Blue Ridge Hosts Best Selling Author

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New York Times Best Selling Author Robert Venditti visited downtown Blue Ridge Saturday, October 22, to attend a special Fall Event at Mountain Man Comics.

The store, located by the City Park on East Main Street, hosted Venditti to offer signings of his graphic novels and appear on Gilmer County’s 2 Dads and a Comic show. Venditti is famous for several of his works becoming Best Sellers including a graphic novel adaptation of Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning ThiefThe Surrogates, and The Homeland. Many will recognize Venditti’s The Surrogates as it was adapted into a movie starring Bruce Willis.

dsc08350Venditti said he was visiting Blue Ridge earlier this year and found himself at the local park when he decided to see if Blue Ridge had a local comic shop. After he discovered Mountain Man comics on his phone, he met up with Manager Richard Garceau as the store was still in the late construction stages. It was then that Venditti was invited to be the special guest for Mountain Man’s Fall Event.

Owner Chris Dailey said he decided to open the store after last years Halloween, seeing numerous children “dressed up as Harley Quinn, Deadpool, Spider-man.” Dailey said, “The way the town is, I thought it needed a Comic Store.” However, it was both the store and the city that has grown now to attract names like Venditti who said, “I love Blue Ridge… I really appreciate what [Mountain Man Comics] has been able to do and it looks like a comic book shop that would be in a mountain town. It fits the community.”

It is, in fact, the community that drives the industry according to Danny Reilly, who partners with Ben Morris in Gilmer County for the show 2 Dads and a Comic. The show mixes fatherhood and family with the comics industry including most things related to it like the current list of Superhero shows and movies from Marvel and DC.

dsc08393The pair stressed the importance of both the shop’s presence and Venditti’s visit to Blue Ridge with Morris specifically saying it shows “That we matter!”

Reilly shared hopes that the event would promote and extend the area’s presence saying, “With Robert, as big of a name as him, coming out here, in the future we could see other events with artists which would be awesome for the area.”

Morris agreed stating a local store hosting such a well-known author also helps him personally as he believes “Parents should show their kids something they are passionate about, especially something that is creative.”

To encourage a passion into children for something so creative helps build their own creativity, and a local store pushing to bring artists like Venditti helps encourage that as well. The two recounted their own connections to the art as FYN sat down to speak with the stars of the show about their relation to comics, Benny recalled his childhood as he learned to read on comics like Spider-Man and his own connection the the characters as he related to them. Danny also shared his connection to comics such as Green Lantern‘s common theme of law enforcement as he comes from a law enforcement family.

Venditti himself delved into the creativity of the industry and his own journey into writing stating “For me with every project I take on, I try to do something different… I want to do every single thing and always try to get outside my comfort zone. I’m always challenging myself as a writer and hopefully getting better. That means when you’re getting outside your comfort zone, sometimes you’re gonna fail. At least I know that I’m learning from it and I’m getting better hopefully as I go.”

Venditti spent close to five hours signing and speaking with local fans. The event not only highlighted the local shop, but also highlighted our area to others in the comics community as Venditti described a welcoming family feel to people which trickles down into the local shops. Obviously, the recent popularity of the tv shows and blockbuster movies fuels that growth, but according to Morris, “There would be no Marvel Cinematic Universe without guys running shops like this.”

While Mountain Man comics invited Robert Venditti for the special Fall event, Dailey and Garceau both hope to lead into more events throughout the coming year as they look for more Authors and Artists to visit Mountain Man Comics for signings and meetings in our local area. Check out more on the day by visiting 2 Dads and a Comic or find more on Robert Venditti.

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