At last year’s Salinas Valley Comic Con, Ghostbusters sniffed out ectoplasm, V searched for his Vendetta, mortals played with Magik, Bane intimidated and Dumbledore promoted a steampunk puppet play.
It happened in February. SVCC director Jesse Banda, also the Steinbeck Center’s facilities and front desk manager, says they tried to schedule the follow-up for February of this year, but the effort to piece together a real estate deal with CSU Monterey Bay pushed the date to Dec. 18-20. Turned out that was serendipity.
“We had that date set, no matter what,” Banda says. “Then it was announced that it was the opening weekend of Star Wars.”
He says Star Wars: The Force Awakens previews on Thursday, then officially opens Friday, including at Maya Cinemas across the street from the center. Friday is the first day of the comic con.
“We’re hoping to piggyback on that so it’s a big party,” he continues. “I like to call it Nerdy Gras.”
Star Wars lore infuses the comic con, including a panel called “So You Wanna Be a Sith Lord?” (2pm Sun) by the 501st Legion, an official Star Wars fanclub that dresses as Star Wars stormtroopers. That’s followed by a panel called “Oh My Geek! Presents: Star Wars: The Fans Awaken,” (4pm Sun) in which the hosts of the Oh My Geek podcast do a special live show from the con.
Star Wars will loom large; its gravitational pull is too strong. But it won’t be the only show in town. Other panels include “Indie Movies and Today’s Technology” (12:30pm Sun) and “From the Grapes of Wrath to The Wrath of Khan: How Literature Has Influenced Pop Culture” (11:30am Sat).
This year’s con is bigger, three days instead of two. Last year it contained 15 vendors; this year, 32 and counting. Last year it occupied one ballroom and a smaller spillover room; this year, four of the rooms, an art gallery and free bonus stuff at John Steinbeck Library (10am-5am Sat) just up the street.
“And I’m using every inch available,” Banda says.
There is a cover charge this time, but that nets attendees more artists, writers (like Steven Banks, former head writer of Spongebob Squarepants), publishers, comics, toys, talks and Friday’s kick-off panel (4pm) about comics culture, a reception and art preview. (If there’s room, all are welcome for free.)
The Chunky Girl Comics team is back. The comic, conceived by Marisa Garcia, revolves around a team of full-bodied super heroines called the Heavy Response Team, based on the body shapes of real women. When she first started sharing the concept, she received a lot of negative feedback, Garcia says.
“The idea of having overweight women as superheroes really seems to scare some people,” she writes by email. But, she adds, “As the years go by, I get more and more positive responses.”
She and her real-life team go to schools and conventions, speaking out against bullying and shaming. Garcia says superheroes, which reach young people at impressionable ages, should be part of the body-positive movement. She and her cohorts will talk about it in their panel “Body Image and Diversity in Comics, Cosplay and Pop Culture” (1pm Sat).
But there will be comics creators from across the spectrum.
Ace Continueado, 44, out of Salinas, aspires to get his license to practice dentistry in the U.S. and also make it as a comic book illustrator. He’s drawn for indie publishers, done concept covers and attends the New York Comic Con.
What he calls his “small break” came with illustrating four issues of a mini-series called Shaper for Dark Horse Comics, the publisher of Sin City, 300, Hellboy,Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But Continueado is trying to break into the Big Two – Marvel and DC – by delivering what he believes editors and fans want.
“I try to make [superheroes] real people,” he says. “If you draw Wonder Woman and she’s just sexy like Victoria’s Secret, it’s not really Wonder Woman. You gotta have that power, ability, beauty and vulnerability.”
Ironically, his depictions of superhero women – finely detailed and masterfully shaded – actually look a lot like Victoria’s Secret. His male superheroes are grim and ripped with muscles. That harkens back to comics’ past as a boys’ playfield.
Continueado is supportive of Garcia’s mission, but concedes to that past.
“Kudos to [Chunky Girl Comics],” he says. “But Bat Girl has always been slender, young, playful. Fans are looking for these certain types of physiques.”
He’ll talk on a panel called “I Want to Work in Comics” (11am Sun).
The Salinas Valley Comic Con – from the Back to the Future DeLorean replica to the local Squid Row Comics, from animation and filmmaking panels to Tragic Hero Comics – will prove this is an expanding universe with room for multitudes of voices, as varied as the imaginations of its creators. Excelsior!
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.