The Indie Comic Throwdown!

I’m going to date myself, but the mid-late ’90s was the best time to collect mainstream comics. Yeah, I said it. Classic heroes were getting modern retellings of their origin stories, new, relevant heroes were emerging, creator-owned comics were on the rise, and Wizard Magazine, aside from reinventing the comic convention, was king of the collecting world. I vividly remember grabbing the latest Wizard Magazine every month from our local grocery store and devouring the articles, loving the freebies, and checking my comic values. Wizard united the comic world. It didn’t matter if you were a Marvel, DC, Image, Topps, Malibu, or Valiant, Wizard had something for you.

In a sense, the ’90s were the Wild West of comic collecting. New frontiers were being explored and there were no rules as to what you could and couldn’t do. In many ways, it’s like the current indie scene we see right now. One of my favorite features of Wizard was the Last Man Standing – a dream “face-off” between two different characters or teams, always of different companies and/or universes, usually suggested by fans. The editors would detail a brief showdown between the two, including the victor, and the feature would be accompanied by an exclusive illustration (usually by a high-profile artist) depicting the battle.

The Indie Comix Dispatch may not be Wizard Magazine, but we’re hoping to help unite the indie comic community through interviews, reviews, news, and more exciting features we have lined-up! One of those features, that we’re straight-up stealing from Wizard, is the Last Man Standing. For a couple of months, we’ve featured the Indie Comic Throwdown, but now it’s getting an upgrade! Each month we’ll present 2 indie comic characters for a throwdown and invite fans to vote on the winner! We’ll have a poll where you can vote, commission an artist to illustrate the battle, and offer a write-up with the results! 

At the start of each month, we’ll announce the match-up and start the poll. At the end of the month, we’ll announce the results and offer our take on the battles. These Throwdowns are meant to be light-hearted, fun, and a feature to bring the fans together! So, sit back and get ready to rumble! Tomorrow, Tuesday, we’ll announce our first match-up in the new format!

Want your indie character to be a part of future Throwdowns? Follow these instructions to submit:

• Send an email to Brett@indiecomixdispatch.com with the subject line “Throwdown Character”
• Include an image of your character
• Include a brief write-up of your character
• If/when your character is submitted, there will be a $20 fee to help pay for the art of the battle.