Wednesday, November 12, 2014

GRAND RAPIDS COMIC-CON

The Grand Rapids Comic-Con will be Friday through Sunday, November 21-23, 2014, at the DeltaPlex, 2500 Turner Ave. NW in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Because I am a slave to my passions, I’m a late addition to the guest list. Despite that, the show organizers could not have been more gracious in making my appearance possible.

The passions of which I speak? One of the convention guests is Paul Bales, the co-producer of Sharknado and Sharknado 2: The Second One and the producer of other Isabella favorites like Mega Python Vs Gatoroid, Mega Piranha, and Mega Shark Vs Mecha Shark. The moment I heard Balas was a guest at the show, I wanted to meet him. Maybe if we hit off, I’ll get killed by a shark in Sharknado 3. A man has to dream, doesn’t he?

Other media guests include Alaina Huffman, who I adore in her role as Abbadon, Queen of Hell on the CW’s Supernatural, and the awesome Nichelle Nichols, who, as far as I’m concerned, has been the queen of outer space since she starred in the original Star Trek series.

Comics guests include Arvell Jones, co-creator of Misty Knight from the Iron Fist run we did together in the 1970s, Christopher Jones, William Messner-Loebs, Andrew Pepoy, Ryan Stegman, Chris Yambar,  the legendary Allen Bellman and others. The con is also bringing in a few literary guests and hosting an artist alley that looks packed with some very interesting talents.

Convention programming includes panels, costuming, special events and exhibits and after parties. It’s an impressive line-up with all sorts of fun.

On Sunday from 1:15 to 2:15 pm, I’ll be presenting my TONY’S TIPS LIVE panel. To quote myself:

Tony Isabella brings his long-running Comics Buyer’s Guide and online column to the Grand Rapids Comic Con. The creator of Black Lightning, Misty Knight and Tigra will bring his usual mix of news, reviews and views to the stage. There will be insights and insults. There will be snark and wisdom. There will be blood. Okay, maybe not blood, but things could get dangerous as Tony talks about the secret history of comics and answers audience questions. It’s chilling and thrilling...and you are there!

Because of my being a late addition to the convention, it looks as if I’ll be set up with the media guests. I’ll be bringing a box of my award-deserving and soon-to-be-out-of-print 1000 Comic Books You Must Read. If the publisher follows through on its decision to not to do a third printing - a baffling decision in light of the swell royalty checks I’ve been getting all along - all rights to the book will revert to me.

As always, I’ll be happy to sign any Isabella-written items free of charge. However, I will not sign any DC Comics books or merchandise for which I haven’t been paid. Even in this small way, I do regret disappointing any of my fans and readers. But I feel I must take a stand against DC’s continued disrespect of me and my work and the company’s violations of its agreements with me.  I appreciate your understanding in this matter.

That said...

I’m thrilled to be part of this show. It will be my last convention appearance of the year and I can’t think of a better event to close out 2014. I hope to see many of my bloggy thing readers, Facebook friends and other fans and acquaintances there.

I’ll be back tomorrow with more stuff.

© 2014 Tony Isabella

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