Be Your Own Superhero

As a comic book retailer, it’s easy to become jaded. There are the particular customers looking for the perfect copy free of dings and nicks which is nearly impossible from a product that is warehoused and shipped multiple times before it reaches their hands (I was am still am one of those people). Before the Ipad, there were the bit torrents that were threatening to put comic shops and the industry out of business. There are the video games that are draining the collective interest in comics from the youth. Comic books compete for entertainment dollars with their own likenesses on the silver screen. Comic shops fight with the stereotypes of mainstream media (Simpson’s Comic Book Guy and Stuart from Big Bang Theory).

The one thing that doesn’t make me jaded though is talking to children about comics. I got to do that a few weeks ago for a wonderful organization called Aid to the Adoption of Special Kids (AASK). AASK (www.aask-az.org) is dedicated to the placement of children with special needs into permanent, loving homes. I wasn’t alone though. I brought with me Tony Parker of the recently Eisner nominated Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (Boom Studios!), Tosh Delaney of Major Crush Hazard (World Wide Villains), Ernie Najera of Old Man Clem (SpazDog Press) and Derrick West of Old Man Clem (SpazDog Press). We started out the day with a workshop that I do called Be Your Own Superhero. I compare what it takes to be a train to be a superhero to what it takes for a kid to train to be an artist, a scientist, a lawyer or a doctor. As I talk about the origins of Batman and Superman, I have the artists sketching the superheroes in the background on large presentation pads of paper. The artists talk about how they trained to become artists. Their backgrounds are varied. Some went to art school. Some picked up books and were self taught. We talk about the challenges that superheroes face and the daily life struggles of Peter Parker aren’t too different from those of the kids in the room. We also talk about sidekicks and how kids have their own sidekicks helping them to reach their goals. At the end of most of my workshops, I have the kids pick a comic book out of our left over Free Comic Book Day (www.freecomicbookday.com) comics. This workshop was a bit different. I brought some blank cover Marvel Secret Invasion comics and we helped the kids create their own superhero personas on the covers. I hope those kids got a fraction of the enjoyment that I did being able to talk to them about my passion and hopefully motivate them to follow theirs. I offer these workshops to non-profit organizations and schools year round and while I can often get artists to assist me, there are times when people’s schedules just don’t meet up. If you live in the Phoenix area and are interested in participating in one of the Be Your Own Superhero workshops or know of a school or non-profit organization that could benefit from the workshop, please contact me.

Shawn Demumbrum
SpazDog Comics
www.spazdogcomics.com
SpazDog Press
www.spazdogpress.com

Email: shawn@spazdogcomics.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/SpazDog
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