Like any con that I attend, this one started out with travel. I am thrilled to report that my 5 hour drive to the Columbus area was uneventful. Pretty exciting start, huh? Don't worry. I promise it gets better.

My first stop was to check into my hotel room. Now, since we're still pretty small, we went with a pretty small priced hotel. Someday though, we'll be among the awesome who stay at convention hotels. Luckily, I don't mind a bit of adventure when it comes to staying in a hotel. Besides, quite often I walk away with a story to tell. This con choice? The Microtel on Stringtown Road in Grove City. Yep, Stringtown Road. I think I giggled every single time the gps told me to get off there. It's just such a fun name. I figured a fun name was a good start for what would hopefully shape up to be a fun weekend.

Getting to the hotel was a bit of a hassle. The directions said to go past the hotel and make a u-turn. The only problem? U-turns weren't allowed at the next intersection so I ended up pulling onto the street, into a shopping center, driving all the way around the shopping center, coming back out onto the street, turning onto the correct road and then into the hotel. Whew! Check in was a breeze, even if the girl at the desk didn't seem to really love her job. She wasn't rude, just sort of bored. I managed to get everything inside and down to the room...opened the door to find...1970's porno room! Woo!


These pictures honestly don't do it justice. It was just beyond weird to me that the mirrors were placed like that. Ok, it's kind of weird to have a giant mirrored wall to begin with.

After getting over the shock of the mirrors, I headed down to the convention center. My directions were pretty clear which as y'all know means absolutely nothing when the very exit you're supposed to take no longer exists! I tried following signs that said to convention parking..that didn't help. Luckily, my phone has a built in gps app and it saved my buns! I even got super lucky and found parking in the tiny lot that was right next to the entrance!

After parking, I headed in and stood around  hung out with other fine folks waiting to get their press badges. Right on time, they were handed out and even came with an offer of an introduction to any celebrities and artists that I might want to talk to. It felt really good to be appreciated for what I was there to do.

Once I received my press badge, I got to hang out with two of the volunteers and an on site security guard while I waited for the doors to open. It turns out that the security guard was from Flint. We talked a bit about what it was like and had a great time joking around until it was time for me to get to work.

First stop? Zenescope. I didn't mean to. I'm not addicted to them. Really. Actually, I stopped by because Keith Thomas was standing at their table. If you're not familiar with Keith, you should be. Not only is he a great guy but he wrote one of my current favorites, Cricket for Big Dog Ink. Cricket is a one-shot that should be turned into a mini-series with Keith at the helm. Seriously, it's good stuff.

Tyler Kirkham with the awesome Keith Thomas. Watch out for these two!

Since he was standing there, I stopped by and said hi to him and the Zenescope guys. After some chitchat, it was time for me to really get to work so business cards in hand, I worked my way around the convention floor.

This convention is much smaller than others that I've attended but that didn't prevent it from having some seriously quality people there. I confess to sighing longingly at the Doctor Who store and finding it very cool that there was a booth/table where you could go and they would make you fangs that were quality and would last a lifetime if you took care of them.

Since the con was pretty small, I actually managed to cover all of the floor and about half of artist alley on Friday night. I even had the chance to stop by and say hi to friends like, Dirk Manning (author of Nightmare World).

At the end of Day 1, my feet were tired and I was tired from a long day, but content. I wrapped it all up by being brave and grabbing some White Castle for dinner before relaxing on the bed at the hotel. Why brave? I haven't had White Castle since our whole house got food poisoning in 1996 from some frozen burgers gone bad. All in all, I'll give them an "it's ok." They're not my favorite, but they were ok.

Make sure y'all come back tomorrow where I'll fill you in on the rest of the convention and share lots of pictures that I stole totally took with permission from Keith and Blair.




Life With Katie received press passes for the purpose of this con writeup. All thoughts, comments, fan girling and porn room photos belong to the author. All other pictures belong to their respective cameras. 

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"The adventure begins here!  This all-ages fantasy-adventure tells the story of Eloa, a Forester princess born with healing powers and how she becomes Knightingail – the leader of the seven tribes of Aeonius and controller of nature itself.  In this debut issue, Eloa confronts her father about the secrets he’s been keeping about both her mother’s death years earlier and his interactions with a Dracon spy!"

When I first saw this book, my inner girl squealed. I'm not ashamed to admit that. I saw the adorable redhead on the cover and went ooooh..this is a book I want to read. Of course, that same inner girl scoffed at the high heeled boots. She's still of the opinion that no self-respecting forest type heroine would wear boots like that. You just can't convince her that forest societies would have a good cobbler.

The Good: This book is a lot of back story which carries you right until the end of the book and leaves you wanting to know what happens not only next but in the past with Eloa's mom. The artwork is on the cartoony side but don't let that fool you into thinking that it's not fabulous. It is wonderfully executed and the easy style just pulls you further into the story.

The Bad: I had to look really hard to find a downside to this book. The only thing I could come up with is really kind of silly, but here it is. At the beginning of the book, Eloa (now in the form of Knightingail) is 31. Yet, when speaking to Kaeli, she speaks as if she's closer to the 16 that she is in the rest of the book. Yep, that's all I could come up with.

The Summary: This really and truly is a book for all ages. My inner girl loved the artwork and the fun. As an adult, I could relate to the frustrations that Eloa is dealing with at the age of 16. While I wasn't a princess dealing with counsels at 16, I had similar problems within my own family. This is another book that I can't wait to see the other 5 issues in this series.

If, like me, you want to read this whole series, you're in luck! This title was recently picked up by Big Dog Ink! Rumor has it that they will be releasing all 6 issues in one trade paperback. We only have to wait until December. This would make a fantastic present for anyone under the Christmas tree.

Don't want to wait until December to learn more? Check out their website or Facebook page.



My thanks go out to Jesse James of Jesse James Comics for this book. If you live in the Phoenix area, this is where you should be finding your comics. He's a major supporter of the Indie comic industry as well as the locals involved in the industry. Even though he gave me a copy of this book for the purpose of this review, all thoughts, comments and opinions belong solely to me.

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It's been a while since I've brought you a Big Dog Ink title and I am super excited to finally share Ursa Minor #2 with all of you! Do y'all remember the premise in this series?

Werewolves kill the president. Vampires step forward to help. Ringing any bells? If not, well then you should have been paying better attention. Heck, y'all should own issue 1 by now. I'm going to leave that up to you though and tell you all about issue 2.

The Good : Tom Hutchinson doesn't disappoint in his storytelling. In this issue, he gives us hints as to Naomi's background and fills us in more on the relationships between the different characters. Tom has taken what has been done before (the battles between Supernatural creatures) and spins it in such a way that I'm almost thankful this was a digital copy or I'd have surely ripped it trying to turn the pages faster.

Not to be left out, Ian Snyder (pencils), Sony Merbitt (inks) and Luis Guerrero (colors) knock the art out of the park. Too often, supernatural beings have a tendency to look fake and flipping (ok, scrolling) through this book, I was very impressed with how natural they have made the supernatural look.

The Bad : This book has already been out for two weeks and from my understanding is selling better than cheese at a mouse convention. Why is this bad? Only because if you don't hurry up and snag it, you may be out of luck. Which reminds me to email my comic book guy tonight. I want this to go with my issue 1.

The Summary : If you're into the supernatural, kick ass girls with mysterious pasts, really good storytelling or fantastic art, really you don't need me to tell you to get thee to a comic book store. You've already gone and been reading and re-reading this book, wishing September were here so that you could have issue 3 in your hands.

Not sure where to pick up this book? Well, I'm sure that Tom and the crew over at Big Dog Ink would more than happily help you find a local comic book store or an online retailer to help you out. If Facebook is more your thing, go check out their page and give them a like.


I received a copy of this book in exchange for this review. All thoughts, comments and drool over this book are totally and 100% mine. Nobody else had better be drooling on my keyboard. ;)

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Vampires...check. Wereweolves...check. Rock golems...check. Werebears...big time check. Faeries, mermaids and demons that live inside the cracks of the sidewalks you walk on...check. Two cute vampire hunting chicks on a powertrip...check. Ursa Minor..check your local comic book shops tomorrow May 16th, 2012. Writer, Tom Hutchinson, will be at Graham Crackers Comics on Downer's Grove (Illinois) all day signing copies and then it's off to Phoenix Comic Con next week for the official release party with Eric Basaldua, Nei Ruffino and series artist Ian Snyder!

For those attending Phoenix Comicon, I will also be there and in attendance at the official release party! So, stop by and say hi to the amazing talent and get them to autograph your wares. The first issue has multiple special edition covers as well as the fantabulous cover by series artist, Ian Snyder!



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Saturday in the park...no wait. I seem to have the inner dj turned on and I was never in a park this weekend. Let's just start over, shall we? Saturday was what I tend to call omg busy. I was up by 9 and considering Friday was tiring and I didn't get to bed til 2am, I was concerned with that. I did the usual post-waking things..showered, dressed, ate a banana and then I was off to the convention center!

Yet again, I caught the shuttle to the airport and then it was off to the train! This time, I wasn't alone but got to spend the entire ride with Phil (dad), Connor (son - about 13) and this adorable little girl whose name escapes me, but she had a stuffed wolf named Sammy. Phil was in town from Indianapolis and the kids were up from Kentucky for the weekend. We had a great time talking and hanging out. So great that I gave them one of my cards and Connor said he was going to add me on Facebook. I hope that they do. I really liked them.

Then, it was off to the next shuttle. This time, it was totally packed. In fact, about 30 people were left standing on the curb. Yeesh! I got to the convention center and it was absolutely packed! There were people everywhere which is great for the convention, to be sure. I had intended on taking a lot of pictures but I only had 2 hands and carrying my camera in one of them got old pretty quick and I'm weird and don't like wearing it around my neck. I always feel like a tourist and on a day where I'm trying to be professional, tourist just doesn't blend. I did take a few right at the beginning though...



Then, it was up to the 3rd floor where it was even more jam packed with people! I stopped by Big Dog Ink to say hi and then started making my way around the exhibitor booths. This was my very first time saying, "Hi, my name is Katrina and I'm here looking for new people and companies to work with." I don't know if it was the press badge or the super cheeriness, but it seemed to work! I had a great time talking with people and quite a few of them either handed me their "babies" to review or promised to send me digital copies.  At one table, I bumped into Ralph Tedesco  and you know dang well that I made sure to give him my card. I also asked him about a couple of titles and if they had them with them. Not only did they have them, but he encouraged me to stop by and he'd *give* me them for Roger to review (they're children's titles).

It took me probably a few more hours, but I did find my way to their table and got to meet Stephen, head marketing god for Zenescope. It was nice to put a face with a name and hopefully, he felt the same way. While standing there, I kept answering questions for others coming up to the table. I can't help it. I'm a helper and I really do love their product. Who knows, maybe if I'm helpful enough, they'll hire me to do something..lol! Ralph came back to the table while I was standing there and between my love of their books and his generosity, I think I walked away with 5 trade paperbacks for myself and 3 trades and a preview issue of Jurassic Strike Force for Roger. These guys might not have given me much re-posting love before this but they sure treated me well that day. I'm looking forward to continuing my relationship with them.

I think it must have taken me about 5 hours, but I did finish making my way around the exhibitor floor about 5:45pm and I went and hung out at the Big Dog Ink table. I hope it didn't bug Tom that I was hanging around, talking with Nei. I did spend some time pitching their books to people who came up and I did make at least one artist commission happen. I also took around some of their Vote Independent posters to a couple of other booths. I think it would be rather brilliant of them if they created postcard sized pieces for that campaign and considering I'll be hitting the Phoenix Comicon floor hard in another month, it'd be something I could hand out when I'm talking about it with other independent artists/companies. I wished more than once this past weekend that I had something like that with me.

Somewhere around 6:45, I decided I ought to head back to the hotel since nobody had extended me another dinner invite. Shuttle, train and shuttle later, I made my way into the room where I decided I just couldn't move another step unless I absolutely had to. So, in true fancy schmancy press/princess style, I called room service and had a lovely bed picnic while talking to Justin and Eric. Sleep ended up taking over (after these two old men fell asleep, I have to say..and it was 2 hours earlier for them!) and day 2 came to a close.

Scene: One tired girl curled up on a huge bed, drifting off to sleep with a smile on her face because people liked her and want to work with her...camera pans to see lots of comic books and other goodies from the day... *giggles*

For today, I leave you with a few more pictures...until tomorrow where I'll wrap up with Day 3!



















Make sure you come back tomorrow to see what happens on Day 3 and how my gps showed me yet again how much she loves me!



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Woo! Guess where I just got back from? Well, if you read here last week, you would know that I spent the weekend in Chicago...all by myself! Eek! Clearly though, I survived and I have returned bearing lots of new and hopefully fabulous things to write about. In fact, I have enough review material to last quite a while! So, over the next few days, I'm going to give you a general run down of what I did, who I talked to and how me, the girl from Middle of Nowhere, Michigan, handled riding the train and making her way downtown. (Does anyone else immediately hear this song when I say making her way downtown? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEfFDWjDdHk&feature=related)

So, let's get started, shall we? My weekend started bright and early on Friday. I had to get up, finish packing everything up and then loading it all into the van. Pretty routine for a weekend away. Nothing too exciting there. For those wondering (and know that I own a ton of bags), I took the apple bag and the bag of holding (aka the button bag) for this trip. I made a trip into Ionia to pick up some last minute essentials and breakfast foods and then, I was on the road!

Well, I tried to be on the road! I had to stop at the gas station and I swear the pump had it in for me. Just as I start pumping gas, I notice the sign that says the auto shutoff off. Ugh! I can see it now, gas running all over the place while I'm thinking about something else. Of course, this made me totally paranoid so I just started at the nozzle inside the side of the van. I had nothing to worry about because at $50 it just refused to let me put more gas in.  That would have been awesome except the tank wasn't full. Geez louise. I gave up and got on the road.

The drive..uneventful. Just another long drive that I won't bore you with. Then, I got near Chicago and what the heck? The gps made me drive over that bridge that I totally hate and have to mumble reassuring phrases to myself all the way across. Thank goodness nobody could hear me or they'd have totally labeled me a crazy head. It's true. I have this issue with heights which means things like down escalators and tall bridges that I have to drive across freak me out big time.

Clearly though, I survived and after dealing with downtown traffic, made it to my hotel. I had more fun here. Problem 1: I didn't have the card that the reservation had been made with. They decided to ignore this though because the room was paid in full already.  Problem 2: My room was on the 4th floor and my van..the other side of a huge parking lot. Now, a smart person would have grabbed a luggage cart? Did I? Nope. I'm stubborn and decided I could do this. After all, the elevators were right there the woman said..and how far down on the 4th floor could it be? Right. Let's just say that by the time I got to my room, I was ready to throw my favorite apple suitcase out the 4th floor window. I didn't, however, because I really didn't want to go naked all weekend. Not even at a comicon is that ok.

Want to see my room? Here you go:


Pretty fancy schmancy, eh? So, I finally made it and sat out my stuff before decided to...brave the train! That's right! I went ahead and went on down to the convention center on Friday night to pick up my pass. Of course, this wasn't as simple as grabbing a shuttle. First, there was a shuttle to the airport. The very nice driver and an off duty maid made sure that I knew how to get my pass and where to find the train. I'm glad because I never would have found it. The train right was boring as heck. I'd wished I'd brought a book with me. Then, there was finding my way out of another station and then standing around with 4 other guys waiting for the con shuttle. That took foooorever to show up but it finally did and I got down to the center with just enough time to snag my badge and to say hi to the folks at Big Dog Ink. For people who had said they were excited I was coming, they had no idea who I was! Thank goodness Brett from Bluerainbow knew who I was! Then, he was nice enough to invite me to tag along with them for dinner.


Dinner was a lot of fun, even if the prices made me pray to the gods that I was going to be able to eat the rest of the weekend. It's not often that I get asked to go to a quality eating establishment such as Gibson's. I was a bit envious of the delicious meals that were put in front of the others, but I had to be realistic and had a peppered steak salad and a lot of water. The steak was absolutely gorgeous but the salad itself was lacking. It needed more dressing and a better mixture of greens. It was supposed to be romaine and iceberg but it was about half a head of iceberg and had 4 tomato wedges as well as the 4 steak medallions. Kim, was really nice and had me try a bite of her steak and Brett was equally nice and let me try out his creme brulee. What really made the night though was listening to Jen, Nei and Shane tell lame jokes and then all of us eventually getting not only our waiter in on the comedy act, but also a busboy that he sent over. Before the night was over, I had tears in my eyes from laughing so hard.

Our waiter, Drew, telling us a joke.

After dinner, Brett was nice enough to spend ages trying to get to my hotel. He dropped me right off at the door before running Jen and Shane back to their hotel and then heading on to his. I'm really glad that I got the chance to meet him this weekend. Up until now, he's just been a name in Kate's livestream. Really, I want to say thank you to Kim, Tom, Nei, Jen, Shane and Brett for allowing me to tag along and to feel like part of a group. I don't get that experience very often and I know they're like family so to be included was something special.



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Oh, Ursa Minor, how much you surprised me. Seriously, when I first heard of you, I didn't think you would begin to capture my attention or my imagination. I never thought I'd love you. I agreed to look at you because of Ian's talent. Imagine my surprise when you hit my inbox and I got lost in your colors and your lines and your story.

Your story of a world where werewolves kill the president and vampires step in to help humanity was one I sighed at. I, like so many others, am tired of the vampires. You, however, are not about vampires. You are about one girl who tries to save us all from them.

Your pages are filled with the amazing artwork of Ian Snyder, the lines inked in by Merbitt and amazing colors and textures that were added by Luis Guerrero. They are a team to be reckoned with and without them, this book wouldn't come close to being what it is.

This says nothing for your story. The story being told by Tom Hutchinson. The man knows how to tell a story. He knows how to pull me in with just the right words placed on a page. With barely an effort, he has drawn me in and I eagerly flip the pages to find out what words he will whisper my way next. When I reach the end, I whimper, wanting more, eager for the next time that his words will caress their way across my brain.

Sadly, I must wait for the time hasn't come for more to be revealed to me. While you must also wait, you can pre-order this book today. Use order code MAR120822 and reserve your copy of what is going to be one hell of a ride.

I received a smashing pdf copy of this book from the publisher, Big Dog Ink. They didn't tell me what to write. In fact, Ian attempted to tell me not to write about him at all. He's such a silly goose. All comments, thoughts and sexy words belong to me because I wrote them. Yep, me. Little 'ol comic book reviewer and wanna be writer, me. mwaahahahahaha. PS Nobody paid me to write this review or this really weird disclaimer. I do wish they would though. That would be heroically awesome. Thank you. PPS Don't forget to have your pets spayed or neutered.  PPSS Also, don't forget to tip your waiter..unless they don't deserve it, then don't. I think that's it...until next time....


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Image Provided By Big Dog Ink

(Please note that if Tom or Ian does not make sure I get one of the EBAS covers, I will pout, sulk and just be generally miserable. None of us want that.)



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Yay, another zombie book! I know that's what you're thinking and honestly, I thought it too. Zombies are the new vampires and honestly, I'd rather have sparkly vampires. Now, before you throw stones or glitter at me, at least let me finish this review.

Rex isn't like any other zombie story out there. It isn't about yet another group of people holed up somewhere shooting zombies in the head in the hopes to survive. Rex is all about a group of animals, including a baseball bat wielding gorilla, making their way across the country. Their goal? Safety and maybe a new home. Their challenges? Zombies (duh!) and the scum of the Earth that somehow always survives these things.

Before you know it, you'll be falling in love with the characters and if you're anything like me, cheering them out loud as they face one challenge after another. It's true. If you'd been in my bedroom while I was reading this, you'd have heard me muttering go Buttercup..go...Of course, after that, I'd probably have screamed to find you standing in my bedroom, but let's move on from that, shall we?


These guys here are the ones you'll be falling for before you know it. You'll be cheering them on and then looking at your own pets just a little bit closer. This double-sized, 56-page one-shot ships in April at a special price of only $3.50, and will be available for pre-order in the February 2012 Diamond PREVIEWS catalog. (Order Code: FEB12 0806)  It is rated TEEN+ for mature themes and violence, however, I can tell you that my 11 year old read the first few pages of this and is just waiting for me to hand over the laptop long enough for him to read the rest. It's one of those books that you need to read for yourself and then decide if your child is ready for it. Additional one shots are planned for the future and I can't wait to get my fingers on them!



I was provided with a digital preview copy of this book. As always, all comments, thoughts, and ramblings are 100% my own. Thank you to Big Dog Ink and Rob Anderson for the use of the photos included in this review.

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Coming soon to a comic book shop near you! Actually, this new mini series will be released in May, starting with an event at the Phoenix Comic Con (which I will be attending!). Ursa Minor is written by Penny for Your Soul and Legend of Oz: The Wicked West creator Tom Hutchison and is penciled by rising star Ian Snyder.*


*Both of which I hope to interview for an upcoming series entitled Life in Comics.


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Welcome to another comic book review! This one comes to us from Big Dog Ink. I first met these guys at the Detroit Fan Faire back in September and I have to say that they were super nice and friendly. I know what you're thinking.."Of course they were nice and friendly. They were there to promote their product." You would think that'd be the case, right? Sadly, that's wrong. There were a lot of people there who were actually quite rude and others that just weren't great with people. Artist temperaments aside, if you want to sell product, you have to be nice to the people. These guys? Super nice. If you ever get the chance to go to a con that they're at, I highly recommend stopping by and saying hi. Even tell them I sent you..it's become a bit of a running joke to have people name drop my name as if I'm somebody.

Anyway, recently, Tom over at Big Dog Ink agreed to let me review some of their books. While I haven't received anything from their media department yet, I do have a copy of the first issue of The Legend of Oz just waiting for me to read it and since it's a brand new comic, I thought it the perfect place to start! So, let's go!

The first thing I noticed with this book was the heaviness of the cover. As someone who tends to lay things down and then the kids or the cats knocks them somewhere, I really appreciated a more durable cover than you find on some comic books. The colors, done by Kate Finnegan reminded me of the darkness in some of the old western movies. This is rather important as this Oz is just a little different than your Judy Garland Oz. It's not green and lush..it's dark, it's dusty...it's the old west in all it's stereotypical glory. Kate does a wonderful job using just the right coloring to get that feeling across.

I, for one, love this new take on an old classic. Our good friend, Dorothy, is now going strictly by her last name, Gale. Did you know that was her last name? Unless you're a big fan of either the movie or the book series, you may not have. Her faithful friend, Toto? He's now a very handsome horse. Remember the flying monkies? Ok, these ones will scare you far more than the movie ones ever gave me the creeps. Do you remember them? *shudders*  In this series, they're all grown up into shape shifting gorillas! Did I mention their glowing eyes? Some serious bad voodoo going on there, folks.

The story is familiar and yet, totally new. Our heroine is still searching for the Emerald City but this time it's not nearly so easy to find as people..and other things..have been taking the gold bricks from the road. She wanders into one of those classic western towns where the only thing open is the local tavern and that's all I'm going to tell you because I promise you that if you love good comics, good writing, The Wizard of Oz and any combination of the above, this is a series that you're going to want to pick up. The best part? Going strictly by the first issue, this is a series I could let my kids read. Yes, Miss Gale is a hottie, but she's not overtly sexual. Yes, there's some violence but at their ages, my kids have seen far worse in some of the video games they play at their dad's house.

My opinion? You'll want to pick this one up. If you want to order it, you can find it via Amazon, via the Big Dog Ink link above or hunt down these guys at a Comic Con near you. I know they'll be at the one in Mesa, AZ this weekend. Just remember...tell them Katrina sent you. ;)



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