Cape Comic Con celebrates 10 years next month

In less than a month, the 10th annual Cape Comic Con will transform the Osage Centre from mild-mannered complex to the biggest celebration of all things super the city's ever seen.

"Last year, we topped 1,600 attendees," organizer Ken Murphy said. "It will by far be our largest attended show yet."

Even the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge is getting in on the action this year -- Marvel comics artist Greg Land has designed an exclusive "The Avengers: Ultron Forever" No. 1 variant cover that features "earth's mightiest heroes" battling Ultron under Cape's iconic bridge.

"[It's] the largest thing we've ever had for our show," Murphy said. "It's for sure our most ambitious project."

Land, who has worked for several publishers but now works exclusively for Marvel, said in an email interview the idea behind the special cover was to connect with readers.

"The variant convention cover started with editor George Beliard contacting me about doing the exclusive. He relayed the main characters the show promoters wanted to include, along with some possible local Cape Girardeau landmarks. I worked up some rough sketches and submitted for approval the one I felt had the strongest composition," he said. "This is my basic approach to covers. It is like telling a story in a single image that will catch the reader's eye on the newsstand. Who, what, where and why. The cover should be a strong image to get the viewer to 'want' to see what is going on inside the book."

No doubt many local residents also will want to see what's going on inside the Osage Centre at the convention, where several professional comic book artists, including Land, will sign autographs and mingle with fans.

When Land started his own collection at 5 years old, he, too, was a fan, looking up to Gil Kane, John Buscema and Jack "The King" Kirby.

"If you would have told that 6-year-old kid that filled up multiple sketchbooks with his favorite characters that he would have made a career out of those drawings, I'm sure he would have jumped and screamed happily," Land said. "Having been able to work on all of these awesome characters has been a great achievement."

But comics aren't just for kids anymore. They haven't been for a long time, but comic culture, if not comic books themselves, has become a source of mainstream entertainment for all ages. Land pointed out, like other print media, comic books themselves usually receive a kind of retroactive praise that comes only after crossover success in movies, television or video games, but Murphy said overall, the movement is an outrageous success.

Adam Martin of Paducah, Kentucky, checks out the large selection of comic books for sale at Cape Comic Con on March 22 at the Arena Building. (Fred Lynch)

"I really believe we've moved well past being nerdy, geeky culture. It's Americana culture. It's iconic. Our parents grew up on these characters as well. They're global," Murphy said. "These characters are well-respected, well-crafted, and we love them."

He said that after nine years of running conventions, his vision for the event is being realized.

"My goal in '06 was to continue to have an annual event that our community would recognize on the calendar and think, 'Oh, comic con is due up soon. I wonder what we've got in store this year."

The 10th Cape Comic Con will be April 17 through 19 at the Osage Centre, 1625 N. Kingshighway in Cape Girardeau. More information is at cape-con.com.

tgraef@semisourian.com

388-3627

Pertinent address:

1625 N. Kingshighway, Cape Girardeau, Mo.