Comic Related - A Convention Virgin's Tale

JOURNEY OF A COMIC CONVENTION VIRGIN

By Brant W. Fowler

The general reaction I got from people in comics I knew when I told them I had never been to a comic convention was basically awe and amazement. Being 31 and having worked in independent comics in some shape or form for the past eight years, as well as being a comics fan for many years beyond that, people just seem so surprised I had never made the trek to a convention before. But it's true. Prior to Wizard World Chicago 2008, I had never been to a comic convention save one local show (in Lexington, KY) many years ago.

Needless to say, though I'd heard all about them and knew plenty of people who had been, I still wasn't sure what to expect. Just months earlier I thought the first convention I would ever go to would be Mid-Ohio-Con in October, and as a creator, not a fan. But when the opportunity came along to hit WW Chicago (thanks, Comic Related!), I couldn't pass it up. Plus there were some people in Chicago that would be at the show that I had wanted to meet for some time, so it was a win-win situation.

Chuck Moore of this very website was kind enough to extend me a press pass on the stipulation that I write a piece on the convention. With it being my first ever convention, I thought "what better coverage than that of a "comic convention virgin" (in the words of Catch da Craze podcast)?" It seemed like a perfect fit. And though I am very late with the piece, that's exactly what this is: my account of my very first comic convention.

So where to begin? I guess I'll start with the obstacles I met even getting to the show. Way back in May I had been flown down to Georgia for a potential job opportunity in comic retail. I was well taken care of during the week I was there, and I was ready to take the job. Part of the job involved working conventions, so it would have been bittersweet in that I would get to go to conventions, but I'd never get to enjoy one. So when the job fell through, I decided I was going to try my best to make it to the next feasible comic convention, which just so happened to be Wizard World Chicago. I have a couple of friends in comics that live in Chicago, and my artist friend, Scott D.M. Simmons (Wannabez), who doesn't live too far from me, was going up for the con as well. So it seemed like things would work out, right?

The first obstacle I met was a place to stay. Hotels are expensive, and I was planning on going down for the full four days. I had this nice press pass and could've gotten in early every day and really dug deep into the throes of the convention world. But putting myself up in a hotel room became problematic financially. So I turned to the two guys I knew who lived there, Chuck Kennedy and Lance Stahlberg. I had never met these guys in person, but I had worked for/with Lance for a while, and Chuck and I had become good friends. Unfortunately, not only was it Chuck's triplets' birthday that weekend, but his wife had also just had surgery, and her parents were in. And even with all that going on, he still had a place open for me, but I couldn't dream of imposing. And the only reason I am even mentioning any details of that situation is to illustrate what a good guy Chuck Kennedy is. So Lance became the next option, and he opened his couch for me. But that's when the next problem arose. Transportation.

Scott was only going for two days, Saturday and Sunday, where I wanted to go for Thursday and Friday as well. So I had to find transportation as my car was definitely not going to make the trip. But after dealing with a car rental place for two days, I realized it would not be feasible. During all this drama, I was emailing, Chuck, Chuck, Lance and Scott and telling them, back and forth, that "yes, I'm coming" and "no, I'm not coming", then "I'm coming, but later" and so on. It was a nightmare.

Long story short, I ended up only going for the weekend and rode with Scott, which opened up a whole other comedy of errors as we ran all over Ohio running errands and trying to get things in order. I won't bore you with the details of that, but it will make an interesting story to tell my kids someday should I ever have any.

Finally, I was on my way to my first convention. I had at last met in person the artist on my project, Wannabez, who I had known for four years. I spent the night at his house, met his wife, and stayed up until 4am with him at his work making business cards for both of us and printing out his inking samples. We got on the road, finally, in a hybrid no less (great gas mileage!), and we set our course for Chi-Town.

When I walked into the convention center I was in awe. I had been in convention centers before, for church functions, concerts and wrestling events, but the vibe was completely different. I'm not really involved in the local comic scene too much, so I had never been around "my own kind", so the experience of being around likeminded individuals was awe-inspiring, but very comfortable. Well, for the most part. Being around all the cosplayers for the first time was interesting to say the least.

While Scott checked in and got his professional badge I waited to meet up with Chuck Moore, who had my badge (oddly, though we live probably ten minutes from each other, we met for the first time in Chicago). Let me tell you, Chuck Moore is one of the nicest guys I have ever met in my life. Scott and I kept talking all weekend about how fun it was running into him and talking with him. This man is passionate about comics and this website, and it shows.

After meeting up with Chuck, and sadly being informed about the tragic loss of Michael Turner (God keep you, Mike), Scott and I headed onto the convention floor for what would be my introduction the insane world that is the comic convention. I was like a kid in a candy store, admittedly, as I ogled the fascinating booths and banners, and looked around at the people in costumes. I literally had no idea what to do first or where to go. I just stood there for a minute taking it all in, mesmerized by the bright colors like a moth drawn to the flame. This felt good. This felt right. I knew the trip and all the hassles had been worth it as soon as I got there.

Scott and I branched off so he could turn in inking samples and get that out of the way. I then hooked up with Chuck Kennedy, who has been a blog pal of mine for a couple of years, and his brother. That was a highlight of the trip as we got to go out to eat a couple of times and really just hang out on the convention floor. He gave me some tips, introduced me to a few locals (like Moonstone EIC Joe Gentile, pictured right) and just showed me around, but gave me the floor to do what I wanted, which was cool.

Taking a cue from Scott, I figured I'd go around to the various companies and hand them my card. I'm a writer and a letterer, but without anything substantial published yet, I decided to focus on my lettering. And since it's not typical to show lettering samples at cons, I just gave out my card. I think I hit just about every company on the floor, and a bunch of artist alley tables flashing the card. One of the first places I hit, though, was the Image booth. I had spoken to Kris Simon (Shadowline Editor) several times before, and she had turned down my lettering on various pitches before. But an interesting thing happened when I met her. It turns out that she had been meaning to contact me because she had a gig for me! So within my first hour on the floor, I had landed a lettering gig on an Image graphic novel, written by Jeff Marriotte no less! Since then, I've picked up another Image title, and things are going pretty well. Jeff is a charm to work with, and I'm thrilled to finally have the chance to have published Image work!

I also made a ton of other connections and met a lot of cool people. I purposely sought out several people I had lettered for, but had never met, as well as some people from Digital Webbing I had talked with before. I won't recite everyone here as I'm sure I'll leave someone off, and I don't wish to hurt any feelings. So just rest assured, if I met you in Chicago, it was my pleasure, sincerely.

I also made the rounds and checked out various booths, but didn't buy a whole lot. Some of the publishers were very generous and gave me some free swag either because of my press pass, or because they had talked with me online previously. I also purchased a few books, including a couple of titles I had lettered that I hadn't had copies of. But I did the bulk of my shopping Sunday, which still wasn't much.

By Saturday afternoon I honestly felt I had done everything there was to do there, and didn't know what to do with myself again. So Scott and I hit the Devil's Due panel, which was interesting. They picked up The Corps license in the absence of G.I. Joe, which was a little unexpected, but not surprising.

After that, Chuck Moore filled me in on something special. That night they were premiering Batman: Gotham Knight, which I had planned on attending. I had the press pass, so I could get in, and somehow Scott had procured a pass into the showing as well. But when Chuck told me that with the press pass I had the opportunity to sit in on interviews with the writers and others involved in the creation of the animated film, there was no way I could pass that up! I'm talking Bruce Timm, Greg Rucka, Brian Azzarello, Josh Olson, and others. I had no idea what to expect as every interview I've ever done has been via email, but I had to attend. After I finally figured out were I was going, I followed some people up, and just kind of flowed in with them. Later I found out I was tailing the creative team! I had no idea what any of them looked like, so there I was just casually walking into the room with Azzarello, Rucka, Christopher Drake (one of the composers – cool guy) and so forth like it was an every day occurrence.

Fellow Comic Related writer, Gordon Dymowski already covered the bulk of this interview session in his latest installment of TV Party far more eloquently than I could have (I didn't even have a pen or paper!), so just read that column for all the details. Though I do have a differing opinion of what my personal favorite segments were of the film. But mostly I just sat there and listened while everyone else asked questions (from various other news sites), though I did manage to sneak a few questions of my own in there that I saw others report on, which was rewarding. The one question I asked Bruce Timm, "How much of your influence was on this film" was met with a simple, one word answer "None", which made me chuckle, though I was alone in that moment of levity, which then made me feel a bit uncomfortable, but it was still worth it.

After talking with all the creators, we were herded down to the room for the movie where press got to sit in a special section (which eventually was opened up to just anyone, however), and it was fun to watch the film after hearing the insights and the reasoning behind each segment by the writers and composers themselves. It made the film that much more enjoyable for me.

Though there was an after party, or gathering of sorts afterwards, Scott and I were so tired we decided to head back to the hotel and call it a night. Sunday, I finally had a chance to meet up with Lance Stahlberg (Haven Distributors) after missing him several times Saturday. We talked for about an hour about business and other stuff. It was nice finally putting a face to the voice and name. Lance is totally business at the cons, which was fine, and we covered a lot of ground. I also got to meet, through Lance, Sean Taylor (writer of the Gene Simmons comics for IDW among other things) who I had actually edited on a title for Lance's Rogue Wolf Comics. Sean is a nut, let me tell ya! But he's from my home state of Georgia, and he's a trip to be around. He's bouncing off the walls, and always has something going on. We kidded about his Bluetooth phone, because you couldn't see it beneath his long curly hair, and so he would go off talking and nobody knew who he was talking to!

After that, Scott and I hit a few places we had apparently missed, including Wildstorm, where I met Shannon Denton (the EIC), who I'm lettering a project for. And then we just hit the floor some more. I met Mick Foley and got his autograph at some point, bought Scott a birthday present as it was his birthday the day before, and just kind of piddled around for the rest of the day before having lunch with Chuck Kennedy (my first sampling of the Chicago stuffed pizza – delicious!), and then called it a day.

The highlights of the convention were meeting people, getting the lettering gig, and sitting in on the interview with the Batman: Gotham Knight creators. Though honestly, just being around people with similar interests and likes as me was reward enough. Meeting Chuck, Chuck, Scott, Lance, Sean, and a bevy of others was the biggest thrill for me, and I had an absolute blast. Can't wait to do it again!

When I had talked to Catch da Craze a while back, as I mentioned, Mid-Ohio was to be my first. Now it may be my third, as people are trying to get me to hit Baltimore. At the very least, it will be my second, and I'll have a table there (in Ohio). And I'm going to try my best to make Wizard World Texas also to meet another friend, Cary Kelley, among others.

Yep, I've been bitten by the convention bug, and I couldn't be happier about it. Next year, I'm targeting San Diego!