I packed my son Ashton into the car at 6:30am and headed off for Pittsburgh. I live on the East side of Cleveland, so it was about a 2 and a half hour drive to the Convention Center, and my son and I were in line by 9:30. I didnt have much of a plan of attack, but I decided to see if Perez was well enough to do any sketching at the show, rather than get into the Hughes line. While in line I met a fellow Lister whose name escapes me (hey, if you read this, please tell me your name again so I am not so rude!). We had a nice chat and I showed him my portfolio and Ashton's. Meeting others from the Comicart-L list is always a highlight of any Con for me.
So at 10am I dragged my son to George Perez's table only to find out a few minutes later that he would not be doing any sketching at the Con this year. I said "Hello" to fellow comicart-l Lister Dave Morris who was also in George's line. George still wears the wrist brace from his stint on the JLA/Avengers crossover. Regardless, we had a nice chat with him and learned of some of his upcoming projects, one that was appearantly going to be scribed by Phil Jimenez with George doing the inking on another artist's pencils.
I went over to the Hughes table but could see that his list was already full. I had emailed a few times with Alison Sohn before the show so I wanted to introduce myself, but since his line was still pretty long I figured I would catch up with her later that day. One thing that I have heard is that Adam has been trying to work it out so more fans get sketches at the Cons and this one was no different. I heard later from one of the Con Staff that Adam had dropped by the front registration desk and when he learned that several people in line were waiting for him he actually took their names before the show even opened. I guess I should have been there a little earlier! I had also heard that at MegaCon he worked from two lists, one that he started before the Con opened (assumably from people who had booths, etc.) and another that was started after the Con opened. In either case, the objective is to get his sketches into the Fans hands, and you have to admire any way he and Alison can make that happen.
My next stop was over at Gene Gonzales' table where I looked over the sketches he brought and set up a Phoenix sketch with him. Gene is just an incredibly great person and I always enjoy chatting with him, I encourage you to look him up at a Con, or contact him via his website
. Later that day I also picked up a copy of Gene's new sketchbook which you can also purchase from his website.
I was on the phone when I saw Michael Lark in the hotel lobby before the show opened, so I dropped by his booth and set up a sketch with him. He already had a pretty good turn out and I was 7th or 8th on the list. Because of how busy he was we ended up knocking me off his list until the next time we hook up, either in Philly or in San Diego.
I noticed that Adam Hughes had left his table but Allison Sohn was there so I dropped by to introduce myself. She showed me a nice Poison Ivy Sketch card that someone had picked up for her and I offered her my Son's portflio since he had been wanting me to show off his Simonson and Perez and Vokes sketches - Allison liked the Vokes sketch of Superman and Batman the most. While we chatted a guy by the name of David Wray introduced himself. David has an incredible collection of sketches that he has shared on the Comicartfans.com website. We all agreed that the latest suggestions I have made on the website regarding nudity and suggestive sketches was the right thing to do. After confirming there was no chance to get a sketch at the show I was on my way.
Joe Linsner had just sat down so I got in line behind a gentleman who picked up the portfolio Linsner had brought with him. I was curious to see if he had any pieces with him of Mystique. Turned out he had a really nice finely detailed piece for $400 but the guy in front of me picked it up and a bunch of other pieces. This is the same portfolio that was stolen from his table a few hours later. As was outlined by Dave Morris, there was alot of various pieces in the porfolio, mostly black and white fully rendered pinups of Dawn in the $250-400 range. I hope the portfolio turns up. The Security at the Con was as aggresive as they could be about trying to locate the portfolio. Mine was searched on several occassions as I came in and out of the hall. Later that day I purchased a copy of The Art of Joseph Michael Linsner from him. I hope his portfolio turns up!
At one point while in the Artist's Alley I was in front of Hannibal King's table and someone called out my name. Sitting with Hannibal was Michael Hranek, one of the first Gallery Owners on Comicartfans.com. Meeting others from the hobby is one of the best things about the hobby!
I met up with Eddy Choi and Steven Lee and we hung out in the cafeteria for about an hour while my son slept in my arms. I consider Eddy and Steven good friends in this hobby as we have seemed to hook up at alot of shows this past year. I commented how envious I was of Steven's latest Adam Hughes acqusition, the Jean Grey/Emma Frost Wizard cover from a few years ago, and he asked if I wanted to see it. Oh boy! Well, of course I did and it was a beauty as you can imagine. When I first saw that cover I knew that if I ever spent stupid money on something, it would be this cover. My guess is that I would never be able to afford it if it came on the market, but it is nice to be able to dream about it. I think I actually shed a tear handing it back to him.
Before heading off to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund's Quick Sketch I dropped by Craig Rousseau's booth to set up a sketch for my friend Chris Haggard. Chris was looking for a Catwoman sketch from Craig, and he had a pre-drawn one for the Con so I picked that up. Since I needed to get to the Quick Sketch I told Craig I would drop by on Saturday and talk more.
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