SebastianPiccione
Sunday, August 23, 2009, 03:07 AM
Today I drove into the ORLANDO CONVETNION CENTER to hit MINI MEGACON.
I just couldn't wait for March's Main event, and had to have me some convention-y goodness, RIGHT NOW! :D
It was a lot of fun, and seemed to be a success all around. Sure, due to filming conflicts, the TWIGHLIGHT cast members had to back out, and according to Jimmy Palmiotti, the Editors told Amanda Conner she was "grounded" and couldn't attend so she could stay home and work on her WEDNESDAY COMICS pages, but everyone seemed in high spirits.
In today's economy, it says something not only about the creators and fans, but about the people who toil at making MEGA CON come together that the con is as wonderful as it is.
Hindered by a lack of funds and family obligations, I was only able to attend one day for the event, so I made my rounds, saw the sights, spoke to some people, caught up with my "con" friends...yeah, apparently I have friends and acquaintances that I only see at cons. Who knew?
Anyway, while I didn't get to hit any panels, I DID have some interesting conversations, so here are the highlights.
While signing my YOUNG AVENGERS: SIDEKICKS hardcover, Jim Cheung confirmed that we should look next year for him to return to the team for another go.
Jimmy Palmiotti informed me that he had a lot of fun writing Aquaman in the Supergirl story for WEDNESDAY COMICS. He said he figured being in charge of the seven seas must make Aquaman the busiest hero on the planet. He also said that when he wrote the character, the voice he heard for Aquaman was Denis Leary's.
Palmiotti also hopes people are enjoying POWER GIRL, though he admits it isn't standard fare for the super-heroic. He said he wants it to be fun, and hopes everyone enjoys the character interaction between the more worldly PG and the babe-in-the-forest innocence of the new Terra.
Finally, Jimmy would also confirm my theory that my wife looks like an Amanda Conner drawing. Beat that!
I spoke to Dick Giordano. The man is simply the nicest guy. He signed my GREATEST BATMAN STORIES EVER TOLD hardcover, my MAN OF STEEL tpb, and the cover (which he drew) to TWOMORROWS' COMIC BOOK ARTIST magazine #9, from 2000, which features an interview with him as well as a a feature on the Charlton Comics Action hero line. He signed across the title, right between Captain Atom and Ted Kord/Blue Beetle!
I met up with our own member, Avril, aka Mary Marvel, in her new Zinda/Lady Black Hawk costume. She looked great! Even former BIRDS OF PREY scribe, Tony Bedard, was impressed! (I'll post the pictures, I swear)
Tony Bedard was extremely excited about THE GREAT 10 ten issue mini he's writing for DC.
Bedard also chatted with me about R.E.B.E.L.S., which I love. He said that when the annual comes out he hopes people are happy with his new Starro the Conqueror. He said he didn't want to do anything that undid the other Starro appearances to date, but to come up with a scenario in which they both worked. He said Geoff Johns is great at that, at coming up with something that incorporates all the contiuities before it, rather than replaces them.
Artist Derec Donovan (Conner Hawke, Youngblood) drew the origin chapter for axe wielding starro-minion, Smyte, in the R.E.B.E.L.S. Annual.
In continuing with the theory that the universe is out to get Derec Donovan, he had the only table directly under the world’s most powerful AC vent. It was positively sub-arctic. His the red table cloth at his spot was billowing out from the constant wind. I chuckled.
TERMINUS MEDIA has some great things coming out, including a noir comic about a garden gnome detective, NICK GNOME; and a book about a platypus who has to save democracy from a Russian chimp, who has been lost in space for decades and doesn't realize the U.S.S.R. has collapsed, called PLATYPUS VS. MONKEY. How great is that?
Writer Chuck Dixon filled me in oh his original plans for Ted Kord. Back when Dixon was writing Robin and Birds of Prey, he had Ted Kord (Blue Beetle) hanging with Barbara Gordon. Tim Drake was a total Blue Beetle fanboy. Ted suffered a nonfatal heart attack in one of Dixon's issues of Birds of Prey. There were rumors this had been leading to something. According to Dixon, his plan was that in issue 100 of Robin, Stephanie/Spoiler would become Robin, and Tim would become the New Blue Beetle. He would write a 6 issue miniseries, BLUE BEETLE with Tim in Costume and Ted mentoring much like the Bruce/Terry relationship in BATMAN BEYOND. After the mini, Tim would resume his role as Robin, and Ted would set up a "franchise", having a Blue Beetle in various major cities, with himself coordinating their actions, much like Oracle ran Birds of prey.
Apparently, DC wasn't going for it. Shame. BUGS OF PREY has a nice ring to it!
Dixon also said that he loves it at IDW, is having a great time writing G.I. JOE, and plans to stay with both for quite some time.
Sergio Cariello signed the latest issue of Dynamite’s LONE RANGER for me. He told me how much he enjoyed working on the book. I told him how much I enjoyed him working on the book.
The lovely Amanda Stevens was promoting the first full issue of SUPERHUMAN EXPERIMENT and the totally redone www.superhumanexperiment.com.
THE GRIM CREW and family were promoting SEEDS and the upcoming DEAD FUTURE trade. The DEAD FUTURE free preview was awesome. Especially the part on the inside cover that said my name. :D
The crew from THE HILLYWOOD SHOW had the greatest bat-Villain costumes I've ever seen. They were also fun to talk to. They produce spoof movies on the internet. And not those filmed-on-mommy's-old-camcorder ones either! http://www.thehillywoodshow.com/
Rick Shea, owner of Melbourne Florida's FAMOUS FACES AND FUNNIES, said business at the con was going well. At first he had been concerned because Saturdays at Mega Con were usually huge salesdays from the get-go, but then he remembered that usually the con starts on Friday, people look around, and come back to buy on Saturday. For MINI MEGA CON, Saturday was the first of only two days, so by the afternoon, people were finished sight-seeing, and began going back to vendors for all those items they looked at that morning. I believe him, because his booth was so crowded and busy, that I could only speak to him in 2 minute intervals, between customers.
• Several vendors were unhappy with their proximity to the mock sword fighting pits. The fighting was fine, the primal-yet-girly screams of the mock-combatants made conversing with customers difficult. While bellowing during martial arts may be manly and tough, doing so while fighting with foam swords and dressed as jedi and Link (from Legend of Zelda)....not so much.
A COMIC SHOP'S Aaron Haaland, whose new business card doesn't do justice to his manly physique (and who has entirely too many "A"s in his name) was promoting the BIRTHDAY SEX party on September 12th, with Aaron and his partner Jason Aaron (writer of Weapon X, Ghost Rider, and an upcoming stint on Punisher) A COMIC SHOP in Orlando. A comic shop party with beer, comics, music, a signing, and prizes. What else do you need?
have I mentioned that Aaron is friends with hot models who own Ms. Marvel costumes?
Also, I learned that I can do the right thing, even when it totally sucks! As I said, I had a limited budget this week. I refrained from buying any sketches, even though DICK GIORDANO was only charging $40 bucks for pencil sketches, and had almost no line! I could got an original DICK GIRDANO sketch! I was thinking of having him draw Bruce/Batman coming out of the grave in my SUPER HERO RESURRECTION sketchbook. yes the one that predates BLACKEST NIGHT by like 6 years. :cool:
God, I can't wait for March's MEGA CON 2010!
I just couldn't wait for March's Main event, and had to have me some convention-y goodness, RIGHT NOW! :D
It was a lot of fun, and seemed to be a success all around. Sure, due to filming conflicts, the TWIGHLIGHT cast members had to back out, and according to Jimmy Palmiotti, the Editors told Amanda Conner she was "grounded" and couldn't attend so she could stay home and work on her WEDNESDAY COMICS pages, but everyone seemed in high spirits.
In today's economy, it says something not only about the creators and fans, but about the people who toil at making MEGA CON come together that the con is as wonderful as it is.
Hindered by a lack of funds and family obligations, I was only able to attend one day for the event, so I made my rounds, saw the sights, spoke to some people, caught up with my "con" friends...yeah, apparently I have friends and acquaintances that I only see at cons. Who knew?
Anyway, while I didn't get to hit any panels, I DID have some interesting conversations, so here are the highlights.
While signing my YOUNG AVENGERS: SIDEKICKS hardcover, Jim Cheung confirmed that we should look next year for him to return to the team for another go.
Jimmy Palmiotti informed me that he had a lot of fun writing Aquaman in the Supergirl story for WEDNESDAY COMICS. He said he figured being in charge of the seven seas must make Aquaman the busiest hero on the planet. He also said that when he wrote the character, the voice he heard for Aquaman was Denis Leary's.
Palmiotti also hopes people are enjoying POWER GIRL, though he admits it isn't standard fare for the super-heroic. He said he wants it to be fun, and hopes everyone enjoys the character interaction between the more worldly PG and the babe-in-the-forest innocence of the new Terra.
Finally, Jimmy would also confirm my theory that my wife looks like an Amanda Conner drawing. Beat that!
I spoke to Dick Giordano. The man is simply the nicest guy. He signed my GREATEST BATMAN STORIES EVER TOLD hardcover, my MAN OF STEEL tpb, and the cover (which he drew) to TWOMORROWS' COMIC BOOK ARTIST magazine #9, from 2000, which features an interview with him as well as a a feature on the Charlton Comics Action hero line. He signed across the title, right between Captain Atom and Ted Kord/Blue Beetle!
I met up with our own member, Avril, aka Mary Marvel, in her new Zinda/Lady Black Hawk costume. She looked great! Even former BIRDS OF PREY scribe, Tony Bedard, was impressed! (I'll post the pictures, I swear)
Tony Bedard was extremely excited about THE GREAT 10 ten issue mini he's writing for DC.
Bedard also chatted with me about R.E.B.E.L.S., which I love. He said that when the annual comes out he hopes people are happy with his new Starro the Conqueror. He said he didn't want to do anything that undid the other Starro appearances to date, but to come up with a scenario in which they both worked. He said Geoff Johns is great at that, at coming up with something that incorporates all the contiuities before it, rather than replaces them.
Artist Derec Donovan (Conner Hawke, Youngblood) drew the origin chapter for axe wielding starro-minion, Smyte, in the R.E.B.E.L.S. Annual.
In continuing with the theory that the universe is out to get Derec Donovan, he had the only table directly under the world’s most powerful AC vent. It was positively sub-arctic. His the red table cloth at his spot was billowing out from the constant wind. I chuckled.
TERMINUS MEDIA has some great things coming out, including a noir comic about a garden gnome detective, NICK GNOME; and a book about a platypus who has to save democracy from a Russian chimp, who has been lost in space for decades and doesn't realize the U.S.S.R. has collapsed, called PLATYPUS VS. MONKEY. How great is that?
Writer Chuck Dixon filled me in oh his original plans for Ted Kord. Back when Dixon was writing Robin and Birds of Prey, he had Ted Kord (Blue Beetle) hanging with Barbara Gordon. Tim Drake was a total Blue Beetle fanboy. Ted suffered a nonfatal heart attack in one of Dixon's issues of Birds of Prey. There were rumors this had been leading to something. According to Dixon, his plan was that in issue 100 of Robin, Stephanie/Spoiler would become Robin, and Tim would become the New Blue Beetle. He would write a 6 issue miniseries, BLUE BEETLE with Tim in Costume and Ted mentoring much like the Bruce/Terry relationship in BATMAN BEYOND. After the mini, Tim would resume his role as Robin, and Ted would set up a "franchise", having a Blue Beetle in various major cities, with himself coordinating their actions, much like Oracle ran Birds of prey.
Apparently, DC wasn't going for it. Shame. BUGS OF PREY has a nice ring to it!
Dixon also said that he loves it at IDW, is having a great time writing G.I. JOE, and plans to stay with both for quite some time.
Sergio Cariello signed the latest issue of Dynamite’s LONE RANGER for me. He told me how much he enjoyed working on the book. I told him how much I enjoyed him working on the book.
The lovely Amanda Stevens was promoting the first full issue of SUPERHUMAN EXPERIMENT and the totally redone www.superhumanexperiment.com.
THE GRIM CREW and family were promoting SEEDS and the upcoming DEAD FUTURE trade. The DEAD FUTURE free preview was awesome. Especially the part on the inside cover that said my name. :D
The crew from THE HILLYWOOD SHOW had the greatest bat-Villain costumes I've ever seen. They were also fun to talk to. They produce spoof movies on the internet. And not those filmed-on-mommy's-old-camcorder ones either! http://www.thehillywoodshow.com/
Rick Shea, owner of Melbourne Florida's FAMOUS FACES AND FUNNIES, said business at the con was going well. At first he had been concerned because Saturdays at Mega Con were usually huge salesdays from the get-go, but then he remembered that usually the con starts on Friday, people look around, and come back to buy on Saturday. For MINI MEGA CON, Saturday was the first of only two days, so by the afternoon, people were finished sight-seeing, and began going back to vendors for all those items they looked at that morning. I believe him, because his booth was so crowded and busy, that I could only speak to him in 2 minute intervals, between customers.
• Several vendors were unhappy with their proximity to the mock sword fighting pits. The fighting was fine, the primal-yet-girly screams of the mock-combatants made conversing with customers difficult. While bellowing during martial arts may be manly and tough, doing so while fighting with foam swords and dressed as jedi and Link (from Legend of Zelda)....not so much.
A COMIC SHOP'S Aaron Haaland, whose new business card doesn't do justice to his manly physique (and who has entirely too many "A"s in his name) was promoting the BIRTHDAY SEX party on September 12th, with Aaron and his partner Jason Aaron (writer of Weapon X, Ghost Rider, and an upcoming stint on Punisher) A COMIC SHOP in Orlando. A comic shop party with beer, comics, music, a signing, and prizes. What else do you need?
have I mentioned that Aaron is friends with hot models who own Ms. Marvel costumes?
Also, I learned that I can do the right thing, even when it totally sucks! As I said, I had a limited budget this week. I refrained from buying any sketches, even though DICK GIORDANO was only charging $40 bucks for pencil sketches, and had almost no line! I could got an original DICK GIRDANO sketch! I was thinking of having him draw Bruce/Batman coming out of the grave in my SUPER HERO RESURRECTION sketchbook. yes the one that predates BLACKEST NIGHT by like 6 years. :cool:
God, I can't wait for March's MEGA CON 2010!