Sunday, September 08, 2013

Adventures in Baltimore 2013: Day Two


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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