This weekend the Amazing Comic Con show comes to Houston. The convention has been around for a couple of years existing in other cities such as Las Vegas, Phoenix and Los Angeles. While we’ve had a major growth in the number of conventions nationwide, Amazing aims to quench the thirst of comic fans. Here, the goal is to show everyone where today’s pop culture scene started. While we already have a number of amazing conventions (Comicpalooza, Anime Matsuri, Houston Con, Oni-Con amongst others), I believe we still have room for others. Cities like Dallas and Austin have entered a phase where every weekend there is a major con that embraces the whole spectrum of pop culture, to me that lessens the chances that a guest you would like to see will be selected to appear. Houston is a bit different, while the city’s major con season has two anime conventions as book ends, they’re far enough apart to not clash with each other. What we have in between them is pretty awesome. For pop culture, we have Comicpalooza; for a fangroup/science fiction focus, we have The Houston Con. Amazing’s place is to be our resource for everything comics.
Looking at the guest list, I managed to sum up my excitement with one image:
Marvel.com
The cover to X-Men #1 was done by the one and only Jim Lee. I remember having a “career day” in 4th grade where we had to dress up as what we wanted to be when we grew up, and I took a picture from Wizard magazine that Jim Lee was in and emulated his attire as best as I could, added a Marvel Comics logo I cut out to my shirt pocket, and called myself a comic book artist. That’s how pumped I am for this. Now let’s focus a bit more on the cover, one of the most prominent figures on that gatefold is Wolverine. As much as people say he’s overused, there is a certain charm to him that made him become Marvel’s top character. Going back to “ye olde schoole days”, I was that kid that stuck pencils between his fingers and pretended to have claws. That brings us to Len Weine and Herb Trimpe. This duo created Wolverine and had him debut in Incredible Hulk 180/181, he may not have been the ‘bub we know now, but they helped mold him to burst out on the scene in Giant Size X-Men #1. Wolverine is also present through another guest, Joe Rubenstein. He inked Frank Miller’s Wolverine series that gave Wolverine the “I’m a badass attitude”.
Another guest that adds on to the X-Men legacy is Scott Lobdell, his Age of Apocalypse storyline tripped everybody out with alternate versions of Homo Superior. See Cyclop’s pouches on the cover? Well the man that evolved those pouches will be there as well, Rob Liefeld. Responsible for Cable and the one Marvel character that’s everywhere nowadays, Deadpool.
I could easily play “six degrees of X-Men #1” but to keep it short, it’s not all about the nostalgia factor nor is it all about Marvel. Most of the artists and writers mentioned above continue to work and create the stories that you ask your LCS to pull for you every week. Even those that are creating foundations for new legacy stories will be there, creators such as Tom Scioli, Brian Buccelatto, Chad Hardin, Mat Nastos, and many others.
And last but not least, Houston’s own Terry Moore will be appearing. While he may be a hometown guy, it is incredibly difficult to see him in a con setting. +500 SCN points* for Francine and Katchoo cosplay!
There is much more info, VIP opportunities and guest details to read on the Amazing Houston Comic-Con website, and check out our interview with Amazing’s head honcho, Jimmy Jay, on the SCN podcast!
*we have no idea what SCN Points will get you…but if you do come dressed as Francine or Katchoo, we’ll probably buy you a drink and high five you!
