John Byrne Coming To Fan Expo Canada 3 3

[DjMartini]

10 hours ago, Logan510 said:

Byrne announced on his forum he's only signing Star Trek books unless he has enough downtime to set up on his own. He also said the limit is 10 books per family per day.

Let's hope there is A LOT of downtime....or just tell everyone not to bring any Star Trek stuff so the only thing he can sign is other books such as Uncanny X-Men, etc 

[somewhereintexas]

12 hours ago, Logan510 said:

Byrne announced on his forum he's only signing Star Trek books unless he has enough downtime to set up on his own. He also said the limit is 10 books per family per day.

Per family?  Is he going to ask for ID and keep a list of who's gone through the line? 

[Broke as a Joke]

It would be hilarious if he only signs Star Trek books.  

[Logan510]

1 hour ago, somewhereintexas said:

Per family?  Is he going to ask for ID and keep a list of who's gone through the line? 

It's his rule. If I recall correctly he did this because he used to allow X amount of books per day per person. But people would try to game the system and bring their little children so they could also get 15 books signed. Something like a guy bringing his 6 month old to get his 15 books signed was the final straw.

[seanfingh]

That baby was a true fan.

[Pirate]

That baby had more teeth for sure.

[RockMyAmadeus]

14 hours ago, wasonff said:

I...I think I'm going to cry....

[Mayor006]

Met him years ago, at Heroes I think and I got She Hulks signed.  I kind of want to go back and slap my younger self for that one, but honestly it was probably all I had on hand at the time.

[roach04]

7 hours ago, Broke as a Joke said:

It would be hilarious if he only signs Star Trek books.  

Someone who was there would know better but iirc NYCC he was signing 3 books - 2 of them had to be IDW and the 3rd could be anything else.

Whatever he decides, I’m good with - it’s Byrne!

[BeholdersEye]

Someone told me, knowing Byrne's temperamental attitude, an disdain for both public appearances, engagement with people who pretend to be fans only to profiteer, that somebody recommended  to John Byrne that he charge $50 or more per signature to weed out the profiteering folks that irritates him and keep the line drama free for him.  I think that's the fee that Neal Adams charges, so isn't that shocking.

Personally, I think he should just do what Larry Hama does and personalize all autographs that are free, with a limit of signatures, and if someone want an unpersonalized signature it's a premium upcharge and if they want it submitted for grading there's another fee on top of that.  I think gone are the days for most artists, signing stacks of books for free.  Truth be told, to a degree, most fans should be satisfied with one personalized signature as a souvenir of their encounter and there's no need to get an entire run of books or multiples of the same comic signed.  In sports, nobody realistically tries to get a Hall of Fame caliber athlete to sign every trading card they've appeared on, and for most, one signature is enough.  

[RockMyAmadeus]

4 hours ago, BeholdersEye said:

submitted for grading there's another fee on top of that. 

You were with me until that. Charging a "slabbing punishment tax" is greedy, selfish, and does much more harm than good. It will, eventually, create quite the backlash.

Charge $10,000,000. Have at it. But don't charge separate fees for the same service, based on information that is none of the creator's business or concern.

It's beyond absurd. "Oh, that's for slabbing? Yes, that's double."

"Oh, you're a creator? Oh, then your food is double. Oh, and your drinks. Oh, and your groceries. Oh, and your supplies. Oh, and your clothes. After all, you USE all of those things to make filthy, dirty money. And, even worse, if you're an artist, you get paid TWICE: once by the publisher, and then again when you flip that page to someone else. Greedy."

[RockMyAmadeus]

4 hours ago, BeholdersEye said:

Truth be told, to a degree, most fans should be satisfied with one personalized signature as a souvenir of their encounter and there's no need to get an entire run of books or multiples of the same comic signed.  In sports, nobody realistically tries to get a Hall of Fame caliber athlete to sign every trading card they've appeared on, and for most, one signature is enough.

You're in the wrong place. 

According to whom...? Why is it anyone else's business how someone collects...? What business is it of ANYONE to tell someone else what they "should be satisfied" with...? What business is it of ANYONE'S to tell someone else what they do and do not "need"...?

It's pure snobbery, to put absolutely no fine point on it. 

Never mind the fact that, "in sports", athletes usually have nothing whatsoever to do with creating those cards.

By the way...do you know what the healthiest way to deal with people who "pretend to be fans" is...?

Treat them like fans, and stop being greedy, worrying about what other people may or may not make. I've witnessed literally thousands of books being signed, by all sorts of creators, and I have never seen "drama" in a line caused by people seeking signatures. Creators, yes. People with stuff to sign? Not once.

Edited May 18, 2018 by RockMyAmadeus

[RockMyAmadeus]

10 hours ago, roach04 said:

Someone who was there would know better but iirc NYCC he was signing 3 books - 2 of them had to be IDW and the 3rd could be anything else.

Yes, and not a one could be slabbed. So, I have two junky Star Trek "picto-novels", and a Namor #26. Better than nothing.

[roach04]

2 hours ago, RockMyAmadeus said:

Creators, yes. People with stuff to sign? Not once.

Sadly I have seen this.  On multiple occasions.  I've seen creators who will sign piles of books for free, but won't sign multiple copies of the same book and have fans argue "that's for my kid/cousin/wife/grandmother who loves your work just as much as I do."  I've seen fans with full short boxes, just drop it down and when the creator say "Hey man - it's a pretty big line - can you limit it to 10 books so I can get to everybody" - said fans get irate - the "how dare you" approach.  That's not a fan - it's a jerk.

My personal favourite story - Peter David - this guy had a stack that was miles high - probably 75 books, including all of David's first X-Factor (this was before he did a 2nd X-Factor LOL).  PAD was signing like crazy, he gets to X-Factor #90, puts it aside, keeps signing.  

Guy says "Uh...you missed one..." 

PAD: "I only sign books I worked on - I didn't do that one."

Guy: "...but I want to get Peter David's whole X-Factor run signed - if you don't sign that I won't get them all signed"

PAD:  "I didn't write that one."

Guy: "...but I want to get Peter David's whole X-Factor run signed - if you don't sign that I won't get them all signed"

PAD: "I am Peter David...with what I've signed, you have my whole run."

Guy: "...but you need to sign that one too..."

At that point about 5 of us told the guy to keep moving.  He was visibly upset and in my biased opinion - clearly a combination of insufficiently_thoughtful_person and illiterate.  If he was a fan...couldn't he have read the book, including the credits?

All that said - your point is well taken.  None of us can determine what drives someone else's fandom.  For Byrne, I would love to get a single book from every major run he did - but I recognize some folks would rather just get every X-Men signed.  In this case, like you said from NYCC, we're all probably going to get a Star Trek or two and then have to look through our piles of his industry-defining work from Marvel & DC...and pick one book.

[Harley Troy]

IMHO, the Yellow label/SS crowd needs a shot in the arm. A John Byrne SS opportunity would give the SS program a much needed boost. CGC should get off the sidelines and see about doing a legit CGC signing with everything laid out so there is no confusion or sparring match with Mr. Byrne. It could be a high profile enough signing to give the SS program a nice spotlight, that if handled right, these creators who don't fully understand the SS program could get some much needed information.

[seanfingh]

14 minutes ago, Harley Troy said:

IMHO, the Yellow label/SS crowd needs a shot in the arm. A John Byrne SS opportunity would give the SS program a much needed boost. CGC should get off the sidelines and see about doing a legit CGC signing with everything laid out so there is no confusion or sparring match with Mr. Byrne. It could be a high profile enough signing to give the SS program a nice spotlight, that if handled right, these creators who don't fully understand the SS program could get some much needed information.

Agree 100%

[seanfingh]

3 hours ago, roach04 said:

Sadly I have seen this.  On multiple occasions.  I've seen creators who will sign piles of books for free, but won't sign multiple copies of the same book and have fans argue "that's for my kid/cousin/wife/grandmother who loves your work just as much as I do."  I've seen fans with full short boxes, just drop it down and when the creator say "Hey man - it's a pretty big line - can you limit it to 10 books so I can get to everybody" - said fans get irate - the "how dare you" approach.  That's not a fan - it's a jerk.

My personal favourite story - Peter David - this guy had a stack that was miles high - probably 75 books, including all of David's first X-Factor (this was before he did a 2nd X-Factor LOL).  PAD was signing like crazy, he gets to X-Factor #90, puts it aside, keeps signing.  

Guy says "Uh...you missed one..." 

PAD: "I only sign books I worked on - I didn't do that one."

Guy: "...but I want to get Peter David's whole X-Factor run signed - if you don't sign that I won't get them all signed"

PAD:  "I didn't write that one."

Guy: "...but I want to get Peter David's whole X-Factor run signed - if you don't sign that I won't get them all signed"

PAD: "I am Peter David...with what I've signed, you have my whole run."

Guy: "...but you need to sign that one too..."

At that point about 5 of us told the guy to keep moving.  He was visibly upset and in my biased opinion - clearly a combination of insufficiently_thoughtful_person and illiterate.  If he was a fan...couldn't he have read the book, including the credits?

All that said - your point is well taken.  None of us can determine what drives someone else's fandom.  For Byrne, I would love to get a single book from every major run he did - but I recognize some folks would rather just get every X-Men signed.  In this case, like you said from NYCC, we're all probably going to get a Star Trek or two and then have to look through our piles of his industry-defining work from Marvel & DC...and pick one book.

I tried to get PD to sign a Hulk 330 once (his first hulk in the run was 331) and he was super ticked off.

[CardiacKid1]

5 hours ago, seanfingh said:

Agree 100%

Me too.  This seems like it would be such a no-brainer good business decision by CGC.  

The opportunity appears to be there, in that Byrne appeared (and signed) at NYCC last fall and now has committed to two more con appearances.  He has clearly reversed his “don’t do ‘em, don't ask me” policy.  It seems to me a pleasant conversation making a S/S opportunity as easy (and profitable) for him as possible might do the trick. There would be a lot of pent-up demand which would explode if this came to pass.

Someone from CGC should chime in on this thread.

 

Edited May 18, 2018 by CardiacKid1

[roach04]

50 minutes ago, seanfingh said:

Agree 100%

Same.  I love the SS program.  If Byrne consents to be part of it, I'll upload a dozen of those "take my money" memes.  Much is said about John - but I hope he realizes - for a great, great many of us - he is THE guy THE name for a 15-year period of our comic reading careers.  He was so prolific and so consistently great.

[RockMyAmadeus]

4 hours ago, roach04 said:

Sadly I have seen this.  On multiple occasions.  I've seen creators who will sign piles of books for free, but won't sign multiple copies of the same book and have fans argue "that's for my kid/cousin/wife/grandmother who loves your work just as much as I do."  I've seen fans with full short boxes, just drop it down and when the creator say "Hey man - it's a pretty big line - can you limit it to 10 books so I can get to everybody" - said fans get irate - the "how dare you" approach.  That's not a fan - it's a jerk.

Although I have little doubt that such scenarios have happened, I've never seen it. I've seen known quantities behaving badly, but not with creators. I've never, ever seen someone "just drop down" a short box, and stand there expecting the creator to sign them all, with a "chop chop, time's a-wastin'!" attitude.

I suspect it might be more an issue of perspective than anything. Someone sees someone with a short box, and they jump to assumptions. I often walk around show floors with 1 or 2 short boxes, and sometimes people behind me say "um...are you going to get ALL of those signed...?" knowing exactly what their fear is. I respond with, "oh, no, I'm just getting a couple of books signed by so and so. It's easier to carry these around this way. Isn't their work on such and such a book great..?"

And, among the CGC SS community, such attitudes and behaviors is virtually unknown. For the most part, it's a group of men and women who are professional, courteous, and beyond reproach when it comes to dealing with creators in person. Sure, we vent to each other in private, and here, but few of us would ever create drama at a creator's booth, because that's the way to get cut off by creators AND CGC.