San Diego comics vets and upstarts share space on Comic-Con floor

A convention-goer holds up a coveted Comic-Con big bag on Day of the event Photo by Adrian Childress Times of San Diego Two local companies are making their return to Comic-Con with new comics and books while a new upstart powered by certain industry heavyweights is making its presence felt For the third year Printers Row Publishing Group has a booth where it is showcasing a variety of new books The Sorrento Valley-based company started in has published more than books This year at Comic-Con Printers Row is promoting a Stranger Things book its release is set to coincide with the fall return of the hit Netflix show Also new is a Lilo Stitch color-by-numbers book In addition a new format called platinum relief that appears to give a D look is being used on various book covers Printers Row Vice President and Publisher Peter Norton declared attending Comic-Con for the third year in a row has helped him and the company converse directly with consumers We re living and learning mentioned Norton Meanwhile Magma Comix debuted at the Con last year and returned this year with a panel promoting their work and a booth on the convention floor Hank Kanalz at the Clover Press booth at Comic-Con Photo by Luis Monteagudo Jr Times of San Diego Company leaders reported a collaboration with Heavy Metal magazine that will lead to strips being published in the mag The company also was riding high with anticipation after one of its works The Pedestrian was nominated for Best New Series in the annual Eisner Awards the industry s version of the Oscars which are held each year at Comic-Con It s really a big honor just to be nominated stated founder Denton Tipton At the far end of the convention floor was Clover Press the latest athlete in San Diego s comics industry Clover was started by Ted Adams and Robbie Robbins a couple of former executives at IDW Publishing which used to be located at Liberty Station Clover which has a small office in Mira Mesa was supposed to launch in but that was delayed by the global pandemic They launched for good in March publishing a wide variety of books including fantasy and horror So far the company has published more than books including works by international artists from Korea Taiwan and Brazil We publish books we like mentioned Clover s Hank Kanalz This is the first year Clover Press has made it to Comic-Con Kanalz noted that for years the comics industry has been based out of New York City But San Diego is attracting a lot of talent San Diego is a very pleasant place to live revealed Kanalz So between San Diego and LA you have a lot of publishers