially the Euro duck stuff. Man, that’s some cartoony goodness! I love it. Love it, I say. We need more like that. I heard a DuckTales book is around the bend.

It’s always depressing packing up after this show, and this year was no different. I would say though, without a doubt this was my best year at Heroes. The con was stress free, and I sold a metric ton of crap. What more can I ask for? This is sleep-away camp for nerds that never went to camp.

Welp, that’s about it- Oh wait, I’d love to mention a few more fine people. Warning: more plugs than Steve Carell’s hairline up ahead.
Ken Dahl, M.K. Reed, Evan Dahm, Pale Rider crew, Gabriel Dunston, Chris Pitzer, Dean Trippe, Jason Horn, Van Jensen, Rob Venditti, Travis J. Hill, Jamie Walker, Boom!, Tom Bancroft, David Mack, Dollar Bin Podcast (Adam,Ted, Brian, Kris, Devin, Brandon), Mr.Phil, Martin Steenton, Andy Ruton, Heather McKinney, Stephanie Gladden, John Miller, Chris Schweizer, Duane Ballenger, Rich Barrett, Erakis Pemeza, Shawn Daughhetee, Scott Elingburg, Justin and Jason Gammon and Jamie Ouzts extra special thanks goes out to my man Dustin Harbin for inviting me to be part of Indie Island. See ya next year, sucker.

Tune in soon for more news on the next Rashy Rabbit!

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Posted in comic convention, comics, comix, Heroes Con, Indie Island, Rashy Rabbit, reviews, Uncategorized

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Heroes Con 2009. Now it can be told.

Posted on June 28, 2009 by Josh Latta| 6 Comments

all my new friends and new enemies in one picture.

(l to r: Adam Hughes, Alan Moore, Rob Liefeld, Dan Clowes, Jack Kirby, Eddie Munster and Adam Hughes’ brother.)

Okay, first off, I apologize to all three of you that were waiting for my full Heroes Con report, but I left my comics in J.Chris Campbell’s car, leaving me with not much to talk about.  After much begging, pleading and sexual favors, J.Chris sent me my bag o’ funnies (via priority mail) and now I’m full of beans.

So, where do I begin? It was a dark and stormy night, except for the fact it wasn’t. Brad McGinty and I got the show on the road Friday morning and met J.Chris Campbell in Greenville. As proprietor of Wide Awake Press, he hooked me up with primo copies of my illest new book, Avatards! No, I didn’t shout that sentence at you, the explanation point is in the title. If you haven’t already, check it out. Please, I beg of you.

We got to the show by mid-afternoon, later than I would have liked, of course. As it turns out, though, we didn’t miss a whole lot. Friday is usually a slow day, and this year wasn’t an exception. Brad and I were contemplating suicide over our severe lack of sales.

Thankfully, we didn’t kill ourselves that day. We woulda missed the screening of Brad’s brilliant (yes it’s truly brilliant) cartoon, Mandar! Now in that sentence there, I really DID yell at you.

As all three of you reading this may already know, Brad and I go back like rocking chairs. So forgive me if this sounds like nepotism but Brad is the most talented person I know. Brad did all the writing, storyboarding, animation AND voices on this apocalyptic barbarian of the ‘burbs DVD. Not that it would matter if Mandar wasn’t funny, but that’s not the case. Mandar is laugh-out loud hilarious and went over well in the screening party. The cartoon was projected on the window blind, giving all the passers-by a screening of Mandar as well. Turns out people that walk around like it too. They are a tough demographic to reach as well, people walking that is.


Saturday went well sales-wise for us. In fact, I pretty much sold all my “Redskin Rashy’s.” I only have 2 copies left, so get it while the gettin’s good, but I digress. Anyway, Saturday went pretty well with the exception of our panel on Minicomics. I dunno, it musta been all the beer and truck-stop restroom meth from the Mandar party the night before, but man, we made exciting topics like folding and stapling rather boring. Check out this drawing some dude* did of us. Our glum looks tell the whole story.

(*Richard Bryan.)

Sunday was a nice relaxed day. I spent Sunday visiting with my pals, and sorry for this roll call that’ll bore anyone that isn’t mention, and even some that were-

As I was saying, I got to kick it with Justin Gammon, Ben Towle, Sally Bloodbath, Meghan Ansbach, Kiril Tchangov, Hollywood Rob, Chris Pitzer, Jeremy Masse, Stephanie Gladden and John, Dollar Bin, Rachelle from Living Between Wednesdays, my roommates Duane Ballenger, the aforementioned J.Chris, the very generous Rob Ullman, my bed mate Brad, and all the other fine folks I see every year and sometimes talk to and sometimes not. You know who you are.

Here’s the reason we are all here, folks. Here’s this years booty: bought, traded, given to me, and stolen.

The Muppet Show Comic 1-3. Wow! what a stroke of brilliance getting Roger Langridge to both WRITE and DRAW this funny funnybook. Langridge’s style shows through even on a licensed book. Langridige coulda taken the easy way out and drew the Muppets on model, but he made them fit the medium and made puppets into living breathing comic book charcters. This is a lot harder that it sounds, dudes.  I really love this book. I heard Boom! is gonna be doing all of  Disney’s comics as well. Can’t wait for that. Heck, I’d kill my mother to draw a Disney comic book.

Uncle Scrooge 219. I found this gem in a two dollar box. This is a rare, sought-after comic. After all, it’s Don Rosa’s very first! Don Rosa is a fabulous duck artist. If you don’t know him, you should, you idiot. Coincidentally, he was on hand to sign this comic for me too. Man, I get so nervous around  th’guy. He is a favorite stemming from childhood. I really thought/think that he’s up there with Uncle Carl Barks(RIP forever) and that says a lot!

The Deadbeat by Jeremy Massie ( book not pictured.)

Did you happen to see this goon in yellow walking around at the convention? That’s the titular character in Jeremy’s superhero/deadbeat dad graphic novel. It looks pretty darn good. I haven’t read all if it yet, sorry, I suck. So far, so good!

Pretty much everything by Alec Longstreth. Alec seems like a cool guy with a great beard and I’m grateful that I got so much of his work. I was very amused by The Dvorak Zine. As someone who watches their hands as the type and calls keyboards” those typy letter thing”,I may not be the targeted demographic. But who knows. I might learn sumthin’.

Banana Hammock by Rob Ullman. Holy cow, Ullman can draw bears! Who knew? Seriously, everyone of this drawings tells a story, a very gay story, and I like it!

Batman and Robin by some hacks. This was a gift from Dean Trippe. Thanks Dean, this is super heroes done right! I’m a believer.

Real Cane Sugar by P.Cleland. Nice, loose cartoony style fits this slice-of-life mini about a fat demon dude and a nebbish dude with a thing for butts. In other words, I can relate!

Man, I’m getting tired of typing on this typy letter thing, so I guess it’s time to 23 sciddoo.

Another year, another great Heroes. I just wish it came more than once a year. Well, sorta.

Special thanks to Dustin Harbin for having me back, year after year even though, you hate me. Just kidding, but strongly dislike me.

‘Till next year true believers!

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Posted in Heroes Con, Indie Island

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YOWSA! Teddypicker’s Avatard

Posted on June 18, 2009 by Josh Latta| Comments Off

(click to see the tan lines.)

Hey fellas! Check out Teddypicker. I didn’t know where the term “teddypicker” came from. A lousy song, apparently*, oh well, this is what teddypicking means to me.

* I never heard it.

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Posted in avatars, Indie Island, Keith And the Girl

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Wide Awake Press at Heroes Con

Posted on June 17, 2009 by Josh Latta| 1 Comment
Wow! This is probably the most new stuff we’ve ever had for a convention.
So let’s jump into this.
Heroes Convention
June 19-21 2009 in Charlotte, NC.
——-
The Ancient Age (very few copies)
Avatards – Josh Latta
Traffic & Weather – Robert Ullman
Broken Rekkid – Duane Ballenger
Blast It – J Chris Campbell
Neatobot Trading Card – J Chris Campbell
Also:
Decision Decider Coin
FLUKE (variant cover very few copies)
Tobey Maguire Comics & Stories – Brad McGinty
Redskin Rashy – Josh Latta
Plus:
Mandar DVD by Brad McGinty
Apple Devil and Music Bot T-shirts
Heroes Convention Attack Poster
New Duane T-shirt (not pictured)
And:
Back in print Rob Venditti’s Dads
New Dollar Bin Book with WAPPIES Brad, Josh, J Chris and Pat Lewis in
J Chris Campbell has a story in the AWESOMER anthology with cover by Heroes Con guest Jeff Smith.
Joey Weiser will have some of the FLUKE poster
Look for these Wappies at the show:
J Chris Campbell
Duane Ballenger
Brad McGinty
Andy Runton
Robert Venditti
Rob Ullman
Ben Towle
Josh Latta

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Posted in comic convention, comics, comix, Heroes Con, Indie Island, Rashy Rabbit, sketchbook

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Minicomics panel at Heroes Con

Posted on June 17, 2009 by Josh Latta| Comments Off

MINICOMICS: The Best Little Comics In The World Sat. 2PM Room 217A
Minicomics can be as simple as a photocopied booklet of stick figures or a hand-made, screenprinted masterpiece—but most importantly minicomics are comics you can make yourself! Join the Dollar Bin’s Adam Daughhetee as he sits down with J. Chris Campbell (Attic Bugs), Drew Weing (Blar), Andy Runton (Owly), Brad McGinty (Wisteria) and Josh Latta (Rashy Rabbit) to talk about what minicomics are, how they make them, and most importantly how YOU can make them too!

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Posted in comic convention, Heroes Con, Indie Island, Rashy Rabbit

Heroes Con N’ Redskin Rashy

Posted on June 16, 2009 by Josh Latta| 2 Comments

Heroes Con is a mere three days away. I better start packin’! Before I do though, I thought I’d share a most excellent review of Rashy Rabbit’s latest adventure, “Redskin Rashy” by my pal Shannon Smith at File Under Other.

(click on the page above to see that, I am in fact, a genius.)

Thanks Shannon, without your support, I woulda long given up on this racket, I’m sure.

So, who’s gonna be in Charlotte this weekend?

You and you?

…Not him?

Well then, let’s kick it at HEROES CONVENTION!

I’ll be with more talented artist in Indie Island, with my latest comic Redskin Rashy and the New Avatards! book in tow. (brought to you by Wide Awake Press.)

So, if you wanna hang out, drink overpriced beer behind a folding table, then let’s do this up right.

Don’t let the name fool you. Yes, super heroes are well represented at this convention sure, but as Shannon pointed out in his blog, there will be plenty for the rest of us hipster snobs that wouldn’t touch  cape with a ten-foot pole.

Thanks again, Shannon, and I’m sorry you won’t be there this year.

So, uh come by and say “HI!”and I’ll give you something neat*.

See ya in a few, true believers!

* Our ideas of neat may vary.

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Posted in comic convention, comics, comix, Heroes Con, Indie Island, Rashy Rabbit, reviews, sketchbook, vector art

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Heroes Convention June 19-21

Posted on June 9, 2009 by Josh Latta| 3 Comments

Hey Y’all! Got any nerdy summer plans?  Well, you do now, sucker!

Come one, come all to the greatest comic convention this side of the Mason-Dixon, Heroes Convention Or Heroes Con, if you prefer. Take a peek at the guests that are gonna be there, but be forewarned. You best be on the toilet, ‘cos you are gonna shit.

Most importantly, come out  and see my me n’ my pals, Brad McGinty, J.Chris Campbell, Rob Ullman and Sally Bloodbath in Indie Island. We’ll all have new comics, dry goods and sundries for you to purchase.

Like what you ask?

Well, I for one, will have not one, not three but TWO NEW BOOKS from Wide Awake Press.

Rejected by life and love, Rashy Rabbit turns to the life of a hippie nomad along with his friend Jimmy, drinking dumpster wine and traveling aimlessly. When a crash sends him whirling into a boob and tomahawk infested adventure with an unexpected twist.

Ever fancy yourself to be a rock star? How about a cowgirl or a dinosaur? The cyber world is now just as important as the real world, so why not let your avatar represent the real you? These are some examples of how the artistic talent of Josh Latta has encapsulated the true essence of people, and transformed them into wild and wonderful things

Heroes Convention Info

SHOW DATE & HOURS
Open to the Public:
Friday, June 19, 2008
11.00 am – 7.00 pm
Saturday, June 20, 2008
10.00 am – 6.00 pm
Sunday, June 21, 2008
11.00 am – 6.00 pm

LOCATION:
Charlotte Convention Center
501 S. College St
Charlotte, NC 28202
704.339.6000

ADMISSION:
1-day Pass: $15 per person
3-day Pass: $30 per person
Kids 12 & Under get in FREE!

HEROES CONVENTION was founded in 1982 by Shelton Drum, owner of Charlotte’s Heroes Aren’t Hard To Find comics shop. Since then the convention has become famous for its comics-first and family-friendly atmosphere, where fans can mingle directly with professionals and exhibitors. Boasting an incredible guest list built mainly on reputation and goodwill, HeroesCon is known nationwide as a “must” on the summer schedule, drawing fans, exhibitors, and creators from every region of the country to the Charlotte Convention Center.

So, will I see you there?

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Posted in avatars, comic convention, comics, comix, Heroes Con, Indie Island, Keith And the Girl, Rashy Rabbit

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The Shaved Iceman Cometh

Posted on July 14, 2008 by Josh Latta| Comments Off

Here’s another oldie but goody. Well, it’s older. I present to you, dear sweet reader, The Shaved Iceman Cometh:

Yes sir, that was a load of laffs! Wait, you didn’t laugh? Join the club! This comic went over with a thud. I was actually experimented a bit, y’see this comic was 100% improvised with just a general idea for a theme. The Theme was “food”. Betcha couldn’t tell! This “piece” was done for Wide Awake Press for Free Comic Book Day 2007. You can still download “Eats” here and yes, it’s still free.

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Posted in comics, Indie Island, vector art

Heroes Con 2008 wrap-up extravaganza

Posted on June 26, 2008 by Josh Latta| 2 Comments

Whats up dudes and dudettes?

Another year, another fabulous Heroes Con in the lovely city of Charlotte, NC, for those of you that are stupid and without a map.

Travel chums Brad McGinty and Patrick Dean made both the trip up and back fun with their amusing anecdotes and sound effects while I drove the Yaris full of fun mini comix and pasty nerds. I seriously can’t believe we fit all of that in a two door car. Oh well, the things we do to save on gas, which by press time is now up to $74.67 a gallon. Why do I bring up gas prices? Trust me it came up a lot.

This is my fourth year going, first year as a featured guest in Indie Island.
I guess I’m moving on up the comix latter. Why, next year at this time you might have maybe possibly heard of me! Not bloody likely, but a fella can dream, right?

Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, I shared a table with the other half of Cute Girl Demographics, Brad McGinty (who’s not a cute girl) , and our super duper pal and fellow cartoonist Shannon Smith. (who is a cute girl.)

The table was cramped and tight but it was nice to have someone at the table at all times, ‘cos I like to walk around n’ stuff and buy stuff n’ stuff.

And Brother, did I ever buy stuff! I think I did my part to stimulate the economy, thank you.
I don’t think I’ll ever need another comic as long as I live. Just kidding, please send me your comics, everyone!

That’s my biggest regret of the show. I really wish I met and traded with more of you out there. But I digress.

What, was there even a point?

Oh yes, the stuff I bought or otherwise (shoplifted):

The Claws Come Out
by Pat Lewis

I was already sorta familiar with Pat’s work through the stuff he did For Wide Awake Press. I really love it. His style is super bouncy and cartoony. I love cartoony books. We need more fun comics, I mean they’re called Comics, right? Anyway, the book is great, buy it now. Pat’s gotta lot of great minis too. Go to his site right now and say “What up, homeskillet?!”

Superior Showcase #3
by various jerks

Man alive! What a great book. All three stories (by Brian Maruca, Jim Rugg, Laura Park and Dustin Harbin) are great. Am I saying great too much? I must admit, I had hesitations about Street Angel, mostly because I thought it was gonna be a comic adaptation of the
1984 film directed by Robert Vincent O’Neill about the High School Honor Student by day, Hollywood Hooker by night. Well, true believers, it’s not. I’m a fan now. I loved Street Angel.

I’ve slobbered over Dustin many times in many places, so I’ll just say,
“Dustin, you make me wanna quit drawing, and I mean that in the best possible way.”

A side note about this book. I got Chris Pitzer to sign my issue, he personalized the lovely Roger Langridge cover for me and for whatever reason felt bad and offered to give me a clean copy too. I wouldn’t hear of it. In fact, I want Chris to autograph all my comics for me from now on. Y’hear that, Chris? Look for my collection coming to you C.O.D!


Skyscrapers Of The Midwest
by Josh Cotter

I haven’t read this one yet, but man, the book is gorgeous, it really looks great(there’s that word again!)
Oh, I have read an issue or two of this book when it was being serialized as a floppy, but I don’t know how it reads all together. I ‘m wagering it’ll be great(That’s it, I quit).


The Blot
by Tom Neely

Would you believe this beautiful book is self-published? Cripes, the craftsmanship on the cover alone is enough to make me throw my own books in the nearest landfill.

Tom has kinda a 30′s Ub Iwek/Fleischer looking rubber hose style that he uses to tell a sad and psychedelic tale that I honestly would do a disservice by trying to explain. This book is all pictures. There are a few word balloons, but it’s mostly a pantomime. I’ve seen this book around, and I ‘m glad I have it now. Look out for The Blot, he’s gonna be huge!

Girls Of Monster Paradise
By Stephanie Gladden

First things first, the cover of Girls Of Monster Paradise looks MUCH better in real life. I was just too lazy to get a good scan and I couldn’t find a better picture in Google image search.
In a perfect world, you and I could turn on the TV and this cartoon would be on the air. Then after we finish watching a little TV, we could get up and go to the kitchen and make ourselves a bowl of Girls Of Monster paradise cereal while dreaming of a world when gas was still only $2.98 a gallon.

Send me a better jpeg of this cover, Steph!

*EDIT*

Thanks, Steph-

The Surrogates
by “Hollywood” Rob and some other guy

Jeez, Rob. I’m sorry it took me this long to get around to buying your book.

Some other odds and ends:

  • a nutty European Disney Duck comic that has some dragons and junk
  • Superman Family Vol2
  • …and a grounds for divorce-worthy amount of golden age funny animal comics.

You’re still reading this?

Let me say how great it was to see my friends, J.Chris Campbell, Duane Ballenger, Rob Ullman,
Ben Towle, Topshelf, Adhouse, Sarah Louise Wahrhaftig, Chris Schweizer, Team 8 Press, Dollar Bin, all those guys from Macon, Indie Spinner Rack and lotsa new friends too.

Admittedly, I didn’t really make out at the Con like a bandit in terms of my sales, but a good time was had and that’s all that really matters, right?
I honestly wish I walked around and did more trading.
I guess I was just darned embarrassed!
I guess there’s always next year-
Unless of course, we live in a Mad Maxesque post apocalyptic world by then.
In that case, comic books would be pretty silly, really.

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Posted in Heroes Con, Indie Island