February 20, 2007
The Megablast that was Megacon!

   A lot's happened in the past month, most of it good. First off, as you may already know, it was recently announced that Carlo Barberi and I are the new Gen13 art team starting with issue #8. Gail Simone and Editor Ben Abernathy are sticking around, which means it's ON, baby!

   In the meantime, I've wrapped up my 52 commitments and I'm well into inking WW3 Part One: Call to Arms. Pat's cutting loose with an action-packed issue that I think will surprise a lot of people. The final Olliffe/Geraci 52 issue is week 46.

   This past weekend, I rode to Megacon with Chuck Dixon and had the best time since, well... last Megacon! Beth Widera upgraded our space from Artist Alley to a larger Pro area and we had lots o' traffic, the good kind. The homemade costumes of the comics and Anime fans were some of the best I've seen. There were a surpising amount of interview opportunities for me, now that podcasts are taking off. In fact I accidentally blew off one interviewer two days in a row, simply due to signings, commissions, bathroom breaks and panels I had committed to. Whoever that one guy was, I apologize! Anybody who knows me knows I'll talk to anybody who'll listen...

   One of the Newsarama guys caught wind of a project I let slip: I'm pencilling and inking a 5-page Kirbyesque monster story written by Chuck Dixon. Chuck and I came up with the idea while talking at great length about our affection for those fun stories in the Marvel pre-FF era. The story practically wrote itself, as we were cracking each other up! This story will be included in an anthology to benefit the Tightlip Entertainment creators who never got paid for their hard work for the short-lived comics company. If you blinked, you might've missed this company's beginning and end, but sadly, a lot of people took on work with the promise of payment before Tightlip closed it's doors. Check out http://www.unscrewedcomic.com/ to see what I'm talkin' about.

   I had brought all my comps from my various issues of 52 and Gen13 #4 to Megacon to give away to fans, and they were gobbled up like candy! In fact, I got a really good deal from one vendor at the show-a buck apiece, so I bought 30 more copies (of issues I worked on, for signing purposes of course). Those disappeared quickly, even with my "Limit One" handmade sign, so I bought another batch because I was having such a good time with sketches and talking to readers, I was in a generous mood. I caught myself saying "I had a good day at the tables" like I had won big at a gambling casino!

   From the moment Chuck and I sat down Friday at 1pm, we were kept busy signing and sketching (Chuck likes to doodle for fans, as well as on the plastic tablecover. So much so, that many fans were interested in purchasing his table creation, so it was trimmed off Sunday for a Hero Initiative auction!)

   I got the chance to do both inking commissions and pencil/ink commissions, and had to turn down people Saturday morning, as I was overcommitted already! One of the fans, Lee Johnson, who has one of the largest Batman-related art collections (and is an all-around great guy as well) ordered five commissions, which I said I'd mail to him in the near-future, so I could finish the other sketches at the show. I generally go by a first-come, first-serve basis, but sometimes you have to prioritize at shows according to the fan's schedule. If a fan's only attending the show one day, I'd jump on that one first, so it gets done before the fan leaves. Some comic fans, like Steven Carlock, were very nice about waiting from Friday to Sunday for their sketches, since they knew that I'd be at the show all three days as they would be.

   Saturday. I got to participate in the 'secret' tribute panel for DC Legend Dick Giordano, who's known primarily as a great inker, but also a strong penciller. Former Wizard/Top Cow bigwig Jim McLauchlin arranged this, and began the accolades for Mr. Giordano. Then came tributes from George Perez', Adam Kubert, Mike Marts, Brian Pulido and Myself. I must admit I kinda winged it, but everybody assured me that I did well. Speaking from the heart doesn't always translate, but I think the sincerity came through, and that's what counts. McLauclin hopes to do more tributes to elder statesmen (and stateswomen) of comics while they're alive, in response to all the talent the comics industry's lost in recent years.

   A modern legend showed up at the table I shared with Chuck Dixon: Darwyn Cooke. He was such a gentleman to talk to, and so casual, that I compartmentalized my gushing into only one or two sentences, as I didn't want to bore him about how much I love his work on The Spirit and New Frontier (the latter of which he will become an animated movie with Darwyn's involvement!). I hadn't been this excited about meeting a comics creator in years!

   Later on Saturday, my pal and webmaster Chris arrived with his wife, Sky, showed up, and we had a good old time catching up and making dinner plans for later in the week. Chris and Sky are big Anime fans and Megacon provided much for them to take in.

   Sunday, Rob Hunter (or Bobby C as he became dubbed in the Crossgen days) and I did an "Inking 101"- type panel to benefit Hero Initiative. McLauchlin collected the $5 admission at the door then left us to do our thing. Rob and I, discussing the seminar the day before, thought we'd be at a loss for encouraging words, simply because the competition is very tough nowadays, with inkers over the past 30-odd years, as well as the digital inking that talents such as Kevin Maguire employs. Thankfully, Bobby C really came up with some good points that I could chime in on and we actually stayed longer than the 50 minutes we were scheduled - an hour and a half! Late in our seminar, a young couple came in and sat down. I had approached them when we were done to collect on behalf of Hero Initiative. The teenagerish girl pouted "There was no sign on the door that said it cost any money." I replied: "Yeah, but the program stated it", as I shook 'em down for the cause. Jim was proud of my tenacity when I handed him the money. For photos from the weekend, check out the "News, Links & Checklist" section of this site!

   Agh! There's so much I'm leaving out, because I have to call it a day and get back to inking comic books, but I'll leave you with one last question

   If you've ever read the Catholic kids magazine, Highlights, and saw the Goofus and Gallant cartoons, where Goofus did the wrong thing, and Gallant did the right thing in every situation: I've gotta ask, If you're given the name Goofus as a child, isn't it pretty much setting up the poor lad for failure all his life? Alas, poor Goofus, always handing the scissors to others point-first and other endless infractions...
 
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