We recently attended the first Nova Con held in McLean, Virginia. The event heralded Northern Virginia’s entry into the ever popular world of graphic novel gatherings raging across the country.
It was small in comparison to larger Comic Con gatherings in New York and San Diego, but was ell organized. Nova Con was held in the beautiful Ritz-Carlton Hotel and the displays spread over three floors. These included artist and vendor booths, gaming rooms, restaurants, and small convention rooms where artists met and talked with fans.
One such artist we met had a highly unusual, and some would say gruesome, display of human skulls with beautifully hand crafted carvings. The artist’s name is Zane Wylie, known as ‘The Skull Guy’.
At approximately 3:00 am in the morning of July 23, 2015 a fire broke out in the historic town of Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia. The calamity resonated far beyond this town of 300, in large part because of Harper’s Ferry’s momentous role in American history and its popularity as a tourist destination. Luckily for the 300 residents who live in this tiny community, no injuries or deaths occurred due in part of an alert community member who was awakened by the outset of the fire. Two residences and eight businesses were destroyed, and most of the inhabitants felt that their town would never recover. 
.jpg)
