It was Thursday Jun 26, 2025. I had packed up my Jeep and was making my way over the Pennsylvania turnpike to arrive at my destination with my cousin and his family. Sadly it was about five hours into the drive, thunderstorms abound so I decided to put up at a hotel. Finish the drive Friday and I arrived. Next on the mission was the Garden State Comic Fest. My time to discover new and independent comic content 😎.
Prequel to the Journey
This story really has a prequel in that after watching Avengers End Game it seems modern content has become rather stale. This led me on a journey to discover independent content. This is where I discovered the two YouTubers who also produced independent comic content. These YouTubers are Clownfish TV and Dannphan.
Clownfish TV
These guys run their own YouTube channel reviewing pop culture and other indie comic news. Hosted by Keon and Geeky Sparkles, they have an animated presentation style where each of their avatars bounce while they present their “rants” of what they are reviewing. What I really enjoyed is they had published their own books featured below.
Dannphan (Burning Star Comics)
Next on my journey of discovering indie creators I stumbled into Trisha. She has her own YouTube Channel where she to talks about the happenings of different comics, anima, and mangas. Her Friday live show is my favorite as it is chill and her audience is very friendly. Of course she had the biggest collection of comics she has produced over the years on her Burning Star Comics where you can order both print and ebook versions of her work. I ordered the print as featured below.
Fest Time
So as stated earlier I arrived at my cousins in Jersey on Friday. Got cozy for the Saturday event. Got to travel the 95 north bound paying the lovely tolls before finally getting off the 95 to head to the event center. It was an awesome setup next to a zoo in a nice town. Jersey does have some pretty spots in the state 😂.
Ghostbusters
So I got parked and headed to the entrance. At the entrance I was greeted by Eco-1 from the ghostbusters. Not sure who built it but this converted hurst was a spot on replica of the ghostbusters automobile. The guys in costume were looking good as well.
Once at the entrance I got my nifty attendee placard and began taking in the fest. It was overwhelming at first but I am an introvert by nature. So I walked the event floor taking in the cosplayers and seeing what indie comic creators were setup and selling.
Meeting Trisha and Adam
Then I found Trisha and Adam. They were the reason I decided to do the fest so I got to meet them in person and discuss their work. They were awesome people. That is when I bought my first book.
Discovered INdie Creators
I was at the fest for a little over 6 hours. The pictures below represent the roughly $380 I spent in books and knick knacks. These are books / comics (including above) I plan to read and write blog reviews on. And if I ever get off my duff, maybe a YouTube video review 😱.
Daemon Manx
He is the author of a 4 part book series. His story got me hooked and while listening I noticed the gem below. It represented all the books in one nicely hardbound book. So of course I had to purchase it. You can check out his website at daemonmanx.com
Blackbox Comics
Going from memory these guys represented one of the bigger displays. I believe it was a husband / wife duo and that had whole complete series of comic in a vast array of genres. In the end I bought the two below. Check out their website at blackboxcomics.net
Maurice Alvarez & Ande Li
These authors produced the below 3 part series along with a prequel. The described story and artwork sold me so I purchased them. You can find them at Maurice Alvarez and Ande Li.
Harpoon Creative Industries
As stated from the book I purchased, “Imagine if your favorite demon hunter had a bit of a drinking problem and a toxic relationship with her mom. Now, ask her to save the world.”
Ok that intro along with the authors passion for the book sold me so here it is. Check it out at harpooncreativeindustries.com
Dreamscape Publishing
They had the MarcV series of comics from 2024. The story was an interesting premise but what fascinated me about it was the interactiveness woven into the story. Meaning you had a QR coded embedded in the comic pages that allow for an interactive story. A cool way of blending modern tech with a comic. So I thought I would give it a try. Check them out at dreamscapepub.com.
Art Pieces
The following was a set of cool pieces I purchased. Unfortunately I cannot find a card from the artist. However their signature is to the left if anyone can identify them. Their work was really good as you can see below.
Wrapping up the Day
So after discovering all the cool content from the fest I ran into Sean Kanan, a.k.a. Mike Barnes from the Karate Kid 3 and Cobra Kai series. He was really fun to talk to along with all the memorabilia he had signed from the original actors of Karate Kid universe. Now I had spent my money at this point and started asking the price of items. Well needless to say they were out of my price range except for hot sauce he was selling. That was in my price range and wrapped up what was an awesome experience. He evened signed the sauce for me 😂. More about that can be found at badboyeats.com.
