Comic Confidential – King Con Brooklyn

A couple of weeks ago, New York was hit with a devastating super storm called Hurricane Sandy. The great city was battered and bruised, millions were out of power, homes were destroyed and streets were flooded. So who would think that a week after the storm that Brooklyn would have a small comic con in the midst of the aftermath.

King Con at the Brooklyn Lyceum is a local comic con in the great borough of New York. It’s not the mega con like the New York Comic con; no, this is a small venue filled to the brim with local indie talent. Brooklyn wasn’t going to let a little thing like a Hurricane slow it down. The Lyceum feels like a basement dungeon, cold and dank right in the heart of Brooklyn. Some of the artists that showed up were Mindy Indy, Dave Kelly, Sean Von Gorman, Mike Isenberg, and many others. Among that list, I happen to be signing copies of my new comic FLEE as well as Dream Reavers. Many of the artists that were supposed to make it to the con had to cancel, so there wasn’t a huge lineup of creators. Many families showed up, but once again parents seem to realize that most comics these days ARE NOT for little kids anymore. To the horror of most parents, they were shocked at the adult material most of us were selling.

It was a slow crowd of customers to be sure, but most of us still managed to sell a dozen or so copies each. I’m sure if there hadn’t been a hurricane the place would have been much more crowded. For those that did miss it, you really missed out on a special show. Comic creator and escape artist, Sean Von Gorman, preformed a straight jacket escape for the crowd. You probably heard of his stunt last year when he handcuffed himself to a street sign in front of comic shop Forbidden Planet in New York. He was selling copies of his book, The Secret Adventures of Houdini. I picked up a copy of Mike Isenberg’s series The First Law of Science, which I’ll review in the coming weeks.

It was a grueling two days in a cold underground convention, and the only thing that made it enjoyable was the company of my fellow comic creators and meeting the great new fans. I happen to sit next to fellow Brooklyn comic creator Dave Kelly, who was selling copies of his comic, Tales of a Night Watchman. Hopefully next year they’ll hold this convention during a warmer time in the season. Maybe it will have a greater crowd. I’ll be attending next year so I’ll be sure to send you folks all the details about it when I do.