From: [u--o--a] at [mcl.ucsb.edu] (Jeffrey Koga)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.misc
Subject: REPORT: My SDCC experience w/autographs and sketches
Date: 12 Aug 1994 08:45:54 GMT
It was my first BIG convention. Oh sure, I've been to smaller ones, like the
monthly L.A. Comic Book and Sci-Fi Convention over at the Shrine Auditorium, but
NOTHING prepared me for the sheer size of this one.
I got up at 7:30 AM to get in line at 8:45 for the doors to open at 10:00. And
I would go to sleep at around 2:00 every night. Which meant that I would only
get around 5 1/2 hours of sleep. I'm still amazed that I got up without an
alarm clock, because usually when it comes to sleep, I'm a bum. I usually get
up at 10:00-11:00. But I digress...
And after each day of the con, my shoulders would ache from the load of material
I had in my backpack (SW Galaxy cards, Art of SW Galaxy HC, etc.), my fingers
would ache from the comics/freebies I had in my Tekno-Comix bag, and my feet
would ache from all the walking that I did. But I didn't care! I was in fanboy
heaven!
It was certainly odd to see writers and artists, whose work that I had admired,
sitting right across from me. And it certainly was refreshing to see just how
many of them were warm, friendly, and personable to their fans!
While I didn't have my heart set on getting a Rumiko Takahashi ticket, I was
rather amazed at how BADLY the actual distribution of tickets was handled. Boo
to Viz and Capital Distribution!
With all the autograph/sketch gathering that I did, I missed out on some great
panels that I wanted to attend. And believe it or not, I didn't even go through
any of the dealer bins (sorry Patman)!
Having Adam West there was really nice! I always wanted to meet him, and when I
did this time, I complimented him on his voice-over work for both "Batman: The
Animated Series" and "The Simpsons."
I noticed that there was a flurry of activity for the Penthouse Pets, the adult
film actresses associated with Carnal Comics, and the Barbi Twins courtesy of
Topps [grin].
Being the fan that I am of Adam Hughes and Gaijin Studios, I asked Heroes Are
Hard to Find if the jam art they did with Jeff Smith was available on anything
other than the T-shirt they were selling. The guy I spoke to said no, but then
handed me a Heroes Convention Charlotte program book and told me that I could
keep it! I was shocked and flabbergasted, and thanked him. What a guy!
The latest issue of _The Aspiring Cartoonist_ has articles on Sergio Aragones,
Joe Matt, Jeff Smith, and Karl Story. Cartoon Books was selling this, but I'm
sure that it's available direct from the publisher.
One tip for any big con is to wear interesting shirts. Karen Berger talked to
me about the art on a Sarah McLachlan "Fumbling Towards Ecstacy" shirt that I
wore on Thursday. Likewise with Kent Williams about the Imadonnari (a yearly
Italian street-painting-with-chalk festival) shirt on Friday, and Jim Balent
about the "I Survived the 1994 California Earthquake" shirt on Sunday. I even
met some really nice people who live in L.A. who noticed the shirt while we were
waiting in line for the con to open that day.
Another tip is given the choice between waiting in line to meet Image artists,
and meeting other artists, unless you're an Image zombie, go with meeting the
other artists. I regret now waiting in line to see Extreme on Saturday, and
Wildstorm on Sunday, because I missed out on lots of other writers and artists
that I wanted to meet.
Here is a day-by-day listing of the sketches and autographs that I received, by
day and subsequently by alphabetical order (and yes, when I have access to the
Art Studio lab scanner, I will be scanning these in and making them available on
my Web page):
================================================================================
Thursday, August 4th
Sergio Aragones (Black Sharpie marker) -- Quick sketch of Groo wielding a sword
in his right hand.
Chris Bachalo (Sharpie) -- Autographed with "Sweet dreams!" and a quick sketch
of Death's ankh enclosed in a rectangle.
Jim Callahan (Sharpie) -- Very detailed sketch of Dethgrip, in the Jim Lee
style. He messed up on the first sketch, using a thick-tipped marker on the
character's hair, and despite my insisting that he didn't have to do another
sketch, he proceeded to start from scratch! What a guy!
Dave Dorman (Black thin marker) -- Fairly-detailed sketch of Han Solo holding a
blaster in his left hand (see below though).
Phil Foglio (Pencil) -- Quick sketch of a generic nude topless woman [grin].
Paul Guinan (Sharpie) -- Sketch of Queenie of the Heartbreakers.
Scott Hampton (Thin) -- Quick sketch of a generic head (self-portrait?), seen
from the side. He even did it with his eyes closed, which he was doing with
all sketch requests! [laugh]
Adam Hughes (Blue thick marker) -- Autograph (see below though).
Walter McDaniel (Sharpie) -- Autograph, with a very quick sketch of Shadowhawk's
head.
Dave McKean (Black ink, almost like paint or pastels) -- Sketch of a generic
person's head with a leaf(?) on top.
Paul Mounts (Thin) -- Sketch of a generic head, seen from the side.
Alex Ross and Kurt Busiek (Sharpie) -- Quick sketch of Kermit as the Green
Goblin, saying "It's not easy being Green Goblin!" I would've liked a
_Marvels_-esque sketch of Thing in a trenchcoat (like I saw him do for someone
else), but this one is pretty damn funny. [laugh]
Stan Sakai (Thin, to the point of almost being a ball-point pen) -- Sketch of
Gen, standing in the grass, holding his katana by its loop and his left index
finger, and smiling.
Matt Wagner (Sharpie) -- Semi-quick sketch of Wesley Dobbs as the Sandman,
holding his gas-gun in his right hand.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday, August 5th
Michael Allred (Sharpie and a thick gold-ink pen) -- Sketch of Madman's two
"Helping Hands." When I first asked him to sketch them, he said he needed his
tools to create perfect circles, but then figured, "What the hell," and drew
them freestyle.
Peter David (Sharpie) -- Quick sketch of Neil Gaiman's head, complete with
shades and with a "Zzzz." balloon over him. I figured Neil did a rendition of
PAD for Peter's _But I Digress_ book, so why not have him do the same with
Neil? To be honest, to see him in person was rather "odd." It's funny to
finally meet someone whose work you've admired for so long. Nonetheless, he
was a very nice guy.
Geof Darrow (Sharpie) -- Quick sketch of a generic head, seen from the side,
done in the ever-so-cool Darrow style. Autographed with a "d", and then an
arrow. Get it? [grin] I thought that since he lived in French, that he would
be French, or have an accent. Or at the very least be rude. [grin] But it
was no to all three! He is a very nice, funny guy with no accent. Weird.
Rebecca Guay (Pencil) -- Detailed sketch of Black Orchid, autographed with "Best
wishes." A very nice and friendly woman to talk with. I was starting to fall
for her, but she mentioned her boyfriend. [sigh]
Matt Haley (Sharpie and a thick gold-ink pen) -- Quick sketch of Ghost. He and
Eric Luke (writer of _Ghost_) thanked me for showing them the review of their
recent _Ghost Special_ in the latest issue of _Overstreet Comic Book Monthly_, as they hadn't seen it yet.
R.C. Harvey (Thick black marker and Prismacolor markers) -- Sketch of an
attractive swimsuit-clad woman (with what looks like a bunny with glasses
behind her), saying, "Ah, Jeff. What a time we had in San Diego."
Autographed with "A good time. Best wishes." I paid $20.00 for it, but it
was well worth it, as his style is quite unique and eye-catching.
Kelley Jones (Thin gold-ink pen) -- Sketch of Dream, cloak and hair flowing,
with a full moon in the sky. In response to my compliments on his work on
"Season of Mists", he replied that that seems to be the most popular _The
Sandman_ storyline thus far.
Michael Kaluta (Thin) -- Small sketch of The Shadow's head, seen from the side.
Ken Meyer, Jr. (Pencil) -- Small sketch of Death's head, with an ankh partially
behind her. BTW, if you were there at the con, you'd agree that his artwork
of Tori Amos was awesome! In fact, when Tori saw it, she invited him
backstage after her upcoming concert in San Diego.
Mitch O'Connell (Thin) -- Small sketch of a generic woman's head, but done in
his trademark style. When asked if he'd do any more covers for _Madman
Comics_, he said that if Allred wants one, he'll do it!
Koichi Ohata (Sharpie) -- A very detailed and painstaking sketch of a Valkyrie,
which Karl Story later saw and liked! Who is Ohata? Well, he was the mecha
designer for such anime like "Borgman," "M.D. Geist," and "Macross II".
Jimmy Palmiotti (Sharpie) -- Quick sketch of a head. As for whose head it is, I
have no idea!
George Pratt (Sharpie and a thin reddish-brown pen) -- A very nice sketch of
Death, complete with a halo over her head. He used his own saliva to smear
the reddish-brown ink on the paper to create color for her skin and hair. And
while that may sound a bit gross, the overall effect is quite striking!
Joe Quesada (Sharpie) -- Autograph.
Steve Rude (Sharpie) -- Autograph, though if I had caught him at a better time,
he would've done a sketch.
Jeff Smith (Sharpie) -- Sketch of Thorn and Death, with Fone Bone lurking above
Death and smiling! There's a whole story to this, so bear with me. In
February, I had sent him a rather long letter, praising _Bone_ and asking him
if he could do a sketch of Thorn and Death through the mail. He responded by
saying that he couldn't but that if I got to San Diego, that he would be more
than happy to do one for me. So, six months later, I am at the convention.
I rationally figured that he would forget who I was, but when I finally got to
him after waiting in line for awhile, I brought it up. He at first seemed a
little lost, but when he saw my name on my badge, he recognized me! "Oh yeah,
I remember you!", he replied, and proceeded to draw a rather nice sketch of
Thorn and Death. He regretted not being able to work on it more, as there was
still a line behind me. So I came back on Saturday, and made sure that I was
the last one in line. When I got to him, he recognized me (probably thinking,
"Oh GOD, not YOU again!" [grin]), and proceeded to flesh out Death, and even
added Fone Bone lurking behind the two of them! Sorry, but this sketch made
my entire convention experience worthwhile! What I found very refreshing was
that he would greet every fan in line, shake his/her hand, and proceed to do a
little sketch with almost every autograph. I also found that despite all the
acclaim his series has received, he was still very much down-to-earth and very
friendly to all his fans.
Charles Vess (Sharpie) -- Quick sketch of Dream's head.
Kent Williams (Thin) -- Sketch of a Raphael-painted head that was on my T-shirt.
He liked the shirt that I was wearing (see above), and proceeded to draw his
own rendition of a Raphael piece that was on there.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, August 6th
Chris Claremont (Sharpie) -- Autograph.
Alan Grant (Black ball-point pen) -- Quick sketch of Judge Dredd's head, saying
"I am the law!"
Marc Hempel (Sharpie) -- A very nice, Hempel-ish, detailed sketch of Dream. I
had originally asked for a Death sketch the previous day, and he said to try
the next day. When that day came around in the morning, I refreshed his
memory, and he said that he'd rather not, because it would take too much time.
Which was fine by me, as his rendition of Dream more than makes up for it!
Erik Larsen (Sharpie) -- Autograph.
Rob Liefeld (Sharpie) -- Autograph.
Frank Paur (Sharpie) -- A very detailed, painstakingly done sketch of a Gargoyle
(from the upcoming Saturday morning show from Disney Television), holding what
is left of Batman's (from "The Animated Series") cape and cowl. Autographed
with "Best wishes." While he was sketching this, he mentioned that he hadn't
drawn in a few months, so that made this sketch even more amazing to watch as
it unfolded!
Brandon Peterson (Sharpie) -- Quick sketch of Black Anvil with his teeth
clenched like most Image characters [grin].
Stephen Platt (Thick silver-ink pen) -- Autograph.
Whilce Portacio (Sharpie) -- Autographed, both in English and his first name in
Japanese katakana.
Marc Silvestri (Sharpie) -- Autograph. Despite his immense height, he was a
very nice guy to talk to.
Karl Story (Thin) -- Sketch of a lizard head. When I asked him to sketch one of
the Boneses (heh), he said that he couldn't unless he had a reference. Plus,
he is an inker, and not a penciller. So when I told him to go ahead and
sketch whatever he wanted, he had the hardest time thinking of something! He
finally decided to sketch a lizard head, which he did rather well, I might
add. He was another nice guy to talk to.
William Tucci (Sharpie) -- Quick sketch of Shi's face. After doing that sketch,
he asked me if I wanted a Mickey Mouse sketch, then proceeded to draw one,
and even signed it as Walt Disney! BTW, he also mentioned being able to do a
Gumby with a naginata. "Bill" had a great sense of humor, which was evident
in his Mickey sketch, but which was also evident while I was waiting in line
for him. Sitting next to him was Jeff Smith. And Jeff, seeing me, said hi
from his table to me (this was before I went over to his table and had him
flesh out his sketch that he did for me on Friday). Then Bill, seeing that,
decided to join in and introduced himself as Jeff Smith. Which prompted me to
introduce myself as Jim Lee [grin]. He and Jeff had a great time sitting at
adjacent tables that day, trading jokes and what-not. In fact, because of
this, they did the same thing on Sunday, signing autographs at the same time
and at adjacent tables! Could a _Shi_/_Bone_ crossover be in the works?
You've heard it here first!
Jim Valentino (Silver) -- Autograph.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday, August 7th
Jim Balent (Sharpie) -- Sketch of Catwoman's head. I complimented him on the
way he draws women, particularly on the two _Wizard_ covers while trying to
be politically-correct about it, and he basically told me to forget being PC
about it [grin]. He also noticed the "I Survived the 1994 California
Earthquake" shirt that I wore.
Richard Bennett (Sharpie) -- Autograph.
Brett Booth (Sharpie) -- Sketch of Backlash's head, seen from the side.
Scott Campbell (Sharpie) -- Autograph with a quick sketch of some generic head
yelling out his last name.
Travis Charest (Sharpie) -- Autograph.
Brandon Choi (Sharpie) -- Autograph.
Scott Clark and Sal Regla (Sharpie)-- Autographs.
Michael Jan Friedman (Sharpie) -- Autographed with "Keep on trekkin'!"
Alex Garner (Sharpie) -- Autograph.
Mike Grell (Sharpie) -- Very detailed and nice sketch of the main character from
_Shaman's Tears_. A very nice spiritual guy.
Lurene Haines (Thin) -- Sketch of Leia Organa. Her husband is Dave Dorman, and
I figured since he sketched Han Solo, why not have her sketch Leia?
Cully Hamner (Sharpie) -- Sketch of a generic head, seen from the side. I first
got his autograph, since he was too busy to sketch, and then later came back
when there weren't too many fans around him, and had him do a sketch.
Mike Heisler (Sharpie) -- Autograph.
Adam Hughes (Sharpie) -- Quick sketch of Ghost. I got my AH! sketch! Yay!
Dave Johnson (Sharpie) -- Autograph, though if he weren't innudated with sketch
requests, he would've done one for me.
Jeff Mariotte (Sharpie) -- Autograph.
Scott McCloud (Sharpie) -- Autograph with a sketch of a character from _Zot!_
within it. He told me that he and Neil Gaiman will be at UCSB next year, so
I'm very much looking forward to that!
Dan Norton (Sharpie) -- Detailed sketch of Grifter's head, seen from the side.
He will be the artist on the upcoming _Grifter_ miniseries.
Gordon Purcell (Sharpie) -- Sketch of Plastic-Man's head and neck.
Tim Sale (Sharpie) -- Autograph, though he probably would've done a sketch if he
were less busy.
================================================================================
--Jeff "Koganuts" Koga
--
Jeff "Koganuts" Koga [u--o--a] at [mcl.ucsb.edu] ** "So...five-card stud, nothing
Head of the Terry Farrell Internet Fan Club ** wild--and the sky's the limit."
(c) 1994 Koganuts Production Studios ** "All Good Things...", "ST:TNG"
SW: TotJ Droids ANH TESB RotJ TaB TCoPL HttE DFR TLC Dark Empire JS DA CotF