Special Guest: Chris Sprouse

We are thrilled to announce Eisner Award–winning creator Chris Sprouse as the latest addition to the Mid-Ohio-Con 2009 guest list. Chris has been working in comics since the early 1990s and is probably best known as the artist and co-creator of Alan Moore's Tom Strong for Wildstorm's imprint ABC Comics. With writer Warren Ellis, Chris designed and drew Wildstorm's science fiction miniseries Ocean, which is being turned into a motion picture by Warner Brothers. Chris has worked on projects including Number of the Beast, Midnighter, Legionnaires, Batman, Justice League, Wild C.AT.S., Star Wars, Grendel, Supreme, and X-Men. With such a fantastic body of work, it’s no wonder why Chris is the subject of the next Modern Masters volume from TwoMorrows Publishing due in stores on July 10th. Also look for his work in the much-anticipated return of Tom Strong in Tom Strong and the Robots of Doom this Fall.

Happy Birthday, Alan Davis!

We thought we’d take a moment to wish Alan Davis a very happy birthday from all of us at Mid-Ohio-Con. Alan was an incredible draw as a guest of honor at Mid-Ohio-Con in 2008 and he was very generous with the legions of fans that queued up to get autographs and sketches. He actually took the time and made the effort to fulfill every request during the course of the weekend – not just quick convention sketches, but full character drawings! – despite the fact that his drawing hand was in a brace. Fans of Alan Davis have been treated to a lot of his new work over the past year on projects that include Astonishing X-Men, Clandestine, Thor: Truth in History, Young Avengers Presents, and lots of other projects including the incredible Marvel 70th Anniversary Poster featured below. The Excalibur Visionaries: Alan Davis Vol. 1 trade paperback was out on June 10th and the Captain Britain by Alan Moore & Alan Davis Omnibus hardcover hits the stands on July 15th. We hope to see much more of Alan’s brilliant work in the near future.

Heroes Con in Charlotte, NC!

This Father's Day Weekend marks the 27th annual Heroes Con in Charlotte, NC. Founded in 1982 by Shelton Drum, owner of Charlotte's Heroes Aren't Hard To Find comics shop, the convention has become famous for its comics-first and family-friendly atmosphere, drawing fans, exhibitors, and creators from every region of the country. Chuck Rozanski of Mile High Comics described Heroes Con in his June 15th newsletter as "the single best comics convention in America", which is high praise from the leading national comics retailer who is often a tough critic.

Heroes Con has featured an outstanding guest list year after year and the 2009 show certainly won't disappoint with headliners that include Mark Bagley, Brian Michael Bendis, Ed Brubaker, Chris Claremont, Frank Cho, Matt Fraction, Adam Hughes, David Mack, George Perez and Jeff Smith. That rogue's gallery is just the start of a guest list that is so long that I lost count halfway through. Throw in an incredible list of exhibitors including the leading comics publishers, retailers, etc. and it's clear why Heroes Con is known nationwide as a "must" on the summer schedule. We won't be present in person at Heroes Con this weekend, but we'll certainly be there in spirit. We're also shipping off the last batch of our already famous Mid-Ohio-Con 2009 Mini Watchmen posters by Chris Giarrusso to be given away at the show, so keep an eye out for them this weekend.

Museum of Comic & Comic Art Festival

The Museum of Comic and Comic Art held its 8th annual MoCCA Festival on the weekend of June 6th and 7th in New York City. Held each June since 2002, the MoCCA Festival attracts thousands of people who love cartoons and comics—from hardcore collectors and enthusiasts to the merely curious—with a unique opportunity to see and purchase indie comics, graphic novels, animation, posters, prints, and original artwork.

This year’s festival featured dozens of creators and publishers exhibiting and selling their work on the show floor along with a slate of panels on a wide range of comics and cartoon topics during the two-day show. Among the participants were David Mack, Chris Giarrusso, Jacob Chabot, John Green, Tom Hart, Charles Hatfield on Jack Kirby, Al Jaffee, Arnold Roth, Tom Kaczynski, David Mazzucchelli, Dave Roman, Seth, Raina Telgemeier, Adrian Tomine, and Marion Vitus, to name only a few.

It was great to walk the floor at the MoCCA Festival and I got to meet with many of the creators and publishers that were exhibiting at the event. I also got to do some shopping as I picked up a copy of the Kabuki: The Alchemy hardcover from David Mack, a Skullboy graphic novel and figurine from Jacob Chabot, Far Arden from Kevin Cannon, and Super Spy from Matt Kindt. I also joined the MoCCA as a member and they were kind enough to give me two posters and a copy of the Watchmen Portraits book. Not bad, eh?

Although I didn’t get to meet him, I was psyched to pick up an advance copy of David Mazzucchelli’s first graphic novel Asterios Polyp, which was being sold exclusively at the MoCCA Festival in advance of its July 7th publication date. Mazzucchelli’s definitive work with Frank Miller on Daredevil: Born Again and Batman: Year One, and his adaptation of Paul Auster’s City of Glass with Paul Karasik all left an enduring impression on me, so I’ve been eagerly anticipating his latest work.

Next up, I need to put my New MoCCA membership to work to visit the museum at 594 Broadway to see their exhibit The Comics of David Mazzucchelli which runs through August 23rd. The exhibit includes original comic art pages, drawings, preparatory sketches and covers from Mazzuchelli’s archives. It should be an incredible display!



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Welcome to Mid-Ohio-Con 2009!

Welcome to the newly redesigned Mid-Ohio-Con webspace, now your single source for all things MOC.

As we kick off our 2009 campaign, we’ve brought our website and our blog together under one roof, so to speak, for the convenience of Mid-Ohio-Con’s steadily growing online community.

Now that the new MOC-space is complete, it’s with a small tear in our eye that we must say farewell to the Mighty Mighty MOC-BLOG.

With a total of 360 posts between its launch on June 7, 2008, and its retirement on June 1, 2009, the MOC-BLOG has been an enthusiastic and unruly celebration of all the stuff our dreams are made of—comics, sci-fi, fantasy, gaming, and toys—as well as a treasure trove of information about our 2008 show and all our creative guests, including interviews with legendary writers and artists such as Chris Claremont, Alan Davis, Alan Dean Foster, David Mack, and others; special features like our popular Jack Kirby tribute; and much, much more.

Though the name and the banner are gone, never fear, Mighty Readers, the legend of Gormuu, warrior of Kraalo, endures: all the MOC-BLOG content is still available in the archives (see "Departments" and "Post Archives" in the right-hand sidebar).

So out with the old, in with the new: this year's show, the 29th annual Mid-Ohio-Con, will be held on October 3–4, 2009, at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio. Whether you’re a longtime MOC participant or a first-timer this year, we’re looking forward to seeing you there.

In the meantime, stay tuned for lots of news, updates, and announcements in the days ahead. We're putting together another great show this year!

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No Fate But What We Make

Like Gormuu these days, this guy's in a Terminator kind of mood . . .