My youngest brother started his career as a Petroleum Engineer drilling oil wells. When the thrill of working in the oil patch (Texas and OK panhandles, SW Kansas, and other scenic locations) failed, he went back to school to become a dentist. Still playing with rotating equipment, but the environment was nicer and the hours were way better. :) He eventually moved to Portland, OR to train and an endodontist (root canals) and fell in love with the place. He just bought and remodeled a house and my mom, wife, and I decided to go visit.
I picked a convenient date and location and planned the trip.
As the saying goes, "Men plan; God laughs." We had work conflicts (me), medical emergencies (middle daughter's appendix - she's fine, but Kathy didn't get to go), and travel delays, but my mom and I got there and had a great time. Portland is a terrific place to walk and eat - especially eat.
One of the treats was the Rose City Comic Con. It's a first year con and was held amazingly (how do these things happen) on the same weekend as our visit and at the hotel that Kathy and I had booked. Astounding coincidence, don't you know. :)
I had a good time. A fair number of comic dealers though the books didn't seem old by my standards (buying and keeping since 1964), but the Artist's Alley was nice. Not surprising given that Dark Horse and Periscope Studio are both based in Portland. I got to visit with a bunch of folks including Matthew Clark.
He had a lot of art with him including pages from his Doom Patrol run. I really enjoyed that book and the DP generally.
This page really caught my eye. It features the DP and their main villains in Matthew's version of Bruno Premiani's style.
We have:
The Doom Patrol(I need to demand a refund! Where's
Niles Caulder, the Chief?!?!)
The villains (counter clockwise from lower left)
The Wedding of
Mento (Steve Dayton)and Elasti-Girl (Rita) is shown between Rita's left hand and Cliff's right hand. In it, we have the bride and groom along with Larry and Cliff and
Super Hip!
One more note. I almost didn't buy this piece. It was the last day and near the end of it when I wandered by Matthew's table. We chatted a bit as I went through is portfolio. I stopped on this piece and asked about it. The page was a flashback to earlier in the DP's existence and Matthew really channeled the great Bruno Premiani, their co-creator, in this piece. I was really struck by it, but I'd spent money to be there and wasn't comfortable spending more. Sadly, I walked away.
When I got to the area where my mom, my brother, and his GF (now wife) were sitting, I told them about the art. He said, "Did you buy it?" I said, "No." He asked why not? I said something. They all told me I was an idiot. John went so far as to say, "I'll give your $100 if you go buy it." I was still hesitant, but he got up and used the hotel ATM to pull the money. At that point, I had to close the deal. So back we went. I think Matthew was glad to make a late sale and I was very glad to get it.
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