Well, this is my last post concerning the 2006 San Diego Comicon. Sorry it's so long in coming, and unfortunately most of the sketch pictures taken in this post were taken with a cell phone camera, so they're kind of crappy. Nonetheless, they're all here, and you can click on any one to be taken to a larger version on Flickr.
I really had a grand old time at the Comicon this year. I felt like I got to know a lot of the creators a lot better, there are people out there that would recognize me if they saw me again (especially if I get in the Vanderbeam get-up). I didn't get to meet everyone I wanted to or ask all the questions I had or really squeeze myself into the inner circle of webcomics (which is every webcomic blogger's goal, I'm sure), but between Comicon and blogging here I do feel a lot more in touch with the webcomics community at large, which makes me happy. Now, on to the sketches!
My friends and I always spend quite a lot of time and money at the Steve Jackson booth at Comicon, and this year was no exception. But this year we had the pleasure of just randomly being in the right place at the right time and being at the Steve Jackson booth at the same time as Aaron Williams (Nodwick, among other things), and I just had to get a sketch. I purchased some Nodwick volumes, and when he had signed them I asked Williams for a sketch, which he happily obliged by giving me the sketch on the left. I'm pretty sure it's a character from PS 238, one of his print comics that doesn't appear online, and it's pretty awesome, but it's a character I don't know. So I handed the sketchbook to my roommate and whispered "make sure he does Nodwick for yours."
So my roommate specifically requested Nodwick, and Aaron Williams did not disappoint. While his wife regaled us with grand stories of identity theft and moving difficulties (apparently the Williamses have quite a lot of frustrating problems with the outside world), Williams sketched up a masterwork of Nodwick art, perfectly capturing the spirit of the strip in just a few penstrokes. I love this piece, and I think I'm going to have to steal it from my roommate.
Saturday we went out for one last round of sketches, as we weren't going to be able to attend the con on Sunday. And our first stop was by the Megatokyo booth to get something from the Applegeeks guys. We both bought an Applegeeks poster, which was pretty dang cool. I requested a Hawk sketch, and chatted up how much I was enjoying Applegeeks Lite, and I think my expressed enjoyment of the lite version of their comic strip at least to some extent influenced Hawk (the artist) to give me a lite version sketch of Hawk (the character).
My roommate requested Eve, and got a very "kawaii" sketch of Hawk and Ananth's most popular character. In a news post today the guys mentioned that Eve was by far the most popular character drawn, and that they were most surprised when a fan asked for a sketch of Frost, which resulted in the need for many, many sketches to get him right. If only I had been clever enough to be that fan…
After Applegeeks we stopped by the Girl Genius booth and picked up some books (except for book 3, which was out of print, prompting a "Noooooo!" from my roommate and I, and book 3 is essential to finish Girl Genius 101 and go right into the Advanced Class). At the same time I managed to get a quick Agatha sketch, but we didn't want to bother Phil Foglio too much, as he looked like a very, very busy man.
Our final stop was back at the Blank Label Comics booth, where it had all started. Kris Straub, being the true gentleman that he is, wanted to shower us with free stuff for dressing up as his characters. We did not want any free stuff, in fact on Wednesday night we had specifically come by and bought all his stuff so that we would not be seen as "just dressing up to force the creator to give you a kickback". But we were more than happy to accept sketches. So Kris Straub rewarded us not with sketches, but with true Starslip Crisis artwork. The two pictures below are absolute gems, and both my roommate and I will always keep them fondly. It was the perfect wrap up to a great con. I'll always remember San Diego 2006 and the great times I had. Beautiful.
Recent Comments