Top, artist Charles Holbert works on an illustration during a comic book festival on Jan. 26 at the Sahara West Library, 9600 W. Sahara Ave. Left, Tom Heiner, who owned and operated the Friendly Neighborhood Comic Book Store, 3981 W. Charleston Blvd., for 22 years, speaks with Ralph Mathieu, right, about some of the comic books in his display.Photos By Paul Bieschke Jr./View
Top, artist Charles Holbert works on an illustration during a comic book festival on Jan. 26 at the Sahara West Library, 9600 W. Sahara Ave. Left, Tom Heiner, who owned and operated the Friendly Neighborhood Comic Book Store, 3981 W. Charleston Blvd., for 22 years, speaks with Ralph Mathieu, right, about some of the comic books in his display.Photos By Paul Bieschke Jr./View
Paul Bieschke Jr./ViewSteve Rankin looks at a statue of the Hulk while at the Sahara West Library?s comic book festival.
Advertisement
There were teenage heroes, muscle-bound villains giving the evil eye and otherworldly creatures looming from the pages.
A comic book festival was held on Jan. 26 at the Sahara West Library, 9600 W. Sahara Ave. Summerlin resident Janet Aluna, was there with her two children, Christopher, 10, and Anthony, 8. They came for the library's story time and spotted the comic book festival in the lobby.
"My favorite (character) is from TV," said Anthony. "I like the Navy, the Marines and Batman."
One comic book lover came from the other side of town. Jennifer Medeiros, a property manager, brought her son Brandon. They live on Sunrise Mountain. She said attending the event was part of his birthday celebration.
"He turned 13 yesterday and I probably would have brought him here anyway, but I made sure not to miss it," she said.
More than a dozen tables in the lobby were covered with comic books. Greg Preston was signing his coffee-table book "The Artist Within" by Dark Horse Comics, a division of Dark Horse Comics Inc.. It was his photography of illustrators, comic book artists, animators and cartoonists, all at work.
In the grotto area were comic book authors, signing their work. One was Jake Tinsley, 13, who splits his time between Texas and Nevada.
His Night Owl character, a teenage shaman with special powers, appears in "Two Fisted Adventures," a book released in July 2007. He has a contract with ROK, a company that provides comics for its Web site and cell phone subscribers.
"I was always a comic addict as a kid, too," Tinsley said. "My parents were always, like, 'Don't read that. It'll melt your brain.' "
He said his brain is not melting. If anything, it's bubbling over with plots that come to him in dreams.
"Some dreams are really complicated," he said. "I can't exactly tell you what's going on because it's all images."
Panel discussions were held on various topics, such as keeping comic book plots age-appropriate, how to depict women and address sexual orientation in comics, and one on the history of the comic book in America.
There appeared to be more adults than youngsters at the event.
Retiree Tom Heiner had a nostalgic reason for being there. He owned and operated the Friendly Neighborhood Comic Book Store, 3981 W. Charleston Blvd., for 22 years. It closed about 12 years ago. Heiner said comic books are more than entertainment.
"They help teach kids to read," he said.
Another attendee, Sal Savini, director for After School All Stars, agreed with that statement and said his group is using comics for a reading class at Lunt Elementary School, 2701 Harris Ave. He estimated his own collection totals 75,000 comic books.
"I'm just here to browse," Savini said. "My wife would shoot me if I brought more comic books home."
Jay Bosworth, owner of Maximum Comics, 5130 S. Fort Apache Road, said that although his store was only 1 year old, business was good.
"There are young families moving to town and cartoons are being used more in movies and TV shows, it all brings people in," he said.
Archived Editions| Advertising | Contact The Staff
