...and just in case you think I'm kidding about this, i just went to my Simpson's Monopoly board game, pulled out a die, and rolled a 4, which means we head back to Seattle!
After talking with Frank Quitely for about 25 minutes or so in the hallway outside where his panel was going to be at the comic book convention, it came time to actually go in. The moderator came up while Quitely and I were talking outside, introduced himself, and asked if there was any way Quitely wanted this handled. I chimed in with, "Just don't ask him about the animated Superman film based on his work, because he hasn't seen it yet."
The panel itself was fairly interesting, as it was completely devoted to Quitely. This was just going to be 45 minutes or so with him sitting at a dais, along with the moderator, and a room full of people interested in hearing what an artist they admire has to say about things. After 15 or 20 minutes of interview-style questioning between Quitely and the moderator, the floor was opened to questions from the audience. Since most of what I'd really wanted to know I'd already ascertained from talking with him before, I was perfectly happy to just sit there and let other audience members step up to the microphone and fire questions away. I did get quite a good chuckle when, invariably, the second audience question was what Quitely thought about the animated Superman film...
After the panel let out, I wandered the show floor a bit to kill some time until Quitely's next signing session that evening. I got a meal at the small food court in the convention room, and wound up sharing a table and chatting with a nice young woman dressed as Batman villain Poison Ivy. A male friend of her's came over while we were eating, which wouldn't normally be worth mentioning except that he was fully dressed as another of Batman's nemeses, The Joker. Things like this aren't uncommon at events like this, but when you stop and examine it from an outside perspective, it just seems a tad bit odd...
After dinner I got on to the line for the evening Quitely signing session. Upon getting up to him, we briefly talked some more while he signed a few books he'd done the artwork for that I'd brought with me, and then I was back off to the hotel. It had been a rather productive day, but a long one, and I'd spent maybe 15 minutes in the hotel since arriving earlier that day. When I made it up to the room, I posted a couple things on Twitter about seeing Quitely, and mentioned something he'd said about a project he was contributing to for Mike Allred's Madman character. Just a few minutes later I got a reply from Allred himself on Twitter, wanting to know more about what Quitely had said. We had a brief Twitter conversation, and even in the middle of it, I found it interesting that I had managed to get to "see" another comic book creator I admire at this convention, even though this particular one was not actually in attendance. After a nice walk thru a biting wind to get some supplies from a local convenience store, I returned to the room, soaked in a nice hot tub for close to an hour, then passed out watching some TV. Party animal.
I slept in on Saturday morning, something I rarely, if ever, get to do when I'm home. Even on my days off I've always got something to do, so I tend to get up not much later than I would if I was going to work. That's what's nice about these trips. I've got things to attend during the day, and seeing as how I've been to Seattle many times before, I wasn't filled with a burning desire to wander the streets for hours beforehand. I did get up early enough to make my way to the gym at the top of the hotel, as it afforded a beautiful view of downtown Seattle on a gorgeous sunny morning. After taking pictures from up there for a while, and just standing and enjoying the view, it was time to head over to the show.
I brought a couple more books over to go see Quitely again, because A) who knows when I'll ever see him again, seeing as he lives in Scotland, and hasn't been in this country since 2002, and B) it was nice to be able to briefly converse with him a little more. I really enjoy his work, and have an even greater deal of respect for him after talking with him for the time that I did. This kind of connection is the reason I go to these events. I really enjoy meeting and talking with the people whose work I admire and enjoy, and pulling a signed book off of my shelves always sparks a nice memory of those times.
My next objective was to go see a couple more people who hadn't been there on Friday, but would be there on Saturday. Another of the artist's with a vision I appreciate is a man named David Mack. While he has done some very notable work on Marvel's Daredevil character, it his own creation, Kabuki, which really shows off his artistic abilities. While he has expanded the bounds of what would normally be allowed in terms of form and content in Daredevil, it is still a high-profile product from a high-profile company, and there is still an editorial rein. On Kabuki, it's pretty much a full-on experiment in re-inventing storytelling. Mack, who I also follow on Twitter, is someone who I always seek out when I know he's at a show that I'll be at, as he always has new and interesting things to look check out at his table. He brings an extensive amount of his originals to look thru, as well as a complete selection of books he's done, and every time I see him, there's at least one new book. He is also an incredibly personable guy, very friendly and easy to talk with, and quite generous with what he is selling. He will also do sketches at shows for very reasonable fees. But I actually had another reason for talking with him this show, and that was to ask a couple questions about his DVD, The Alchemy Of Art: David Mack. It's a great DVD, and I wanted to talk with him about it for a piece I was writing on it for Unseen Films. The DVD is well worth having if you're a fan of art at all, let alone Mack's work specifically.
More to come on this story...eventually...
Blog Post Soundtrack; The Misfits, Foo Fighters (live), Pearl Jam, Elvis Presley, Fear Factory, The Who, The Ruts, Neil Young & Pearl Jam, M.O.D., Eagles Of Death Metal, The Buzzcocks, Moloko, Aerosmith, Metallica (live), AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Tom Jones w/The Pretenders (covering an Iggy Pop song...can you believe it?!?), Mr. Bungle (live), P.J. Harvey, Sublime, Bo Diddley, Anthrax & Public Enemy, Public Image Ltd., MC5, The Strokes, The Police (live)
No comments:
Post a Comment