Comic News Insider

Episode 480 - Heroes Con Panel: Covering with Amanda Connor/Jenny Frison/Phil Noto!

Comic News Insider: Episode 480 is now available for free download! Click on the link or get it through iTunes! Sponsored by Dynamic Forces.

It's the second of three panels that Jimmy moderated at Heroes Con a few weeks ago. This one was with the awesome cover artists Amanda Connor, Jenny Frison and Phil Noto! It's a fun discussion about their cover work, covers vs. interiors, inspirations, and more! Leave your iTunes comments! 5 stars and nothing but love!

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Episode 479 - Heroes Con Panel: Amanda Connor/Jimmy Palmiotti/Frank Tieri

Comic News Insider: Episode 479 is now available for free download! Click on the link or get it through iTunes! Sponsored by Dynamic Forces.

Reviews: Astro City #1, Ehmm Theory #1, Liberator #1, Wild Blue Yonder #1, Under the Dome, World War Z

Due to a last minute emergency, Jimmy's co-host had to back out so he flies solo this week. (Hope things get better, Robert Downey, Jr). And in this episode, you'll hear the first of three Heroes Con panels that Jimmy moderated. This one with Amanda Connor, Jimmy Palmiotti and Frank Tieri. It's full of hilarity and comic book goodness! He briefly chats about the new Shezow on The Hub, Jeff Robinov quitting at Warner Bros. and Charles Soule on the new Superman/Wonder Woman. News includes:  Boom! Studios merges with Archaia Entertainment, Joe Hill's Locke & Key gets picked up by Universal for movie development, William Fichtner is Shredder, and 70's Zod makes them kneel before him in the bathroom. As always, listener feedback, Top 3 and more! Leave your iTunes comments! 5 stars and nothing but love!

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Episode 478 - More Heroes Con w/ Kevin Mellon (Suicide Sisters, Archer), Mike Maihack (Cleopatra In Space), Rachel Pandich/Ashely Lanni (Aspire)

 

Comic News Insider: Episode 478 is now available for free download! Click on the link or get it through iTunes! Sponsored by Dynamic Forces.

Reviews: Crow Curare #1, Joe Hills Thumbprint #1, Superman Unchained #1, True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys #1, Man of Steel

Jimmy is joined in studio by his new nerdy pal Taylor Katz and they give a looooong review of the new Man of Steel film. More Heroes Con interviews with Kevin Mellon (Suicide Sisters, Archer), Mike Maihack (Cleopatra In Space), Rachel Pandich/Ashely Lanni (Aspire). Jimmy talks about how he almost screwed up his SDCC plans, briefly mentions new SyFy shows Primeval: New World (skip it) and Sinbad (not terrible) and gives love to his girls Alie &  Georgia regarding their new show on The Cooking Channel (Tripping Out with Alie & Georgia). News includes: Superman and Wonder Woman get romantical, Spider-man finds his sister, Dynamite Teams up Flash Gordon/The Phantom/Mandrake the Magician, Star Wars Land coming to Orlando and IDW gets animated...sort of! As always, listener feedback, Top 3 and more! Leave your iTunes comments! 5 stars and nothing but love!

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Episode 477 - Heroes Con Recap w/ Francesco Francavilla (Black Beetle), Vivek Tiwary (The Fifth Beatle), Ryan Black (Tension)

 Comic News Insider: Episode 477 is now available for free download! Click on the link or get it through iTunes! Sponsored by Dynamic Forces.

Reviews: No reviews this week

Jimmy is joined in studio by his podcast wife Erica Schultz! (Thanks to her real hubby AJ for the baked goods again). They both just got back from Heroes Con in Charlotte, NC and are here to give you the rundown of all the nerdy goodness. No reviews but some great interviews with Francesco Francavilla (Black Beetle), Vivek Tiwary (The Fifth Beatle) and Ryan Black (Tension). Plus a big Heroes Con recap. They also chat about the rumored character that Karen Gillan will be playing in the Guardians of the Galaxy film and give kudos to some Critics' Choice awards winners like Tatiana Maslany (Best Drama Actress for Orphan Black). News includes: Marvel makes Mighty Avengers with Al Ewing and Greg Land,  a live action Archie movie is on the way along with an Afterlife With Archie comic series, DC Comics brings back Batman: Black and White, and you too can smell like Stan Lee. As always, listener feedback, Top 3 and more! Leave your iTunes comments! 5 stars and nothing but love!

Also, get a hold of us!

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Heroes Con 2013 Recap!

Heroes Con 2013 came and went over the weekend and I'm still in full recovery mode. It's always such a blast and continues to be my favorite convention to attend every year. I did some great interviews and moderated some awesome panels for my podcast COMIC NEWS INSIDER. Thanks to everyone at Heroes for making it so awesome including Shelton, Rico, Andy, Karla, Doug and SOOOOO many more. Mad love to my CNI booth helpers/photographers Faren and Faith Kilpatrick-Cauble (Fotos by Faren), Tulpa Black, Melissa Bleier and Ted Carruba. I know you love the rundown, so here goes!

• Friday: After working almost 12 hours the night before and sleeping only 2 hours, I was off to Charlotte. Uh-oh, not a great start. Stuck on the runway for over an hour due to limited gates being open. Or something. As always, buddy Doug Merkle was awaiting with the shuttle and took my new friend Vivek Tiwary (whom I had just met a couple of weeks before) and I off to the hotel. Vivek is the writer of the upcoming graphic novel called The Fifth Beatle and has had an amazing career in music and theater. We had a great chat about a lot of it in the shuttle. Alas, no early check-in so I ran over to the convention (after changing...gotta look presentable!) to set up. First thing to notice, the convention has doubled in size so it immediately had a different feel to it. Not a bad thing at all. Rows were much wider with more maneuverability. And more people not just attending, but displaying. The podcasters had our own little row in the 2000s. Nice to have fellow new media around. And big ups and thanks to Brian "Pants" Christman of Comic Geek Speak for holding it down until I arrived. While I do some interviews at the table and like to meet people there, I'm often away doing interviews and panels. Nice to have a home base and thanks to Heroes for providing it. Friday is the day to get my bearings and greet everyone I know (so many friends!) and meet others. I did end up interviewing Vivek later and it was very fascinating. You'll be able to hear that on the podcast, of course! Seemed a bit sparse in attendance but that's normal for the Friday. Oh, forgot to mention my crew! Good pal Melissa had just moved to Charlotte weeks before and agreed to help out with the booth. She often does some interviews for me at San Diego Comic Con. And new CNI photographer Tulpa Black, from my hometown of Jacksonville, Florida, drove up and did lots of picture taking for me all weekend. Dinner at the famous soul food spot, Mert's and then back to the Westin lots of drinking/hanging. Did I mention the downpour? Best not to. 
• Saturday: Got about 4-6 hours of sleep so not too bad. Crowds were definitely bigger on this day and having the extra space really helped. No clusterfuckery in the aisles. I ran about and started doing some interviews and just chatting with other people. Especially new folks just to hear about their work. Also, good pal and my current podcast wife Erica Schultz (M3) showed up late Friday as she was on a panel or 2 on Saturday. She also did a signing at the CNI table for a couple of hours. My first panel to moderate was later in the afternoon. It starred, and I do mean starred, Amanda Connor and Jimmy Palmiotti with special guest Frank Tieri. It was just supposed to be Amanda and Jimmy but they wanted Frank to come up since they were old pals and are working on a project. I know the 3 of them and got mad love. It was a fun discussion of their work and it really just flowed like a conversation between us and the audience. Quite entertaining! You'll be able to hear it on the podcast in the near future. More running around to chat with folks and then a surprise visit! Well, not so surprising. My old best high school/college pal Ted drove up from Jacksonville and arrived right at the end of the show. We drove off to the liquor store for some booze and invited fellow Jacksonville peeps Rachel Pandich and Ashley Lanni Hoye of Aspire comic fame along with Rachel's hubby Tom and their friend to join in on the bourbony goodness. I think I frightened them with my tales of my Jacksonville debauchery in my youth. Finally dinner time so I got the oyster crew of Becky Cloonan and Ming Doyle to join Ted and I. Their pal Neil Bramlette also joined us. I love those gals Becky and Ming. The 3 of us have become fast friends over the past couple of years and I cherish these talented and smart ladies! Post-dinner, as per usual, back to the Westin for more drinks! The art auction is this night and I caught a bit of it before dinner. Not sure of whom had the record piece sold but I'm betting it's out there. Good times with good pals!
• Sunday: Slow start to the day for all of us. And I got about 4 hours of sleep again.The show starts later at 11am...smartest move they could do as they know people are out the night before. I had a panel first thing in the morning at 11:30 about covers called Good Girl Art with Amanda Connor, Jenny Frison and Phil Noto. Unfortunately, Adam Hughes and Frank Cho had to bow out but the 4 of us had a blast chatting about their work, covers, interiors and more. I said it at NYCC when I met her, and I repeat it here...that Jenny Frison is one of the funniest people on the planet. You can hear the panel some time in the near future on the podcast. Full discloure, this was a funky day for me. I had been exhausted all weekend and I guess it really hit me on Sunday. I went around and did some interviews and promised interviews to others later. However, when it was time for my last panel about Indy to Mainstream comics with Becky Cloonan, Kelly Sue DeConnick and Robbi Rodriguez, it hit me like a ton of bricks. (No food didn't help either). I suddenly got lightheaded and felt like I could pass out. I held on but I wasn't at my best. Apologies to the panelists (whom I've reached out to and they say it wasn't noticeable) and attendees. I am a much better moderator than that! Post-panel, I did another interview and then realized I better go lie down to try to shake the tiredness. MASSIVE apologies to those I said I'd interview or would possibly come back and talk to. Quite a few and I'm just as gutted. If I missed you and you're at another con I'm at, we'll definitely sit down. I'll be at SDCC and NYCC for sure. Still, even with that minor clusterfuck, the day went well and everyone seemed happy. After my 2 hour lie down to feel better, I got up to have dinner with a large crew of people in the hotel restaurant. It was my roomie Templesmith, Cloonan, Francavilla, Belanger and many others. Oh, again...forgetting the CNI crew. Official CNI photographers Faren and her daughter Faith showed up Sunday and took some great pictures (which you'll see some below). Always great to have them around. Faith is a budding little artist as well and I appreciate my cartoonist friends taking time to chat with her about her work. After dinner, it was off to the official Dead Dog party at the Heroes comic store. Great stuff and a great way to wind down. Back to the hotel bar for some chill drinks and finally bed. 

I know I'm forgetting names of people I saw and hung with so I wont even attempt. Just know I still love you, kids! Again, many thanks to the CNI crew Ted, Tulpa, Faren, Faith and Melissa. And massive thanks to Shelton, Rico, Andy and others for always being so good to us. Even though I got a bit ill on the last day, I still got some great interviews over the weekend as well as moderated some awesome panels. All of which you'll hear on the podcast soon! Plan on attending Heroes Con next year now! Best true comic book convention around!

Episode 476 - BEA Brief/Pre-Heroes Con Jam

Comic News Insider: Episode 476 is now available for free download! Click on the link or get it through iTunes! Sponsored by Dynamic Forces.

Reviews: Star Trek #21, The Wake #1, X-Men #1, Orphan Black season finale, Merlin series finale

Jimmy is joined in studio by his new favorite co-host, Erica Schultz! Jimmy chats about his visit to BookExpo America and how he chatted with some of the comic book publishers there. Alas, no interviews but some good info about an upcoming comic book or two! Also, Jimmy is traumatized by the recent episode of Game of Thrones and the recent Justice League America #4. Good thing Erica brought some of her hubby's famous chocolate chip cookies to soothe his pain! They also chat about the upcoming Heroes Con and what they have planned. Erica is on a panel and is doing a signing at the Comic News Insider booth. Jimmy will be hosting the booth, moderating 3 panels (see info below), doing tons of interviews, taking pictures and more. You'll also see CNI correspondents running around like Melissa Bleier and photographers Faren and Faith as well as new helper Amber! And a mystery guest rings the doorbell! News includes: DC Comics goes Forever Evil,  Matt Smith is leaving Doctor Who, Grant Morrison's Zenith is finally getting reprinted, and SheZow aims to save The Hub network. As always, listener feedback, Top 3 and more! Leave your iTunes comments! 5 stars and nothing but love!

Also, get a hold of us!

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Jimmy's Heroes Con Panel Schedule

• Saturday: 3pm

Room 207CD
Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Connor 
Fan favorites Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Connor sit down with Heroes’ favorite moderator, Comic News Insider’s Jimmy Aquino as they discuss the craft of making great comics.

• Sunday: 11:30pm

Room 207AB
COVERS: VERY GOOD GIRL ART
I re-iterate: Admit it—we all judge books by their covers.  With all the choices out there, how do we sift out the noise and select the quality? It all comes down to the covers, and there are few things as appealing to the eye than "Good Girl Art". Join Adam Hughes, Frank Cho, Jenny Frison, Phil Noto, and Amanda Connor as they discuss this craft with Comic News Insider’s Jimmy Aquino.

• Sunday: 2:30pm

Room 208ABC
CROSSING-OVER: From Mainstream to Indie and Back
Join psychic huckster Jonathan Edwards as he makes contact with Jack Kirby and Charles Schulz—no wait… sorry…wrongCrossing-Over. Return with us to the land of the living, and join Comic News Insider’s Jimmy Aquino as he discusses working both sides of the fence with Matt Kindt, Becky Cloonan, Kelly Sue Deconnick, and Robbi Rodriguez.