Chicago Comic Con, Part 3: The Long Walk Home

Part 1 :: Part 2

Guess who? HINT: Not the Iron Giant

I only took my backpack with me for this trip, as I required just one change of clothes and even then just the basics (tshirt/underwear), so I had to watch how much I bought. This did keep me from buying a few things I didn’t really need (ex: a Scud the Disposable Assassin action figure) but also prevented me from getting a couple items I would have really adored (a killer print by the artist of Cursed Pirate Girl). But my rule was:  if it didn’t fit in the backpack, I didn’t buy it. Crushable items, such as prints and posters, were out of the question.

Yes, I could have bought a tube to keep prints and posters safe, but I was afraid of having to check it on the Mega Bus and something happening to it.

Cobra Commander: looking better here than in the live action movie.
My time at the con on Sunday was somewhat abbreviated, as I had to catch the train downtown around 3 PM–but I made the most of the day. Not only did I get my Frank Cho sketch, but I also picked up a Doug TenNapal graphic novel, Flink, for only $5. That ended up being my only purchase of the day, due to me leaving soon and wanting to make sure I had money for food on the way home and for any possible emergencies. There were a few tshirts I eyed, including a Han Shot First shirt I spotted in Artist Alley, but most were too expensive–one of the big tshirt sellers sold theirs for $20.25 each, or two for $35. Yikes.

If you shopped around, you could certainly find better deals, but there were few shirts I spotted that screamed for me to own them (interesting post script, the Monday after the con I bought a $10 Iron Maiden tshirt at JC Penny’s back home using the money I didn’t spend at the con).

Eventually, my time to depart arrived. I called my comrades in geek arms and informed them of my impending departure. They joined me outside and we said our goodbyes. Two of our group I have known since middle-school, another since college and the last, my oldest friend, since first grade. I was happy I decided to trek out to Chicago to see my friends once again (scattered to Washington D.C., Milwaukee, New York and Chicago in the years following college).

The con for me was not about buying comic books, or even being within inches of the likes of Ray Park (Darth Maul), Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) or Billy Dee Williams (Lando).  That was when I was younger, but things have changed. Now, going to the con is about seeing some of my oldest friends one more time. As we  march towards our thirties, I wonder how many more times I’ll see these gents, or even have the means and/or desire to go to a comic book convention (and after last year’s fiasco, I nearly swore off going to a Chicago con ever again).

Ironically, I have heard rumors that this con could be the last Chicago Comic Con–at least in its current form (and time of the year).

I had a bit of a misadventure upon reaching downtown Chicago on Sunday afternoon. The ride on the blue line went well enough, but when I reached the stop for the Mega Bus, I looked at the clock on my phone. The time hadn’t switched to Chicago time right away when I arrived on Saturday (as my old phone would do), so thinking I was still on Michigan time, I thought I had an extra hour to kill.

Turns out, I did not.

Figuring I had time to kill, I walked away from the bus stop and ventured over to the Amtrack Station, looking for a place to get an ice cream to help beat the 98 degree heat. I entered the station and looked up at the old analogue clock on the wall.

“Oh, that can’t be right,” I said aloud after figuring out that my time was incorrect. I called my mom and asked her what time it was in Michigan.

“What time is it there right now?”
“Quarter to six, why?”
“That means it is quarter to five here–I gotta run!”

Dangit. I didn’t have an extra hour: I had been at the stop on time. I ran to the bus stop, making it with seconds to spare. That was the last bus to Ann Arbor, and it would have been a long walk home.

The ride home was not as smooth as the ride to Chicago, but that was not the fault of the Mega Bus people–there was a bunch of construction on 94 in Michigan (no surprise), which added about an hour to our ride home. By the time I drove back to Lansing, it was nearly 1 AM. Ugh.

I survived yet another Comic Con. I saw some old friends, including one I hadn’t seen in four years. I had a great time. All in all, not a bad way to spend a weekend.

Mirrored from Daniel J. Hogan. If something doesn't look right or show up, view the original blog post. Feel free to comment here or on the original post

Chicago Comic Con, Part 2: Obligatory Wrath of Con Joke

Part 1 can be read here

Optimus Claus wants to hear what’s on your Wookie Life Day wish list..just don’t ask for the Matrix of Leadership.

I try to avoid paying cover price for anything at a con, at least in regards to paperback collections of old issues (because you can always get those for less than cover price on Amazon.  I will pay cover price at my local comic book store, however).  The nearest I came to paying cover price was buying vol. 3 of Planetary for 20% off.  Obviously, I paid full price for the Mouse Guard hardcover–but I bought that from David Petersen himself.  As someone who also sells copies of his own book, I have no problem doing that. I regret not buying the second Mouse Guard book, however. Oh well.

I also paid full price for issue #1 of Cursed Pirate Girl, but again I bought that from the artist over in Artist Alley (where I also picked up a great collection of pin-up sketches from another Michigan artist, Katie Cook).

Honestly, one of my favorite finds at the con was something I got for free–a sketch from Liberty Meadows creator/artist Frank Cho.

In typical fan boy fashion, I blanked when I was next in line and couldn’t remember the name of the character (Truman the duck) I wanted drawn. So, I said “Uh, can you draw your duck character from Liberty Meadows?”

Oy.

To further add to my embarrassment, my notebook had a bunch of debris in it, which spilled out on Frank’s table. UGH. I found out later it was the tea leaves from a tea bag that had torn open in my backpack. Stay classy, Dan.

I debated getting an autograph from the fourth Ghostbuster, Ernie Hudson. I decided against it, as Winston isn’t my fav Ghostbuster. Nothing against Ernie Hudson and he does have one of my favorite lines in the film (”Since I have joined these guys, I have seen s— that would turn you WHITE!”). He certainly seemed to be enjoying himself, which is always great to see.

this guy put my Ghostbuster costume to shame.

A few folks from the Battlestar Galactica reboot were on hand, including Edward James Olmos (Admiral Adama).

Eddie “Admiral Adama” Olmos answers some questions. Or ponders your destruction. I’d say it is 50/50.

Michael “Uncle Mike” Hogan was around too, and I briefly thought of talking to him and saying “Hey, remember when we met back in May at Motor City Con?” — only because he got a kick out of the fact I had the same name as his brother (Daniel Hogan…we’re a dime a dozen, seriously).

I made more than a few trips by the SuicideGirls booth and also thought of getting my picture taken with them…but I chickened out. There was never a shortage of guys around the booth, heh. As a fan of pin-up art (especially art cira and post WWII)/photography, I find what they do interesting–featuring women with piercings, tattoos and the like.

Which brings me to something else I noticed–there were a considerable amount of women attending this con.  Families too (saw a toddler in a Chewbacca costume, which was great).

Dark Phoenix knows what you are thinking, so you had better stop.

I tell you, these aren’t the guy heavy conventions I went to in my early teens, things are way more diverse today (or I’m just more aware of it, which is possible). And I think that’s great, and I don’t just mean the cute geek girls (which I’m a fan of), seeing families sharing their love of something like Star Wars or X-Men just warms my heart. I saw a few families in costume and it made my day.

This might be a generation shift thing–Gen X’ers (and my fellow Gen Y’ers) are  having families, and they grew up with a lot of the Star Wars/comic book stuff being so commonplace (merchandising especially) in the ’70s and ’80s, so they are sharing their interests with their kids. I’m not saying Baby Boomers didn’t do that as well (my dad is the reason I got into Monty Python and Star Trek), but I think fandom (and geekdom) has become more mainstream, and therefore more acceptable, as of late.

Next: Chicago Comic Con, Part 3: The Long Walk Home.

Mirrored from Daniel J. Hogan. If something doesn't look right or show up, view the original blog post. Feel free to comment here or on the original post

I’m breaking my post about the Chicago Comic Con up into a few shorter posts.  Enjoy.

Chicago Comic Con, Part 1: – Fun With Mass Transit

I attended the Chicago Comic-Con this past Saturday and Sunday (would have went on Friday, but I had a prior commitment to be a guest at a teen writing workshop at my local library–which was a blast).

Bebop and Rocksteady search the Con for ‘Toytles’ to stomp.

This convention had been previously known as Wizard World, so named because of its connection with the comic book price guide/mag, Wizard.  Well, it appears that things are not all well in the kingdom of Wizard.  Both DC and Marvel pulled out of this convention, along with other publishers such as Dark Horse, leaving a huge void that couldn’t be filled, no matter how many Jake Buseys  or Todd Bridges were on hand (sadly, Gary Coleman was a no-show, another disappointment).

A friend summed the event up perfectly as “a glorified Motor City Comic Con” (our yearly comic con here in Michigan that has gone down hill, according to regular attendees).  Sure, there were neato guests and plenty of dealers, but the fun thing about cons for me is seeing the big companies there.

I may not read a lot of Marvel and DC titles as of late (I’ve been buying a lot of Dark Horse), but their presence (along with Dark Horse, Image and others) was what always separated the Chicago convention from Motor City Comic Con for me–the sense of scale.  I recalled in years past at Wizard World that there were more companies around, and not just the big comic labels.

Anyway, I digress.

I awoke at 5 AM on Saturday and prepped for my trek to Ann Arbor to pick up the Mega Bus at the  U of M Park and Ride lot.  Driving on the freeway just before 6 AM was interesting.  Thankfully, I avoided any construction (aside from a short detour in downtown Ann Arbor) and made it to the Park and Ride with time to spare.  The only bummer was that it started raining while I waited by the bus stop, causing some water to leak into my backpack–which made my change of clothes, podcast CD sleeves and such soggy.

The Mega Bus trip was actually rather painless, a far cry from the fiasco of my bus/train trip to the convention a year ago. We even arrived in downtown Chicago 45 minutes ahead of schedule.

I walked the block (give or take) to the nearest Blue Line train station and read a book during the 40 minute (give or take) train ride to the convention center).

I Checked in with my online ticket and was given a very annoying wristband.  They had done away with the badges of years past, and expected people to wear a stupid paper wrist band for the duration of the con (for as long as four days in some cases).

I’m sure this was to prevent people from sharing badges. I like the badges though, they make fun keepsakes, and mine came in handy years ago when I met Jason Mewes and had him sign the back.  When you have arms as hairy as mine, any kind of self-adhesive strip around your wrist is going to be painful.

I quickly noticed the absence of DC and Marvel upon entering.  Usually, they have large booths right at the entrance.  Instead, they crammed most of the guest celebs near the front, which created several log jams upon entering.

This year I wasn’t battling some kind of plague, so I enjoyed walking around the large convention center. I also started putting out podcast CDs in the freebie areas–this one thing I like about this con, they don’t care who puts out free stuff, unlike Motor City Comic Con, where you had to be a registered guest to put out freebies in the common areas.  I only brought 30 something CDs, which I quickly regretted after putting out the last of my CDs by mid-afternoon on the first day.

I also saturated the cafeteria areas with my podcast promo cards.

I didn’t buy all that much this year, I think I only spent around $100 over two days–and that included food, snacks, coffees and other necessities (ex: a six pack of Old Style). My most expensive purchase was a hardcover copy of the first Mouse Guard collection ($25), but I bought it in person from its writer/artist, Michigan-native David Petersen (whom I met a few months ago at the first Ink & Stein ‘drink and draw’ event in Ypsilani).  He also signed it and drew an amazing little sketch.

David Petersen, writer/artist of Mouse Guard, signs and sketches my copy of the first collection.

The rest of my purchases were mainly trade paperbacks of comic book back issues.  Since I’m more of a comic reader than collector these days, I opt for the cheap paperback collections over the separate back issues.  You can find booths a-plenty to score cheap trades.  Most will be half-off the cover price and another favorite stop sold all of their trades for $5.  Probably my best trade purchase was a large Judge Dredd collection that I got for only $7.  It didn’t have a US dollar price, only a UK price (13). I saw the next volume in the series at another booth on sale for $24 (US). Go me.

Stay tuned for Chicago Comic Con, Part 2-Obligatory Wrath of Con Joke

Mirrored from Daniel J. Hogan. If something doesn't look right or show up, view the original blog post. Feel free to comment here or on the original post

Local cartoonist, Jef Mallet, visited my nearby library (the Delta Township District Library, which has felt like a second home as of late) Wednesday night. Jef draws the nationally syndicated comic strip, Frazz. It is about a janitor at a elementary school–who is actually a gifted song writer, but keeps the job because he loves the kids so much.

Jef started things out by drawing Frazz for us, live, on a large easel. I always like watching talented artists draw in person, it is nothing short of magical. Jef and I have known each other for a few years now–I first met him at a similar event in 2005 in Grand Ledge, although at that event he was talking more about censorship (I think) instead of just doing a general (but still entertaining) overview of what he does.

At that event in 2005, I hadn’t started writing The Magic of Eyri yet (I had ideas, but there were nowhere near what the final novel became). He mentioned writing and drawing a children’s book of his own, so after his presentation, I asked him for advice on starting and finishing a novel (and a sketch of Frazz).

He would tell me later that it was what I asked him that impressed him most, although I can’t remember exactly what I said. I didn’t ask the questions that he typically gets (”how can I get rich by drawing pictures” or along those lines). His advice to me, which is something I still follow, is to “just do it.” He told me that I didn’t want to be 80 years old one day and thinking, “hmm what if I had written that novel.” Jef told me to write it and at least i would know–and who cared if it was good or bad, at least I wouldn’t regret not trying.

Shortly after self-publishing The Magic of Eyri in 2007, I dropped Jef a line, thanking him for the advice, which had driven me to start and finish the novel. We had lunch and swapped books: a signed copy of Magic of Eyri for him and a signed Frazz collection for myself. It was great.

Jef Mallet is one of the nicest and greatest men I have ever known–and one of the things I like most about him is that he isn’t afraid to write ’smart’ humor. He challenges his readers, and he loves doing it.

I love his stories about the comic strip business too. He told this joke about FoxTrot, Bill Amend. Bill used to live in California, but moved to Kansas City–which was where his syndicate was based. The joke went that Bill did this in order to have a whole extra time zone when it came to deadlines. Jef laughed and added that if you knew Bill, such a story wouldn’t be too far from the truth. Jef told this other joke about an artist, who years ago, whenever he’d read about a plane crash in the States, would call his syndicate and say “yeah, my strips were on that plane.”

The interesting thing is that nowadays, Jef doesn’t even have to mail his strips to his editor. He scans them and emails the files. But he added that he’s always up against a deadline–something I can relate to since starting the Magic of Eyri podcast (granted, I’m not doing daily episodes…I don’t even want to think about that).

The other great story he told was of a ‘strip feud (read the comments part)’ with Pearls Before Swine creator, Stephan Pastis. Pastis ran a strip featuring and overzealous cyclist named Jeff (Jef Mallet is an avid cyclist). Jef called Pastis up about the strip and he confused the strip was about Jef–even saying that he added an extra ‘f’ in the name at the last minute.

Jef took the whole thing in stride and in good humor. He kindly returned the favor in a strip after that, referencing Pastis’ previous career as a lawyer. Hilarious stuff.

Seeing Jef again this week was a much needed creative recharge for myself. The next day, I wrote nearly 1,000 words of my current in progress novel, the most I’ve written in one sitting in a long while–and I gotta get this first draft done by October because I want to take a stab at a nonfiction story come this Novembers Novel Writing Month.

Mirrored from Daniel J. Hogan. If something doesn't look right or show up, view the original blog post. Feel free to comment here or on the original post

Episode 009 of my free podcast is now online.  I’m looking forward to promoting the podcast next weekend at Wizard World in Chicago.  How I’m going to do that exactly, I’m not sure yet. I’m tempted to wear an “Ask Me About My Podcast” tshirt.

I wore my Ghostbusters costume at Motor City Comic Con while promoting it there and that helped a bunch (people asked for photos and I gave ‘em CDs or cards), but I can’t take my proton pack with me on the bus to Chicago, nor do I think it would survive the trip – I could still wear the flightsuit, but I don’t think it is worth it without the proton pack.

Mirrored from Daniel J. Hogan. If something doesn't look right or show up, view the original blog post. Feel free to comment here or on the original post

Wizard World Chicago, one of the biggest mid-West comicons, is next weekend in Rosemont, IL. At the moment, I’m trying to figure out if I can make it there or not. I’m hesitant for two reasons: financial and, the main reason, that last year was such a fiasco.

Last year, I took the train with my then girlfriend, L –we picked up a bus in East Lansing (at the train station, I think) and then took that bus to the train station in…uh, Kalamazoo I think. The bus trip was bad enough, with people having to stand in the aisle the whole way. The high point of this was one of the people standing was a very obviously hung over gentleman, who appeared to be on the verge of vomiting at a moment’s notice (I offered him my seat but he declined, saying that standing was better for him).

On top of this, I caught a cold the night before and was terrible shape for traveling. I spent the layover time at the next stop in a near-comatose state. The train ride wasn’t any better, as L and I couldn’t find seats together. And there was the whole riding backwards on the train thing, which did not sit well with me at all (I was sitting in the opposite direction the train was going).

Upon hitting Chicago, I was in even worse shape, allowing me to make a terrible first impression on L’s friend we met after dinner and would be staying with (the plan being, I go to the comicon with my friends and L spend the day doing what she wanted, both of us meeting up afterwards). This was Thursday night.

Friday morning, after a fantastic evening of night sweats and fever, I pulled myself out of bed and managed to make it to the nearest CTA train station–how, I don’t know. The con was fun, but when you have a fever and feel like you’re going to pass out at any moment, spending hours walking around a large convention center loses its appeal rather quickly.

I linked up with my friends, whom have moved out of Michigan in recent years, and did my best to enjoy the con. The plan was to grab dinner together that evening, attend a reading/Q&A by Warren Ellis (one of my favorite comic book writers) and hang out afterwards.

Well, that didn’t happen. I survived the afternoon at the con–barely. I almost left at one point, but since neither L nor her friend were home, I didn’t really have a choice. I had to forgo the traditional White Castle dinner in favor of something a little more pleasing to my weakened state (Subway, I think, so barely). I think I made it about 30 minutes through Warren Ellis’ reading before I hit rock bottom.

A couple of panicked phone calls later, I was on my way back to L’s friend’s house and so were L and said friend (forcing the two of them to leave a party or something). I was promptly pumped full of cold meds and put to bed.

Saturday started out great—and quickly got worse. I felt better at first, but after L and I trekked downtown to see the museums and such (Saturday was spend time with the girlfriend day), I was hardly able to stand. Needless to say, our museum outing was short lived. But here’s the best part:

L’s friend worked for the Obama campaign. And after we got back to L’s friend’s place (we had a spare key), she called us and invited us to the Taste of Chicago festival downtown, where Stevie Wonder was the guest. This would have meant getting back on the train to downtown, and standing outside in a 100 degree (give or take) sunny weather around thousands of people. L and I passed, opting to recover (she was exhausted as well, having spent the previous day downtown with friends).

The next day, we find out that had we gone, L’s friend could have gotten us into a private show put on by Stevie Wonder for Barrack and Michelle Obama.

Yes, that’s right. L and I could have met the now President and First Lady. And part of me thinks that if I had just taken some DayQuil, I might have been up for going.

(for the record, L’s friend had no idea–or at least gave us no prior indication–that this would happen, if she had said there would have been even a maybe chance, I would have cowboy’d up and went–and in some bizarre alternative reality, passed my plague on to the then presidential candidate, which would somehow cause him to lose the election. But, I digress).

That Sunday, the last day of Wizard World, I survived the outing but didn’t stay the whole day–and couldn’t because L and I had to catch the train back to Michigan. Catching our train was another bit of fun, as we had a hard time figuring out where to go inside Union Station. Yes, we almost boarded the wrong train.

So here I am, a little over a year later, and I’m toying with heading back.

I’m thinking of taking the Mega Bus time, which is faster than the train and way cheaper. And since I’m going solo this time (L broke up with me back in January), I figured why not? The Mega Bus gets my mom’s seal of approval and because of Chicago’s great mass transit system, all I have to do is hop on the Blue Line train after the bus drops me off at Union Station in downtown Chicago (seriously, their mass transit system rules–get with it Michigan) and I’ll be at the convention center around lunch time.  The ease of the mass transit system was something I really enjoyed last year.

Financially, I can make it work ($28 round trip on the Mega Bus is great) — and since I’m going there to promote the Magic of Eyri Podcast (give out cards/CDs) and myself, I can write off some of the expenses.

But I’ll have to watch my spending at the con itself (I think only having one bag to carry everything for the weekend in will help with that).

And honestly, I want a redo because last year was so horrible. I’m hoping that whatever is in my system at the moment (some kind of Black Lung/Bronchitis thing), will be under control by then (I’m on a new run of antibiotics so, I’m sure I’ll be fine).

But this time I’m going loaded for bear: bringing cold stuff just in case.

For me though, going to the con isn’t really about buying comics (or promoting myself)–it is to see my friends and to spend a fun weekend around like-minded people. As I’m getting older, I’m realizing I probably won’t have too many more chances like this down the road to have a carefree weekend with old friends (but I hope I’m very, very wrong).

As my dad likes to say, life is about ‘nuggets’ — little events or moments that may seem insignificant in the big picture, but make life all the more interesting.

Speaking of — both Gary Coleman AND Todd Bridges of Diff’rent Strokes are guests this year. How can I NOT go?

Mirrored from Daniel J. Hogan. If something doesn't look right or show up, view the original blog post. Feel free to comment here or on the original post