On Saturday at the Con, I visited 2 panels. Slave Labor Graphics (or SLG) was up first, as presented by founder Dan Vado. It was a casual and intimate affair, with Vado presenting a few short trailers for current and upcoming releases. I’ve been familiar with SLG for a while now but have only recently read some of their books, including Captain Blood (which is a 5 ish mini, but may become an ongoing if successful) and Zeke Deadwood: Zombie Lawman. Their Gargoyles comic (based on the 90s cartoon) will continue, with unproduced issues finally being released.
The book Vado talked about most was Winchester, the first issue of which will be released in October. Being an Aussie I’m unfamiliar with Sarah Winchester and her unusual legacy, but her story sounds like a great premise. The story centres on a haunted house next to a freeway, in which 2 people enter with weirdness ensuing. Vado describes it as a tale of “historical fiction, bits of horror and spooky stuff.” Vado has written it, with art provided by Drew Rausch. The pair worked together on the Haunted Mansion series. Interestingly Vado was a tour guide in his youth for the Winchester Mystery House but was fired on his first day after deviating from the traditional tour guide script. He mentioned that Sarah Winchester used to travel around the house using the pipes of the sprinkler system as monkey bars. Unsurprisingly this impressed the Con audience.
Pinocchio: Vampire Slayer was up next. Vado revealed that this series has been a sleeper hit, thanks to the simple, yet lovable concept. The book launches in September from creators Van Jensen and Dustin Higgins and centres on the original, darker book rather than the well-known Disney film. Vampires kill Pinocchio’s father Gepetto before he can become a real boy so he goes on a vamp killing mission of vengeance. He lies so his wooden nose grows, snaps it off and stabs the bloodsuckers in the chest. Classic. The trailer for the book has had 8000 views in 3 weeks.
Jamaica Dyer’s Weird Fishes comes out in October. Originally released as a full colour web-comic, the collected edition will be black and white but it still looks lush with its water colour effects. This is Dyer’s first book and is a coming of age tale about a girl named Dee who discovers she’s not as unusual as she thinks she is. Vado seems quite proud of this book and it does look quite touching.
Vado also mentioned the Emo Boy film, which is in the works from Vanguard Films and closed the panel out with a few short videos made from the SLG team in their office/warehouse. These included two boys riding a pallet lifer around the place and an amusing ode to their love of Macs while taking their frustrations out with PCs with a baseball bat and a handgun.
Vado closed things off by mentioning that the first Friday of every month SLG convert their San Jose warehouse to a gallery and have bands made up of SLG staff play. It seems like they’re a fun publisher.
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