Broken Frontier

Although this report is coming in a couple of weeks late, this year’s East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention (May 15) lived up to my expectations. This was my fourth year attending and third exhibiting and it’s consistently been one of my favorite shows. 

Not only is ECBACC a rich source for finding some great indie creators and upcoming talent, but, as I believe I’ve mentioned here before, I love a show with a strong focus. It doesn’t have to be as specific as a spotlight on black comic characters and creators. Things just work better when exhibitors and attendees know what to expect.

ECBACC is a great example of how this common ground works. People come with something in mind that we exhibitors provide, they buy it and leave happy. It’s not a complicated formula. 

To illustrate this point, I’ll share this story. A Temple University science professor came up to my table during the middle of the show and asked if I had any comics with “nappy-headed women.” She punctuated this with the follow-up statement, “I ask the tough questions.” Luckily for me, I was able to just open up a copy of my Adrenaline graphic novel and flip through the pages for her, showing two of the main characters that met her criteria. I explained how difficult it was for me to figure out how to draw convincing cornrows. She bought a copy, satisfied, and moved on to the next table to make the same demand. I don’t think the next guy was so lucky.

And speaking of the other exhibitors, there was a very strong showing of return titles as well as some impressive debuts.

One of my favorites was the second volume of Radi Lewis’s Children of the Phoenix. He couldn’t make the show, but his sister, Rashida, was there with the first issue of the new volume. 

It had quite a different feel from first volume, which was published as a single, digest-sized book and featured “animation-style” artwork. By contrast, the second volume kicked off with a single issue at full-sized comic book dimensions. It also had a new artist Radi was collaborating with, giving it a more “mainstream” and darker feel. Overall, the production value was much sharper.

The only drawback is that you really need to have read the first volume to understand what’s going on in this new issue, and the first book might prove difficult for people to find. He should have at least provided a recap at the beginning.

Rashida also had her two Sand Storm comics there, both of which I picked up 2 years ago. She’s been too busy over the last couple of years for the next installment, but hopes to have the completed first volume for next year.

For the debuts, one of the most impressive setups was by Raven Hammer Comics. They were debuting the first issue of The Harlem Shadow and Lucius Hammer, the former being the black version of The Spirit (not The Shadow) and the latter being the black version of Luke Cage (maybe because Luke Cage is a white man’s version of a black man - I didn’t ask for a clarification). 

Another interesting debut was Bonita & Clyde by Christian St. Pierre and published by After Hours Press. They had a preview of the first issue, which seemed pretty complete to me. I guess they didn’t have quite enough time to finish the first issue, so they went with a mostly done preview. I love the cover art for the preview. It’s straight from pencils with only the skin tone colored.

And in the “coming soon” department, Ice Witch, looked interesting to me. Creator Regine L. Sawyer had a great t-shirt for it with blue sparkly lettering. I wanted one for myself but she didn’t make any men’s sizes. I’m not making fun of it here, I honestly think that a male gives the shirt the proper levity and puts it in the context of a comic fan appreciating a character. A female wearing it would have to worry a little too much about self-association. 

So onto my table and how well I did at the show. I sold 9 copies of my Adrenaline graphic novel (which was what I was mainly pushing), 4 American Terrorist sketchbooks, and 1 Adrenaline poster. That’s pretty good for a one-day show that doesn’t require much of a time commitment, a relatively short drive, and no need for a hotel room. I sold enough to cover the table with a little left over for parking and gas.

In retrospect, I could have used a lower priced item like an individual comic for children and those unwilling to jump into the full graphic novel. It’s something to keep in mind for next year.

I’ll leave you with one final quote from a customer. Towards the end of the show, this one guy bought an Adrenaline graphic novel. Before putting it away, he held it up in his hand and said, “This is the only thing I bought today, and it was from a white guy. Go figure.”

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Tyler Chin-Tanner started his own publishing company, A Wave Blue World, where he wrote and drew layouts for Adrenaline, its flagship series, Adrenaline and wrote its latest graphic novel, American Terrorist.

© 2010 Tyler Chin-Tanner.  All rights reserved.

Email: tyler@awaveblueworld.com


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