Press Release
The 2014 Appleseed Comics & Art Convention is just three months away and this year’s event has an impressive guest list that includes legendary comic book creators such as Jim Steranko and Peter Bagge, along with some of the most innovative artists and writers in contemporary comics. The event is set to be one that comic fans will not want to miss. The 2014 comic con will be held May 17 and 18 in Fort Wayne at the Grand Wayne Center. In years past, Fort Wayne comic book conventions have hosted hundreds of comic book artists and writers, and the 2014 Appleseed show has a guest list that will reach over one hundred creators. Fans can come out to mingle with the creators, get personalized sketches, one of a kind works of art, or just fill in those missing issues in their collection.
One of the most remarkable talents attending this year’s Appleseed is legendary artist and writer Jim Steranko. The addition of Steranko marks the next major move that the convention has made to build and excite the Midwest comics community. As an author, illustrator, musician, art director, magician, designer, escape artist, filmmaker, pop-culture lecturer, and publisher, Steranko has cut a ferocious path through the entertainment arts. The more than 150 innovations he created as artist-writer on Marvel’s S.H.I.E.L.D., CAPTAIN AMERICA, and X-MEN revolutionized the comics form and, as an illustrator, he painted a multitude of book covers, including 30 SHADOW paperbacks. As a filmmaker, he has collaborated with Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, and Francis Ford Coppola on some of their most popular movies, including RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (he designed Indiana Jones) and BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA.
“This is a really great opportunity for us and for the fans,” says Zack Kruse, the founder and organizer of Appleseed. “Whether someone has been reading comics their entire life, or never read them at all, they have been impacted by the work of Jim Steranko. Having a guest of his caliber is important for the show and the region.” Steranko share’s Kruse’s excitement, saying this year’s Appleseed is “one not to be missed.”
“The Appleseed Con will be a milestone show for me,” Steranko says, “because it’s my first appearance in Indiana, and a major opportunity to meet a new cross-section of fans and friends. I’m hoping that everyone who has invested a part of their life in the entertainment spectrum of film, animation, comics, and electronic gaming will stop by, so we can share our experiences, our interests, and our visions.”
Steranko joins an already impressive guest list for Appleseed that includes creators like Peter Bagge (HATE, Reason Magazine, Woman Rebel: The Margaret Sanger Story); Ed Piskor (Hip-Hop Family Tree, Wizzywig, American Splendor, and Boing Boing contributor); Tom Scioli (Transformers/G.I. Joe, Godland, American Barbarian); Mike Norton (Revival, Battle Pug, Young Justice); Dave Wachter (Godzilla, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Guns of Shadow Valley); Hilary Barta (American Splendor, The Simpsons, Plastic Man); Ryan Browne (God Hates Astronauts, Manhattan Projects, Bedlam); Jim Rugg (Afrodisiac, Supermag, Street Angel, and Boing Boing contributor); and Action Lab Entertainment (Princeless, Ghost Town, Fracture, Vamplets).
“Comics are my passion,” Kruse continues. “This convention was born out of not just a love for the medium but for the community that has arisen from it. I want people to come out and experience what I love about comics, and if they leave here feeling even a little bit of the excitement I have, then the show is a success.”
More information regarding the convention, guest list and ticket pre-orders may be found at http://www.AppleseedCon.com.
