I've usually given a daily summary, but I've been too wiped out from the Con to do that this year. They've finally got panels that reflect my interests, so I've been going to lots--and there have been several conflicts, where I've often chosen to attend part of one panel then dash off to the other. This has rarely been a problem before. On Friday I heard Bill Willingham on Fables (he really tells a good story); Mike Mignola, Jason Latour, Paul Azaceta, and James Harren on BPRD; and a "Vertigo Visions" panel with Willingham and Scott Snyder. Then I stuck around for the "Drink and Draw" event at the pizza place across the street. Today there was a Hellboy covers panel with Mike Mignola, Becky Cloonan, Francesco Francavilla, and Dave Johnson; a DC 52 panel with Cully Hamner, Ivan Reis, Scott Snyder, Jeff Lamire, and Joe Prado; a discussion between Geof Darrow and Don Rosa (moderated by Tim Callahan); and a "1982" panel with Ben Towle, Craig Fincher, Jaime Hernandez, Stergios Botzakis, Toney Frazier, and Heidi MacDonald. The year was chosen because this is the 30th anniversary of the convention, and the discussion centered around creator's rights. Finally (literally) "An Hour With Stan Lee." He still tells a pretty good story, too.
I got a nice little Tara Chase drawing by Brian Hurtt in my copy of the Queen & Country arc he drew. Evan Dorkin, Jill Thompson, and Mike Mignola all signed my copy of Hellboy/Beasts of Burden. Jeff Lemire drew a nice Gus drawing in my copy of Sweet Tooth, Vol. 1. Matt Kindt did the same in my copy of Revolver, even using two colors. Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith both signed my copies of Criminal Macabre (Niles is about the nicest comics person I've met). I caught Mignola and Matt Fraction right after panel appearances, so no wait!
And I've bought lots of stuff. Steve Niles omnibuses from Dark Horse & IDW; a couple of 30 Days of Night collections; Jonathan Hickman's recent The Red Wing; a collection of early Ben Templesmith work called Blood-Stained Sword; the last two Jack of Fables collections; the most recent Hellblazer & DMZ collections; and several other Image and IDW titles (including the 2nd collection of Kill Shakespeare; I still haven't read the first one I bought last year). And a few toys, including this:
Replies
Awesome! I'd loved to have been there! Sounds like a fantastic show.
Still quite a bit happening on the last day of the show. I started out the day attending the Heroes Discussion Group on Love and Rockets: New Stories with creator Jaime Hernandez. I mentioned how much I enjoy hearing Jaime speak when I described one of the panels yesterday. It was just that much better being in a small room where a small group could discuss his work and ask questions. When he said how much he hated research I offered to help! I gave him a business card. Probably nothing will come of it, but I'd be tickled if he asks. At his table later he did a sketch in my sketchbook, and signed the poster he did for the HeroesCon 30th Anniversary (they always commission at least two; the limited edition one that I got with my three-day pass was an image of The Rocketeer by artist Cary Nord) . Later in the afternoon I attended "Bill Willingham and Adam Hughes in Conversation." I had a preview of this when Hughes sat in on the Vertigo panel yesterday. They're old friends, and it was a fun conversation, with no adult supervision (i.e. no moderator).
I collected signatures from Willingham & Huges on my copy of Fables #100 before the panel. Afterwards I got a signature from Dave Johnson, and had gotten Chrissie Zullo's earlier. There were a lot of creators involved in that book, but that's a good start. I also got Hawaiian Dick: Bird of Paradise signed by B. Clay Moore, and The Surrogates signed by Robert Venditti (artist Brett Weldele was also at the show, and I completely forgot he worked on the book). I bought a bottle of "Super Spy Mint Flavored Cyanide Capsules"--what a great merchandising idea--from Matt Kindt, and he also contributed a sketch to my sketchbook. And I met author/blogger Timothy Callahan, who had a booth as well as serving as moderator on some panels.
In the bargain book hunt I got a copy of the IDW reprint of J.M. DeMatteis's early Brooklyn Dreams for $10 ($40 list), and the Marvel hardcover of Husk (one of their Soleil translations/reprints) for $3 ($20 list).
Whew, quite a con this year! I'm glad I don't have to drive back to Greenville until tomorrow morning, so I've got the evening to unpack/decompress.
Any news from this Con? Normally if they made any announcements here, they will tell us on Newsarama and the like. I'd love to see some of those panels!
The one odd thing about this Con was the absence of an official DC and Marvel presence (apparently they're saving everything for San Diego this year). There were lots of their top creators present, but no publisher booths or editorial staff. So the only news I know of was Bill Willingham's official announcement of the "Fabletown and Beyond" convention that is happening next March in Rochester, Minnesota.
Wow sounds like a great time, Mark. A really great line-up of guests.
I met B. Clay Moore a few times. At one con he gave me a couple of copies of Hawaiian Dick, because the next issue was so late. Really nice of him, and totally unexpected.
Yeah, I thought he was a nice guy. He mentioned that the third Hawaiian Dick mini would be collected soon. And they're going to have the fourth and final one completely finished before they solicit, to avoid the lateness problem.
Travis Herrick said: