The Geek Connection Pt.1

Art by Fletcher Hanks, Fantastic Comics #6

I'm calling this "Part One" out of pure optimism. Kind of like "Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins..."

When the unifying theory of "Four-Color Heroes!" came together - that theme being comics and their creators - I had the vague thought that maybe the final product would appeal to comic book fans (current, reformed or lapsed) as well as the more standard audience for this kind of music. Not in a "huge-marketing-crossover" way but more in a "maybe-there-is-something-there" kind of way. These past couple of weeks, I've been trying to identify that something, in earnest.

More, after the jump!

My first stop was a well-timed virtual visit with the Shannon and Matt of Seattle Geekly. As it turned out, they were just about to record their latest podcast on the topic of mostly local geeky music groups. The episode is out now and you can download it here:

Seattle Geekly Podcast

On the podcast, Matt and Shannon talk about the various song titles from the CD and where they come from, and they play a bit of "Professor Kubert." There's a lot of great music featured in the episode, including Kirby Krackle (I have to have a super team-up with those guys), MC Frontalot, Optimus Rhyme and more - so go check it out now. It's a great podcast - filled with tons of local geeky happenings.

Next up, I went to visit the Fantagraphics Bookstore in Georgetown, which is right around the corner from the venue where I'll be having the CD Release Party on April 18th. If you're coming to the show, I highly recommend heading over there beforehand (they close at 8) to check out this show:

Hernandez and Sakai are both amazing artists and comics legends and seeing their artwork in person is a rare treat.

At the store, I talked with manager Larry Reid about "Four-Color Heroes!" and the artwork I used for the packaging. Larry has tons of amazing stories about artists and musicians that he has known or hung out with over the years, and he shared some great ideas on how I can market the CD and the show on the 18th. Since I was a teenager, the name Fantagraphics has represented the best in indie comics and sharing a hometown has been one of the coolest perks of making Seattle my home for the past decade. Having them in my corner on this is a dream come true.

The last stop is a visit to the future (because this is the Geek Connection after all). One week into the future, to be precise - at the Emerald City Comic Con. I'll be there on Saturday and Sunday, visiting tables, trying to give copies of "Four-Color Heroes!" to Wil Wheaton, Brian Michael Bendis, Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction. I'll also be stocking the promo table with flyers for the release party and trying to not to turn the whole thing into a huge net loss for the Boscology marketing department (step away from the Spidey back issues, please).

The most exciting part is that ECCC will be giving away copies of "Four-Color Heroes!" as prizes in their hourly giveaway contest. I'm not sure how many copies that will be given away, but I'll give them as many as they'll take.

I'll be back next week with Part 2 - featuring updates and pictures from ECCC and more news on The Geek Connection. See you then!