Old Guys at Comic Cons

[Aaron Kashtan]

The same thing happened at a recent con I attended and I saw Don Rosa sitting there and sketching with not many around him. But they'll kick me and my girlfriend away from the Image booth because they wanna form a line for Kirkman. She wasn't happy about that since we were thinking of buying some Image trades.

I saw Don Rosa at Dragon*Con, and he actually had a sign saying something like "I'm really popular in Finland." I assume that if the convention had been taking place in Europe, he would have been absolutely mobbed.

[Aaron King]

I saw Don Rosa at Dragon*Con, and he actually had a sign saying something like "I'm really popular in Finland." I assume that if the convention had been taking place in Europe, he would have been absolutely mobbed.

I'm very lucky in that I've met Rosa, Howard Chaykin, John Ostrander, Tony DeZuniga, Steve Englehart, Terry Austin, Marshall Rogers, and more at the bizarre little conventions they have here in St. Paul. There are rarely more than three people in these lines, but it's not that there are current megastars around to hog the glory. (Whoever organizes the conventions probably can't afford the megastars.)

It just seems like the conventions here are more like flea markets, with people more interested in crate-diving for back issues and haggling on bootleg DVDs and gaming stuff than talking to the creators. Their loss, I guess.

[dan bailey]

But they'll kick me and my girlfriend away from the Image booth because they wanna form a line for Kirkman.

You should've told him that y'all were there as emissaries for Rob "The Second Mrs. Kirkman" Liefeld.

[supamike]

I always take the time to stop and talk to Roy Thomas. He wrote the first comic i remember reading and because of that book i became a comics fan.

[USArmyParatrooper]

A good example is all of the uproar about the lack of credit given to Jack Kirby lately. I fully FULLY agree that he deserves his glory and his reward, but he's been dead for over 15 years. Joe Simon, on the other hand, was about 60 feet away from Jerry Robinson at the same show and he had less than TEN people around him. People would walk by him and say "Who's Joe Simon?"

JOE SIMON!!!!

I'm saying that these guys should get some love from the fans while they're still around to hear it, rather than after they're gone.

Strangely none of this is translated in the value of their art. An art commission from artists such as Simon or Romita carry a premium over modern artists.

[AdamYJ]

It just seems like the conventions here are more like flea markets, with people more interested in crate-diving for back issues and haggling on bootleg DVDs and gaming stuff than talking to the creators. Their loss, I guess.

Well, back issue hunting is fun too.

Not everyone really has a reason or desire to talk to the old creators. For example, at the latest Albany Comicon, I was impressed to see that they had Jim Starlin there. However, I had nothing for Starlin to sign and had no idea what to say to the man. So, I didn't stop at his table. I suppose I should have brought one of my old Captain Marvel comics for him to sign, but I didn't know he was there until I was in the same room with him.

[dupersuper]

Well, back issue hunting is fun too.

Not everyone really has a reason or desire to talk to the old creators. For example, at the latest Albany Comicon, I was impressed to see that they had Jim Starlin there. However, I had nothing for Starlin to sign and had no idea what to say to the man. So, I didn't stop at his table. I suppose I should have brought one of my old Captain Marvel comics for him to sign, but I didn't know he was there until I was in the same room with him.

Yeah, new or old I really don't see me going up to writers or any other famous person and/or person I'm a fan of. I have nothing to offer them other than "having a guy acting like a goober in front of you". "Guuuuh. Me like you!"

[Sean@CharitablePress]

A buddy of mine and I were at the San Diego Con about 20 years ago ('92? '93? the memory fades...) and were walking around in one of the side aisles and there, standing behind a small table, was JACK KIRBY, pretty much ALONE and just hanging out. We both literally did a double-take and rushed to meet him and get pictures...he was very affable and polite, but to this day it mystifies me that he wasn't being mobbed by other eager fanboys. It seems like there's been a renewed interest in his work as the decades have progressed, but even in that era when you'd have to wait hours to meet Rob Liefeld it seems more people would have shown him some love...

This is exactly what I'm talking about....that is shocking to me! Jack Kirby!!??!?? I wish I could've met him.

Strangely none of this is translated in the value of their art. An art commission from artists such as Simon or Romita carry a premium over modern artists.

And you're absolutely right. I truly hope that they are the ones benefiting from this arrangement, and not just the secondhand dealers. I know that Neal Adams was the big name who fought for this back in the 70s and I hope the old timers got their work back. They can easily make a living by selling just a couple of pages of original art per year, and that's a great thing. I mean, it sucks that a commission from Jim Steranko is beyond my wallet's capability, but good for him! The creators from that era deserve it.

[Sean@CharitablePress]

Yeah, new or old I really don't see me going up to writers or any other famous person and/or person I'm a fan of. I have nothing to offer them other than having "a guy acting like a goober in front of you". "Guuuuh. Me like you!"

Well, back issue hunting is fun too.

Not everyone really has a reason or desire to talk to the old creators. For example, at the latest Albany Comicon, I was impressed to see that they had Jim Starlin there. However, I had nothing for Starlin to sign and had no idea what to say to the man. So, I didn't stop at his table. I suppose I should have brought one of my old Captain Marvel comics for him to sign, but I didn't know he was there until I was in the same room with him.

Haha...yeah, you're right about the implied gushing and awkwardness that goes along with it. However, I see grown men asking 22-year-old millionaire athletes for autographs all the time and THAT is stranger to me than approaching a man who is old enough to be my grandfather to simply say "I just wanted you to know that I have appreciated your work since I was a kid." I'm not sure why it's different to me, but it is....respect for one's elders and all that.

On top of that, they simply didn't get the love back in the day that's reserved for the superstars now, so giving it to them now seems like the right thing to do.

[Scott Shaw!]

I started out as a young kid at conventions -- I attended my first one at age 16 -- and now I'm considered to be one of the "old men" at comic conventions. I was never "hot", therefore I never "cooled off". Frankly, I'm always surprised that so many fans recognize my name and work. Therefore, I especially enjoy meeting pro cartoonists even older than myself. Some of my recent favorites have included Ramona Fradon, Nick Cardy, Marie Severin and Sam Glanzman.

Aloha,

Scott!

[Sean@CharitablePress]

I started out as a young kid at conventions -- I attended my first one at age 16 -- and now I'm considered to be one of the "old men" at comic conventions. I was never "hot", therefore I never "cooled off". Frankly, I'm always surprised that so many fans recognize my name and work. Therefore, I especially enjoy meeting pro cartoonists even older than myself. Some of my recent favorites have included Ramona Fradon, Nick Cardy, Marie Severin and Sam Glanzman.

Aloha,

Scott!

You're not old, man.....maybe I say that because I'M old, but I still consider the Silver Age and, few though they are, Golden Age creators to be "old" guys. At any rate, the next time you're at a show that I attend, I'm gonna make it a point to stop by and say hello! :)

[CromagnonMan]

I started out as a young kid at conventions -- I attended my first one at age 16 -- and now I'm considered to be one of the "old men" at comic conventions. I was never "hot", therefore I never "cooled off". Frankly, I'm always surprised that so many fans recognize my name and work. Therefore, I especially enjoy meeting pro cartoonists even older than myself. Some of my recent favorites have included Ramona Fradon, Nick Cardy, Marie Severin and Sam Glanzman.

Aloha,

Scott!

I just acquired Sonic Archives vol 0, so here is one fan who has now heard of you!

[edhopper]

I like to talk to artists I admire, even if it is just to tell them I love there work. I would advise not to try to see them at either of the Big Two booths. I have often found the artist who have a line an aisle or two long at the DC or Marvel booth sitting alone or with just a few fans in Artists' Alley or at one of the smaller publishers.

[BDiogenes]

Sean@CharitablePress, I LOVE you for posting this thread. Here, finally, sits my gift for you and to establish my bona fides (and the "fun item" I told tolworthy in my "Moviemongers..." thread would await them in one of their threads, though I should've said in one of the threads tolworthy had posted, viz., this one). This was posted Oct. 17, 2010 elsewhere when Borders still operated, and entitled "Penciler Joe Sinnott Interviewed in the Latest "Filmfax" ":

quote name='Diogenes' timestamp='1287365184' post='1341305']
Done by "Outre" so it might be a reprint or filler, its five pages begin on page 80. I'm not saving buy it, but read it in the store if you can. Joe Sinnott appears as the kind of unassuming craftsperson experienced fans have seen before. The detail in which he cares about his past work and remembers it spells magnificence. I didn't know Joe Sinnott. Now I know he penciled my favorite story. My knowledge about pencilers could fit on the side of a quarter. He also toiled on "Treasure Chest", if you ran into that. While not a hound, I wouldn't mind having his autograph. Mark my words, the coms of my time comprise some of the greatest art the world has ever known, not only as visual art but literarily as nonmoving pictures. Never listen to morons like Steve Allen who disparaged comic books and incurred my permanent ire. Honor these fine people every chance you get unless they dishonor their own creations. Don't let them go like Mr. van Gogh with parasites enriching themselves on the artists' grandeur after their passing.

My substantive motivation for quoting: my thread garnered plenteous views but not a single reply, and I was severely disappointed. I agree about fans not physically recognizing notables on sight, but that doesn't enter into chiming in on a thread. Sean, wait till you behold my JK tribute thread, many months 'abornin'. To steal my own 'plunder' a bit, in '70-'76 as my entree into comicdom deepened I could discern the respect fans then evinced for the trailblazers and pioneers of our hobby (including from zines) and I took my cue from them; nevertheless, in scanning catalogue price lists I was mystified, e.g., at what fans might pay for a funny book(!?) by Carl Barks, whoever he was, but I figured there had to be a reason as I trusted fans. On this site I can explore such questions directly with fans who will set me straight, and I shall. Stay tuned and I promise a glorious ride for all those simpatico.

And now, dan bailey, I can answer your query in the 43rd post of hondobrode's "Stan Lee" thread (I never leave anything hanging though I had forgotten it was you who asked). My favorite story is "The Coming of Galactus", "If This Be Doomsday", and "The Startling Saga of the Silver Surfer" aka the Galactus trilogy, story by Stan Lee, art by Jack Kirby, pencils by Joe Sinnott (paraphrasing Harlan Ellison from a fanzine circa 1976 [which I have], "Ain't synchronicity the greatest thing?"). And so I have "encountered" three of the perpetrators; don't know who did the lettering but would wish to learn who did the covers' coloring, especially 49, but it was probably one culprit.

[dan bailey]

Kirby penciled, Sinnott inked, but otherwise, yeah, that's a very understandable choice that would top any number of people's lists. (If I'd first encountered it as a kid, rather than circa age 16, about a decade after it came out, I can easily imagine it being one of my favorites. As it is, the front for #48 ranks high among my favorite covers ever.)