Continuing the history of StarWarp Concepts, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.
Last time, I was telling you about the creation of our resident Goth girl, Pandora Zwieback, and how she was going to lead a revived ’Warp out of comics and into book publishing. All I needed was a way to get folks’ attention…
I’d decided that the 2010 New York Comic Con would be the launch stage for the company’s return to publishing—certainly the right venue at which to get attention from genre fans. Now the preparations began in earnest.
I had catalogs printed up, as well as two-sided bookmarks—Pan on one side, and J. Sheridan Le Fanu’s vampiress Carmilla on the other (to promote the first entry in the SWC Illustrated Classics line of books). I hired longtime friend and comic-art legend Bob Larkin (Doc Savage, Dazzler, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Star Trek: The Motion Picture) to paint three Pan book covers and then had a banner designed that incorporated the art; it would be the booth’s backdrop. And then I dreamed up the major bait to draw attendees to the booth:
The Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0—a free, full-color comic book that would introduce Pan and preview the first novel, Blood Feud. Not exactly a small investment on my part—I planned on printing 3,000 copies to give away—but I felt it was a necessary expense in order to make an impression.
I contacted artist Eliseu “Zeu” Gouveia—whom I’d been working with on what would become the graphic novel Lorelei: Sects and the City—and explained the project. He enthusiastically signed on to draw and color it, I sent him the comic script, and before you knew it—thanks to designer and letterer Mike Rivilis, and the folks at Brenner Printing—we had a finished comic. (And one you can still download for free here.)
NYCC 2010 became StarWarp Concepts’ first convention appearance in five years, and I went full-bore on the setup: an indie publisher booth (about $1,000 for the spot, but I had to bring my own table and chairs); full-color comics, bookmarks, and digest-size catalogs to give away; and an appearance by Larkin, who didn’t do a lot of conventions.
The reaction from con-goers was even more startling than I expected. People flooded in to learn about the company’s upcoming releases—Pan’s, in particular—and to meet Larkin (who was equally shocked to discover he had so many young fans). Bob and I did an interview with the cable show Sci-Fi Ninja Theater (an episode that, to my knowledge, never aired). And a lot of Pan #0 copies got handed out.
So the initial response was overwhelmingly positive. Now all I needed to do was start releasing the titles I’d been at NYCC to promote…
To Be Concluded!
