To continue my comic-geek weekend I attended Kansas City’s own Planet Comicon. I moved to the Kansas City area in the fall of 1998 and every year Dame Fortune has conspired against me and thwarted my attempts to attend this convention. This year, however, Fate smiled upon me and I awoke to perfect weather and made my way to the Overland Park Convention Center to partake in all the comic convention goodness.
I was particularly excited about this year’s convention as Jeremy Bulloch, Boba Fett himself, was to be a guest. Boba Fett was a close second to Han Solo as my favorite Star Wars character growing up and I frequently was Boba Fett when we got together in the neighborhood to play Star Wars.
I had read that he was to be offering copies of his limited edition book Flying Solo: Tales of a Bounty Hunter.
The book is a biography interwoven with tales of Star Wars and the convention circuit. I’m a true book lover in that I not only love to read but limited edition books, especially slipcovered ones, get my literary blood churning. I determined that my one mission at Planet Comicon was to procure one of these at all costs. Upon arrival I made my way directly to the back of the convention area and got in a (thankfully) short line. Jeremy’s lovely wife Maureen was able to fly in from London with him to attend the convention and they were two of the most pleasurable convention guests that I’ve ever had the honor to meet. They were very kind and gracious with their time and Jeremy personalized my book for me. This version of the book is limited to 2000 copies worldwide and they were hand numbering them on the spot. Mine is #266 out of 2000! Yea for me! I didn’t have money set aside to get autographed pics of Jeremy Bulloch or Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) so after Maureen wrapped my book up as carefully as if it was a newborn babe I was off to do more of the convention rounds. (On a side note, I hope Mary and I age that gracefully!!!)
The next thing I did was make my way around to look at all the vendors booths. As I was walking I saw what I thought was a familiar face and lo and behold it was a guy from Starbase 21 in Tulsa, OK. I frequently shopped at Starbase when I lived in Tulsa and they sponsor a major Star Trek convention every year. He recognized me as well and it was fun to chat briefly with him. This was their first trip up to Planet Comicon and I hope they sell alot of merchandise this weekend. I usually don’t buy comics from vendors at conventions. Thanks to a good comic book guy (Jeff Smith) I usually already have everything I want. I tried to track down the first 2 issues of Mystique to complete the set I sent to Angela but the few they had were outrageously overpriced…sorry Angela! I was hoping to spy some cool action figure to add to my collection but didn’t find anything I just had to have. One vendor had some amazing holographic posters from Lord of the Rings…the Aragorn one would’ve been perfect to hang next to my sword…but not for $150!!!
After this I made my way to the Artist’s Alley, easily my favorite place at any convention. It is there that you meet the creators themselves. Some have already made a name for themselves and others are working their way up and you can always get great, inexpensive prints and comics. In addition it is inspiring to be able to chat with these individuals and watch them create comic artwork right before your eyes. Once I really started to get into comics I found that the self-published and small press stuff usually excites me more than the more well-known comic creators. I’m always looking to find that new, relatively unknown book that will turn out to be excellent and have me scrambling around the internet to find more stuff by that creator.
I picked up The Aviatrix and a fun little Princess Leia card by creator David Bryant:
I grabbed the latest Sketchbook A Fist Full of Dolls and a Faye Valentine print by artist Phil Moy who I’d met at the Wizard World convention in Chicago a few years ago. Phil Moy is best known for his work on the Powerpuff Girls comic book. Here is the sketchbook I bought and some examples of Phil’s work:
I picked up a copy of issue #0 of Julia Cruz: Evolution Cop and the Evolution Cop Sketchbook. This is a new book drawn by Rudy Garcia with art reminiscent of J. Scott Campbell.
I then stopped by to visit with Kelley Seda, a local Kansas City comic artist whose creation, Rare Creature, tells the creepy tale of a little girl named Amelia, alone in the big city. I heard about Kelley through this article last year and I was excited to go and say ‘hello’ and check out her work. Kelley was very pleasant and was taking time to draw sketches in people’s sketchbooks as well as answering questions and talking about her work. She currently does not have a website but you can check out some of her Rare Creature art at Slave Labor Graphics. I really look forward to reading this.
One of the last things I did before making my final rounds was to visit with local Kansas City artist Jennifer Janesko.
Jennifer is an amazingly talented artist who creates what could best be described as modern pin-up or glamour art. Some, but not all, of her work could be considered of an adult nature and while this is not the kind of art I would necessarily buy there is no denying her talent. Thankfully much of her artwork is stuff that I wouldn’t be afraid to show my mom so I picked up some postcards and had her autograph them.
She was a very sweet lady who seemed to genuinely enjoy talking with the fans. I was able to talk with her for awhile about the art scene in Kansas City which was very cool. She had several original paintings there and they were amazing. Looking at prints of someone’s work is one thing but looking at an actual original, with its layers of paint and brush lines is incredible. I really cannot fathom having the kind of talent to realistically render people. Its just amazing!
I made a few more rounds through the convention center before leaving. I took time to notice my fellow convention goers. Contrary to popular stereotypes, the majority of people attending looked like your normal, average human being. The high percentage of attractive women and men gave me hope that the comics medium is reaching out well past your stereotypical dork living in his mom’s basement. There were also a lot of parents who had brought their children which I thought was really cool. I saw a boy that I would guess was around 10 dressed in a homemade knight outfit with a helmut made out of cardboard and aluminum foil…it warmed my heart. I wish I had brought a camera as I would’ve asked to take his picture for the site. There were a few people whose fanatical devotion was obvious…and a few who desperately needed to introduce themselves to deodorant, but by and large there were no true freaks for me to write about.
I took my new prizes and hopped into my truck. Driving away I began to muse upon what I would write about and wrote most of the above paragraph in my head as I was pulling out of the parking lot. It was then that I looked in the rearview mirror and noticed the smallest of white pimples just under my nose which was not there when I entered the convention center. Though I hoped and prayed that this had just sprang up as I made my way through the parking lot I had to face the reality that I was the freak! I was the stereotypical pimple-faced thirtysomething male alone at a comic convention on a lovely Saturday morning. I couldn’t help it…I had to laugh and laugh….
I’m such a child! I got home and was pulling out all my stuff and found that Jeremy Bulloch’s wife Maureen had put a Boba Fett key chain in my bag! I’m giddy with excitement! The book looks and smells awesome…the smell of new paper and fresh ink is a book lover’s aphrodisiac!
Jeremy Bulloch has a blog. It looks really fun and will be another one I try to keep up with on occasion.
how fun!
glad you got the chance to go!
now, i can’t wait to go to the comic con up in michigan next month! there are so many actors that i love that will be there, that i’ll probably be giddy with excitement (especially when i see Dirk Benedict, from A-Team & Battlestar Galactica!)..
and i just remembered that an official star wars convention will be in Indy in a couple weeks.. i need to see if i can get dad to go with me to that too. lol
Isn’t that Celebration III? That is expensive but MEGA cool. I’d LOVE to go to that. If you can manage to get in I’ll be sooo happy for you and will also be writhing with jealousy! I swore 3 years ago that James and I would be at that one this time but it doesn’t seem like that is going to happen.
Is the Michigan convention the Motor City Comicon? I’m jealous about that as well! Two of the guests, Aaron Bordner and Dan Brereton are self-publishing/small press guys who have also done work on other comics. Both have done Halloween/horror stuff (not gory, just using typical horror archetypes) that I love! I’ve communicated with Brereton over email in the past. I would love to meet both of those guys! Man! Looks like a GREAT con!
Really good guest list of Stars as well. I’m going to have to request a favor of you if that’s the one. I’ll put a message on your board at your site!
yes, to both conventions!
i doubt i’ll go to the Celebration 3.. but i already have tickets to the Con in Novi!
and about the favor, sure! i’ll be wanting his autograph too & my dad will probably be in line with me, but not necessarily getting autographs.. so i doubt it’ll be any trouble..
in fact, since we got tickets ahead of time, we can get in 30min earlier than the guests who buy the day of.. so we can get in the lines earlier.
i surprise myself with my nerdiness at times.
I have had so many convention warm fuzzies today that I’m feeling a follow up post about conventions in general coming on!
At least you are a “married”, 30-something, pimple-faced man at a comic convention…
I am glad you had a good time sweetie. I had a great time at the Ladies’ retreat at church. Julie, Abby, and I stayed at a hotel together last night to truly get away. It was great fun.
I’m glad you had a great time. This year was the first time I have missed Planet Comicon since they started it 5 years ago. That Bobba Fett book you got looked great. I may even try to order one from him over his website if that’s possible. Let me know what you think of it when you get a chance to read it.
It was also a pleasure meeting your wife Saturday night. I felt bad I couldn’t talk more but it was CRAZY at the time. I was running the shop by myself which is not normal for a Saturday. Usually there are 3 of us there. It’s our busiest day of the week. I over charged one of our regulars by forty dollars and he had to come back back for a refund. I was real embarressed. I was feeling overwhelmed for about two hours straight. 🙁 Getting to see you and your wife was like getting to spend a little quiet in the eye of the hurricane. I’m truly glad you stopped by.
Thanks for the Harry Harrison books and the loan of the DVD’s. I’m going to finish American Gods first then I will take on the Stainless Steel Rat 🙂 . My wife and I are really looking forward to watching the DVD’s.
Side note: Saw the Star Wars trailer and War of the Worlds trailers. Both of these films look GREAT. I’m excited to see both of them. I love the movies and summer time means even more great movies coming our way. Also looking forward to Kingdom of Heaven (Ridley Scott/Orlando Bloom ), Batman Begins, Fantastic Four, and others I’m forgetting right now.
Sorry you were so busy! If you ever get stuck I’m down the street. Don’t know how much help I’d be but I worked retail for years.
Yes, there are alot of great movies this coming from this point all through Narnia at the end of the year.
I’ll probably start on Flying Solo tonight. I had so much fun at the con….I’m still a little giddy about the whole experience. This weekend was like sensory overload with so many cool things happening. I’m looking forward to a quiet week to keep things in perspective!
At least you didn’t under charge him! When I bought stuff from Phil Moy this weekend he tried to give me too much money back. I felt really good when he thanked me for my honesty! (I don’t mean to say that to toot my own horn but to say how nice it feels to do the right thing and be thanked for it!)
I’m so glad to hear you also saw Phil Moy. He and his brother are there every year and they are both so nice plus very talented. I have purchased powerpuff items for my daughter in the past. Plus my kids usually go to the con with me and they have always been good to my kids.
That’s great. He sure seems like a nice guy. I like that kind of animated artwork and his coloring is really vivid. I was glad to see him have a wider range of prints and stuff at this show than I’ve seen him have at others.
your comic store actually gets busy?!
man, ours.. at least the 2 closest to me.. are always dead everytime i go.
the guy that works at the one i frequent is able to do his homework while working. lol
Jeff can obviously answer this more, but I would assume that for purely comic purchases Wednesdays are the big days since that’s new comic day and that other days are so-so. My comic store has tournaments for those various card games and stays open late on the weekends for these and the store is really hopping then. What say you, Jeff?
ah… yeah.. the stores here are pretty much strictly comics.. no games
Your right Carl. Wednesday is our big comic day. A to Z also sells card games ( Magic, YugiOh, Heroclix ), board games, and role playing games. We always have kids in the store playing 7 days a week plus we have a couple of role playing groups who game on Friday and Saturday nights. I also do a lot of ordering/paperwork for the store and the owner sells items we can’t move in the store on Ebay. It is amazing all the places in the world we have shipped things from a little shop in the midwest. We have shipped things easily to atleast 50 different countries all over the world. It’s kind of cool in a way. All the kids playing card games on Saturday’s can get kind of crazy but atleast there not out causing trouble because their bored.
Your place and the new skate park in Blue Springs must be the 2 hottest hangouts for younger kids! They’re almost always packed!
My friend Scott in NYC just reminded me via email that Jeremy Bulloch’s brother Robert, who incidentally got him the job of Boba Fett, is Scott’s co-producer on the musical that he is working on. I wish I had remembered that at the show! doh!