Reflecting on NYC Comic Con By Anthony Andujar Jr

NYC Comic Con, its a haven for various communities that are in love with Comic Books, Video Games, Television, Movies and various sorts of entertainment. Its always been that way for decades, but in the last few years, there have been some turbulence that has caused some unrest among fellow comic fans, and attendees. Personally for me, I've attended Comic Con back in the fall of 2011 and in 2014. I enjoyed going there before with my friend Alex and being at the Avengers Booth and seeing Jason Aaron and Adam Kubert across from the booth. I wanted to stop by and say hi, maybe ask for an autograph, but they looked like they were having a lunch break so i didn't bother and decided to let it be. In October of 2014, My Ex- Girlfriend (JC) invited me to go attend Comic Con that year, and funny enough, I saw Adam Kubert again randomly at the Marvel Booth, but to no avail did i ever get a chance to speak to him. But prior to the Comic COn event, I attended a Fantagraphics event, a free event that my friend /fellow illustrator Malcolm Phillips and at that event I met Comicbook artist/Writer who is well known for his work on Batman :Year 100.

Point is, along the way I met some pretty cool people in between that time.
Some people have asked me about my thoughts on this year's Comic Con. I've given numerous reasons why i'm not interested. I only go there for these things : To meet my favorite Illustrators, writers, fellow comic book friends/ artists etc. I don't dislike ComicCon ,or the status of cosplaying. but there is a huge disconnect from what it is today and from what it used to be. It used to be interactive, it used to have a sense of genuine community. But in the last few years its gotten way out of hand with the amount of advertising, lack of reasonably good enough content, and lack of interaction/ connection with fans and creators.

I was lucky enough to meet Neal Adams ( Everything Batman ,especially co creating Ra's Al Gual, designed My fave robin out fit for my fave robin Tim Drake, and co created one of my fave X-men/Avengers characters Havok), Adi Granov (Iron Man: Extremist), my friend Scott Cohn ( worked on Earth 2 , John Romita Jr ( Eternals, Amazing Spider-Man, Man with out fear) , Dan Slott ( Amazing SPider-man, Sensational She-Hulk, Superior Spider-man..note: i always dislike his stuff first before i get in the motions and then end up enjoying it), Nick Spencer (Superior foes of Spider-Man, Astonishing Ant Man, Avengers World, Currently writing the Captain America run with the whole Hydra double agent thing), My friend Chris Matonti and his brother J.D. Matonti ( who created New Gen, a comic series that's published under Marvel), among a notable few. Mind you, I enjoy seeing people enjoy what I like, but it's like Comic Con forgot what it used to be, connecting with its sprawling diverse fans and giving them as much back as the amount as a lot of ( what long time and casual and new) fans pay for.

I hope it improves overtime. Mainly, I just hate when there are people who try to discourage new found fans , when they themselves barely know about the material that they like than the new found ones that have a genuine interest. But if someone approaches me and ask what do i know, and i ask them "DO you know who Dwayne Mcduffie, Alan Burnett, Paul Dini, Brian Bendis, George Perez, Mark Waid, Danny O'Neil , etc etc, are?" then come back and refresh yourself with new found appreciation of those names and talk to me after for a genuine conversation. Now this is in no way me trying to discourage anyone, but much like the Hip Hop fan base who seek more genuine people that care about as much about lyrical flow, delivery and theme over sample and beat, its how I tend to feel about that when it comes to comic books for the most part. it's barely even about comic books/manga anymore.

Now I don't want to come off snobbish about attending ComicCon, or even try to sound like a hipster and say "It's SO mainstream now", but it's like being a New York City resident and seeing Gentrification happen to your fave neighborhood and area and seeing all the prices go up. Better yet, it's crazy to think that thanks to shows like Big Bang Theory ( which I am not very fond of) and blockbuster movies, and a few popular animes, its what caused a shift and made everyone start to think that being a "geek" or " nerd" is cool. I don't consider those terms something to my liking, because there are varying degrees into being a "geek" , or "nerd", or some one who is "savvy" , " or a genuine "admirer" or "fan" of the content that varying audiences are geared towards and love. Hell, I remember when I used to get bullied for wearing a lot of Spider-Man attire back in elementary, and get made fun of for it in the same way that other friends of mine ( and other people) used to get bullied or made fun of for liking Power Rangers, Pokemon, Yu-gi-oh, and other cartoons, comics, books and shows that had stuff that was more deep and complex than even Law & Order and other programs.

Hell, people older than me, and even friends of mine who are in their 50's used to be looked down upon for this stuff that was just as cutting edge as the science fiction and fantasy that came out during their day. I remember that it wasn't until after the first couple of Spider-Man films, The Nolan Batman Trilogy and the Marvel Cinematic FIlms, that everything started to become the norm, Which is great! Because it was nice for long time and casual fans to be able to go out, talk and enjoy discussing about the things they liked without people making fun of them for it, especially because they didn't appreciate the complex concepts that delved into the human condition, existentialism, and all other varying degrees of things that reflected the world around us in ways that society didn't always ponder, reflect or even speak about.

Now that Comic Con has gotten so big in popularity, it feels like it's just brushing away the very community that helped create it for generations. Maybe it's just me, maybe i just didn't attend enough? maybe i don't appreciate it enough? or maybe, just like everyone else, they're starting to see the lack of soul that was more present in Comic Con before the hype got extremely up there. Hopefully that will change over time to something good and beneficial for everyone, but as of now, it's not the same. in terms of cosplay, don't get me started on the lack of underrated comicbook characters that get that kind of shine, from genuine cosplayers . Also, not to nitpick, but everyone is always doing movie or popular characters these days, or you'll have those indivudals and packs who will act like know it alls, and crap on others, and create a crappy environment when they don't even know the content themselves. Heck, recently friends of mine who have done the whole new NY Comic Con ticket process have been waiting for an entire day or have not gotten their pass at all ( Even though they paid for it). Hopefully the guys in charge will take care of those errors for future reference, at least I hope so.

Well, I'm pretty sure, you're tired of the little reflection / ranting, so I leave you with photos of the times that i've attended.

New York City Comic Con 2011:( Junior Year of High School)

       
     I met Comic Book Legend: Neal Adams .

               
                   He even offered to autograph his signature onto my X-Men Sketch that I made. I was in High School as a Junior during that time.

       
                       I met Neal Adams son Josh Adams who at the time was drawing Doctor Who comics for comics publisher IDW.

             
      I met Adi Granov who gave me a free autographed Poster for the videogame Heroes of Ruin.

 Comic Con Fall 2014 : (Freshman Year of College)

                 
                I met Nick Spencer (who as of 2016 is writing Captain America hydra double agent storyline), a really nice guy.

             
                     I met Comic book Illustrator Chris Eliopoulos Best known for his work on Amazing Spider-Man, Superior Spider-Man and Franklin Richards: Son of a Genius.

Here's a funny story: The first time I met Dan Slott, it was back in 2012 ( the later half of my Junior year), and I was going to free comicbook day, May 5th, which was the day after I saw The Avengers. I didn't even know he was even gonna be there at Cosmic Comics ( used to be located on 23rd st by the flatiron building across from Shake Shack, but since then has relocated). But I remember meeting Dan SLott ( which was right around the time his post Big Time arc on Amazing Spider-Man and was at that time writing the Ends of the Earth storyline. He was a cool guy and we had a cool conversation and he autographed my old 8th grade notebook.

Fast forward two years later and I would randomly meet Dan SLott again, this time around, we both had grown facial hair. We chatted for a bit, I told him that I was very skeptical at the beginning of his Superior Spider-Man series, but then I came to love the series as I read on until its end, ( and after Peter Parker reclaims his body from Doc Ock and stuff). Again, he was cool to talk to and he autographed my white drawing book, autographing my Spider-Man illustrations.

                                             Here is an image of Dan Slott's Autograph on my Spider- Man illustration.

                          For years, growing up, I loved his work on Daredevil with Alex Maleev, and especially his stuff on New Avengers and most importantly Ultimate Spider-Man (with Mark Bagley). The man himself, the man who created the awesome part of the ultimate universe, and every millennial's ideal notion of who Spider-Man is in their eyes, The man who redefined Spider-Man for the 21st century  in the same way that Stan Lee and Steve Ditko did when they created him in the 60's), Brian Michael Bendis. When I saw him at the booth, I rarely ever , ever get star struck, but bendis, I was sorta unsure how to approach. especially after I spoke to Dan Slott, and got a picture with him. All I wanted to do was go over to Bendis, have him check my sketch book, autograph it, take a picture with him and talk to him for at least 5 minutes. As soon as I was approaching, a random fan came swooping in, talked to bendis for 5 minutes or so and then like that, Bendis had to go attend a different booth. I was lucky enough to snap a photo of him and post it on my instagram. That was the closest I had ever gotten to seeing one of my inspirations. I mean, Ultimate Spider-Man is probably my fave spider-man series aside from amazing spider-man. His stuff influenced the Sam Raimi Films and the Marc Webb films and currently influence the MCU Spider-Man ( who appeared in Captain America's Civil War and is having an upcoming solo film).

I also met Comics writer who has become very prominent as a big writer at Valiant Comics's on classic valiant characters such as Bloodshot.

    Fun story. Back in High School ( I believe in my sophmore year ) My then english teacher Mindy Gorlin was attending a Barns and Noble event. WHile she was attending , she had met a man under happenstance and happened to discover that he himself is a professional comic book artist and illustrator. One thing lead to another and then Mindy asked if he could get in touch with me, originally we met on Facebook. Since then, I tend to go to him for tips on how to improve my craft or what i should look into within and beyond the field of comicbooks. During that year of 2014, I finally got to meet him in person, and it was great. He recently did work on DC's Earth 2 World's End issue 26. (although that was a year ago, still, it was awesome).

                                                  ANd then throughout my time roaming the Comic Con looking for Artist Alley , I bumped into My friends Tiana (deadpool cosplay that her sister made), their friend Daniel, ( the sister that made tiana's deadpool costume and creates her own accessories which you can find at #Mermaidthreadnyc on instagram. She makes cool crochet threaded hats and attire. She made these cool Captain America , Pokemon, Flash and Reverse Flash mask hats.)

                                                I drew Batman at the table, she drew her own thing.

Even after that there were still illustrators and writers that I was seeking to meet. I didn't get to meet David Mack or John Romita Jr that year. But, a year later, I would end up meeting John Romita Jr  at special guest talk for a series that Bryant Park hosts every so often. ( thanks to my friend Ray for giving me the heads up) 

We talked for 20 minutes about his move to DC, his run on Superman with Geoff Johns etc. He autographed my blackbook ,gave eachother a hug, and even took a picture of the sketch that i made of him. 

All in all its moments like these they make Comic Con grand.

Announcement!!! I have a separate Comic strip page called AAJ Comics N Stuff!

Welcome! This Blog is a special blog that will be more dedicated to showcase my one shot Comic Strips on a weekly basis. I figured that since comic books tend to be released on wednesdays, I decided to release every one shot comic page strip that I make as a challenge to myself to make a sequential 9 panel or more displayed on one page. It's basically like making a haiku but in the usual one page comic form. Sorta going for the throwback to Newspaper comic strips being a one page or one strip sorta approach. I tend to do alot more detailed stuff for painting and illustration, but to do a lot of that tends to burn me out due to working on things on my own ( which can be very tedious) and time consuming. SO I make these little quick skits and drop them off to this here page. I hope you guys will enjoy it, and even share these little strips with friends and family, ( and I hope you have a reasonable sense of humor and have as much fun reading as I do drawing these. 

Here is a link to the page ! I'll still be posting stuff on this page while posting one shot comic stips ont the other! Thank you all!

http://aajcomicsnstuff.blogspot.com/2016/06/anthony-andujar-jr-presents-every-day.html

Reflections: Dark Knight Returns : The Last Crusade. by Anthony Andujar Jr

Blog Dark Knight Returns : The Last Crusade.

Anthony Andujar Jr

6/17/16

   First off I want to say that Justice League issue 51 , Titans: Rebirth, Green lantern: Rebirth and Batman: Rebirth were solid reads. Civil War issue 2 was okay. I’m waiting to see how much more the story will develop. But, I’m not gonna focus on those books since this post is focused on guy with the initials FM and I’m not talking about a radio channel.

Frank Miller is one of those guys in comic books that made a reasonable transition from comics to film and back compared to most guys of his time. Along with Alan Moore, and Grant Morrison, He changed the game with comic books from His DareDevil run at Marvel (which was a proto Batman in a sense), and then he went to work at DC in the mid 80s and set his sights on Batman. Many can agree that he brought back batman to his dark routes (even though O'neil had already done that in a sense), but Miller made Batman more grittier , somewhat similar to his 1939 appearance, except for the fact that he is against guns that is, where as his first appearance, he was always using guns.

Now, I'm  talking about Frank Miller only because he recently made a return to The Dark Knight Returns universe that he created (Back with Lynn Varley) with the help Brian Azzarello (100 Bullets, Wonder Woman), Andy Kubert (Batman, X-Men,Wolverine:Origin) and Klaus Janson (Long time Collaborator of Miller and John Romita Jr) are all currently working on Dark Knight 3: The Master Race. There are already to date, only 4 out of 8 issues released so far of DK3, so it's gonna take a while for that story to be completed (I hope it's completed soon). At the Moment a recent story came out, and it's a prequel to The Dark Knight Returns. No, not like the 2006 All Star Batman and Robin (which was great art wise, but dodgy writing wise). But, in terms of the overall linkage of the Miller DKR universe, I could see how it all tethers together.  But the Story of Focus , is Batman: The Dark Knight Returns: The Last Crusade , Written by Miller, and Azzarello , Illustrated by John Romita Jr And Peter Steigerwald .

Now, I'll focus on my thoughts of this specific issue and possibly how it compliments DKR better than most of the books that are connected to DKR as a whole. To begin, I thought it was a surprisingly great issue. I say this as someone who wasn't fond of Miller's recent stuff such as DK2, All Star B&R, Holy Terror and some of the last stuff of Sin City (Despite my respect for his stuff on Daredevil, His good batman stuff , early Sin City and 300).  

 After reading the Last Crusade, I wonder how Dark Knight 3: The Master Race will end (given that it's taking forever to release on schedule due to unknown delays). On the other hand, I'm Glad to see JRJR (John Romita Jr aka one of my fave illustrators) have a chance to put out work where he is allowed time to go in full detail instead of rushing in bi weekly books.

By the way, he's awesome in person. Met him a year ago, at Bryant Park where he was doing a free book talk event about his career and his move to DC comics. Thanks to a tip off from my friend Ray Soto!!).

When it comes to The illustrator from a professional point of view,  Romita Jr meets deadlines which is what I like, but you can tell the difference when it comes to him on bi weekly and something that allows him time. I can't wait to see what he does with Snyder on a new series called All Star Batman (no relations to the Miller verse stuff). Also, I love the writing from Miller and azzarello, it's making me forget about all star batman and robin (which I loved the art of Jim lee as always) but didn't like that version of batman since he was nothing like his older counterpart in the dark knight returns universe.

  In this book, we see the kind of batman shows elements of who he'd eventually become from the classic Dark Knight Returns comic. Unlike the horrible relationship that was showcased in All Star Batman and Robin (2006) where Bruce was brutal to Grayson (abducting him, and abusing him in his training as the first robin) he just seemed like a psycho.   

which was very unlike the Batman Year One iteration (who saved cats and was a very reasonable guy)

and DKR iteration (who is an old guy trying to fight against a corrupt government and system that has failed it's people, and trying to remind the people to not give in to the demands of corruption).

This batman has a growing concern of what Jason will become. Jason Todd in this universe has a bit of a blood lust when he fights crime.

Which causes Bruce to reconsider Jason as a possible replacement for him. I like that Bruce is displayed as a (on the verged he was ) seasoned middle age man (on the verge of becoming his older counterpart) doubting himself and his mentorship to Jason as well as struggling with the idea of giving up the cowl somewhere down the line like his girlfriend Selina did.

By the way, the conversation between Selina and Bruce was superb in terms of showcasing their development as characters from Batman Year One, to Dark Knight Returns. Looking at The Miller verse : Batman Year One (Published in 1987) (his beginnings),

Batman /Spawn (Published in 1994.  And yes, this is part of the Miller verse believe it or not. He's kinda seasoned ) .

All Star Batman and Robin (Published in 2006. It's a reckless character study, yet despite  my distaste for that book, it makes total sense of why Grayson would become what he becomes in DK2) .

, DKR : The Last Crusade (Published 2016. It's currently the focus of this blog post. It shows Bruce aging and becoming more level headed).

Dark Knight Returns (Published in 1986. The classic tale , about Bruce who becomes a seasoned vet back in the field after retirement).

DK2 (deals with the sins of his past , as well as the fate of the world ).

And DK3 (Published in 2015, currently ongoing, possibly will be completed this year???. Anyway, Bruce realizes that it'll take more than himself to take down the evil kandorians, who are basically cousin to the Kryptonians).

This batman is somewhat young (older than when he was in Year One and All Star B&R) but aging (Younger than he is in DKR) , and we see a sorts of mentorship between this Bruce and this DKR version of Jason Todd. My friend Willinzy described that unlike the classic O'neil tale (which is classic) isn't trying to be over the top eventful when it comes to the untimely (but timely) fallout of Jason. It's very unsuspecting in the sense that it's a different approach to Jason's end. It's not directly by the joker.  Jason's demise is all because he didn't heed Bruce's advice to rest. In addition, jason miscalculated his plan of action in terms of taking down the joker. And that mistake costs him more dearly than in the original Death in the Family tale. But this issue, is making me look at dk3 in a different light and makes me look forward to what Miller might do with the possible DK4. But most importantly , The Last Crusade really compliments the original Dark Knight Returns story

, and how after all this time, we get a good understanding of why Bruce treats Cassie with more care than he ever did with Grayson (who spoilers , becomes a villain in this universe),

and Jason (who you'll witness his descent in the Last Crusade) and why In issue 4 (of 8) of DK3, she is the only one who graduates beyond being Robin, and being Catgirl to only transition in this universe into Batgirl where as Grayson and Jason never achieved beyond their own Respective titles as Robin.

I know not a lot a lot of people have been fond of Miller's recent work, I'll be the first to admit it. But I do appreciate the kind of development of Cassie , and how she has developed as a character , and how the previous Miller Batman Books kind of paint a canvas of the different era's of Bruce Wayne in terms of trial and Era that got him to the point of where he is in DKR- DKR3. I'm pretty sure Brian Azzarello is helping make the right calls for Miller, but if there is any indication, it shows there's still juice in the tank, even if it's a little wacky.

Note: All of these photos are found through Google on the Internet.

Also, here is a digital illustration to accompany the post as I've been doing as of late!

Reflecting about Drawing By Fordham University by Anthony Andujar Jr. 6/15/16

Blog post ant 6/14/16 . 

    

Here is a more optimistic post than the last post that I made a few days ago (sunday 6/13/16).

I made a trip to the housing offices down in fordham ( just to do young adult stuff, which by the way, i don't know if they tell ya kids, but it ain't fun! haha).  When I was heading to the housing offices, I took the Bx17 bus from where I live and was drawing during the ride. As I was drawing this piece of female knight ready to combat evil demons. Unknown to me, this woman next to me have me this piece, told me "I hope you don't feel offended " and then left to her stop. I opened the letter when I got to the offices and was sorta surprised and not surprised. 

     I couldn't blame her, because as soon as I sat down, some woman saw the same drawing and she just started rambling about saying that the man with the horns is a "good guy" and that she had been there since the beginning of time, seeing lucifer fall from heaven. Sodom and Gomorrah, being stoned during the Salem witch trials, being enslaved for having multiple colors of skin and all this other stuff. Basically, I'm pretty sure she had an interesting trip of the multiverse. Point is, you never know how people will react to a piece of work that you make and how they interpret it. Soon after that woman left, There was a kid who saw my art and her mother told me that she draws everyday. Before she left, I gave her this quick sketch of #supergirl drawing as a gift and reminder to never stop.  

 After a long day at the housing offices I was heading out, until I came across this thing that NYPL (#New York public library) and #UNI were doing which was promoting people and kids in their communities to read and draw. One thing lead to another and I ended up drawing superheroes for kids. 

  I did some portraits (unintentionally got paid for it).  

I drew a portrait of the supervisors (Leah and Ester ), and encouraged kids to keep drawing and inspiring the communities you live in.  

It's the little acts of kindness, positivity and encouragement that makes a difference. Because you never know who's life you'll be impacting. Some people suggested that I should be a professor discussing about how comic books reflect the human condition just like historical mythology does. Maybe one day. Who knows. Anywho, back to my painting final.  Wish me luck man!!!!!! its due Friday June 17th!