On the weekend of June 7, 2013, writers and artists gathered at Binder’s Art Store to fight crime and teach lessons! DTM revealed his secret identity as Daniel Flores to organize this great event, and we got the scoop!
Posing as mild-mannered journalists, we were able to get some pictures of the action, which you can find here. We met with the three teams – Team Solid, Team Doodlebug, and Team Fe Force (the Fe is for Iron). Team Solid consisted of local artists and writers Rahman Jones, Justin Anderson, Christopher Jones, Jason Thomas, Eric J. Oliveros and Danielle Roddey, and Team Doodlebug showcased the talents of Jay Willy, Sketch, Corey J. Oates, Victor Brown, Rahshad Jones and Darrell Thomas (FunkInk DJ). Each group had a different story to tell.
Team Solid told the story of Solid, the teenaged son of an Atlanta sports star. Due to his father being exposed to experimental performance-enhancing drugs, Solid is bigger than just about everyone. He inadvertently stops a robbery, and soon has to face down Griffin the Hangman, a big man from the country.
Team Doodlebug told a different story, about Doodlebug and Skip, two men who see the world in very different ways. Doodlebug wants to fill the world with color, but Skip only sees things in black and white. When Doodlebug’s children try to make Skip see their way of thinking, Doodlebug has to learn, and teach, the lesson of compromise and compassion.
Team Fe Force tells a third story, full of magic and betrayal. Each world has a magical and non-magical realm, keeping the other one in balance. Four heroes are selected as defenders when the magical orb linking the two realms together is stolen, and they follow the twists and turns of being betrayed, and of course, an epic battle between good and evil.
The most important part of each story is what it teaches us about ourselves. Comic books are not just about men in tights or ideologies. Instead, they discover the nature of what it means to be human, and how that humanity will help us to overcome any obstacle, whether that obstacle is facing down your biggest fear, learning to treat others with kindness, or rescuing two worlds in danger of losing their magical connection. And from what we saw on Saturday, the art of the comic book and the future of humanity is alive and well, right here in Atlanta.
For more information, check out this great article, complete with video presentations!