Jeez, I have so much to say about Wizardworld Chicago that I doubt I can fit it all in one blog. Chances are, there'll be some bleed-over on my message board, because, as is the nature of con news and the internet, it'll all be old news next week.

   As I said last week, I just finished Kitson's Legion #10 and had a day to prep for Chicago! Somehow I managed to bring everything I'd intended, except...my watch! I'm not usually a watch-wearer, but I relied on the kindness of others for timekeeping.

   Kindness of others dept: The guys at Shooting Star Comics put me up in their booth on Friday and Saturday and they did quite a bit of business. I made no money and had no signings, because nobody knew I was there, other than this site's visitors. Apparently you don't qualify as a guest in the WizardWorld program unless you buy booth space, or are a high-profile guest of a high-profile publisher. The kind ladies at the admissions booth gave me a pro badge without any flack. So I managed to work on some overdue commissions that have stacked up. Shooting Star high muck-a-muck Gregg Noon watched in horror as I fearlessly inked a Gene Colan Dracula piece on the actual art! I guess after doing this for some time, I've tuned out my fear factor when in comes to inking legends. If I didn't, I'd be paralysed. Besides, I've inked Colan commissions twice before. I also got a good start on some awesome Scot Eaton Thing and Ron Frenz Cap/Super-Adaptoid commissions, also overdue! Thankfully, regular clients, or rather, art sponsors (as they called them during the renaissance) are a patient lot.

   Gordon Purcell, penciller & inker of Flare and many other funnybooks shared a room with me, which was originally intended to include Chuck, so the cost was a tad higher, but Gordon and I were content nontheless.

   For years, Chuck Dixon's message board fans have had a dinner on Fridays of the Chicago convention. Chuck, unfortunately, couldn't make it to the show due to an illness that's thankfully since passed. It just lingered enough to screw with his convention plans. The bunch of us were still going to get together, but there was a snafu that I'm still unsure of (that's my story and I'm stickin' to it)! Some of us were going to meet in Chicago proper for some authentic pizza, but thanks to my pal Ethan's nightmarish directions (just busting your chops, you know I love ya, Ethan!), Scott McCullar, Gregg Noon, Gordon and I got hopelessly lost and settled on another pizza place. Well, it was a serendipitous change of plans. The four of us didn't have to shout over a long table and talked business in relative quiet. Gordon was relating his extensive experience drawing Star Trek comics for the various publishers, DC, Marvel, Malibu and the licensing side of the business...When a woman nudged Gregg's shoulder. She sat with an asian woman and a man who resembled the late George Harrison from his All Things Must Pass era, long hair and full beard.

   The woman overhearing our Star Trek conversation mentioned that the man at their table was Sean Kenney, Commander Pike from the famous "Managerie" episode! We were stunned, to put it mildly. He even had his original trading cards on hand -I know I would, were I him! He was very casual, very conversational and treated us as fellow travellers in the entertainment business (of course, Gordon's Trek experience probably had something to do with that). We still would geek out the rest of the weekend, saying to each other periodically: "We met Commander Pike!". No, he didn't travel in a mobile contraption like in the show and he wasn't scarred. Just a good guy who wasn't even a guest at the show! He was in town by coincidence!

   At the DC booth, I caught up with the lovely and talented Mike Carlin. It'd been a few years since we were at the same show. Also, caught up with Walt and Louise Simonson, whom I'd spent a weekend with in Savannah years ago and Weezie made us eggs! We caught up on our dog stories (We're both dog people). Doug Manke and Tom Ngyen were there, promoting their DC work and latest "How to pencil & ink" DVDs . Except no substitutes - these guys are great creators who maybe dont' get the 'hot' label attached to them, but they always produce high-quality work. Highly recommended for you newbies... Shawn (Outsiders) Moll and I made our acquaintence and hit it off pretty well (although I made a gaff, mistaking him for a Vertigo artist).

   It was good to see old friend and familiar faces, unsung, longtime DC convention marketing/personell Vince Littero and Bob Wayne. Also I managed to catch Dan Didio briefly, and I told him I liked the direction DC was heading, by injecting the line with some fresh ideas and he seemed a very gregarious, personable man who actually took my comments to heart, rather than 'Yeah yeah", which is 50% of most convention floor conversations, with all the background noises.

   Marvel's booth was open, with opposing signing stations. One usually had super stars, and the other was comparitively quiet. That's because there was a floor announcer whipping the crowd into a ear-splitting frenzy with givaways. It was so loud that when I attempted conversation with old pal, the lovely and talented Tony (Exiles) Bedard and brand new pal, editor-turned freelancer Marc (Power Pack) Sumerak, every third word dropped out of our conversation, like a bad cell phone call.

   Also met Patrick (Cable & Deadpool) Zircher under the same conditions the day before. I had the pleasure of inking him back in Birds of Prey#13 & #14 and he never forgot how well our work matched, which made for a favorable meeting. Great guy. We want to work on other stuff but it's always difficult to align your schedules. One thing I learned: I have to get out more often, because he made an assumption that I had a ton of work on my plate, which I don't. I'm pretty much month-to-month fill-in guy with some periods of famine, like most independent contractors. As I spoke to other pencillers, they didn't know how "available" I was. I'm currently working with several editors for different companies but nothing's in concrete (with apologies to Paul Chadwick).

   I was going to pick up a Dark Horse button for a friend, but alas, they didn't have any. Sorry, Gary...

   Saturday, I spent some time with the truly lovely and talented Jennifer Ford who's been running the coolest, and first, unofficial Birds of Prey website, www.canarynoir.com and her two friends, Andrea and Mauri, at some mediterranean restaurant that I hated, but I had such fun, just us girls, dish-dishing comics gossip, most of which unsuitable for print here, that I didn't care. Food is food.

   Knuckles, the hotel bar of the Hyatt, was the place to be late night, that is if you could get in. It was packed with just about everybody. Jim Mclauchlin, Jeff Loeb, Rob Liefeld and, much to my surprise, Andrew (Starman covers) Robinson, who's Dusty Star comic is about to be relaunched at Image this month. Andrew was in Jolly Roger Studio with me, and he lost a lot of weight and was more muscular than when I last saw him. He said: "Well, I live in L.A., so you gotta keep up!". Typical Andrew comment. It was great to see him again. I heard that on Saturday, some drunk and troublesome cowboy got dragged outta Knuckles by the cops, railing against them in the usual cliche's "Oh, you guys think you're tough, huh? What kinda police state are you runnin'?" Another clown got tazered. I missed out, as I couldn't hang past midnight, as I had the past few days. I didn't want my ass draggin' on Sunday.

   I had breakfast Sunday with Mike (Spellbinders) Perkins, who's just started his own website, www.mikeperkinsart.com . About time, Mike! Joining us were DC's Bill Roseman, a guy named Ruben (sorry I forgot your surname!) and the most enigmatic inker in comics, Drew Hennessey who busted our guts with the funniest story I've heard in ages, re-enacting events with an oscar-caliber performance. Sorry I can't repeat it, but, in some cases, what goes on in Chicago stays in Chicago...

   More memories to come on the message board as I remember them...