A Personal Look Back at MOC 2009
By John Wilson
This is an article about my personal experiences at this year's Mid Ohio Convention. Coming back to the Columbus Convention Center is like coming home (if the ride home involved a speeding ticket), because it's like returning to family. The Comic Related Family. And as it was the fifth anniversary of our beloved site, it was the perfect time for family. Directly next to our booth was Scott D.M. Simmons of the Wannabez displaying an impressive amount of Star Wars art. Across from him is the uber-talented Uko Smith. Why this man is not the next J. Scott Campbell or Alex Ross just confounds me. Someone at the big three (or even the middle three) needs to hire this man today. Next to Scott, was the backbone that keeps the whole of CR standing, Brant Fowler. Brant was not only displaying The Wannabez, an impressive array of his various lettering projects and the Haven catalog, which owes him its look and style, but he also displayed several sketch cards that are the beginnings of his foray back into the world of drawing. Behind us, was our buddy David Arhar and his son. Two generations of a drawing team that is nothing if not prolific.
In terms of prolific, you need only have stepped one aisle over to a trio of tables that were manned by some very talented friends. At the corner were Studio Akumakaze and their ever growing rooster of talent. At that table, I was pleased to meet Julie Wright, a young artist of such surprising talent that a bidding war almost broke out over the single preview copy of her work. To say that she is a talent with a bright future is one of the great understatements of all time. Next to them was the incomparable and always stylish Eric Adams, whose Lackluster World is not only a fantastic story but a source of personal torture while I wait impatiently for the next issue. Prolific, stylish and fantastic are three words that define the next couple as well as the word that they use for their series that has been most often referred to as the Teen Titans if they were on HBO...Unique. Adam Withers and Comfort Love are unique in many ways. They are a married couple who are both extremely talented artists. They write and draw the Uniques as well as create an impressive volume of posters as well as a steady stream of clamoring fans (myself among them) that want personal sketches from them. If there is such a thing as living the dream as a comic creator, this incredible couple is doing just that...and doing it with style.
The rest of our "family" was farther a field but still close to our heart. Lora Innes, whose Dreamer is so good that it found its way to IDW, did us the honor of cutting our 5th anniversary cake. Killer Robots Love You artist Tony Miello did us the honor of closing down the free bar with us at the after party and No Gods Dustin Carson did us the honor of providing the greatest conversation and laughs at the after party and just of being one of the most humble guys I know. As always, the "kings of self-promotion", Freestyle Comics kept the party going all day long with sketch battles, giveaways and more enthusiasm than a squad of cheerleaders. And in contrast the trio that is Ringtail Cafe showed everyone how it is done with quiet style and an increasingly more beautiful display. You have only yourself to blame if you haven't experienced their work and bought their buttons. Great talents and fantastic people. Is it any wonder why we love Darren, Krista and Jackie so much? The other personal revelation of the weekend was meeting Owen Ratcliffe and his friend Shaun (pictured below). Owen is the creative force behind the upcoming Black Salt movie and comic book that is distributed by Blackline Comics. I learned more about marketing in one day's discussion with Owen than in years of retail. And Shaun was such a nature salesman in hyping Black Salt, Comic Related and ComicsXP that we ran out of all our promotional material before the end of the first day and I guarantee that more people now know who we are and what we are about than ever before. I can't thank both of them enough.
I also had the pleasure of being on two panels (a first for me). The first was about who is winning between DC and Marvel's big stories and the second about the Marvel/Disney merger which was moderated by the Comic Buyer's Guide's editor Maggie Thompson. Inner geek powers were definitely in full effect and both went fantastically well. Sadly there is no audio but the great audio of the Indy panel should more than sate your thirst. My personal swag pile has grown yet again with another sword from the great guys of the Tortuga Trading Post, many new comic finds (which I will get to in a later article) and the real-life heroes of Secret Lair Comics made sure that swag is carried in style by presenting me one of their first messenger bags with their logo on it.
I have to talk about the stellar job the show organizers have done. This is my second year at MOC and it just keeps getting better. They got us everything we needed to do our jobs and the show floor was a great mix of retailers, creators and a smattering of celebrity guests and the occasional eclectic offering. All and all the perfect way to set up a show. I had a great time and will definitely be back next year. Now if we can just move the hotel a little closer (it is one hell of a walk)
This is just my personal reflection of this year's MOC. To get the complete picture, check out the audio, articles and photo galleries that are on this very website...you'll be glad you did.
John Wilson - John Wilson is a life long comic book fan and recent comics professional. In addition to his Graphic Content column of Comic and How-to book reviews on Comic Related, he writes content for Sketch Magazine.net, is a digital colorist for Unleashed Press, a moderator on the Art Unleashed forum for Blue Line Pro and Sketch Magazine and writes his own comic stories. John is also an Art educator, Multi-media artist and graphic designer. In the other five minutes of his day, he spends time with his wife, Kim and their two dogs and reads more magazines than should be humanly possible.
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