For the fourth year we’re bringing coverage of Baltimore Comic-Con, which has grown to a three day event at the Baltimore Convention Center. It’s packed full of special guests, comic book vendors, amazing artists, interesting panels, and plenty of creative cosplayers. It’s been our honor here at French Toast Sunday to attend this event as press and bring you coverage of our experiences. This year Rob and Jess checked out three different panels that all had something interesting to offer.
Comics Creators Consuming Coffee: Baltimore Edition
This was a fun panel where we got to listen to Amy Chu (writer Poison Ivy, editor of the Food & Comics anthology), Greg Pak (Marvel/DC Storm, Amadeus Cho), Heidi MacDonald (The Beat, Publishers Weekly), and Rafer Roberts (Nightmare the Rat) talk about their late night work habits and drinking coffee to meet their deadlines. During the panel they drank coffee from Death Wish. Death Wish sources their coffee from South America and brews it to be 200% more caffeinated than most coffees on market. The beans at the panel were ground fresh by a volunteer from the audience and the grounds were brewed using an Aeropress. They spoke about late nights/early mornings and balancing work with taking care of their children. They also discussed how they got started in the business. Amy Chu talked about how she was noticed when people involved with producing comics liked the way she tweeted. She said “If you can’t tweet you can’t write comics” because you need to be able to express yourself in a text bubble. When asked about favorite coffee places in their home towns Stumptown in NY, Cafe du Monde (found often in cheap Vietnamese restaurants), Small World Coffee, and Birch Coffee (especially for cold brew) were all mentioned.
Listen to Jimmy
This was another really fun panel that was definitely a bit less family friendly than the others. This 16-and-over panel featured Jimmy Palmiotti, Amanda Conner, Frank Tieri, and some guests as well as members of their PaperFilm collaboration effort between comic writers and artists. They each had a couple beers they had to chug when anyone said a word from their personalized list of descriptive terms. As they drank beer they ripped on each other and the audience with some stand up comic style observations. Also, before the audience got into the room, they taped envelopes stuffed with dares underneath of some chairs. When the panel started, they had everyone check under their chairs and those that had a dare could perform it or pass it to the person next to them. It was low pressure and all in good fun. Dares included telling a panel member who wasn’t in on the gag that their writing sucked and proposing to one of the women sitting on the stage. The group seemed like they’d be the center of attention at your neighborhood bar.
The Fifth Beatle: Exclusive Film Presentation!
Vivek J. Tiwary spoke about the up coming film adaption of his highly celebrated 2014 graphic novel The Fifth Beatle: The Brian Epstein Story that he will produce and write. The film, like the graphic novel, delves into the story of Brian Epstein, a gay, Jewish record store owner who managed the Beatles and helped them find notoriety and fame at a time that record labels were not willing to give them a chance. In business school, Tiwary looked at Epstein as a historical mentor and felt his story deserved to be told. The film has been signed off by all The Beatles or their estates to be able to use The Beatles music in the film, something that is rarely granted. During the panel, Tiwary read aloud some scenes that he had written for the film. It was the first time these writings had been read to the public and he asked for feedback from the audience. Tiwary called the graphic novel and the film a “labor of love” and, by how highly he spoke of Brian Epstein, it was easy to see that this was true.
Check out the first post on Baltimore Comic-Con 2015 including cosplay costume pictures!
