2013-10-05 - Dallas Fan Days Con Report

[alxjhnsn]

Pictures and the same text can be found on my Facebook page.

 

This past weekend was my nephew’s High School Homecoming football game in Dallas – a big deal in Texas. Given that he’s the starting middle linebacker and that my siblings were going to the game, Kathy and I decided to drive up with my mom to make a mini-reunion out of it plus it happened to be the weekend of the Dallas Fan Days in Irving, TX. We had a deadline though. We had to be back for church services on Sunday AM since Kathy and I were to help serve.

 

Sadly, while they were able to make the game, I had to travel to Foxboro, MA for work and couldn’t get to Dallas until Saturday morning (1am). Still, that’s no hill for a climber. On Saturday morning, we ate breakfast and drove to my sister’s to visit and then Kathy and I drove off to Irving (not far). After a minor issue with Apple’s Map application, we arrived at the Irving Convention Center with a time limit - about 5 hours.

 

 

 

In my infinite wisdom, I forgot to buy tickets on line so we headed to the line for the unwashed masses in the parking garage of the convention center. At that point, Kathy realized that:

 

• It was cold and windy and we had to wait in a garage
  
• It was $40 to get in
  
• She had a ton of reading to do (She’s in the Master of Liberal Studies program at Rice U, my alma mater, which – on a totally unrelated note - is an undefeated 2-0 in conference play)

 

She decided that she’d return to the car and do her reading - my wife is smart. So, alone, I walked up the ramp and got in a very long line of non-ticket holders.

 

 

At the stroke of 11am, they let the early buyers into the facility to get their wristbands. After they filed in, those of us in the hoi polloi proceeded. I must say that I was most impressed with their ability to move the crowds. I was in the show within 45m of the opening. Not bad.

 

 

My main mission was to find Joe Eisma and get him to “illuminate” my copy of the Morning Glories Deluxe Edition Volume 2. About a year ago, Joe was in Houston at my local comic shop (Bedrock City Comic Company) and I got him to draw head sketches on the more-or-less blank page that preceded each issue in the book. For the obvious reason, I wanted him to do the same for the new volume. We’d agreed to meet at the show and he would do the work before I had to leave to meet my family for dinner.

 

That mission was quickly accomplished – the “More Artists” section artists were on the 3rd floor in a moderately large room. I was able to quickly find Joe and leave my book; that made me happy because the thing is quite heavy and thick. He agreed that he could get the book done before I had to leave. While there, I visited with a few artists that I had met before, e.g., Brent Peeples, and looked at the wares of those that I hadn’t met before. Kerry Gammill had a booth on that floor, but I missed him on my first pass.

 

 

 

Next stop, was downstairs with the main artists and all of the comic dealers. First stop, Neal Adams. Yeah, I paid for a signature, but mostly I wanted to ask how the lost art search was going. Neal said he still had hope. I hope he’s right. It’s hard to believe that they won’t turn up, but …

 

Neal had a huge number of prints and was doing head sketches in books. Those sold for between $150 to $200, IIRC. He also had a commission list, but I didn’t ask for prices. If you have to ask, you can’t afford it. J

 

 

 

Walking down the wall led me to a table adjacent to Neal’s that said Todd McFarlane was signing. I stopped to ask, but it was a special event and I didn’t have time for that.

 

Continuing the walk, I found Simon Bisley, but the line was too long. I figured I’d come back.

 

Next, Graham Nolan. Also a very long line. Graham had a commission list and I suspect that folks were queued up for that. I figured I’d come back.

 

Next, Kelley Jones. Guess what, a very long line. I figured I’d come back.

 

Next, Steve Niles’ table. No line! On the other hand, Steve wasn’t there. Monica Richards, his intended was, we visited for a minute and she pointed out that Kelley Jones was there. I think she’s a fan. J

 

Next to Steve and next on my list, Bernie and Liz Wrightson. Like Steve and Monica, Bernie and Liz live in Texas now and are regulars at local shows. Like Steve and Monica, I’ve gotten to know them a little (enough for them to recognize that I’m a harmless stalker; not a dangerous one). We chatted for a bit and I looked through a portfolio that had Frankenstein Alive! Alive! pages. If you aren’t reading that book, you are missing a visual and textual treat. IDW need to do an Artist Edition of that book - wow! Interestingly, I missed a large stack of pages on the table. More on that later.

 

Next to Bernie and Liz was Herb Trimpe – yep, the creator of Wolverine. Years ago, my wife, Kathy – the girl out in the car studying – commissioned Herb to do a “one-minute later” version of a scene from my favorite Hulk story - Incredible Hulk 140, The Brute That Shouted Love At the Heart of the Atom by Harlan Ellison (plot), Roy Thomas (-script) and Herb Trimpe (pencils), and Sam Grainger (inks). Even after all these years, I still think it was the best Hulk story ever and that includes the wonderful runs by Peter David and Greg Pak. Though I’d met Herb before, I’d neglected to get a picture of him with the commission (or at least a picture of him holding my iPad which is showing the commission). You can see it all here:

 

Hulk and Jarella by Herb Trimpe - http://cafurl.com?i=20192

 

I was somewhat surprised to have Herb tell me that this was also his very favorite Hulk story. He’s done a lot of them, but this is the one that he enjoyed doing the most.

 

 

 

Moving down the line, I found Mark Texeira at Renee Witterstaetter’s table. Mark recently tried a Kickstarter that I found very interesting, A Hero’s Death. Mark is painting the book in watercolors and I really like both story and art. You can read about it at these sites:

 

* Kickstarter

* Facebook

* Website

 

The Kickstarter failed to make, but they are taking a second stab at it shortly.

 

I decided to stop – despite (you guessed it) a long line – so that I could talk to him about the project. Turns out he was drawing sketches in his new “Art of” book published by Renee for $40 including the book. I asked what the restrictions were and Renee said something that he drew frequently so he could do a quick sketch and no art direction. I asked about Hero. Renee said he didn’t draw her often enough to be “quick.” However, Mark lit up and we talked while he drew for others. He was as happy as a kid at Christmas to talk about the book and he had some completed pages with him. When I got to the front of the line, it was pretty obvious to both Renee and me that he wanted to draw her. So, I proposed buying “two time slots” to give Mark the time he needed. Renee agreed and Mark started to draw. You can see the in-progress photos and the finished piece on my CAF:

 

Hero by Mark Texeira - http://cafurl.com?i=20424

 

I was very happy and even better, I think Mark was happy. Oh, yeah. The finished water color pages look really nice. It’s going to be a very nice book. So, back it!

 

 

 

After Mark T., I visited Mike Golden - also with Renee. We chatted a bit and I got his autograph. One day, I'll get him to draw Micronauts stuff for me.

 

 

 

After Mike, I visited with Mark Nelson. Mark N. is from Austin and has made a few of our informal art lunches arranged by Anthony Smith in Houston. Nice man.

 

 

 

He was next to Alex Saviuk and Alex was selling some of his Joe Sinnott inked Spider-man Sunday strips. Those were all beautiful. We talked a little including how I still associate him with Hal Jordan’s nephew – Air Wave. I was really tempted to buy one of those Sunday’s Joe Sinnott’s inks really made them look nice.

 

 

 

After Alex, I walked backup to Simon Bisley. He had no line, but he was drawing Evil Ernie for someone. I watched for a while and spoke to the both of them. I took a couple of photos of Simon including one in which he – in good English ruffian fashion – shot me the bird. J Sadly, the photos are quite blurry. I need to be more careful with the photos. Nice guy. He was drinking a smuggled beer from a water bottle while doing the drawing.

 

I next went over and got Graham’s autograph. I’d have tried to get a drawing from him, but I wasn’t going to be at the show long enough. L Ditto, for Kelley Jones.

 

 

 

At his point, I decided to walk the other aisles. I found a couple of familiar faces:

 

• [*]Ben Bender – Kathy and I met Ben and his wife Audie at Heroes Con in June and we enjoyed talking. The conversation picked right up. Ben is a young Austin based artist (and martial arts devote) who is trying to make a living from his artwork. I think he’s pieces are fun and he’s very friendly and business savvy. You might want to check him out:

http://www.facebook.com/bendercomics

[*]Vo Nguyen – Vo’s also out of Austin and he’s a very talented artist. He does the best darn autographs in the business. At Houston’s Space City Con, he drew Superman and here a lovely, unnamed, young woman. He runs the Rate that Comic Con page on Facebook. You should check it out. You should also look at his artwork.[/url]

 

 

 

The show had lots of comic dealers and not so many artisans. I wandered around the first floor and liked what I saw. The aisles were wide so you weren’t bumped much despite the large number of cosplayers. Most of the books were Silver Age and newer, I didn’t see many Golden Age books though I didn’t look too hard.

 

 

 

It was getting close to time to go – Kathy’d been in the care for a long time. I stopped by Bernie’s table one more time and saw that thick stack of pages that I'd missed on the first visit. I started through them. They were mostly from Bernie and Steve Niles first collaboration – City of Others. I really like Bernie’s work, but it is usually quite expensive, but these pages were $200 for panel pages and $800 for covers and splash pages. Cheap by comparison to things like Frankenstein Alive! Alive!

 

I like his people esp. “swamp people.” This story is set in a city so the people are “normals" - assuming zombies are normal - but they are still interesting. I picked two consecutive pages and got Bernie and Steve to sign them. You can see the pages and pictures of Liz, Bernie, Steve, and Monica with the pages in my CAF:

 

City of Others Book 2 Pages 17 and 18 - http://cafurl.com?i=20426

 

 

After that, it was backup stairs to pick up my book from Joe. He’d just finished it. You can see the result here: http://cafurl.com?i=20425.

If you aren’t reading this book, you are missing a treat. Joe’s art is pretty simple, but he tells the story well and he’s blazing fast. In the first 25 issues he’s done about 800 pages and hasn’t missed an issue. He’s committed to doing the whole book (100 issues) without a fill-in artist. I think he’ll make it. The coloring is amazing – Alex Sollazzo is doing a fabulous job complementing Joe’s work.

 

On my way out, I stopped to visit with Brent Peeples and Kerry Gammill. I enjoyed Brent’s Last of the Greats, but not enough people did so there will be no more. L Kerry is now a publisher and “enjoying” the battles for distribution.

 

At that point, I had to go rescue my wife and rejoin my family.

 

 

 

In summary:

 

Pros: Well organized and felt more spacious than last year. Excellent comic guest list. There seemed to be adequate restroom and eating facilities. The lighting was good and the staff friendly.

 

Cons: I couldn’t find everyone mentioned as coming, but that’s probably more on me than the con. I only had four to five hours.

 

 

 

I’d go again.

[alxjhnsn]

I had my privacy setting wrong on the Facebook link. That should be fixed now. Enjoy.

 

I also added thumbnails of my new art.

[disruptive_one]

Really good write-up man. I had no idea they were going to get that many great artists to show up. Probably would have gone had I known. Hopefully they will promote it a little better in the future.

[alxjhnsn]

I was surprised at the artist line up. It was quite a group. Glad you enjoyed the write-up.