The showcase has drawn comic book lovers and comic book creators who like the low-key approach.
SW Comic Book & Ctreator Showcase
SOURCE: KOAT
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The showcase has drawn comic book lovers and comic book creators who like the low-key approach.
Somewhere along the line, comic books turned into big business and comic cons became about a lot more than just comic books.
Don Baker was a comic book fan when he was younger, then drifted away like so many others. But as he saw comic cons get swallowed by anime, television, trading cards, and video games, he saw an opportunity to do something that went back to the basics: an artist drawing pictures, an inker and a colorist finishing the artwork, a writer who brought the story to life, or one person who magically did all of it at breakneck speed.
Now in its 4th year, Baker’s Southwest Comic Book and Creator Showcase has gotten the attention of comic book lovers and comic book creators who like the informal, low-key approach of the showcase.
“We saw this was something that was missing,” Baker said. “The way comic cons started, they were at small shows like this. Then they got big. They spread out into other areas of pop culture, and that’s fine. There’s nothing wrong with that. We just tried to stay focused on a comic-centric event.”
In addition to attracting working comic book creators to attend for free, Baker has networked within the community by enlisting the CNM Fine Art Department students to show their work at the showcase, and the Sandia Prep Advanced Graphics Class to make the poster and the program for this year’s event.
The big comic companies like Marvel and DC are still there, but there is also a subculture of small publishers and self-publishers, Baker said.
“Pretty much anyone can make almost whatever niche they want out of it,” Baker said. “It’s a lot different from the old go-buy-your-copy-of-Superman or Spider-Man at the comic book store.”
