Fan Expo 2009 & the Iron Sheik

So, I checked out the Fan Expo last weekend. I got there on Saturday at about 2:30pm. I met up with Milo & K.Song in the line up at the Marvel booth, to wait for the Olivier Coipel, Stu Immonen, & Leonard Kirk signing. As Milo got some nice sketches from Kirk & Coipel, I got some real good advice on my art from Immonen & Coipel. Olivier is amazing. In 2007, Coipel spent about 30-40 minutes with me, breaking down my portfolio & hitting me with so much great advice. Thanks to both Olivier & Stuart, you're advice will make me a better artist.

After that, we met up with Brian, & Jason for the Olivier Coipel vs Marko Djurdevic Sketch Duel. That was a good time.

Later, I hit up my favorite part of any convention, Artists Alley, & I ran into 2 friends of mine sitting side by side, Lezley Davidson of Peeling Onions fame, & Phil McClorey of Furious Comics fame. Lezley had a brand new Peeling Onions book, which is fantastic. Check out her site & buy a copy. Phil was promoting all 3 issues of his horror comics The Book of Methuselah , and selling them like a mo' fo'.

After the show, Milo, K.Song, Brian, Jason, & myself headed to the Loose Moose on front street to check out UFC 102 (see earlier post for my thoughts on that).

Sunday, my main goal was to meet 2 of my biggest influences, Joe Quesada & Dale Keown, & hopefully get some art advice from both.

When I was about 12-13 years old, I discovered girls & forgot about comics for a while. Then when I was about 17-18 I wandered back into my old comic shop & picked up 2 issues that blew me away.

The first, Daredevil #3 by Kevin Smith, Joe Quesada, & Jimmy Palmiotti. This book was colored like I'd never seen before & Quesada's art jumped off the page. I was in love.

The second book that blew my mind, Pitt #18, by Dale Keown & Richard Pace. I'd known about Pitt from when I was younger but this issue was different. Again, I didn't know a comic could be colored like that. This book has my all-time favorite cover, with Pitt walking away from a pile of dead soldiers, his claws covered in blood, & 'Ugly Americans' written in blood on the floor. That's what brought me back into comics, & ultimately made me decide that I would draw comics. So, I owe a lot to Joe Q. & Dale.

I had already met both of these guys, but now, I had something of mine to show them.

I got to meet Joe & even though I was right up at the front, the line was gigantic, & I got the sense that he was super busy & being pulled in a million different directions all weekend. Joe was great but he didn't have time to look over my stuff. I left a package with him, got some books signed, & snagged a picture with him. Seeing the news on Monday morning that Disney had bought Marvel, I can understand why the Marvel guys were running around like crazy all weekend.

I did get to sit down with Dale Keown while he took a break from sketching. Dale was awesome & helpful. It's a good feeling to be complimented on your art by one of your all time heroes.

I forgot to ask for a picture, but whatever.

I spent some time sitting with Phil & Lezley in Artist Alley, doing some sketches for whoever wanted them.

To top off the great weekend, my pal Adrian hired former WWF superstars, the Iron Sheik, & the Honky Tonk Man to pretend to be pissed at me and rough me up. I was playing along as the Sheik swing fists in my direction & screamed at me from his wheelchair, but it got a little out of hand when the bloated, 300 lb, Honky Tonk Man tried to shove my head down on the nearest table. I realised that they were going to get carried away at my expense, because Honky Tonk stank of beer & was obviously drunk, & Sheik is clearly insane. I hightailed it out of there, but not before Sheik whipped his cane at me. My buddy grabbed this YouTube gem after I had ran away in the most cowardly fashion.