I thought it would be fun to hear about interactions you've had with guests over the weekend. Okay, so you stood in line for an hour to meet Frank Cho, and beaming you try to explain the excitement of the experience to your co-workers or your spouse: "Oh, that's nice, dear...now how much of Junior's college fund did you blow through?"
Let's hear those stories: ME FIRST!!
Al Feldstein-- I was proud to carry the man's bags (his oversized, 50 lb portfolio) for him. I told him he was a GOD. He looked at me and said, "Hey, I was just trying to earn a living!"
I pointed out that he--along with Monty Python and Saturday Night Live have shaped the comedy in this country for three generations. He didn't argue with that!! What a guy!!
Colleen Doran--for the first time, I kept my composure and did NOT propose to her. I think she is this/close from having the restraining order against me lifted.
Jaime Hernandez--all I could mutter were thankful ramblings about his consistent body of work for 25 years. He was very down to earth.
Picturebox-- Dan Nadel, Frank Santoro, Tim Hodler-- these guys are the cutting edge of comics, publishing challenging and format busting work. I was expecting some really over-intelligent guys, but these are three guys that LOVE all comics and were a joy to talk to. BTW-- Every comic strip aficionado should own Art Out of Time-- it is THAT good and that essential!
Okay, your turn-- Dustin was working me like a dog and I missed talking to almost everyone-- (except when I was shoo-ing them to their panels) -- so...
Let's hear it!!!!
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Matt Kindt - Not only was he a super nice guy, he wrote and drew Super Spy. He also did a watercolor/sketch of Dr. Manhattan for me--one of my favorite sketches of the entire convention. I guess that makes him three times awesome.
Jonboy Meyers - He sticks out in my mind because he found my deviantART page and actually bothered to send me a note. It's so nice when people actually remember who you are. Also an amazing artist who was kind enough to do a free sketch for me (a headshot of a skeletal soldier).
The folks of the Monday Night Crew webcomic - These guys were incredibly fun to talk to and play Tetris DS with (even if I got my bum handed to me twice).
Dean Trippe - I admire this guy's knack for handling kids. I, on the other hand, am absolutely horrified of them.
Chris Schweizer - I had already met him once at Free Comic Book Day. He bumped into me on the convention floor and invited me to stop by his table so he could give me some minis and a print (I offered to pay for them, but he declined). Again, it's nice to be remembered. For those of you who don't know, he's got a book (Crogan's Vengeance) in the works and if memory serves me right, will be debuting at SPX in October.
I think it's safe to say that I left Heroes Con feeling like a happy camper.
I met Thomas Lyle. He was the nicest person I met that entire weekend. He did a great seminar on the anatomy of a superhero that Friday. He even spared some of his precious time to read my home made comic and told me he liked it. He was very inspirational and made me feel like maybe one day I might get a shot to get published too! I also met Dan Didio he was nice too, & it was great for him to be there.
I met so many amazing people this year. . . Stuart Immonen sketched an Elsa Bloodstone for me! Partied at The Breakfast Club with Andrew Robinson! Discussed mutual love of The Amazing Screw-On Head with Kody Chamberlain! Talked about Crogan with Chris Schweizer! ANDY MANSELL! You blew my mind with the All-Star Superman, Batman: Year One and LOEG talk we had, Andy!
I was in heaven all weekend, talking about the creative process with my idols. And drinking heavily with them as well.
Alec Longstreth - Is very, very tall. Much like Andy Runton. He also wears fake glasses. For the sake of my wrists he attempted to convert me to Dvorak.
Rob Ullman (sp?) - Lost a bet to one of the crew (blast forgot their name) that recorded the audio from the panels and would be forced to wear a Red Wings jersey. Despite his humiliation we chatted about last year's mini-comics panel and briefly touched on why less people were making minis (the internet is to blame).
Ben Towle - Just a nice guy.
Andy Mansell - Saw me upstairs reading the new Harvey Pekar though he didn't seem to remember me from the Heroes Book Club. Was both interested in the new Pekar and apologetic for interrupting my reading.
If I heard the story correctly, I believe that Rob lost the bet to none other than Jeffrey Brown--there's a funny picture in our Flickr photo report of Jeffrey with a disgusted Rob in the background in his Redwings jersey.
Since I met Nick Gurewitch, Alec Longstreth, and Aaron Renier at SPX (although briefly), I'm nominating my main bro Scott Campbell for my favorite person I met, although it was thrilling to get to talk to Kevin Huizenga for a little bit in the hotel bar. Ditto for Sammy Harkham.
Oh! And I loved meeting Kaz--LOVE that guy. Also Greg Means.
Gosh, now I can't stop thinking of people it was great to meet in person. I'll shutup.
It's always chancy meeting creators. If they're really nice I wind up buying more of their work. If they turn out to be jerks, it kind of keeps me from enjoying their work after that.
I don't think I met any jerks this year (or ever at Heroes Con now that I think about it).
The nicest creators I met this year were:
Guy Davis - I've been a big fan of his work for years and he did a really great sketch for me free of charge.
Sammy Harkham - Had a good conversation with him about art, fatherhood and Chester Brown.
Kevin Huizenga - Had a good talk with him about old school first person shooter video games.
Roger Langridge - He did one of my favorite sketches for me
Dean Trippe - also talked to him about the joys of being a new dad.
Chris Scwheizer - Super nice guy whom I didn't know until meeting him and am now looking forward to his first book.
Joe Staton - I was a big fan of his work on Green Lantern when I was a kid. He and I actually have a mutual freelance client so I felt the need to bring that up to him so we could talk smack about them together.
Hope Larson - I've always wanted to meet her. She didn't let me down. Classy and cool.
Tom Scioli - I regret that I never got around to getting a sketch from him (he was going to do a 2001-style Star Child drawing for me) but we talked about art, Kirby, and coloring for a while.
And I also got to meet some people I've interviewed in the past like Jason Aaron, Brian Hurtt and Cullen Bunn. It was great to talk to them in person.
monk zach: Sorry-- I was out of my mind by the time I saw you. I was so focused on 16 things that I was like Crazy Jane without the superpowers.
dr fantastic-- thanks for the nice words.. I really love the discussion groups and hope we get even more people for the next one!!!
vee- come back to us! We miss you on the Monday groups...
BTW!!! Watch for an upcoming announcement for the next discussion group. Can't wait!!
I'd like to quickly mention four others I was lucky to meet:
Jim Scancarelli (Gasoline Alley) Marcus Hamilton (Dennis the Menace) Don Sherwood (Sgt Preston, Flintstones et.al) and June Brigman (Brenda Starr). We had a SENSATIONAL (I am not exaggerating!) discussion about the past present and future of the comic strips. We were not able to pod cast it-- too much concurrent competition!-- but anyone interested in strips in general or the controversial Schulz bio in particular (With reactions from 4 who knew him personally!) should reach out to me and I will be glad to re-cap in detail. it was nothing short of amazing.
Back to whom you met:
I can't beleive I did have any time to meet Matt Kindt (curse you Dustin!!) Superspy is a MUST read. Challenging in so many ways, it is nearly impossible to re-cap....
Let's here more
Andy - I promise I'll be there for the next one! Being broke does awful things to my ability to indulge in geekdom, it does.
I was a good bit intimidated by most of the really big name artists that were at the convention. I mean, being fairly new to the Marvel/DC/other mainstream stuff scene, it just seemed like there was nothing I could possibly say to these people that would not make me sound like a complete lame-o. I guess Indie Island was my favorite part of the show because the artists were much more accessible there.
I have to agree with Andy, that thoughts of proposing to Colleen Doran actually entered my mind too.
This year I really enjoyed my extended chats with Jaime Hernandez, Marcus Hamilton, Jim Scancarelli & Stephanie Gladden. I hope that all of them return to Heroes Con next year.
It's also always nice to chat with favorites like Budd Root and Nick Cardy.
I was also pleased to finally get a chance to speak with Frank Cho.
I know this isn't relevant to this blog, but just heard about Michael turner dying, lost a great one there.....
John Workman was great a true modern master that has works spanning over 40 years. Would love to see him come back next year.
Alright, let's see....
Guy Davis - I have emailed Guy a couple of times, so it was nice to meet him in person. He was also kind enough to do a free sketch for me.
Dustin - I've also done some correspondence with Dustin via email, so it was nice to introduce myself in person. Dustin is also working on a sketch for me (after he gets it from Guy)
Phil Noto - I've met Phil at a couple of other cons, but he remembered my name when I walked up to his booth this year which kind of took me by surprise. I'm sure I looked stunned.
Notofans members - I met up with a bunch of art collectors from the Notofans yahoo group. It's always nice putting faces to names/collections.
Dave Crosland and Jim Mahfood - both real cool guys
Erik Jones - I think I spent the most time (and money) at the Gorilla Riot booth hanging out with Erik and his crew. All super nice. I hope they come back next year, because we've got plans to go get breakfast at a certain "establishment" in Charlotte. ; )
Did I mention I met Frank Cho? I shook the most talented hand in the world! Gosh.....
I had the pleasure of talking to Mark Waid for a few minutes. Mr Waid is about as down to earth as you can get. The guy is one of the best in the industry and kind of looks at it as he is just happy to be doing something he loves and proud that people like his work. He was kind enough to indulge my questions about his work (Questions I am sure he has answered more times than he cares to) and act like I was the first person to notice that. Every pro that I met was great. Can't wait till next year.
Forgot to mention...
Roy Thomas- I had heard that Mr. Thomas was somewhat... "unfriendly" but found him to be the opposite. He signed my books and when he found out my interest in his "All Star Companion" books got my e-mail address and said he would email me a "preview" of Volume 4 when it was ready to see how I liked it. COOOL!!!! Even talked with me for abit about the old "All Star comics" series from the 40's. Really nice guy.
Jim Amash- Another nice guy. Mr. Amash talked with me for several minutes about who he had recently interviewed for "Alter Ego" and some "teasers" as to who they talked about. Love that "insider info"!!!
John Morrow- He is the owner of "Two Morrows" publishing. I didn't get to talk to him directly but he emailed me after the show to make sure I got the issues of Alter Ego I was looking for. Mind you, this was less than a $50 order but but he took the time to email me and make sure I got them. He has even put back some copies bagged and boarded for me when I came by the booth. Any of you who haven't bought some stuff from this guy, please do so. Two morrows is doing all they can to preserve the history of comics by interviewing the dwindling number of Golden Age artists and writers so they can have their memories preserved. They have books and magazines for EVERY era of comics no matter the taste. You can peruse their wares at
www.twomorrows.com
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