By Jason Harris
Saratoga Springs Comic Con 2022
Category Comic Book
Rhode Island Comic Con 2022 Part 2
By Jason Harris
Pictures from Terrificon 2021
Pictures from MASSive Comic-Con
The 3rd Annual MASSive Comic-Con happened the last weekend of June.
Kevin McNally (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl).
Martin Klebba (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl).
Harley Quinn.
Wrestler Booker T.
Cobra Commander with another Cosplayer.
Former Wrestler Diamond Dallas Page.
Batman and Harley Quinn.
Chester Rushing (Stranger Things).
Harley Quinn and the Joker.
Martin Klebba and Kevin McNally at the Pirates of the Caribbean panel.
Chester Rushing.
Pictures from Vermont Comic Con, Part II
By Jason Harris
Harley Quinn.
Writer/artist Bob Layton.
The Flash and Mr. Fantastic.
Writer/artist Matt Bessette.
Jareth the Goblin King and Sarah.
Deadpool and Spider-man.
The Penguin.
Author Stacey Longo.
Rick Grimes and a zombie.
Authors Matt Spencer and Kristine Croto.
Actress Melissa Cowan (The Walking Dead).
The Drunk Geek Podcast table.
The Mighty Snorter table.
Pictures from Vermont Comic Con Part I
By Jason Harris
Vermont Comic Con, the first ever comic con in Vermont, took place at the Sheraton Hotel in Burlington over the weekend. The two-day convention was a huge success and will happen again next year, but on Labor Day weekend.
Comic book writer Brandon Barrows.
Green Arrow.
Freddy and Jason.
The Guardians of the Galaxy.
David Newall a.k.a. Mr. McFeely of Mister Roger’s Neighborhood talking to a young convention-goer.
Deathstroke and Deadpool.
The Gotham gang.
Writer Jeremy Holt.
The gaming room at Vermont Comic Con.
The cosplayers of Hero Army Cosplay, out of Connecticut.
Authors T.T. Zuma and Stacey Longo.
Swamp Thing
Spider-woman and Black Widow.
Pictures from the Rock Comic Expo
By Jason Harris
The first Rock Comic Expo happened yesterday at the Rockingham Park in Salem, New Hampshire. The Expo was created by J. Moulton. It ran from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. It was a day of people in cosplay and talking with authors and artists.
Author Rob Watts with the Iron Patriot.
Emily and Jeremy Drouin of Eplis Comic.
Author Stacey Longo
Author Dale T. Phillips holding his book, Crooked Paths.
Author Rob Watts holding his latest book, Left-Hand Path.
Crystalia Amaquelin of Marvel’s The Inhumans.
Authors Rob Watts and Dale T. Phillips
Author Stacey Longo talking with an expo attendee.
Authors Vlad Vaslyn and Dale T. Phillips behind the New England Horror Writers table.
Moulton plans to make the comic expo a two-day event next year. He is also involved with Vermont Comic Con, which debuts in October.
Meet Artists and Authors at the Rock Comic Expo this Saturday
The Rock Comic Expo is a one-day show happening in Salem, New Hampshire on Saturday. The expo will consist of vendors, comic book artists and authors from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The artists at the Expo will include Emily Drouin, John Coen, Jerry Fleming, and Amanda Dufresne. You can see the entire list of artists on the Rock Comic Expo website here.
There will also be authors at the Expo promoting and selling their books. These authors include Gordon Bean, Elizabeth Black, Stacey Longo, Dale T. Phillips, Vlad Vaslyn, and Rob Watts.
Tickets to the Expo are $5. The Expo takes place at Rockingham Park in Salem, NH.
Lew Temple Talks about ‘The Walking Dead,’ Rob Zombie, and Baseball
By Jason Harris
Lew Temple. photo by Jason Harris
Lew Temple’s time on The Walking Dead has ended, but he’s still proud of the work he did on the series, even though he thinks his character Axel had more to do in the show.
“I was obviously disappointed,” Lew Temple said. “I thought he was going to be serviceable to the group.”
Temple was given the news three weeks in advance that his character was going to die. He was in denial at first, but after some time he had to commit to it, he said.
“My intent is to always serve the story and that was my job. I wanted to do the best job possible.”
Temple did feel “disappointed for Axel,” though. As an actor, he will go on and work, but Axel is gone forever, he said.
The character of Axel will live on in The Walking Dead comic books and in reruns.
Temple did use the comic book character of Axel as a blueprint. Since comic books are one-dimensional, he had to make the character three-dimensional.
“I’m certain that we were able to use some of Robert [Kirkman’s] characteristics of Axel, but also brought some of my own to it as well.”
The producers on the zombie series knew of Temple before he came on in season three since he had been in to see them for the pilot.
“They looked at me for the role of Merle, originally, and then after that they hired Michael Rooker. Then they needed Merle’s brother, Daryl, who at that time was not even named.”
Temple auditioned for Daryl by reading Merle’s lines differently, which he was asked to do by the producers.
“Thankfully, they hired Norman Reedus. So when Axel came around they came to me and we were able to make that work.”
Temple was aware of the popularity of The Walking Dead, but not of the cross-cultural phenomenon it has become.
“I would say it hasn’t hurt me,” Temple said about Hollywood recognizing him from the popular series. “I would say prior to The Walking Dead I had a certain body of work Hollywood was aware of, and I was working prior to The Walking Dead …”
He admits that the series has elevated his visibility, which has helped him. He doesn’t know if his time on the series has defined him, which only “time will tell.”
“I like to do diverse stuff. I’m certainly proud of the work I did on The Walking Dead and to be part of that show. It’s been such an incredible hit.”
Temple has worked with writer and director Rob Zombie on Halloween and The Devil’s Rejects. He has “a really great relationship beyond a working relationship” with Zombie.
“I adore working with him because he knows what he wants and wants what he knows so there’s not a lot of grey area in-between. He is an absolute perfectionist and he does whatever it takes to make the day work, and if that means he needs to provide something on set, he does so.”
He does expect to work with Zombie again because he thinks they work well together. He just doesn’t know when that will happen.
“I think that I bring something to his story that he appreciates. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Lew Temple in a Rob Zombie production yet again.”
Along with acting, Temple is “an incredible baseball fan.” He adores the game and it has been his first passion since he was a little boy. He’s even played it all the way up until the minor leagues with the Seattle Mariners and Houston Astros. When he couldn’t play the game, he worked as a baseball scout for the New York Mets. Now he roots for the Atlanta Braves.
“I would say I’m excited for the Red Sox, but rooting for the [Detroit] Tigers.”
Temple also writes music.
“I think that I am a pretty interesting songwriter. I think that I am able to spin a tune, at least in my head.”
He has a record deal with Universal through the Rob Zombie production, Banjo and Sullivan.
Granite State Comic Con, a Glimpse Into Another World
By Dale T. Phillips
Once in awhile you get to do something really interesting, like get a glimpse into another world where people are nice, intelligent, and having fun in a different way. I had that experience this weekend at Granite State Comicon, a convention held in Manchester, NH, for people to meet who enjoy a variety of things: comics, costume play (cosplay), science fact and science fiction, fantasy, horror, anime, manga, and just hanging out with like-minded people.
This particular annual gathering began ten years ago, and Chris Proulx, co-owner of Manchester’s Double Midnight Comics, organizes the event. The show has proven popular, and grown to be a two-day event, with roughly 3000 people attending. It’s such a rush for those attending there were already people trying to register for next year, while the event was going on.
There was a great deal to see: panel discussions on various subjects, Ghostbusters, the only privately-held Delorean from the “Back to the Future” movies, R2-D2 and Imperial stormtroopers, vampires, pirates, superheroes and villains of all stripes, and even a place to play working arcade games from the past.
The Ghostbusters of New Hampshire
R2-D2
Stormtrooper
Jack Sparrow, the Silence from Dr. Who, and Elvira.
The Justice League
The people who come to the con love the stories and characters they find in graphic novels, movies, television, podcasts, and online. Many of them enjoy dressing up as a particular character they find appealing, and there are contests for best costumes in many different categories. But these are no mere outfits grabbed off the rack at a party store, they are meticulously researched and hand-crafted designs of ingenuity and creativity.
You may have seen a television show about people who cosplay and enter these contests, but in true television fashion, it shows many participants in a less-than-attractive light, editing to make them seem as if they are nasty competitors. Those in the costume contest I saw were nothing but supportive of each other, cheering each announced prize and high-fiving each category winner. I spoke with one participant who had a costume that included beautiful, hand-crafted armor. Having made armor myself, I know how difficult and time-consuming the process is, and complimented him on a stunning display. Though he was completely passed over for any prizes (an oversight, to say the least), he had no words of disparagement for his fellow competitors, no whining or complaining like you might see on television. A true hero of cosplay, and one who embodies the completely positive spirit of the whole event.
Winners
One costumer (cosplayer) who really goes above and beyond is artist Amy Fletcher, who over the years has become well-known for a series of striking mermaid costumes: steampunk mermaid, goth mermaid, even Ariel (from a well-known animated film). She’s back at cons after a hiatus, and what she does is more performance art than just dressing up. A true mermaid costume restricts ones movements, and she sits for hours at a time on display, where fascinated folk come to take pictures and marvel at the attention to detail on the current incarnation. Amy says she enjoys meeting people and being an inspiration to others, and loves to push creativity. Her attitude is: “Have fun, be yourself, and don’t care what others think!” Check out her website for great art and all things mermaid: http://sinicallytwisted.bravehost.com/.
Goth Mermaid
One place that encourages and educates this convention audience (and the world beyond) is Sci-Fi Saturday Night, a wicked cool podcast of all things science fiction. Check out their site and listen in on Thursday nights for news, interviews, and commentary by a talented cast of characters and guests from film, TV, and the writing world. Yeah, when I can tune in and hear classic writers like Spider Robinson and Harlan Ellison, you’ve got me without anything else. Then they’ll bring on someone like actor Lance Henriksen from the Aliens movie, just for good measure!
The Dome, Zombrarian, and Kriana of Sci-fi Saturday Night
And there are illustrators by the score, vending their artwork in various forms. Many have created graphic novels or other books, such as Susan Saunders, who was at her first convention, selling her children’s book Snowpocalypse, co-written with well-known horror writer Rob Watts. With a background as a schoolteacher, she’s now interested in creating literature for children. She enjoyed the people-watching element of the show, and was getting inspiration from the many other artists on display.
Susan Saunders and Rob Watts holding their book, Snowpocalypse.
There were other writers as well, most notably a contingent of the New England Horror Writers. Rob Smales, one of those selling books with the group, said that there were “a metric butt-ton of good writers in the New England area– some seriously creative people.” Earlier in the day, he’d gone around the event with a death mask on to scare up some business.
Authors and members of the New England Horror Writers Tracy L. Carbone and Rob Smales.
From left to right: authors Carbone, Smales, Scott Goudsward, and Tony Tremblay.
Goudsward in front of the New England Horror Writers sign.
You see a lot of good ideas here, such as raising money for charities– for example, the Ghostbusters of New Hampshire, who go to cons as their favorite movie characters, complete with heavy packs and gear for dealing with paranormal occurrences. They pay their own way, and make appearances and accept donations from attendees which all go to a specified charity. At the event, they were raising money for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing. The Delorean Time Machine is doing something similar, and making appearances to raise money for the Michael J. Fox Foundation.
The Delorean
So it was a great time, talking to filmmakers, photographers, and fans. Artisans creating accessories and vendors selling items from favorite shows and comic lines. Enthusiastic people having a ball, enjoying themselves and learning about many creative venues while meeting people from all over. If this sounds like your thing, there’s a slew of shows throughout the year, and New England hosts a number of them.
Jason Harris Promotions 