The Big Poozer

I've got some commissions that are still on my list from Mid-Ohio-Con and from the internets, where I also take commissions. Here's one done for someone in advance of Baltimore Comicon. It's extra smart on his part, because this way I could color it and he can pick it up at my booth. Since I color on computer, it's not something I can do at a con.

You know, if you were going to Baltimore and wanted a commission, you'd be just as smart to order one in advance, too.

This pic is of one of my favorite Green Lanterns, Kilowog. There were a lot of GLs added to the Corps in the Eighties that had staying power, and I think chief among these is the big poozer himself.

The Most Terrifying Black Lantern of All!

Sorry about the lack of Charlotte posting. I managed to forget my MacBook power charger, so I was conserving juice in case I needed it. Hence the tweets-only coverage. It was a great show, and because of it, I think things will only get greater. Man, I wish I could tell you why. But not yet. Sorry.

In the meantime, enjoy my brilliant pitch for a Blackest Night tie-in project. Jonathan Kent, Martian Manhunter, Tula, Firestorm, Aquaman… they're all back from the dead. But who's the character they dare not do? Cheeks the Toy Wonder, tragically killed in Ambush Bug #1.

Unless, he's the big twist reveal at the end, of course. In which case, sorry to figure it out, Dan.

MegaCon 2009: Day 2-3

The rest of my time at MegaCon was a little slow. MegaCon was packed to the rafters with people, but their seems to be a less buying mood on the floor. That could be the economy, or the nature of the crowd, or just a one-year glitch. And I’m not doing bad, just down from last year. I’d done more commissions at this point last year, and I expected the trades to move a little better.

That’s okay. No one wins every game, and a “little down” is better than “oh, crap, I could have just set a pile of money on fire Joker-style”.

I got my picture taken in a replica DeLorean from Back to the Future. The photos cost $20, but went to benefit Foxfans, which is the Michael J. Fox Parkison's group. I love Back to the Future, and have always wanted one of these cars. It was a great recreation, complete with working time circuits that even made the same noise when you entered them. Phenomenal.

They offered a $50 package where you could go for a ride in the car. Unfortunately, the time machine part wasn't working, or I would have done it and jumped back in time so I could make my plane flight. Well, after buying some Apple stock and some choice comics.

I have to say, though, I’ve had the most fun I’ve had at a MegaCon in a while. I met up with the lovely and talented Steve Conley, who will be doing his great Bloop character as a web strip in the next year, and through him, wound up going to dinner with Marc Nathan, Grand Poobah of the wonderful Baltimore Comic-Con and some of their posse.

Nothing I say can convey the fun that was had, because it defies description. When I say I was treated to a fifteen minute recounting, or should I say “explanation”, of “Final Crisis,” that sounds dry and boring. Far from it.

Add to that a recurring Mad Hatter impression (Disney style, not Jarvis Tetch) and I really can’t remember the last time I’ve laughed so much.

We even went miniature golfing as Disney’s Fantasia Greens. The whole park is themed like Fantasia, the first, not the second. I don’t think I’ve played a worse round in my life. On the first hole I managed to knock the ball back towards me and onto the sidewalk. The last hole is basically a giant funnel at the feet of Yensid, the great wizard from “The Sorceror’s Apprentice” recreating the giant whirlpool. And I took two strokes.

As Ralph Wiggim would say, “It’s Un-possible.”

Yet, it was grand fun. I’m tempted to make reservations for next year just based on last night alone.

Sunday was about the same, although I did sell more trades than any other day. I met some very interesting people, and did the Students of the Unusual Indy Comics panel. It was a great group of people, and I think I even brought the funny.

Question: So what are the advantages to self-publishing?
Me: Well, I don't have to worry about having to find a place to store all my money.

It was a great panel, with some really fine questions. I think weeven got some good information out.

Then Bob and I packed up my booth, we said our goodbyes, and headed back to the airport. One of the storms from the Casket on Ancient Blizzards was attacking the Eastern Seaboard, but our flight corridor to the Midwest and Cleveland was unaffected. We zipped through security, had a lovely repast at Burger King (really, the only place that was open with the Orlando Airport being under construction) and hopped on the plane back home.

I managed to finish watching Men With Brooms, a Paul Gross comedy about the sport of curling, and caught another episode of Supernatural. Man, I love that thing for watching TV on planes.

Then, a few hundred miles and almost as many degrees later, we arrived in the frigid Hoth-like environs of Cleveland and got home, tired from a good show.

So I flopped on the couch and put on another good show, Battlestar Galactica. But that's another story.