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By: Hess Sahlollbey

Whether you’re a Trekkie, an aspiring cosplayer or simply hoping to meet others who share your interests, this weekend belonged to the fans as they took over the downtown Toronto core. Punisher, Batman and Superman all have big releases this month and made their presence known from the moment I got off the subway and headed to Toronto ComicCon. An annual convention, Toronto ComicCon takes over the city center for a three-day affair full of comics, cosplay and everything in between.

What some fans may not realize though is that attending these conventions could result in your passions and hobbies one day becoming a career. That’s how it went for Michael Walsh, one of Marvel Comics’ biggest rising stars whom I had the pleasure of interviewing at the convention. We talked about his career, what he’s working on next and what knowledge he’d most want to impart on those who want to create comics for a living too.

While Batman’s home may be Gotham City, one of the biggest rising stars in comics actually calls the Hammer home. “I almost went to McMaster,” Walsh first tells me when I introduce myself to him having noticed my press badge and white McMaster T-shirt. As an alumni of OCAD, he’s familiar with touring the whole portfolio circuit when he was first trying to get published.

With a heavy, murky use of black ink, his art is difficult to describe. His substantial use of blacks is interlaced with cartoony elements. While the style may look simple, on a deeper analysis one can quickly surmise that it’s a stark juxtaposition to the emotional weight that his art carries.

While others on the Toronto ComicCon floor had booths rammed with books, art-prints, merchandise and T-shirts, Michael Walsh sat behind his desk with his portfolio of black and white art in front of him. He quipped that he doesn’t like travelling with his books, referring to all his illustration work that fans are always eager to buy straight from the creators at conventions. “They’re too heavy and I don’t want to lug them around, I’d rather put my art on full display.”

It’s that same art that has made him so prolific in all of Hamilton’s comic book shops. Whether it was Comic Connection, Big B Comics or Conspiracy Comics, the staff at all the stores held Walsh in the highest regard, eagerly describing his art style with all manner of positive superlatives. Walsh is also equally famous among his peers for his down to earth personality and eagerness to meet fans and talk shop. Even the staff at Mixed Media, an art store on James St North, pitched paintbrushes and inks to me by saying they’re the same ones Michael Walsh uses, long before I had the chance to make his acquaintance.

Walsh first work was Comeback, a comic that he looks back on fondly. Written by Ed Brisson with art by Walsh, Comeback told the story of two criminal agents, who could undo the untimely demise of a loved one, for a large nominal fee of course. “Comeback was my first professional work, it always gets compared to Looper, because of the timing of the release, but they couldn’t be any more different. Yeah they both had time-travel but Comeback was more sci-fi street-level crime. It was bad timing, but I’m always happy when it makes a Comeback [editor’s note: pun is Walsh’s own] and a fan brings it for to me to sign,” said Walsh.

These days however he’s one of Marvel Comic’s most prolific artists. His first job at Marvel was Hank Johnson: Agent of Hydra — a one shot that came out late summer. “Right now, I’m doing this X-men series, its called X-Men: Worst X-man Ever and it’s a five issue mini-series.”

Walsh’s next project will be a collaboration on The Vision with another rising star at Marvel, Tom King. King is a former CIA counter-terrorism agent and has been writing an ongoing based on the eponymous member of the Avengers. Filling in for art duties, he praises his collaborator, saying, “If you haven’t read Tom King’s work its so good. You need to check out his other work because I’m so happy to be working with him.”

His charisma and passion for talking about comics is easily contagious. Before he could get any work in comics however, Walsh was creating posters for concerts. Now he’s happily looking forward to what the future holds.

“I’m in such a good place right now, if I went back and I did something differently back then who knows where I’d be. I went through some really hard times with being unhappy with my output and thinking that my work was just not of a high quality,” he said.

“If I could impart one thing of advice on those that are coming up it’s that you won’t always be happy with what you’re doing. But to be at peace that you’re not always going to be happy with the stuff you’re doing but know that you can get better so keep striving and working for greatness in your own work.”

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By: Hess Sahlollbey

Since it began in 2010, Young Justice has been critically acclaimed and has garnered a passionate following. However, it wasn’t until Young Justice was added to Netflix at the start of February that the fandom has set the internet ablaze in a bid to push for a third season. When series creator Greg Weisman tweeted that Netflix was looking at viewing numbers to create a third season, I decided to pitch in and marathon it myself to help out with the campaign.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMs6_QOV10g

The show aired on Cartoon Network until it was cancelled in 2013. The main characters of the show are a group of sidekicks attempting to separate from their mentors and prove themselves as superheroes. In the first season, Robin, Kid Flash, Superboy, Miss Martian, Artemis and Aqualad come together to form the eponymous team with Zatanna and Rocket joining them later on. The team works together under the authority of the Justice League to battle a team of super villains known only as “The Light.” In the second season, the series jumps forward five years as we’re introduced to an even larger and more diverse cast of heroes and villains.

While grounded somewhat in reality, the show still keeps things consistent with the traditional DC Universe continuity. If you’re not well versed in the rich history of DC Comics, the show will ease you into this world gently with plenty of explanations as well as thorough introductions to characters. Young Justice is also not afraid to explore the subjects that terrify adults. Whether it’s a father’s inability to protect his daughter from super villains, the terrors of parents being separated from their children, or a darker storyline of child abduction that involves non-consensual experimentation.

In addition to beautiful graphics, the show has a strong soundtrack that fits perfectly with the tone of the storyline. In fact, it won an Emmy for animation not long after its initial premiere.

It should be mentioned that the show is not without its controversies. In 2013, Paul Dini appeared on Kevin Smith’s podcast Fatman on Batman where he claimed that network executives cancelled it due to too many girls watching the show.

However, Greg Weiseman has stated on multiple occasions since then that the show was cancelled due to toy sales being too low to fund additional seasons. Whatever the reason may be, if there ever was a television show that could benefit from one more season, it’s Young Justice.

[UPDATE] : Almost nine months to the date after this article went live a third season was officially confirmed.  WB Animation also announced that original producers Greg Weisman and Brandon Vietti have both returned and that production has already begun with a premiere date to be announced later.

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By: Rachel Katz

There was a time not so long ago when action films dominated the box office. The protagonists didn’t have superpowers—unless you count muscles—and they were forced to solve their problems and save cities using their bare hands.

Fast-forward to today and the action landscape is very different. The classic action heroes of the Die Hard era have been replaced by men and women once loved only by avid comic book readers.

In recent years the superhero genre has experienced a surge in popularity. In 2013, both Iron Man 3 and Man of Steel ranked in the top ten grossing films of the year, and so far this year, four of the top ten grossing films have fit into this genre, with Guardians of the Galaxy claiming the first-place ranking. People are so excited about this genre that there are multiple infographics detailing the release schedule for the next installment of their favourite hero’s franchise, some of which stretch to 2020 and beyond.

Where is this sudden appeal coming from?

Following the conclusion of the Harry Potter series, audiences were left without a multi-installment series to follow. Trilogies like The Hunger Games have been extremely successful, but there will only be four films about Katniss Everdeen—half the number of films about The Boy Who Lived. It would be difficult to extend a trilogy much further than four films, so producers may have turned to the superhero genre as a way to maintain cash flow. The genre appeals to a huge demographic, from elementary school students to their grandparents, and theoretically, there is no limit to the number of Batman movies people will pay to see.

The heightened interest in the superhero genre is almost certainly tied to the nerdy-chic trend. The first season of The Big Bang Theory aired in 2007, and since then over 40 superhero films have been released. The adoption of “nerdy” interests and hobbies into mainstream pop culture means that more people are willing to admit their interest in or discover the superhero genre for themselves, and while some avid fans find this to be a corruption of their favourite interests, there is no shortage of new TV shows, books, and films capitalizing on nerd culture.

Some fans have voiced concerns about this fixation on superheroes and nerd culture being just a fad. They raise a valid argument, especially considering the lengthy amount of time before some of the proposed superhero films are set for release. If the trend dies down, though, what will replace it?

With a slew of non-superhero action films scheduled for release in the next year, the reluctant everyman hero/heroine trope still has appeal. Maybe the action genre hasn’t had its last gasp yet.