CELEBRATING HOUSTON’S COMIC CREATORS
In the shadow of massive popculture conventions in Houston are smaller gatherings that highlight the DIY ethic and incredible independent creators of the city. Now in its second year, Comic Indie Con is one of those.
The one-day show is dedicated to cartoonists and other geekculture artists who exist outside the billion-dollar enterprises of Marvel and DC. It’s a panel-heavy experience, where guests hope to inspire the next generation to walk in their footsteps.
The guest of honor this year is legendary Houston indie comic creator Terry Moore. Starting with “Strangers in Paradise” in 1993, he set the bar for the hip, alt-comic scene and won a coveted Eisner Award in 1996. Since then, he has managed his ongoing series, such as “Echo,” “Rachel Rising” and “Motor Girl.” His latest work, “Five Years,” is an attempt to set all of his characters in one, big Terryverse in the style of Stephen King’s “Dark Tower.” Though he’s worked on big properties like “Bird of Prey” and “The Runaways,” he enjoys working independently while also getting the chance to build a local community of likeminded people through the convention.
“I see a lot of people that I don’t know on the guest list,” says Moore. “They’re cartoonists, they’re people I don’t know, but they’re in Houston. This is a chance for the cartoonists of Houston to get together and meet each other and for the public to know we have this wonderful graphic novel going on in our city. (Comic Indie Con) is different from Marvel and DC. It’s much more personal. It can be very exciting and there will be a lot of variety.”
Having a veteran like Moore on hand to talk about how the industry has changed over the years is a grand opportunity for aspiring artists.
“What I do at the drawing board are things that worked a hundred years ago,” says Moore. “How I get my work from my studio to the public, though is night and day. It used to be about trucks and distribution hubs and the like. Now it’s about the internet and global release. The day my comic comes out, people in Chicago, South Africa and India can all read it at the time and discuss it that night. In ways, my world has expanded beyond my wildest dreams, but in others, it’s shrunk down to a small little rock where we’re all reading the same book on the same day.”
In the same boat is Samby Sayward of Boundless Bard. She’s a relative newcomer to the local scene and publishes the series “Daughters of Grimm,” about the futuristic versions of classic fairy tales, such as Jack the Giant-Killer. She’s harnessed new avenues to get her work out, including drawing live through the Twitch app, where there is a tight-knit community of craft appreciators on top of all the video-game streaming. Still, she has to knock on comic shop doors to sell physical
copies on top of appearances like Comic Indie Con.
“Women have an easier time doing what they want to do in indie comics, but mainstream is definitely heading in the right direction as far as letting women write about women,” says Sayward, who will run a Women in Comics panel. “It’s hard selfpublishing
because a lot of online comic printers only want to do vast quantities. It’s a low unit cost, but it’s a big outlay. I get a deal through Nash Printing (in Cypress) for smaller runs.”
Sayward is looking forward to the chance to meet others like her.
“I’m really happy to finally be able to build a network, to have friends I can share with,” says Sayward.
“Community matters for the same reason everyone goes to an Astros game,” says Moore. “You want to share the experience with friends. You have these moments of inspiration from real human contact. To be able to go out to other creators and get feedback is empowering. Same as you need a network in any other big part of your life. We’re human beings, and we love to know that we’re not alone and that other people think an idea is good, too. You make this work in a room by yourself, but the point is to share it with everybody.”
Jef Rouner is a Houston-based writer.