WWE’s Jerry “The King” Lawler and a fan
I talk to quite a few of the small presses at Comic Con, and the majority has nothing new or interesting to hook me with. Most seem to have very little in the long range plan department, tell me how to buy their stuff on line, or are simply rehashes of someone else’s good idea. So I ran across an interesting small press booth while wandering aimlessly around the floor. This booth was shared by two publishers, Students of the Unusual and Visionary Comics.
Students of the Unusual(http://www.studentsoftheunusual.com/) were handing out a free, single sheet comic by comic veteran Allen Bellman, and promoting the comic Students of the Unusual, TV show Adventure Chefs (http://www.adventure-chefs.com/) and novel The Investigator: Tramp Stamp. I picked up the first issue of Students of the Unknown and was pleasantly surprised by the diversity of the stories in another horror anthology. The stories are written by Terry Cronin and illustrated by a variety of artists. The stories range in length from two pages to eight pages, and cover a variety of subjects. The nice thing is that these stories appeal to a broader audience than those with a mature content. There’s even an ongoing story named Recalcitrant Jones and the Deadbeats, about a young man that sells his soul for a great back-up band, made up of Elvis, Janis, Keith, and of course Jimi. This is a well rounded anthology with a variety of themes and art, and even though it is written for the masses it is a good fun read. Students of the Unusual may be for most people and it definitely for me.
ComicsOnline.com gives Students of the Unusual 4 ½ Learners of the Odd out of 5.
Visionary Comics(http://www.visionarycomics.com/) was promoting their comic about the wrestling industry, Headlocked. To help promote this WWE’s Jerry”The King” Lawler and TNA’s “Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels were on hand. Comic Con exclusive issue #1 of Headlocked has an introduction by Christopher Daniels and The King illustrated the cover. In this ongoing tale a young man, Mike Hartmann has decided to drop out of school to become a professional wrestler, much to the chagrin of his friends and family. This book doesn’t glamorize the industry, but instead tells a brutal, realistic tale of breaking into the world of the professional wrestler. Being a wrestling fan myself, I’ve seen the documentaries and heard the stories, and this tale rings with more truth than expected.
I spoke briefly to Jerry Lawler about the book and he told me that there are a great many wrestlers that are serious comic book fans. The names of Rob Van Dam, Jeff Hardy, Raven, Gregory “Hurricane” Helms, Christopher Daniels, Edge, and The King himself came up as being comic book fans. This story gives the wrestling community a chance to be a part of the comic book community they love. This comic is a must for the professional wrestling fan, and while it may not appeal to everyone, it appeals to me.
ComicsOnline.com gives Headlocked 4 piledrivers out of 5.
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