Sometime around 3 PM on Friday, Cajones and I discovered something about the convention that we were incredibly thankful for. One of the book printing companies had rented space at the convention center and called it "The Blue Room". The room was dimly lit with blue lights, and was decked out with chairs, tables, and water bottles. It was open to only professionals and exhibitors, and was thus a quiet island of sanity.
Cajones and I holed up in there for a while, and formed a battle plan for the rest of the day. Cajones had a DC signing starting at 7:30 PM and running for an hour. The frikkin' place was open until 9 PM, which is ghastly late for a comics show. That said, we were fully aware the place would be packed until close. This is a late night town.
After a bit of a rest, we went back up to the Artist Alley to check in on everyone. Neither Bill Sienkiewicz nor Keith Giffen had shown up at their tables, and Jim Shooter was also still absent. Shooter's booth had instead sprouted a crop of women. Not sure why.
We did, however, locate Ramona Frieden, one of the true pioneer women in the comics biz. Cajones and I got to chat with her a bit about Metamorpho. We are now proud owners of a Ramona Frieden Plastic Man sketch.
We then figured we couldn't think of anything else to do at the convention, so we figured we should nab some lunch. We ventured out into the cold evening, and managed to locate a little pizzaria about a block away from the convention center. The meals were a bit on the bland and basic side, but the cheezy garlic bread (spread liberally with whole cloves of garlic) was tremendous.
Around 7 PM, Cajones and I split off for separate missions. As he prepared and proceeded with his DC signing, I wandered the convention floors alone.
First, I located Devil's Due, and asked them if Tim Seeley was going to be around this weekend. The answer was no, but the girl at the booth lit up when I said that I was working on the Teenage Catgirls story. She even made sure I got introduced to Josh Blaylock, and told me to make sure I sent my color samples to Devil's Due. (The TCIH story isn't technically for Devil's Due, but they're pretty excited about the Troma relationship.) Note to self: purchase the Hack/Slash trade paperback when it comes out.
I then wandered the main floor some more, and found the poor Green Ronin Publishing guys stuck in the corner twiddling their thumbs. Apparently, the crowd just wasn't streaming over to them at their location, and they were bored out of their skulls. They also hadn't seen how the Dr. Blink trade had turned out (with the M&M stats in the back), so I got to show off the book. Note to John: Make sure they get copies!
Okay, I'm getting called away for breakfast again. Stuff that still needs to be written about:
Gene Ha and our gaming dreams
Cajones' DC signing
The guy with the canvas and pens
The guy with the truck
The guy with the Batman sketch cards
Finding a cab to McGee's
The DC Comics private party
Discussing Star Trek with Thom Zahler
"I think that's Bill Sienkiewicz"
Instant friends through waitressing
Drunkening with Michael Wright and the British dude ("I've sodomized my brain")
Table overboard
FINALLY finding Nachie
The Very Loud Bar
Late-night dinner at Tick Tock
SLEEP.
Saturday:
Breakfast with Anthony at the Skylight Diner
Meeting Hermes Press guy (Dan) and his wife; ditching coats
Locating Nachie at the DC booth; split for morning
Turn in art piece at Albert Moy table
Check in on Joe, who has completed my Guy Gardner sketch
Hang out with Jason Millet for a couple hours
Run into Damian Scott
Watch Millet booth for beer
Chat about nature of art with Doug
Woman with paper cutouts
Make sure Gene is staying sane
Find Cajones, Anthony, and Dan discussing project in Blue Room
"I'll color it."
Nab food in food court; collect Zander Cannon, Shad, Gene Ha, and the Source guys
Discussion of Sienkiewicz book and other things
Head up to autograph area
Chat with Peter and Angie Mahew
Gary Coleman!?
We found the cheerleader
Meeting Jeffrey Combs, Clive Barker, Mick Garris, Paolo, and John Landis all at once
Masters of Horror panel (including F. Paul Wilson)
Snagging Mick Garris after panel
Retrieval of jackets
Back to hotel with Anthony; locate address for dinner
Cab ride to the Jekyll and Hyde Club
Dinner in the Attic
Pre-birthday taunts; caveman chatter
Sour apple lambic
Back to hotel
Presents!
Blood!
Sleep!
Cajones and I holed up in there for a while, and formed a battle plan for the rest of the day. Cajones had a DC signing starting at 7:30 PM and running for an hour. The frikkin' place was open until 9 PM, which is ghastly late for a comics show. That said, we were fully aware the place would be packed until close. This is a late night town.
After a bit of a rest, we went back up to the Artist Alley to check in on everyone. Neither Bill Sienkiewicz nor Keith Giffen had shown up at their tables, and Jim Shooter was also still absent. Shooter's booth had instead sprouted a crop of women. Not sure why.
We did, however, locate Ramona Frieden, one of the true pioneer women in the comics biz. Cajones and I got to chat with her a bit about Metamorpho. We are now proud owners of a Ramona Frieden Plastic Man sketch.
We then figured we couldn't think of anything else to do at the convention, so we figured we should nab some lunch. We ventured out into the cold evening, and managed to locate a little pizzaria about a block away from the convention center. The meals were a bit on the bland and basic side, but the cheezy garlic bread (spread liberally with whole cloves of garlic) was tremendous.
Around 7 PM, Cajones and I split off for separate missions. As he prepared and proceeded with his DC signing, I wandered the convention floors alone.
First, I located Devil's Due, and asked them if Tim Seeley was going to be around this weekend. The answer was no, but the girl at the booth lit up when I said that I was working on the Teenage Catgirls story. She even made sure I got introduced to Josh Blaylock, and told me to make sure I sent my color samples to Devil's Due. (The TCIH story isn't technically for Devil's Due, but they're pretty excited about the Troma relationship.) Note to self: purchase the Hack/Slash trade paperback when it comes out.
I then wandered the main floor some more, and found the poor Green Ronin Publishing guys stuck in the corner twiddling their thumbs. Apparently, the crowd just wasn't streaming over to them at their location, and they were bored out of their skulls. They also hadn't seen how the Dr. Blink trade had turned out (with the M&M stats in the back), so I got to show off the book. Note to John: Make sure they get copies!
Okay, I'm getting called away for breakfast again. Stuff that still needs to be written about:
Gene Ha and our gaming dreams
Cajones' DC signing
The guy with the canvas and pens
The guy with the truck
The guy with the Batman sketch cards
Finding a cab to McGee's
The DC Comics private party
Discussing Star Trek with Thom Zahler
"I think that's Bill Sienkiewicz"
Instant friends through waitressing
Drunkening with Michael Wright and the British dude ("I've sodomized my brain")
Table overboard
FINALLY finding Nachie
The Very Loud Bar
Late-night dinner at Tick Tock
SLEEP.
Saturday:
Breakfast with Anthony at the Skylight Diner
Meeting Hermes Press guy (Dan) and his wife; ditching coats
Locating Nachie at the DC booth; split for morning
Turn in art piece at Albert Moy table
Check in on Joe, who has completed my Guy Gardner sketch
Hang out with Jason Millet for a couple hours
Run into Damian Scott
Watch Millet booth for beer
Chat about nature of art with Doug
Woman with paper cutouts
Make sure Gene is staying sane
Find Cajones, Anthony, and Dan discussing project in Blue Room
"I'll color it."
Nab food in food court; collect Zander Cannon, Shad, Gene Ha, and the Source guys
Discussion of Sienkiewicz book and other things
Head up to autograph area
Chat with Peter and Angie Mahew
Gary Coleman!?
We found the cheerleader
Meeting Jeffrey Combs, Clive Barker, Mick Garris, Paolo, and John Landis all at once
Masters of Horror panel (including F. Paul Wilson)
Snagging Mick Garris after panel
Retrieval of jackets
Back to hotel with Anthony; locate address for dinner
Cab ride to the Jekyll and Hyde Club
Dinner in the Attic
Pre-birthday taunts; caveman chatter
Sour apple lambic
Back to hotel
Presents!
Blood!
Sleep!
Make Observation