ECBACC 2013 "Journey of a Black Geek"

The East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention (ECBACC)

I've been a geek pretty much all of my life. My mom was a fan of Star Trek the Original Series. This is compounded by the fact that my dad would bring home circuit boards from his job for me and my brother and tell us that they were from spaceships. Thus the seeds for a science fiction fanboy were in the making.

As everyone in the geek community knows, it's only a hop, skip and a jump from scifi to the world of comic books. Like alot of us, the tales of modern mythology captured my attention as well as my imagination. My parents always instilled in me to not get too engrossed into anything that where there wasn't any representation of people who look like you. As a black person (African American to those so inclined.), I grew up seeing a plethera of white faces doing tremdenous acts of heroism and feats of superhuman ability.

Fortunately for me, I hit my teens during the nineties. It was a time of pan-Africanism as well as neo Black nationalism. For those of us who were geeks, it meant that where were a number of Blacks invovled with the independent comic scene.

I remember my mom excitedly telling me about a Black comic book that had made the local news "Brother Man." With a bit of a sigh and groan, (really you couldn't come up with a better name than that.) I was even more dismayed when I saw that it was that iconic graffiti style art that I simply wasn't that into. That said I eventually picked up an issue and fell in love with the book. To this day, it remains my ideal of what a comic book about hero without any powers should be.

There were of course Black heros in the big two (Marvel and DC). Marvel had heroes like Falcon, Jim Rhodes (he wasn't War Machine yet), Storm, Black Panther and Cage. DC had it's own line up with John Steward Green Lantern, Black Lightning and Cyborg. DC turned it up a notch however when it started it's Milestone Media line.

For me, it was love at first sight... I mean first reading. An entire Universe of heroes as told from a primarily (altho not exclusively) non white perspective. There were white heroes and characters, of course, but the stories were more reflective of a diverse world view. Certainly, Marvel and DC as well as others (who didn't love Frank Miller's Martha Washington) tried their best. Yet, still the characters didn't quite feel authentic. Often, I felt conflicted. On the one hand, it was like Black people don't act like that. And yet on the other, you had to give them credit for the attempt.

Obviously, I don't exclusively read comics by black artists/ authors or about black characters. It is nice to see a well done comic with a well thought out story that features non white characters. Ok so the noteable exemption is Manga, but you get my point. So when I was friended by the East Coast Black Age of Comics (ECBAC), I thought oh goodie I'll hopefully get to find out about more Black Comics. However, like many things on the Book of Faces, I quickly got sidetracked by the myriad of distractions and it faded to the recesses of my FB stream only to be periodically visited from time to time.

It wasn't a surprise when I was invented to some event or another. I mean, how many of us on the Book of Faces get an invite to some event that we couldn't possiblly get to. What caught me off guard was that ECBAC was holding a convention in Philadelphia. In my head I was like. AWESOME!!! Ok ok so there is that comic something or another every year, but that somehow always sneaks up on me and I forget about it.  However, thanks to my mild addiction to the Book of Faces. I was constantly reminded of the event.


ECBACC is the first actual convention that I have been to. And I had a blast. In part two I'll talk more about what I saw while I was there. Stay tuned...

Armarauders: The Last Battalion Issue #1 Review

Armarauders: The Last Battalion Issue #1 Review
by Mecha Workshop
free comic available for digital download
link: http://www.mecha.ws/English_Wave01-04_Pages01-28.pdf

Intro:
Mecha Workshop release this comic online via their Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/#!/Armarauders?fref=ts). They plan on releasing a line of toys (model kits maybe.) based on their mecha designs. Armarauders: the Last Battalion is intended provide some back ground fluff for their kits. It does look like they'll eventually release this in printed form.


The Story:
After engaging in a ground campaign against an alien foe called the wasters, an unidentified group of humans pulls out of the planet Runera. A comedy of errors ensues after two mech pilots fall into a waster mine and their unit tries to rescue them. Unfortunately, this happens just as the last of the division (I'm guessing) pulls out. After arguing with the ship's captain, one of the company commanders gets the general's permission to lead a rescue mission. Meanwhile back in the enemy mine (pun intended), the two mech pilots run into civilians that the wasters have been using as slaves. While briefly argueing, one of the pilots is shot by a waster mech. On the surface the rest of the unit tries in vain to contact their fallen comrades(pun unintended). As the rescue team arrives, the wasters find the ship and begin attacking it. The rescuers return to the ship just in time to see the wasters bring it down. The issue ends with that last battalion stranded on runera and the mech pilot leading the slaves to freedom only to be brought down by what I guess are only Runerian freedom fighters. It's at this point that it's revealed that the mech pilot is the son of the battalion commander.

My Review:

The Story seems to jump around. Destroying the ship trying to escape seemed a like forced dramatics. I do hope that the main fleet didn't wait around and got out of dodge before the Wasters got to them. It would have been nice to for the writer to not pull any punches and for the general to just leave the battalion on the ground as soon as the enemy showed up. I always wonder how a unit that's been left behind always seems to have more supplies than it should only to be saved time and time again due to plot magic.

The art kind of reminds me of Mech Destroyer (Image Comics 2001). Some of the lettering can be a bit hard to read at times. In places, it's kind of understandable. They were trying to recreate a sense that a transmission was breaking up, but in other place it was a bit blurry. That said, the coloring really gives the feel that you're on an alien planet. Also, the mecha design is phenomenal and keeps a faux-anime feel while remaining clearly western. Overall the art is really good.

It is a solid story even if it has the "ripped from the headlines" feel of pulling out of a seemingly endless conflict after an extended campaign. It is nice to see someone in the west trying to do an original mecha story that's not completely anime inspired. The commander looks a bit young to be a colonel and certainly doesn't look old enough to have a son in the military.

As a long time fan of giant robots, I have to say it's really refreshing to see something like this. I've already read most of issue #2 and I have to say that this is a very compelling story. It's nice to see a comic that doesn't have a protracted origin story arc. The story arc isn't without its holes of course, but they certainly give you more story than you get for comics cost $3.99. I really enjoyed what the guys at Mecha Workshop did. I hope it continues to improve. I'm giving this comic three and a half giants out of five.