Broken Frontier

For six years now; a non-profit corporation has been bringing the fun of small, friendly conventions to Iowa. Where have you been?

The Iowa Comic Book Club (ICBC) asks, "Are you fan enough?" to join their organization. Well, I’ve got quite a few things on my plate right now, what with teaching, working on my MFA, raising two kids, a yippy dog, and an arrogant cat, living in a crappy apartment with noisy neighbors, writing these articles, oh, and working on my own comics and chapbooks. But . . . YEAH! I’M TOTALLY FAN ENOUGH!

I don’t know a lot about the ICBC and it has been difficult today for me to learn anything since the guys in charge of this thing are running around, making their guests and vendors feel welcome, and making their customers happy. With door prizes, a huge setting in the 4-H Building at the Iowa State Fairgrounds, and plenty of smiling faces, you couldn’t help but feel happy.

As I write this, a representative from ICBC steps up to the table and asks, "How you guys doin,’ Gregg?"

"I’m Aaron," I say. "But we’re cool. This is great, man."

I decide to give him a break. There are, after all, quite a few people here—guests, customers, and gawkers. And anyway, my buddy Gregg Paulson (an extraordinary undiscovered talent for anyone with power in the industry out there reading this) has been here next to me all day, but he just stepped away for a moment.

But, back to the facts. To quote their program, ICBC is:

. . . a group of comic book and sequential art fans who first got together in the 1980s to share their appreciation for this classic American art form. From the club’s founding in 1980 through 2000, Gene Kehoe and the ICBC published a nationally acclaimed fanzine titled It’s a Fanzine.

This group of stalwart fans sponsored several shows with several names during the 1980s and 90s off and on through the years. But in the past five years it has been a regular occurrence here in Des Moines. Comic Book I-Con. And in a word, it is sweet. Now, aside from being a great place to vend, shop, and be noticed as an industry professional (I’m an industry professional, can you believe it?). It is also a great place to be. It isn’t the Rosemont Convention Center, to be sure. But it doesn’t need to be. This place is big enough to hold a 3XW Wrestling Tournament, roughly thirty to forty vendors, and a slew of professional and amateur creators, and still have plenty of room for fans and collectors, Spider-Man, Batman, the Star Wars 501st Legion, and little old me.

The atmosphere is alive with a feeling that you simply cannot get at a Wizard World Con or a Comic Con International. There is an innocence here that reminds me of the first few years I was collecting. Something . . . wholesome about the whole thing. Not that I am not a fan of scantily clad women and horrible monsters wandering around a con, but the fact that there are none of them here and several little kids reading and talking about comics have taken their place actually makes me feel better about what I do with my life. Does this mean I’m old? I don’t know. And I don’t care. I’m loving it.

One of the best parts of being here though is the mix of small and big-time creators not segregated from each other. My table is right next to Mark Schultz’s! Phil Hester is here doing sketches and signing autographs, as is Mike Grell, Freddie Williams II, and many others. But it is the other side of the coin that is more intriguing to this professional fan.

The smaller presses, less well known writers and artists making this place their home today are very appealing. For instance, Tom Brazelton, creator of the Internet comic Theater Hopper, is here selling his wears. I even bought a tee shirt with a bunch of movie spoilers on the front—its hilarious and his Internet comic has been collected into two nice sized volumes—they are equally hilarious. I became an instant fan less than a few hours ago, and I predict if you aren’t, you soon will be. Go to www.theaterhopper.com if you want to know more.

I also ran into an interesting talent named Matt Schuler, an ambitious man who has created a massive volume called Legendary collecting several stories about legends as diverse as Johnny Cash and Perseus. This thing hasn’t been released yet, but it will be, and when it is, you would be a fool to miss it. Furthermore the guys from Repercussion Comics are here with stacks of comedy, adventure, superhero, and intrigue comics for the rifling. Specifically, Jason DeGroot and Marc Haines’ newest project, Doe, Jane, looks to be quite appealing.

In the end I wasn’t able to find some of the comics missing from my collection, one of the drawbacks to small conventions, but I had so much fun here I didn’t care. I met some people I predict will be making waves in the future, and I never felt unwelcome or less important than any of the big names. As I walk out of the 4-H Building on the Iowa State Fairgrounds I am counting the days until the next ICBC I-Con.

If you’re curious to know more, or looking to join their organization, which, by the way, donates some of their proceeds to A Commitment to Our Roots (ACTOR), check out their website at www.iowacomicbookclub.org You won’t be sorry.