CONVENTION
Before anyone else, I cannot believe I actually own this, because it is the best comission ever and only 25 bucks. You probably don't know the girl who drew it, but I maintain it is the holy grail of awesome
By Michelle Poust
I'll post my other comissions later (one was 5$ and the other was free. I cannot afford Amanda Conner or Cliff Chiang, to my sadness. But could even Cliff Chiang be as awesome as the above? I do not think so)
Now, onto the convention
Cosplayer count: Harley Quinn, Joker, Heath Ledger Joker, Wonder Woman, Naruto, Star Trek people, Black Canary (she actually pulled it off, too) and...God, I can't remember but I have pictures.
Artists/writers who signed stuff for me: Darwyn Cooke (!!!) (New Frontier trades 1 and 2, recently purchased first trade of Catwoman), Nick Cardy (program), Amanda Conner (Secret Origins 80 pg Giant), Todd Dezago (two issued of Impulse by him) and Cully (First Blue Beetle Trade)
Important people I met: Jan Jones, Cliff Chiang, Sanford Green, Dan DiDio and my elementary school art teacher.
Important people I saw: Mark Waid, Jimmy Palmiotti, Adam Hughes, that guy who does the fill ins for Blue Beetle and Robin #173, oh god, so many people.
Now for the detail:
I got there in a massive panic, so sure something was going to go horribly wrong. Mom did a spectacular job of putting up with me and should be commended. Her first act of complete awesomeness was to go up and save me a seat for the DC Nation panel so I could take a look at the convention.
I was floored. I have NEVER been to a convention any more, so this seemed HUGE. I know San Diego Con in 40 times larger, but this was overwhelming enough for me. So many booths, so many artists. Thousands of back issues to a booth. DVDs, action figures, merchandise...VIPs all over the place, and amatuers in a near aisle. I had no idea where to start. How was I going to decide who to get a comission from with all these folks? How was I going to figure out what to buy?
I went back to the DC Nation panel. Dan DiDio, Jann Jones, Mark Waid, Jimmy Palmiotti, Matt Sturges
Dan is loud and abrasive as I imagined him, but also very friendly. I felt genuinely bad about all the times I mouthed off upon meeting him, guilt only compounded by further revelations. Jann is very pretty and young, and she smiles a lot, and not a fake smile. She's super awesome, but we'll get to that later. Jimmy and Mark have nothing that make them stand out, very "All American". Mark's very witty though, and so is Jimmy.
There was some general questioning about RIP and Final Crisis, but nothing was really revealed, as you'd expect. Everyone raised their hand when Dan asked if they thought Batman would live. He laughed and said the movie window is closing in August, but I think he certainly knows he's fooling no one. General hype for Final Crisis. Promised MM's death will make sense after Requiem, and it will really explore him.
Honestly, my memory's bad and I can't tell you everything about the panel though I wish I could. I'll go through the points that stand out clearly in my mind
* I asked about the Spoiler miniseries. Much stammering and wobbling on my part. Dan said there are no plans, but Steph will play a huge role in Robin and the Robin/Spoiler special came out (Me: "I know") and that Jann loves Spoiler and will maybe think about a mini after Ambush Bug.
*DiDio asked who was pissed off about Spoiler last year. I raised my hand a little too enthusiastically I imagine, because the guy behind me gave me a weird look. He called on another girl and asked her if she was happy now. She said no, because Chuck Dixon's off the book. Dan moved on to the next question.
* Someone asked if Spoiler would be involved in Final Crisis. Jimmy Palmiotti said "Maybe." This scares me. A. Everyone should stay away from Crisises. B. This means I will have to buy the issue of FC she appears in.
*Someone asks Dan if he ever gets tired of being DC's whipping boy. Dan shrugged and said it comes with the job. He says it's very difficult to do, and he does make mistakes, but the great thing about comics is he gets to try again each month. He just does the best he can, and he knows the Internet will complain. Jann interjected that it makes her angry how vicious the comments get and sometimes she wants to kick some butt. Dan asked Mark (or was is Jimmy?) if he wanted to be EIC. Mark responded "GOD NO!" really loudly. Cue laughter. Mark said he respected what Dan had to do, and that the DCU is very complicated etc.
It may not sound that impressive on paper (screen...whatever) but it really made me feel bad. I can't imagine doing that job, and I still plan to bitch when I see racism and sexism in comments, but after meeting Dan in person, I don't think I can rail on him personally again. I don't agree with the decisions, but being a fan doesn't give me the right to declare DiDio Satan. I mean, it's easy for me to say.
*Same girl who was not me that talked about Spoiler asked about YJ and if Arrowette was appearing. No plans. And yes, I did wonder if this girl was my clone. Actually, I then wondered if it was Anne Onymous. YJ and Spoiler, you know. But I REALLY doubt that.
*This girl then asked about Linda Danvers (I KNOW IT IS CREEPY) and if she's ever appear again. DiDio said "This month"
: 0 : 0 : 0
HOLY SHIT.
*Will Bart Allen ever come back? DiDio: "Next."
Me: > : (
*Some guy who I could barely understand what he was saying (DiDio had to ask him to repeat himself) asked DiDio "Who would win in a fight, you or Chuck Dixon?"
DiDio beaned him in the head with a T shirt.
* Matt Sturges Blue Beetle run will include mini golf. One of the obstacles will include getting a ball past an Aquaman statues hook. Hilarity insues at the panel.
The panel ended, I floated around, planning to harrass people more about Spoiler...but they were taking pics with little kids, so I left.
It was then I traveled the convention. REALLY OVERWHELMING.
I gushed to Amanda Conner and Cliff Chiang. I had a rather long conversation with Matt Sturges. General "Isn't Jon Rogers awesome? You have huge shoes to fill. I liked your interview etc". He said he's glad to see more girls interested in comics (I got this about 3 times) and he conciously is trying to make his run girl-friendly, because he thinks we're a very important audience. I said I love Blue Beetle because it was for everyone, including girls. He said he hoped I enjoyed his run, and he's scared shitless to be following Jon, and he's going to keep the tone of the book. (He was next to Michelle of the awesome comission. He did a "!!!" when I asked for Spoiler, always a good sign)
I talked to Todd Dezago, who was just as nice, if not nicer than Matt. Lots of dirt on Impulse. The rundown:
*Todd never wanted Carol and Bart to get together, thinking Bart was too young, but it was an order from editorial.
*He did plan for Max to reunite with Bart and it was going to be "huge, a crazy reunion", but he could get to it because so many crossovers were forced on him at the end of Impulse.
*Barts speed powers were also editorial mandate. These greatly annoyed him.
*He is pissed off that Bart died, but thinks Bart died really when they made him Kid Flash and changed him so much. He says Impulse is still out there, as far as he's concerned, and will come back someday. He'd love to have a chance to write the character.
*He was supposed to do YJ, but got shunted aside. He did not "step down" like they said he did in the Titans companion. A lot of his Pephernauts stuff has what he planned for Secret, Superboy and Bart. He gave me the first two issued for free!
I attended a panel where Darwyn Cooke and co talked art. Very interesting, I think they taped it.
The day wound down, and I met my elementary school art teacher Mr. Casara! Apparently he's a comic book fanatic, and has FORTY THOUSAND in his house.
And I was embarrased I've filled up five longboxes...
My purchases for that day:
Catwoman trade "The Dark Side of the Street"
Catwoman Trade "Crooked Little Town"
Robin #95, #50, #75, #97 (Mind you, this is going off memory. I probably got more)
BoP #97, #98 and #100 (The only 3 issues I had missing! Yay me!)
I went to the hotel room and read and read. I couldn't come down off the high
DAY TWO
I met Nick Cardy and got him to sign my program. Mom had the gall to ask me what he had DONE right in front of him. MOTHER! Do not ask me what Nick Cardy has DONE! He is a giant!
I stood in line for two hours to get Darwyn Cooke to sign 3 trades. He finally came, but left right as I got there to go yell at someone who was harrassing him about a comission he'd never agreed too. He was just gone two minutes, I talked to his wife a little. When he came back I stammered "I r-really love New Frontier. It's one of my favorite comics e-ever..." He thanked me warmly and asked my name. I told him it and he signed my trades and said "thank you, Caitlin." I whispered thanks again and ran away. He said my name! Squee!
I purchased the Titans companion (OMG it has a whole two pages about Spoiler OMG) (Also YJ and TTG interviews)
I went to a "Sunday Chat with Dan DiDio and friends" It was very nice, mostly talked about what we loved about the medium, and stuff. Turns out Dan and Mark Waid regularly have bidding wars on E bay over comics. Mark always wins. Also, he can name any issue number of a silver age comic by looking at the cover. Really, we tested it right there in the room.
Three girls complained about unrealistic female figures. I did not have to say anything. Except when the guy behind me said "Well, the men do wear skin tight costumes" and I said "So do the women" and he said "I KNOW that!" Well, okay there, Fanboy.
Mark Waid joked that the more women who go to conventions, the more it helps women get realistic proportions, because most of these guys have never seen a real women before going to a con. Jann Jones said one time a guy had come up to her at a con and said "things have been getting a lot worse since YOU GIRLS got involved." She said she kicked him in the junk.
I kind of hope that wasn't a joke, bad person that I am.
I had a very long conversation with Jann Jones afterwards. I apologized for harassing her about TTG. She said "No! Don't apologize! I love it when people are passionate." She went on about how she loved J's work and hated cancelling it, but hoped I was enjoying Tiny Titans. I said "It's not really my thing, but some of it's enjoyable and I know a lot of people who like it." I told her I would probably look at the Shazam stuff and commended her on the Supergirl in Eigth grade thing, and check that out too. Somehow the conversation got to Spoiler (It always does with me, y'know) and Jann said she loves the character and really was behind her coming back. She promised Steph would be safe and well used in the DCU. I told her it had hurt most of all that people would only remembered the end of Steph's story, when there was a lot more to her, and I was truly grateful it wasn't the end anymore. Jann said "Yes! There was a lot more to her, and she did a lot more and she has so much potential as a character..."
I could tell she was sincere too, I'm pretty good with that. She shook my hand and told me she was always glad to see more young women in comics, and I should come to the next con.
I left shortly after that. My purchases:
Robin/Argent Double shot
Robin #51, 47 etc
Robin Year One books 2 and 4 (I should have grabbed 3, but I thought it was the one I already had. But that was 1, not 3! Stupid!)
The Complete Batman Animated Series (40 bucks...that's gonna cost me some housework)
Titans Companion.
Seriously, it was amazing. More filling of the missing gaps in my Steph collection, and wonderful commissions. I'll post the other 2 tomorrow as said. Plan to do a Steph-tastic scans daily post with the new material. More info tomorrow, as I'll probably remember more.
God, I love coventions.
...I have 50 bug bites from camping though. No, really 50. I counted. It was lot more fun than expected though. More details on that later.
Type your cut contents here.
By Michelle Poust
I'll post my other comissions later (one was 5$ and the other was free. I cannot afford Amanda Conner or Cliff Chiang, to my sadness. But could even Cliff Chiang be as awesome as the above? I do not think so)
Now, onto the convention
Cosplayer count: Harley Quinn, Joker, Heath Ledger Joker, Wonder Woman, Naruto, Star Trek people, Black Canary (she actually pulled it off, too) and...God, I can't remember but I have pictures.
Artists/writers who signed stuff for me: Darwyn Cooke (!!!) (New Frontier trades 1 and 2, recently purchased first trade of Catwoman), Nick Cardy (program), Amanda Conner (Secret Origins 80 pg Giant), Todd Dezago (two issued of Impulse by him) and Cully (First Blue Beetle Trade)
Important people I met: Jan Jones, Cliff Chiang, Sanford Green, Dan DiDio and my elementary school art teacher.
Important people I saw: Mark Waid, Jimmy Palmiotti, Adam Hughes, that guy who does the fill ins for Blue Beetle and Robin #173, oh god, so many people.
Now for the detail:
I got there in a massive panic, so sure something was going to go horribly wrong. Mom did a spectacular job of putting up with me and should be commended. Her first act of complete awesomeness was to go up and save me a seat for the DC Nation panel so I could take a look at the convention.
I was floored. I have NEVER been to a convention any more, so this seemed HUGE. I know San Diego Con in 40 times larger, but this was overwhelming enough for me. So many booths, so many artists. Thousands of back issues to a booth. DVDs, action figures, merchandise...VIPs all over the place, and amatuers in a near aisle. I had no idea where to start. How was I going to decide who to get a comission from with all these folks? How was I going to figure out what to buy?
I went back to the DC Nation panel. Dan DiDio, Jann Jones, Mark Waid, Jimmy Palmiotti, Matt Sturges
Dan is loud and abrasive as I imagined him, but also very friendly. I felt genuinely bad about all the times I mouthed off upon meeting him, guilt only compounded by further revelations. Jann is very pretty and young, and she smiles a lot, and not a fake smile. She's super awesome, but we'll get to that later. Jimmy and Mark have nothing that make them stand out, very "All American". Mark's very witty though, and so is Jimmy.
There was some general questioning about RIP and Final Crisis, but nothing was really revealed, as you'd expect. Everyone raised their hand when Dan asked if they thought Batman would live. He laughed and said the movie window is closing in August, but I think he certainly knows he's fooling no one. General hype for Final Crisis. Promised MM's death will make sense after Requiem, and it will really explore him.
Honestly, my memory's bad and I can't tell you everything about the panel though I wish I could. I'll go through the points that stand out clearly in my mind
* I asked about the Spoiler miniseries. Much stammering and wobbling on my part. Dan said there are no plans, but Steph will play a huge role in Robin and the Robin/Spoiler special came out (Me: "I know") and that Jann loves Spoiler and will maybe think about a mini after Ambush Bug.
*DiDio asked who was pissed off about Spoiler last year. I raised my hand a little too enthusiastically I imagine, because the guy behind me gave me a weird look. He called on another girl and asked her if she was happy now. She said no, because Chuck Dixon's off the book. Dan moved on to the next question.
* Someone asked if Spoiler would be involved in Final Crisis. Jimmy Palmiotti said "Maybe." This scares me. A. Everyone should stay away from Crisises. B. This means I will have to buy the issue of FC she appears in.
*Someone asks Dan if he ever gets tired of being DC's whipping boy. Dan shrugged and said it comes with the job. He says it's very difficult to do, and he does make mistakes, but the great thing about comics is he gets to try again each month. He just does the best he can, and he knows the Internet will complain. Jann interjected that it makes her angry how vicious the comments get and sometimes she wants to kick some butt. Dan asked Mark (or was is Jimmy?) if he wanted to be EIC. Mark responded "GOD NO!" really loudly. Cue laughter. Mark said he respected what Dan had to do, and that the DCU is very complicated etc.
It may not sound that impressive on paper (screen...whatever) but it really made me feel bad. I can't imagine doing that job, and I still plan to bitch when I see racism and sexism in comments, but after meeting Dan in person, I don't think I can rail on him personally again. I don't agree with the decisions, but being a fan doesn't give me the right to declare DiDio Satan. I mean, it's easy for me to say.
*Same girl who was not me that talked about Spoiler asked about YJ and if Arrowette was appearing. No plans. And yes, I did wonder if this girl was my clone. Actually, I then wondered if it was Anne Onymous. YJ and Spoiler, you know. But I REALLY doubt that.
*This girl then asked about Linda Danvers (I KNOW IT IS CREEPY) and if she's ever appear again. DiDio said "This month"
: 0 : 0 : 0
HOLY SHIT.
*Will Bart Allen ever come back? DiDio: "Next."
Me: > : (
*Some guy who I could barely understand what he was saying (DiDio had to ask him to repeat himself) asked DiDio "Who would win in a fight, you or Chuck Dixon?"
DiDio beaned him in the head with a T shirt.
* Matt Sturges Blue Beetle run will include mini golf. One of the obstacles will include getting a ball past an Aquaman statues hook. Hilarity insues at the panel.
The panel ended, I floated around, planning to harrass people more about Spoiler...but they were taking pics with little kids, so I left.
It was then I traveled the convention. REALLY OVERWHELMING.
I gushed to Amanda Conner and Cliff Chiang. I had a rather long conversation with Matt Sturges. General "Isn't Jon Rogers awesome? You have huge shoes to fill. I liked your interview etc". He said he's glad to see more girls interested in comics (I got this about 3 times) and he conciously is trying to make his run girl-friendly, because he thinks we're a very important audience. I said I love Blue Beetle because it was for everyone, including girls. He said he hoped I enjoyed his run, and he's scared shitless to be following Jon, and he's going to keep the tone of the book. (He was next to Michelle of the awesome comission. He did a "!!!" when I asked for Spoiler, always a good sign)
I talked to Todd Dezago, who was just as nice, if not nicer than Matt. Lots of dirt on Impulse. The rundown:
*Todd never wanted Carol and Bart to get together, thinking Bart was too young, but it was an order from editorial.
*He did plan for Max to reunite with Bart and it was going to be "huge, a crazy reunion", but he could get to it because so many crossovers were forced on him at the end of Impulse.
*Barts speed powers were also editorial mandate. These greatly annoyed him.
*He is pissed off that Bart died, but thinks Bart died really when they made him Kid Flash and changed him so much. He says Impulse is still out there, as far as he's concerned, and will come back someday. He'd love to have a chance to write the character.
*He was supposed to do YJ, but got shunted aside. He did not "step down" like they said he did in the Titans companion. A lot of his Pephernauts stuff has what he planned for Secret, Superboy and Bart. He gave me the first two issued for free!
I attended a panel where Darwyn Cooke and co talked art. Very interesting, I think they taped it.
The day wound down, and I met my elementary school art teacher Mr. Casara! Apparently he's a comic book fanatic, and has FORTY THOUSAND in his house.
And I was embarrased I've filled up five longboxes...
My purchases for that day:
Catwoman trade "The Dark Side of the Street"
Catwoman Trade "Crooked Little Town"
Robin #95, #50, #75, #97 (Mind you, this is going off memory. I probably got more)
BoP #97, #98 and #100 (The only 3 issues I had missing! Yay me!)
I went to the hotel room and read and read. I couldn't come down off the high
DAY TWO
I met Nick Cardy and got him to sign my program. Mom had the gall to ask me what he had DONE right in front of him. MOTHER! Do not ask me what Nick Cardy has DONE! He is a giant!
I stood in line for two hours to get Darwyn Cooke to sign 3 trades. He finally came, but left right as I got there to go yell at someone who was harrassing him about a comission he'd never agreed too. He was just gone two minutes, I talked to his wife a little. When he came back I stammered "I r-really love New Frontier. It's one of my favorite comics e-ever..." He thanked me warmly and asked my name. I told him it and he signed my trades and said "thank you, Caitlin." I whispered thanks again and ran away. He said my name! Squee!
I purchased the Titans companion (OMG it has a whole two pages about Spoiler OMG) (Also YJ and TTG interviews)
I went to a "Sunday Chat with Dan DiDio and friends" It was very nice, mostly talked about what we loved about the medium, and stuff. Turns out Dan and Mark Waid regularly have bidding wars on E bay over comics. Mark always wins. Also, he can name any issue number of a silver age comic by looking at the cover. Really, we tested it right there in the room.
Three girls complained about unrealistic female figures. I did not have to say anything. Except when the guy behind me said "Well, the men do wear skin tight costumes" and I said "So do the women" and he said "I KNOW that!" Well, okay there, Fanboy.
Mark Waid joked that the more women who go to conventions, the more it helps women get realistic proportions, because most of these guys have never seen a real women before going to a con. Jann Jones said one time a guy had come up to her at a con and said "things have been getting a lot worse since YOU GIRLS got involved." She said she kicked him in the junk.
I kind of hope that wasn't a joke, bad person that I am.
I had a very long conversation with Jann Jones afterwards. I apologized for harassing her about TTG. She said "No! Don't apologize! I love it when people are passionate." She went on about how she loved J's work and hated cancelling it, but hoped I was enjoying Tiny Titans. I said "It's not really my thing, but some of it's enjoyable and I know a lot of people who like it." I told her I would probably look at the Shazam stuff and commended her on the Supergirl in Eigth grade thing, and check that out too. Somehow the conversation got to Spoiler (It always does with me, y'know) and Jann said she loves the character and really was behind her coming back. She promised Steph would be safe and well used in the DCU. I told her it had hurt most of all that people would only remembered the end of Steph's story, when there was a lot more to her, and I was truly grateful it wasn't the end anymore. Jann said "Yes! There was a lot more to her, and she did a lot more and she has so much potential as a character..."
I could tell she was sincere too, I'm pretty good with that. She shook my hand and told me she was always glad to see more young women in comics, and I should come to the next con.
I left shortly after that. My purchases:
Robin/Argent Double shot
Robin #51, 47 etc
Robin Year One books 2 and 4 (I should have grabbed 3, but I thought it was the one I already had. But that was 1, not 3! Stupid!)
The Complete Batman Animated Series (40 bucks...that's gonna cost me some housework)
Titans Companion.
Seriously, it was amazing. More filling of the missing gaps in my Steph collection, and wonderful commissions. I'll post the other 2 tomorrow as said. Plan to do a Steph-tastic scans daily post with the new material. More info tomorrow, as I'll probably remember more.
God, I love coventions.
...I have 50 bug bites from camping though. No, really 50. I counted. It was lot more fun than expected though. More details on that later.
Type your cut contents here.