This was written in 2006 upon my return from that year’s International Comic Convention.

2006 was my first ComicCon. Let me say straight away that I was not disappointed.  I didn’t give much thought to what I expected, but looking back I realized that I expected a Star Trek-esque thing to be going on.  I thought I’d stand out for not being in costume; I did not stand out.  In fact, being one of something like 125,000 attendees, it is hard to stand out.  But one thing did stand out for me: Batton Lash’s “Tales of Supernatural Law.”

Here’s what happened.

ComicCon 2006 had 55 rows of exhibitors, and each row was divided into 4 sections.  Each section, in turn, had maybe 8 exhibitors.  That makes for over 1,500 booths in an area of 460,000 square feet.  The first walk through the Con lasted 3 hours, and we had seen no more than a third of it, and much of that, we discovered, was overlooked when we spent our second day there.

Wedged between one of the main entrances and DC Comics’ huge space was a small booth that CS and I kept passing.  It had a sign that read: “Supernatural Law.”  You have to understand that I am that annoying person in the movie theater that sighs heavily and keeps repeating “yeah, right!” during legal thrillers.  I am an attorney.  But I am not the suing kind of attorney.  So even if the legal technicalities are off, I may not notice more than the non-attorney sitting next to me.  But when the theories of law are so far-fetched, my bubbled suspension of disbelief bursts, and there is no putting it back together.  So instead of suffering through these types of movies (and novels and TV shows and comics), I usually just skip them.  And so naturally, when I saw “Supernatural Law” with the tag line “Beware the Creatures of the Night–they have lawyers!” we walked on by and by and by.

On the fourth or fifth walk-by, we had by then stopped at every other booth at least once, and it seemed that, for the sake of completeness if nothing else, we should stop here, too.  Batton Lash, the writer and artist, was signing his books.  He was very personable and, well, normal.  To his credit, he is not a lawyer.  We bought one of his trade paperbacks, had him sign it, and walked back to the hotel.

As we rested before going out to dinner, I picked up “Tales of Supernatural Law” and began reading.  This is the deal: It isn’t for lawyers.  It isn’t (really) about the law.  It is a monster book.  Good ole classic creatures.  Ed Wood monsters.  And these monsters have troubles, troubles the kind a lawyer can help with.  But the legal end of things is not far-fetched.  I mean, the far-fetched part is that monsters exist, not that if they did exist they’d have legal problems.  Why should monsters be so lucky as to avoid legal woes?  So if you can go along with the premise that monsters can exist, then the well done legal twist will not be a distraction; in fact, it is quite refreshing.  What I am saying is that I was pleasantly surprised that this trade paperback did not cause my bubbled suspension of disbelief to burst.  And that, my friends, is saying a lot.

What “Supernatural Law” has is Dracula hiring Wolff and Byrd, counselors of the macabre, to sue for the use of his name without proper compensation; a suit for damages caused by a cursed  monkey’s paw; a hexed super model; grave robbing; haunted houses; ghosts; and even a touch of romance.  For example, the first monster we meet is Sodd–he had an accident with some toxic waste and lightening and was mutated into a mangled mass of tree limbs.  During the change, he did damage to public property and was arrested.  He hires Wolff and Byrd to defend him.  Their first move is to get him out on bail.  The grounds?  Sodd’s roots (pun very much intended) in the community.  You don’t need to be Sandra Day O’Connor to get this legalese.  But Batton does have a licensed attorney as a consultant, and so he gets the “legal stuff” right.

Wolff and Byrd’s NYC offices reminded me of Jack Nicholson’s P.I. office in “Chinatown” or maybe Sam Spade’s.  Shadowy figures crossing over the etched glass door.  Batton told us the next day that he had in mind the one- and two-man ambulance chasing law firms in Brooklyn he was familiar with in his former neighborhood.  (Batton now lives in San Diego, being one of the many men that lost the long-distance romance battle over who would move).

That night, we did manage to enjoy a nice meal with friends and the milder San Diego weather.  But as soon as we were back in the hotel, I was reading again, and more again in the morning.  With just under 200 pages, “Tales of Supernatural Law” is chuck full of good, er, tales. So if you are in the mood for a romp of classic monsters and creatures with a new twist, this trade paperback is for you!

Tomorrow we return to San Diego for my second attendance of ComicCon.  I will do my best to get good pics and stories for interesting posts whilest away.  We will even get Sun out in the California sun!  Oh, the fun we will have!