Conventioneering at Home: Not at NYCC 2024? Neither Are We!

As pop culture and comic fans know, today is the opening day for New York Comic Con 2024—which, if it runs true to form, will be an absolute madhouse this weekend!

Unfortunately, StarWarp Concepts won’t be part of the festivities (I mean, small-press booth prices are around $1,200—that’s crazy!). But that doesn’t mean you can’t experience a sort of scaled-down SWC version of the big show!

You want vendors? Our webstore is open 24/7, so at any time you can order our amazing titles that range from comics and graphic novels to fantasy and dark fantasy novels, and from Illustrated Classics to nonfiction books about gaming and comics history. And while our webstore is currently offline (sorry about that; we’re working on the problem), our product pages have links to traditional book retailers like Amazon and Barnes & Noble for print editions, and e-book distributors Smashwords and DriveThru for e-books and digital comics.

Convention giveaways? Our Downloads page has free stuff like Pandora Zwieback wallpapers for your smartphone and computer, and book samples.

And how about some free digital comics?

Heroines & Heroes is a collection of comic stories and pinups all drawn by Steven A. Roman (that’s me!), dating back to my days in the early 1990s small-press movement—that age of dinosaurs in which creators like me used to make our comics by printing them out on photocopiers and then stapling them by hand. In H&H you’ll find mainstream heroes and small-press heroines, and even a couple of anthropomorphic bikers. Leading off is “V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N (in the Summertime),” a three-page Wonder Woman vs. Harley Quinn story that I wrote and drew in the late ’90s as a sample for a DC Comics editor who thought I’d be a good fit for their Batman: The Animated Series comic (long story short, it didn’t work out). The WW/Harley matchup is followed by an adventure of small-presser Jeff Wood’s rabbit-eared superspy, Snowbuni; three pages from the long-canceled indie comic Motorbike Puppies; and an adventure of the indie superheroine The Blonde Avenger.

The Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0 is a full-color introduction to the young adult novel series of the same name, hosted by Pan herself. Pan is a 16-year-old New York City Goth who’s not only a horror fangirl but someone with the rare ability to see the for-real monsters that regular humans can’t (she calls it her “monstervision”), and with the help of a 400-year-old, shape-shifting monster hunter named Sebastienne “Annie” Mazarin, she’s learning how to protect her family, her friends, and the world from the supernatural dangers out there—and maybe even have some fun while doing it. This 16-page comic features a seven-page story written by me, with art and color by Eliseu Gouveia (The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual #1, Carmilla, A Princess of Mars), and includes two sample chapters from Blood Feud, the first Pan novel.

Artists Alley? Our Gallery area—think of it as an online artists’ alley—features The 13 Days of Pan-demonium, containing original renderings of our favorite goth girl by a host of artists from indie and mainstream comics, including such notables as Elizabeth Watasin (Charm School), Teri S. Wood (Wandering Star), Neil Vokes (Tom Holland’s Fright Night), and Louis Small Jr. (Supergirl)!

So the StarWarp Concepts crew might not be hanging out at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center over in Manhattan, but at least you can have a con-like experience from the comfort of your home!