Mile High Comic Club

I ran by Mile High Comics yesterday and Aaron mentioned that a local artist was doing the art for a new Vertigo book called Madame Xanadu. This was the first time in all the years that I've gone to the comic shop that he mentioned anyone local was in the comic creation business. Not sure why, exactly, but for some reason I doubted that an artist would hail from Denver. Everyone else I've met in my short stint in comics comes from one of the coasts or lives in Pennsylvania or Texas. Certainly not Denver.

But he persisted. "Seriously. Amy Reeder Hadley shops here," he said. I flipped through the first issue (which actually came out last month) and was impressed by the art. I bought it. I read it. Now I'm surprised that I never heard of Hadley before. Her art fit the tone of the book to a tee. It has a hint of manga, but is firmly grounded in the fantasy world. I don't normally get into fantasy, but I'm eager to go back and pick up issue 2.

Anyway, I researched Hadley and discovered she's also writing and doing the art chores for Fool's Gold, a TokyoPop series. And she's from Denver. Right in my own neighborhood. Who knew? Unfortunately, I got this information a week too late or I would've introduced myself at the con.

But Hadley isn't the only Mile High Comic Creator. I met Chachi Hernandez on the flight to San Diego. Turns out he and his brother write and draw a strip called Joe Comics, which is currently up for voting over at zuda. He was a nice guy who seemed eager to be at the convention. I looked over some of his art and was very impressed. So much so that I invited him to pitch me a story for Dear Santa.

What does this all mean? Just that I'm learning that there are more and more comic creators right here in my own backyard. Now if we could just get some sort of convention out here and maybe even more artists and writers nearby will start to come out of the woodwork.