I'm assuming Greg Land isn't listed as "swipe artist" in the official con communications.

Well, you could have at least acknowledged Jill Thompson for her own, charming creation:  Scary Godmother.

It's easy to tell them apart.

Greg Horn draws attractive women on comic covers.

Greg Land traces porn actresses inside comic covers.

The con exceeded my expectations on the comics front. I got to meet a bunch of folks and see the wide variety of creators. I'll post close-up images of my new original art in the appropriate thread for that. Here's the lowdown:

Erica Henderson is as delightful as you'd expect from the secret ingredient in Squirrel Girl's success.



I didn't talk to Greg Land, but I did see him working freehand, which is a good thing.



Don Rosa had to explain to people who he was, since he's much better known outside the English speaking world. Why isn't his work supported more here? I told him he was revered on this forum. He had many prints of Scrooge and the three ducklings spoofing various classic comic covers. I got this one spoofing the first Legion appearance.



John Marc DeMatteis and I talked for a bit about how Brooklyn Dreams and Moonshadow are both his autobiography, but one is an allegory. I noted that artists at the convention fill their down time working on their art commmissions. What do writers do? "Talk on the phone to my wife," he said.



Hey, it's Roy Thomas! Nice guy. He was intrigued by a nice-looking Spanish reprint anthology of Conan that somebody brought for him to sign. I told him how I learned about the Battle of Britain from him in All-Star Squadron.



Colleen Doran was pleasant yet pragmatic, having a need to sell originals to pay the bills. I bought two collected volumes of her A Distant Soil and got a third for free. I also bought an original splash page from issue #38.



Larry Elmore was the house artist for TSR in the 80s, turning out scores of amazing fantasy paintings that surely boosted the sales of Dragonlance and other Dungeons and Dragons product. I bought his art book and also a new story of Snarfquest, the comic strip he ran in the back of Dragon Magazine for years. I'll probably write it up in the near future. He said the original Snarfquest collection sells out every time he reprints it, so he'll probably print it again in the near future. Cool.

Yanick Paquette got very excited when I ordered a Bulleteer commission; he hasn't had cause to draw her in years but came up with a great design. He told me all about the experience of working on Seven Soldiers. I'll talk about that in the Seven Soldiers thread.




I was amazed by how young Gene Ha was, considering how long ago he worked with Alan Moore on Top 10, and how amazing he already was by then. I bought his new graphic novel, and he drew me a free business-card sized headshot of my choice. Nice guy, very friendly and modest. I chose Shock-Headed Pete, which he pounded out on the spot in about half an hour. (Close up view in the original art thread.)



Jae Lee had the pole position in the artist room, the center table right by the front door. I ordered a Colossus commission from him. He didn't have time to do it during the convention, but we exchanged information so he could mail it to me. Better to have it well done than rushed, right? I forgot to get a picture with him.

George Perez was not doing art, but he was signing. Not only that, but he was giving away free poster prints for himself to sign. What a guy! The print choices were COIE's death of Supergirl, or the "Thanos and his trophies" print pictured below.




Richard Case said he was pleased as punch to see his vision of Doom Patrol coming to life on TV right now. I got him to do a male Rebus commission. Another pleasant guy.



I had never heard of Tony Kordos, but apparently he inked Batman and Robin Eternal and JLA: Darkseid War. He has some creative pieces for sale, so I got one.



Mike Grell was like your favorite uncle or grandfather, enthusiastic about life and work. More about him later.



Keith Giffen on the other hand was very curmudgeonly. He was apparently also distracted by whatever else is going on in his life. I tried to get a Legionnaire commission from him. We ran through several characters that he didn't want to do. He finally agreed to do Mon-El, whom he said was a childhood favorite. But he made no effort to write down details of the commission, and he didn't want payment in advance. (Everybody else except Richard Case wanted pre-payment.) I checked back in with him a couple of times during the convention, but he never did the sketch. Just as well, if he wasn't enthusiastic about the job.

In the next post, I'll talk about a panel discussion I attended.

Sounds like you had a blast. Interesting inside info about the creators you met.

The age of the cell phone pix has made these events more interesting. I did the same when I went to the NYCCC , it makes the reader feel like they’re there too.

Good to know!