Comicon!
So, I went to the Emerald City Comicon this weekend. I always go to the comicon, but this time was different. This time I was attending as an aspiring comic-book writer. But, I'll get back to that later.
Since I was a kid I have had an on-again/off-again relationship with comic books. I religiously collected them starting at around 12 years old with great books like Batman, Swamp Thing, Daredevil, Iron Man and X-Men. In my teenage years I discovered Frank Miller and Alan Moore and I was fucking hooked! The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen are still two of my favorite series to this day. I have reread them both many, many times.
Anyway, what was I saying? Oh yeah...in my early twenties I was enthralled with more adult fare such as Sin City, Lobo, V for Vendetta and the like. But then something awful/wonderful happened. I got a copy of Todd McFarlane's "Spawn" and was blown away not just by the story and the artwork, but by the beautiful presentation of the book. I had never seen colorizing done that way before or the crazy die-cut, foil covers and whatnot. It was the textbook definition of "eyecandy"! So here's the awful part...I got so overwhelmed by the hypnotic power of the eye candy that I began getting every Image Comics title thrown into my box at the comic store in Anchorage, Alaska. God-Awful titles such as Union, Prophet, Cyber-Force, WildCats, etc. One day I stepped back and realized that, for me at least, comics had gone to shit. They were being made to sell action figures to little kids. I was spending a lot of my hard earned money on crappy ass comics. So, I went to the comic store and cancelled my box.
That was probably back in like 1995.
Late last year Nate, the keyboard player in my band, loaned me a copy of the trade paperback of Robert Kirkman's "The Walking Dead Vol.1". He was always reading comics in the studio or on the road. Anyway, He gave me a copy of this zombie book. And, I'm like..."Zombie comic? Are you fucking kidding me? How can you make a Zombie comic? They don't do any thing and they're really, really slow". Well, he managed to talk me into reading the book. And Jesus Christ am I glad he did! It is the best comic ever. This writer guy Robert Kirkman has created the first characters that I have really felt that I "knew". He makes you actually feel something for them. Then he actually renewed my faith in superheroes with his excellent "Invincible" series! The man is a genius. A God. That may sound corny, but he's single-handedly responsible for my renewed obsession/addiction to comic books. Through him I discovered other great creators such as Brian Wood (DMZ, Couscous Express, Channel Zero, The Couriers), Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith (30 Days of Night), Brian K. Vaughan (Y: The Last Man; a seriously AWESOME book), Mark Millar (Wanted, Kick-Ass), Jonathon Hickman (The Nightly News, Transhuman) and Brian Michael Bendis (Jinx, Goldfish) and quite a few more. I have finally taken the plunge and started a "Pull Box" again at a super cool comic shop in Ballard called Arcane Comics. I am fucked!
But,actually, I never completely abandoned comics. I have gone to the comicon a few times since then. But as I said at the beginning this time was different.
You see, I may have lost my mind or I may have found my true calling. But, I have been playing, recording or touring in bands for the past 25 years. And, that is one hard-ass fucking business right there. Six months ago I finally gave it up. I needed to find a new passion. A new artistic endeavor to channel my creative energy. So, at 38 years old, I hatched this idea with Nate to write a comic book. It has been totally amazing so far. Unlike with the band, the ideas just seem to flow and flow. There just isn't enough time in the day to get it all on paper quick enough. We have come up with a pretty epic idea. We have it mapped out to be a 30 issue series consisting on five 6-issue story arcs. We have talked out the entire story from beginning to end. We have written first drafts of the first 3 issues and expect to have the first arc completed in the next 3 weeks!
So, back to the comicon...we decided to "attack" the convention with a more professional focus this year. We went to panels, asked lots of questions, schmoozed a few industry types and met some of the world's greatest living comic book creators. I even met ROBERT FUCKING KIRKMAN!!! Oh yeah, they had Stormtroopers acting as "Security". It was sort of like when they hired the Hell's Angels to work "Security" at Altamont back in '69. Only way, way geekier! Now, I've been to many Music Conventions such as CMJ, NXNW, etc. One thing I can say is that the comics industry people are a lot more approachable than the shitty, pretentious, arrogant music industry people. The comicon actually inspired me.
By 6PM on Day One were pretty much finished with the comicon. Almost. We decided to say goodbye to our buddy Scott who owns the local comic store that we shop at.
Scott told us that some Anime Company had failed to show up to the convention. Their empty booth was right next to Arcane's. So, he managed to get that booth for his shop for Sunday.
But, the booth wasn't gonna set itself up!
He asked us if we might be interested in helping out.
What he meant was..."Can you guys come to the shop at 7AM and load a shitload of heavy ass longboxes of comics into a moving van, then meet us at the Convention Center, unload it, move the shit to the new booth, alphabetize it all, set up the booth and then run it all day for free*?"
With an offer like that, how could we refuse?
So, we're at the shop at 7:30 the next morning. We load the shit, move the shit, unload the shit...
So, Scott may have got the sketches, but I got the experience!
Oh yeah, one of my other "Jobs" was to wrangle Suicide Girls and other costumed Comic Models to pose in front of the Arcane booth. And, I found time to take photos of some costumed freaks. It was rough.
Anyway, two really cool things happened at the end of the day.
First, Scott grabbed the "Goon" banner and told me to follow him. I complied. He went over to the table where "The Goon" creator Eric Powell was set up and asked for a moment of his time. Scott then showed the artist the banner with over 30 sketches of his character on it (by literally the best in the business). Mr. Powell was sincerely blown away by it. Especially by the Ryan Ottley sketch (that I got). He was TRULY touched when Scott handed it to him and said, "take it". It was a really moving moment.
The MOST cool thing
(for me) was after we had loaded the whole booth out to the loading dock. I went
back inside the now empty Convention Center to use the restroom real quick.
On my way back to the dock, I pass this empty table and Robert Kirkman is just
standing there. I thank him once again for talking to me and signing my books. He tells me
to keep on writing and offers to take a picture of us together. I look
around and there's no one to take the photo. He says, "gimme your
camera, dude. I've gotten pretty fucking good at this". He takes the
camera in one hand, extends it out in front of us. He grabs me by the
firmly shoulder and snaps the shot. He looks at the screen and before he hands it to me he says, "See? I
told you. I'm good!" ... Yes you are, Mr. Kirkman. That, you are indeed.
* At the end of the day, we didn't work for free. Scott was MORE THAN GENEROUS in his compensation. I now have more graphic novels and comics than I can possibly read for the next month or two. He really didn't have to do that. It was a cool experience to be a comicon "insider" for once. I hope he knows how appreciative I am for his generosity. So, you can be sure that we will help him out next year!!!
