I've met Pat Broderick and he's a really nice guy. He didn't charge me to have my books signed and talked to me for a bit his work on Green Lantern back in the day.

But it's all not positive interactions form the fans. Have you ever had a student yelling at you from the back of the room that you ruined MacBeth for them and that now no one will publish MacBeth again and you are a hack while you are trying to have a conversation with another student and he is asking you to sign a stack of paperwork he wants done and have that student come back every time he is asked to leave the area and start up again then walk around the entire school screaming F*c$ that Shaxper guy, he is the worst teacher I have ever encountered and stopping random people to tell everyone how rude you were to him and you owe him because you pay his salary.

Happened to a well known comic writer I know (I was at the show with the studio a few tables away from him) just after Legion of Super-Heroes got cancelled by DC in the new52 when he hadn't worked on Legion for over 5 years at that point and hadn't worked at DC at all since the new52. When I asked him about it, he said that wouldn't even make the top 20 of worst fan interactions he had to deal with at a con. Add to that, you haven't flown or driven half way across the country and are staying in a hotel without the comforts of home and family and sitting through the equivalent of parent teacher conferences all day long while you have grades due the next morning and classes to prep for the next day and have been sitting in an uncomfortable aluminum folding chair for 3 hours while writing constantly with a pen while your hand is cramping.

So yes, there is a lot of positive to feed off of for creators, and mot do, but they have to deal with a lot of shit too, and most of them do it for their fans and because hey love their work, others do it because they feel they need to, but the fact that most of the interactions described here by our members are positive speaks volumes about the nature of a lot of the professionals in the industry.

-M

PS I taught for over 15 years as well, and have done a few con appearances for various things over the years, gaming and comics, it's a lot easier to be "on" all day when you have some control of the environment in your classroom in your school, in your town, with students you are mostly familiar with and have some authority over than it is to be "on" all day in a foreign environment where you have little to no control over who is there or what they are doing.

I've only met a few.  Met Carlos Pacheco in 1997 and had him sign some X-Men books he was doing at the time. Don't remember if we talked or not but I think it was just sign a book and leave. I don't recall.

Met John Totleben 2 times over the last couple of years. Really down to earth guy. We talked for a little bit and I had him sign some Swamp Thing books.

And lastly I met Jim Sterenko last year. He was very sharply dressed  and a super nice guy. I had him sign some Cap books and a few others. Unfortunately we were only able to talk for a minute or two.

I have only met Alex Ross one time in the mid 90's at a convention in St. Louis. I didn't even know who he was by sight. So since I didn't notice his name plate until almost on my way out the door, I passed by him several times going to tables and making purchases. By the time I noticed who he was, (and I went on the last day of the convention) there wasn't much of an Alex Ross book in the whole place. The owner of the shop I went to had a table and he had Marvel Age #130 that previewed Marvels that I had him sign. I don't think I talked much other than saying I wished I had brought my own comics to have him sign. And told him Marvels #1 was my favorite cover of the four. It was very pleasant and polite.

Now to me that would make him an interesting person to meet. Artistic jobs are assumed to be a passion of the person preforming them. For him to have done what he did with comics for a paycheck because he was good at it, probably has more interesting stories than the most passionate creator. At least for me. Unless he's just a real grump. Hell, sometimes I don't even understand comic book fandom and I am a part of it. :-)

Oh and well, Joe Eisma. Not so much as a big a name as he is now. But I met him back in 2010 at a convention in Dallas. After my wife and I and him and his wife and few friends met up for dinner. He's a super nice guy. But I had know him from the Bendis Board (along with Nick Spencer) since I joined in 2005. I bought some Dummy's Guide To Danger direct from him so I know he got his profit.

I would so gush on him. Because of Batman:TAS he's more Batman, than any actor, writer or artist. He IS Batman to me.

Nice to know if I ever get a chance to me Jim Starlin. He'd probably be the one person I could talk to for a long time, if he were willing, because I am most familiar with more of his work than any other creator.

I enjoyed (what I have; still have a few more to get) the first 20 issues or so that I got back in early 2000's. I never bought it when it was on the stands, like I did most of the other 2099 books. Is his art not well regarded?

Edit: I think we've had this conversation before now that I read your comment again. Because after the first conversation I read my Mar-vell comics again here recently. In that case, I think I favor his Doom 2099 more so than Mar-vell. But that could have just been Rick Jones clouding any decent amount of objectivity I can have whenever he's around. :-)

Favorite con memory with a creator on the comics side-walking around a small con with Mark Waid (this was like the 3rd time I had met him and had attended and helped organize roast in his honor the night before the con), who was guest of honor as he and Christy Blanch played a game of guess the issue-Christy would show Mark a DC Silver Age cover, but only the logo and top third of the cover (essentially the logo and background color, no art or other info, covering up the issue number and month) and Mark would guess the issue and try to summarize the contest. He got about 99% of the books right. It was just amazing to see that happening live in real time, and then later that day stumping Mark as I showed him the Strange Sorts Stories issue of B&B featuring gorilla baseball and asking him why in the DC Universe they slide into first base half way up the baseline form foul territory

He got a huge kick out of it as he had never noticed that before and immediately snapped a pic of the cover ans sent it to Tom Peyer and the two began texting back and forth batting around their theories of how and why this would work in the pre-Crisis DCU.

Very down to earth and humble guy and loves interacting with fans, especially the younger ones (he kept a stack of kids comics at his table that day and gave every kid who came up to get a signature or buy a book form him a free comic to take with them and read)-mostly DC animated U tie in books like Justice League or Superman Adventures, but I thought that was so very generous of him-even cooler, several dealers saw he was doing it and gave him books to add to his giveaway pile.

-M

No, the dinner is completely separate from the con itself. Rob Allen and I have been hosting the dinner for over twelve years. It's strictly an informal-get together, a chance for local CCFers (and those attending the con from out of town) to meet face to face and schmooze. We will, as always, post the details here as plans shape up.

Cei-U!
Seriously, you should come!