Pittsburgh Comicon 2002 Report
As I learned last year, Pittsburgh is a surprisingly close drive from Washington, D.C. Only a little over 3 1/2 hours, took me from the door of my house to the Expomart in Monroeville, PA, where the Pittsburgh Comicon is held. I arrived early on Friday morning and, as a 3-day ticket holder, I was one of the first allowed through the doors 15 minutes before the con opened to the general public at 10:00 a.m.
I had come prepared. In the week preceding the con, I had visited the Pittsburgh Comicon website so that I would have an idea of the artists, guests, and panels that would be available. Based upon that information, I had made some preliminary decisions on the artists that I definitely wanted to seek out for con sketches if they were doing them. Moreover, I looked through my own collection of Femforce art and decided which characters were inadequately represented and made a conscious decision to try and get some sketches down featuring those characters. Tops on my list were Rio Rita and the western characters, Buckaroo Betty and the Black Phantom.
Because the Femforce characters do not enjoy as wide a following as they should, I printed images of all of the characters that I hoped to have drawn so that the artists would be able to see their costumes rather than relying on my description. I also jotted down notes to myself in which I tried to match up potential artists and the characters I'd be looking for them to draw based upon what I knew of the artists' work.
Finally, I had come up with several concepts for drawings that could conceivably be completed in a con setting. I've found that con sketches are generally single-character, basic pose, pieces. However, the more skilled artists are sometimes not only willing to draw something just a little out of the ordinary but they may prefer to do so and an idea for a drawing that is not particularly difficult but is a little different will often result in the artist being excited to draw the sketch. I think an artist that is interested in drawing a sketch will usually do a better job on it than if he or she is just drawing the same-old same-old for the hundredth time.
The trick is that the concept can't be too involved for the artist to easily complete. Multiple characters and detailed backgrounds are more than most artists are willing to draw during a con. The best concepts are single characters with a general pose suggested, such as: "Buckaroo Betty (here's a reference for what she looks like) with her back against the wall and both her six-shooters blazing away!" However, I decided to push the envelope a little in Pittsburgh and ask for more involved drawings. In order to make the idea more palatable to the artists, I created concept images for the drawings in my computer graphics program and printed them out so that I could show the artists what I was looking for instead of trying to tell them. I also decided to initially approach artists to do them as pencil sketches only since the additional time needed to complete the drawings would be offset by not having to ink them. I came up with an idea featuring Synn, Dracula, and a mirror and printed 2 concept images with those elements representing the scene at 2 stages. I also came up with an idea featuring Stardust trying to escape the pull of a vortex in space. Armed with my ideas, lists, notes, and printed costume and concept images, I entered the con.
This was the 4th Comicon I had attended in the past 3 years and I believe George Perez was in attendance at all of them. However, for various reasons, he wasn't doing sketches when I was finally able to inquire about having one done. This has been a source of continuing disappointment for me as George Perez is my favorite penciler of all-time. Fate was with me this time, though. Due to the early, 10:00 a.m., start to the con, and because I had been allowed onto the floor even earlier, the line in front of Mr. Perez's table was only 5 people long when I passed by and he was already there talking to the fans. My initial plan to walk around the entire con and see who was there immediately got back-burnered as I sidled into the line for Mr. Perez.
Mr. Perez has a very well-deserved reputation as one of the nicest artists you can meet. He enjoys chatting with fans about all of the different books he's worked on and he's very personable. I was overjoyed when I got to the front of the line and saw that he was offering to do sketches with the proceeds to go to charity. Head sketches and full-length sketches were available with the price for full-length sketches being steep but since the proceeds were going to charity and since the chance to have Mr. Perez draw a sketch specifically for me might not come again, I opted for full-length and requested that he draw the Blue Bulleteer. I figured his classic style would really accentuate the elegance of the character. Since he was familiar with AC Comics but not with the Blue Bulleteer, I provided him with an image reference and told him that the character design is based on the Fox Comics' Phantom Lady as drawn by Matt Baker. He indicated that as far as he could remember it was the first time that he had drawn a "Femforce" character for a fan at a con and he said that he would likely complete the drawing that night after the con so that he could take more time on it. That was fine with me since I felt very lucky that George Perez would be taking a little bit more time to draw the Blue Bulleteer for me.
I was still walking on air when I finally left his table and continued my route around the con. Many of the artists that I had hoped to meet still had not set up, but against one wall of the con there was an area that I dubbed "Fantasy Painters row." Dorian's representative was selling prints. Next door was Brian Rood and then Monte Moore. Dave Dorman was next in line but had not yet arrived. Stacy Walker, the model for many fantasy artists followed and was set up with Alex Horley. Finally, Larry Elmore closed out the section.
After spending some time chatting with Larry Elmore about Kentucky and our memories about each other's respective hometowns (he's from Leitchfield about 1 hour south of Louisville), I spent even more time browsing Brian Rood's and Monte Moore's tables. Both are young, up and coming artists and really good guys. Mr. Moore is a natural salesman with a big personality while Mr. Rood is a little quieter. I told them both that I would get back with them before the end of the con and buy stuff but that I didn't want to spend all my money within an hour of the door's opening.
Next, I found Kevin Rasel's table in Artists' Alley. I had met Kevin last year in Pittsburgh when he did a great sketch of Nightveil and a voodoo queen for me. Since then I had contacted him about a couple of commissions and the resultant pencils were fabulous. In fact, Bill Black liked his drawing of Cat-Man and Kitten so much that the 3 of us worked a deal for it to be the cover of Men of Mystery Issue 37. Meanwhile, since receiving the commissioned pencils, I had commissioned Kevin to do a painting based on my double-sized Nightveil/Blue Bulleteer Fantasy Photo from last September. Kevin told me that it was almost done and that, if possible, he'd like to display it at his table on Sunday before I took it home with me. No problem! A big painting featuring Femforce characters would be good publicity!
Kevin's working with the Frazetta family and representatives on an authorized "Death Dealer" project and is the penciler on Dan Parson's "Savage Planet" book being published by Basement Comics (the publishers of Budd Root's "Cavewoman"). He's also the vocalist and guitarist for a heavy metal band called Stronghold. Busy guy! He was accompanied and assisted at the con every day by some of his bandmates and was sitting in a prime location. Several Playboy Playmates, feature dancers at topless clubs, and Hooters girls, were in the row next to and across from him so there was a crowd of people hanging around his table who clearly appreciated viewing the female form. My particular favorite was the statuesque and busty Glori-Anne Gilbert, a sweet-voiced blonde with a very sunny personality! Since, in his own words, he's known for drawing babes and dinosaurs, sketch requests were plentiful. I used my pre-existing acquaintance with him to convince him to draw the more difficult of my Synn and Dracula pencil sketch requests.
After prying myself away from the sights near Kevin's table, I started looking for a penciler to draw the other Synn and Dracula piece. I knew this would be a tough sell. The artist had to be both very good and very willing. I finally happened upon the table of an artist from Michigan named Scott Rosema. We talked for awhile and I looked at some of the drawings he had done and decided that he could do a great job on it so I pitched him on the idea. Pulled out my concept image and explained how it reeealllly wouldn't be all that difficult. Ensnared, he agreed to take on the job. Now, I could look for an artist to draw my other "concept" pieces.
Mike Manley, currently contributing to "Sketch" magazine, took a look at my concept for "Tara in quicksand reaching for an overhanging branch with a snake coiled around it prepared to strike" and smiled. Hooked, he told me it would be ready in about an hour.
G.W. Fisher, the inker on several issues of the late, lamented Spandex Tights comic, is a Femforce fan and happily agreed to draw "Stardust escaping from the pull of a vortex in space."
Hannibal King, who recently drew "Vesper" for Acetylene Comics and who does commercial art for gaming card companies, took on "flying Jet Girl," and Eddy Newell enthusiastically agreed to draw the western character, the Black Phantom.
By now, Mike Deodato had arrived and was doing fairly quick sketches in marker for a small price. Mr. Deodato drew "Wonder Woman" for several years and, as a fan of that title, I was familiar with his work. Since he's from Brazil, I thought that it would be appropriate if I asked for a sketch of Rio Rita. After being provided with a reference, he quickly drew a bust of the character.
Finally, the line in front of Greg Horn's table died down enough that I could say hello. He's one of the hottest cover artists in the industry right now, but I can remember when he was just getting his start working on the Femforce. I told him how much I had enjoyed Femforce in the House of Horror and how it had been the Spotlight Issue for October a few years back at my Femforce-Femfans website. He recalled some fond memories and reminded me that he had also drawn Femforce Issues 19 and 68. It turns out that he was about 17 years old when he drew Femforce 19. We talked some more about the Femforce and how that was his start in the industry and I commissioned him to do his take on the "Stardust in a vortex in space" sketch. I was curious to see what differences in interpretation would result from 2 artists drawing the same concept. Plus, I knew Stardust's skintight costume would be right up Mr. Horn's alley!
By now, Friday was drawing to a close. I had already checked into my room at the attached Radisson hotel at lunchtime, so I collected the artwork that was ready and took it to the room. I then returned to the Con to meet Kevin and his band's drummer so that we could go to dinner.
If Friday had been the day to arrange for con sketches, then Saturday was the day to pick them up and do a little marketing for the Femforce. As part of my pre-con preparations, I had created business cards for the Femforce-Femfans site, in six different varieties, to hand out to prospective fans and artists. I also had taken several duplicate issues of AC comic books that I have to give out as tokens of appreciation. As the con opened on Saturday, I made the rounds of the people I had met the day before, talked to them about how the con was going for them so far, and handed out cards. For many of the artists, it had been a long night. An elevator and a fire alarm problem had led to the evacuation of some upper floors in the Radisson the night before (and had delayed the ability of George Perez to work on my drawing, he promised he'd have it for me bright and early Sunday morning). Apparently, I had somehow slept through all of this. Similar problems had affected the Holiday Inn where some of the other artists were staying. Of course, some of the artists had just stayed out late drinking. Still, it was hit or miss in terms of picking up sketches. So, I decided to get some more!
Late in the day on Friday, I had spoken to Alex Horley about getting a sketch and he had asked me to stop by early on Saturday when he'd have more time. Alex Horley has done some fantastic fantasy paintings and I had become familiar with his work on the web. From Italy, he often works with Stacy Walker, a model who has posed for all of the top fantasy artists and she was helping him handle the business side of his table as well as taking care of her own table. On Saturday morning, I talked to him about sketching "Rio Rita bending over slightly and lifting up her skirt to retrieve her pistol from the garter around her thigh." I gave him the character reference and we talked about the character a little bit when Ms. Walker joined in the discussion.
A knockout. Strikingly beautiful. An absolutely gorgeous woman, it quickly became apparent that she's also one smart cookie and a heckuva businessperson. She was very intrigued by Rio Rita's origins. When I explained the character's Golden Age history and her current ties to AC Comics and their Femforce comic book, Ms. Walker very engagingly told me that she was familiar with the Femforce. It seems a few years earlier she had written a story about a Charlie's Angels type of all-female group called the Femforce before learning that the name had already been taken! Before she could change the name, the Charlie's Angels movie came out and the plot was similar so that was that for that story. Her tale led to a discussion about her preference for more classic comic book tales and art, as well as a taste for pulp stories. Our very enjoyable chat led me to provide her with a couple of AC books (both reprint and Femforce) and a card and I've added her website (which I was already familiar with) to the links page of the Femforce-Femfans site. Anybody that beautiful and smart deserves my support :-)
Another great thing about attending cons is getting to meet some of the classic artists who helped create the industry. In the past, I've had an opportunity to meet Irwin Hasen, Martin Nodell, Al Williamson, and Dick Ayers, and I had another opportunity to say hello to several of them in Pittsburgh. I also introduced myself to George Tuska and his wife. I had brought a copy of a Men of Mystery issue with me that contained a Tuska story from his days at the Eisner/Iger studio and I asked him if he would sign the page where the story began. When his wife asked him if he drew the story, he nodded in recognition and remarked that he hadn't seen it in 60 years. The Tuskas were so sweet that I found another Men of Mystery with a story in it that he had drawn and gave it to them.
A little before noon, I went to meet an artist that I had commissioned some drawings from on the web, Ian Whetstone. He's a student at the University of Pittsburgh. We met at a pre-arranged location and he apologized because the drawings weren't quite ready, but it was great to put a face with the name.
I also had an opportunity to attend some of the panel discussions that took place in the meeting rooms near the convention floor in the Radisson. On Friday, I had been one of the few in attendance when Larry Elmore, Rowena, Joe Jusko, Dave Dorman, Ed Beard, Tommy Castillo, Monte Moore, and Brian Rood, conducted a panel on Fantasy Art. The heavy-hitter lineup was very entertaining and there were usually multiple discussions going on at the same time. They discussed different techniques, the impact of the web, work environment. Even though I'm not an artist, it was a great deal of fun listening to them.
On Saturday, I attended a forum hosted by Playboy Playmates Debra Jo Fondren, Petra Verkaik, and Victoria Zdrok. They talked about their experiences as playmates and dished a little dirt about the current state of affairs in the Playboy "family." It provided a nice opportunity to rest.
Returning to my priority of getting sketches done, I shopped the finished Rasel pencil sketch of Dracula and Synn around to an inker. I was looking for somebody who was working with a brush and inkwell instead of a pen and who worked professionally as an inker. Steve Bird, who has inked Nightwing for DC Comics in addition to other projects, got the call and did a great job. I then decided to go for the full route on the image and get Tom Smith, a colorist, to finish the piece up. I left the inked Synn and Dracula sketch with him.
I also stood in a long line of people to talk to Frank Cho. Mr. Cho's "Liberty Meadows" comic strip used to run in the newspapers but he's now taken it strictly to comic books. I've found the strip to be very humorous and he draws some durn fine lookin' females (he's also drawn Meriem, Cavewoman, for Budd Root) so I was hoping to have him do a quick sketch of Tara but he said that he takes too long drawing women to draw a quick sketch. Instead, he offered to draw his character, Dean, a male-chauvinist pig, literally and figuratively, in a Tara costume. Priceless! That finished up Saturday at the con.
Sunday was the day to tie up loose ends. First, I moseyed up to George Perez table and he pulled out a top-notch inked drawing of the Blue Bulleteer that immediately became one of my prized possessions. Then I retrieved the colored Synn and Dracula drawing from Tom Smith who was sitting with George Perez at his table.
I decided to get G.W. Fisher's pencil sketch of Stardust inked and found another professional inker with brush and inkwell at the ready. Mike Kelleher did such a good job on the inking that when I showed the result to Mr. Fisher, normally an inker himself, he cracked that the "penciler really screwed up but the inker saved it!"
Hannibal King and Eddy Newell had done such good jobs on the first sketches they did for me that I went back to them for more. I also tapped a couple of young women in Artists Alley who were just starting in the industry to do basic con sketches for me. Finally, I caught up with Neil Vokes, whose work I've enjoyed in the past on "Elvira" from Claypool Comics to draw me a nice cheesecake pose of the Jennifer Burke Ms. Victory.
I went by Kevin Rasel's table and my painting was on display. Actually, you could see it from all the way across Artists Alley! Kevin said that he had gotten several favorable comments and that he had even heard from another Femforce fan at the con happy to see the Femforce characters so visible.
I continued collecting outstanding sketches and went back to Scott Rosema's table. I had stopped by several times over the weekend to touch base and the drawing was progressing fabulously. In fact, he was so enamored of the concept that he wanted it to be perfect so he asked if he could finish it at home and mail it to me. It was looking fantastic and I didn't want him to skimp at that point just to get it done so I had no problem with waiting a little while longer.
As I had promised on Friday, I returned to Brian Rood's and Monte Moore's tables and bought stuff from them. Then, my money almost spent and the con a few hours from being over, I stopped by Jill Thompson's table and asked if she'd draw Ms. Victory for me. It would take the last of my money but Jill Thompson is another artist that has penciled the "Wonder Woman" title for DC Comics (she's the creator of "Scary Godmother" published by Sirius). Heck, I could use a credit card to purchase gas and food on the way home! She had just completed some rough pencils and inks on the drawing when the power in the Expomart went out. Except for some natural light and some battery-powered flashlights, the room had gone dark! A severe thunderstorm and possible tornado had knocked out the electricity! Where was Rayda when I needed her! When it became clear that the power was not going to quickly return, she gave me my money back and apologized for not being able to finish the sketch. The good fortune of the situation escaped me at that moment of disappointment but since I had forgotten about the tolls on the way home it's a good thing I didn't have to pay for that sketch!
As people milled around the floor of the darkened convention, I headed over to Kevin's table to retrieve my commissioned painting. It had been a very productive convention in terms of obtaining drawings for the Art Museum. Aside from the disappointment of not obtaining a sketch from Jill Thompson, there were only a few tasks I had not accomplished. I had hoped to say hello to Mark Texeira who was scheduled to be at the con but he had to cancel at the last minute. I had hoped to get a drawing from Michael Bair but I never could figure out if he was actually in attendance. Finally, I had hoped to talk to Dave Campiti, a writer and editor who at one time worked for Innovation Comics, about a book he worked on years ago called "Power Factor," but he always seemed to be in deep discussions with people that I didn't want to interrupt so I never got the chance.
Still, all in all, a very successful con as far as the Femforce-Femfans website is concerned. About 15 drawings/paintings for the Art Gallery, cards handed out to interested attendees, AC Comic books doled out in appreciation to the artists who drew sketches for me, and a Femforce presence at the con. An act of nature even left me with enough cash to get home!