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My Long Post on Planet Comicon 2011

March 27, 2011

Planet Comicon is over for 2011. Usually this local Kansas City con is the biggest (and sometimes only) convention I get to go to every year. So even though I have to wait a year for the next one, this years would be a hard one to top. There were lots of artists and writers in attendance and I enjoyed chatting it up with them all!




Admittedly in the past I had not read anything written by local writer Jai Nitz. But now that I had an appearance in his prequel book Tron: Betrayal I had to introduce myself and get an autograph or two. To my surprise he knew all about my appearance in the book, and man was he a joy to talk to. He discussed some differences to the original issue that didn't make it to print and an experience he had talking to a producer of the new Tron movie, who is also a Kansas City local. Jai is currently working in the "Green Hornet" universe over there for Dynamite. Thanks for talking it up with me man.



One of my new favorite books I just recently discovered; The Sixth Gun by Brian Hurtt and Cullen Bunn (pictured left to right). I had read the trade for the series and quickly found as many of the current singles as I could. I had contacted writer Cullen Bunn to see if he would have any issues for sale to complete my collection. Thankfully he was happy to oblige. It was great to meet both Cullen and Brian, and I'm glad I found this book! I gave them one of my fliers and I do hope to hear back from them someday!!!!



Ron Garney... just look at that picture. He was fun though. Although he had done work on such books as JLA and Spider-man, it wasn't until I his run with local guy Jason Aaron on Wolverine: Weapon X did I really get into his stuff. He was doing sketches but took time to sign a few comics (the most books I brought for anybody this day) and talk with me. I told him about my campaign here and seemed to take to it. Time will tell... Hey Ron! :-D


Speaking of Jason, had to hit him up to get signatures to complete his Weapon X run and almost complete Astonishing Spider-man/Wolverine series. I may be late on the bandwagon, but I picked up the first five issues of Scalped to try. I've heard and read such great reviews and much like Sixth Gun, would hate to think I missed out on a great book.


Down the line was Yanick Paquette, current artist on Batman Incorporated. I had a lot of books for him to sign and he was a joy to talk too. He talked about working with Grant Morrison, everything from deciphering scripts to understanding Final Crisis (glad I'm not the only one!). He mentioned a new project from DC coming later in the year. He couldn't give any details which I understand, the big two have to keep their secrets until they make a big announcement somewhere... so I'll wait for it. I was happy to give him a DMI flier and he seemed to take to it. It was a pleasure and I hope to hear from him sometime.



Right next to him was Gail Simone. This would be the third time I've seen her at a con, which for not being part of the "mid west mafia" is pretty neat. It was great that she came to Kansas City, there was a great turn out for the show this year and it'd be great if the trend continued. She's great to her fans and enjoyed meeting her again.


Going further down the table was Francesco Francavilla. I only had a few books for him to sign which is a shame, I like a lot of his sketches on Comic Twart. I did happen to get the first issue of Lone Ranger: Death of Zorro and a few issues of Sorrow signed. I also gave a flier to Francesco, it would be cool to be drawn in his style.





One of the true surprises of the show was meeting Seth Peck (co-writer on Sorrow). I meet him first while over at Jason Aaron's table. Then again in my attempt to check in with B. Clay Moore. He's like... everybody's friend. He was just super friendly and very helpful. He too has one of those secret Marvel projects in the works. I look forward to hearing news on it.



B. Clay had ran home during the con so I had to check back in on him from time to time. A while back on his web site he was selling off some of his books, so I decided to try his first two runs of Hawaiian Dick. He also gave me the complete run of The Expatriate to read. So between B. Clay and Jason I have a lot of comics to read now! He told me he was working on the next chapter in Byrd's life and took a flier to give to the artist working on it (perhaps Jacob Wyatt?). I would love to be in the pages of Hawaiian Dick! Thanks man!




Sitting down the table working with B. Clay on the Whistling Skull was Tony Harris. We chatted it up a bit, got a few signatures and took that awesome photo you see above. I gave him a DMI flier and seemed up to it, so I hope to get an e-mail from him in the future (fingers crossed).


Alright we're past the half way point. Still reading this?



I had to see Jeremy Haun, recent Top Cow exclusive artist (and DMI artist). He's a nice guy, always willing to chat. I've recently been trying to find out about purchasing the page he drew me in of Red Hood. Between him and his art dealer it's in a state of limbo. Hope it shows up somewhere. Aside from the great work he's been doing, he's also been doing a great job keeping up with his blog so I gave him props for doing so. It takes time to update these blogs, that's for sure.


Right next to Jeremy was Freddie Williams II. It's always a pleasure to talk to him and his wife. They're like the most friendliest comic couple to meet. I had picked up two of his most recent sketchbooks (gotta complete the collection you know) and I need to e-mail him, but they were awesome. Freddie's current book JSA All-Stars will be wrapping soon, but look for a future announcement for a new DC project!


Stopped by Ande Parks to get a few books signed. He's done a lot of inking work in the past but lately has been a writer, mostly titles over at Dynamite. He's written the graphic novels Union Station and Capote in Kansas and working on a new OGN. I asked who the artist was and he said Greg Smallwood. Now the name might not come to mind, seeing as this would be his first big comic book gig. But the name rings familiar to me; not only is he also a native from my hometown, but also was a good friend to me for many years. I managed to run into Greg at the con and congratulated him on the project. Even though Ande had said he'd pass my flier on to "the artist", Greg confirmed he'd put me in. I'm glad he's getting his work out there.






Right next door was artist/writer Phil Hester. His latest book was originally scheduled to come out the Wednesday before the show but was pushed back a week which of course was really bad timing. That comic of course was pencilling on Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters! Phil had a few pages of the title and holy crap, he draws a really great Godzilla. It's unfortunate that he's only doing the first arc. But anyway... it's almost a running gag with me and him it seems, where every year I give him a new flier, he smiles and I'll say, "see ya next year". Well this year he threw me for a loop. He said he might try to get me in an issue, "probably getting killed by Godzilla". I was stunned at first, he could have came around the table and pushed me... I would have fallen over I was so shocked. DUDE! I've been a Godzilla fan since 2nd grade! And I've been hounding you for years! Being killed by the Kind of Monsters? I welcome it!



I must have asked everyone where Alex Grecian was sitting, when in fact I probably walked past him a dozen times. I found him though and continued to get any and all things Proof signed. As of this post, my latest appearance was in Proof: Endangered #2. I told him that Proof artist Riley Rossmo had already drawn me into his next project Green Wake. Both Alex and Riley rock on Proof and are great to their fans. Alex said he had a few projects down the line including working on a Novel. Thanks for chatting with me as always.





He was sketching during the day and had a panel to attend, but towards the end of the show Tony Moore was now signing. And I'm glad I got in line when I did. It ended up being a long line! Tony was signing a lot of stuff but it didn't seem to phase him none. I had talked with him earlier in the day for fear I wouldn't make the signing time. He's was very friendly to me, and I complimented him on his current Venom work. I was happy to get signatures on the Walking Dead titles he'd done and of course gave him a flier. I'm not entirely sure if it was something he was up for, but I hope I'm wrong. He'd been a KC local for a while but has since moved to Cincinnati. I'm glad he still comes back to the show and look forward to meeting him, along with all the mid west guys again next year.


Well I think that's the longest post I've ever typed up. Best. Planet Comicon. Ever.


It was great to meet and talk to everybody at the show. 2011 truly is going to be a great year!

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posted by Gjskier (Kal), 11:10 AM | link | 0 comments |

When Does Then Become Now... Soon

March 24, 2011

Ah... quoting Spaceballs... good stuff.

The other day I picked up my rather large stack of comic books, and made a detour to a nearby Vintage Stock to raid their back issue bins. Although I barely went through them, I didn't want to be there ALL day, I found a few interesting picks, each for $.50.


From top to bottom we have some Justice League. I thought to maybe get these signed by Rich Burchett at the con this Saturday. Oh which con? This one!

Let's see, didn't start comics until the Death of Superman... but when I see stuff that is "classic" and I've seen the covers to in past issues of Wizard... well, I figure it's an investment. I can appreciate these "older" 80's classics.

And then I was surprised to see these. I barely even remembered they existed, but I loved the cartoon. So much so I HAD to get into the SL Graphics launch of the title written by Greg Weisman... and this Marvel series had art by DMI artist Amanda Conner. The only sad thing is that they didn't have the complete run. Now I'm going to have to find those... but hey, that's half the fun of a collection, right?

CAN'T WAIT FOR PLANET COMICON! Yeah, I'm excited.

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posted by Gjskier (Kal), 9:12 PM | link | 0 comments |

Riley Rossmo - Green Wake

March 18, 2011

You know you've got something special when you read this:

It's a S&M club glad you like it.

Extra bonus for the arrow pointing me out. Love it!

Green Wake #2 from Image Comics, scheduled to hit stores in May.

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posted by Gjskier (Kal), 10:06 PM | link | 0 comments |

Contact! Zach Howard!

More exciting news! How do I follow up after hearing about a thrice appearance by Riley Rossmo?

Earlier this year I read a book that I kept reading all these great reviews on. I'm talking about IDW's The Cape by Joe Hill & Jason Ciaramella with pencils by Zach Howard. It was a great one-shot and will continue as a mini-series later this year.

But of course now I keep a keen eye open for artists and projects I like, so I look Zach up to check out his online presence. Come to find out he did work on the Shaun of the Dead mini a while back and is working on an issue of Secret Six for DC. And did I mention The Cape? Seriously... get it, read it, love it.

Riding high off of Riley's news I get an e-mail from Zach! Is it my birthday?
I might be able to put you in... my Secret Six book. I need a tourist - how do you look in a Hawaiian shirt?
One Hawaiian shirt reference shot later...
You are now officially on page 18... Btw, you are wearing a hat.

This issue probably will come out in a few months following the current arc that started this month. Secret Six is probably one of the best books DC puts out every month. But then again, I've got a lot of love for DC.

But after it comes out, check The Cape!

Cape.

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posted by Gjskier (Kal), 9:17 PM | link | 0 comments |

DMI Hat Trick

March 17, 2011

Riley Rossmo... thank you man.

In what seems like a while ago, I had read about a new series from Image Comics called Proof. The plot to narrow it down being "what if Bigfoot worked for the Government".

At the time I had been doing my campaign thing for a relatively short time, and aside from Robert Kirkman titles (Invincible & Walking Dead) I was just starting to give Image a shot.
After reading Proof I quickly got ahold of Riley and asked if he would help out, and he did with my seventh appearance in Proof #7. This January he surprised me with a second appearance in the current running mini-series Proof: Endangered issue #2.

Today I get this e-mail from him:

you'll be in issue #2 of my new book Green Wake
Well holy $#it! That's awesome.

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posted by Gjskier (Kal), 8:41 PM | link | 0 comments |

It's Coming Soon... Planet Comicon 2011!

March 5, 2011

I don't go to many cons outside of my local arena, so every year this is the big daddy of them all for me. Even then so, I'm so very pumped up and excited for this years.

And oh yeah, I'll be hitting up the creators... so there's that. But just look at the guest list:

You've got the local cats, repeat offenders who attend just about every year;

Jason Aaron
Cullen Bunn
Rick Burchett
Alex Grecian
Jeremy Haun
Phil Hester
Brian Hurtt
Kevin Mellon
B Clay Moore
Tony Moore
Jai Nitz
Ande Parks
Steven Sanders
and Freddie Williams II

I'm going to hit you guys probably first, I want more of "the local boys" to join in on my campaign. Granted, I've already been in books featuring Alex Grecian, Jeremy Haun, Jai Nitz and Freddie Williams II. And some of you guys have been really receptive to Draw Me In.

A lot of these guys have either currently or in the works new and exciting projects. Pretty great stuff.

Outside of the Kansas City scene we have coming this year are;

Ron Garney
Tony Harris
Yanick Paquette
Rick Remender
Gail Simone
Ben Templesmith
Skottie Young

Now some of these guys (and gal) are hit and miss with me. Not that I don't like their work, just that I don't collect some of the books they work on. However a lot of these creators also are collaborators with the local bunch on current projects. So lots of books with double signatures on them! Yeah!

More to come...

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posted by Gjskier (Kal), 3:20 PM | link | 0 comments |