Favorite Memories of the Comic Art Hobby 3 3

[comicfanboy007]

Collecting original art is a personal hobby where we purchase a piece of pure nostalgia. Sometimes from a dealer, sometimes from the artist directly. Regardless  it brings us deeper in the hobby of comics, a hobby that we love.  Does anyone have any tales from the hobby they want to share? A cool interaction with a creator? The joy of finding their grail. Whatever was an experience you were able to have because of the hobby.

Last year I was able to meet Frank Miller  at a con meet and greet and acquire a Dark Knight Head sketch. It was a brief interaction but one that I treasure. ,
The sketch itself is a simple sketch, I can see the pencil and ink marks which is awesome.  What's more valuable for me was the time I spent talking with Frank.
Our encounter was brief but meaningful. The traditional Frank Miller scowl in the picture hides a genuine warmth. He was gracious as he signed my books. I thanked him for his hard work and countless contributions to my favorite medium. I said he changed how I read comics, when in an interview, he said (and I paraphrase) more than any other medium the reader controls the speed of the story and I want them to slow down." That changed how I read comics going forward. I told him I wish I could say something more thoughtful and profound. He indicated my remarks were more than enough. I thanked him again and added how much I am enjoying DKIII and his artwork in the mini comics "it's very "Punk Rock Kirby" he smiled again and said "I've never heard that, it's weird and I like it. We need to get that on a shirt. I concluded by wishing him a great con. It was such a special moment for me.

I know this is not the craziest of moments but it really resonated with me, now it's your turn, what is one of your favorite memories of the hobby?

[chrisco37]

Fun topic.  Mine is an easy choice....

2004 Dynamic Forces Fan Fest.   It was at some hotel in Jersey (right near Philly).  It was the same day as the 2004 NFL Draft.  This is going to be a long post...

Got a PM from either @Foolkiller or @dam60 the week of.  I was/am a huge Eduardo Risso fan.   The PM aid he was going to be at the show.   At the time, he rarely came to the US for shows.   He had just started the Batman arc (620-ish).  I had multiple Bullets pages already and had just purchased one of his pages from the Batman arc.   I had to go.

Jeff (JG) Jones and Mark Millar had just started Wanted.  I had the luck, a few months prior, to buy Page 1 of #1.  They were at the show as well.  

Anyway, I make the 2+ hour drive from DC to the show and it's, more or less, an OA show and "meet and greet" with artists.   A few books for sale, but mostly art and creators (Risso, Azz, Johnson, Jones, Millar, Joe Q, Starlin, Chaykin, etc..).   I was there to try and meet Eduardo, but I first got in line for Jones & Millar (they were signing at the same table).  Line moves pretty quick.  Mostly fans getting books signed.  I get up to the front and drop my Wanted page in front of Jeff.  He flips out and taps Millar.  He freaks out.  "Where did you get this!?"   Chat with both of them for a few minutes about the book and also about the NFL Draft (which was just starting).  Ran into Jeff at the end of the show and talked more NFL Draft.   Good times.

After the Wanted stuff, I decide I'd better get in the lines for the Bullets guys.   Meet Azz (surly guy) and Dave Johnson first and then I get in the line for Risso.  He was doing head sketches for everyone in line.  And he draws SLOW.   I'm in line for about an hour and it has barely moved.   100 people in front of me.  At this rate, I'm never going to get there before the show ends.   CGC has just started the sig series program and Dave (dam60) was one of the original witnesses.   He's getting books signed from all the various creators at the show, so they all know who him by this point in the day.   Eduardo gets up to take a quick break.  On his way back to his table, Dave grabs him real quick and starts talking to him.   At the same time, he looks over at me and gives me the "wink-wink, come over here".  I jump out of my spot in line and go over.   Dave says "Hey Eduardo, this is Chris.  He's one of your biggest fans!".    At that point, I open up my portfolio and start flipping thru the Bullets pages and the Batman page.  Eduardo lit up.  He signed all my pages (much to the chagrin of everyone in line since I cut ahead of everyone that wanted their book signed with a head sketch).  Couldn't really chat with him too much due to the language barrier.   Still, it was awesome to meet one of my favorite artists and make him smile.  There are pics somewhere, but not on my current computer.   

Throughout the day, I was hanging out with Foolkiller and Dam60 and @plitch and Paradise Peter.   Met a bunch of OA fans/boardies too. I think Hari was there.  Maybe Gene too.  Lambert, etc... When the show ended, Brian said I could crash at his place (first of a few times in Philly that Brian extended an invite), so I said WTF.  We ended up leaving the show and going to some bar where they served all sorts of mussels.  It was me, Brian, Dave, Paul and Peter (there's a pic somewhere of this too).  We had the best time.  

I've been to many shows/cons over the years since then (and even before).   To this day, it remains my all-time favorite con and one of, if not THE, best hobby memories for me.   

 

 

Edited February 21, 2018 by chrisco37

[theflashunc]

A couple years ago, during the Daredevil relaunch by Waid and Rivera, I picked up the first splashy-page from issue #1 from Paolo's rep. He was going to be at HeroesCon not long after, so I brought it along for him to sign. When I brought out the page to sign, Paolo lit up about how excited he was to work on the book, and how the page was the first his dad had ever inked of his work, and one of the few they did with pencils on the page before he moved cross country and they started to do bluelines under inks. He shared how the left arm of Daredevil was actually him, showing his dad some of the technique, and dad went off, did the rest and they continue to work together today. He seemed genuinely touched to see something again that was a bit more than just some work for hire, but a real family moment between father and son. 

Couple years later, Paolo and Joe are at a signing at Isotope comics in SF, so I bring the page by for Joe to sign. Paolo recognizes me and we chat a bit about what he's been up to, the usual as Joe signs the page, and I notice he's touched seeing the page again as well. He admitted also to being a bit perplexed why some folks collect the original pages. 

Its that kind of stuff that's really fun in the hobby. The hunt is great and all, but sometimes its more than just pencil and ink on paper, yanno?

[Flambit]

What a great thread!

I may have told this story on the list years ago, I honestly don’t remember, so apologies if I did, but this is my favorite memory of the original art hobby.  Warning, it’s long.

At SDCC 1989, on Sunday, as the con was winding down, my friend and I walked into the room across the hall from the main dealers room (once used as the Masquerade room in the early 80s).  Just inside the door was one of those big round tables with chairs for people to sit and rest.  People were gathered around a man sitting down, telling stories and generally entertaining the small crowd.  Bob Kane.

I loved Batman - of course, who here doesn’t - and I had a big obsession especially for golden age creators (I was young - my teens - and I hadn’t heard of Bill Finger yet, so please forgive me!).  I loved Kirby, but he was a fixture at SDCC every year and I’d met him a couple of times.  But Kane - I’d never met him, never even seen him!  (As far as I knew, he was the man who created Batman!  Again, you know, I was young…).  Anyway, Kane was at con promoting the Batman movie, but he hadn’t been listed as a guest; I didn’t even know he had been there, so I was super stoked!  We edged our way into the group, said hi, and I told my friend to stay there, and I took off to the dealers room in a sprint: I wanted to find a nice, but affordable GA Detective or Batman with the last of my con money for him to sign.  

I sprinted up and down the aisles and suddenly came across an art dealer.  Remember the days when they had the art in stacks six inches tall, with no binders and no mylars, just anonymous piles of covers, splashes and panel pages?  I couldn’t tell you even who this dealer was.  And standing in front of his table, a guy was holding the cover to Batman 291, my first ever Batman comic!  I slammed to a halt, mouth agape, and basically said to the guy, “I will take that right now if you don’t want it.”  I remember then having the gall to talk the dealer down from $100 to $90, and ran back to Kane. 

I asked Kane if he would sign it (as an aside: I would never have art signed today, but back then, this stuff was this weird oddity - not worthless, but not really valuable.  There was no real market that I was aware of, not like the comics themselves.  There was no way of knowing what something was worth, because there was only one of everything.  So it was more like having a special memento from a particular comic, in a way).  He signed it to me, and I remember he held it, and studied the central Aparo drawing of Batman for a minute, then asked, ”Who drew this?”  “Jim Aparo,” I said.  “That’s really good!  This guy can really draw Batman!"  

[comicfanboy007]

14 hours ago, chrisco37 said:

Fun topic.  Mine is an easy choice....

2004 Dynamic Forces Fan Fest.   It was at some hotel in Jersey (right near Philly).  It was the same day as the 2004 NFL Draft.  This is going to be a long post...

Got a PM from either @Foolkiller or @dam60 the week of.  I was/am a huge Eduardo Risso fan.   The PM aid he was going to be at the show.   At the time, he rarely came to the US for shows.   He had just started the Batman arc (620-ish).  I had multiple Bullets pages already and had just purchased one of his pages from the Batman arc.   I had to go.

Jeff (JG) Jones and Mark Millar had just started Wanted.  I had the luck, a few months prior, to buy Page 1 of #1.  They were at the show as well.  

Anyway, I make the 2+ hour drive from DC to the show and it's, more or less, an OA show and "meet and greet" with artists.   A few books for sale, but mostly art and creators (Risso, Azz, Johnson, Jones, Millar, Joe Q, Starlin, Chaykin, etc..).   I was there to try and meet Eduardo, but I first got in line for Jones & Millar (they were signing at the same table).  Line moves pretty quick.  Mostly fans getting books signed.  I get up to the front and drop my Wanted page in front of Jeff.  He flips out and taps Millar.  He freaks out.  "Where did you get this!?"   Chat with both of them for a few minutes about the book and also about the NFL Draft (which was just starting).  Ran into Jeff at the end of the show and talked more NFL Draft.   Good times.

After the Wanted stuff, I decide I'd better get in the lines for the Bullets guys.   Meet Azz (surly guy) and Dave Johnson first and then I get in the line for Risso.  He was doing head sketches for everyone in line.  And he draws SLOW.   I'm in line for about an hour and it has barely moved.   100 people in front of me.  At this rate, I'm never going to get there before the show ends.   CGC has just started the sig series program and Dave (dam60) was one of the original witnesses.   He's getting books signed from all the various creators at the show, so they all know who him by this point in the day.   Eduardo gets up to take a quick break.  On his way back to his table, Dave grabs him real quick and starts talking to him.   At the same time, he looks over at me and gives me the "wink-wink, come over here".  I jump out of my spot in line and go over.   Dave says "Hey Eduardo, this is Chris.  He's one of your biggest fans!".    At that point, I open up my portfolio and start flipping thru the Bullets pages and the Batman page.  Eduardo lit up.  He signed all my pages (much to the chagrin of everyone in line since I cut ahead of everyone that wanted their book signed with a head sketch).  Couldn't really chat with him too much due to the language barrier.   Still, it was awesome to meet one of my favorite artists and make him smile.  There are pics somewhere, but not on my current computer.   

Throughout the day, I was hanging out with Foolkiller and Dam60 and @plitch and Paradise Peter.   Met a bunch of OA fans/boardies too. I think Hari was there.  Maybe Gene too.  Lambert, etc... When the show ended, Brian said I could crash at his place (first of a few times in Philly that Brian extended an invite), so I said WTF.  We ended up leaving the show and going to some bar where they served all sorts of mussels.  It was me, Brian, Dave, Paul and Peter (there's a pic somewhere of this too).  We had the best time.  

I've been to many shows/cons over the years since then (and even before).   To this day, it remains my all-time favorite con and one of, if not THE, best hobby memories for me.   

 

 

What a wonderful time, Dynamic Forces Fan Fest sounds amazing. I met Mark Millar at a signing at Golden Apple for the release of War Heroes. Both he and Tony Harris were there and there was an open bar.  The line was incredibly slow as Mark was extremely generous with his time talking to every fan, as Tony was signing at a table Mark would take a break and start walking the line signing and talking to everyone individually. It was really nice he did not rush anyone and really tried to take his time.

I have only met Azz super briefly he was hanging out with Frank Miller when I met him at the C2E2 meet and greet. It was a very quick hi and thank you.

Thank you so much for sharing this.

[comicfanboy007]

7 hours ago, Flambit said:

What a great thread!

I may have told this story on the list years ago, I honestly don’t remember, so apologies if I did, but this is my favorite memory of the original art hobby.  Warning, it’s long.

At SDCC 1989, on Sunday, as the con was winding down, my friend and I walked into the room across the hall from the main dealers room (once used as the Masquerade room in the early 80s).  Just inside the door was one of those big round tables with chairs for people to sit and rest.  People were gathered around a man sitting down, telling stories and generally entertaining the small crowd.  Bob Kane.

I loved Batman - of course, who here doesn’t - and I had a big obsession especially for golden age creators (I was young - my teens - and I hadn’t heard of Bill Finger yet, so please forgive me!).  I loved Kirby, but he was a fixture at SDCC every year and I’d met him a couple of times.  But Kane - I’d never met him, never even seen him!  (As far as I knew, he was the man who created Batman!  Again, you know, I was young…).  Anyway, Kane was at con promoting the Batman movie, but he hadn’t been listed as a guest; I didn’t even know he had been there, so I was super stoked!  We edged our way into the group, said hi, and I told my friend to stay there, and I took off to the dealers room in a sprint: I wanted to find a nice, but affordable GA Detective or Batman with the last of my con money for him to sign.  

I sprinted up and down the aisles and suddenly came across an art dealer.  Remember the days when they had the art in stacks six inches tall, with no binders and no mylars, just anonymous piles of covers, splashes and panel pages?  I couldn’t tell you even who this dealer was.  And standing in front of his table, a guy was holding the cover to Batman 291, my first ever Batman comic!  I slammed to a halt, mouth agape, and basically said to the guy, “I will take that right now if you don’t want it.”  I remember then having the gall to talk the dealer down from $100 to $90, and ran back to Kane. 

I asked Kane if he would sign it (as an aside: I would never have art signed today, but back then, this stuff was this weird oddity - not worthless, but not really valuable.  There was no real market that I was aware of, not like the comics themselves.  There was no way of knowing what something was worth, because there was only one of everything.  So it was more like having a special memento from a particular comic, in a way).  He signed it to me, and I remember he held it, and studied the central Aparo drawing of Batman for a minute, then asked, ”Who drew this?”  “Jim Aparo,” I said.  “That’s really good!  This guy can really draw Batman!"  

WOW. Regardless of what we now know regarding Batman's creation that is still pretty incredible. I love hearing stories from SDCC from the pre-pop culture explosion where you would just be able to walk up to legends like Kirby and find OA like the piece you just shared. That's incredible.  The first time I went to SDCC it was 2006 which was right when it really started to blow up and go more Pop Culture Con. I was still able to buy tickets for Sunday just by waiting in line. So I can kind of imagine the SDCC back before things went crazy.

Also Jim Aparo is my definitive Batman artist so great choice in first comic and Original Art pick up. Batman #442 was my first comic also drawn by Jim. I dream of one day picking up a piece by him.

Thanks for sharing this story.

[comicfanboy007]

10 hours ago, theflashunc said:

A couple years ago, during the Daredevil relaunch by Waid and Rivera, I picked up the first splashy-page from issue #1 from Paolo's rep. He was going to be at HeroesCon not long after, so I brought it along for him to sign. When I brought out the page to sign, Paolo lit up about how excited he was to work on the book, and how the page was the first his dad had ever inked of his work, and one of the few they did with pencils on the page before he moved cross country and they started to do bluelines under inks. He shared how the left arm of Daredevil was actually him, showing his dad some of the technique, and dad went off, did the rest and they continue to work together today. He seemed genuinely touched to see something again that was a bit more than just some work for hire, but a real family moment between father and son. 

Couple years later, Paolo and Joe are at a signing at Isotope comics in SF, so I bring the page by for Joe to sign. Paolo recognizes me and we chat a bit about what he's been up to, the usual as Joe signs the page, and I notice he's touched seeing the page again as well. He admitted also to being a bit perplexed why some folks collect the original pages. 

Its that kind of stuff that's really fun in the hobby. The hunt is great and all, but sometimes its more than just pencil and ink on paper, yanno?

Great story, I love that Paolo and his father collaborate to create such beautiful art. Thanks for sharing this.

[JadeGiant]

This hobby can be extremely frustrating at times due to the acquisition process and one-of-a-kind nature of the hobby. That said, it is the most enjoyable hobby I have ever participated in personally (and I have collected different things my entire life). Owning art brings great satisfaction and appreciation alone … but the experiences and relationships I have established also combine with the art to make this the best hobby for me. I have met people that I consider among my very good friends while chasing artwork, including some artists. Some key memories include meeting my favorite artists like Sal Buscema, Paul Pelletier, Dale Keown, Ed McGuinness, etc. at shows and talking about all kinds of things, not just art. Dinners with artists were a blast – hearing Paul Pelletier talk about the behind-the-scenes early days of Cross Gen was awesome (Jimmy Cheung sleeping under a desk was hysterical), Erik Larsen sharing about the Image start up was great (his Todd McFarlane impression is too funny). Spending a day in Lee Week’s studio was awe-inspiring. Winning an Ed McGuinness cover at the Heroes auction was thrilling. These are just a few that come to mind right away. I still want to do the NJ art show and/or an art gathering that I hear announced in states too far away for me to attend. I am sure there are many more great days ahead.

[Catwoman_Fan]

11 hours ago, Flambit said:

”Who drew this?”  “Jim Aparo,” I said.  “That’s really good!  This guy can really draw Batman!"  

 

Thanks for sharing! I don't mind seeing Bob's signature on Batman art/books (especially since he didn't sign in the art).  It's like Stan Lee now, people got him to sign everything they can.  I've heard Bob was a real showman, he was probably a natural for comicon.

I'm still floored that the cover was only $100 back then.  (where's my time machine?)  Do you you still have the cover? Did Bob draw you the bat on the facing page, too?

 

 

[Flambit]

52 minutes ago, Catwoman_Fan said:

 

Thanks for sharing! I don't mind seeing Bob's signature on Batman art/books (especially since he didn't sign in the art).  It's like Stan Lee now, people got him to sign everything they can.  I've heard Bob was a real showman, he was probably a natural for comicon.

I'm still floored that the cover was only $100 back then.  (where's my time machine?)  Do you you still have the cover? Did Bob draw you the bat on the facing page, too?

 

 

Still own it.  It would be one of my big holy grails I'd be searching for if I hadn't accidently stumbled across it years ago. 

The bat on the other page: that was done at the same time.  When I sprinted away to find something for Kane sign, someone at the table had a sketch pad - my friend, I think - and Kane was taking pages out, tearing them in half, and doing quick little half page personalization pieces for everyone there, like mine above.  My friend got him to draw very quick head sketches of Batman and Robin on his, then he was nice enough to ask him to draw that bat for me (it says, "To my friend Sam, Bats Wishes.").  

I know it's a big no-no, but Kane actually did sign inside the art as well, and personalized it (if you look right below the "Who is guilty" blurb, Kane wrote: "To Sam, Bats Wishes.").   And while I would never do this today, I have zero regrets about it.  Nor do I think it really takes away from the art, either (it's tucked out of the way at the very bottom).  At the time it was Kane signing my first Batman cover by "my" Batman artist, so it was a grand memento for me.  (Remember, this was long before CGC: my intention was to have Kane essentially deface/devalue a GA Batman book by today's standards.  I don't even know if you're allowed to get comics autographed anymore.  Kind of a bummer, I think).  

And believe it or not, $100 for Aparo was probably about average.  Aparo, Joe Kubert, Gil Kane - these guys were at the low end of the OA spectrum at the time.  Even Marvel Kirby 2nd tier covers (like Eternals) were only a couple hundred bucks.  I mentioned this in another thread, but if you had a time machine, SDCC 1986 at Albert Moy's booth was the place to be: STACKS of Miller Daredevil art.  The entire 187 issue + cover, 170 cover, 177 (Power Man/Iron Fist cover), Wolverine 3 cover, 159 cover - all there, randomly arranged in loose piles at the same time!  I held most of these in my hands.  I still even remember the 187 issue in a neat clean stack, the pages perfectly white, as if Moy had just pulled them out of the Marvel shipping envelope and put them the art pile at random.  The most expensive was the Wolverine for $800.  The 187 issue+cover was approximately 2k, the other covers ranged between $400-600. 

And Apple stock was once twenty buck a share, too!  

[vodou]

31 minutes ago, Flambit said:

Still own it.  It would be one of my big holy grails I'd be searching for if I hadn't accidently stumbled across it years ago.

It was a great story, I don't think you shared it before. At least I don't remember reading it before.

But...30 years later, art still sitting in a portfolio? DUDE - time to visit the frame shop!

[JadeGiant]

14 hours ago, Flambit said:

What a great thread!

I may have told this story on the list years ago, I honestly don’t remember, so apologies if I did, but this is my favorite memory of the original art hobby.  Warning, it’s long.

At SDCC 1989, on Sunday, as the con was winding down, my friend and I walked into the room across the hall from the main dealers room (once used as the Masquerade room in the early 80s).  Just inside the door was one of those big round tables with chairs for people to sit and rest.  People were gathered around a man sitting down, telling stories and generally entertaining the small crowd.  Bob Kane.

I loved Batman - of course, who here doesn’t - and I had a big obsession especially for golden age creators (I was young - my teens - and I hadn’t heard of Bill Finger yet, so please forgive me!).  I loved Kirby, but he was a fixture at SDCC every year and I’d met him a couple of times.  But Kane - I’d never met him, never even seen him!  (As far as I knew, he was the man who created Batman!  Again, you know, I was young…).  Anyway, Kane was at con promoting the Batman movie, but he hadn’t been listed as a guest; I didn’t even know he had been there, so I was super stoked!  We edged our way into the group, said hi, and I told my friend to stay there, and I took off to the dealers room in a sprint: I wanted to find a nice, but affordable GA Detective or Batman with the last of my con money for him to sign.  

I sprinted up and down the aisles and suddenly came across an art dealer.  Remember the days when they had the art in stacks six inches tall, with no binders and no mylars, just anonymous piles of covers, splashes and panel pages?  I couldn’t tell you even who this dealer was.  And standing in front of his table, a guy was holding the cover to Batman 291, my first ever Batman comic!  I slammed to a halt, mouth agape, and basically said to the guy, “I will take that right now if you don’t want it.”  I remember then having the gall to talk the dealer down from $100 to $90, and ran back to Kane. 

I asked Kane if he would sign it (as an aside: I would never have art signed today, but back then, this stuff was this weird oddity - not worthless, but not really valuable.  There was no real market that I was aware of, not like the comics themselves.  There was no way of knowing what something was worth, because there was only one of everything.  So it was more like having a special memento from a particular comic, in a way).  He signed it to me, and I remember he held it, and studied the central Aparo drawing of Batman for a minute, then asked, ”Who drew this?”  “Jim Aparo,” I said.  “That’s really good!  This guy can really draw Batman!"  

GREAT story - thanks for sharing!! Can you share a larger image? I'd love to get a closer look at both pieces. Congrats on getting your grail before it cost grail-type money!

[Flambit]

44 minutes ago, vodou said:

It was a great story, I don't think you shared it before. At least I don't remember reading it before.

But...30 years later, art still sitting in a portfolio? DUDE - time to visit the frame shop!

Believe it or not, I get really nervous about sun damage to art though prolonged exposure.  Look at the Byrne Superman cover on Cink right now, the one with the action figures flying at Superman.  Clearly it was matted to frame out the extra space at the top and the result is this weird square portion in the middle of the page is yellow.   Not a deal breaker, but not ideal...

I have some sketches that I did frame - Mart Nodell did a fantastic color Green Lantern for me in 85-86 or so (he and his wife were super nice people), and it has hung on various walls for 30 years.  And now it's almost orange (He did it on really crummy paper, essentially typing paper).

But I do have some other stuff framed as well - I'll try to remember to post to the frame thread one of these days...

[Flambit]

10 hours ago, JadeGiant said:

GREAT story - thanks for sharing!! Can you share a larger image? I'd love to get a closer look at both pieces. Congrats on getting your grail before it cost grail-type money!

Thanks.  Here you go.

 

Edited February 22, 2018 by Flambit

[Flambit]

17 hours ago, comicfanboy007 said:

WOW. Regardless of what we now know regarding Batman's creation that is still pretty incredible. I love hearing stories from SDCC from the pre-pop culture explosion where you would just be able to walk up to legends like Kirby and find OA like the piece you just shared. That's incredible.  The first time I went to SDCC it was 2006 which was right when it really started to blow up and go more Pop Culture Con. I was still able to buy tickets for Sunday just by waiting in line. So I can kind of imagine the SDCC back before things went crazy.

Also Jim Aparo is my definitive Batman artist so great choice in first comic and Original Art pick up. Batman #442 was my first comic also drawn by Jim. I dream of one day picking up a piece by him.

Thanks for sharing this story.

 

Thanks.  Aparo is "my" Batman artist too, hands down.  As someone said on another thread, there's a lot of Aparo Batman art out there, and a lot that's affordable - if that's who you really want a piece by, you will definitely get it.  

But yeah, growing up at SDCC as a teen in the 80's was amazing.  Although I totally missed the El Cortez era, that CPAC SDCC era in the 1980s was magical.  

Some random memories:

Frank Miller: He was actually pretty accessible in the 1980s, roughly up until just after DKR - then the lines started.  I met him at SDCC 1985 and he was just watching someone's booth - the booths were basically big wooden tables pushed together which stacks of books on them, and some dealers had gigantic spaces with many tables, so I guess he was helping out. There seemed to be very few people wandering around - a big panel must have been going on - and no one knew who he was, but I recognized him immediately and grabbed a whole stack of my Daredevils. He was cool about it as I pushed a stack of about 20 at him, but my dad had to intervene: "ok, give the poor guy a break." I felt like an insufficiently_thoughtful_person, but he did sign quite a few. (Miller also signed at my LCS  that year as well we spoke about working with Harlan Ellison on the Heroes for Hope one shot).

Mobieus: Super cool guy! Met him in 84 or so at SDCC. Super friendly and engaging. He whipped out this amazing sketch for free - some sort of spaceman with an infinite horizon behind him, that he outlined with a blue highlighter.  I hope I still have that sketch somewhere. 

Kevin Maguire: he was a bit reserved, but not quite stand-offish, just very serious. Met him in the late 80s. I worshipped the Giffen/Maguire JL and I was trying to work out a deal to buy the original art to the cover of Justice League International #16 which had just come out, but I couldn't afford the $250 (that's the cover with Bruce Wayne as James Bond and Fire and Ice as Bond girls on either side of him).  

Stan Lee: I remember it was a big deal when he came to SDCC in the late 80s. He signed the cover of an X-Men #10 I bought. Pretty much took the book, signed it, I said thanks, and that was it. But the line wasn't that long and I didn't have to pay anything, at least. 

George Clayton Johnson: Just the coolest, nicest dude. He started talking to me in the con hospitality suite in the early 90s, and was telling me all about his Twilight Zone days. A few of my stoner friends would go smoke joints with him in the stairwells. He was a wonderful staple of the early SDCC and I still miss seeing him around. 

Alex Schomburg: he was the golden age artist that did all those amazing Marvel Mystery Comic covers with the crazy detail. This was probably the most depressing meeting. He was doing sketches in 85 or 86 at SDCC and I really loved his covers so I stood in line. And he was not doing well. He was frail and kind of struggling to keep up, but he had some sort of handler standing behind him, this really thin, brown haired guy with a tan shirt that was almost sheer so that you could see the wifebeater he was wearing underneath, and he just cracked the whip: "You got to keep up! Come on! Let's go!" as Schomborg worked to grind out each sketch. It felt almost abusive and was uncomfortable to watch. Never found out what that story was. 

I remember also that year Harvey Kurtzman was signing, and he had a huge line, so I decided to go eat instead. Lines were a little unusual back then, because attendance was still pretty small for SDCC (most of the 80s it was under 10k people), so it was a big deal. But I've always regretted not meeting him.  He was an absolute master of the art form. But I later read a story by Harvey Pekar where he meets Kurtzman's daughter, talking about that era of Kurtzman's life, and she said that he was actually in really bad shape then. 

Jerry Robinson: in the mid 80s he was there one year and did large head shot sketches for $200 each (of Batman or whatever villain you wanted).  As I was kind of obsessed with the golden age, I splurged and got Batman and a Joker.  It was neat to meet the guy, but in retrospect, for that kind of money, I probably would have been better off buying a Kirby Eternals cover and a couple of Joe Kubert war covers and I still would have had money left over for lunch.  Don't regret it though.   

Big regrets: didn't try to meet Alan Moore the year he was there, nor, in my infinite wisdom, did I bother to attend probably the most famous panel in SDCC history (when Alan Moore gets into the argument with Shooter in the audience about Kirby's art), but I remember the dealer's room had cleared out to nothing while it was going on.  And then for the next hour, that's all people were talking about.  And people had these black shirts with white lettering that said something like "God Save the King."  I did not get the reference until years later.  I guess I wasn't really aware of the issue with Kirby/Marvel at the time.  I also missed Joe Kubert or Irv Novick when they were there - I was huge fans of both artists.

 

 

[comicfanboy007]

5 hours ago, Flambit said:

 

Thanks.  Aparo is "my" Batman artist too, hands down.  As someone said on another thread, there's a lot of Aparo Batman art out there, and a lot that's affordable - if that's who you really want a piece by, you will definitely get it.  

But yeah, growing up at SDCC as a teen in the 80's was amazing.  Although I totally missed the El Cortez era, that CPAC SDCC era in the 1980s was magical.  

Some random memories:

Frank Miller: He was actually pretty accessible in the 1980s, roughly up until just after DKR - then the lines started.  I met him at SDCC 1985 and he was just watching someone's booth - the booths were basically big wooden tables pushed together which stacks of books on them, and some dealers had gigantic spaces with many tables, so I guess he was helping out. There seemed to be very few people wandering around - a big panel must have been going on - and no one knew who he was, but I recognized him immediately and grabbed a whole stack of my Daredevils. He was cool about it as I pushed a stack of about 20 at him, but my dad had to intervene: "ok, give the poor guy a break." I felt like an insufficiently_thoughtful_person, but he did sign quite a few. (Miller also signed at my LCS  that year as well we spoke about working with Harlan Ellison on the Heroes for Hope one shot).

Mobieus: Super cool guy! Met him in 84 or so at SDCC. Super friendly and engaging. He whipped out this amazing sketch for free - some sort of spaceman with an infinite horizon behind him, that he outlined with a blue highlighter.  I hope I still have that sketch somewhere. 

Kevin Maguire: he was a bit reserved, but not quite stand-offish, just very serious. Met him in the late 80s. I worshipped the Giffen/Maguire JL and I was trying to work out a deal to buy the original art to the cover of Justice League International #16 which had just come out, but I couldn't afford the $250 (that's the cover with Bruce Wayne as James Bond and Fire and Ice as Bond girls on either side of him).  

Stan Lee: I remember it was a big deal when he came to SDCC in the late 80s. He signed the cover of an X-Men #10 I bought. Pretty much took the book, signed it, I said thanks, and that was it. But the line wasn't that long and I didn't have to pay anything, at least. 

George Clayton Johnson: Just the coolest, nicest dude. He started talking to me in the con hospitality suite in the early 90s, and was telling me all about his Twilight Zone days. A few of my stoner friends would go smoke joints with him in the stairwells. He was a wonderful staple of the early SDCC and I still miss seeing him around. 

Alex Schomburg: he was the golden age artist that did all those amazing Marvel Mystery Comic covers with the crazy detail. This was probably the most depressing meeting. He was doing sketches in 85 or 86 at SDCC and I really loved his covers so I stood in line. And he was not doing well. He was frail and kind of struggling to keep up, but he had some sort of handler standing behind him, this really thin, brown haired guy with a tan shirt that was almost sheer so that you could see the wifebeater he was wearing underneath, and he just cracked the whip: "You got to keep up! Come on! Let's go!" as Schomborg worked to grind out each sketch. It felt almost abusive and was uncomfortable to watch. Never found out what that story was. 

I remember also that year Harvey Kurtzman was signing, and he had a huge line, so I decided to go eat instead. Lines were a little unusual back then, because attendance was still pretty small for SDCC (most of the 80s it was under 10k people), so it was a big deal. But I've always regretted not meeting him.  He was an absolute master of the art form. But I later read a story by Harvey Pekar where he meets Kurtzman's daughter, talking about that era of Kurtzman's life, and she said that he was actually in really bad shape then. 

Jerry Robinson: in the mid 80s he was there one year and did large head shot sketches for $200 each (of Batman or whatever villain you wanted).  As I was kind of obsessed with the golden age, I splurged and got Batman and a Joker.  It was neat to meet the guy, but in retrospect, for that kind of money, I probably would have been better off buying a Kirby Eternals cover and a couple of Joe Kubert war covers and I still would have had money left over for lunch.  Don't regret it though.   

Big regrets: didn't try to meet Alan Moore the year he was there, nor, in my infinite wisdom, did I bother to attend probably the most famous panel in SDCC history (when Alan Moore gets into the argument with Shooter in the audience about Kirby's art), but I remember the dealer's room had cleared out to nothing while it was going on.  And then for the next hour, that's all people were talking about.  And people had these black shirts with white lettering that said something like "God Save the King."  I did not get the reference until years later.  I guess I wasn't really aware of the issue with Kirby/Marvel at the time.  I also missed Joe Kubert or Irv Novick when they were there - I was huge fans of both artists.

 

 

Hearing these Tales from the Con makes me so happy. SDCC 2017 was the first time I have missed since 2006 and I realize I was lucky to have gone that many years. I know these is a lot of griping about how the con has changed but I still think the energy and excitement that permeates the air of San Diego for that weekend is something special. Fortunately I am going this year and I am so excited to be going back now more than ever since I have really immersed myself in the original art hobby. Thank you so much for sharing these.

[eewwnuk]

8 hours ago, Flambit said:

Thanks.  Here you go.

 

 

great story, amazing experience and awesome art.   doesn't get better than an aparo cover with the marquee rogues gallery.  huge congrats!

[Catwoman_Fan]

personalized

8 hours ago, Flambit said:

Thanks.  Here you go.

 

Thanks for posting the image.  The personalization could be far worse, at least its under the art.  Is the inset Catwoman an original?  I LOVE Aparo's Catwoman, its so great to see this cover.

You have many wonderful memories from SDCC.  Jerry Robinson's prices were really ahead of its time.  Just a few years ago he was charging 100-200 for Batman or Joker head sketches.  But he only would draw Batman, Robin or the Joker.  He had slowed down quite a bit, but it was such an honor to meet him.

[JadeGiant]

9 hours ago, Flambit said:

Thanks.  Here you go.

 

Thanks for sharing - congrats!!!

[Flambit]

4 hours ago, Catwoman_Fan said:

personalized

Thanks for posting the image.  The personalization could be far worse, at least its under the art.  Is the inset Catwoman an original?  I LOVE Aparo's Catwoman, its so great to see this cover.

You have many wonderful memories from SDCC.  Jerry Robinson's prices were really ahead of its time.  Just a few years ago he was charging 100-200 for Batman or Joker head sketches.  But he only would draw Batman, Robin or the Joker.  He had slowed down quite a bit, but it was such an honor to meet him.

Exactly - it's not like some of those great Byrne Dark Phoenix pages where he signed right in the middle of the art!  Ugh.  We already know Byrne's DNA is on the page - it's literally the most famous work he's ever done! - couldn't he have signed in the margins??

Yeah, in retrospect I wouldn't have had Robinson do those sketches - or at least two of them.  But I guess my thinking at the time was that $200 bucks was the general price range for the average published cover in those days, so $200 by a Batman legend, although high, is in line, in a way. I didn't really think to differentiate between published and unpublished sketch art back then.  I don't recall what year I met Robinson except it was sometime between 85-90.  

The Catwoman insert image, including the circle, is drawn right on the art (Aparo must have been super confident about his composition and where stats were going to go).  All lettering and titles (including the epitaph/burn in hell, "in this issue the Catwoman," the word ballon, the bottom blurb, and title dress) are stat paste ups.   The issue # and the comics code stamp were missing when I got it.  Interesting note though: her entire mouth was covered in white out and redrawn prior to production, either by editorial or Aparo - as was her mouth on her figure by the grave above - if you really study her face, you can vaguely make out that her eyes and her mouth aren't exactly in line with the same emotion.  I suspect she had some sort of unpleasant scowl and editorial decided to beautify her.  Years ago, I thought about having the white out professionally removed, but, although curious - every instinct tells me that's a bad idea.