This was written yesterday, September 7:
I did top
14,000 steps. Granted, I needed two trips, including 13,474 steps during the
day, followed by 1,435 going to the Inner
Harbor for dinner. I
totaled 15,909 steps, and I think I’ve felt every one of them.
It’s not
that the convention itself is dull. However, there are times when I’m walking
around with my backpack, and I start to wonder if I’m getting too old for
conventions. I drop off my sketchbook with an artist, I look for bargains, I go
to a panel, I gawk at cosplayers . . . lather, rinse, repeat. Don’t get me
wrong, I wind up meeting all sorts of nice people. And anytime I think I’ve
seen all characters portrayed by the costumed, somebody walks by with something
awesome. Today, I saw a guy dressed as Barf from Spaceballs. You know . . . Mel Brooks movie? Parody of Chewbacca
played by John Candy? Half man, half dog, he’s his own best friend? I cannot
make that up.
I ran into
a few roadblocks on the way over. First, I leave my confirmation letter at
home, so I had to wait and give an attendant my ID. Then I wound up waiting on
line to get in for at least a half hour. One good thing about Baltimore in September is that it’s not very
humid. Combine that with a copy of Sports
Illustrated, and the time flew by. But it was about an hour into my con
experience when I realized that I left my references at the hotel. I print all
sorts of stuff for artists to use while sketching stuff for me. It’s probably
the only that I’m anal retentive about. I could use the iPad for that purpose,
but once again, that’s not asking for trouble. That’s begging for trouble.
I managed
to get six sketches total today. I got to see Danielle Corsetto for what will
probably be the only time this year. In addition to working on her webcomic, Girls With Slingshots, she’s also been
tabbed by BOOM! Studios as a graphic novel writer for their Adventure Time license. It’s perhaps the
quirkiest show on television today, if not merely the quirkiest cartoon. I got
my copy of Playing With Fire signed,
and she did a haunting sketch of Flame Princess, a girl who’s quite literally
volatile, yet seeking to escape her father’s sinister reach.
In
addition, I got a quick sketch from Roget Langridge, and I didn’t ask for
anything Doctor Who-related this
time. I got a killer sketch of Abraham Lincoln shooting Deadpool on a
blank-covered copy of Deadpool #1
from Buz Hasson. He was nice enough to give me a copy of The Living Corpse DVD afterward. Perhaps my biggest score was
hitting up superstar artist Adam Hughes. Occasionally, he does quick head shots
for $20 for Old English Sheepdog rescue. A few years ago, he dressed up as Pam
Poovy, the pervy Human Resources director from Archer, one of my fave shows. Well, I got a sketch of Pam from Adam
Hughes. Hey, I love being different. Right now, my book is with Chris
Giarrusso. I don’t know how many sketches he’s done for me over the years. He’s
working on a sketch of Mouse, a kid who runs around with rats in DC Comics’ The Movement.
Other than
the sketches and a few purchases, I didn’t do much today. And I found out that
next year’s show will be extended to three days. I don’t think I’ll be coming
back to Baltimore.
It’s a friendly show, but I don’t know if I want to get a third night’s stay.
It’s easy to splurge for two nights, but three might be pushing it. One of
these days, I’ll have to go somewhere when a comic convention is not involved
and just play tourist for 3-4 days. The sad thing is that I have no idea where
I’d want to visit first.
I wound up
bailing out before 6 p.m. so I could lie down for a quick nap. I managed to get
vertical, walking out to the Inner
Harbor and having a pizza
at Uno’s. The only downside was that my waiter took too long getting my cookie
sundae, and the nearby tourist shops had closed down. I usually get myself a
t-shirt before I come back from a trip.
That’s
about it for me. I’m going to pack up everything and have it held by the hotel
before I bail out tomorrow. Thanks to the hotel’s computers, I couldn’t upload
my entry about yesterday’s experiences, so I’ll have to wait until I get home
tomorrow. At least I’ll be coming back with lots of experiences, as well as too
many photos.
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