Stepping back in time a little from the last report, to when Rafael did Lisa's sketch, it became apparent that she was completely exhausted from working a late shift the night before and stressed from having to work another late shift after the con. So she made me promise to get her sketchbook from Rafe, then went up to the car to take a nap. It was after that when I started to wander the con again, I think.
Again, I'm always amazed at how quickly I forget the order of events if I don't write them down soon after the con. I remember almost nothing of the 2001 San Diego Comicon because I didn't write a report, but in 2000 my sister Lisa was in Paraguay and I wrote her an extensive con report in a series of letters, which I then edited and posted online, and I remember that con like it was yesterday. If you want to remember a fun event, write about it afterwards. Half the reason to have a blog is to write about the fun times.
Back to the report, I trolled Brian Michael Bendis, who did a lovely pose for me, thanks, and then stopped to talk with Mark Bagley, who was sitting next to him. Although his sketch list was completely filled, I did get to troll him, which really is the next best thing for me now.
After trolling Bagley, I trolled Taki Soma. Then I decided I was just about done so I decided to say farewell to folks. I stopped by Karin Yamagiwa Madan, who appeared to be exploding when I stopped. She had just had some very hot jalapeño chips and was suffering from mouth-afire. I offered her some Swedish Fish to offset the pain. I visited Kirk and P'la again, and Jeff Parker (whose wonderful artwork adorns my business card), and Greg Hatcher, and then tried to say farewell to Kurt Busiek, but he wasn't there. His girls were, however, and we posed the troll with some of their friends, making for a pretty cute shot.
I also managed to troll Rucka, as he was right there next to the Busiek girls. Then I headed back towards Illusive Arts, stopping for a bit to say hello to my retailer Paige, who reported great sales. I visited Hungry Tiger Press to say hello, then stopped by a couple more people who I remember vaguely talking with but don't remember what was said. Back at Illusive Arts booth, I rested a bit, then went out to say farewell to Heidi at Comics Fairplay. I also noticed Quenton Shaw, who always remembers me at every con, and said hello. When I said I was on my way out, he urged me to come back on Sunday and meet his artist Ben Hansen, who would no doubt do a wonderful Aquaman for me.
I went back to Illusive, gathered my stuff, and amid hearty farewells from the whole gang I headed up the stairs to the balcony and the back door, where I'd entered this morning. The costume contest was starting. It was a bit after 4:30 and the crowds had gathered. I continued past, toward the doors. As I got near, I spotted Lisa walking back in looking remarkably refreshed. She saw me as I trudged. I offered to stay a bit longer so she could enjoy the last hour or so of the con, but she liked the idea of heading home early and having some time to decompress before going to work. It would also give us a little more time for dinner and possibly even the ability to watch the new Doctor Who that had just aired. So we left the con and headed home.
Hubby-Eric awaited us at home, having hopefully had a relaxing day alone. He made dinner while I puttered with the computer, figuring out if we could watch Doctor Who. Then I made a couple of CDs for people (one for Lisa) and uploaded Doctor Who to the TiVo. We had spaghetti and new Who, and Lisa left happy and ready for work.
Lisa's sketchbook had four sketches added: Spider-Man by Stefano Gaudiano, Dewey by Bill Barnes, Doctor Who by Kirk Jarvinen, and a color sketch from Rafael Navarro. My sketch total was eight: Michael Avon Oeming, Phil Hester, Ande Parks, Peter Gross, Bill Barnes, Mike Grell (Green Arrow), Taki Soma, and Rafael Navarro. I also got 30 Troll Pictures. I saw almost everyone I'd hoped to see, and managed to get the one sketch I really wanted (Oeming). It was an amazingly good day, with a wonderful atmosphere, and I really was looking forward to Sunday at the con with hubby-Eric. And so to bed...
Zzzzzzzz... Beep! Beep! Beep!
It was hard not to rush Sunday morning. I was well-rested and had plenty of time to get ready. As it was, we left for the con a little early anyway, and ended up waiting outside for about 15 minutes. The upper entrance near the parking garage wasn't open on Sunday, they made us head down to the front doors. It was COLD, about 40 degrees, with a strong breeze ruffling through making it just that much colder. Every minute outside was torture, even with my jacket. I hadn't expected it to be quite that cold, or I would have brought a coat. Other folks in line were also suffering, but we all managed to joke about it anyway. When the line finally started moving, we were too cold to cheer.
Once inside, Eric and I headed right to Illusive, and then I made a mad dash to the restroom as I started to thaw out. Ahem. When I came back, Eric was cheerfully chatting with the gang. After a few minutes with them, we popped over to Hungry Tiger Press and saw Eric Shanower and David Maxine, and Eric bought the book he'd been planning on buying from them, and took out the book he wanted personalized. While they talked and Shanower personalized, I went over to Matthew "Feedback" Atherton's booth and talked with Matt Haley, who is the artist on the "Who Wants to be a Superhero" book. Matt remembered the troll, and promised me he would get Feedback to pose with Torvald. In fact, he posed again, becoming the first double-trolled person! Sure enough, Matt had no trouble convincing Matthew to pose, and Feedback got trolled:
After this success, I returned to hubby-Eric and we went to see Kirk Jarvinen and drop off his CD. We also asked him to inaugurate our first joint sketchbook: The Doctor Who sketchbook. With the pressure of being first on him, he asked if we could leave the sketchbook with him, and we agreed and moved onward.
Margot Kidder, who was only supposed to be at the con on Saturday, had set up again on Sunday in the same spot, so Eric went and said hello to her.
Taki Soma did a sketch for Eric's themed sketchbook (Wizard of Oz OR anyone at all as Green Lantern). Her contribution was Santa Claus as Green Lantern. As she said, it explained a lot about Santa Claus! Next up, we walked around Artist Alley, and Eric got a sketch from Paul Chadwick... Concrete as Green Lantern. Mike Grell, sitting next to Paul, wasn't too busy so he drew the Tin Man. I'm still amazed at how it came out of his pen. Like Ramona Fradon and Nick Cardy, he drew the eyes first, then outlined the head.
Moving onward, I decided to troll Aaron Lopresti, who did an Aquaman sketch for me in 1999. After trolling him, Eric asked for a sketch and got a very cool Scarecrow as Green Lantern. I then went on a troll rampage, trolling Greg Hatcher and wife, Michael Golden, Joseph Michael Lisner (pictured below), and Randy Emberlin.
Still in the Alley, I talked with Dave McCaig, who worked on The Batman cartoon, and he decided to do a sketch for me. When I mentioned the amazing Rafael Navarro because of his sketch in my book I said that he was working on The Batman as well, so suddenly Dave wanted to meet him. I gave him Illusive's booth number. I then went on another trolling spree, and trolled Dave McCaig, Steve Rolston, Clayton Hollifield, and James Dean Smith. About this time we headed back to the Illusive booth, and so I'll stop the narrative here for a rest.
0 comments:
Post a Comment