COMICS BLEND

 

Emerald City Comicon 2014 is just 1 month away.

Getting bigger like the Hulk while staying cool like Martian Manhunter, the Seattle pop culture celebration just keeps growing.

ECCC is a full three days and taking over the entire Washington State Convention Center this year.

It’s three days of geek thrills for locals like yours truly but the Seattle con is now a major destination for fans across the country.

 

What I truly love is how Emerald City Comicon keeps the tradition of bringing comic book legends along with a diverse roster of top talents to meet Pacific Northwest fans. These comic book creators (and first time ECCC guests) are at this top of this geek’s list:

 

Arthur Adams An incredible artist who co-created the original Longshot limited series is making his first ECCC appearance. Adams has iconic runs on X-Men, The Authority, Batman, Godzilla and created covers for the X-Men 50th Anniversary crossover Battle of the Atom. It will fun looking through my collection to pick which Adams issues to have signed! Longshot co-creator Ann Nocenti (currently on Catwoman) is also attending this year. Adams created the cover to this year’s Monsters & Dames artbook for charity – just one of the many ECCC exclusives fans can take home.

 

Klaus Janson The artist who was part of a legendary run with Frank Miller on The Dark Knight Returns, and Daredevil: The Elektra Saga. Here’s a creator still powerful today but his Batman/Daredevil art helped define a decade still has an impact on the industry. Janson was part of the Batman arcs Cataclysm, Gothic and Knightfall. I have to find my copy of the DC Comics/Image Comics crossover: Batman/Spawn: War Devil drawn by Janson.

 

Peter David The fan-favorite writer with milestone runs on Incredible Hulk, X-Factor, Supergirl and Young Justice. I absolutely love David’s 12-year Hulk as  he explored Bruce’s multiple disorder with the grey Hulk and the merged Banner who led the Pantheon. One of my favorite moments in David’s career is the wedding of Rick Jones and Marlo with a hilarious Bachelor party thrown by the Hulk. After breathing new life into the mutants of X-Factor time and again, David just relaunched a brand new version of X-Factor I can’t recommend enough.

 

Jason Aaron of Scalpled, Ghost Rider, Wolverine and the X-Men, Amazing X-Men. Aaron just wrapped up his Wolverine and the X-Men run. I absolutely love Aaron’s strange and wonderful stories of Logan and the kids of the Jean Grey School. Aaron is bringing Nightcrawler back from hell in the pages of Amazing X-Men now. Aaron is the mastermind of Marvel’s big 2014 event Original Sin – a cosmic murder mystery that asks “Who Killed the Watcher?”

 

Ed McGuinness is the fan-favorite artist working with Aaron on Amazing X-Men. His career includes the first Superman/Batman run with Jeph Loeb that should be a movie and Hulk with Loeb that introduced the Red Hulk. McGuinness and returning guest Dexter Vines have worked together on Hulk, JLA Classified and one really special issue to me, Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America.

 

Mark Bagley is one of THE definitive Spidey artist. Bagley drew Ultimate Spider-Man, Amazing Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, New Warriors, Thunderbolts for Marvel and Justice League of America, Batman and Trinity for DC. Fellow fans will join me in praising Bagley for his long collaboration with Brian Michael Bendis on Ultimate Spider-Man and the Death of Spider-Man arc. The duo launched Avengers Assemble and have their creator owned title: Brilliant.

 

 

Kelly Sue DeConnick (Captain Marvel, Avengers Assemble) and G. Willow Wilson (Ms. Marvel) are featured guests at a special Carol Corps Celebration at the Museum of Flight on the night before the con. Both writers will then join the panels and tables the following days.

 

 

Batman writer Scott Snyder, Hawkeye writer Matt Fraction, Chris Burnham, Frank Cho, Terry and Rachel Dodson, Dustin Nguyen, Gail Simone and Greg Rucka are among returning favorites. Here’s the complete list of writers and artists scheduled to attend. Programming and panels will be announced March 7th.

 

The stars are truly aligning and heading north to Seattle. ECCC has an incredible roster of celebrity guests to meet fans, sign autographs and share stories in panels. From Doctor Who to Star Trek to Firefly and even Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and The Walking Dead, fans of multiple sci-fi, fantasy and action genres will find a beloved star or stars for them.

 

Karen Gillan The first Doctor Who cast guest ever at Emerald City Comicon is “the girl who waited.” Gillan played Amy Pond opposite Matt Smith’s Eleventh Doctor. Gillan is bald and bad as the evil Nebula in Guardians of the Galaxy this Summer. You can see Gillan LIVE Sunday only at ECCC.

 

Karl Urban Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, Dredd – the actor with tons of sci-fi cred comes to Seattle for the first time! Urban is now starring in the hit Almost Human and some fans will remember his role as Caesar in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess. Urban beams to Seattle for Saturday and Sunday.

 

Ron Perlman HELLBOY! That’s enough for me! The actor is known for playing Mike Mignola’s comic book creation in two feature films plus roles in Pacific Rim, Blade II, Alien Resurrection plus two iconic television series, Beauty and the Beast and Sons of Anarchy.

 

Stephen Amell of ARROW! Amell hits the target as DC Comics vigilante archer Oliver Queen on the smash series on The CW. Amell appears Saturday only. Kelly Hu played China White on the first season of Arrow and fans loved to hate her as Lady Deathstrike in X-Men 2. Hu will be appearing all three days.

 

Chad Coleman plays the heroic Tyreese on The Walking Dead and will appear all three days along with co-star Emily Kinney who portrays Beth Greene on the smash AMC series based on Robert Kirkman’s Image comic book series.

 

 

Plus, Nichelle Nichols, Michael Dorn, John de Lancie of Star Trek, Michael Biehn of The Terminator, Aliens, Richard Dean Anderson (MacGyver, Stargate SG1) Kelly Hu of X-Men 2,  Alan Tudyk (Firefly)and here’s the entire list so far along with information on autographs and photo ops.

 

Emerald City Comicon is March 28, 29, and 30th at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle. Here’s the link to buy tickets to this full 3-day event.

By Editor