2019 Cape-Con Recap

It rained off-and-on for about an hour during the drive to Cape Girardeau Saturday. Not terrible, but a little annoying. I wanted to try and be relaxed before going into a place where I'd be surrounded by lots of people.

Last year most of the comic retailers had their own room, but this year, Ken went back to having basically all vendors, artists, and guests in the main room, with a few people in a smaller room across the hall. The overflow space, I assume. I think I like that system a little better, since you don't have to keep going back and forth between rooms depending on which tables you want to check out. You can check some longboxes, then turn around and see what some artist across the aisle has, and then there's a person selling cupcakes the next aisle over.

They had a scavenger hunt going, with a list of things to try and find and different tables. I didn't participate because that would involve actually speaking with people, but there were several times I was standing at a person's table and someone would come up and ask if they were the answer to one clue or another. Although the answer was always "no", so maybe the clues were tricky?

I didn't actually spend much time looking through longboxes, though. I still have a list of stuff I'm looking for going, but very little of it is Marvel or DC, and that's the majority of what most vendors have. But I like to at least glance through the discounted tpbs.

The most popular guest during the time I was there was voice actress Veronica Taylor, which was a little awkward in that her table was the closest to the doorway to the main area. At times, her line stretched all the way back out the door, which led to congestion and confusion for people just trying to get into the room, or trying to get in line to see her. Eventually they stationed one of the people there to direct folks. It's not a complaint - I was in that state of mind where all the people around me turn into vague obstacles to maneuver around - just amusing.

I don't normally go in for woodwork, but I did buy one piece each from two different vendors. I liked the quotes on them. At least one of them is going to be a gift to a friend, the other is either going to a different friend, or I'm keeping it for myself. I haven't decided yet. Fortunately, both parties' birthdays are months away, so no rush. The one with the Harry Potter quote is definitely going to a friend. I've never cared about that fictional universe, and once I realized that's what it was from, I almost didn't buy it, but my friends are into the Potterverse, so it works out to the benefit of one of them.

I got my first commission sketch in a couple of years. Asked Chris Ebert, who previously drew Firestar for me, and that picture of Etrigan and Hitman smoking cigars for a friend of mine, to draw the Ray, in all his '90s white pants and black leather jacket glory. That turned out pretty well. Other than that, I picked up several other pieces from a few different artists. Most of them are regulars at Cape-Con, but there was a new one of those artist collectives, Invasion Media. Those are always interesting, just because the different artists can have a lot of wildly different styles. Really improves the chances of finding something I like.

I've figured out I'm a lot more open to artist interpretations of American comic characters than I am to anime/manga characters. I'm guessing because the latter tend to be done in just one person's style (even with different animators, they usually try to hew close to the creator's look). Whereas, I've read with comics starring Spider-Man drawn by dozens? hundreds? of different artists. So I have a lot more wiggle room in my mind for what's a "proper" Spider-Man than I do for Goku.

I did feel like there were fewer artists overall than in past years. Some of the people I'd grown accustomed to seeing didn't appear to be there. I don't know if they didn't reserve space in time, couldn't afford it, or have perhaps moved elsewhere. I wonder about those things, like when someone's blog goes silent and we have no idea what happened. Are they dead, or did they just lose interest? Reminder of the passage of time. Things change.

Anyway, it was a good time, as usual.

Just Keep Telling Myself, Spring Comic-Cons Are Coming

Even though they're calling for snow this weekend, and the temp is supposed to be down to 0 Sunday night, spring must be on the way. Because we're just two months out from the 2019 Cape Girardeau Comic Con!

My coworker's getting married the weekend before, so I lucked out Ken scheduled it a week later than last year. Although I might be attending a week-long training in another state until right the day before the convention. If so, gonna be a lot of driving that week. But that's OK! I always try to make time for Cape-Con. I've only missed it twice, 2011 and 2015, and those were because of work-related things I couldn't avoid. If you can avoid work, I highly recommend it.

The website has only started adding guests and vendors in the last week, and ticket prices aren't up yet, so there'll be more information to come, I'm sure. I need to get some kind of a gameplan together about what I'm looking for in terms of sketches or comics. Especially artwork. I didn't get a single commissioned sketch last year at any convention I went to. I got a lot of pieces I liked, but nothing unique. I was too indecisive and/or cheap. Mostly cheap.

I don't know how well the escape room thing worked last year, it isn't listed as a feature currently, but it may be added later. I like that Ken always seems to try and get a variety of guests and activities given the constraints the size of the venue pose. The Osage Center is a solid location, based on the places I've attended conventions, it just isn't the largest place you'll ever see.

Cave Con 2018

With a friend in town to visit, we traveled to Springfield for the 2018 Cave Con. I believe this was its first year, so it isn't a huge convention yet. But it felt like they had a lot of vendors, several local artists, and some people who've done work for major comic publishers.

Joe R. Lansdale was there, as were Cullen Bunn and Dennis Hopeless. I bought an Arcade print from Buster Moody, and I thought about getting a copy of Godzilla in Hell. I just didn't think I cared enough about Godzilla. If Big G is going to be confronted with all his old foes in Hell, it's going to be largely lost on someone who can't recognize any of them.

With the mostly limited funds I had on hand - the last week was a pain in the ass for spending - I focused mostly on local artists. I picked up the first issue of Hank Steiner, Monster Detective, by Scott Schmidt, Tyler Sowles, and Sara Sowles. It was interesting, and I'd like to see more of the world it's set in, the points of tension between the "monster" side of things and the humans, which I'm guessing is where a lot of Hank's work falls.

I also picked up the first two issues of Charl13, written by Fines Massey and Chris Burgess, and drawn by Kristofor Harris. It's about a robot soldier trying to protect what's left of humanity in a wasteland left over after a war with an alien race. It's takes the tone and approach of a spaghetti Western, the cynical, reluctant hero roaming a dangerous and uncertain landscape. It hit a lot of my favorite buttons, so I'll have to keep my eyes peeled. Buying both issues got me a print of my choice for free, so I picked a nice one by Omar Zaldivar. Made Charl13 look very cool.

Beyond that, I bought a four prints from three different artists. One by Gary Bedell, which had two people in a rapidly sinking crow's nest, looking at the shadows of two creatures circling them beneath the water. He had copies of that sitting out front and center on his table and it caught my eye every time I walked past, so for $5, it was a no-brainer.

Eric Wright had a print of a swallow carrying a coconut, which is a Monty Python and the Holy Grail reference, which I vaguely remembered, but I thought it something an actual bird species did. I know there are birds that pick up clams and drop them on rocks to bust them open.

The last two were from Kelly Williams. They're a little bigger than bookmark sized, one of Spider-Man with the old Spider-Sense going off, and one of Beta Ray Bill with a nice lightning effect in the background. He told me he did that with a white acrylic. I thought it was done with some sort of marker. At any rate, I don't see a lot of Beta Ray Bill pictures, so had to get that.

I didn't order any commissioned sketches. Haven't gotten any all year. Seems to be harder to find artists with a style I like, a price I'm willing to pay, who I haven't already used for someone on the lists I'm working through. My friend did commission a nice Etrigan from Lorenzo Liana.

Cape-Con 2018 Recap

To start, the weather was much nicer than last year, and I didn't have a splitting sinus headache to deal with. It was almost worryingly easy to wake up at 5:15, and there wasn't much traffic for the drive. I got there 15 minutes after the doors opened, and there was just a short line at that point. By the time one of my friends arrived at 11, the line stretched well out into the parking lot.

They tried something different with the layout this year, as most of the comic book sellers were in the first room you came to in the building, rather than the main open area. That was where I spent the first half-hour or so, nosing through dollar boxes. I found a few things I was looking for. Half-dozen Power Man and Iron Fist issues, a Starman trade and a single issue, a couple of '90s Guardians of the Galaxy comics, a couple of Marvel Fanfare.

Compliments to the Burg Comics table, who had their dollar box stuff actually arranged alphabetically. A lot of folks just throw that stuff in their haphazardly, and I have no idea how to figure out where to look for what I'm interested in, other than just going through everything. After the 15th copy of some random crappy '90s Image book, that loses its appeal.

The Comic Kingdom, as it was labeled, was also where Mike Zeck and Steven Grant were set-up. I didn't end up getting my copy of Kraven's Last Hunt autographed by Mr. Zeck, but I bought a print of the cover to Secret Wars #10, and getting that autographed (that isn't a photo of the print, just an image of the cover). We chatted a little, mostly just about how the convention was going (I didn't buy the print until right before I left, so it had been going for several hours by then). He was a friendly guy, so that made it easy. He thought Ken might be closing in on that goal he mentioned years ago of the con getting at least 5000 people to attend, but that the Osage Center is also probably at about its limit. I guess he'd have to try using the Student Rec Center or the arena on SEMO's campus in that event.

The main auditorium area was where the other vendors, artists, and guests were stationed. With the comic folk getting their own space, the walkways were noticeably wider. There were still some choke points at times, that weird phenomenon where somehow everyone seems to be at the same place at once, while other locations are almost deserted. Overall, though, it seemed easier to get around.

My friend was scoping out some of the older video games that were on offer, although she hesitated on buying a copy of the first X-Men game for the Sega Genesis for 10 bucks, and it was gone by the time we swung by again. She did grab Luigi's Mansion for her Gamecube. A lot of people selling those Funko Pop things, which at least eliminated a lot of places I might have to waste energy scanning for things I might want.

I didn't buy nearly as much art as I have in the past, but I got a few things. Alex had told me earlier in the week he enjoyed My Neighbor Totoro, so I bought a picture based on that for him. Bought a Mad Max print from Seth Groves, and a really nice Scarlet Spider and a small book of some of his video game sketches from Brian Atkins. I was thinking hard about asking him for a commission, but I couldn't spare the cash. Didn't end up getting any commissions this year. Couldn't find the right combination of art style and price point.

That's One Weekend Booked Up

As is the standard here, this is your heads up that the Cape Girardeau Comic-Con is two months away, April 20-22.

At present, there are 73 different vendors listed for the show from costuming to comics to baked goods to video games to artists. I'm hoping there'll be more added before the convention because I haven't seen Matthew Miller's name yet (he drew Amanda Waller for me two years ago, and that nifty Two-Face picture I grabbed last year).

The guests listed include Mike Zeck and Lou Ferrigno, among other. I'm trying to decide whether to take my copy of Kraven's Last Hunt to get signed, or I have that Captain America Annual where he and Wolverine fight, then team-up? Crap, he's probably been asked to sign those a million times. I don't think I have any of Secret Wars in the collection. I used to have part of the Punisher mini-series he drew, but I lost it or gave it away along the line. I'll figure something out.

They're going to try adding some of those escape rooms to the convention this year. I tried one of those with a friend back in 2016*. It looks like you can already reserve a turn with one of the rooms now, which is handy. You can plan the rest of your trip around that chunk of time you have set aside. Maybe get some commissioned sketches arranged with the artists, then go do the escape room while they're drawing. Could be interesting.

* It was good in theory, but the people running that one fumbled the execution. There was one box that was supposed to be locked that wasn't, and there was a clue we needed they forgot to put in the room.

A Weekend Jaunt to KC

Saturday, Alex and I drove out to KC for the Kansas City Comic Con. That went pretty well. I had worried it was going to be another disaster weekend. The track record for when Alex and I make plans is pretty lousy. But no, Saturday went very smoothly all around.

Alex was excited at the prospect of meeting Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith. He did get to meet Mewes, and it went really well from what he said. Alex paid to get a picture taken with him on his phone, and they ended up taking, I believe, 23 photos. Most of the time it seems like you're lucky if they'll give you a do-over if your eyes are closed on the first. I think Kevin Smith was showing up about the time we left, but I imagine that line would have been long.

I tried to convince Alex to buy some of the art he saw he liked, but he kept insisting he still needed to buy frames for all the other art he's bought he hasn't put up yet. I told him to get a portfolio to keep them in until then, which is what I do, but he hasn't yet. So he didn't buy any art. I bought 6 or 7 pieces from a few different artists. No commissions, just prints. I didn't expect we'd be there long enough to go through my decision process*, and we weren't.

I've never really been a big fan of Ghost Rider as a character. In theory, sure, cool concept, but it's never gotten me to buy his titles for any extended period of time. But damn does he make for a cool visual on prints. I own at least 5 or 6 different prints of various Ghost Riders.

Oddly, not many of the artists I bought from included any kind of card. Which is too bad because it means I can't remember what most of their names are. One issue I have with the program the folks behind the con put together is the map of all the booths is absurdly small. The booklet is 5.5 x 8.5 inches. The map is one-half of one page, the other half being part of the listing of names. Which means I can barely read any of the booth numbers on the map. Good luck trying to remember which booth it was.

That bummer aside, it was a good. The KC Convention Center is a nice venue for my needs: Big, well-lit, lots of space in the aisles. You could easily stop at a booth and look things over and not get jostled by people walking past you. I didn't feel any of that usually creeping strain from being around lots of other people, although having Alex along probably helped. I would have liked to have a little more time to look around - I didn't even get to any of the vendors selling back issues - but it was probably better to not spend all my money.

* Find artist whose style I like, and whose commission rate is within my price range. Then figure out what to get them to draw. Then awkwardly try to engage them in conversation and arrange the transaction. Then wait. You need a lot of time for all that.

A Brief But Enjoyable Convention Visit

Saturday, Alex and I went to the St. Louis Comic Convention. It was actually in St. Charles, but whatever. We didn't get to stay long, since Alex had two gigs that afternoon and evening, but it was pretty nice. In terms of number of artists and vendors, I think it was about on par with Cape-Con. I'd imagine it had greater attendance, given the proximity to St. Louis, so more people in easy driving distance. It was starting to really fill up about the time we left (roughly one).

I was pretty excited because Chris Claremont was there, but then I dicked around too long and by the time I was ready to get my copy of Uncanny X-Men #218 signed (the second half of Rogue, Psylocke, Dazzler, and Longshot's fight with Juggernaut in Scotland), there was a long line, and we couldn't spare the time, unfortunately. Too bad, I had wanted to tell him I liked his recent, brief Nightcrawler ongoing with Todd Nauck. I mean, I could have done without the Shadow King, but you just have to accept that guy is going to be a thing when you're reading Claremont's stuff. Could have been worse. Could have been Mr. Sinister.

Alex was more excited about the presence of David Yost, the original Blue Power Ranger, but apparently froze it when the opportunity presented itself to walk up and say hello. So we both whiffed. Maybe next time.

I abandoned any idea of looking for back issues fast. There were a lot of vendors selling comics at 5 bucks a pop, and advertising that like it was some kind of a deal. Maybe if I had remembered to hit the ATM the night before, so I had more than 50 bucks once I got in the door, but as it was, no. There was a moment of massive letdown when I thought I found someone which multiple shelves of superhero trading card collections, only to find out each plastic case had one (1) card, plus a Lego version of the character on the card. A crushing reversal of fortune.

The whole Lego version of characters thing feels like it's exploded recently, which is probably not the case. I just noticed a lot of people selling them here, and the same was true at Cape-Con. Not really my bag.

I did pick up a couple of pieces of artwork. No commissions, I didn't have the cash for that, but a couple of nice prints, including a really nifty Samus. I almost talked Alex into buying a Black Panther print from the same fellow, but Alex said he didn't have any place to put them, so what's the point? I figured the point was you like it, and at some time, he will have a place to put them, so have it for when that day comes. He would not be swayed from his financially practical decision.

There were a lot of interesting vendors and artists, just a lack of time and funds to do more, really. There was a nice lady who paints using coffee, there was a glassblower there, just a lot of cool stuff.

One thing we both thought was weird, and maybe it changed after we had left, but we didn't see anyone dressed up as Wonder Woman. Not even any little kids. I figured with the movie being a big success and all, we'd see tons of them, but not the case. But I wonder if the cosplayers were holding off on getting there until a little closer to the costume contests. It was not a day to be in any kind of heavy apparel, or to be covered head to toe in spandex. June in Missouri is rough that way.

Hopefully the convention comes back around next year and we can spend a little more time there.

2017 Cape-Con Recap

The day didn't start well, because whatever sinus infection my coworker came down with last week transferred itself to me midway through Friday and was in full effect by Saturday morning. Not great to deal with during the 3+ hour drive, combined with intermittent rain. It was bad enough that on the drive home, I had to wear my sunglasses even though it was completely overcast and raining, because the light was making my head hurt. But I made it.

It didn't seem as crowded in the main hall as I remember it being last year, which isn't great. But I stepped outside three times during the day including when I left, and every time, while there were people leaving, there were other people driving up and coming in. So maybe there was a steady churn. At some point I'd like to watch an aerial shot of the crowds inside the convention, see if there's a pattern to where they concentrate at certain times. I might walk past an artist's table at one point, and there's a huge crowd, and circle around 10 minutes later and it's empty. But now there's a bunch of people in an aisle a couple of rows over. Does seeing the crowd draw more people in, or send them away (you can guess which it does to me)?

I did not find the recently released comics I was searching for, so that narrator from Friday's post was correct. What a jerk. I did find some issues of Solo Avengers I was looking for, a couple of issues of Incredible Hulk, JSA All Stars, and some Marvel Comics Presents. There's a stretch in that book where Ann Nocenti keeps throwing Typhoid Mary at different characters, mostly Wolverine or Ghost Rider, which are at least interesting in theory. And you never know when they get a strong surprise artist in there, like Gene Colan or young Jae Lee drawing a story about the Beast.

I did not ever work up the nerve to actually talk to Mike Grell. I know, he's there to interact and talk, and sell some artwork, but I felt like I wasn't knowledgeable enough about his work to really talk with him. I just know enough to know Mike Grell is a big deal in the comic world, which is enough to make me not want to stand there shifting awkwardly from one foot to the other, trying to decide if I can buy a print or if I have a good question (fortunately there were a lot of other people not suffering from my social anxiety). It's one of those times I needed Alex there, since he can talk with anyone. But there was no chance of him waking up early enough to hit the road before 6:30 a.m. the way I planned. And I was not inclined to alter my plans to anyone else's whims this time.

I stopped by Brian Rhodes' table to pick up his new comic Six Legs, No Heart, which reminds me a bit of some of those '70s short stories Stephen King might do. What was that one about the rat-infested tunnel and the work crew at the factory? Night Shift? I bought three more prints from Brian Koschak, and I need to make it a point to hold back a little more money next year to commission a sketch from him. I did commission a Starfire sketch from Lorenzo Lizana, who drew the Darkhawk sketch for me last year. Learned that he was a participant in the same contest that got Mark Bagley hired by Marvel back in the day, and then spent several years in toy design for things like Mars Attacks! and the Lost in Space movie, before making his way back to comics. That was kind of cool, because I read about artists working in TV or movies when they aren't in comics, but I never really understood what that would entail.

I bought this really great Two-Face from Matthew Miller, who drew my Amanda Waller sketch last year. He had done one drawing of Harvey Dent, another of Two-Face, cut up the Two-Face side, then glued it on in a shattered mirror style to the Harvey Dent picture. The description doesn't doe it justice, but I had to get that one as soon as I saw it. I picked up a couple of Overwatch-related pieces for Alex, though that involved asking the artists who certain characters are. I basically know the little zippy on the box art, Tracer, and that wasn't one of Alex' favorites. We'll see if they suit him or not. I worry he might have wanted more badass, and these are going to trend towards cute, but oh well. One of those pieces came from Nick Minor, and going through his sets of prints, I realized I have more artwork by him than anyone else at this point. It was like, 'Got that one, ooh that looks- wait I have that, got that one, there's one I want!' I just really like his style.

It isn't all to my interests, but I do appreciate the variety of vendors. People selling comics, people selling arts, or jewelry, or cosplay stuff, or toys and other collectibles, or food. And I feel like there's a good balance between them, in terms of providing something for everyone. Obviously I would prefer nothing but people selling back issues or artists, but this is for your kids' amusement (the kids!)

I saw one table selling Heroclix, which was a disappointment, but I probably don't need to spend money on pieces for a game I never play anymore. But I might take it up again someday! There were a couple of other vendors I'm used to seeing I didn't this year. I don't know if they decided not to show up, or they were too late reserving a table.

On the way back, I stopped at a gas station and after I answered the guy behind the register's, "How's it going?" with "Not too bad," he said I looked like I had a bad day, based on my mumbled response. I told it was just my understated style, then wrecked my attempt at nonchalance when I put my bag of chips in my coat pocket and they tumbled out before I got out the door. But I made it halfway across the parking lot before I realized, and by the time I got back in, another customer had found them and returned them to the counter. That was embarrassing. *sad trombone*

But it was a really good day. Long, but really good.

Two Months? But I Want Cape-Con Now!

This is your regular two months' heads up for the 2017 Cape Girardeau Comic Convention! Look, this is basically the only time each year I shill for something, so deal with it. I'm expecting this to be the first convention I go to in 2017, and I'm looking forward to it as usual. I might even get Alex to go along this year, assuming he can wake up early up on Saturday, April 22nd*. And hopefully I won't feel rushed since I won't have to dash back so I can be ready for work Sunday (stupid turkey season).

I believe Ken's still trying to line up more guests, so the list there probably isn't complete. But Brian Koschak has something cool to buy every year, a print, or a teaser for a comic he's hoping to get picked up. Lorenzo Liana did a Darkhawk sketch for me at last year's Cape Con. Brian Rhodes created Mike and the Ninja, which Alex has all three volumes of, plus he's got a new comic out, Six Legs, No Heart.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed the weather's nice and there isn't too much road construction that weekend.

* Although considering they're opening the doors at 9 a.m. on Saturday, and we're at least a three hour drive, the odds are pretty good we're just going to stay up all night and then go in the morning. I'm gonna be caffeinated up the wazoo that day.

Impromptu Convention Report

I had a chance to go to a comic convention over the weekend, Dodeca-Con. Smaller than I expected, smaller than any convention I've been to since the first Cape-Con back in '06.

Not many people selling comics. One guy had several longboxes, but most of them were full of duplicates of the same issues over and over. Quite why he thought he needed nearly two longboxes worth of Punisher 2099 I have no idea. I did find one guy who had most of the Len Kaminski written Creeper series, figured that was worth a whirl at 2 for a dollar.

Picked up a few prints, although the Ninja Turtle one I got from Breaker Joe is probably going to Alex. I got a Sgt. Rock sketch from Rob Harris, since Harris' style seemed like a good match for the character. So the DC Favorites collection continues slowly. I should have bought a few of the comics people were making, but I just didn't quite get to it.

Cape-Con 2016 Recap

I did get to make it to Cape-Con on Saturday. Didn't even have to fake being sick. Pleasant enough drive, got their basically as the doors were opening at 9.

Seemed like a good sized crowd, especially after about 10:30, people really started rolling in. If the convention is continuing to grow, Ken might have to look into a larger venue. It wasn't impossible to make your way down the aisles, but there were some definite logjams at times. One thing that was pointed out to me was the convention didn't have particularly defined areas, with an Artists' Alley here, and special guests over there, and the people selling back issues and toys in a different section. In the past it's had that sort of general set-up, but this year everyone was sort of mixed together. So there'd be a guy with three tables worth of old comics, then someone doing commissioned sketches, then a person selling cupcakes or homemade jewelry.

I wonder if that's better for the vendors and artists, because if you want to see all of the artists, for example, you have to move through the entire place, rather than staying in just one section. And then maybe you see something else you want. Have to ask the vendors that. I know my legs got very tired after 7 hours of pretty much trooping in circles, but I had a lot of trouble deciding what I wanted to buy, so I'd loop past a particular table again and again, weighing the decision. I suppose I could have stopped, but that might have resulted in conversation, and then there could be sales pressure, even if unintentional, and I'm no good with that. I really needed Alex there as the gregarious person who could talk easily to others while I agonized over choices, but no such luck.

I did buy a few back issues, mostly from Ben Grimm's John Byrne/Ron Wilson '80s solo series, plus a few issues of the John Arcudi/Tan Eng Huat Doom Patrol series I found in the dollar bins. I might have bought more comics, I had written up a list of things to look for the night before, then forgot it. Though I couldn't find most of the things I remembered from it. Bought a few Heroclix out of the dollar boxes as usual. As far as art goes, bought three prints from Brian Koschak, including a nice alien costume Spider-Man and one called "Droids" of an android sitting on an amp playing guitar. He always has something new every year I can grab, which is fine by me. I bought a couple of other prints here and there, and got two commissioned sketches.

One was a Darkhawk by Lorenzo Liana of Lion Forge Comics, which turned out very well. He got the glider wings and that grapple-claw thing in there and it was just outstanding. The other was an Amanda Waller piece by Matthew at Capybara-Ink. Original, short and wide Amanda Waller, naturally. He said that was the oddest request he'd had, in terms of a character, but that it was cool, because if you're going to request here, you have to really like her. True enough. I just knew when I saw his work I wanted to get something by him, but there wasn't anything in his prints that was quite it. So then I started thinking about my Favorite DC characters list, trying to decide which character matched his style best. And the Wall seemed right, and here we are.

I did feel slightly awkward when he asked if I was excited for the Suicide Squad movie (though he's not the first or the last), since I haven't even seen a trailer for it. My basic hope is that John Ostrander's getting a decent check out of this, but I'm not sure how that works. Does he get some money every time Waller shows up in something, like the Justice League cartoon, or Arrow? Or is it just a one-time deal? Fingers crossed for the latter.

Lotta cosplayers, and I think every year the number who are something I don't recognize increases. That gag from the Simpsons comes to mind. With Grandpa telling a teenage Homer he used to be with "it", but then "it" changed, and what he was with wasn't "it" any longer, and what was "it" seemed strange and weird, and it would happen to Homer, too. So true. Saw three or four Deadpools, including one that was part of a trio of people dressed up as members of the Tune Squad. From Space Jam? One was Lola, one was Bill Murray, and Deadpool was Jordan, albeit wearing a jersey with 91 on it, which was Rodman's Bulls' jersey. Which is appropriate. Several Harley Quinns, usually in groups, either with a Joker, or a Poison Ivy and Robin. Couple of Riddlers, always nice to see. One father and son as Iron Man and Captain America. A couple of Deathstrokes, one Winter Soldier, couple of Daredevils, one Rose Quartz from Steven Universe. Saw one young boy going as Krillin, which was pretty great. Drew the dots on his forehead with marker, and he had bit fake paper eyebrows taped on. I salute you, small Krillin fan!

I didn't a chance to talk to Ken much, since he was busy all day. That was the nice thing when I was able to attend both days. Sunday is usually much more sedate, so there was time to sit and chat. But it was good to see him running around with his usual energy and enthusiasm.

I Can't Forget To Mention This

This is your official two months away heads up for the 2016 Cape Girardeau Comic Convention! I didn't attend last year's, because I decided to hang out with my friend and help him with all the work-related crap he had going that weekend instead, so I can't speak to how that one went. I still feel confident in saying I made a mistake, and should have gone alone.

That won't be a problem this year! I'm prepared to go if I have to tell my bosses I have pancreatic cancer to get out of any weekend work crap. I may also be willing to get pancreatic cancer to really sell it. Then it's not lying, just a poor life decision.

It looks like they're still adding guests and vendors on the web site, since I checked early last week, and Rich Burchett wasn't there then, and he is now. Maybe I can ask him to draw Night Thrasher again, like I did at Project Comic-Con in 2012, and see if he reacts incredulously again! One thing I've enjoyed about Cape Con over the years is that, for the size of it, I think it has a lot of smaller press and independent press artists and writers, and that seems to be the case again this year, judging by the list of them on the vendors page.

Anyway, now that you've been reminded, there's no excuse for not making some reservations to be there April 16th and 17th.

I Haven't Come Down Sick Yet

There was a Fanboy Expo convention in Knoxville this weekend, and since the rain graciously held off during the week, I didn’t have to work on Saturday. It felt like actors were a much bigger part of it than in other conventions I’ve attended, in comparison to the amount of comic book people. There’s really no comparison between the Artist Alley here and the one at Planet Comic-Con, for example. This was good in a sense for me, since it kept me from feeling entirely overwhelmed by having too many things to choose between, which was a real problem for me in K.C., where there were at least 20 different artists I’d like to have given money to. I still found plenty to buy, and reached that stage where I’m low enough on cash I’m arguing constantly with myself about what I can afford to buy. I mean, I would have gotten the keychain with King Kai’s logo on it, but not for 7 bucks. I have a perfectly good keychain already, you know.

Remarkably, my impulse decision to donate blood while I was there did not come back to bite me in the rear. I fully expected it to, since it was one of the first things I did, and it occurred to me partway through the bleeding (and did she have to set the tube on top of my arm, where I could feel the warmth of the blood that was draining away from me?)  it might not be a wise idea to spend the next 6 hours walking constantly through a loud place full of people a pint low. Oh well, I only got dizzy once, and that was when I stood up too fast after I spent a few minutes crouching against a pillar because my knees were tired.

I did buy some back issues, something I’ve fallen out of the habit of doing at conventions lately, preferring to save my cash for art, but there was at least one vendor with a large set of well-organized longboxes, and so I found a couple of issues of PAD’s Supergirl run I was looking for, and quite a bit of Sensational She-Hulk. I’m kind of kicking myself for not remembering to look for Birds of Prey (or buying more of the She-Hulk issues), since all the comics were a buck a piece.

There was a fellow at one of the tables, one of the ones selling homemade jewelry and such, when I looked at him, the description in my brain was “fat, grumpy cowboy Ian McKellen”. I don’t think it was a cosplay, just how he looked. There were quite a few cosplayers. At least 5 Deadpools, including one couple (I guess they were a couple, I saw them holding hands, could have been a joke, Deadpool self-love or something), where the young lady wore the standard costume, and the fellow wore the black and grey X-Force outfit. There was a really good Scarlet Spider I knew I had to get a picture of as soon as I saw it, and a couple of different groups of Ghostbusters (including a family of 4 with 2 little girls). Saw a Kamala Khan Ms. Marvel, which was nice. Lots of Adventure Time characters, saw both Pearl and Steven from Steven Universe (supposedly there were a couple of Amethysts, but I never saw them), a fair few Kim Possibles (Christy Romano, her voice actress, was at the convention) Claire Redfield from Resident Evil Code Veronica X (complete with a red jacket with the correct art on the back, she told me she had it airbrushed on there), a Scorpion from Mortal Kombat, who had the fight music set to play on command. That was a nice touch, though I would probably have that music play all the time in the background for me, or at least whenever I was feeling chippy. We might need to put a moratorium on letting non-Star Wars characters have lightsabers. I get Princess Zelda having one, saves her having to wait for Link to get off his Hero of Time butt and save the day, but there was an Indiana Jones with one, which, let’s try to be serious now, is completely out of place in that universe. I'm joking, but I think there was a Ring-Wraith with one, too. So everybody gets lightsabers now.

I don’t normally approach actors’ tables. I have no idea what to say, and approaching people I don’t know is possibly a bigger issue for me than needles. I definitely hemmed and hawed over whether to wait in line to meet James Marsters longer than I did about whether to give blood, but my friend met him at a Las Vegas convention in April and said he was really cool, and I own one of his band’s albums, so what the hey. He was pretty cool. It’s not like we had a long conversation, but he talked a little about why he enjoyed making and performing his own music, and when I mentioned I had a friend who DJed, and how the idea of getting up there would terrify me, he agreed it is terrifying, but I think that’s part of why he enjoys it? It’s an attitude I can understand in general, if not in that specific context. I sometimes force myself to do things which scare me, just to try and confront it. I don’t like needles, so give blood. I don’t like heights, go to the top of that fire tower.

Oh, and I mentioned I needed to get something to eat, because this was about 3 hours after giving blood and I still hadn’t done that, and his manager gave me a chocolate bar someone had given him. I had actually meant to phrase it in terms of asking where he’d gone to lunch (he had stepped away briefly to get lunch when I was about 6 people away, which gave me time to sit down), and I figured asking about convenient dining options might make good conversation? Though why I was doing that as I was getting ready to leave is beyond me, and it just went haywire. That said, that was really nice. Except now I feel bad I didn’t make it to the band’s show that night, but I just felt gassed by the time I got home. And, you know, clubs are not really my scene, though I imagine this one might have been more relaxed than at one of Alex’ shows.The volume likely would have been lower, and I doubt there would have been as many drunk people bumping into me. 

Missed opportunities aside, I did purchase some art. Alex Ogle has this nice ink sketch style that uses negative space, which is a technique I find interesting (Joe Quesada's use of it was one of the things that helped The Ray stand out in my mind), but haven’t ever managed successfully in my limited dabbling. So I bought a couple of prints (the Ghost Rider one was what caught my eye), and asked for a Deadshot, in the Marshall Rogers-designed costume. I think it turned out very well. Mandy Anders did a chibi version of Vance Astrovik in his Marvel Boy costume, levitating himself and Niels, Speedball’s cat. I only requested that perhaps Vance could be levitating something, she came up with Niels on her own, which was an outstanding choice. So that wraps up the Nicieza/Bagley New Warriors sketch hunt, a scant six years after I began. Criminey Pete. I picked up the first volume of Jamal Igle’s book Molly Danger, since I’ve heard nothing but good things online about it. The first read through confirmed that, which is always nice. That was about it. There were some other artists with stuff I liked, but I couldn’t afford it. Neal Adams alone had several prints I was interested in, I could have blown a third of my cash on him easy, but I like to spread it around a little more. Maybe next time.

Nine Hours On Concrete In Pursuit Of Art Will Play Hell With One's Knees

One of my friends came to visit over the weekend, and on Saturday we went to Planet Comicon in Kansas City. Which was kind of a new experience, as that convention is considerably larger than any of the others I've been to previously. It took us about an hour just to walk the booth's around the perimeter, without even checking out anything in the middle of the floor.

That was kind of a recurring theme for the day, the place being so huge, and there being so many things to see and spend money on. There was too much for me, frankly. When you enter the main floor, there's a nice lady offering these booklets that tell you all about what's going on at the convention, when the panels are and were, costume contests, stuff like that. They also had a map of the floor spread across four pages with all the booths numbered and a corresponding index. I wandered through, circling any booths that had something visible that caught my eye, and wound up with about 2 dozen booths to come back and check out more thoroughly. Which in practical terms meant a lot of booths I wound up not being able to spend money at. Which is frustrating, but that's how it goes. It's just that the other conventions I've attended didn't make me as acutely aware of the problem.

I did cross three more of the New Warriors off my commissioned sketch list. Bartholomew Schmidt had this nice print of Nightcrawler sitting out, so I asked if he could do Night Thrasher for me, and he did. Then he gave me a discount on the Nightcrawler print, which was nice. Emily Rose Romano had a print of Spider-Gwen sitting out that convinced me to ask her for Namorita, and that turned out lovely. Also, Spider-Gwen has really taken off as a request judging by the number of people who had prints of her available. Third, I had Amber Stone draw Rage for me. I'd bought her Amaterasu (from Okami) and Squirrel Girl prints at Project Comic-con back in 2013, so I thought her style would work for Elvin. Despite his name and size, Eldon was really a sweet 13-year old kid, and so it seemed fitting. It worked out better than I could have hoped. She drew him playing with some Spider-Man and Rhino action figures, which I would never have thought to suggest in a million years, but is perfectly the kind of thing I was hoping for. So that worked out very well overall, and Marvel Boy is the last one left. I need to start thinking about the next theme I want.

My friend was more interested in the actors present than I was, and she got her picture taken with Mitch Pileggi, though afterward she felt she had acted terribly geeky around him. I'm fairly confident he's seen people act more geeky than her, though. Anyway, she was very happy about that, so good. She got Dennis Hopeless to sign a couple of issues of Avengers Arena for her, and talk to him about the abrupt end to Avengers Undercover. She bought this nifty print of Storm in her current look from a nice lady named Rori, but then lost the print at some point while roaming the convention. Remarkably, someone found the print, and rather than keep it, returned it to Rori, who was able to return it to my friend when she went to see if she could get another. That's really surprising to me, that they'd notice it and return it to the artist, rather than keep it for themselves or just ignore it. Apparently they took the time to roam the artist's booths until they found her, they didn't automatically know who did it, which is really heartening.

Then Rori did a sketch of Cammi (Avengers Arena/Annihilation's Cammi, not Street Fighter Cammi) that turned out fantastic. She didn't have her color markers with her, but the fellow at the next booth had some neon ones, so she was able to use the neon green for that light that was around the collar of Cammi's space suit, which really played off the pencils and inks nicely. I was very jealous, so maybe Cammi needs to be on that next list of characters I get sketches of.

I saw a lot of cosplayers where I had no idea who they were supposed to be. Not in the sense they had bad costumes, just that I clearly had no idea what they were referencing. Did see at least a couple of Agent Carters, and one very good Kamala Khan Ms. Marvel, among other outfits, which was nice. Good to see those characters getting traction, having fans that come out to represent.

We were there pretty much until it closed. An old coworker showed up about 2, so we hung out until she could get to see things (also some of the sketches took right up until the end). The downside was trying to get out of downtown K.C. right when the Big 12 Basketball Tournament was wrapping up, which meant navigating a bunch of stupidly laid out one-way streets clogged with sad, jaywalking Kansas Jayhawks' fans. Got kind of lost, had to take a roundabout route home, but made it eventually. Which counts as a successful convention trip, I guess.

I've Been Remiss In My Huckstering

I meant to do this a couple of weeks ago, two months out, but I got distracted. Sorry.

This year marks the 10th Anniversary of the first Cape Girardeau Comic Convention, and this year's Cape Con will be at the Osage Center in Cape Girardeau, MO, from April 17th through the 19th. I'm going to do my best to be there, barring complications. It looks as though they're going to have some cool guests. Jeremy Haun is back, Cullen Bunn's going to be there. Doug Paszkiewicz will be there again, he's the creator of Arsenic Lullaby, and his Devil's Decade collection ranked as my second favorite trade I bought last year. 

There are quite a few other guests as well (feel free to follow this link to the official website), and as usual, there's a sizable group of local talent, both writers and artists, that'll have tables to show off their work. That's where most of my money seems to go these days, if only because they usually don't charge as much, so my money goes further. On those lines, tickets for Saturday are up to $10, which is up from the $5 it's historically been. But that's still seriously cheap compared to most of the conventions around here. There's one in K.C. next week that's like 30 bucks to get in, not counting the cost of parking. And Cape Con is still $5 for admission on Friday and Sunday, if that suits your schedule better.

Cape-Con 2014 Recap

My only regret is not buying cupcakes.

I was only able to go on Saturday, because my work schedule overlapped the convention again. I mean, I could have taken the day off, I've missed one full day and half of another in the 4+ years I've been on this job, but I figure I should save that sort of thing for more serious stuff. I know, what's more serious than a comic convention? I have strange values, alright?

Since it isn't turkey season, I was able to get in the field early and be on my way to the convention before 10, so I could drive slightly more leisurely than I did during last year's pell mell race for fun. The weather was nice, traffic was light for the first 80% of the drive, and so I arrived only slightly irritated with humanity and considerably less drained of adrenaline than last year. No wandering around in a daze in 2014!

The convention itself was excellent. Ken announced that they'd set an attendance record for the convention before Saturday was even over. When I first got there and asked how things were going, he said it was 'packed, not at capacity, but packed.' so he was pretty amped about that. I saw him again before I left and he commented that it was so crazy it was almost unmanageable, but it was manageable, so it was just awesome. So that's good. I don't know what caused the jump in attendance. The shift to March, landing Shane Davis as a guest, shifting demographics in the area, luck. No clue, but it's nice to see. I don't know if it'll ever reach that 5,000 attendees level he said he'd love to hit years ago, but growth is good.

As for me, I spent practically the first hour just wandering, scouting the tables, trying to decide where to start. I didn't buy any back issues, though my friend from work who arrived shortly after I did grabbed a bunch of Season 9 Buffy comics. I did grab a couple of comics. Chris Ebert, who drew that very nice Firestar for me in 2012, had finished the comic he'd been working on for the last few years, so I grabbed a copy of Bullet Ridden. Brian Koschak had a comic of his, The Eavesdropper Cafe that I grabbed, as well as a larger print of that "Loneliest Astronaut" picture I bought a small print of 2 years ago. Unfortunately he hasn't found anyone to pick up Back Alley Hero yet. Considering it was about a Regular Joe type trying to be a hero, I figured there'd be some interest. That seems to be popular.

The other comic I bought was Douglas Paszkiewicz' Arsenic Lullaby - The Devil's Brigade. He made a good sales pitch for its dark humor, and I do love dark humor. Sometimes. I haven't read any of them yet. I've put most all other pastimes on hold to try and get through the books my dad loans me, except he won't stop sending more books. I keep thinking I can read fast enough to get done, but no, here come more books. And then I go and buy all three parts of D.L. Moore's Night of the Dragon at the convention, so even more books. What the hell am I doing?

. . .

So yeah, the cupcakes. There were these two nice girls - one dressed as Wonder Woman in basically her current outfit, the other Rogue in her '90s cartoon style - and they had a table piled high with baked goods they were selling. I kept telling myself I was going to buy a couple of cupcakes. Then I'd get distracted, or worried about how much money I'd already spent, or just put it off and it never happened. No cupcakes for Calvin. Ah well, a valuable lesson about not hesitating to strike when the oven is hot. Because that means the cupcakes are fresh.

On the artistic front, there was a fellow doing wood engravings among other things. He had one with the Decepticon symbol. Grabbed that for Alex, plus what I think of as the Rogue Squadron symbol. It's probably the Rebel Alliance, but I know it from Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, so I'll call it what I like. I spent the greatest amount of money at the Pixel Peddler's table, where he makes what are meant to look like 8 or 16-bit representations of, well, pretty much anything. My friend grabbed a Walter White head, plus complimentary pixelated bag of meth, and a Deadpool emblem. As for me, I grabbed a Krillin early on. When I came back later, the large Rocket Raccoon was missing, so after that, all bets were off. Anything I thought I wanted, I wasn't waiting. Which is how I wound up with Sonic the Hedgehog, Knives Chau (from Scott Pilgrim), and one of the ducks from Duck Hunt. You know, Krillin is far and away my favorite Dragonball character, and I still couldn't resist having Knives give him bunny ears. Sorry, Krillin. And yes, Sonic is most of the way out of the shot on purpose. Because he's fast and impatient, obviously. I'd say that fellow was doing good business even without me, since by the end of the day I think he had more display space than things to display.

I picked up a nice Zatanna print from Michelle Delecki, who was very friendly and energetic, which simultaneously makes me feel welcome, but also desperately wishing for Alex to be around. He's much better at being equally energetic around people he doesn't know, where as I shift to shy and reserved. This year's New Warriors sketch was Silhouette, as drawn by Nathan Rice. So I'm officially halfway through my "commission sketches of all the Nicieza/Bagley New Warriors" project! Only Night Thrasher, Rage, Marvel Boy, and Namorita still to go! Whoo! At this rate, I'll only need like 4 more years! On the positive side, that means I still have plenty of time to figure out what the next project would be.

I left before the costume contest, because a) I hadn't eaten that day, and b) I wanted to finish the drive back into the boonies before twilight, which is when all the idiot deer start running around. My friend informs me the winner was someone in a Man-Thing costume. I didn't get to see that guy before I left, but it was suggested they probably only wore it for as long as they had to. Understandable. I did see quite a few good costumes, including an entire family done up as the Fantastic Four, Nobody was dressed as the Thing, they just all had the classic blue with white gloves and boots outfits, but they were good. There was a Hawkman and Hawkgirl (Hawkwoman?) couple, more than a couple of the Doctor (including one boy wearing a fez and carrying a mop, which I assume is a story point).

I only took a few pictures, and then I almost wrecked them last night trying to get them to a reasonable size. I thought the whole image was being shrunk, but it was actually just cropping them to show only a portion equal to the dimensions I specified. Avoided wrecking any convention photos, but I did lose the three of the local friendly dog, and the two of that geodetic survey azimuth marker my dad found in the corner of a field. There was a excellent Indiana Jones, but I figured I'd share the Ash photo. Hail to the King and all that. I understand that it's polite and proper to ask to take photos, and it probably ensures the best view of the costume. I still kind of prefer taking more natural photos. My favorite convention picture might be the '07 Cape-Con one of the Stormtrooper just chilling, leaning against the railing. I think it's the disconnect between the normalcy of the action and the appearance of who is doing it.

That was my Saturday. A fine time had by all.

Consider This Your Six Weeks Heads-Up

No, not for the Year in Review posts, though thanks to the weather, I'm starting to wonder if my claim of being done by Valentine's Day wasn't biting off more than I can chew.

Instead, it's time for me to slap on my huckster hat, and remind you about the 2014 Cape Girardeau Comic-Con!

Hang on a sec, the huckster hat seems to have shrunk since last year.

If it seems a little early to be a scant six weeks away, well, Ken moved it up to the weekend of March 21-23. Not sure why, but it ensures that stupid turkey season will not stand in the way of my making it to the convention. The fact it looks like I'll still have to work that weekend might, but at least it won't be the fault of those damn turkeys and their enthusiastic pursuers.

As usual, tickets are just $5 a day, and it looks like there are family weekend passes, where up to 5 people get a weekend pass for $25 bucks total (it'd be $15 per person if you just walked up each day).

He has some interesting guests lined up so far: Shane Davis, Douglas Paszkiewicz (Arsenic Lullaby sounds familiar, but I can't place it), Michelle Delecki, Brian Koschak is back (so I need to see if Back Alley Hero is out). At any rate, I am intrigued, and perhaps you are as well. In which case you should indulge, and come to the Cape Comic Convention next month.

I Need A Weekend From My Weekend

Long weekend. It was Alex' birthday, so I went to visit, and you know how that goes: Lots of people, lots of music, lots of people drinking. The music was fine, I like most of it, and it's very cool to watch a room packed with people start enthusiastically jumping around when he picks a song they really like.

Thursday night we skirted the edge of pretty serious storm front. I saw more lightning than I have ever have, and that went on for the entire 90 mile drive. Then he played at the club, and one of his drunk coworkers started knocking cups off the bar, then hurled a drink over the two of us because she, 'always wanted to throw a drink on someone.' And Alex wonders why I don't drink. Who wants to act like that kind of asshole?

Alex wasn't happy about working on his birthday, so he ended up claiming it was his birthday from Friday through Sunday. Eh, it was my fault. I tried to raise his spirits by suggesting he make his birthday a three-day event, and he jumped at it. He drank quite a lot Saturday (well, early Sunday morning, technically), but that is his birthday, so it's appropriate. I just wish he'd give up this quest to find some alcoholic beverage I'd like. Or at least not pick things loaded with cinnamon. Blech.

Sunday we went to Project Comic-Con. It was pretty relaxed. Not empty, but not packed to that point where I feel the crush. I would have liked to get there earlier than 12:30, but considering Alex stayed up drinking until after 4:30 in the morning, I'm lucky he actually woke up at 10 (with some prodding from me) like he said he would. I think I've decided to stop back issue hunting at conventions, at least until I can get to one early and get any artwork considerations covered at the start. I picked up some nice artwork, found a couple of artists to look into in the future. Turns out Alex knows Jim Mahfood's brother through DJ circles, which I didn't know (neither did Alex, since he didn't know who Jim Mahfood was), but is somehow unsurprising. Alex' ability to meet and befriend people is staggering.

End of the day, though, it felt like a lot of missed opportunities. I had an idea about getting Fabian Nicieza to sign my New Warriors #1, and tell him how much I enjoyed Cable/Deadpool, but I guess he was only there Saturday, or something came up. I seem to have missed Chris Samnee, too, and I waited too long getting to Rick Burchett to ask for a sketch. I was gonna go for Night Thrasher, because I thought there was over an hour left, but there was really only 20 minutes. Maybe in the future. I did watch him draw an Old Man Bruce Wayne for someone. Observing the whole process was really impressive.

2013 Cape Con Recap!

I was going to put an "extravaganza" on the end of that title, but I don't want to be writing checks I can't cash.

Yes, I made it to Cape Con in spite of work and Turkey Season. Big thanks to my boss, who agreed to cover half my work on Saturday so I could finish early, on the condition I take money for her and purchase things off a list she provided. Which I did. And a "Fuck You" to Turkey Season for trying to screw me over. Just leave the damn turkeys to the coyotes, bears, and pumas.

I fairly flew around out there to finish work, though I made the mistake of trying to run up the hills. Better to stick to running down them, and walking steadily up. Less likely to end up sucking air in so violently you almost throw up. But hell, I was desperate. I needed every minute I could beg, borrow, or steal, which is why I drove like a damn maniac. Fortunately, the traffic on the drive to Cape Girardeau was light, except for one old man in a pickup who decided he need to drive 10 miles under the speed limit for about 10 minutes. I know corpses that could drive better. At least they'd keep their feet on the gas. Also, I hit just about every stop light in Jackson red, which was maddening.

On the plus side, I did see two things during the drive I found hilarious. First, there was a church with a big sign hanging on the outside saying "Welcome Sinners!" I can't decide if that's great advertising or terrible. Personally, I resent the implication they think I'm a sinner without even getting to know me. Second, there was a gas station that advertised itself as having 'amazing restrooms'. If I hadn't been in such a frenzy that I'd have run over a nun pushing a stroller with an orphaned baby, I might have had to stop to see what made them so amazing.

Ken moved the the convention this year to an arena building further in town. I didn't get the chance to talk much with him, so I can't say why. It's a smaller venue than the Osage Center, but still fairly spacious. There was a raised stage where the Magic sorts could play without being in the way, and there were bleachers above the floor were you could take a load off if you wanted. I didn't feel terribly squeezed, even though there was a decent crowd. Then again, by the time I made it to the convention, I was in a haze. I'd been amped up for 7+ hours at the point, and my adrenal glands were done. There could have been live dinosaurs rampaging down Artists' Alley and I wouldn't have noticed until one bowled me over.

I found out Jack sold the comic store. Well, the subscription list and all the comics and such he had. The new guy has his store right next door, but it isn't called Marvels and Legends any more. I briefly debated whether I should change the name of the blog, but hell, I haven't really been "reporting" on what goes on in the store in years, not since I stopped living in Cape. We'll have to wait and see how the new guy does.

Since I only had 4.5 hours to use, I didn't have much time to stand around. First order of business, I found Chris Ebert, who drew Firestar for me last year, and inquired about the cost of a sketch for my boss. He said $20, and that's how she got her sketch of Tommy Monaghan and Etrigan smoking cigars. Don't look at me, it was her idea. As for me, he had one print left of that Deadpool standing on a mountain of ninja corpses drawing I wanted last year, so I scooped that up.

I also tracked down a couple Buffy Season 8 trades for the boss, plus a Harry Dresden hardcover. She's not the first coworker I've had ask me to track those two things down before, but this is the first time I've been successful. Actually, it's the first time I can remember seeing these Dresden Files comics. I knew they existed, but they were always somewhere over the horizon, like the end of a rainbow.

One definite positive development was the much larger crowd for the costume contest. There were at least a dozen adults, and probably that many kids. There was a whole family with the dad as Galactus, and the kids as various Heralds (I think. One of them was definitely the Surfer, and another was possibly either Firelord or Nova). There was a Black Widow, Spidey in the black costume, a couple of girls going together as Thor & Loki, a Tony Stark with one Iron Man glove on, though you can't tell in that picture (I love it: two Norse deities, Father Christmas, a guy powered by various gods and such, and Obscenely Wealthy Businessman). Tony tried making a speech from Iron Man 2, one about Uncle Sam sitting back and sipping iced tea, that didn't get the big reaction I thought it would. He couldn't quite carry it as well as Robert Downey Jr., but he had the same sort of smooth-talking smart ass voice. Might have done better with an Avengers quote. There was a Poison Ivy, a Clark Kent (who would rip his short open to reveal his Superman shirt beneath it), and an outstanding Hawkgirl. Hawkwoman? Thanagarian badass, let's go with that. That's her down below.

I don't actually know who won, because I started to get really tired at that point and left in search of sugary beverages.

As for me, I picked up Volume 3 of Mike and the Ninja, the concluding chapter in Brian Rhodes' story. That's really for Alex, though I read through it. It was encouraging to read in the backmatter about the things he wished he did differently, threads he'd kept going or fleshed out more. Makes me feel better about my writing. He also told me he's thinking his next project will be a book. Not sure whether it'll be a kids' book or not, but he's considering it.

Jeremy Haun was at this year's convention. I think he was there in 2011, too, but that was the one I missed. I got him to do a Darkhawk sketch for me, which he seemed excited to get to do. I know, he's got to at least appear like the idea doesn't bore the hell out of him, but I thought he was legitimately eager to do Darkhawk. He said he liked him, so that's nice. Also, I got a chance to ask him about who does the sound effects in comics. He told me it's traditionally been letterers, but there's a growing trend of artists adding them in. he even cited Chris Samnee on Daredevil as one. It doesn't necessarily tell me who's responsible in a given situation on a particular book, but it was nice to have some confirmation my hunches were right.

Here's something interesting to me, maybe it's been happening for awhile. At conventions there are typically artists who aren't working for major comic publishers. Either they self-publish, or they just do artwork, prints that they can sell. Whichever. Apparently there are cases where several of these artists form a group, pool their money, and hire someone to go to conventions for them, and sell their artwork. I imagine it cuts down on travel expenses, plus the cost of a table can be split, and affords them the opportunity to sell at multiple conventions in the same weekend. I guess it means more different artists work to choose from for the customer, though you obviously can't get a commission from an artist that isn't there. There were two of those tables at Cape Con. At one of them, I recognized Terry Huddleston's work (he drew Nova for me back in 2010), and at the other, I saw some of Wil Woods' stuff (he did a picture for Alex of Deadpool working some turntables that same year). The person working one of the tables, I believe his name was Jon Hughes, may also have made that Hawkgirl outfit. I know I saw him helping her with the wings.

I picked up a couple of pieces (one of Ghost Rider, one of Aisha from Outlaw Star) at one table, and then three for me (Psylocke, a Trigun piece, and a really nice uncolored Batman Beyond picture) and one Doctor Who-themed picture for the boss at the other. One other nice thing about having the work of multiple artists sitting there is that you tend to get a wider variety of subjects, since each artist has their own favorites. Of course, there's no guarantee the piece with the character you like will be in a style you care for, but it's not a perfect world.

I really needed more time, or even better, the chance to come back Sunday. I didn't have a lot of time to scout back issues, not that I saw much I would have bought. One table had some ROM back issues, but I keep holding off because I figure as soon as I start buying them, the rights will get sorted out and we'll see a series of trades. There were a couple of prints at Jaeremy Haun's table I'd have bought if I had the time. One fellow was selling video games from an array of consoles, and I seriously considered throwing down the 10 bucks for Goldeneye. I've largely given up hope Alex and I will ever go scout through that storage facility for it and the other three of my N64 games he has. I would really have liked to get a sketch from Nathan Rice. I'd kept walking by his and the Helock Comics guys' table, and I finally stopped late in the afternoon. I perused the book of sketch cards, bought one of Power Girl, and decided he'd be a good person to get a sketch from. Except the convention was closing in an hour, and he was already busy. Someone had asked him to do a card for each of the Doctors, and he was only on 9 or 10.  There just wasn't enough time. Plus, I was worried about burning all the cash I had before I could stop for dinner.

Sure, I could have hit an ATM, but I didn't really want to that night. It's much easier for me to justify spending if I can say, "I didn't go wild, I only spent 50 bucks on Sunday," while ignoring the 70 I threw down on Saturday (which is what I spent, when you factor in food and the $5 admission). If I could have gone home, gotten up Sunday, and gone back? Hell yes I'd have stopped to get more cash and thrown it down. As it was, I settled for a much more leisurely drive back to the boonies.

The fact that I wish I had another day at the convention - or at least the entire 8 hours it was open Saturday - is the best recommendation I can give for it. I simply didn't have enough time to see, do, and buy everything I wanted to in the limited time I was able to steal.

Your Annual Notification

Just letting you know the 2013 Cape Girardeau Comic Con is only a little over a month away. It's April 19th through the 21st.

I'm hoping to make it again this year, but it might be tricky. I have to work that weekend, which normally wouldn't be a huge issue. I could get finished by late morning, be at the con by 2 at the latest. I'd at least be able to have some fun on Saturday.

Unfortunately, the con also falls in the middle of turkey season, and typically I'm not allowed to go into the field at sunrise as I'd prefer during that time. Not out of concern for me. They don't want complaints about someone's hunting being disrupted. We'll see how it goes.

But irate hunters are probably not an issue for you, so no using that excuse! Go to the convention! You have five weeks to get ready, how much time do you need?