In my first report from the Boston Comic Con I spoke of the fans. That dedicated throng that populates these events. In this second installment I’d like to touch on one of the main reasons they come to these cons, the artists and writers.
Boston isn’t a huge Con. I haven’t been to San Diego but judging by all reports I’d say Boston is probably i/32nd its size. So it is a modest affair and so one wouldn’t expect it to draw a lot of talent that the big shows do.
But the talent was there, if not in huge numbers, and they provided an interesting case study. Some of these guys were incredibly generous with their time. Not only generous with time but with autographs, stories, feedback and personalized drawings.
Others, and they were few, you could practically hear the cash register ringing. Each item had a price, including signings and or artwork. You could tell who was on top of the world at the time and those that were struggling a bit. None of them were rude, impatient or intolerant of their fans. So let’s take a look at some of the talent.
First up is living legend Joe Kubert. I must say it was an honor to meet him. He actually did two voice over promos for me because I botched the first one. “No problem” said Joe. We laughed over the picture of my dog on my iPod touch and we shook hands. The sad thing was the line to see Joe was minuscule. Not enough of the younger fans are aware of Joe which is a shame. Still, there were the faithful few and Joe was more than happy to share his time.
I talked with Frank Quitely next. So if the line to see Joe Kubert was minuscule what was the line to see Mr. Quitely? Just the opposite. I was willing to wait there was no way I was going to miss this opportunity to talk to Mr. Quitely. It was worth it of course. As I stood in line I observed how Frank interacted with his fans. In a word, great. When you’re at the height of your popularity you might think the inclination would be to be a bit dismissive of the fans. Let’s just say some of the fans could be a bit “eager” to interact with Frank Quitely. But Frank was more than generous with his time. He looked everyone in the eye, signed everything that was put in front of him and had a ready smile. When it was my turn, we did a promo and then I complimented him on his work like a true fanboy. Instead of acting like he heard this for the one millionth time (which he had) he smiled broadly said, “thanks so much” we shook hands and I departed impressed.
I caught up with Adam Hughes next. Adam was another one of the good guys. He seemed a bit surprised when I asked him a few favors but he more than eager to help. We did a voice over promo and I have to say he did very well. The guy has a great voice for it and he ever decides to go into professional broadcasting he’d be a natural. He even made sure his first “take” came out well. It did Adam, thanks.
In part three of this series we’ll meet Mike Lilly, Jack Purcell, Matt Wagner and the rest.
Posted by Dark Knight Dave
