Comic convention draws hundreds of hobbyists

When Denny O'Neil, Gary Friedrich and Roy Thomas got their starts in the comic book business decades ago, the industry was not what it is today.

Comics were not viewed as art, or even commercially viable. Now adaptations of comic books for the big screen make big money for Hollywood, and some graphic novels are held almost in as high esteem as some of their literary counterparts.

This weekend the three were in Cape Girardeau for the second annual Cape Girardeau Comic Con that began Saturday and continues today from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Student Rec Center-South on Broadway.

"Now we're as respectable as you can get," O'Neil said. "But back then, my first mother-in-law didn't tell people I wrote comics."

St. Louis native O'Neil spent a lot of time in Southeast Missouri as a young man before becoming a comic book editor for DC and Marvel, helping transform Batman from the camp of the 1960s into the Dark Knight. Thomas, a Jackson native, wrote comics like Conan the Barbarian, Avengers and the Fantastic Four, while fellow Jackson native Friedrich is the creator of Ghost Rider.

Organizer and Marvels and Legends comic shop owner Ken Murphy estimated 350 people had come to the convention by 3:15 p.m. Saturday, with several hours left to go. Some were comic hobbyists, some were gaming enthusiasts, some were dressed in Star Wars costumes.

Karl Shanstorm, a medical school student from Cape Gir?ardeau, was at the convention mainly to lead games of "Flames of War," a tabletop military strategy game with pieces costing up to $9 each. Between games, though, Shanstorm put his inner comic book fan on display, making sure to get some Ghost Rider comics signed by Friedrich.

"It's an expensive hobby," Shanstorm said during a match with software programmer Steve Howey, also of Cape Girardeau. His table was in the middle of about a dozen gaming tables, most of them dedicated to Star Wars gaming.

Shanstorm discovered "Flames of War" while attending the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine with Andrew Klann of Carbondale, Ill., who tagged along at the convention Saturday.

Shanstorm called the game "Risk on steroids." The game emulates historic battles with authentic pieces -- tanks, infantry, artillery.

For Shanstorm and Klann, playing the game is just something to do for fun on the weekends. They joke freely about the nerd stigma attached to the hobby.

"There are many degrees of nerditude," Shanstorm joked. "Comic collectors and gamers are the elite."

Murphy, a sports-loving family man, hates the stereotypes that often are attached to comic book and gaming hobbyists -- people who Murphy says come from all walks of life. But Murphy also said the area has long supported comic books as a hobby and a creative pursuit, as evidenced by people like Thomas and Friedrich -- respected comic book names from Southeast Missouri.

Part of Murphy's convention is dedicated to encouraging local talent, with industry insiders hosting sessions on how to submit work to publishers.

Murphy pledges the convention will return for its third year next April.

Today O'Neil will give a talk on the history of Batman at 11 a.m. and Thomas will talk about working with comic legend Stan Lee at 1:30 p.m.

msanders@semissourian.com

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