Of all the seeds planted at this convention, the one that grew into this column came from a series of conversations I had over the course of the show. It started with Randy Lander (late of 4th Rail fame) and ended with a drunken, sixth street barfly holding a blow-up doll over his head. Needless to say, the whole story is too much to go into. (You CAN read about it here.)

But the basic question asked is this: Does having a few rough edges make a comic bad? How do the comics created by the "apartment auteurs" at Staple stack up against the polished product of mainstream comics? Slick vs. DIY.

A while back, I sent in a submission to a publisher (that will remain nameless). The submission was a revamp of my now (in)famous webcomic hero, Halloween Man. So naturally I included a lot of comics and other materials, to show what the book is like.

The submissions editor sent me back a fairly nice rejection letter. In it was a critique of my comic as it currently stands. The following sentence stood out to me: "The work is very rude, rough, and rugged, but with a lot of potential." At the time, the comment really bothered me. But now it's become one of my favorite offhand reviews of the strip. Rude, rough, and rugged are badges I'll gladly wear with pride, and they apply to the comic too!

There's something inherently "punk rock" about the comics medium. This is even truer of self-published and small press works. But lately I sense a growing negativity directed towards comics with a DIY spirit. There seems to be a growing theory that indie books need the slick feel created by the major publishers. To this end, self-publishers find themselves at a serious disadvantage. Someone publishing a comic out of their home doesn't have access to the time, money, and equipment that DC (or Marvel or Image or even Oni) has. No matter what, you can't recreate that look. And should you even want to?

Imagine you're in a garage band. A very good garage band. So you have all those pops and whizzes that garage rockers are known for. So you might never have the polished sound that U2 have gained over the years. So what? That's not what your fans are looking for. The same was once true of comics. But nowadays the self-publisher isn't taken seriously. They are simply viewed as a form of vanity press -- or worse.

Underground comics can never look like an issue of X-Men -- why should this be a bad thing? Even stuff as quasi-mainstream as Flaming Carrot, has a little roughness to its edges. This is something that should be embraced. Speaking only for myself, when something has that vibe to it, I feel a certain closeness to its creator. Like good punk rock, I get the feeling that I'm not that removed from the creator. That it could be me.

(And sometimes it is me, but the context is important here.)

Before someone says anything, I DO read a lot of books from Marvel and DC. I read a lot of Image, Dark Horse, and Oni books too. And I'm not saying they don't produce good books. What I am saying is that there is a difference between the two, and it's something that should be embraced, rather than scorned.

Keep that in mind next time you're walking around Artists' Alley at your local con. These guys are making comics because they LOVE comics. Just like a lot of you LOVE comics. That's part of the joy of this medium... love it or leave it.

Let's play compare and contrast for a second. Just so you know I'm being fair, I'll not limit things to my own work. Plus I'll only talk about books that I like.

For example let's look at JE Smith's woefully under-read but wonderfully bizarre Complex City and Millar/Hitch's 21st century take on Avengers mythology, The Ultimates. The Ultimates is easily one of the best books in the industry and debatably the most badass superhero book on the block. Complex City is a quirky indie comic take on the funny animal genre. Both books are great but in different respects.

But Smith's tale of a canine cop can do a few tricks that even Captain America can't copy. For one, it's all JE Smith's work. The characters are his, as is the "voice" of the comic. Despite some clear influences from other works, Complex City is its own beast. As good as The Ultimates is, Millar and Hitch can't escape the echo of Lee and Kirby in these characters. Because at its center The Ultimates is part of the "Avengers franchise", the comic can never totally be ruled over by Millar and Hitch.

This plays into a larger issue: freedom with the characters. Overall,Marvel has given its creative team a relatively free hand to play with these Marvel icons. But they can never compete with something like Complex City. After all, the Hulk sells a lot of comics each month. Not to mention toys, cartoons, etc.

Let us also consider the case of Paige Braddock, and her romantic comedy strip Jane's World. Braddock's cast consists mostly of gay women, which while not as taboo as it once was, certainly isn't something a mainstream comic company would produce. Since the comic is around a decade old, it certainly had to début as the passionate work of a driven creator.

The artwork itself is another matter. While there are exceptions, most comic art from the big two has an aspect of to hyperrealism to it these days. The artwork in Jane's World is wonderfully cartoon-y, bringing to mind Sunday morning comic strips such as Peanuts and Calvin and Hobbes. Certainly not the stuff of X-Men or Batman.

Just to show you I'm not making yet another rallying cry against superhero or adventure comics... I'll use a bonafide rock of the industry for my next example. This last week I bought two comics written by Peter David. One was Claypool's Soulsearchers and Company. The other was IDW's Spike vs. Dracula. Now I enjoyed both of these comics a great deal. But if I had to gamble a guess... I'd say Mr. David put more of himself into Soulsearchers. The Spike comic was fun with good writing and solid artwork. But it was David affecting the voice of Joss Whedon and his creations. He did a damn fine job of it too. You can hear Spike snarling out his dialogue in James Marster's voice. However Soulsearchers read like pure Peter David. There was a joy to it that wasn't present in the other comic.

Now Claypool is a small company that produces comics in the B&W format. And while IDW certainly isn't a huge company, it's by far the more mainstream of the two. There's something to be said about Peter David producing the more enjoyable read from more humble origins.

Going back to my own work for a moment, let's also look at another Marvel comic, the future saga of Spider-Girl. Spider-Girl's head has been on the chopping block almost since its inception. It's stuck around thanks to some devoted fans, but in the long run even that isn't going to save it. Marvel editors can be moved, but ultimately they care about the bottom line.

Halloween Man doesn't live with an axe over its head. It exists simply because I say so and because there seems to be a small interest in it. Were this a Marvel title (or even an Image title) I have ZERO doubt that it would have been axed during our early days. Don't believe me? I'll be slowly re-releasing these older comics via my site over the next few months.

So while I'm all about embracing rough edges , the early adventures of Solomon are not only crude, but often downright silly. Still... thanks to the support of various fans, friends, and family I kept plugging away. And the comic improved. I didn't have to please an editor, only myself (and the faithful few of you out there).

One of the other benefits of self-publishing is more intangible then these other aspects. Self-published comics represent a certain kind of folk art. People embracing what they love. There's that sense that anyone can do it. Hell, believe me -- if I can do it, there's no reason everyone else shouldn't at least give it a shot.

If you want to make comics, make comics! If they're good enough, they'll last. You might even find yourself with some fans. At the very least you'll have the pride in knowing that you did it yourself. You (perhaps with the help of a few friends) published your very own comic. And if you love this medium, there's some joy to be found in that.

Then again, what do I know? Try it and find out for yourself.

Drew Edwards is the Texan Time Lord. He travels space and time via a coffin-shaped TARDIS with various companions. In his current incarnation he is the creator/writer of the acclaimed cult comic HALLOWEEN MAN. When not battling the Daleks he dwells in Dallas, Texas.