Sergio Aragones self portrait, San Francisco 1977 (my very first sketch)

      My very first comic convention was Baycon III in San Francisco. It was my senior year of high school and I brought my younger sister and brother along to the city from our suburban home. We hunted for cheap comics and made time to seek out the great writers and artists. I remember Jack Kirby kindly signed for us although we interrupted his conversation with Don Rico. We attended the MAD panel and, like everyone else, rushed up for autographs at the end. Bill Gaines signed with a nice inscription. Sergio, of course, drew a nice sketch as well as adding his autograph. Flipping though the program book now, I see they interviewed Steve Leialoha on adapting Star Wars without seeing the completed movie.