LONG BEACH COMIC EXPO
When: 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.
Where: Long Beach Convention Center, 300 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach.
Tickets: $25-$50.
Information: www.long beachcomicexpo.com.
When: 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.
Where: Long Beach Convention Center, 300 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach.
Tickets: $25-$50.
Information: www.long beachcomicexpo.com.
While it’s not the biggest in the area, the Long Beach Comic Expo has earned a solid reputation as an event that strongly focuses on comic book writers, creators and artists.
And that’s not something that only serious comic book fans appreciate. It’s also something the invited guests appreciate: After all, before they made it in the business, they all started out as huge comic book fans.
“One of the things I like is that it feels like you’re family,” said comic book writer and editor David Gallaher. “When you go there, you feel like there’s this culture that’s warm and exciting, but it’s not too glitzy, it’s not too glamorous. People who are there are passionate about comics and passionate about entertainment and passionate about pop culture in a way that I think few shows capture.”
The New York resident — who is known for his work on DC Comics’ “High Moon” series and pioneering digital comics for Marvel’s Iron Man, Captain America and Spider-Man — will be among the more than 100 guests that include writers, animators, voice actors and others who will take part in dozens of panels and exhibit their work when the Expo returns Feb. 18-19.
“As usual, we always make the comic book creators the centerpiece of everything we do,” said Martha Donato, executive director and co-founder of the event, which will be held at the Long Beach Convention Center.
The weekend will also include the always popular cosplay contest and the return of the Space Expo, which highlights the connection between science, movies and comic books.
Gallaher, meanwhile, will be bringing some of his graphic novels and other works to the Expo during the weekend to share with fans.
On Feb. 17, however, a day before it opens to the public, he’ll focus a little more on the serous side of comics when he leads a talk for other comic creators about the business of contracts and marketing in their industry.
Gallaher not only takes the business side seriously, he’s also serious about his admiration for superheroes, which pulled him into the world of comics.
For him, it all began the first time he saw the “Superman” movie back in 1978 when he was a kid.
After that Gallaher was hooked and he began to passionately follow characters like Shazam, Batman and, of course, Superman.
“Superheroes really formed my belief structure in a lot of ways, because of who they are and what they do — truth, justice and the American way thing,” he said.
Like Gallaher, cartoonist Mike Kunkel’s love of comics goes back to when he was a kid, and he too considers the Long Beach Expo one of his favorite events.
“I love the crowd,” Kunkel said. “What I do is an all-ages book and all-ages stories, and the crowd is a very family-friendly good crowd that genuinely loves comics and stories.”
The Los Angeles resident, who participates in the Expo every year, releases his work via his publishing company, The Astonish Factory.
His comic-book series includes “Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam!” which he launched for DC Comics, as well as his own books such as “Herobear and the Kid,” which is the story of a little boy who inherits a stuffed bear from his grandfather. The bear ends up becoming his best friend.
His others books include “Timmy & the Moon Piece,” a traditional children’s picture book written in rhymes, and “The Land of Sokmunster.”
“If you’ve ever lost a sock, this is where they go,” he said. “This is what happens to them.”
This year at the Expo, Kunkel will be participating in a workshop with the Girl Scouts helping them come up with a story and illustrations for a comic strip.
It’s a fitting panel for Kunkel, who began drawing comics as a kid inspired by superheroes such as Spider-Man.
“My most favorite character has always been Spider-Man,” he said. “When I was a kid, I actually ordered the little web shooter from the back of the Marvel comics.”
Realizing early on that he could draw, Kunkel set up a desk in his walk-in closet, where he drew cartoons and wrote stories.
He called the space his “cartoon company.”
“My dream was to be a cartoonist, to write and draw cartoon stories, and today I’m living my dream,” he said.
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