Images © Todd Klein.

I spent a few hours at this show in Asbury Park, NJ yesterday, a town on the Jersey Shore which is still recovering from Hurricane Sandy. It’s the third such con, and the first at Convention Hall on the boardwalk, which is part of this structure, though the con area was off-camera to the right, on the pier over the beach.

Inside, in the section of “boardwalk” that runs through the building making, in essence, a large lobby, were the 1960s Batmobile and a “Back to the Future” DeLorean you could have your picture taken in, or just take pictures of. A pretty good way to entice people into the show. Actually, the show seemed well-attended, the aisles were busy.

The main room of the con was on the floor of a large old theater where rock acts used to play in the 1960s, and still used for concerts in the summer I believe. Looking down from the seats with the con floor lit up and the seats dark, it reminded me of a sporting event like a boxing match.

The con was also on the upstairs gallery running around the outside of the building with great views of the ocean and beach. Most of the exhibitors up here were artists and small press publishers.

Dave Bullock was one of the artists I talked to there, I’m a fan of his work, but I don’t think we’d met before. He was kind enough to give me this cool poster he’s done.

On the main floor, guests like Herb Trimpe were busy signing their work.

Batman producer Michael Uslan was kept busy. I had a chance to talk to him a bit, and learned he grew up in Asbury Park, one reason why he was here to support the con.

I also talked to Allan Bellman, an comics artist of the 1940s-60s whos work I wasn’t familiar with. I asked him if he worked on staff at Marvel, and he did, in the early 1950s before the Martin Goodman laid off most staffers during hard times. “Did you know Artie Simek?” I asked, “Oh sure,” he said, “he used to play his harmonica to entertain us.”

Comics historian Jon B. Cooke was there with an advance copy of the first issue of his new magazine, cover by Alex Ross. Looks great!

Writer Don McGregor was there, talking a mile a minute as usual. I didn’t have a chance to say hi, he was so busy, but it was good to see him.

Also there were the editors/creators of “Once Upon a Time Machine” Andrew Carl and Chris Stevens, with someone whose name I’ve forgotten unfortunately. Chris and I talked about a new anthology they’re planning for which I designed a logo, and a show he’s organizing in Philadelphia.

Several of the guys from the TV show “Comic Book Men,” like Mike Zapcic, were there helping run things. I wouldn’t be surprised to see footage from the con on their show in future.

Two old friends that I had planned to meet there were John Workman and Dave Hunt, here with Jim Salicrup. It took me a while, but I did get together with them and we had some good conversation. John’s wife Cathy was also there, and our friend Ron Jordan. I talked to about a dozen other folks as well, my favorite thing to do at cons.

A fun afternoon, well worth the 1.5 hour drive up, and while I was there Ellen was spending time with friends. We went to dinner afterwards. Not a large show, but a good one, I’d certainly go again.

I’ll be at this show today for a few hours in the afternoon, just wandering around looking and talking to friends. If you see me, say hi. I’ll blog about it tomorrow.

 

Saturday evening the Harvey Awards dinner was preceded by cocktail hour at 7 PM. I enjoyed talking to a number of people there, some I knew and some I didn’t.

After a few opening speeches, awards host Phil LaMarr, above, got things going. Phil is very funny and entertaining, and is a comics fan as well as a cartoon voice actor and TV star. He made a great host.

The Lettering award was up first, as it often is, and it went to Chris Eliopoulos this year. Chris is a good guy and a fine letterer, I’ve known him a long time, and I was pleased that he won. Also, with that out of the way I was able to relax and enjoy the rest of the awards.

As sometimes happens, about half the winners were not present, but I was happy to see Walt Simonson accept two awards for WALT SIMONSON’S THE MIGHTY THOR ARTIST’S EDITION, the deluxe oversized hardcover from IDW. That’s Thom Zahler behind him, one of the award presenters, who were also all good.

David Petersen, creator of MOUSE GUARD was a presenter and also accepted some awards, he was pretty funny, too.

Joe Rubinstein is a long-time inker I’ve known since I was on staff at DC in the 1970s-80s, though I hadn’t seen him for many years. Joe did several presentations, including giving the Inking award to Joe Rivera for DAREDEVIL.

In fact, DAREDEVIL won quite a few awards, making Best Writer Mark Waid very happy, as well as the art team penciller of Paolo Rivera and his dad Joe Rivera. I decided I need to read that storyline!

I think my favorite moment at the awards was this one. Stan Lee got up on stage, saying he was there to present an award, and he asked John Romita Senior to join him. I’ve been to a lot of comics awards presentations, and this is the first time I’ve ever seen Stan Lee at one, so I figured it was for something special.

Turns out they were giving John Romita Junior a Lifetime Achievement award, which really shocked the younger Romita. And there can’t be another instance in comics where such an award was presented by the recipient’s father! All three of them were quite entertaining, but I was most impressed by Stan, who is really quite sharp, funny and spry for his age.

I was also delighted that my friend J.H. Williams III won two Harveys: Best Cover Artist and Best Artist for his work on BATWOMAN. He wasn’t able to be there, but I texted him with the news and made his day.

Several speeches dwelled on the loss of Joe Kubert, who had planned to be there, the best from Paul Levitz. In all the awards were too long, as they all are, but I enjoyed them anyway. Each audience member got a large and heavy bag of books from publishers attending the show, some of which I’ll be reading and reviewing here. Getting into the elevator afterwards, we had a full car, and the books probably added the weight of at least one more person!

The next morning the storms had passed, and the weather was beautiful. I went for a long walk before breakfast, first over to the harbor, just a block or two from the hotel. I’ve been there a few times before, and the one constant is the sailing ship U.S.S. Constellation. There are several other ships you can tour as well.

Looking across the harbor, and that’s a submarine you can tour on the left. There’s a fine aquarium here, too.

On another side participants were preparing for a 5K race.

From there I walked about 10 blocks up Charles Street, enjoying some of the old buildings like this one.

I reached Baltimore’s Washington Monument before turning back.

This handsome church is nearby, one of many in the downtown area.

I got back to the hotel for a planned breakfast with artists Gene Ha and Mark Buckingham, and we were soon joined by a few others including Barry Kitson and Brian Bolland. I enjoyed those conversations, and have just realized I didn’t get a photo of Gene, who I also sat with a while on Saturday. Sorry, Gene! Or maybe he’s happy about that.

I had originally thought I’d head home after breakfast, but decided I had time to go back to the convention for about an hour first. On the way over I found Jose Luis Garcia Lopez sitting outside enjoying the nice weather, and talked to him for a bit. At the con I found a few more folks to talk to and also a copy of the DAREDEVIL trade paperback collecting the series that had won all the Harvey Awards.

Then I did head home, about a two and a half hour drive, but not a bad one. I had a great time at the con, and hope to get to future ones.

 

 

Images © Todd Klein.

Saturday morning I drove down to Baltimore for this year’s Comic-Con. I’d been once before about five years ago I think, and I can’t say the show has changed much, but it’s a good show for comics fans. The vast majority of the show focuses on comics; no TV or Movie personalities or studio presence, almost no video game stuff. There are lots of old comics in every price range from 10 for a dollar to thousands, and everyone seemed friendly and welcoming to the fans.

There were quite a few people in hall costumes, this was one of my favorites: Marvel villain Thanos. That younger boy doesn’t look too sure about the photo op.

I did my usual con thing: wandering around looking at everything and talking to friends and workmates. Here’s Cliff Chiang, whose work on WONDER WOMAN I’ve been loving, with a sketch. He also has some terrific prints for sale.

I hadn’t seen Kevin Maguire in quite a while, he was busy doing lots of sketches, like this one of Tom Strong.

Here’s former DC staffer Bob Greenberger and his daughter Kate, who I last saw when she was about two feet high I think. Kate lives in the area, so it was a fun show for both of them to share.

The show had a few dealers specializing in original comics art. I looked for logos I need for my FaceBook “Logo of the Day” feature, and only found one, but it’s a great one.

Here I am with former DC Editor and workmate Jack C. Harris. We’ve gotten back in touch through FaceBook, and agreed to meet here. I’m not sure when I last saw Jack in person, but it has to be at least 20 years ago. We had lunch and caught up. Jack is still teaching once a week at the School of Visual Arts, and occasional other classes, but calls himself “semi-retired.” He hasn’t been involved in comics for a while, but did write an article for Craig Yoe’s new book about Steve Ditko. Jack and Steve have stayed in touch.

Here’s colorist Danny Vozzo, who hasn’t been doing much comics work lately, but would like to get back into it, and was here looking to make some connections.

I always enjoy talking to Paul Levitz, who was telling me about a class he teaches.

I’ve worked with Frank Quitely several times, but met him for the first time at the show.

In addition to comics there were lots of comic-related toys, t-shirts, and other such paraphernalia.

Don Rosa was at the show selling his prints and doing sketches. I love his t-shirt, which reads: DON ROSA — I’M BIG IN EUROPE (especially Finland), which is quite true. When he does appearances there he’s treated like a rock star!

Barry Kitson was at the show, someone I haven’t seen in a long time. We had a bit of time to chat on Sunday.

I met writer Todd DeZago for the first time; we’d both been involved in a motion-comic project last year that fell through. Next to him is his artist partner Craig Rousseau on THE PERHAPANAUTS, which I plan to read soon.

Brian Bolland and Mark Buckingham were both busy signing and sketching. Two more people I had time to talk to a bit on Sunday.

The day was showery, as seen in this photo of the harbor in the afternoon. I took a break from the con to come back to the Hyatt to check into my room, and then was stuck there for about an hour while it rained torrentially. Just as well, my feet needed a rest! I went back to the con for another hour or so before returning to the hotel to get ready for the Harvey Awards dinner and ceremony in the evening. I’ll cover that in Part 2 tomorrow, along with Sunday walks around the city and a bit more comics stuff.

Photos © Todd Klein.

Last day of the con, and fewer pictures than usual, but still not much time to comment, as I’m heading for dinner soon.

In the morning I attended two panels. The first was a Spotlight Panel for legendary comics artist Angelo Torres, above right with Charles Kochman. Torres began working at EC Comics in the 1950s, and had a long and varied career at several other companies and particularly Mad Magazine.

The other panel focused on inking. Here are artists Mark Schultz and Filipino legend Rudy Nebres.

Back in the Exhibit Hall, this shop selling carved wood objects caught my eye.

So did this Cthulhu shop, but not in as positive a way. I love the original Lovecraft stories, and have enjoyed some modern works that refer to it like LOCKE & KEY, but it’s becoming a fad thing now, and way overdone.

Childrens’ book parodies like this are mildly amusing for a moment, but ultimately weaken and dilute the Lovecraft concepts. Yes, I can just avoid them, and I will, but I kind of wish they would stop doing them.

I met up with J.H. Williams III and his wife Wendy mid afternoon, and we spent the last few hours of the con together. I introduced them to some of my artist friends, and vice versa. Here are Joyce Chin and Arthur Adams.

David Petersen, creator of MOUSE GUARD, with his wife Julia.

I think I’ve missed out a good image of Steve Leialoha, FABLES inker, so here’s one.

Finally, artist Chris Schweizer asked to have his picture taken with me, and I reciprocated, giving me the chance to prove I actually was there.

Dinner shortly with some friends, and I’ll be flying home tomorrow. Hope you’ve enjoyed these reports. I’ll be back to regular blogging soon.

 

Photos © Todd Klein.

Another fun day at the con yesterday, and even less time to describe it, as I have a breakfast meeting in half an hour!

Attended a fun panel about working in comics in the 1970s with Mark Evanier, Steve Skeates, Steve Englehart, Trevor Von Eeden, Elliot Maggin and Marv Wolfman. The capper was an anecdote by Skeates in which he managed to sell the same story plot nine times!

Had a great time talking to Neal Adams about former DC lettering staffer Ira Schnapp, who Neal knew well. That will appear in my blog when I can get to it.

My favorite costume of the day.

Signing at the DC booth with the creative team from FABLES, shown are Steve Leialoha, Mark Buckingham and Andrew Pepoy.

Found Dave Gibbons talking to Mike Mignola.

We had a catch-up talk, and I also introduced him to Scott Hampton. I’ve worked with both since the late 1970s, and they just worked together on a ROCKETEER story, but hadn’t met.

A busy signing for Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez of the wonderful series LOCKE & KEY.

Artist J.H. Williams III with editor Karen Berger.

J.H. signs at the DC booth, his wife Wendy just behind him.

Writer/publisher Richard Starkings with a con sketch of his own of an ELEPHANTMEN character.

Writer Len Wen, always good to see one of my favorite writers and editors from my time on staff at DC.

Another original logo on cover art seen here. I’m thinking about buying this one today.

Finally, my yearly pics of the audience at the FABLES panel. Thanks for coming, everyone!

Afterwards a fun dinner with the “Fables and Friends” group that now needs two long tables at the restaurant, and I didn’t even get to meet everyone.

More tomorrow or perhaps later today.

Even more photos today, so even shorter comments! The Exhibition Hall runs from letter A on the west end to letter H on the east end. This morning I walked the aisles of halls A and B and took some photos of what’s for sale there. T-shirts, for instance…

…toys, lots and lots of toys…

…here’s a gentleman selling wooden mustaches, which fits in with the growing steampunk craze…

…hats also fit in with that theme…

…posters and prints…

…jewelry…

…animation art, like these unicorns from Disney’s “Fantasia”…

…Chinese clothing…

…more hats…

…and, of course, comics in collected book form…

…as well as single issues. These are new or collectible singles, back issues are also here in countless boxfulls.

There are also original comics art dealers, where I grabbed a few more logo photos.

Some of the folks I enjoyed talking to in my wanderings: IDW editor Scott Dunbier and designer/author Chip Kidd.

Mark Evanier, who informed me he had saved my life Thursday by nearly but not quite running me down with his car outside the Hyatt. I was blissfully ignorant of the entire incident! We agreed that he’s now responsible for my life, since he saved it.

One more pic from that movie prop auction: a Christopher Reeve Superman costume, and a piece of prop Kryptonite.

Here’s writer/artist of funny comics like SNARKED, Roger Langridge.

Over in Artist Alley I had a nice chat and sit-down at Zander Cannon’s table.

Writer/artist Howard Chaykin was there in support of a new Buck Rogers series he’s working on.

Artist Tom Yeates working on a sketch at his table.

For lunch I walked up into the Gaslight District for a panini and salad. As you can see, promotions are everywhere.

Back at the con I did more walking and talking. I had planned on taking in a few afternoon programs, but around 3 PM I realized I was totally zombified and exhausted, so headed back to my room for a nap instead. Later I returned to the con via the shuttle bus. Easy on the feet, but very slow through the traffic. the sidewalk outside the show was jam-packed, too. I made it to the Eisner Awards at the Indigo Ballroom around 7:15 PM eventually, where I’d been invited to sit at one of the Vertigo tables with Shelly Bond and others. There was a pretty good buffet beforehand. Here are photos from the Eisners.

The first award was for lettering. I wasn’t nominated this year, and was happy to see it go to Stan Sakai. He name-checked me in his acceptance speech, which was a nice surprise.

Here are writer/artist Darwyn Cooke and Scott Dunbier, each award winners.

Presenters Kayre and Bill Morrison. Kayre also hands out all the awards to recipients.

Undergound comix writer/artist Gilbert Shelton was added to the Hall of  Fame.

Dark Horse publisher and editor Mike Richardson, winner for best anthology.

Famed SF author George R.R. Martin was a presenter.

Laura and Michael Allred were presenters, Laura also won for Best Colorist, while Michael was nominated twice but didn’t win.

Tom Spurgeon won for Best Comics Journalism. I enjoy his site, The Comics Reporter.

Writer Mark Waid won several of the big awards, including Best Writer, and seemed genuinely flabbergasted and pleased.

Rick Hoberg was a presenter, an artist I haven’t seen in many years.

The final presenter, and I think the best, was British talk-show host Jonathan Ross. He was hilarious, as always. The awards went smoothly, and wrapped up in just over two hours, record time. I heard less complaining about the long night, and everyone seemed to have a good time, though I wish some of the other creators I work with had won. But in all I felt all the awards went to deserving creators.

More tomorrow!

Photos © Todd Klein except as noted.

Lots of pictures today and not a lot of time for comments, so they’ll be shorter. Entering the con Thursday morning, lots busier, lines to get badges, but I had mine, so I avoided that.

Writer Marv Wolfman, once again with a beard, and not too happy this morning. The DC booth had on display a costume and mask for Deathstroke, from the upcoming Green Arrow TV show. It’s a character Marv co-created, and no one had even told him he’d be used in the show.

Batgirl and Harley Quinn, two of the more appealing costumes walking the halls.

Mark Buckingham (“Bucky”) doing a lovely watercolor sketch at the Hero Initiative booth, raising funds for that charity that helps elderly and ailing comics creators.

Marvel’s big display this year is seven life-size Iron Man suits in support of the next film.

Assuming they’re chronological (I think so) the two oldest suits, the left one very Jack Kirby…

…and the most recent versions.

Artist Eddie Campbell at the Top Shelf booth, not only selling a new book, but showing me a great piece of art that will figure large in fan interest by year’s end. I can say no more.

Took more logo pics, this being the most interesting to me. It’s original logo art on a cover by Otto Mesmer.

Artist Gary Gianni talking to a fan. “I have two more Prince Valiant Sundays for you to letter,” he told me. That means he sold them, and the buyer wants to pay my additional fee to hand-letter the captions onto the art. Normally they’re done on a computer, printed out, and taped in place.

This is the only movie promo display I’ve yet seen that interests me. Fine character portraits in lenticular 3D on show, and some behind-the-scenes film clips.

I enjoyed catching up with artist Trevor Von Eeden, who I worked with on the comic THRILLER many years ago.

Here’s writer, film producer and Batman fan Michael Uslan and his wife…

…chatting with another one-time DC staffer, colorist and now publisher Anthony Tollin, showing off one of the Shadow pulps he puts out. The cover art on this one has a painstakingly restored painting that now shows a large area of the art once covered by an ugly type-filled box on the original pulp magazine.

Had lunch outside on a cloudy but still very pleasant day.

Gulls were standing by for any food dropped.

And for entertainment just around the corner, knights in home-made armor where whacking each other with swords.

After lunch I attended several panels. Lines were long for all the panels today. First I caught one about Tarzan and John Carter of Mars. In addition to artists, the one-time Tarzan actor Ron Ely was there, and told some great stories about filming in South America and Mexico. Didn’t get any good pictures there, though.

Then a Spotlight Panel featuring writer Mike Carey. I’ve worked with him a lot over the years, currently lettering his THE UNWRITTEN. Shelly Bond did an entertaining interview and overview of Mike’s career, and he received an Inkpot Award from the Con.

Lastly, the Vertigo panel hosted by Vertigo head Karen Berger, and featuring lots of artists and writers. Here are Dan Abnett, Bill Willingham, Scott Snyder and Scott Nguyen. All current and upcoming Vertigo projects were shown in projected slides and discussed. But the biggest news came at the end.

Image © DC Comics, Inc.

Writer Neil Gaiman, in a video clip, announced he’ll be writing a new 6-issue SANDMAN series detailing what happened right before the beginning of the original 75-issue run. Art will be by J.H. Williams III, promo sample above. And here’s a scoop: everyone from the DC slide show runner to USA Today has the art at the wrong angle, here it is shown correctly, as confirmed by my pal J.H. I’ll be lettering the series, and am looking forward to it. First issue won’t be out for at least a year. The crowd went wild. Neil texted Karen, “It went huge.”

One more pic from the Exhibit Hall, this is the one and only copy of the world’s largest graphic novel. A smaller and more useful sized one is for sale, but the publisher told me they did actually get a few orders for this ridiculously large version.

After regrouping and changing at my hotel, I walked over to the Hyatt to meet Karen Berger, J.H. Williams III and his wife for dinner. Karen had invited us to celebrate the SANDMAN announcement, and we had a fine meal and lots of great conversation. On the way I spotted Cinderella’s carriage…

…and found out what Supergirl is doing at the con: pedalling a bike taxi. Bet she has plenty of customers. More tomorrow!

 

 

Photos © Todd Klein.

This year I decided to travel to the largest U.S. comics and media con of the year on Wednesday rather than Thursday, and the travel went smoothly. At around 5 PM San Diego time I was on the approach to the convention center. This corner, which is often mobbed on the regular con days of Thursday to Sunday was still relatively quiet on Wednesday, when the con is only open in the evening for Preview Night.

It’s also when many con-goers pick up their entrance badges, and there was quite a long line for Pro badges as well as regular ones. I’m not sure how many professional badges the con gives out these days, but it must be thousands. I was hungry, so before getting in line, I walked across Harbor Blvd and up Fifth Avenue to a Japanese restaurant for some sushi.

Along the way I noticed a growing trend. In addition to many restaurants and typical touristy shops there are some comics/animation ones. This Chuck Jones gallery was there last year…

…and it was joined this year by this Archie-themed makeup store, and another called “Bettie Page” featuring clothing in 1950s styles, among other things.

Back at the con, I got in the pro line, which despite being long, moved quickly.

Along the way I was asked for a photo ID and my online registration form. I was given the green check of approval.

Inside my form was scanned, and my badge printed instantly by this helpful person, one of many doing the same job, keeping things moving right along. The process was handled well, and actually more quickly than in past years. I picked up my program schedule and headed into the exhibit hall.

The con floor was already quite busy and crowded, in fact jammed with folks in a few places I had to skirt around. Interesting, considering only those with full-con badges were allowed in to Preview Night.

As often happens, nearly the first person I know that I met here was Danish comics fan and friend Henrik Andreasen. We met at the con in 1993, and have renewed our acquaintance here every year since. Henrik has some things for me to sign, and I’ll do that today.

I made my way to the DC Comics booth, where I had the first of probably many chats with editor Shelly Bond, and said a few words to the FABLES creators, who were there signing. I also enjoyed an exhibit of some painted MAD covers, including this one by Alex Ross…

…and this by Dave Gibbons. I haven’t read MAD in a very long time, but these covers are great.

Wandering further, I ran into another old friend, artist Don Rosa, who was buying some old TV-related comics like these featuring Gerald McBoing Boing. Don and I had a good talk. I thought he, like me, had given up collecting old comics, but it’s not so. He still loves searching out obscure titles like these and adding to his collection.

One booth (not Mile High, as it might seem here) has a fabulous collection of large and small movie props that are up for auction. Here’s a model of The Nautilus from Disney’s “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” along with an Edward Scissorhands costume, and part of the motorcycle from “Ghost Rider.”

My favorite piece is this Marlon Brando Jor-El costume from the first Superman movie. In normal light it’s a dull gray, but being covered with reflective material, when shot with a flash, as here, it glows just like in the film! Very cool. I might take more pictures in this booth later.

I stopped at the booth of an original art dealer and was allowed to photograph a few old covers with logos I need for my “Logo of the Day” feature on Facebook. Not ideal lighting conditions, but I think I can still use them.

Preview Night ran to 9 PM, but by 8 I was ready to leave, it being 11 PM my time, and I’d been up since 5 AM. I managed to get a good night’s sleep last night, not always easy here, in a fine hotel room overlooking the bay. Now that I’ve written this up, I’ll finish going through the program schedule to see what I might do today, then I’ll head back to the con for today’s adventures. More tomorrow.

As reported here a while back, I was disappointed in this year’s hotel room lottery for San Diego ComicCon. Despite getting my application in within minutes of the opening bell, none of my 20 hotel choices came through, and I got a hotel out in the valley, several miles away from downtown. I was prepared for a slightly different con experience this year as a result, but this morning I received an email from Travel Planners (the hotel reservation company for the Con) telling me they had some closer rooms available for those on their waiting list.

This was a surprise, as I hadn’t known about or asked to be on a waiting list. I can only guess they put me on because none of my original choices were available. I followed the new booking instructions, and now have a room in a nice hotel about 4 blocks from the convention center. I assume it’s nice, it’s a chain I’ve stayed in elsewhere, and must be pretty new, as I don’t recall seeing it in past years. Yes, it’s more than $100 per day more than the valley hotel, but I’m fine with that, I’d much rather be in walking distance. Thanks for the last minute save, Travel Planners!