Lightning Lad Convention Sketch by Francis Manapul

This past Sunday, I attended my first comic-con - FanExpo Canada! It was a fantastic experience, and I don't think I've ever been surrounded by so many colours and costumes and things to buy in all my life!

I wasn't overly familiar with most of the artists in attendance, but there were a few Legion-affiliated artists I was hoping to get some art from. I got to meet Kevin Maguire (who did several covers for L.E.G.I.O.N. and at least one issue of LSH), who seemed a bit embarrassed that I'd "caught" him taking a break to eat some pizza, but I was just glad to have the chance to say hi! He wasn't taking any commissions that day, though, so I wasn't able to pick up any art from him. I was also hoping to meet Kalman Andrasovsky (who did most of the covers for the second R.E.B.E.L.S. series), but his booth was genuinely missing in action.

Thankfully, I also got to meet Francis Manapul, a Canadian artist who took over as the main penciller for the Threeboot Legion after Barry Kitson left the title. We had a good laugh over how long ago his work on Legion was, and I asked if he was doing commissions or sketches. He said no, but asked if I'd brought anything he could sign. I didn't (because I don't own any physical copies of issues he'd worked on), but I had had the good foresight to bring along a few pieces of sketchbook paper. I offered him one, sort of resigning myself to the idea that the only "art" I would be taking home from the con would be his autograph...

And then I realized he wasn't signing his name with that Sharpie, he was drawing a face!

In about thirty seconds, he drew this lovely Lightning Lad sketch for me, completely unprompted!! Although I own a few other con sketches, those were all done for other people, at cons I didn't attend. This piece here is my real first con sketch, and it was the absolute highlight of my entire convention experience! It was also the first time I'd ever watched a comic artist do a piece for me in person, rather than via a stream (a la WhatNot). I love that Francis included enough detail between the hair and the lightning bolt that there's no mistaking which character this is!