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Comic-Con Gets the Local Treatment from Inwood and Twitter

By Carla Zanoni | July 26, 2010 5:51pm | Updated on July 27, 2010 6:41am

By Carla Zanoni

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

INWOOD — Comic-Con, the annual comic book convention, may have been held in San Diego this weekend, but that didn’t stop a group of Upper Manhattan die-hard comic book fans from holding their own localized version of the international event at a bar Saturday night.

The local Comic-Con group was formed on Twitter and is made up of six men ages 28 to 45 who share a love of the "PoW! ZoOm! sniKt!" world of comics and the culture that comes with it. ("sniKt" is the sound Wolverine's claws make when they flick out," member Rich Herrera, 38, explained in a Twitter direct message.)

Twitter played a big role in the night’s activities, connecting the Inwood crowd to real time updates of the event in San Diego, including an alleged eye stabbing over a requested seat change.

The group acted like art connoisseurs, with discussion ranging from critiques of the more painterly style of some comic book artists to the effects of Hollywood’s co-opting of comic culture. All the while the assembled group was able to recall the finest, nuanced details of books like "Archie" and "Omega the Unknown."

"It’s no different from a book club," organizer Jason Juniewicz, 28, said. "Except our books have art in them too."

Inwood and Washington Heights have starred in comics such as the "Amazing Spider-Man," "Nightwing" and "Daredevil." According to Inwood resident Alan White, 45, an an entire story line was centered on a soup kitchen in Inwood Hill Park’s caves in "Avengers vs Atlas."

Stan Lee, former president of Marvel Comics, is originally from Washington Heights and Inwood is home to Marvel.com editor Ryan Penagos and DC Comics publicist Alex Segura, who attended the Comic-Con event in San Diego.

Conversation Saturday night flowed freely — like the beer — and moved from comics to break dancing to, interestingly, how relationships with their grandmothers helped form their personalities today, making it apparent that the comics are only one part of this group’s appeal to one another.

"I think it’s freaking awesome," Herrera said. "It’s great when you can find people who connect to you in some way."