The first thing I saw when I walked in was the Operation Comix Relief. These super ladies were thankfull enough for my donation that they took a picture with me. What can I say, Marvel? DC? I swing both ways.
Guess my wife should have come with me...
There was also a fun little booth at the entrance way where you could shoot storm troopers with Nerf guns! Oh ya, red,? blue? nope, my laserz are orange! A little further down we saw these guys, I ain't afraid of no 80's nostalgia!
Um, I think there may be a problem with the guy in the middle...
On to the Exhibit hall! It was full of magic, wonder and a duckfull of comic books. The prices were amazing and I was super sad because all those Stephen King Dark Tower comics I bought last year were on sale for $5! Oh sad day. I picked up a few single comics and SkyPirates. I have been meaning to check this out for a while. The Folks there did not disapoint. I picked up the graphic novel, the next two comics and got a free tote bag with a sky pirates logo on it for $20. Super great.
Meanwhile back in the convention hall, we were too late for the "How to draw comics like a bad ass" with Cho seminar. But that's ok, I hung out with the Hippo from bird man for a while!
Hmm what to do next? Oh ya go check out the artist alley! Oh man am I glad I did that. Guess who was there? Stan Sakai! The guy who wrote/drew/created Usagi Yojimbo!! The very best samurai comic ever. Stan was super nice and I was kinda non-verbal. I bought one of his sketchbooks and he autographed my 2nd print graphic novel #1, and by autographed I mean he drew me the Samurai and signed it ! It was quite wonderful to watch him draw the valiant samurai in fluid strokes and in only 30 seconds. While others just got Usagi's head I got the whole bunny!
That's Stan, hes just a cool guy drawing with his pencils and his Keropi pencil box. That. Is. Awesome.
Im pretty sure this was the highlight for me.
Next up I found Jubilee and Black canary rocking it new school.
Kinda glad she dropped the yellow coat...
Also got to meet Tim Sale and I got a signed Amazing Spiderman from him. Before leaving I stopped by the Comacazi booth and The New England Comic booth to say hi to my favorite employees, friends and comic suppliers. I also caught a glimpse of these guys before I left.
Glad to see everyone getting along.
All in all i had a very nice time at the Con. It was much smaller than the other cons I usually frequent ( Pax and Gen con) but a great time non the less. I didn't get to see any of the panels ( there was only one going on at a time) but I got to meet some awesome comic artists (Sale and Sakai only a couple). The only thing i regret is that i could not find Batman Superman Annual #4. Guess I'll have to troll the net for it instead.
The Future:
Still workin' on those miniatures. I hope to double post a few things on this blog and Handcannon soon. In the works is a gator man army (Hordes), still finishing up those Anima models, and I have some Uncharted seas.
Peace out and keep on baggin those back issues,
Steve
