An overweight pasty white kid in serious need of Proactive sits in the corner of the cafeteria flipping through the pages of Alan Moore's "V for Vendetta" comic book, sipping a juice box as he slides his glasses up the bridge of his greasy nose.
Comic book fans are often stereotyped in a way that is less than flattering - as the overweight kid with the acne problem or the nerdy, skinny kid who has never had a girlfriend.
Charmaine Wheatley, an artist originally from Nova Scotia who recently published her first comic book titled "Beau Fleuve, The Heart of North America," proves wrong the negative label comic book enthusiasts have acquired. The characters within the comic are based on real people from Buffalo, as well as family members from Canada.
Sitting at a small table in Betty's restaurant west of Elmwood, Wheatley, a youthful small framed blonde woman who is wearing a sundress despite the 50-degree weather, describes her experiences over bacon, eggs and coffee.
She doodles a picture of my face as we talk, explaining that every experience for her is special so she makes an extra effort to remember the details of everything, to use later on in her work.
This weekend, Wheatley and her comic book will be a part of the Comicon Convention, featuring artists and their comic books from all over. The event will be held Sun. Oct. 29 at the Marriot Hotel from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., admission is $5 admission at the door.
Wheatley said she hopes to end the event with a dance party. Seriously.
Wheatley, who graduated from the College of Art and Design before moving to Brooklyn, N.Y. ten years ago, took an extended "field trip" to Buffalo, taking an apartment off of Elmwood Avenue. In the search for inspiration, she became more than just a tourist, amassing expertise knowledge on the inner workings of the Queen City.
The people she met at her favorite sights - Betty's, Hardware Caf?(c) and more - became not only a part of her comic book, but a part of her life.
"Within just a short time after meeting someone, we already would find ourselves laughing or crying together," Wheatley said. "I find that there is a fine line between the two, you could be laughing one minute and then crying the next."
Her comic book's title "Beau Fleuve," is a fancy play on "Buffalo," based on a rumor of how Buffalo received its name when a French explorer discovered the Niagara River. "Beau Fleuve" means "beautiful river."
"I wanted this one to be a collectible," Wheatley said. "Guys that write the Marvel comics like X-Men are more into fantasy while I'm more into reality. Everything I write or draw comes from true life."
On the front cover is a caricature of a man she saw walking around with white underwear over his khaki shorts, a Tim Horton's coffee cup and old-fashioned roller skates, commemorating a group called the Queen City Roller Girls. The first page depicts a three-hoofed deer her friend always feeds tea biscuits.
Inside are a series of quirky stories and fragments of people's lives she has extracted from their conversations. There is a depiction of a couple that sells miniature furniture, of a racist man in a bar and of a separated Japanese couple. In another is her best friend in an intimate moment with her husband, who is twenty-years older than her.
Sandra Firmin, the curator of the Carnegie Art Center in Buffalo, encouraged Wheatley to stay in Buffalo and complete her comic. With Firmin's expertise, Wheatley was able to receive a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts.
Wheatley is proof that the world of comics is not a dying art, but it is a link to the past and a way to express the present.
"My interest in comic books started when I was five or six years old," said Amy Greenan, a graduate student in the art department. "I love reading comics, especially because it's fun to get lost in a different world."
Big blockbuster hits like "Spiderman," "Batman" and "X-Men" have given comic books the stigma of being associated solely with super heroes and damsels in distress.
"It isn't all just people in stupid costumes beating the crap out of each other," said Joe LiButti, a junior English major. "I think anyone can find a comic book they'd enjoy if they take the time to poke around a bit."
UB's Rare Books and Special Collections boasts an expansive comic book collection dating back to the 1970s. Additionally, comics are easy to find and available at many bookstores. A good one to check out is Queen City Bookstore on Main Street near South Campus; prices range from 99 cents to $40.
"The stereotype associated with comic book fans isn't true at all. All kinds of people come in here," said Emil Nobak, a Queen City Bookstore employee.
Wheatley's "Beau Fleuve" comic is available at Talking Leaves Bookstore; to meet her in person and have a copy autographed, she will be at the Comicon Convention Sunday.
"There's so much more to comics than people realize," Greenan said. "Just try one to see if you like it."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
