Mike Mignola appearing at Phoenix Comicon (Show runs Jan 26-28, 2007)

[Mikolaj]

Glad you had a good time, Neil!
Thanks for the report!

[THE REAL kirk]

Ah...much better day today. Mike was there early but gone by the time I showed up with buddy Brian in tow. My brother-in-law and his wife were also therechecking it out today.

Was not as crowded today which made it nice for looking about, though there wasn't much I needed to look at. I got another awesome sketch of Hellboy that I need to post. My friend had a great time just people watching and looking at all the costumes. Got my picture with Feedback, the winner from the "Who Wants to be a Superhero" TV show. While he wasn't my pick (Yes, I watched it!) he is a genuinely nice guy and was a pleasure to talk to. He was even patient enough to chat with a very over zealous fan for a straight 20 minutes without ever looking bored or annoyed, that was my job.

When Mike returned I was very happy to see he was doing sketches. And he had those pages out for "Darknes Falls." Nice! My brother-in-law's wife got a sketch of Hellboy as did Brian. They had never gotten sketches before and were both quite thrilled with the results. I asked for an Abe to go with my Hellboy one from several years ago. AND Mike asked about my T-shirt! LOL I was wearing the Pan's Labyrinth one and he asked where I got it as he didn't even get one. Guillermo gave Mike his but it is a little big. Mike was very excited about the artwork for Darkness Falls and it was cool to know he thinks so highly of the artist's work. I asked Mike if since Guillermo was up for an Oscar if Hellboy 2 might get a budget bump. He remarked that it already had and while it still wasn't double the first one, it was a good sized increase.

Now, I may be a little long in the tooth or out of the mainstream so perhaps someone here can explain to me what the heck the deal is with those headbands with the metal plate in the center of them. And why does every fourth person sport one? Was there some new wardrobe legislation passed while I was at work? I know it has to do with some anime thing but...damn!

Overall I enjoyed the Con and look forward to the one next year. Thanks to Mike and Christine for being so nice to all of us desert dwellers. I hope they will drop by again.

[Tad]

The metal plate thing is from the popular anime series, Naruto. I'll let you go Googling on that one.

While you spent time with the winner, Feedback, I spend all week with the first guy who got kicked off. "Levity" is my production assistant.

[Maija]

While you spent time with the winner, Feedback, I spend all week with the first guy who got kicked off. "Levity" is my production assistant.

Haha!

Sounds like you had a great day, Kirk, complete with a sketch. Nice!

Boy this has me excited for Calgary's con. Even though it's only one day I was looking at the Phoenix Con stats and Calgary's is a little bigger in floor space and attendance (though still small!). It'll be nice to have it fairly quiet and intimate compared to the pandemonium of SDCC. No visits for us from Mike Mignola this year, but I'm quite excited about Eric Powell attending.

[lerochelle]

Wish one would be in MInneapolis/St Paul in october.... Vacation time for me. lol too bad I havent heard of a comicon in may state at all *pouts* ever.

Or mayhaps I'm just out of the loop.

[Neil Hill]

Boy this has me excited for Calgary's con.

Usually the Calgary Con has a pretty good line up of creators, correct me if I'm wrong. In fact I kind of envy you Maija that you're up that direction, as the lineup at the Calgary Con is usually pretty envious.

Thankfully I'll be attending Emerald City Con in March (thanks wifey), so I won't have to wait until July for my next Con, but I still envy those who have more local Con's than PHX does.

[Maija]

Heh, are you maybe thinking of another con? This year will only be the second year for CCEE, though I heard that they did have some good folks show up last year so I guess the once could be considered "usually". I recognized only a couple of names, but I'm generally out of the mainstream comics loop. I didn't attend last year since I was in Toronto at the time. I'll be there this year, though! I don't really have much excuse since it's a ten minute bike ride from where I live.

I see that it's being plugged as "Western Canada's biggest con" which only proves that Vancouver's must be really small, which I find surprising. However, I think Calgary's has some good things going for it, like a great convention centre location, a light rail stop right outside the door which goes to "Motel Village" (as well as high end accomodation downtown), and perhaps most importantly, the organizers are enthusiastic fans themselves. Attendance exceeded expectations last year (though not on anything like a NYCC level!) so it will be interesting to see how it does this year.

[Neil Hill]

Heh, are you maybe thinking of another con?

Could very well be. Maybe I'm thinking of the Toronto Con? Oh well, I hope the one you're about to attend will be a good one!

[Mike Cross]

Usually the Calgary Con has a pretty good line up of creators, correct me if I'm wrong. In fact I kind of envy you Maija that you're up that direction, as the lineup at the Calgary Con is usually pretty envious.

Thankfully I'll be attending Emerald City Con in March (thanks wifey), so I won't have to wait until July for my next Con, but I still envy those who have more local Con's than PHX does.

Well, we get NO cons of any type down this way. WE had a sci fi con a few years back that ran for 2 years, then it just kind of died..luckily, my comic shop seems to have an in with at least 2 "hot" creators, Steve Mcniven who lives in Halifax and Darwyn Cooke who has relatives still in the area. I missed Cooke a few weeks ago ( stupid figure skating Canadian championships messing with all schedules). Otherwise, getting to TO for a con is out of the question.
Hmm.,,..Emerald City con eh? Let me look at that guest list....

[Neil Hill]

Hmm.,,..Emerald City con eh? Let me look at that guest list....

Yeah, looks to be a decent lineup: Frank Cho, Adam Hughes, Michael Golden, Chris Sprouse, etc., etc. I'm mostly going to meet creators, buy art, and get sketches and the lineup looked pretty promising for those activities.

[dogboy443]

Here's a Q&A with Mike from CactusCon:

http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stori...gnolapanel.htm

Mark

[Daneault]

i'm soo bummed. I missed my chance at a mignola autograph/sketch in my autograph book. I had to work on staurday, and had to do skethces at the AZCBA table all morning sunday. by the time I got to the vendor hall, mike had already gone.

also, is there anywhere I can order a mignola sketchbook? not being able to get to his table also means I didn't get to purchase one of those. :(

[THE REAL kirk]

Here's a Q&A with Mike from CactusCon:

http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stori...gnolapanel.htm

Mark

Thanks for the link!

Mignola on artists who have copied his style. "It's flattering, just as long as they don't do it better," he said.

Classic. :)

[Kelly Tindall]

Heh, are you maybe thinking of another con? This year will only be the second year for CCEE, though I heard that they did have some good folks show up last year

Last year, the show had Paul Dini, Humberto Ramos, and a bunch of other guys like the guy that played Chewbacca, Alan Burnett, Alberto Ruiz, and some others. Talking with Paul (for twenty minutes!) was a blast, he's been a hero of mine since I was a kid. His panels were great, too.

Ramos' line was ridiculous.

David Finch was supposed to show up, but he missed BOTH of his flights (the con paid for two) and there was no mention made. He's not a favorite of mine, but I was really steamed at the time. I know the organizers conversationally and it's awful to see someone get steamrolled, regardless of how extenuating the circumstances may be.

-K.

[blacklist-da]

Now, I may be a little long in the tooth or out of the mainstream so perhaps someone here can explain to me what the heck the deal is with those headbands with the metal plate in the center of them.

Spit-wad targets. It took me awhile to figure it out, too. I tried counting them as they went by my table, but I seriously lost count.

I was really impressed by how cool and collect the man is, especially when talking to fans that were sh*t'n bricks in front of him. Like me.