It's the week of the con now, and I have meaning to post this installment for a while. The problem is that I don't have a great deal to say. What I want to say is that I am super excited, and looking forward to meeting all sorts of cool creators, and getting them to sign things. I am pretty sure that if I take anything with me it will just be one or two books. Maybe I will try to get The Last Iron Fist Story signed by both Fraction and Brubaker, or something like that. A Mice Templar signed by Oeming and Glass would be awesome, or a Mouse Guard signed by Peterson. Those things aren't exciting me all that much at the moment, and it doesn't change my opinion about wanting to fly out to Seattle at all.
My interests go in very well defined waves at times. Often there is a har line between one thing and the next, and I will burn super hot on something, like comics, until I burn out and something else takes its place, like movies or video games. I have always been like this for the most part. Today, out of an acknowledgement of my waning interest, and an acceptance that it will cost a good bit of money for my oldest to start college this fall, I cancelled my folder at my local comic shop. I picked up 16 dollars worth of comics and thanked my friend at the store. I have just finished reading them, and enjoyed them, although nothing really blew me away.
Despite not having much spending money, I am still very excited to fly out to Seattle and attend ECCC. I am looking forward to reconnecting with friends, and meeting a bunch in person for the first time, but I am also excited about having time at a convention again to really just take the whole thing in. I want to see everything and engage, hopefully without annoying everyone.
Here are some of the guests I am pretty excited about:
Kurt Busiek - Astro City is just awesome comics
Scott Wegener - I have 3 Atomic Robo shirts, wish Clevinger was able to be there still
Adam Warren - Funny Cheesecake in a way that isn't insulting
Bruce Timm - Bruce Timm for crying out loud
Dan Slott - Responsible for so much that has been good and funny in comics.
Bill Sienkiewicz - I was a kid when he ruined New Mutants for me, but I later learned to appreciate his amazing work, und understand that other people would kill New Mutants for real, way worse than conceptual art possibly could.
Bryan Lee O'Malley - Neat guy, Scott Pilgrim is a masterpiece. look forward to anything he chooses to do.
Colleen Coover - blown away by her pieces in Girl Comics, love her art in general and need to pick up more of her work.
So there are folks I am happy will be at ECCC, just not sure how outgoing I will end up being, etc.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Monday, March 5, 2012
The Long Con, Part Three: The Guest List (media)
My primary motivation for going to Seattle to attend Emerald City ComicCon, isn't really the con itself, as I have mentioned in earlier posts. That doesn't mean I'm not excited about going to a big comic convention again. I'm as psyched about that as I am about seeing friends again/in person for the first time. In preparation for the big event, which is now less than a month away, I have been pouring over the guest list and trying to figure out who I am most excited to meet, and also, exactly what I want to take with me to get signed.
I've Never been super comfortable with celebrities at cons. I don't know what to do with them. I don't like having to pay people to talk to them, and that seems to be what media people at cons are there for. I don't have as much of an issue with artists and writers, because I like the product they create and can ask to have it signed and say hello while that is happening. I get that there isn't a connection created in that moment, and I don't care. I get something out of being able to thank people for the work they do, and that I admire. If I pay for anything, I can pay for something they have made, and artists will usually do a quick sketch of some sort under those circumstances. There is just no comfortable equivalent I can think of with actors. 30 or 40 bucks for a signature, 30 or 40 bucks for a picture. Not a single person there is worth that kind of money, when I could be spending that same money on comics, or food from local joints, or alcohol for my friends so they keep me entertained and forget they don't really know me.
All that being said, and despite a large group of entertainers I am pretty fond of: Adam Baldwin, Summer Glau, George Takei, and Christopher Lloyd, the place I think ECCC looks strongest in regard to Celebrity appearances is in the Voice Talent that will be there. Batman, Bubbles, Pinky & the Brain,Bender & Fry, and Wakko Warner will all be appearing in voice form at least, and that is just a fraction of the great characters performed by that group. Maurice LeMarche is particularly interesting to me, as the 9th annual Rodney Dangerfield's Young Comedians special was kind of a milestone for me, and I remember how cool it was that the guy who did an almost entirely hack comic impressions set went on to do just an insane number of really great characters as a voice actor.
I'm not a very good stalker, and am intermittently shy in person, so most likely unless someone is really trying to attract people to them, I will not be meeting any media people while I am there. I go to these things in part to break out of my comfort zone, but most often I just retreat in horror to the heart of my comfort zone and comfortably avoid contact or interaction.
Also, Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith will apparently be in or around ECCC doing things for money as well.
I've Never been super comfortable with celebrities at cons. I don't know what to do with them. I don't like having to pay people to talk to them, and that seems to be what media people at cons are there for. I don't have as much of an issue with artists and writers, because I like the product they create and can ask to have it signed and say hello while that is happening. I get that there isn't a connection created in that moment, and I don't care. I get something out of being able to thank people for the work they do, and that I admire. If I pay for anything, I can pay for something they have made, and artists will usually do a quick sketch of some sort under those circumstances. There is just no comfortable equivalent I can think of with actors. 30 or 40 bucks for a signature, 30 or 40 bucks for a picture. Not a single person there is worth that kind of money, when I could be spending that same money on comics, or food from local joints, or alcohol for my friends so they keep me entertained and forget they don't really know me.
All that being said, and despite a large group of entertainers I am pretty fond of: Adam Baldwin, Summer Glau, George Takei, and Christopher Lloyd, the place I think ECCC looks strongest in regard to Celebrity appearances is in the Voice Talent that will be there. Batman, Bubbles, Pinky & the Brain,Bender & Fry, and Wakko Warner will all be appearing in voice form at least, and that is just a fraction of the great characters performed by that group. Maurice LeMarche is particularly interesting to me, as the 9th annual Rodney Dangerfield's Young Comedians special was kind of a milestone for me, and I remember how cool it was that the guy who did an almost entirely hack comic impressions set went on to do just an insane number of really great characters as a voice actor.
I'm not a very good stalker, and am intermittently shy in person, so most likely unless someone is really trying to attract people to them, I will not be meeting any media people while I am there. I go to these things in part to break out of my comfort zone, but most often I just retreat in horror to the heart of my comfort zone and comfortably avoid contact or interaction.
Also, Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith will apparently be in or around ECCC doing things for money as well.
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