THE BOSTON SPECTACULAR COMIC SHOW
Convention coverage provided by Ron Fortier
All week long local TV weathermen had been predicting a soggy wet weekend. A truly dismal forecast that would have depressed the strongest optimist. Lo and behold, Sunday morning arrived as a beautiful sunny day without a cloud in the sky. At 7:30 AM my neighbor and good pal, Rich Woodall pulled into the driveway and off we went heading south for Boston. What perfect day for a comic con.
Rich, if you didn’t pick up on the name is the same Rich Woodall who is the artist/creator of the very popular and long running sci-fi comedy comic, JOHNNY RAYGUN. I’ve known Rich for many years now and we’ve even taught a few courses together at our local comic shop on how to write and draw comics. He’s a super talent and all around nice guy. While enjoying our leisurely drive south, I got Rich to tell me what he’s been up to beside his work on JOHNNY RAYGUN. As always he’s been keeping extremely busy with all kinds of different artistic gigs. The one taking up most of his time these days is doing hundreds upon hundreds of sketch cards for Topps.
This all began when he landed a job doing LORD OF THE RINGS cards. I believe Rich said he did a thousand of these. Upon completion he was asked to STAR WARS cards and jumped right into those. No sooner was that assignment wrapped when he was asked if he’d like to do cards for the new INDIANA JONES movie. Rich was delighted, hoping that Topps would send him some really cool film shots and thus give him an advance peek at this up and coming blockbuster. Sadly that was not to be the case, as the package they provided him contained nothing but head shots of the principle players. So much for sneak-peeks. Once finished with this assignment, Rich then landed the sketch job from heaven, to do Marvel characters. A life long Marvel fanatic, Rich is having a ball doing these mini images of some of his favorite all time characters. While at the show, Rich was seated to my left and whenever there was a lull in the fan traffic, he would pull out a few blank cards, his battered copies of the Marvel Universe which he uses for reference and draw away. He did over ten new cards during the course of the day.
Arriving in Boston, we found the Radisson easily enough, parked by the ballroom entrance and proceeded inside to meet the con’s promoter, the affable David Cummings.
Dave took us into the main room, there were at least four big rooms devoted to vendors and creators, and showed us where out tables were set up. I began to unpack my stash of pulp novels and copies of my graphic novel DAUGHTER OF DRACULA, while at the same time eyeing the activity around to see who else had arrived. To my pleasure, almost directly behind me in the next row was Comics Related own artist/creator Kris Carter. I dropped what I was doing and went over to say hi. Kris is currently producing an amazing six issue sci-adventure for Arcana Comics called EPOCH and has asked me to help with the scripting. To which I’m only too thrilled to sign on. Kris had his portfolios of the project spread out before him and I was simply in awe of the work he’s produced for this new venture. It is simply stunning and I predict is going to be a big, big hit with the fans. Kris is clearly a rising star in the comics world.
As luck would have it, while Kris and I were talking, the show’s Big Name Guest arrived and David had him set up to Kris’s right. So just like that, here was DC artist fantastic, the talented Mr. Cliff Chiang. I have to confess, since I buy so few comics these days, the man’s name didn’t register at all to me. As I watched him set up, he pulled out a display from his recent DOCTOR 13 series and my eyes widened in surprise. This particular series, later collected into a graphic novel, was one of the most beautiful illustrated comics of 2007 and one of the few I made sure to buy. And here was the fellow who had drawn that book I love so much. And being the dunce I am, I’d never both two and two together, thus had not brought my copy along with me. Aaghh.
But that didn’t stop me from walking over and introducing myself and telling Cliff just how much I truly loved his work and what I thought of DOCTOR 13. Cliff Chiang is a truly pleasant, likeable young man and in our brief discussion told me he really enjoys working for DC comics. Everyone there has treated him very well and he hopes to work for them for a long time to come. In an answer to my query, he said he wouldn’t be averse to working at Marvel, he’s simply not had any opportunities to make contacts there and so content to stay with DC. He is very excited about the Vertigo project he’ll soon be tackling, after he finishes his stint on the GREEN ARROW – BLACK CANARY mini he is currently drawing. This Vertigo project will be a hardback book based on a music album by legendary recording artist, Neal Young. Cliff told me the title, but it escapes me right now. Still the idea of a graphic novel based on a music album sounds fascinating and if Cliff is doing the artwork, I certainly am putting this book on my want list right now.
So it was back to my own table and get ready for the doors to open and the fans to show up. As I sat down and took a quick sip of coffee, two guys came up and began unloading a free-standing art display behind the empty table to my immediate right. One of them was a big bruiser with a Red Sox sweatshirt on while his companion was a shorter fellow wearing a Yankees shirt!!! A dreaded Yankee in Boston! I immediately deduced who this fellow was and couldn’t be happier, as he was the second Big Name Guest, and the one I’d been eager to meet.
“You must be Mike Lily,” I said proffering my hand. “I’m Ron Fortier.”
“Oh, hi! I’ve read your blog before.”
Which was the start of a really fun day as Mike and I got to know each other over the course of the next few hours. What a talented artist. When he learned Rich and I were from nearby New Hampshire, he told us he’d graduated from Franklin Pierce, a well known state college up here. He started out in the art business as a graphic designer, doing logos etc. Friends pestered him into getting to actual graphics and he started working on really small time, tasteless project. Just to get his feet wet. Then as his work began to be recognized the good offers started coming to include his Batman work and, most recently, his stellar outing in VAMPIRELLA – REVELATIONS.
It was really fun getting to know Mike during the course of the day. We even discussed the classic Yankees – Red Sox rivalry, Mike of course being as much a Yankees fan as I am a Red Sox devotee. And as to be expected, we both have a really honest respect for each other’s team. I did ask Mike what kind of future projects he had in the works and was surprised to learn that he’s taking on some truly unique commercial jobs outside the comics field. The first of these is a children’s book for Simon & Schuster tentatively called LITTLE EINSTEIN. This tells the tale of young Albert Einstein as a child and his relationship with his engineer father in Munich. Mike says its tons of fun to draw, part of the story showing little Albert’s fantasy world as he imagines the world of mathematics as explained by his loving father. After this, Mike will be doing a book for a medical company once again using imaginative illustrating to show a body’s anatomy from the inside, much like the classic sci-fi movie, FANTASTIC JOURNEY, with cartoon characters exploring the body’s working for young readers.
I watched Mike draw sketches for fans during the course of the day and he was always so eager to please them. He did a truly gorgeous Conan for one fellow that would have made Sal Buscema proud.
So much for the chit chat. By now the fans were pouring in all and all of us creators found ourselves happily busy talking with them about our mutual loves and interests.
Surprisingly my pulp novels and anthologies impressed a lot of people who were unfamiliar with them and certainly didn’t expect to find such at a comic show. I discussed a little of pulp history in America and the fact that comics, as we know them, actually sprang from young writers and artists who grew up during the Great Depression reading pulp heroes like the Shadow and Doc Savage. From these young visionaries would come Superman, Batman and all the other great iconic comic heroes we all know and love. But firs there were the pulps.
Which is as good a way to segue into another new creator I met at the show, Sean Kasper.
Sean and I were once members of a Yahoos Board devoted to Doc Savage and Sean, like me is a huge pulp fan. He’s gone as far as to write and publish his own book, HAMMER ROAD AND OTHER ANOMALOUS TALES, starring his grizzled private eye hero, Pierce O’Leary. Sean was gracious enough to give me a copy and I’m very anxious to dig into and eventually will post a review at my Pulp Fiction Review blog.
Believe the five hours we spent at the show simply flew by. Next thing I know the afternoon was waning and Rich was giving me the lets-hit-the-road signal. We packed up, bid out goodbyes to one and all and thanked Dave for a truly super show. Driving home, I was a wee bit tired, remember it’s only been two weeks since my lung surgery, but then again it was a good tired. We’d met some old and new friends and as always some truly terrific fans. All in all, it was a stellar show and one I hope to do again real soon.
-- For Comics Related - Ron Fortier 14 April 2008
Photos!
Mike Lilly, Ron Fortier and Rich Woodall
Rich Woodall
Cliff Chiang
Visit the official show website at monkeyhouseentertainment.com.
About Ron Fortier - Ron has been a professional writer for over twenty-five years working on comic book projects such as The Hulk, Popeye, Rambo and Peter Pan. His two most popular comic series being The Green Hornet and The Terminator (with Alex Ross). With Ardath Mayhar he has penned two TSR fantasy novels, and in 2001 he had his first play, a World War II romantic comedy, produced. His most recent projects include the novel Witchfire and the graphic novel Daughter of Dracula. Learn more about Ron and his work at his blog www.airship27.com or in his forum.
Page last updated on April 15, 2008