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Post by mikelmidnight on Apr 22, 2022 11:31:23 GMT -5
I've met a number of pros (and non-comics authors) in passing at conventions and such, but few of the interactions have been particularly notable. I'll share two in which I was the one who may have made an impression on them, but it's a real positive memory for me.
I met P Craig Russell and hung out with him at a bar after hours for a while. It turned out he had never seen, and didn't realise, that Alan Moore had described him as the 1970s artist of Promethea! So the next day I brought the comic with me, and he was pleased to see it. I'm a little ticked though because we'll never get to see him draw the character.
I met Jerry Siegel, and asked him to sign the issue of Cerebus which had "Robby the Boy Robot" in it. He was immensely pleased to see someone approach him with his NEW work, rather than a reprint of something he wrote fifty years ago.
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Post by DubipR on Apr 24, 2022 19:35:12 GMT -5
Nice part of working with the Hero Initiative, is the creator meeting perks. They've all been wonderful, amazing people. From Matt Wagner to Mike Choi to Russ Heath at our booths and events the encounters have been a blast but two have been pure joy.
Darick Robertson was our guest at Los Angeles Comic Con. Darick brought he kids with him. Kids being kids they were a bit rambunctious and trying to get dad's attention on stuff while he's signing and sketching for the fans. I said to Darick let me take your kids on the con floor and get out of your hair for a few hours. He thanked me and told his kids to enjoy the show for a bit with me. So I'm babysitting his kids and I buy them a couple of toys without Darick's knowledge. So the three of us are having a blast looking at shirts and toys and all sort of junk. We come back two hours later, the kids are playing with some toys. "Where did you get those?" "Oh, Uncle Ryan bought them for us" He looked at me sort of miffed, 'cause he said he would buy them some toys later on and especially those toys. He asked me how much, I said no charge. Don't worry about it. Day winds down and he pulls out his portfolios and pulls out a Spider Jerusalem promo idea/layout that he never used; super tight pencils. "Here's your payment. Thanks for taking care of my boys"
Second time was Dave Gibbons and his wife was out guest at Long Beach Comic Con. I surprised him and his wife by making a proper cup of tea. He was happy I got it right. He was such a delightful gentleman. Signed my comics and few odds and ends (my Kula Shaker CD).
-R
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Post by chadwilliam on Apr 25, 2022 19:31:46 GMT -5
I got to meet Norm Breyfogle about ten years ago at a comiccon in Winnipeg and told him how much I loved his work. He was doing sketches and I asked how much he'd charge for a recreation of an old Batman comic cover (Detective Comics #319 "The Fantastic Doctor No-Face!"). Interestingly, he had never before received such a request (he was offering to do head shots/body shots) and we agreed on a price. I believe he had it done the next day and it looks incredible. I had thought that such requests were common - and Breyfogle had already done his own take on Detective Comics #27 and Batman #9 during his run - and his unfamiliarity with such an assignment really made it clear that he wasn't attending the con as a salesman. He was almost sheepish in negotiating a price - $250 Canadian - and kept asking if I felt this was fair. I assured him it was so long as he didn't feel like I was taking advantage of him. Really nice guy - the cover has Batman dangling from a mountain with his face carved into it and Dr. No-Face attempting to chisel it and him away. He brought up Shelly Moldoff (the artist of the original piece) and told me how he had put his foot in his mouth when talking to him at a previous con. He said something along the lines of "Wow! You're really active for such an old guy!". We joked about the cover although to Breyfogle it may have been him trying to figure out the logistics of his layout ("What is Dr. No-Face hanging from?" I suggested that maybe there was a 'Dr. No-Face mountain right next to Batman's and he laughed. He also told me of problems he was having with DC at the time - Breyfogle had said something somewhere (I believe he corrected someone's claim about something while on a panel) and received a phone call where the first words out of the person's mouth were "Are you a team player?" Turned out it was Mike Carlin and when Breyfogle tried to make sense of the call and what he was talking about Carlin only repeated his question. Kind of creepy in more ways than one. Breyfogle just seemed so down to earth and actually it was he who suggested I join Facebook so I could friend him. I kind of feel bad that I didn't keep in touch much.
Anyhoo, to add to my impression of him as just a regular guy - I complimented him by telling him that I believed he was the first artist who convinced me that Batman's appearance truly would terrify superstitious and cowardly criminals. "What about Neal Adams?" he asked. I responded that Adams convinced me that Batman would intimidate criminals but not scare them in an otherworldly manner - crooks would still know that Adams' Batman was a human, albeit athletic guy, in an outfit - not the case with Breyfogle's interpretation which did seem to merge with the shadows. It seemed like he was part testing me ("Maybe this guy doesn't know about anything before Knightfall"), part wanting to give credit where credit is due, and part not realizing just what an impact he had on his fans. That last part made me feel kind of sad - Breyfogle put a tremendous effort into his layouts - and I'd hate to think that he felt that fans weren't seeing everything he liked.
Anyhow, a really nice guy which became even more apparent from his posts on Facebook before his untimely passing.
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Apr 29, 2022 10:40:14 GMT -5
I was at the old Mid-Ohio Con maybe 20 years ago or thereabouts. It was at a hotel that was a new location that year, and they were having some logistics issues with the space. Pretty sure I was there! Crazy. That's a positively beautiful story. Thanks much for sharing it!
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