Our INTER -VIEWS series has featured comic book creatives like Kelly Sue DeConnick, Jason Aaron, and Brian Michael Bendis. We're excited to next interview Brian Wood! On Tuesday, December 5, 2017, at 6:00 PM, we're sitting down with comic book writer Brian Wood for an interview. It will be LIVE, ONLINE, and you are invited to join us.
Brian has written titles such as The Massive, Star Wars, Rebels, Aliens: Defiance, Robotech, Briggs Land, Mara, Black Road, DMZ, Northlanders, and so many more. Have something you'd like us to ask Brian? Let us know online, on Twitter or Facebook.
Creative Women Mini-Con returns for its 5th year -- and this could be our best year yet. We've assembled thirteen of the region's most talented creative women. And we're throwing a sale in celebration (details below). Date: Saturday, October 21, 2017 Time: 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. Location:Empire's Comics Vault
Everything You Need to Know About Creative Women Mini-Con 2017
In this post, we'll share:
A complete list of this year's creative women -- an interview link and social media links
Sale details
What to expect at the mini-con
Sale Details
50% off Back Issues
25% off Toys
15% off Trades
Members: check your email for October's benefit so that you can level up your sale discounts!
What to expect at Creative Women Mini-Con
Admission is free.
When you support an artist by making a purchase at their table, they keep all their earning. Pay the artist directly, not the store at the counter.
Art purchased from the Art Gallery wall should be purchased from the store counter, not the artist's table.
The event starts at 11 am and goes until 4 pm.
Need food? Visit one of the restaurants in the shopping center and bring it back to the shop if you'd like. Feel free to sit at the couches to take abreak.
2017 Creative Women Mini-Con Exhibitors
Take a moment to enjoy the interviews we did with each exhibitor. Also, below you'll find a little about each creative woman, a link to their most recent interview, and links to some of their online profiles.
Angela Davis: Angela sold her first commissioned painting at fifteen. She's done commissioned pieces for the Deftones' Chi Cheng. She's also collaborated on a coloring book for the city of Sacramento.
Bianca Kim: Bianca creates embroidered fabric pinback buttons with short sayings that can be worn on backpacks, purses and jacket collars. She shows at the Stockmarket craft fair in Stockton, CA. She started 2017 by showing her work in Empire's Comic Vault's art gallery in January and then offered a beginner course for embroidery in her booth at the Stockmarket craft fair in Stockton. Interview | Etsy |Twitter: @FreshBiscuitsBK | Facebook |Instagram: @FreshBiscuits
Felicia Ann:Felicia is an illustrator and digital painter from Oakland, CA. Of Chinese-Malaysian descent, she blends her rich Southeast-Asian heritage with her enthusiasm for modern science and astronomy. Her art is expressed in the female form, with ethereal portraits that connote her personal exploration of femininity. Interview| FeliciaAnn.com | Facebook |Instagram: @Felishita
Heather Merrifield:Heather's focus is to capture moments that might otherwise not be captured, be it in action shots, everyday moments, or the strange and unusual. She will show at an upcoming exhibit at the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento. Interview |Facebook |Instagram: @HeatherLeeArtPhotography Jen Monson: Jen is constantly delighted by new ideas. She uses trial and error to explore new approaches to her art. Her ultimate goal is to help others feel a sense of peace and joy. A smile on someone's face is the ultimate final touch. Interview| Twitter: @JenMonson | Facebook | Instagram: @jenuoneart | Etsy
Kassandra Gamez: Kassandra is a comics creating artist. She's worked at some cool companies, but maybe not in the art department, for example, dA and Disney Interactive. Kassandra is a huge fan of comics, zines, and Corgis. This will be her first time exhibiting at CWMC. Tumblr | Twitter: @Kozispoon | Instagram: @kozispoon | DeviantArt Kelly Van Gaasbeck: Kelly's focus is storytelling and whimsical thoughts. She works mostly with ink, metallic and monoprints. She spent 2 years in Japan, teaching and learning and wandering across the country, where she came to love telling stories in small spaces. Interview | Facebook | Instagram: @Fireflirt
Kristine Balog: Kristine is an Art Historian, oil painter, and author who has dedicated her life to the Italian Baroque painter Caravaggio. She is both an academic and creative, teaching Art History as a profession and channeling her passion into creating comic books and authoring novels. She has authored numerous academic articles and has been teaching at the collegiate level for five years. Interview | KristineBalog.com | Twitter: @KristineArt | Facebook | Instagram: @KristineArt |
Maia & Kaimani: Maia and Kaimani are 9 and 8 years old, respectively. Both Maia and Kaimani are enthusiastic artists who enjoy making comics, drawing, painting, jewelry making and pretty much flexing their imaginations in any creative capacity. Growing up with empowering and inspiring storytelling such as the films of Hayao Miyazaki and shows like Steven Universe, they are also equally influenced by their comics-making dad, their jewelry-making mom, and Sacramento's thriving comics and art scenes. Interview
Megan Risk: Megan works primarily in the traditional mediums: graphite, colored pencils, pressed pastel, etc. Recently she's expanded into the digital art world, mixing it with the traditional mediums. While she started working in portraits and landscapes, she has also explored the realms of horror, supernatural, fantasy, and superhero. Megan sold her first commission when she was 23. Interview | MeganERisk.com | Twitter.com: @MegERisk | Facebook | Instagram: @MeganERisk
Rachel Strum: Local wand-maker Rachel Strum handcrafts fantasy wands. With a background ranging from illustration to stained glass, Rachel’s experience in mixed media has inspired wands unlike any others. Beginning by hand selecting quality supplies, pairing gems individually with wood bases, and then intensively layering mixed media, her wands capture the imagination and inspire a sense of beauty. The delicate balance between beauty and practicality within all her whimsical creations has sprouted from the needs in her life, be it simple toys or giant strawberry pillows. Transforming common materials into playful creations is a labor of love inspired by Rachel’s belief that everyday should come with a touch of magic. Interview | Etsy | Facebook | Twitter: @CitrusAtelier
Sarah René Kraft: Sarah is a Sacramento-based illustrator, colorist, storyteller, and all around sketchy lady. Experience her work in the illustrated comic world of the Greek mythology-inspired “Blind Follies,” and her upcoming artbook in progress "Lemiscus," among other various arts and projects. Interview | Instagram: @SketchyKraft | Twitter: @SketchyKraft | Facebook
Sarah Troedson: Sarah is a composer working in silk, gemstones, pearls, crystals, precious metals, glass, and yarn. Handmade lamp-worked glass beads, silk cord, silver charms, bamboo fiber and baby alpaca yarn are the notes in her music. Colors and textures are the melody and harmony. The "music" she composes is fine jewelry, crochet and woven accessories created with a sense of joy. Interview | RocksMapsandCrafts.com | Twitter: @RocksMapsCrafts | Facebook | Etsy
Whether you’re a cosplayer or an artist — or both — be sure to participate in our twice-a-month Cosplay Sketch.
Meet the model and talk cosplay, then have a seat and sketch, paint, sculpt, or draw the model. Entry is $10 at the door — and all proceeds go directly to the model.
On Tuesday, August 29, 2017, from 6 - 9 PM, cosplay model Jennifer Ravensong will pose as Poison Ivy for your sketching pleasure (click to add this event to your FB calendar).
Known in some parts as the Villainous Vixen Ravensong, no one knows who the Lady Ravensong truly is; her name and face have changed so many times.
What is known is that she will never remain the same for very long, always changing and morphing to blend into her environment.
She is known to win the affections of men and women alike, only to bring them to their undoing. A black widow by nature and a siren at heart, she will woo unsuspecting victims with the beauty of her words and song and is sure to drive you to madness.
While it is said she has a heart of gold, very few have seen past her walls, but to those she holds dear, she is an angel in disguise.
But never trust a villain or a woman….especially a villainous woman.
She was trained in the Companion arts from birth and was then discovered to have a very high count of metachlorian.
She trained in the Jedi arts under Mace Windu before she was betrayed utterly and turned to the darkside. Now a Sith, she carries her light saber with her always but only resorts to its use in the trickiest of situations.
5. Our host’s own laughter will crack you up. It’s so contagious. He’s Mr. Joe-Joe Louis. He holds a PhD in English and is the creator and producer of both Comedy Night at Empires and the Secret Moving Van Show, both in Sacramento. He is also the creator of Joe-Joe Has Fun, a twice-daily Let's Play show starring both him and comedian Kim Martel.
Joe-Joe Louis, Sacramento comedian
4. There may — or not — be singing. Especially if Christian Amaral has anything to sing about it. He is the co-host of the monthly High Anxiety Variety Show, as well as the creator of 3 failed podcasts.
3. People wear cool stuff with, like, skulls. Yeah, skulls. Take Robert Barry, for instance. As the creator and writer behind the long standing pop culture site retroCRUSH, he's written hundreds of essays, interviews, and film reviews. Can’t wait to see what he wears Friday night.
Robert Berry, comedian
2. One comedian may be punnier than the others. We’re talking about Damian Harmony. He, along with his partner Daniel Humbarger, has run the Capitol PUNishment pun tournament in Sacramento for the last year. He is a father of two, and could really use the money from comedy so that his kids can eat meat sometimes. So, please, make good use of the tip car. See also, bullet point #3, again.
Damian Harmony, Comedian
And the #1 reason to laugh your freckle-muffin off with us every last Friday of the month is...
1. Random stuff happens, for example, A.J. DeMello landing in the #1 spot of this post. Oh, yeah, lots more random headed your way. With a delivery ranging from caveman to out right joker, A.J.'s sharp, no-nonsense material and nonchalant pacing leave audiences laughing and hurting.
Hearing about someone's first Free Comic Book Day experience is a real gift to us. We think you'll enjoy seeing FCBD through the eyes of a first-time attendee.
You can enjoy more of Toni Bee's videos online by subscribing to her YouTube channel.
Today we're sharing a guest post with you. This guest postoriginally appeared on Eben E.B. Burgoon's Facebook profile. Eben is one of Sacramento's creatives. He creates comic books, including Eben07 and B-Squad, and he creates comic book creators, teaching children how to create their own comic books. We asked him if we could repost it to our blog, and he said yes. We've used the opening words of his post as the title for ours. Before we get to that, we have something to add. Sacramento is a unique town in many ways, but especially when it comes to comic shops. Very few towns support as many comic shops as Sacramento does. We count at least fifteen, but wouldn't be surprised if there are more and we just haven't heard about them yet. Our town has embraced comic book and geek culture -- from Sac-Con to Wizard World Sacramento, from Art Mix: Crocker-Con to SacAnime and Free Comic Book Day Festival, and so on. And Sacramento comic shops return the support. As a comic shop we do our best to champion our local creatives -- and not just comic book creators. We champion literacy and small business and the arts and local interest groups and so on. So, Thank You, Sacramento! "I want all of you to go to your local comic book shop this Saturday.Seriously. Stop with that "pFFttt" noise - yeah, I heard it. You, yes, you. Stop for a second. Say it aloud with me. "SIRI. Remind me to go to a comic book shop this Saturday."
Here is the deal... most every comic shop around the country will be doing something special this Saturday for Free Comic Book Day. Shops across the country will give away hundreds of thousands of comics FOR 100% FREE - no expectations & no questions - seriously 100% free on select models.
These shops will pour their energy into orchestrating this massive giveaway and also create raffles to benefit charities, swag bags for the kids, offer absurd how-are-they-making-any-money fire sales, and they even bring luminaries out of their dimly lit studios... almost too far away from their two weiner dogs... to sign and doodle on books and prints they created.
While their walls may echo with debates over if Batman can take out Wolverine (Batman wins... one word... magnets) ... they are owned and operated by your neighbors. People just doing their best to follow their bliss over get rich or die trying schemes. They work to make a great shop for the throngs who want to escape their day and delight in the strange and beautiful marriage of words and pictures that make comics so influential on today's culture.
So even if you're not a regular comic book reader, maybe you think superheroes are trite garbage, maybe you find zombies boring, maybe you have some other quick excuse for me like comics are just kid stuff and you only read "real" books...
Well, then, yo, dog, I am your huckleberry and I am definitely daring you. A triple dog dare. All the cherries-on-top, double stamp a triple stamp D-A-R-E - dare.
Let's say I got your thoughts on comics pegged earlier. I bet you at least can get behind a little love to support your local small businesses... right? So just go into a shop on that notion and explore even just a little bit. Maybe you drive by a shop every day and never have gone in. Go. Go over there this weekend.
Heck, ask me for recommendations! Ask me what shop to go to in your area! Treat me like a Google! I'm down to help you take this journey. We're all really lucky. We're living in an age where comics have never been better and truly something out there for every taste.
You will find something in that shop that will grab your curiosity - I dare you to embrace that curiosity and enjoy it. I would be floored if you couldn't find something! Here are a few shops outside the Sacramento area I can completely recommend and where most of you live...
You just need to go. Saturday. DO IT! I DARE YOU! :) And when you do, let me know how it went!
To those that need no daring to go, thank you so much. Thank you to everybody that continues to support these shops, people that support the misfits who draw write and create in this difficult and sublime medium --- the people like me, who are damning torpedoes and trying hard to make good comics happen --- thank you for your support over the years. You're the best of kind! #fcbdfest2017
Cap tip to Sergio Aragonés' artwork here. His mustache is amazing.
_______
p.s. from Empire's: Don't miss out on FCBD Festival. Add it to your Facebook calendar right here. Lastly, at the end of his post, Eben names several shops in the area. We'd like to add some additional shops to that list -- Sacramento's Broadway Comics, Metropolis Comix in Elk Grove, A-1 Comics in Sacramento, Roseville, and Folsom, Elk Grove Cards and Comics, Bizarro World in Davis, Ken's Comics & Collectibles in Rocklin, Adventures in Comics & Games in Carmichael, HR Sports Cards & Collectibles in Sacramento, and Sacramento's newest comic shop, Oblivion Comics & Coffee (serving Chocolate Fish's coffee!). What a great town to live in! Each shop has it's own personality -- it's own "vibe," if you will. We invite you to tour them all. See you on Free Comic Book Day. p.p.s. Many apologies if we overlooked your shop! Please let us know and we'll add it.
25% OFF Graphic novels, collected editions, toys, statues, variant wall (variants and back issues on the wall), and variants in the box.
NOTE: art wall not on sale, regular price only.
Back issues (not including back issues on the Variant Wall)
IF COVER PRICE is $15.01+ = SALE is 75% OFF cover price
COVER PRICE $1-5 = ON SALE FOR .50c
COVER PRICE $5.01-10 = ON SALE FOR $1
COVER PRICE $10.01-15 = ON SALE FOR $2
PARKING + FESTIVAL LAYOUT Parking is available on Larkspur. It's the street next to the shop.
Click to Expand
MEMBERS ONLY FESTIVAL BENEFITS
If you're not a Member, you can skip this section. Or maybe read it. Sign up by 12/31/2017 to receive the special treatment in 2018.
Members, whenever you get here, use the Members's Only VIP Line, a.k.a., the short line. But if you get here early...
We're opening the store one hour early for our Members to access free comics, to meet Sacramento creatives exhibiting in the store (full list below), and to take advantage of our storewide sale (details below).
Every Saturday in May we are celebrating Free Comic Book MONTH. It features FCBMonth-exclusive comic books, collected editions, and posters -- for FREE. Members can come any Saturday they want or every Saturday. NOTE: Only Savings Club Members who enrolled by December 31, 2016 are eligible for this benefit.
FCBD FESTIVAL FEATURES AND GUESTS
Here's a complete list of guests for this year's festival.
Food
Wandering Boba
FreshMed Mediterranean Cuisine
Artists and Writers
Eric Nguyen: Current Artist on Old Man Logan
Eben E. B. Burgoon: Creator of print and webcomic, B-Squad
Julie Okahara
David Andry, Ghost Thunder Collective:
Kristine Balog: Comic book creator of Caravaggio's Darkness and Lightfield, author of Caravaggio: Of Oil and Blood
The 501st Legion: Mingle with the Empire's baddest troopers.
West Coast Avengers: Cozy up to Northern California's coolest cosplayers.
Sac City Rollers: Have wheels, will fly! But they're always happy to stop for a photo.
Cracking The Vault Podcast: It's the shop's official, all-ages podcast. Chat with these folks and you may get featured in an episode. The FCBD Preview episode is up now. | website |
Reality Comics LLC: These folks produce some fine video about geek culture, comics, and more. Be sure to spend some time with them.
The Capeless Crusaders: These vid- and podcasters are a rip roaring good time. Join them as they talk about comics, geekery, and more.
Our podcast crew, Cracking the Vault's Tony Asaro, Amy Nunag, and Patrick Clarke, recently recognized the best in 2016's comics via our annual comic book awards, The Vaulty Awards.
This year we added a Listener's Choice selection, so now your favorites are recognized also.
Don't miss out on these awesome comics, available in a comic shop near you.
Patty – “Island” (by Simon Roy, Lin Visel, Malachi Ward, Matt Sheean, Michael DeForge, Johnnie Christmas, Marian Churchland, & Fil Barlow)
Amy – “Scarlet Witch” (by David Aja)
Listener’s Choice – “Saga” (by Fiona Staples)
Motor Girl, Vaulty Award Winner
Best Limited Series 2016
Amy, Tony – “Vision” (by Tom King & Gabriel Hernandez Walta)
Patty – “Superman: American Alien” (by Max Landis, Nick Dragotta, Matthew Clark, Tommy Lee Edwards, Doc Shaner, Joelle Jones, Mark Buckingham, Jae Lee, Steve Dillon, Francis Manapul, Jonathan Case, & Jock)
Listener’s Choice – “"Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" (by James Tynion IV & Freddie E. Williams II)
Best Tween / Young-Adult Comic 2016
Patty and Listener's Choice – “Goldie Vance” (by Hope Larson & Brittney L. Williams)
Patty – “Silver Surfer” (by Dan Slott & Mike Allred)
Listener’s Choice – “Vision” (by Tom King & Gabriel Hernandez Walta)
Best Moment of Squeee 2016
Amy – Peter sings to Robot Kitty Pryde in “Star-Lord & Kitty Pryde #3” (by Sam Humphries & Alti Firmansyah)
Tony – 1st appearance of Jonathan The Actual Wolverine in “All-New Wolverine #7” (by Tom Taylor & Marcio Takara)
Patty – Persephone returns in “The Wicked + The Divine #18” (by Kieron Gillen & Jamie McKelvie)
Listener’s Choice – Cyclops in “Death of X” (by Jeff Lemire, Charles Soule, & Aaron Kuder)
Best New-to-You Comic
Patty – “Arrowsmith” (by The Official Kurt Busiek Page & Carlos Pacheco) (2003)
Amy – “Kingdom Come” (by Mark Waid & Alex Ross) (1996)
Tony – “Rachel Rising” (by Terry Moore Art) (2011)
Listener’s Choice – “East of West” (by Jonathan Hickman & Nick Dragotta) (2013)
Vaulty Award Winner for Best Kids/All-Ages Comic 2016
Best Kids / All-Ages Comic 2016
Tony – “Above The Clouds” (by Melissa Pagluica)
Patty – “Bird Boy” (by Anne Szabla)
Amy – “Space Battle Lunchtime” (by Natalie Riess)
Listener’s Choice – “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic” (by Christina Rice, Agnes Garbowska, Ted Anderson, Brenda Hickey, Katie Cook, Andy Price, Thomas Zahler, & AMF)
The I Love You Man Award for Best Recommendation To You By Someone From Cracking The Vault in 2016
Amy – “Pretty Deadly” (recommended by Tony), “Rebels” (recommended by Patty), & “Vision” (recommended by Jake)
Tony – “DC Bombshells” (recommended by Amy), “Vision” (recommended by Patty & Jake)
Patty – “Supergirl: Being Super” (recommended by Tony)
Listener’s Choice – “Paper Girls” (recommended by we all)
The Zdarsky Award for Funniest Comic 2016
Tony – “The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #6 / Howard the Duck #6” [“Animal House”] (by Ryan North, Chip Zdarsky, Erica Henderson, & Joe Quinones)
Patty – “Howard The Duck” (by Chip Zdarsky & Joe Quinones)
Amy – “Patsy Walker: AKA Hellcat” (by Kate Leth & Brittney L. Williams)
Listener’s Choice – “Giant Days” (by John Allison & Max Sarin)
East of West, Vaulty Award Winner
Best Comic Villain 2016
Tony – Brian Michael Bendis for “Civil War II”
Patty – Shalla-Bal from “Silver Surfer” (by Dan Slott & Mike Allred)
Amy – Ananke from “The Wicked + The Divine” (by Kieron Gillen & Jamie McKelvie)
Listener’s Choice – The Horsemen from “East of West” (by Jonathan Hickman & Nick Dragotta)
Best New Ongoing Series 2016
Patty and Listener's Choice – “Ether” (by Matt Kindt & Dave Rubin)
Patty – Mike del Mundo / Marco D'Alfonso (“Weirdworld”)
Tony and Listener's Choice – Matt Wilson (“Paper Girls”, “The Mighty Thor”, “The Wicked + The Divine”, “Black Widow”, “Cry Havoc”, “Phonogram”, & “Captain Marvel”)
Amy – Hwei Lim (”Mirror”)
The Flow My Tears Award for Saddest Moment In Comics 2016
Tony, Amy, and Listener's Choice – “Saga #38” (by Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples)
Patty – “Vision #12” (by Tom King & Gabriel Hernandez Walta)
Comic of the Year 2016
Patty, Amy – “Vision” (by Tom King & Gabriel Hernandez Walta)
Tony – “The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl” (by Ryan North & Erica Henderson)
Listener’s Choice – “East of West” (by Jonathan Hickman & Nick Dragotta)
In 2017, we've decided to really connect the dots. We're celebrating creatives and creative acts all year long.
Get into Sacramento's creative culture
We hope you'll join us in getting to know Sacramento's creative culture. Maybe you'll learn something about our creative community that you didn't know or hadn't experienced before. If you do, please share it with us.
Do something creative you haven't done before
Today is the first day of 2017. Three hundred and sixty-four days from today what creative endeavors would you like to have accomplished? Better yet, how about 90 days from now? What one or two new creative endeavors are on your bucket list? Let's do it -- together -- because we have one or two things on our list also.
Next time you're in the shop, asks us what we're up to and let us know what's on your list. Also, stay tuned for new opportunities to experience Sacramento's creative culture.
And if you're not already on our mailing list, you might want to sign up. It's going to be an exciting year.
Empire's Comics Vault
The official website of Empire’s Comics Vault, owned and operated by Ben C. Schwartz and located in Sacramento, CA.
We have a great group of guests at this year’s Creative Women Mini-Con 2025 on Saturday, October 11, starting at Noon. This year we welcome first-time exhibitors and some past favorites. Click through to find out who are joining us this year.
We had such a great time hanging out in the store with Sacramento artist Eric Nguyen. Here’s a photo collage of the event and a link to the replay of our online interview.
I'm excited to share the completion of many years of work. Also, I'd like you to know, that I''ve started a new email newsletter to talk about all my creative work. If you're a fan or just curious, please check it out on Substack.
Captain Dylan Hunt and Hot Pepper Pug bonding. Only been 6 days but they are getting to know what the other wants 😌 ^Ben #sacramento #pug #thispugneedsahug #captaindylanhunt #hotpepperpug
Lodi Comic Con is this Sunday May 7th and we have some tickets to give away! Post here and we will pick two winners, 2 tickets each, tomorrow morning. ^Ben #sacramento #lodicomiccon @stocktoncon
I will be closed at 6:30pm today to go see Guardians of the galaxy! We have free swag in the shop and you can enter to win a prize box, movie tickets, and a $25 Empire’s gift certificate! ^Ben #sacramento #gotg #guardiansofthegalaxy #raffle
Welcome Hot Pepper Pug to the Empire family! Her and Captain Dylan have been getting along great! ^Ben #sacramento #hotpepperpug #captaindylanhunt #pug #thispugneedsahug
Guardians of the galaxy contest! Tickets, hats, prize box, and $25 Empire gift cert to win. The movie is out this Thursday!!!!^Ben #sacramento #raffle #gotg #guardiansofthegalaxy
@boring_rose_brewing is a great brewery I discovered at @sacgrilledcheese today. I need your help to get them over the 1k mark on Instagram. Please head over and like! ^Ben #sacramento
Jennifer Ravensong (on FB at J Ravensong Productions | Instagram | Twitter) is a fictional character, with a solid mythology. 
:)
We have a great group of guests at this year’s Creative Women Mini-Con 2025 on Saturday, October 11, starting at Noon. This year we welcome first-time exhibitors and some past favorites. Click through to find out who are joining us this year.