Comic cons are ridiculously fun and upbeat events that surround nerds in a world of comics, video games and anime. All. Day. Long. It’s tough for people like us on the Eastern Shore to make it to the high-profile conventions in San Diego and New York City, but a couple of local comic and anime organizations have organized an amazing event at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore campus.
    The Eastern Shore Fan Con will be held April 28th in the UMES Student Services Center. Tickets cost only $10, and that price is even further reduced to $8 if you attend in costume. Doors open to the public at 10 a.m., and the event closes at 7 p.m. Stick around, however, as a concert featuring video game influenced artists and Japanese pop punk band UZUHI will start at 8:15 p.m.
    I spoke to James Dufendach, editor of PLB Comics and organizer of Eastern Shore Fan Con, about the special event and what it means to the Eastern Shore.

NB: Are there any special guests that should be specifically highlighted?
JD: There are indeed. We are really excited to bring legendary comic book artist Greg LaRocque to the shore. He is best known for his seminal work on “The Flash,” but has worked for both Marvel and DC as well as being a fixture on the indie comic scene. We are also proud to have Buz Hasson and Ken Haeser creators of “The Living Corpse,” which is a fantastic indie comic published through Dynamite Entertainment. Their book is actually being turned into a feature length animated film, which is really exciting. But just as important as these bigger name guests, are the up and coming artists and publishers. Of course PLB Comics will be there, but we also have Visionary Comics, Coldstream Comics, Underground Comixx, and 21st Century Sandshark Studios, just to name a few. This is a chance for people to have access to these rising stars on the ground floor, and to really see how the process of comic publishing works.

 

NB: What games will we see there?
JD: We will have consoles from the classics to current systems set up for people just to jump on and play at their leisure. But we will also have three video game tournaments complete with trophies and framed certificates for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners.

 

NB: This isn't the first Eastern Shore comic con, as you have organized ShoryuCon since 2007. Is this replacing ShoryuCon?
JD: ShoryuCon is very much alive in the Eastern Shore Fan Con. Essentially, ShoryuCon was an event held by the A.C.T.I.O.N. Anime Society at UMES. We at PLB Comics came along at last year’s event and asked if they would like to partner with us to make a bigger convention with more attractions, vendors and events. So that is exactly what happened. All the things people liked about ShoryuCon will still be in play at Eastern Shore Fan Con, but we have just added tons of new and exciting content to go with it. As this new convention had a broader focus (ShoryuCon was basically just Anime and Video Game based) we decided a name change was in order to better reflect the fact that the con is now Comic Books, Anime, Video Games and genre culture in general.

 

NB: Could you tell us more about the A.C.T.I.O.N. Anime Society?
JD: Yes, A.C.T.I.O.N. is leading this event with support from PLB Comics. A.C.T.I.O.N. is a UMES student organization who held great events before, but we saw potential to grow it into something much bigger. We at PLB have a lot of experience with conventions, both as attendees and exhibitors and also with putting together events. So, we have come in to help A.C.T.I.O.N. create an event that will just knock everyone’s socks off.

 

NB: How did PLB Comic get connected with the A.C.T.I.O.N. Anime Society?
JD: Several A.C.T.I.O.N. members are friends of ours. Two thirds of PLB Comic’s permanent staff are UMES alums. We saw an opportunity to take an event that was already quite good and make it amazing.

 

NB: What makes UMES a fit for this event?
JD: UMES boasts an amazing facility for an event like this. We have a real movie theater that will be screening anime all day, a café area for attendees to get some excellent food, a large convention floor for vendors and guests, an area with huge pull down screens for video game tournaments and meeting rooms where we will be doing informative panels all day. Honestly, I can’t think of a better venue.

 

NB: Why should geeks be excited for the event?
JD: Let’s face it. We don’t have much in this area for comic book, anime and video game culture, and I feel that is a shame. We on the shore generally have to drive hours to get to anything like this, which can be expensive and difficult. Having something like this right in our back yard gives people the opportunity to be involved in a genre event without the hassle of traveling. Also, I feel as if it brings down a very real barrier for those who might like to try out something like this. We are bringing comic creators, screening anime and having panels all day as well as providing a place where gamers can compete, or just play at their own pace, and doing it all in one place is pretty amazing. I think anyone who is interested in any of those things will be really excited to attend.

 

NB: What are you personally most excited to see?
JD: Honestly, I’m most excited to see the crowd reaction to all this. As I have said this is all pretty novel for the shore, and I think people are going to be really blown away. Also, I’m excited to see all the costumes/cosplay.