Above: Michael Golden's colorful poster for the 2007 Emerald City Comicon
I haven't posted in a while because we've been incredibly busy lately...
The last weekend in March, we flew to Seattle for the Emerald City Comicon. The show's promoters were kind enought to arrange our flight so that we had an extra day before the convention for fun and sightseeing, and we sure milked that day dry, visiting the Space Needle, the Experience Music Project and the Museum of Science Fiction, followed by much music shopping at the amazing Easy Street Records. Xan's pick of the day from Easy Street: Andrew Bird's new album, Armchair Apocrypha; my faves: the At Least At Last rarities box set by the Posies and the Fuzzy Warbles Collector's Edition from Andy Partridge of XTC.
Photos, from top:
-Xan poses with some local kitsche
-The Space Needle
-Xan and Robby the Robot at the Museum of Science Fiction
-The original Twiki from my beloved Buck Rogers In The 25th Century(I know, I know--there's something wrong with me)--also found at the incredible Museum of Science Fiction
-A real live Mystery Machine on the streets of Seattle
-My new favorite record store
Saturday we attended the convention, which was a phenomenal success and loads of fun. I was so busy selling artwork and sketching I never left my table! I had a good time chatting with fans--everyone I met was as nice as could be. I was able to see a few old friends(Gene Ha, Adam Hughes), put some faces to some names(Hi, Neil Hill!) and I even got to talk music with the talented Matt Southworth, who has a band called The Capillaries which is well worth checking out. Xan shopped the con floor and artists alley, scoring some rare PEZ and meeting up with old pals like Georges Jeanty and Michael Avon Oeming. The day ended on a high note as fellow guest Michael Golden, whose art made me want to draw comics in the first place, invited Xan and me to dinner. We eagerly accepted the invitation and had a wonderful time with Michael and his agent Renee Witterstaetter at a local microbrewery.
From top:
-Renee Witterstaetter & Michael Golden
-Checking out Matt Southworth's artwork
-Gene Ha, Frank Cho, Ron Marz
Sunday saw us back at the con, where I pretty much just drew and talked for six or seven hours while Xan had more fun out on the con floor. She met Paul Chadwick, creator of Concrete, one of the best comics series of the last two decades and commissioned a drawing of "li'l Baby Concrete" from Paul. I can attest that she was absolutely delighted with the results! Xan continued to fill up her sketchbook with some lovely drawings from Jim Woodring(Frank) and Karin Yamagiwa Madan, creator of 8-Bit Chicken and other Stumpytown characters and merchandise, which you can check out here. The promoters took all the guests out that night, and we dined and chatted with Frank Cho, Ron Marz, Kurt Busiek and Michael and Renee.
From top:
-Paul Chadwick displays the "Li'l Baby Concrete" he drew for Xan
-Karin Yamagiwa Madan displays some sort of Chicken plush doll--not sure if it's 8-Bit Chicken, though
Xan says this convention was the best she's ever attended. I've never been treated better by promoters, and I've never been to a better organized show. Add in the nice fans, personal highlights like dinner with one of my idols, and the fun we had in the city, and I can't help but agree with her!
Next: Busy Month, Part 2: Toronto
--C
5 comments:
Man, what a blast you must of had, having dinner with Michale Golden!
How was it? So many times meeting your idols (and/or rock stars, actors, politicians, etc)is a MAJOR let down!
It was pretty cool! Michael and Renee have been great to us, and it sounds like he's lived a really interesting life. Which is mostly what we talked about--plenty of funny anecdotes and very little griping about the comics industry, which is usually what happens(the griping) when pros get together at a convention.
Forgot to mention this: there's a chance we might be coming down for the Baltimore Comicon--no official invite yet, but Karl told me it's coming soon. You going?
Glad to see you guys are, back in the blog, so to speak. Thanks for the shout-out Chris, as it was definitely my pleasure getting to meet you and the lovely Xan in person. As I expected, you were both a pleasure to talk to, and purchasing your art Chris and putting spending money in your pocket benifitted me probably more than it did you! After all, I've got the gorgeous art and all you have is green paper. j/k ;-)
Looking forward to your Toronto report!
PS- That is beyond cool that you got to have dinner with your hero. That's always a good feeling when your hero recognizes you as a contemporary.
We'll be there if you guys are going!
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