San Diego Comic-Con brings a four-day celebration of pop culture each summer. Last year, two San Diego comics creators were featured on multiple panels to discuss their latest projects and lifelong passion for the medium.
A life of crime or...
At the age of 5, Chris Ryall knew he loved comics — and one in particular.
"I was drawn to this old 'Fantastic Four' comic, Issue 130, because it had the Fantastic Four and the Frightful Four," Ryall recalled. "So there's eight colorful characters on the cover, all fighting, and I was just completely and utterly captivated by that."
So captivated that he stole it from his neighbor.
"So, I was either heading toward a career in comics or a life of crime," Ryall added.
He chose comics — even though the path wasn’t as clear as, say, becoming a lawyer.
"That was always my complaint as a kid," Ryall said. "I just didn't know that there was a path to working in comics because you're right, you don't take the bar exam; you just find your way in. It feels like every time you ask anybody how they got into comics, it's a different story."
Different stories, but all beginning with a love for comics.
Scott Dunbier remembered his own introduction to comics.
"By some wonderful piece of fate, right between my apartment and my school was one of the first comic book stores in the country. It was called Supersnipe. This was around 1971. I remember going in there literally every day, me and my friends. That was our life: baseball, comics and egg creams," Dunbier recalled.
From that childhood passion, both men ended up working at IDW, a San Diego-based publisher, for more than a decade. Ryall served as president, publisher and chief creative officer; and Dunbier was vice president of special projects.
Ryall edited "Locke & Key" — which was later adapted for television — among many other projects, while Dunbier oversaw IDW’s gorgeous, oversized Artist Edition books.
Current projects
Currently, Ryall continues creating books inspired by the things he loved as a kid.
"With Abrams ComicArts, I did this book on these old Marvel calendars, and they were just so unique and beautifully designed. Every square of each month was designed. Those things have largely never been collected," Ryall said. "And then with Simon & Schuster, they're bringing back the Fireside line of books. The first one was 'Origins of Marvel Comics.' And the real distinction of that book is it was the first Marvel book — and one of the very first graphic novels — to ever get into bookstores and libraries. It's hard to fathom now, but if you were a kid in the mid-'70s and you went to a bookstore, there was no comic material at all."
Dunbier also fell in love with comics as a kid — and with their potential.
"In a comic book, the sky's the limit," Dunbier said. "You can do anything you want. It sounds like I'm making comics very grandiose, but it's almost a magical art form."
Comics can imagine the fantastical, create vivid characters or even serve social good. Dunbier’s "Comics for Ukraine" project has raised money to help refugees.
"Yeah, that was a book that I felt I had to do," Dunbier said. "The crisis in Ukraine happened more than two years ago, and I remember sitting in my living room watching TV. My wife was getting so sick of me yelling at the TV. And I thought, maybe there's something I could do. So I reached out to a number of friends to see if they were interested in being part of an anthology book called 'Comics for Ukraine' that could be crowdfunded, and all the money could go to a charity that funneled money into Ukraine to help refugees."
The anthology went on to win the 2024 Eisner Award for Best Anthology — a major honor in the comics world.
Ryall also loves the unique storytelling possibilities of the medium.
"I love the way art and words all work together in tandem to create a story," Ryall explained. "The excitement you feel — almost every single page being its own little mini story where you get to the bottom of that page and hopefully it's compelling enough that you want to turn the page. Every page of a comic can be that way if it's done effectively."
Dunbier, a collector of original comic art, said that passion led him to create the Artist Edition line while at IDW.
"I love comic storytelling, but I always edged more toward the art," Dunbier said. "I can't read a comic with bad art."
At Comic-Con, he announced the launch of his new company.
"It's Act 4 Publishing — because Act 1 was art dealing, the second act was Wildstorm (another comics publisher), third act IDW and now this is the fourth act."
It's a new company, but he's continuing his passion for original art with more Artist Edition books — and some giant bookmarks.
"We haven't announced it yet, but we're going to be giving away Artist Edition bookmarks," Dunbier revealed. "Dave Stevens’ 'The Rocketeer,' Joe Kubert's 'Tarzan,' an EC science fiction page and Will Eisner's 'The Spirit.' Since they're bookmarks for Artist Editions, of course they're gigantic. These are actually four by 16 inches."
Adapting 'Megalopolis'
In 2024, Ryall spoke on multiple Comic-Con panels about his latest projects, including a graphic novel adaptation of Francis Ford Coppola's "Megalopolis."
"It started with a complete out-of-the-blue email from Francis Coppola saying, 'Hey, I want to make a graphic novel based around 'Megalopolis,' and I'm told you're the one who can help me with that. Is that true?' And first you're like, I don't know if this is real, but my response always to these things is: 'Yes, Francis Coppola, I am the right one who can do that,'" Ryall recounted.
He was delighted to discover Coppola is a comics fan.
"He cited a character called The Heap, which is like a precursor to Swamp Thing and Man-Thing," Ryall said. "Nobody mentions The Heap unless if they're legit, unless they know comics. It's fun when you can find that common ground, that common comic book language to talk about, even with people that have never otherwise dabbled in the space before. So it's been a blast. It's been just the most exhilarating, creatively inventive thing. Yeah, I've loved every bit of it."
Who would have thought stealing a comic book at age 5 could lead to all this?
As their stories continue to unfold, we're left waiting for the next page turn in their remarkable careers.
