BY JENNIFER M. CONTINO When my time at the Pittsburgh Comicon is done, I always feel as if I've run a marathon. It's a good feeling to get home, but I'm tired and drained. Renee George put on a great show this year, with something for everyone. Even if you weren't a huge comic book fan, there's enough sci-fi, horror, manga and other things to tempt you.
I'd imagine the timing of the New York Comicon made it hard for a lot of comic creators to take two weekends off in a row, but there were a lot of artists and writers eager to talk to comic fans throughout the weekend.
I arrived early on Friday, eager to get things set for the Win, Lose or Draw panel I was holding later in the day. I found four comics professionals anxious to meet and greet their fans through this game: Alex Saviuk, DJ Coffman, Talent Caldwell and Mark Texeira. Two pros on each team worked with two fans to win fabulous gift certificates donated by Monroeville's own Phantom of the Attic and Comicon T-Shirts donated by the show itself. However, before the games began, I had a lot of work to do.
I like to try to talk to every comic creator set up at the show, from the biggest names in the mainstream to the people stapling their minicomixs together in their basements. I try really hard to treat everyone equally and spend time with as many of them as possible. I met a lot of new people this year, caught up with some cherished friends, and discovered a lot of new books.
I'm going to apologize ahead of time if I forget to mention anyone. It isn't on purpose and it doesn't mean I didn't have a fun time chatting with you at the show. It was nice to see Eric Adams again. He had several issues of Lackluster World on hand for sale. Brian Babyok, Scott Hedlund and the rest of the Strumhaus Studio gang were there as well with mini comics, T-shirts, buttons and other goodies from their group. Jim Balant and Holly G! from Broadsword Comics were big hits at the show, with a line around their booth at most times. Darryl Banks had several Green Lantern pages and other pieces of art to show fans at his table. Eric Basaldua was busy most of his time there signing autographs and talking comics. Glenn Barbis and Al Dorantes, two of the folks behind the Thursday night meet and greet party at the show, had lots of different Luchadore works for sale at their booth. Rich Bernatovech had the newest trade featuring the Sentinels on hand as well as the previous two. This time, Bernatovech created an all-ages friendly trade, instead of his more mature content.
Kristin Blank and Mike Wood of Hate Your Friends fame had the latest issue of their mini comic ready for sale. Blank helped me a lot on Friday, making sure my panelists knew where to go. Patrick and Shelly Block are a Pittsburgh Comicon staple. They always have a lot of great Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge pictures around their table. Mike Bocianowski looked very dapper all weekend at his Yets display. I never did get the chance to talk with Sal Buscema. He was on hand for the Hero Initiative a few hours through the course of the show. I did get the chance to talk with Talent Caldwell and persuade the shy guy into being on my Win, Lose or Draw! panel. He was a delight, drawing anything and everything; but I'm guessing it won't be as easy next time to get him on my panel. I met Dusty and Sara Catlett from EverCross. They had Kurious Reigns as their debut book at the show.
D.J. Coffman is another Pittsburgh Comicon staple. He had the hardcovers of his Hero By Night series on hand and was donating them as the grand prize for both of my panels. Coffman was a hit on the Win, Lose or Draw! panel. He was quick to guess just about everything for his team. Girls With Slingshots' Danielle Corsetto and the lovable McPedro had the newest trade for sale and treated guests to a puppet show two days of the convention. Costuming expert Scott Crawford, and several superheroes were there to keep con goers safe throughout the show. Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz threw a party for Spider-Girl on Saturday, complete with cake! Then Frenz joined us for the Comic Book Match Game, the last of my game show panels that was held at the show. Inker Wayne Faucher was smiling throughout the show and talking to fans about comics and anything else of interest. Dan Greenwald happily gave me a copy of his mini comic, Dead Love. It's got zombie romance in it ... freaky!
One of the funniest people I met all weekend was Eisner Award Hall of Famer, Al Feldstein. The octogenarian was a hoot. He was eager to talk about his time at E.C. Comics, and joked when I asked him about an interview that we could e-mail, "have cybersex" and chat. I found him quite funny, even if he was a little naughty. Hey, would you expect any less from someone who supposedly "seduced the innocent" in the '50s? I chatted with Neil Jam's Neil Fitzpatrick and Scarlet Huntress' Sean Forney for a few minutes in passing. I praised Brendon and Brian Fraim for their comical work in America, Jr.. I spent a few minutes talking about Ape Entertainment with their Editor-In-Chief, Kevin Freeman. Bryan J. L. Glass was someone I conned, er, talked into being on my Comic Book Match Game panel on Saturday. He didn't think he was "worthy," but his "blanking Ben Afleck" answer to a Daredevil clue was hysterical. Michael Golden was nursing a cold the entire weekend. He still managed to chat up some fans and answer questions. Mike Grell was busy most of the weekend as the con celebrated the Legion's 50th Birthday.
I met James Hatton, who does In His Likeness, a simplistic comic with a bit of a complicated story. Cory Harris gave me a copy of Sidekicked to check out. Mike Imboden introduced me to his Fist of Justice series as well. I'm anxious to find time to read all the books that I got throughout the event. I met Josh Johnson, who had hard and softcover copies of his work Spindletons to sell. Joe Linsner and Eva Hopkins are always a big hit at that show. The crowds around their booth are massive and Hopkins' Friday Night Indie Comics get togethers are great fun, even if they do compete with my Karaoke for Charity event at the same time. I finally got to meet The Dreamer's Lora Innes. I also got her to be on my Comic Book Match Game panel after the manly man Beau Smith chickened out. Well, he really didn't chicken out, he just kind of tricked Innes into taking on the panel. I met Scott Wegener and Brian Clevinger of the pulp Atomic Robo. Both are excited about this book and working on several other projects as well.
I caught up with my Junior PULSE reporter, Layne Toth and her family over the weekend. Layne's now 11 and her artwork has improved a lot since I first met her. I really think she's going to be one to watch, but just as exciting is little sister, Peri Toth, who is also artistically gifted. We've had a lot of brother teams in comics, but I think the Toths are going to be one of the first real sister teams that make everyone stand up and take notice. I can't wait to see what happens next for both of them. Across from the sisters was Nell Wilson. I didn't touch her donuts and, in exchange, she or, rather, Fat Momma was Layne's partner on my Comic Book Match Game panel on Saturday. It was a lot of fun meeting her. I talked with Neil Vokes for a few minutes, but was sad that Robert Tinnell was too busy with The Feasts of the Seven Fishes film to make it on Friday. I chatted with Renee Witterstaetter for a while on Friday. She helped get Texeira to play Win, Lose or Draw!.
Also fun was meeting The Legion of Super-Heroes' Francis Manapul. He was on the Comic Book Match Game panel on Saturday. His answers were very entertaining. He seemed to be having a nice time at the show. His table was very busy with folks looking to get their comics autographed. Scott McDaniel also had a crowd around his table most of the weekend, so I only got to talk with him for a few minutes in passing. I met Brian Maze of Freak Central. He gave me a copy of his book and it looks interesting. I saw Dirk Manning and learned some of his upcoming publishing plans. I had a short conversation with Alexis Millan about her work and Chris Moreno about some of the things he's involved with now. Mike Oeming had a table next to Taki Soma. Both of them were very busy with fans throughout the weekend. I talked to them both a few times.
I chatted with David Mack for a few minutes, but couldn't convince him to be on either of my panels. Maybe next year! I got to meet Jorge Vega of Gunplay fame for the first time. It was a surprise, because I didn't see his name in the program. But he was fun to talk with through the course of the weekend. I also had a lot of fun with pals Pete Stathis, and the evil Jason Yungbluth, even if both did arrive to Karoake very late! It's ok, I still love you both! Brett Pinson gave me the latest copy of his work, The Expendables. Jimmy Proctor gave me a copy of Zombie Bob Gets a Job. I hope it's not one in an area that I visit .... Chris Pisano gave me a copy of and talked with me for a while about his work, Thought and Control. Chris Ring also hooked me up with a copy of The Perfect Victim, which looks very intriguing. Shane Ronzio didn't have anything to sell this year, but he did tell me that his website has been updated.
Even though I pronounced his last name wrong, Alex Saviuk still agreed to be on the Win, Lose or Draw! panel and was fabulous! He really got the crowd going and was a treat -- as were all of my panelists! He does beautiful artwork. I'm surprised he's not working on a monthly at DC or Marvel Comics. I ran into Stuart Sayger several times throughout the show. I'd love to see him do more of his indy series, Shiver in the Dark, but he's got a lot of mainstream work keeping him busy. Maybe he'll have a new issue next year. I had a fun talk about being a girl in a "boys world" with Tim Truman and the aforementioned Beau Smith on Saturday. They both had a lot of comical comments to make about the industry and told me a few secrets. Also full of secrets and other ideas was Billy Tucci. He's busy working on Sgt. Rock, but, if he can get another military idea off the ground, this might not be the only military project we see coming out soon from him. I found Dave Ulanski with a ton of Moonstone Books comics and graphic novels on hand. He gave me several books to check out.
Aside from meeting all of those great people, the highlights of the show for me were the panels I hosted. We did Win, Lose, or Draw! for the first time ever on Friday. It got a nice response from the audience, and the players enjoyed their chance to hang out with the pros and win fabulous prizes. Thanks again to Roy from Phantom of the Attic for donating the monetary gift certificates.
Friday night we had a Karaoke for charity event to raise money for the Make-A-Wish foundation. A lot of comics pros and fans sang songs and embarrassed themselves for charity. We hope to do it again next year as well, even if it took a while to get the party started. I'm thankful for everyone who came, sang, and donated money to that worthy cause. We didn't raise as much this year as we did last year, but I'm hoping we'll do better next year.
On Saturday, it was a whirlwind of running around, getting things ready for the panel and making sure we had everything else set. Our prizes were donated by New Dimension Comics, who also had a raffle for 200 Iron Man tickets. Their booth was busy most of the weekend and we thank Todd and everyone else at the stores for helping us with this panel. Aside from the hysterical comments from panelists Bryan J.L. Glass, Layne Toth, Fat Momma, Lora Innes, Francis Manapul and Ron Frenz; the highlight for a lot of attendees is the original artwork that Frenz puts on each of his answer cards. He draw a head shot on each card and then, boom-a-rang style, whips them out into the audience. Watch your eyes and throats, pals!
Although I enjoyed everyone who played our games throughout the weekend and came to Karaoke, there is one contestant who will stand out in my mind forever, due to her style. You've got to click on the full size image of this picture to see why Nettie was such a blast. This is just one of the cool shirts she wore at the show. Now tell me, wouldn't you think it was hysterical to see your grandma in something like this? She had our panelists cracking up.
All in all, I had a great time at the show and hope next year will be just as fun, if not more!
If you attended this year's event, I'd love to know what you thought of it.
All photos were either by Alexandra Duff or Joshua Duff and are being used with permission.
Posts: 21381 | From: PA | Registered: Aug 2002
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It was great seeing you again, Jen, and hopefully you can make the party next year!
And you too, Beau!
The Pittsburgh Comicon raised $19,300 for Make-A-Wish, and the hats donated by Al Dorantes, that were drawn on by various artists, brought in $1500 of that! A very special THANK YOU!!!! goes out to everyone that attended the Luchador Ent. party, and participated in our charity fund-raiser. People like David Prowse, Aaron Douglas, Tommy Castillo, Billy Tucci, Mike Wood, Joe Linsner, Eva Hopkins, Holly Golightly, Mike Grell, Joe Jusko, Patrick & Shelly Block, Jamie Fay, Adam Withers & Comfort Love, Arthur Suydam, Scott Rosema, Pete Stathis, David Mack, Jason Yungbluth, D.J. Coffman, Chris Yambar, The PCU guys, Chris Moreno, Neil Vokes, Marc Wolfe, Rob Reilly, Mike Bocianowski, Ed Coutts, Ed Beard Jr., Louis Small Jr., Mark Texeira, Michael Golden, Renee Witterstaeter, Tim Fischer, and so many other talented people who helped make the original art hats such a success!
We hope to have even more fun, and raise even more money, next year!
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The con was a great time. Good seeing you all. I didn't get a chance to meet Beau, but passed him in the restroom and thought that would be inappropriate timing!
Jen, thanks for inviting me to the panels, sorry I missed the Match Game panel-- I had nobody to watch my table I'll make it up to you!
Glenn-- thanks for the HAT! It's always good to see you and your family each year.
Next year, you're all invited to my place for the post-con party on Friday-- it was a blast@!
-------------------- D.J. Coffman- HERO BY NIGHT Posts: 120 | From: Dawson, PA | Registered: Apr 2002
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I'm also hoping we can get some different pros to make the show as well. If the New York Con isn't a week before it, I think we'll have more folks attending!
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