Phaedrus45
Avenger
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For those of you who are interested in this kind of thing, thought I'd tell you about this show, and the few (somewhat) interesting sidenotes.
After a 3 hour drive from my house to Portland (I live a bit further than Tacoma, WA), I made it to the Portland Comic Show. The only comic show I've been to before is the Emerald City Comic Con, which is a good 5 times what this was. Here are things I noticed:
1) There weren't a lot of writers/artists here...mainly those who lived close to Portland. (Like Jeff Parker, who lives a whopping 10 minutes from this event.) I think they said it was 40 +...of which, I researched everyone...and, with my vast collection, only had 12 of them who I had a comic for. It could have been a few more; but, there were some big name cancellations at the last moment.
Mike Grell cancelled, as it said he had "a couple recent bouts with the flu." Now, that could very well be the case....but, if I had to pick one person who would have cancelled, his name would have been at the top of my list. I met him 2 years ago, and he really didn't seem to be that interested in being at the Emerald City Comic Con.
The second big disappointment was in the cancellation of Mike Oeming and Taki Soma. I've been enjoying their current series, Rapture, very much, and was hoping to get it signed...but, no luck at all, as they cancelled for unknown reasons.
Eric Trautmann had a DC Superman Summit to attend, Sharon Wright for personal reasons (which means Mike Grell wasn't there, so since she worked with him and he didn't come, she probably cancelled, too), and, finally Kieron Dwyer, who I would have loved to have met.
2) Those big names I did meet are Brian Churilla, Randy Emberlin, Mick Gray, Gene Ha, Brandon Jerwa, David Mack, Matthew Clark, Paul Guinan, David Hahn, Ron Chan, Steve Leiber, Jeff Parker, and Ron Randall. All were very nice and cool. Here is some interesting things I liked:
Jeff Parker, Steve Leiber, and Ron Chan all are working on Parker's Underground. It was cool for such a small convention to get my issues 1 and 2 signed by all three. I met Jeff Parker earlier this year at the Emerald City Comic Con, and is extremely nice. I cannot think of a comic I don't like by him, and got some X-Men First Class and Agents of Atlas books signed, also. Steve Leiber also showed me how he put little things from his past life into the old Detective Comics he did in the late 80's....like putting his girlfriend (now wife's) name within the drawings.
Randy Emberlin was interesting. I got a copy of Avengers Deathtrap: The Vault GN signed. (The original large sized Marvel Graphic Novel edition.) He said how when Marvel put out a new, trade version of it, they don't even bother to send the people who worked on it a copy.
David Mack is always one of the nicest people you can meet, and he really appreciates the people who buys his stuff, especially the Kabuki Reflections stuff. Every time I've met him, he thanks me a few times and says "come back if you want to see some stuff or ask any questions, I'll be here."
The other person who really appreciates people getting his stuff is Brandon Jerwa. I collect all of the Battlestar Galactica comics, and it's the third time I've met him. He even said he thought he recognized me.
3) Ok, the most interesting thing I found out at the Comic Show!!! I had only 1 comic for Paul Guinan to sign: Punisher #52. I love it when the artists say something about an old book you bring in for them to sign, and he had a great tale. THis must have been back during the Liefeld heyday of comics...and, Guinan always envisioned Frank Castle to have a somewhat average body...but, after submitting his stuff, he said Marvel wanted Frank to be extremely muscular. When he got the comic back, he showed me how they changed his art to suit there needs in some sections. Sure enough, they shrunk down the size of Frank's head to make his body look bigger. (It's just like Liefeld used to do!!!)
4) THis was not a big show...I was the only person I saw who was asking for comics to be signed. Most people were there for the dealers or get the guests to draw art for them for cash. I got 68 comics signed in under an hour, which is really good for me. The lines were pretty non-existant. I almost didn't do the 3 hour drive, especially after hearing about the cancellations..but, I'm so glad I went. Meeting the writers and artists was so awesome, and I got some good comics signed.
After a 3 hour drive from my house to Portland (I live a bit further than Tacoma, WA), I made it to the Portland Comic Show. The only comic show I've been to before is the Emerald City Comic Con, which is a good 5 times what this was. Here are things I noticed:
1) There weren't a lot of writers/artists here...mainly those who lived close to Portland. (Like Jeff Parker, who lives a whopping 10 minutes from this event.) I think they said it was 40 +...of which, I researched everyone...and, with my vast collection, only had 12 of them who I had a comic for. It could have been a few more; but, there were some big name cancellations at the last moment.
Mike Grell cancelled, as it said he had "a couple recent bouts with the flu." Now, that could very well be the case....but, if I had to pick one person who would have cancelled, his name would have been at the top of my list. I met him 2 years ago, and he really didn't seem to be that interested in being at the Emerald City Comic Con.
The second big disappointment was in the cancellation of Mike Oeming and Taki Soma. I've been enjoying their current series, Rapture, very much, and was hoping to get it signed...but, no luck at all, as they cancelled for unknown reasons.
Eric Trautmann had a DC Superman Summit to attend, Sharon Wright for personal reasons (which means Mike Grell wasn't there, so since she worked with him and he didn't come, she probably cancelled, too), and, finally Kieron Dwyer, who I would have loved to have met.
2) Those big names I did meet are Brian Churilla, Randy Emberlin, Mick Gray, Gene Ha, Brandon Jerwa, David Mack, Matthew Clark, Paul Guinan, David Hahn, Ron Chan, Steve Leiber, Jeff Parker, and Ron Randall. All were very nice and cool. Here is some interesting things I liked:
Jeff Parker, Steve Leiber, and Ron Chan all are working on Parker's Underground. It was cool for such a small convention to get my issues 1 and 2 signed by all three. I met Jeff Parker earlier this year at the Emerald City Comic Con, and is extremely nice. I cannot think of a comic I don't like by him, and got some X-Men First Class and Agents of Atlas books signed, also. Steve Leiber also showed me how he put little things from his past life into the old Detective Comics he did in the late 80's....like putting his girlfriend (now wife's) name within the drawings.
Randy Emberlin was interesting. I got a copy of Avengers Deathtrap: The Vault GN signed. (The original large sized Marvel Graphic Novel edition.) He said how when Marvel put out a new, trade version of it, they don't even bother to send the people who worked on it a copy.
David Mack is always one of the nicest people you can meet, and he really appreciates the people who buys his stuff, especially the Kabuki Reflections stuff. Every time I've met him, he thanks me a few times and says "come back if you want to see some stuff or ask any questions, I'll be here."
The other person who really appreciates people getting his stuff is Brandon Jerwa. I collect all of the Battlestar Galactica comics, and it's the third time I've met him. He even said he thought he recognized me.
3) Ok, the most interesting thing I found out at the Comic Show!!! I had only 1 comic for Paul Guinan to sign: Punisher #52. I love it when the artists say something about an old book you bring in for them to sign, and he had a great tale. THis must have been back during the Liefeld heyday of comics...and, Guinan always envisioned Frank Castle to have a somewhat average body...but, after submitting his stuff, he said Marvel wanted Frank to be extremely muscular. When he got the comic back, he showed me how they changed his art to suit there needs in some sections. Sure enough, they shrunk down the size of Frank's head to make his body look bigger. (It's just like Liefeld used to do!!!)
4) THis was not a big show...I was the only person I saw who was asking for comics to be signed. Most people were there for the dealers or get the guests to draw art for them for cash. I got 68 comics signed in under an hour, which is really good for me. The lines were pretty non-existant. I almost didn't do the 3 hour drive, especially after hearing about the cancellations..but, I'm so glad I went. Meeting the writers and artists was so awesome, and I got some good comics signed.
