Hmm...I guess I should write a little something about Myles' and my San Diego Comic-con adventure. I'll have to admit that, leading up to the con, I was pretty much just focused on two things: getting a Stay Puft Marshmallow Man Comic-con exclusive vinyl piggy bank, and seeing The Mighty Boosh, even if for a split second. Right up until we were sitting in line for hours (and hours and hours) on preview night, those were the two things that concerned me the most...until Myles read the program. Those many hours in line ended up being a blessing in disguise because Myles went through all of the details with a fine-toothed comb and found some awesome hidden gems that were of particular interest to me. So, this post will just be a run down of my sketches, many by artists from whom I have wanted sketches for a very, very long time, and one that I never dreamed of getting...ever.
First up, OWLY!!! By now, many of you know my slight obsession with Mysterio. He's my go-to guy for sketch requests. I have wanted an Owly sketch for what feels like FOREVER plus a day, and FINALLY that day had arrived! I told Andy Runton that I always ask for Mysterio, but that I thought his costume would work better on Wormy, so he sketched up Owly as Spider-man, with his lesser known nemesis perched atop his head.
As you may already know from reading
Myles' report we lucked into an uncharacteristically short Jim Lee line, which was kept short because of his dinner obligations. Even though he was running behind, he took the time to google Mysterio for me, since he's never really drawn him (at least not in a very long time). While sketching me the only ever Jim Lee Mysterio convention sketch in existence (!!), we had a nice chat about how my dad is BFFs with his uncle and how his family has finally gotten over the fact that he dropped outta med school to become a superstar comic book artist.
I'd heard (probably from Myles) that Stan Sakai stopped doing free sketches, but that is not the case. He is the cutest lil' Japanese man, and he will churn out a Usagi Yojimbo in the blink of an eye!
Bright and early the next day, we accosted Jeffrey Brown for some sketches. We talked a lot about UFC 100, and I still get all riled up when I speak of my strong hatred for Brock Lesnar. Jeffrey doesn't like him either, and in response to my query, "Will ANYONE be able to beat him?", he drew me this doozy, which brings a giant smile to my face every time I look at it:
Jason Truong always comes back from Motor City Comic-con with all kinds of super cute crayon sketches by Art Balthazar. Art is one of the guys that Myles found in the program that we weren't expecting, so I finally got my awesome sketch, as well as one from Franco, his partner on Tiny Titans!
Having JUST missed Jhonen Vasquez (another last-minute find), we quickly turned to J.R. Goldberg, who drew up this cute lil bear, even though she was desperate for a pencil because she's not that confident in her sharpie sketching abilities (which is pretty ridiculous if you ask me!!)...
David Lloyd is a very sweet British man who will draw free sketches of V forever...cuz he's just that kinda guy.
Oh my. Nate Powell. I mentioned to him that I was the one he
sketched for AFTER he was all packed up and ready to leave TCAF. I still haven't read Swallow Me Whole because I'm afraid it will be too sad, but he just won an Eisner award for it, so I really should just suck it up and read it - it looks amazing...as does his new graphic novel for which he's just finished the pencils. He was kind enough to let me flip through the penciled pages (the first sequence looks INCREDIBLE) and then he told me that I was the first person besides his girlfriend and his editor that has seen it. I feel very honoured and I can't wait for it to be finished!
I <3
Top Shelf so much! Jeff Lemire, Jeffrey Brown, Nate Powell, Andy Runton...and Kevin Cannon! Ok. I'll admit that I didn't know who Kevin was, and when I was at his section of the booth, he wasn't there. But, this dude, Leigh was there pimping all the Top Shelf stuff, and let me just say he is VERY convincing. A few minutes of him explaining the awesomeness surrounding Far Arden was enough to get me to pick up a copy, along with some mini-comics, all by Kevin Cannon. Kevin returned to the booth while I was purchasing his stuff, so I was able to get a sketch from him, too.
THREE CHEERS FOR TOP SHELF!! *HIP HIP, HOORAY! (repeat from * x2)
OK. Let's keep moving here...next up, FABLES!!! Geez...I'm so behind on my comic book reading - especially since I've gotten caught up in the indie comic scene again (*cough* Top Shelf *cough*). I REALLY need to get back to reading Fables, especially since Bill Willingham and Mark Buckingham were two of the friendliest, most welcoming people I met at Comic-con! They even stayed at the signing booth longer than their scheduled time slot to accommodate all the hopeful sketch-collecting
nerds attendees.
Alright. Now we've made it to the most amazing sketch I've ever received...not necessarily because of the quality of the sketch, but from the sheer magnitude of this person's celebrity. This sketch is so amazing to me because it's one I never thought I would ever get in my lifetime. From the creator of The Simpsons, Futurama, and Life in Hell, here is my prized possession - and the reason why my sketchbook now travels with me within the safe confines of a ziploc bag - Ralph Wiggum, by MATT GROENING!!
*sigh* So...very...happy....
We pretty much walked around the rest of the afternoon with our jaws dragging along the floor, completely shocked by our amazing good fortune. Bolstered by the newly discovered realization that, yes, ANYTHING is possible at the SDCC, we marched up to Jhonen Vasquez and sweet-talked our way to some sketches (it's true, we used our Canadian citizenship as leverage...which worked!!). I was NOT going to leave San Diego without a sketch from the artist who drew the very first comic that I bought on my own (without any recommendations): SQUEE!!!
Jill Thompson will talk your ear off, which is AWESOME. Seriously, who couldn't sit and listen to an artist talk about working with Neil Gaiman...and I'm sure she has some fun stories about her husband, Brian Azzarello, too. But, really I was there to get a sketch of a diminutive Dream, from The Little Endless Storybook. Oh, as a 'lil head's up - she's working on the next one!!! YAY!!! She even disclosed the premise: Delirium tries to throw a birthday party for Despair. I CAN'T WAIT!!!!
I feel kinda bad, cuz I couldn't remember who drew this next sketch for me. I had to ask Myles for help...it's apparently Darick Robertson. He drew Transmetropolitan, which is the first comic that Myles ever bought for me (cuz I won a bet!!!). Darick's Mysterio is one of my favourite versions of the many, many different Mysterio sketches I've collected so far.
Ok. Here we are - the home stretch!!! On preview night, as we were wandering around, I caught a glimpse of the
Cyanide and Happiness booth. From that point forward, I knew I had to stop by to get some sketches. Little did I know that they would have the biggest crowd of teenagers swarming their booth for the duration of the con. Finally, on the last day, I muscled my way to the front (with a lot of help from Myles) so that we could get our super fun sketches. For all you Toronto folk, there is a very good chance that these boys will be coming to Fan Expo in a month. Keep your fingers crossed!
Shortly after we received these sketches, I hit the wall. It was the lowest moment I had at the con - there were only two hours left! I was sooooo close to making it to the end! But, we hadn't eaten since about 8am, and we were closing in on 3pm. I turned to Myles and surrendered. I told him I had to leave, that I was done with the con, and that I needed something to eat and drink (yes...I had a pretzel dog - but, let me assure you, we did NOT eat as many as Myles says we did...or at least I didn't, anyway...). I left the con floor, and after taking a half hour break, I caught a second wind and hit the floor again to wander around for one last walkabout. I'm so glad I did, because I realized that I never got my Jeff Smith! While Squee was the first comic I bought on my own, Bone was the very first comic I ever read (aside from random Casper, Archie and Richie Rich comics when I was very young). My friend, Niall, lent me all of his Bone comics when I was in university, and I burned through them in a day. I think that is the day I officially became a comic book nerd. So, I couldn't think of a better, more meaningful way to end my time at Comic-con. I also like that Bone was Myles' first sketch at Comic-con, and my last. :D
We had an amazing time at Comic-con. So amazing, in fact, that we don't really feel the need to go back for a few years! I'm sure if we went again next year, we would have just as many fun stories to tell, but for now, I just wanna take some time to reflect upon and remember all the awesome people we met, and the cool things we saw.
[I did get a few more sketches as I followed Myles around the con - my phone didn't work in the US (stupid Virgin Mobile US not playing nice with Virgin Mobile Canada)...Here they are for people who are interested: Yoshinori Natsume; David Hahn; Jon Buran (who sketched his level 80 Blood Elf Paladin, Sanctustelum); Jeph Jacques (from Questionable Content); Freddie E. Williams II; and Sergio Aragones.]
Thanks for sticking with me 'til the end! I will probably write more posts about the SDCC, but for now, the pressure was on me to get my sketches posted.
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