Alex Maleev is a big prick!

[K.B.]

Feel free to talk about you creator encounters


I'll just let our recent blog posting tell you the tale:

"Cool Creators who are Nice Guys: Although we didn't do too much filming today, we did set up a couple of interviews for tomorrow. We got to talk to artist extraordinaire Bill Sienkiewicz and he said he'd be delighted to talk with us for a few minutes tomorrow. Doug Mahnke, another talented artist, also agreed to do an interview with us tomorrow if he has time. We also approached Steve Epting (the current artist on Captain America) about doing an interview, but he was very honest with us and told us that video interviews make him very nervous so he'd rather not. We understood and thanked him for his time. He was very gracious and he seems like a stand up guy. Plus, his Cap art rocks!

Alex Maleev is a big prick!: I want to preface this next paragraph with the statement that I am a huge fan of Alex Maleev's work in comics. I plan to pick up Spiderwoman, and I think is a good artist.

I approached Alex Maleev's table in artists' alley. He was talking to a few fans and working on a sketch. I waited until his conversation was done and his friends/fans left. He was just working on a sketch when I said hello. No response. So then I asked him how he was doing today. He then looks at me and then at the camera I was carrying. I want to state that the camera was not on and I was just carrying it at my side with the lense pointed at the floor. My plan was to ask him if he could do an interview. Before I could even ask or tell him about my production company, he said "Don't even think about it. You're wasting your time," and then went back to his sketch like I wasn't even there. Now if he didn't want to do an interview, that's fine. But he could have been a lot nicer to me. All it would take is a simple "I'm sorry, but I'm not doing interviews," and leave it at that.

Now I don't want to piss off any Maleev fans with the above title, and I know some of you are thinking he would be different if I wasn't looking for an interview and was just getting a sketch or something signed. But this is the third time he has been rude in my presence. At last year Toronto Fan Expo, he was smug to my friend when he came to the table to meet him, and then he was very rude to me when I bought a sketch off him for a friend. He ignored me the entire time and when he did talk to me, he acted like I was an idiot when I was very polite and respectful to him. I have a little rule that goes "Three strikes and you're a prick". Well this is Mr. Maleev's three strikes, so he's a huge PRICK! Now I know that on the grand scale of things, my opinion means nothing, but I'm a fan and he should have be at least a bit more courtious. Whatever, I just needed to get that off my chest. Screw him."

 

[Abstract]

Man, nothing is more disappointing than meeting an idol or someone you admire and having them pull a stunt like that.

 

[Dread]

Thankfully, some of the few people in the industry who I have met in person and not been too nervous to talk to have usually been nice; believe it or not, I may be verbose with a keyboard but in real life I am often very shy. Dan Slott's terrific. The late, great Dave Cockrum was a very cool guy. Hell, I'll even never forget when John Romita Jr. stayed an extra few minutes than he had to in order to sign my Thor poster at a con. That time I met a bunch of the people behind the 2k3 TMNT cartoon (a few storyboard and character design artists for the show, including one who used to post here as The Boardman) was friggin' epic cool, man.

It is a shame when some in the biz, though, can be jerks. But that's a shame about life in general.

 

[Anubis]

Maybe he didn't like the way your face looked.....

 

[K.B.]

The part where he is talking about Alex being smug to a friend and the sketch...that was me.

I walked up to his table and there is this giant half eaten pie there and I thought that was odd. I'd never seen that before so I jokingly say "Wow a fan brought you a pie?" and he gives me a look like I just took a poop right infront of his table and he says "yeah!" (as if it's somehow normal for fans to always bring creators giant pies and I'm ******ed for not knowing this).

He grabs my books and starts to sign and I ask if he has room on his list to buy a head sketch. He looks me up and down as if I wouldn't be able to afford it and says "Yes, but it's 40 dollars." I'm a bit confused by this...does he think in Canada 40 bucks is equeviliant to like, 200 in other countrys?

I say that it's no problem and I'll be back later on to get the sketch as I collect my books.

Later on in the day I send my buddy over with my cash to get a Nick Fury.

My friend goes over and says "Hi Mr. Maleev, my friend talked to you earlier about getting a head sketch and I was wondering if you had time t...."

Alex looks at him like he cant believe his ears and says

"Well did your 'friend' tell you it would cost 40 dollars?!?"

(again, what is it about 40 bucks being so much cash to this guy?)

"Uh ..yeah he did, I was just wondering if you had time to do it right now?" and my buddy pulls out the cash and hands it to him. Maleev takes it and does a Fury sketch.

 

[CantThinkOfAName]

I talked to Brian Michael Bendis. He was lovely

 

[Phaedrus45]

Yeah, I went to the Emerald City ComicCon for the second time this year, and while some writers/artists are very friendly (like Seattle resident, Ed Brubaker), there are many that act just a you mentioned.

Sitting at his table, talking with a friend (or relative, as he looked very much like him), Rob Liefeld wouldn't sign anything for about 2 hours. (I stood there for a while being ignored, as I had two comics I wanted him to sign...until I noticed his small sign saying to come back at 12:00 PM.) I did come back, and he still wasn't very friendly, until I bought one of his comics with an Obama cover for ten bucks. (Still didn't get a smile.) What surprised me is that he never really had any lines; so, I couldn't figure out why he still acted like a prima-donna.

My favorite people to get signatures from are the older writers and artists of comics I grew up on. Many of them don't seem that happy to be there.

At the Bendis table, he was in a pretty good mood, until some jerk with 50+ comics would come up, wanting them all signed. Bendis did it; but, you could tell it annoyed him to no end. (I really don't see why they don't make a "reasonable" limit to signatures.) Still, he shook everyone's hand, and seemed pretty cool about it all.

Here is my funny story about Chaykin. I was determined to get his autograph, because it shocked me that he was the artist on Star Wars #1. (Yes, the original Marvel Comic that came out in '77.) Also, he was my last signature on an Iron Man annual, where I had gotten the other three people listed on the cover. The only problem is every time I came to his table, he was gone. Finally, near the end of my day, I saw an older man walking by, and saw his name tag said Chaykin. I held out my comics, but he said, "Just leave them on the table...I need to go pee real bad." There was NO WAY I was leaving my comics sitting on a table while I went away...so, I waited about five minutes. Sure enough, he was walking back, talking to someone, and saw me waiting. He signed my books. What was funny is that on his table was a picture he drew of a penis and testicles. He had signed it, "Cho." He pointed that out to Cho, but the guy next to him at the table said, "Ummm, you might want to cover that up. A little girl walked up, saw it, and asked, "What is that?"

Now, I will say we also had a camera crew at our convention, too. It sounded like they had quite a difficult time getting interviews, also. (As a fan trying to get signatures on 1 or 2 books, it was annoying to have to wait the 10-15 minutes for the interview to be done; but, it didn't happen a lot. This what what they were there for, and if you had the time, it was kind of neat to see the interview being done.)

Anyway, I got totally off subject. While most people were cool, I would say about 1/5th of the artist/writers almost made you feel like you were an annoyance.

 

[Phaedrus45]

The part where he is talking about Alex being smug to a friend and the sketch...that was me.

I walked up to his table and there is this giant half eaten pie there and I thought that was odd. I'd never seen that before so I jokingly say "Wow a fan brought you a pie?" and he gives me a look like I just took a poop right infront of his table and he says "yeah!" (as if it's somehow normal for fans to always bring creators giant pies and I'm ******ed for not knowing this).

He grabs my books and starts to sign and I ask if he has room on his list to buy a head sketch. He looks me up and down as if I wouldn't be able to afford it and says "Yes, but it's 40 dollars." I'm a bit confused by this...does he think in Canada 40 bucks is equeviliant to like, 200 in other countrys?

I say that it's no problem and I'll be back later on to get the sketch as I collect my books.

Later on in the day I send my buddy over with my cash to get a Nick Fury.

My friend goes over and says "Hi Mr. Maleev, my friend talked to you earlier about getting a head sketch and I was wondering if you had time t...."

Alex looks at him like he cant believe his ears and says

"Well did your 'friend' tell you it would cost 40 dollars?!?"

(again, what is it about 40 bucks being so much cash to this guy?)

"Uh ..yeah he did, I was just wondering if you had time to do it right now?" and my buddy pulls out the cash and hands it to him. Maleev takes it and does a Fury sketch.

That was one thing I liked this year. (Not the attitude, of course.) Last year's Emerald City ComicCon, the artists were all doing sketches for free, which made it way too long to get a couple books signed. I didn't have any problem with it this year, though, as most all of them were charging. (Two lines I didn't bother with...I think both were doing them for free.)

 

[K.B.]

Though I understand why artists are charging now (art scalpers just flipping the sketches to ebay for big bucks) I do wish they did free ones still. It really sucks for the good art collectors out there who arent looking for a quick buck.

Bendis is a great guy. Honestly one of the best. I remember when I first met him he came down here and he was sick as a dog, in really bad shape but he signed everything anyone brought up and was in good spirits and thats very telling of a guys character.

Maleev has been the only straight up rude creator I have encountered. Jim Lee was in a bad mood but thats cuz of the situation and I don't blame him one bit. Kevin Smith was the same thing..this was back when he was first writing Dardevil. He was a bit of a jerk but I'll give him a pass cuz it was a bad situation as well and I've met him since and it was a blast and a half.

I had Rucka scream me stupid at a con but while most fans would be miffed, I LOVED it and enjoy telling the story cuz it's so funny and out there.

As far as books go I usually only get 8 max. I think thats an okay number and I usually have someone with me who's either not into comics or isn't getting something signed by the creator.

Oh and for those interested here is a link to our two part con footage from last year with J. Scott Campbell, Adam Hughs and many others

pt 1 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3gtlUK0kTY

pt 2:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFh23DA3ZS8&feature=related

 

[TheCorpulent1]

It actually doesn't surprise me that Maleev is a dick. I don't know why. Maybe because he draws ultra-serious, grim-&-gritty books all the time. It'd surprise me a lot more if, say, someone like Jeff Parker or Fred Van Lente turned out to be a dick (although lots of comedians are supposedly jerks too).

 

[bunk]

Yeah I don't get these guys who act like jerks. Nobody forced you to get a table and do sketches, so be cool about it. I don't typically get stuffed signed, I'm usually there to talk to editors so I've never really had an issue with any creators. Most are just basically robots. Not rude, but not really friendly. That's how Scottie Young, Geof Darrow, and Adam Hughes were. Sean Chen was better. Jim Lee was pretty cool. The coolest artist I've talked to was Tomm Coker. He asked to look at my portfolio without me saying anything about it, and suggested taking out certain things and rearranging stuff to make it more professional.

 

[Midnyte_Sun]

He's probably under a lot of stress and can't cope with it...or he needs to get laid.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Or he's just a jerk. Some people really are just mean-spirited.

 

[Kirk Langstrom]

Nicest creator i ever met was Stan Lee. He was friendly, made conversation, cracked jokes, and actually asked me where i wanted him to sign my stuff...

I was totally impressed and delighted by him.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I always figured Stan was a nice guy. It would be pretty tough to keep up that playful nice-guy image for 40 years if he were really struggling to maintain a facade.

 

[Anubis]

Yeah, but he still smells like lotion and doo doo.

 

[Kirk Langstrom]

Yeah, but he still smells like lotion and doo doo.

Nah, you're thinking of Dan Didio.

 

[Anubis]

Nah, he smells like astroglide.

 

[IDrawDeadPeople]

I have a few favorite moments, but since this was the first, I'll share this magic moment.

I got my first table at a con in Artist's Alley, and I was at a show where Mark Waid was a guest. He had literally just started his run on Captain America, and I was really liking his work on the book. My then-girlfriend and I left my table for fifteen minutes to just walk around and see what else was going on at the convention, and Mark Waid was walking in the aisle.

As we were approaching each other, I had been biting off a hang nail, and by the time Mark got to me, I had blood running down my thumb which I was in the process of sucking up the blood because I didn't have a tissue or anything. I say hi and that I like his interpretation of Cap and he shakes my ex's hand, and then reaches toward me but stops and we sort of stare at each other. He looks at my hand, looks at me, looks at my hand, and then says, "Let's just hug". And, so he hugs me in the middle of the aisle.

He then got one of the books I was working on at the time, bringing my sales total for the weekend to like 15ish.

 

[Ion Kenshin]

I have met Ethan van Sciver, Geoff Johns, Rags Morales, Philip Tan, JMS, Bryan Hitch, and Bendis. All of them were really nice, cool guys. So far I haven't had any bad experiences with people in the comics business.

 

[venom892]

I'm going to a con in June and I have a few questions.Do I have to pay for artists to sign comics or for a sketch?I'm planning on meeting Doug Manhke,Clayton Henry,Tony Moore,Mark Brooks and Greg Horn.Thanks for the help.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

For a sketch, yeah, usually you have to pay. You'll probably also want to get there early on the first day of the con to ask them for your sketch, since they tend to take requests on the first day and then go down the line drawing them throughout the rest of the con.

For signing comics, no.

 

[venom892]

Double post.

 

[venom892]

Is there a usual rate.Like in anyone's experiences how much have you paid?

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I'm not sure about rates, since I haven't actually bought any sketches. I got a free one from Mike Oeming, possibly for bugging him all day but I can neither confirm nor deny that.