Comics and Comic Convention Historians: The Next Generation
Publishers, artists, writers, convention producers, distributors, historians, fans, and exhibitors are a big part of comics. A new wave of comic historians is growing and getting younger! With their energy and ideas, they're changing the comics industry for the better! Steve Geppi, CEO Diamond Comics, 2018, donated Geppi Entertainment Museum to the Library of Congress and is publisher of the Comic Book Price Guide. Greg Koudoulian, early SDCC film program contributor produced the first comic convention in LA and is the recipient of the Shel Dorf Comics Archives. Elliot S! Maggin, DC Comics Superman writer of 1970s–80s, is also author of the Last Son of Krypton and Miracle Monday. Alonso Nunez, CEO and founder of Little Fish Comic Book Studio, is a graduate of the School of Visual Arts. Mike Royer, one of Comic-Con’s very first guests, was Jack Kirby's longest sidekick and prolific inker. Terry Stroud, dealer at all San Diego Comic-Cons, is a comics historian and former convention producer. Bill Morrison was MAD magazine’s executive editor 2017–2019 and National Cartoonist Society President 2016–2019. Josh Geppi is the founder of Sapphire Studio, special advisor for Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide, and president of Diamond International Galleries. Matt Dunford is president of Little Fish Comic Book Studio and chairman of San Diego Comic Fest.
Saturday July 20, 2019 6:30pm - 7:30pm
Room 2

But the invisible man who pops into my head the most is the guy in the gray prison fatigues. He spent his life in and out of prison, mostly getting slapped in there by the Alien and breaking out to pull off whatever hijinks he fancied in the moment. He was the guy who kept a collection of crazy mechanical devices – from a transport that travels underground to a fully functional solar-powered starship that could detect wormholes for a light-year around – sprinkled around the countryside, many hidden in plain sight. This guy had a giant flying robot with jets in its feet and rocket launchers in its forearms, and it’s hidden in the guise of a twelve-foot statue of the Alien in front of the courthouse in a little town at the southern tip of Illinois. Of all my invisible men, I think the guy in the gray fatigues was the happiest.

The problem is that what they are building upon is an enormous heritage of popular culture and public awareness, the kind of foundation no amount of money can buy. Clark Kent is a more prominent journalist than Isikoff, Woodward, Hanity and Edward R Murrow for heaven’s sakes combined. Superman is more famous than the president – whoever is president. So when you walk into that house intent on changing everything you’re going to get blown away pretty surely.

The key is not to impose your notions of immortality on an immortal icon, but simply to build on the heritage in place. That’s what works. Nothing else does. The character's origin has been told and retold by better storytellers than you. So add to it; don’t start by throwing it out.

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