4th Annual Black Comic Fest

What Up CHU Mel V here back from convention vacation with a review of The 4th Annual Black Comic Festival held at The Schomburg Center in beautiful Harlem USA. This was the 1st Con of the new year and I thought it was going to be very small and intimate and not crowded, boy was I wrong, the atmosphere was fresh and vibrant and filled with comic collectors young and old. All the vendors and creators were friendly and were more than happy to answer all my questions. I predict within the next 2 years The Black Comic Festival will be one of the best Cons on the east coast. My only gripe I had was with myself as I didn’t even know there were more creators on the bottom floor which I missed grrrrrr Even though I didn’t get to see all of the great Creators at the show I did have the pleasure of meeting quite a few and here we go with some of the stand outs.


1st Up is BattleMasterz from DW Comics, they are a family based company with Creators The Broussad Bros and Mom and Sister working their booth, I love it when family comes together for a common goal. The Bros are working on toys for their series as well as an animation which looked really good. BattleMasterz (drawn by Luis Figueiredo) could be best described as Last Airbender meets Hip/Hop, where different elements would be from Hip hop for example the DJ can use his turn tables to reverse time, the MC can use his rhymes to make events come true, The graffiti artist can draw things that will appear…I have a great feeling about this book and I wish them nothing but greatness. You can check them out here http://dormworldmedia.wix.com/battlemasterz
Next up Eating Vampires from Regine Sawyer and Delia Gable

Rigel Alexa is a Battle Guardian, one of the many protectors of the Sect of Purifiers. When the realm’s worst nightmare comes true and all that remains of their once powerful nation is an eleven year old girl named Evelyn; Rigel must find a way to keep her safe, even if it means traveling to the most dangerous of places. But with a mysterious band of mystical women at Rigel’s disposal, she will do whatever it is that is necessary to ensure that the Purifier line continues, even if it costs her the one thing she has always wanted; a cure. Evelyn and Madix are Characters that people will gravitate towards, I just got finished issue #1 and it definitely left me wanting more.
You can check their books out at http://www.lockettdown.com/products


Next up I stopped by Rat Ronin Studio. This was the booth I spent the most time at lol they showcased a ton of books and all looked great. I think this could be a break out studio this year so keep an eye out on them. The reason the booth caught my eye was I saw BOUNCE (Bouncethecomic.com) By Chuck Collin, I seen his work on Facebook and twitter from time to time and read the strips, I enjoy the comedy as well as the artist about Two sci-fi and movie geek bouncers that deal with New York’s craziest bar patrons, They touch on various subjects from Sex, Racism, to Drinking, and even Halloween. if you or anyone you know happens to be a Bouncer tell them to check this out. Even if you are not a Bouncer you should check this out

Tri-Boro Tales- from Keith Miller and Chuck Collins Triboro Tales is the psychedelic NYC experience of 3 friends navigating the city with not much more than love, friendship and MUSIC I just started reading this on the train, this book embodies New York so well, and it really reads like a TV show, Friends for a new generation going to do a full review when I finish reading it, but so far I can highly recommend this

Infest –from Keith Miller I wish I would have got the trade instead of just 1 issue; The Story is about a zombie outbreak. But this Zombie outbreak takes place in the Bronx. Feel bad for the Zombies. All of these books can be found at http://peepgamecomix.com/project/rat-ronin/
Last but certainly not least I met Stephane Metayer creator of the Smash Hit Tephlon Funk. He is a really cool and down to earth person, we spoke about the future of the book and upcoming projects that he has coming. This young man really has a bright future. Do yourself a favor and get those copies of Tephlon Funk…TRUST ME .I told him I was from Comicsheatingup and he says”Ahh so you are the one that’s responsible for my headaches lol”


Overall I had a fantastic time at the 4th Annual Black Comic Festival… I give the con a solid 9/10 next year I hope they will be in a bigger venue.Im just mad at myself because I missed a whole floor of creators uggg.It was a Beautiful turn out from Black comic fans from across the city, This truly will debunk the myth that people of color are not interested in comics and I hope we can see more major characters of color coming from the big 3