The Con Job Set at Old-School Comic Conventions

The Con Job #1 cover by Amanda Conner

I thought the premise of The Con Job, coming in March from Boom! Studios (four-issue miniseries, order code for issue #1 JAN15 1104, $3.99), was interesting, if a tad self-referential.

But then, I would expect a lot of comic knowledge from long-time creator Jimmy Palmiotti and co-writer Matt Brady (formerly of Newsarama). What I didn’t expect was that their comic convention heist story would seem so old-fashioned — by which I mean, the character design page in Previews features, out of eight characters, one woman, and she’s an overly busty blonde in a low-cut top.

The Con Job #1 cover by Amanda Conner

The Con Job #1 cover by Amanda Conner

The story is described as “a character-driven, comic book convention crime caper… a Galaxy Quest meets Ocean’s 11-style crime story set in the larger-than-life backdrop of the modern convention circuit… a group of flabby action heroes, aging sex symbols, and sci-fi bit players have become close friends as they watch their lines get shorter and their autographs get cheaper. That is, until they hire a cocky new booking agent who offers them their only chance at a comfortable retirement by robbing one of the largest cons in the country!”

There’s nothing to that description that assumes most everyone has to be male. Women have been action heroes and sci-fi bit players in real life, even leaving alone how imagination shouldn’t constrain writers in that fashion. (Of course, most people do assume that an “aging sex symbol” is a woman.) I hope that the promotional page isn’t representative of the entire cast, because a truly “modern” con has a lot more women involved. And artist Dominike “Domo” Stanton draws with a nice sense of character, so I’d like to enjoy this title without feeling like it’s too old-fashioned in its approach.



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