I never was able to write a proper report on Akron Comicon 2024, as wonderful as it was, but I have now read all of the comics I bought or was given at the event. It’s a healthy stack. I’m only going to write about the ones I liked because I’m swearing off negative reviews of comics, especially indy comics, for this new year. I’m a sweetheart of a human being.
My pal Craig Boldman’s The Adventures of Cap’n Catnp #4 [Hooha Comics; $5] is designated a “Special Cat Nap Issue” in that the lead character isn’t seen in the comic. We get a glimpse of him in various disguises and a house ad or two. Instead, the issues has stories of sidekick Womble the Wonder Gerbil, Inspector Drummond and the short Good Rat/Bad Rat.
In the Womble outing, the gerbil hero finds it difficult to stay awake to fight crime during the day because he’s nocturnal. It’s a funny concept and the high point of the issue.
Meanwhile, Drummond finds his job in jeopardy because the Cap’n has been capturing all the crooks and villains. But perhaps the feline felon-buster is doing that job too well. Another funny tale from one of my favorite cartoonists, Boldman had a stellar run on Jughead, which is worthy of the archives treatment.
Adventures of Cap’n Catnip is a solid squarebound comic printed on glossy paper with bright colors. It’s 36 pages of critter comedy. Recommended.
Exciting Comics #31 [Antarctic Press; $4.99] is the 100th Legacy Issue of the title. The original series, which introduced the Black Terror and other 1940s super-heroes, ran 69 issues and AP has published an additional 31.
The second and third stories are the stars of this 56-page comic book. In a tale by writer Dan Johnson and artist Dan Gorman, we see the transformation of Atomic Blonde into the more powerful Blondeshell. That’s followed a crazy fun team-up of quirky 1960s heroes Herbie and Fatman the Human Flying Saucer by writer John Holland and artist Larry Guidry. That’s a lot of entertaining bang for your five bucks.
Sitcomics Presents The Heroes Union Binge Book #1 [$4.99]. It’s 68 pages introducing a new generation of heroes by Roger Stern, Darin Henry, Ron Frenz, Sal Buscema and Chris Nye. I confess I’m a bit conflicted on this one. The writing and art are top-notch, but there’s so many characters and so many plots that it’s hard for me to follow. I definitely recommend the book, but think the creators and readers would have been better served by a more focused premiere.
It’s Only an Island If You Look at It from the Water #0 by story guy Tom Hutchison and artist Jason Hehir [Big Dog Ink} is an eight-page trailer to what seems to be a sequel to the original Jaws. Names have been changed. The island is called Harmony and a street has been named for Chief Rhodey. But this brief taste has a decent sense of dread. If there are subsequent issues, I’ll buy them.
Mayhem Inc 80pg Ginormous by George Broderick Jr. [Comic Library International; $19.95] is a cosmic quest featuring Crimefighter Dude, Strongarm Armstrong, Go-Go Rilla, the Rampaging Caribou and many other characters from my pal George’s seemingly endless imagination. His cartooning chops are so vast I’m forever in awe of them. This is a big thick bundle of fun for readers young and old alike.
William Russell’s Psycho Sal #1 by Chris Hays and Marcelo Salaza [Charter Comics]. It’s 1986. Rain pours down on New Orleans as a serial killer terrorizes the city that has known so much tragedy over the years. A special agent is on the trail of this fiend, but the bodies keep piling up. At the convention, Russell was my next door neighbor and gave me a copy of an exclusive and sold out trade edition. The writing, art and production values are of the highest quality. Standard issues are priced at #14.95. I’m hoping for a reasonably priced collection in the future.
U-Knighted [Route Eight Studios] is a Kickstarter anthology by several Akron-based comics artists and writers. Its contributors include Cameron Blakey, Dan Gorman, Chris Kasmar, Damion Kendrick and Robert Kraus. During the Comicon I had a brief conversation about the group with one of the above. I learned about what they do and how they work together. We discussed the possibility of my working with them and even possibly writing some comics material for the studio. Anything like this would be quite a ways off, as I have two personal projects on my desk, but it’s something that could happen.
A SIDEBAR IN WHICH I BREAK MY WORD ABOUT NOT WRITING ABOUT COMIC BOOKS I DON’T LIKE. While I won’t mention this comic by name, I will say it triggered my “ick” response. Picture the cliché of a slovenly fan whose “love life” consists of doing the nasty with bedsheets featuring life-size anime characters. Not heeding his cries that he always put them in the washing machine when they “got too sticky,” they come alive and slash him with swords. Do they kill him? I’ll never know. I won’t read another issue of this series. There might be a market for this comic book series, but it sure ain't me. END OF SIDEBAR.
Zira #1 by Nathan Pinsoneault, Stacie Pinsoneault and Colin Richards [819 Comics; $6]. The title heroine is a sorcessess and creature-hunter. The style is somewhat reminiscent of 1970s and 1980s fantasy/horror anthologies. Though the writing and art didn’t quite click with me, I think the characters and creators showed a lot of potential. Definitely worth checking out.
Finally, we have Don Simpson’s Victory Folks #1 [Fiasco Comics; $20], 44 magazine-size pages featuring dozens of super-heroes and super-villains going at it in a cool adventure that frankly left me speechless. My friend Don’s exuberance in drawing armies of public-domain characters is infectious. Heck, it inspired me to dip into the well-traveled public-domain territory myself, as you will hopefully see in a project I’m currently developing for myself. Which is all the tease you get for the moment.
Akron Comicon is always a great time and always features lots of great comics creators. I plan to attend year after year and hope to see you there too.
I’ll be back soon with some belated holiday cheer.
© 2025 Tony Isabella
