National Comic Show in NYC

[jclaus]

I went to Michael Carbornaro's National Comic show in NY yesterday. Located right across from MSG. Show started at 10 and I got there a little after 11. Did PayPal early pay and was able to walk right in their Express Pay check in. Granted attendance is different, but it would be awesome if the NYCC could learn from this. Saturday attendance seemed decent, but not overwhelming. The hotel set-up is still a little cramped in spots with very narrow aisles and back packs constantly bumping into you. Good line up of talent. As I walked into creator area, I saw that Alex Maleev was doing a sketch and had no one at his table. He signed some Daredevils for me. It was fun watching him work on the sketch. Michael Gaydos finished up my run of Alias autographs. I almost purchased a page of original Alias artwork. I thought I heard Augie's voice in the back of my head. I just found it hard to do the $60 impulse purchase on artwork. How do I get around that? Found Dan Slott with only one person in line. I had a stack of She-Hulk and Thing for him to sign. He was excited that I had a large stack of his books. Some creators do not give off that vibe. We talked for a while along with one of his letterers (sorry Augie I forgot his name) and I think the head of The Friends of Lulu. He had a nice 3-issue arc planned in Thing if the book went past issue 7 with Alicia, the Wizard and hostage taking/revenge. The poker game was not the initially planned story. Before Planet Hulk/Civil War, etc. he would have liked to have had Hulk beat Thing heads up in the poker game. Some nice stories involving Greg Horn and She-Hulk covers. For the cover with She-Hulk displaying her engagement ring, they had initially approached Mike Wieringo to do the exact "Spider-Man variant pose with Doctor Octopus arms". Dan said Mike's reaction "do I have to? I am sick of that image." Very funny story. Greg also supposedly did a slighly pornographic cover for She-Hulk that they had to have him redo. Dan kept the original sketch of course. He will also be plotting for Christos Gage's scripting on Avengers Initiative so that AMS stays on track. Marvel is putting a high priority on AMS shipping on time. Bob McLeod also signed some early New Mutants for me as well.

Good show overall!

[pmpknface]

Congrats. How were you carrying all of that stuff around with you? Did you buy anything?

[jclaus]

Actually Jamie, that was a light load for me. Only about 60-70 books total; 8 for McLeod, 10 for Sale (did not sign), 25 for Slott, 10 for Maleev, 6 for Bob Hall (did not sign), 12 for Layton (did not see him). I have an overnight size bag that I carry them in; small to mid-size. In San Diego, my shoulder used to be bruised after 4 days of carrying a lot of books to get signed plus swag. I actually got out of the show without buying anything. I was greatly tempted. I did see an exclusive WOLVERINE AS PATCH MB?! It looked like it might have been exclusive for a certain dealer/retailer? Did not feel like carrying that around though. I was greatly tempted to buy the original Gaydos Alias art. Only $60 seemed cheap to me, but I had nothing to carry it in. I figured maybe Augie can give a tip on that kind of purchase.

It was a short and inexpensive day because I had to be back in Bethlehem, PA for a poker tournament.

[pmpknface]

I hope ya did well in your tourney!

I may know of the Wolive MB you're talking about. Not too certain though.

I never end up bringing that many books. I just don't see the point, but that's just me. Maybe 2-3 (at most) for a creator if they worked on different titles. Carryign them around is just too much, and I keep all my signed books seperate from the archives they are kept in.

[Augie De Blieck Jr.]

Only $60 seemed cheap to me, but I had nothing to carry it in. I figured maybe Augie can give a tip on that kind of purchase.

The best thing I can suggest is using a mylar sleeve. They're expensive at something like $6 - $10 a pop, as I recall, but they're stiff and will secure your art without fear of dinging. Yes, it can be awkward to handle sometimes, but it's the best bet for protecting the art and the easiest way to carry it around.

I have a few of them and I always bring one to a con I plan on buying art at. In San Diego, for example, they're easy to throw in the bag you get at the front door of the show.

-Augie

[jclaus]

Jamie - the completist in me loves getting runs of comics signed (e.g. John Ostrander signed my whole run of the 80's Suicide Squad). The only reason I went in on Sat was to get some books signed. To your point, I love comic shows because of the different reasons we all go; signed comics, original art or other memorabilia.

PS. I finished 3rd out of 27 players for $435. I guess some of that can go towards my future MB buys (damn you Jamie!)

Augie - can you pick up those mylar sleeves at shows? or at art supply stores?

[Augie De Blieck Jr.]

I picked mine up at a dealer at a show. I think I got them in Chicago from a supplies dealer there. Find the guy selling bags and board and sketchbooks and poster tubes -- he's your best bet.

-Augie

[Dan_Slott]

Hi!
Quick clarifications.
(Sometimes these shows can be noisy and things get misheard. Also, I was running on very little sleep-- so maybe I was incoherent-- or just saying things wrong.) :)

Found Dan Slott with only one person in line. I had a stack of She-Hulk and Thing for him to sign. He was excited that I had a large stack of his books. Some creators do not give off that vibe. We talked for a while along with one of his letterers (sorry Augie I forgot his name) and I think the head of The Friends of Lulu.

That was Val! She's actually the President of Friends of Lulu, an organization which champions the rights/causes/issues of female creators in the comics industry. She's neat! She was one of my editors on Arkham Asylum: Living Hell back in DC days. And she has a very nice blog:
http://occasionalsuperheroine.blogspot.com/

He had a nice 3-issue arc planned in Thing if the book went past issue 7 with Alicia, the Wizard and hostage taking/revenge. The poker game was not the initially planned story.

This actually would've been a six issue arc of THING, from #8-#13, if we had kept going.

Before Planet Hulk/Civil War, etc. he would have liked to have had Hulk beat Thing heads up in the poker game.

If Hulk WASN'T off-Earth and on Planet Hulk, the original ending to the Poker game would've had Ben winning the Tournament AGAINST the Hulk-- ending with "Thing beats Hulk!"

Some nice stories involving Greg Horn and She-Hulk covers. For the cover with She-Hulk displaying her engagement ring, they had initially approached Mike Wieringo to do the exact "Spider-Man variant pose with Doctor Octopus arms". Dan said Mike's reaction "do I have to? I am sick of that image." Very funny story. Greg also supposedly did a slighly pornographic cover for She-Hulk that they had to have him redo. Dan kept the original sketch of course.

Well, to be fair, I kept copies of ALL of Greg's cover sketches. :) In the case of THAT sketch, I actually made a NEW sketch that ended up being the layout Greg used for that issue: She-Hulk 2 #4).

He will also be plotting for Christos Gage's scripting on Avengers Initiative so that AMS stays on track. Marvel is putting a high priority on AMS shipping on time.

Yep. Chris is scripting me over my plots for both the Avengers: The Initiative Annual and A:TI #8. Starting with #9, it's going to be less of a me-plot/you-script partnership w/ Chris, and more of a we-plot/we-script collaboration. I'm excited about this. It's really fun. Chris is just as big of a Marvel-Head as I am. And we're hitting it off.

And, yes, the main reason I've co-writer on the Initiative is because the ASM workload is HUGE! And it ALL has to be in on time. No joke! There's no way that we're shipping ANY issues of this thing late. And, in order for each spider-writer to work with different artists on different story-arcs, a lot of us find ourselves working on 2 to 3 storylines simmultaniously! Which IS kind of like doing 3 issues a month! I've really NEVER worked on a project this HUGE before! I really hope you guys like it! :)

Good show overall!

Yeah! It was fun seeing everybody! And meeting all the people who are following the books! Thanks!
ttyl
Dan

[pmpknface]

Great info Dan and thanks for stopping by! :D

Happy Turkey Day! :)

[jclaus]

Thanks as well for stopping by Dan. Sorry I got some of the facts wrong. I just could not remember Val's name. I did bust on you at the show that I would go on-line that night and "reveal" all the inside information. It was great talking with you (although Dan did most of the talking). :) You are the type of creator that I enjoy meeting at shows. You came across as being extremely appreciative of the fans and that is great. I will follow your books for the main reason that I now have a better feel for the amount of work you put in them.

Happy Thanksgiving!

[torippu]

This actually would've been a six issue arc of THING, from #8-#13, if we had kept going.

Dan

*SIGH* I still miss that book. Issue #4 is still one of my favorite issues of the past 3~5 years. What you and Andrea had going was great - it's too bad that the market didn't support the book.

Can't wait to read your upcoming run on ASM and thanks for stopping by!

Trip