1/30/2007 4:00:00 AM Comicon 2007: A comic book fan's dream
Vendors and fans mingle at the Phoenix Cactus Comicon 2007 convention at the Mesa Convention Center this past weekend. The three-day event drew 539 visitors Friday.
By JASON SOIFER The Daily Courier
MESA Dave Beaty's other career sat in stacks behind a table in the Mesa Convention Center.
The boxes of completed comic books and other materials is the culmination of countless hours of work Beaty, Micah Stewart and Lin Workman have contributed to the creation of a comic book.
The trio lugged the books to the Phoenix Cactus Comicon 2007 gala at the Mesa Convention Center this past weekend.
Beaty, a specialty graphic technician for The Daily Courier during the day, arrived at the convention with the second edition of Bushi (pronounced Boo-she) Tales.
"I just enjoy coming to the conventions and I like talking about the book," he said. "As an artist, this is kind of an opportunity to interact with people."
The three-day event was a who's who of comic book authors and artists and full of people dressed as popular fictional characters including Darth Vader and the Ghostbusters.
Beaty said getting a table and co-hosting a panel discussion on comic books is partially about getting his name and project into as many people's heads as possible.
"Promotions is the main goal," he said. "We find that once people read the book, they enjoy it."
Bushi Tales is a post-apocalyptic story about four female samurai warriors on a quest for the Japanese god of war.
Workman and Beaty's first edition hit the stands in February 2006 and the pair just released the second installment this month.
Beaty said it took about six months to complete the second issue.
"It's a lot of long nights and a lot of long weekends doing nothing but the book," he said. "Our goal is to get (number) three out in a more timely manner."
Matt Solberg, convention director, said more than 70 vendors, 20 publishers and more than 50 guests who are active in the industry participated in the event.
Solberg said the first convention in September 2006 drew 2,400 people and he was optimistic about attracting 3,000 visitors to the show this time around.
"The hope is fans want to see them," he said. "It's not just a comic book show, it's not just an anime show, it's the signature pop culture convention in Arizona."
Bret Blevins moved west to Prescott from the east coast 16 years ago and was attending his second convention.
Visitors steadily approached Blevin's table with their sketchbooks for him to draw in.
Blevins worked in the animation industry for a decade and paints at a couple of galleries in Prescott.
"It's an interesting kind of surge of energy you get because you talk to so many people so quickly," he said.
For more information, visit www.bushitals.com or www.bretblevins.com.
Contact the reporter at jsoifer@prescottaz.com
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Posted: Thursday, June 21, 2007
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