Emerald City Comic Con Report: Day 2 (part II)

Phew! I’m actually in the airport waiting for the flight home, so I thought I’d kill time by finishing my day 2 report! (Day 3 should be coming later tonight or, depending on how exhausted I am, and how much I need to prep for Monday, tomorrow.)

So! When we last left the intrepid SoldierHawk, she had survived a marathon of panels, reported a few cool tidbits of info, and saw some pretty cool creators. In addition to creators, there were more awesome costumes to be seen:

And my personal favorite, Halo Dude playing Halo:

I also stopped by the Comic Geek Speak booth again, because I was in complete fangirl mode when I initially met them yesterday, and had completely forgotten to get a picture:

Seeing the faces behind the voices I know so well was really a treat. I’ve discovered that that really is one of the most wonderful things about this convention for me as a whole: finally getting to put faces and voices to people whose work I’ve loved and admired for so long. Creating comics isn’t like acting, where everyone instantly knows you. It’s not even like writing a book, where you get an author photo somewhere on the cover or flap. Unless you’re an absolute superstar, it’s likely that not many people could pick you out of a lineup. (And frankly, I’m new enough to the medium that I didn’t even recognize all the superstars on sight. Matt Fraction looks completely different than I imagined, and I nearly walked right his booth–and would have, if I hadn’t seen his sign!)

After the con was closed for the night (or more accurately, a little before, so I could grab dinner first) it was off to the Hard Rock Cafe for KRACKLEFEST!!!!!

Emerald City Comic Con Report: Day 2 (part I)

Forgive me if this wrap up doesn’t always seem 100% coherent…it’s almost one in the morning, and it has been a very long–but very, very epic–day.

First thing I come across when I hit the con floor is an amazing, unbelievable piece of comic history:

That, friends and neighbors, is an original copy of Avengers #1, from 1963. Not only is it in Very Fine condition…it’s signed by BOTH Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Sells for a cool $1200. (Which, all things considered, doesn’t actually seem unreasonable.) I’m just honored I got to hold it for a few minutes!

Next, it’s off to grab an autograph from Max Brooks (of Zombie Survival Guide and World War Z fame) before the marathon of panels begins. While in line for Mr. Brooks, I meet a gentleman, James Ward, and his son. James goes by the stage name Jimmy D in his work as a comedian, and is an extremely cool guy. He and his son are huge Star Wars fans, and made final plans to attend the con when they heard that the 501st Legion (see yesterday’s post) were going to be here:

After getting my copy of World War Z (a highly imaginative and well-researched book, by the way; I very much recommend it) signed, it’s off to panels. But I’m sidetracked on my way out…who would say no to these faces?

These are members of an extra curricular cartooning class that meets after school, and is comprised of kids from two local (Seattle) middle schools–Madison and Aki Kurose. These students learn some of the fundamentals of drawing and discipline, and spend part of their class putting together a one-shot giveaway comic book to take to cons and shows. I picked one up of course (along with a donation to the program.) I even got mine autographed! 😀

I gotta say…I LOVED meeting Greg Rucka and getting his autograph. Brubaker? Amazing. Matt Fracton and Ron Marz? Incredible. But this might be the single most special set of autographs I get all con. These kids are very much the future of the industry and hobby we love so much. Not that all of them, or any of them necessarily, will grow up to become comic creators…but through this kind of class, they’ll at least come to understand the value of the medium, and have a much better chance of not dismissing comic books out of hand as an artistic medium as they grow up. You go, kids!

NOW it’s panel time. First stop: Vertigo! They had the misfortune of being scheduled opposite Max Brooks’ zombie survival panel (and honestly, that’s where I would have been too, had I not been covering the major companies for this site) so the room was rather sparse. Still, everyone involved was enthusiastic and clearly happy to be there. Major takeaways from Vertigo:

– The new arc of Jeff Lemire’s Sweet Tooth will be called “Endangered Species.” It involves Gus and company finding a sanctuary where it may be possible for them to settle down in safety. The group is split between those who want to stay, and those who want to continue with their quest Northward.

-House of Mystery #36 hits next month, and will be an excellent jumping on point for new readers. (It’s set to contain some newbie-friendly recap pages.)

– Jack of Fables #50 hits next month. It will be entirely comprised of splash pages. Sturges says that, “many characters will fight, few will survive, but we promise not to kill off EVERYONE.”

– Babe the Blue Ox one-shot is coming out later this year

– Don’t hold your breath for Daytripper hardcover editions. No plans for them as of now.

– When asked about the reason for Vertigo’s success as a brand, Will Nesh cited the early precedent set by Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman, as well as the strong and consistent guidance of Karen Berger. Vertigo tries to tell mature, intelligent stories, they don’t simply try to shock or titillate and call that “mature.”

– Jeff Lamire’s OGN “Underwater Welder” is still scheduled to come out this summer through Top Shelf

And photos:

Next up, the Top Cow panel, in the same room. I found it hard to contain my excitement as the Beef Barons arrived…I love Top Cow and almost everything they do, as anyone who’s been following my Witchblade/Artifacts reviews already knows!