The Never-Ending War and Jailbreak!: Adam Dembicki
I will never say anything bad about comics made by a child.

While Adam obviously has a good guide in his dad, he has a clear sense of storytelling. The subject matter falls in typical boy interests — wars with aliens and cops & robbers — but Adam seems to have a mature sense of justice. He’s also becoming a wonderful artist. The aliens in The Never-Ending War are creative and scary. These are great.

(Plus, at this weekend’s DC Zine Fest, Adam handled the whole thing with the disinterest of a veteran. I think this kid has a future in comics just because of that.)

The Worst Kind of People Giant-Size #2: James Cuartero
If the title doesn’t tip you off, this collection of one-page comics is fairly vulgar and cruel. There is a purposefully distasteful vibe about it that turned me off at first, but the more I read it, the more I understood what it was going for. I think the comics got stronger as they went along — “My Baby Predator Daddy” and “#Winning” were two of my favorites. Cuartero’s dynamic faces convey the every-day moments of cruelty and disappointment well. I don’t know how much of this I need to read but I was ultimately impressed.

Spaz! #4 and From the Wikipedia List of Unusual Deaths: The Collyer Brothers: Emi Gennis
Gennis continues to develop as a cartoonist and while her often vulgar tales aren’t going to be for everyone, they do reflect a confident and playful perspective. Her “Emi’s Guide to Being a Teenager! Tip #37: How to Sneak Out of the House” is wonderful. The scenario she presents is overly complicated but almost seems plausible and the way she draws the big innocent eyes on herself is incredibly funny.

Gennis often inserts “unusual deaths” stories into her minicomics, but The Collyer Brothers is a standalone one. About two brothers who lived in Harlem at the first part of the 20th century, it’s both cruel and depressing. The comic is a wonderful showcase for Gennis’ artistic range, though, as she draws period costumes and building and a wide range of faces. Her Spaz! comics are fun but I like seeing what else she’s able to do.

Dodo Comis #1: Grant Thomas
Thomas’ narratives are more abstract than most comics (in fact, he was featured in Abstract Comics) but there is a definite lyrical beauty to his work. “Where Do Ideas Come From?” is a wonderful marriage of words and art — each makes the other stronger — and “The Duel” and “The Chase” take images from manga and strip the characters out, leaving only motion lines behind. These may be a little obtuse for some, but I admire his ability to expand on the art from of comics and what it can do.

Grow Up!: A Homage to Psuedo-Adulthood: Sara Baier
Feeling adrift in your 20s is nothing new — and a countless number of comics have been made about this subject. I often think there’s nothing else left to be said on this subject.

Baier proved me wrong. Through a series of vignettes, she meditates on what it means to be an adult. It’s often funny — the images of what she wanted to be when she grew up includes everything from “Gwen Stefani” to “A Mutant” — but it’s also sweetly poignant, as when her dad tells her there’s nothing wrong with the fact her heart tells he to do crazy things.

Her simple faces carry panels that are often dialogue- or text-heavy and I love her presentation of various icons of growing up — a diploma, or packing up to move away because you don’t know what else to do.

This is apparently Baier’s first completed comic. That seems crazy to me because it’s beautifully accomplished. I will love to see what she does next.

Review copies provided by Gennis and Thomas.

My press badge was easily and quickly acquired (I do have to compliment the staff and volunteers — all very nice and helpful) and I went to say hi to my friend Timothy Lantz (who said the show had been good to him) and I picked up his beautiful postcard set (you should too!) and saw a sneak preview of his secret project.

No sooner had I turned from Tim’s table, I immediately ran into my friends Joe and Rusty of Full Sanction so I spent the rest of the time hanging out with them.

We talked to a few people, dug through some $1 comic boxes and $5 graphic novel boxes. From the former, I picked up the second Mary Jane volume (I don’t have the first one, but it was a $1! A dollar! Here is where I point out that after parking, buying Tim’s postcard set, I had exactly $9 left to spend) and from the latter, I bought The Essential Dazzler. As Joe said, “That’s a lot of Dazzler.” But I like Dazzler — she’s utterly ridiculous and was a character made a couple years too late by committee, but I think that’s what makes her fun. And hey, $5.

That pretty much took the majority of my money, so we wandered and looked at overpriced action figures and lamented the lack of light-up swords. All three of us purchased a copy of Adam Dembicki’s (as in, son of Matt) Ant Army! I am already very much for adorable children making comics, but Adam told us he was going to use his money to buy more Legos. That’s a completely worthy cause.

The overall vibe of the show was fun and relaxed. All the exhibitors seemed very happy to be there and happy to welcome fans, old and new. The artist alley/small press section drew a lot of interest and I did see plenty of original stuff and much less of the “I will draw Joker for you” sort. Even the sellers of the comics/action figures/etc. seemed to be enjoying themselves and doing well. I’ve always been much less interested in that side of cons before, but this time, it just felt right to me.

People have been making comparisons between the Baltimore and San Diego cons (notably in this Washington Post article). I had fun at San Diego and I look forward to the New York con in October, and while it’s neither good nor bad, I just know they’re different sorts of cons — comics is just the jumping off point and not the focus.

Baltimore is a true comic con. It’s about comics. There’s no big media companies vying for your attention, no loud obnoxious movie clips playing, nothing that falls too far outside “comics” (T-shirts and action figures, sure, but not much beyond that). And that’s great. It makes it a show to go to and hang out and have fun. It doesn’t feel like I am being sold to as much. It’s a place to go and hang out with like-minded people. People go to Baltimore because they like comics. It feels like it’s put on by people who like comics. And that’s a really cool thing.

If I had more money, I would’ve stayed longer (and I was somewhat saving some purchases for Small Press Expo in a couple of weeks) but I had plenty of fun while I was there.

If you haven’t been to Baltimore Comic-Con, you need to go.