Virginia Comicon!

After a hugely frustrating week at work that threatened to keep me from appearing at our first Virginia Comicon, it was a real pleasure to be able to actually set up. We got off to a slow start but, thanks to the generous contribution by Brett Carreras from the art auction Saturday night, we ended up having a very successful weekend for the Scholarship Fund.

I dearly love going to Heroes and Baltimore but it was nice to be able to attend a show in our hometown and not have to deal with hotel reservations and parking. Very stress-free. It was also a little surreal. Shelton from Heroes and Marc and Shelley from Baltimore were there. But I was sleeping in my own bed at night. Really strange, like I was having a dream where people and places that have nothing to do with each other were coming together. Also, this was my first comic convention as an exhibitor that I didn't have Todd and Craig to sit beside. I missed them a lot. I did get to hang out with my friend Ken Marcus, though, since by a strange coincidence, we ended up sharing table space on Sunday. Of course, we ended up talking about work all day. Which was. Not. Cool. Bad Ken! Bad!


I got to meet some nice new folks too. Two seats down was the ultra-talented Kevin Sharpe. Through another strange bit of serendipity, Kevin has done a few fill-in issues of NOVA which makes him my new best friend. Though I'd promised myself I wouldn't spend any real money this close to Christmas, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to buy one of his pages. He was practically giving them away and, in fact, is such a nice person that he actually did try to give it to me. He was there to make money, though, so I twisted his arm and he agreed to charge for it. Then he turned around and bought one of Mike's pages. He very kindly told me that Mike was a huge inspiration to him in his quest to become a comic book penciller. Mike would have been honored, I'm certain.



I also got to meet fellow Virginian Adam Lucas who had Ken's table on Saturday. Adam is the newest winner of the Zuda contest for his GOLDILOCK saga. Adam's really young but you wouldn't know it to look at his work. It's really beautiful stuff. And he's incredibly well-read, funny and intelligent guy. He showed me a portfolio of stuff he's been working on (that I'm not sure whether or not I can mention so I'll err on the side of caution) and I think he's right on the edge of becoming a huge name. So keep your eyes peeled. And read GOLDILOCK!

Though I've seen Michael Golden at several shows the last couple of years, this was the first time I got the nerve up to say "hello." Mr. Golden gave me my first portfolio review about 12 or 13 years ago at Heroes and was very complimentary. As I told him today, he was my first and last favorable reviewer. I don't think he knew how to take that. But he was very friendly and had nice things to say about Mike. I bought one of his books and he was nice enough to personalize an autograph for me.

All in all, one great way to spend the weekend. And I'm already home! But before I sign off, what would a convention wrap-up be without some cosplay pics?

There were a lot of folks dressed up in costume but I think this guy was my favorite:


And this lady was rocking an awesome Xena, Warrior Princess costume. The photo doesn't really do her justice. Playing Xena is all about the attitude and this gal was playing it to the hilt. (A little sword humor there.) She very kindly pretended to believe me when I told her I was taking this picture "for my wife."



I hope you all had a great weekend as well. Later!