Not all bad tropes are bad

In my class, students read a lot of comics. A goodly portion of them are superhero comics. Super HERO comics. Of those that aren’t “superhero” comics, they often still have “heroes” though not so super. “Heroes” do heroic things. A lot of those heroic things include SAVING PEOPLE.

So I laugh to myself when I read a student write about some comic they’ve read: “oh, hero saved the damsel in distress. I hate this trope, therefore I hate this comic.”

I get it. No really, I do. You’ve been told this for years—that women don’t need to be rescued, women are tough, they don’t need a “man” to rescue them, etc., so the story is old and therefore you should hate it.

The problem (often) is, it ain’t about the person being rescued being a woman. I mean, heroes can save THE WORLD (which includes men and women) like the Avengers do in the movies…but that, too, can get old after a while. No, it’s about the hero doing something heroic, saving SOMEONE in need of saving.

If heroes are saving people, they’re either going to save a damsel in distress or a dude in distress. You’ve got a 50/50 chance of either of those. I guess you COULD make it 33/33/33 and make it a “kid” where it doesn’t really matter if they’re a boy or girl, they’re a kid.

But…I dunno, people need saving sometimes. Sometimes that person is a man, sometimes that person is a female …let heroes by heroes. Let them save people. Let them save kids. Let them save dudes. Let them save damsels! I WANT to see my heroes doing heroic things!

And PS. For the uninitiated, “heroes” can be a male or female. It’s not about their biology, it’s about what they do with the power they have.

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What is a Silverline?

In the coming days I’ll be announcing a website and such for my comic imprint Silverline. Those of you who’ve been around for a long time will remember what Silverline is, but for those who haven’t and for those who are just popping by, let me ‘splain.

In 1987 I was at USM trying to finish up a degree and figure out how to earn a living as a writer. I wanted to be a writer and I wanted to work in comics, but I didn’t want to move to New York. A freak chance meeting with my now long-time friend Steven Butler (long story that involves my now-wife/then-girlfriend running for homecoming court) put the pieces into play. I’d been “working” on comics since my junior high days with my good pal Barry Gregory, but neither of us really had chops to draw—we were always looking for artists with whom we could collaborate. Steven and his suitemate Mitch Byrd fit that bill. Steven was just a driven as I was and had been trying to “break in” to comics, too. The black and white boom had just started with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles…so we decided to follow suit and do it ourselves.

Initially, we went with the name Top Comics. Mitch designed a nice imprint logo and off we went! We sent the solicitations around to all the distributors (there was more than just Diamond in those days) and ultimately got orders for about 4,400 copies.

It was there that we got jammed. We didn’t have the money to actually print and ship the comics. We were still in college, after all. None of the banks in Hattiesburg would give us a loan to print the comics, even with purchase orders for the 4,400 copies in our hands.

Sooooo, we had to cancel the orders and try plan B. As fate would have it, we knew someone who knew someone who had just started a small press company and was looking for content. That company was EF Graphics run by John Drury. We signed with EFG; Cat & Mouse was just the first title. It was to be followed by SilverStorm (written by Thomas Fortenberry); followed by an anthology title with stories by Barry…which would lead into a team book: The Hero Task Force.

But we’d become such a close group that we wanted an identity and we couldn’t really be Top Comics. This was before the idea of all the “studios” popped up later, but that’s kind of what we were. After some time, we settled on the name Silverline. Truthfully, I don’t know who in that group first proposed the name—if I were to guess, probably Steven. Maybe one of them remembers, but I don’t. But the idea was that since we loved the SILVER AGE of comics, we wanted to do comics that had a modern sensibility with a silver age spirit. We’d be a “line” of comics from EFG…we’d be the Silver Line. We shortened it to one word…and that, in a nutshell, is how it came to be.

2019 convention schedule and some other tidbits

Yes, I realize I’m a little late with this, but better late that never!
2019 is shaping up to be another fun convention year. I was already a guest at the DeLand (FL) Comic Convention. My long-time pal Steven Butler made the trip down with his budding artist daughter, Lily, and we had a great time.
If I can get the picture to embed, here’s one of me and writer John Crowther.

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Upcoming shows:

Feb 23: The Indie Showcase at ACME SUPERSTORE in Longwood, FL
Mar 16: Dyersburg (TN) Comic and Pop Culture Con
Apr 13: Fusion Con in New Port Richey, FL
May 4: FREE COMIC BOOK DAY! Bamf! Comics and Collectibles in Maitland, FL
June 1-2: Marble City Comicon in Knoxville, TN
Aug 24-25: Infinity Toy and Comic Con, Kissimmee,  FL
Nov 3: Daytona Beach Comic Con, Daytona Beach, FL

There’s a good chance I’ll return to Pikeville, KY in early August this year, but still working out the details.

I’ve reached out to Raleigh Supercon and to HeroesCon…but unfortunately have received no responses from them Would love to get to both places as I’ve never been to either. Obviously, if I ever hear back, I’ll update you here. So it goes…

Creative Work

Still plugging away making comics…

Waiting on Dean for C&M #2. He went and did some silly thing like get married! I think he’s getting back in the groove, so hopefully we’ll be able to kickstart #2 before long.

Been working with artist Alan McMillian on a graphic novel we’re calling SPECK. Both of us are getting out of the comfort zone a little in the way we’re doing things and what we’ve planning…but it’s turning in to a lot of fun. As we get more done, I’ll keep you posted…but it’s pretty exciting!

I’m talking to several other artists…but nothing that I can really show or talk about yet. As soon as it–or anything–happens, you’ll be the first to know!