In this final installment of my coverage of the 2011 Boston Comic Con I travel into the “Belly of the Beast” also known as the Main Hall. When I spoke with Messer’s. Kubert, Quitely and Hughes they were located outside the Main Hall in an adjoining enlarged hallway. This was done to facilitate their lines as opposed to trying to incorporate them into the crowded “Beast”. This is not to denigrate the “Con” it’s to illustrate that the Main Hall is a cauldron of activity that includes fans, vendors and the various artist and writers with all the tables and display cases that they require. Think of Times Square without the taxi cabs.
Now, as I spoke of before, you’d think a crowded atmosphere filled with eager fans would eventually grate on the patience of the talent showcased at this convention. Not true, the first case in point being Mike Lilly.
I found Mike early on in the crowded hall (yes, kind of like a treasure hunt) and he was positively ebullient. Mike has an easy manner and worked really well with the fans. I had a brief conversation with Mike, we conducted our business and I decided to move on in order to give everyone else a chance. The picture you see above was taken much later. I wanted to see if Mike could maintain his level of energy as he attended to the throng. The answer was yes. Mike was just as engaging as the day wore on as he was at the start.
It took several attempts to speak with Jack Purcell. (The above picture comes from the internet.) Jack was a very busy man. When I first approached his table there was a sizable crowd about it so I decided to return later. When I returned a second time although the crowd was thinner Jack was busy working on fan requested art and was running behind. He asked if I could come back. Ok, sure. When I finally got him the third time he was inking a drawing so I peeked over his shoulder to see the near finished product. There is going to be a very happy fan out there. I spoke briefly with Jack, we did a voice over and I let him return to his work. Jack Purcell a man in demand.
I saved my time for Matt Wagner for last even though I saw him around the middle of the day. Matt is quite an engaging guy. The picture above was taken when he was involved in a lengthy discussion with a fan. The fan had a scholarly knowledge of Mr. Wagner’s work and the conversation lasted for quite a bit of time. As it turned out the “fan” was also operating a table around the corner, but he just couldn’t tear himself away. When it got to be my turn we had a nice conversation which included the silent movie “Nosferatu” which Matt had a drawing of in his portfolio. As we finished up and did our promo work Matt said, “Would like a drawing?” I was like, “Huh?” “Sure” said Matt, “Go grab a backing board and I’ll whip something up for you.” You didn’t have to ask me twice and I eventually made it back to Matt. Pictured below is his work.
Like I said in my second installment I’m a fanboy too, so I thought this was pretty cool. My overall impression of the Boston Comic Con was a good one. Crowded, yes. Busy, yes. But what I learned was the good guys aren’t just in the pages of the comic books. It turns out the ones who write and draw them are as well.
Boston Comic Con:
Posted by Dark Knight Dave
