CraigZablo.com

Later this morning I’m heading over to the Comic and Toy Show.  It’ll run from 10am to 5pm at the Holiday Inn on A1A in Daytona Beach, Florida.  

The theme of the con is to celebrate the 30th anniversary of AC Comics.  Bill Black the founder of AC Comics will be there.  So will a ton of other folks who have worked for AC Comics over the years. If you live within driving distance, you should come too. 

Last Friday, Saturday and Sunday, I was at MegaCon 2012 with my buddy, John Beatty.  [That's not John Beatty with me in the photo above.  No, that's John "Hex" Carter.  Hex was seated a couple of tables down from Beatty and I.  You'll hear more about Hex tomorrow.]

MegaCon was a lot of fun.  Of course how could it not be?  Beatty’s table was seated next to Bob “The Hardest Working Con Sketch Artist in the Business” McLeod.  I was able to pick up sketches from several artists [which will be posted in the coming weeks] for my Stallone sketch collection.  Beatty and I had a fun time hanging out with John Higashi.  I met several new artists and got to see several old friends/artists.  All in all it was a cool weekend that produced a couple of funny stories that I’ll share in posts this week.  Although this story isn’t funny, it is pretty neat.

Paul Gulacy was a guest at MegaCon 2012.  I first discovered Gulacy’s art when I was in junior high and he was working with Doug Moench on their classic run on Master of Kung Fu.  Paul Gulacy quickly became my favorite artist.  A few years later I began collecting original art and Paul was still my favorite artist.  I had acquired a few sketches by him and somehow got his phone number.

I called Paul and the conversation went well and I commissioned him to do a Bruce Lee piece for me.  We began to talk fairly regularly.  Paul was always entertaining.  In addition to being a talented artist, he is a great impressionist able to sound exactly like Brando, Eastwood, Stallone and so many others.  Paul did a Stallone piece for me… followed by a Sabre commission.

I finally got to meet Paul in person in 1980 at a comic convention in Atlanta.  Paul invited me to sit behind the table with him as he autographed and sketched for fans.  So there I was with Paul Gulacy, Mike Grell, Bill Sienkiewicz, Pat Broderick, Bob McLeod and other artists.  A fan about my age was making his way down the row getting autographs from all of the artists.

When he got to me, he looked at the program and then asked, “Who are you?”  I said, “Oh, I’m nobody -” Paul spoke up saying, “This is Craig Zablo.  He’s a friend of mine.”  As you can imagine, I couldn’t stop smiling all weekend.

 As I moved through college and got ready to enter the “real world” I decided to sell off my comic art collection so I wouldn’t have to work during my senior internship.  I found myself reading fewer comics and had lost touch with Paul.  The one piece of art that I did keep was the Stallone commission that Paul did for me.

Fast forward 28 years to MegaCon 2012.  I hadn’t spoken to Paul since the early 80′s, but I wanted to go up and re-introduce myself and thank Paul for being so cool to a young fan.  I wanted Paul to know that I still had my Stallone piece and that allowing me to sit with him while he sketched was a convention memory that still brings a smile.

I found Paul’s table.  The show hadn’t started yet, but already a fan was speaking with him.  When their conversation finished, I stepped up.  I said, “Good morning.  My name is Craig Zablo – “  Paul immediately said, “Wow!  We’re going back in time.”  I could see the wheels spinning as Paul tried to place me.  I was surprised and said, “You remember me?”

Paul said, “Youngstown, right?”

“I used to call you when you lived in Youngstown – “

Paul said, “I did the Stallone piece for you.”  I was amazed that he’d remember.  We had a nice conversation and Paul introduced me to his wife. I thanked Paul for the great memories and art.

So now I had two great con memories of interactions with the talented Paul Gulacy… and MegaCon 2012 hadn’t even officially started.

Saturday

Saturday is usually the busiest day at most shows and this was going to be no exception.  My goal was to get all of my sketches by the end of the day so that Doralya and I could head back home [a 7 - 8 hour drive] at a decent time on Sunday.  So I spent the morning setting up sketches with Billy Fowler, Rob Holstein, Chris Schweizer, and Evan Bryce.  That freed me up to circulate the con floor and con art auction area.  So here are some con photos and comments…

One of the great things about Heroes Con is that on Saturday night there is always an art auction.  During the day it’s not uncommon to see artists in a special area working on the pieces that they’ll donate to the show.  Above is Adam Hughes just starting on his painting which went for an all-time Heroes Con record of 12 grand!

That’s Billy Fowler and his lady. Last year I met Billy and got his really cool take on Sly as Jack Carter.  I wanted to get another piece from Billy and he agreed and gave me his on-point take of Sly as Rocky.

Although I’d never met Chris Schweizer, I’d discovered his art through a link for Heroes Con.  I really liked his style and was delighted to discover that Chris was a very approachable and enthusiastic artist.  He really took his time interacting with folks who stopped by his table.  I picked up his art book and he threw in his take on Sly as Freddy from “Cop Land.”

Robin Holstein was another artist that I discovered from a link for Heroes Con.  I really liked Robin’s pen and ink work.  He agreed to do a sketch of Sly as Rambo.  When I saw the results, I immediately asked if he had room on his sketchlist to do another Stallone.  He did and did an equally cool riff on Sly as Jack Carter.  LittleJohn saw what Robin had done for me and immediately signed up to get Robin’s take on Little John from Robin Hood.

LittleJohn, Patricia and I ended up at the Inkwell Awards Panel.  Dan Panosian kicked off the panel and then Tim Townsend [pictured above] served as the host.  It was cool seeing Kevin Nolan there and getting some well-deserved recognition.  It was also a kick to see that my best friend, John Beatty, was nominated for an award.

That’s a shot of David Williams aka Brohawk working on his Spider-Man painting which ended up being won by Adam Hughes at the auction.   Andrew Robinson is working on his barbarian painting which turned out to be my favorite piece in the auction.  Brian Stelfreeze did a really sweet painting of Scooby-Doo and Daphne to support the show.  Eric Canate worked up this really cool Avengers piece.  Phil Noto checked in with his take on Supergirl.  Tommy Lee Edwards turned his brush towards the Rocketeer.  Not all pieces that make it into the auction are paintings.  Some very cool pen and ink art also made the cut.

Doralya and I joined LittleJohn312 and Patricia at the auction.  I brought Rico his bigger-than-life-size Mr. T and Rocky Balboa standees. Rico seemed truly happy to get them.  This year the auction moved at a much quicker pace, but after a few hours, Doralya and I were beat and knew we had a long drive waiting for us in the morning.  We said our good-byes and headed to the Westin.

This was one of the best Heroes Cons ever.  I know I say that every year, but it’s true.  Doralya had a blast enjoying the city while I was at the con and then meeting up with LittleJohn, his wife and others for meals and special events.  Doralya is already making plans to go next year.  Truth be told, so am I.

In just one short week I’ll be heading up to Charlotte for my annual pilgrimage to HeroesCon.  I can’t wait.  It’ll be nice to get away for a “long” weekend… especially since I’ll be spending it at Heroes.   There’s always plenty to do to stay busy and the guest list this year is the best ever.

If you’re planning to attend, here are some great tips [posted by Neil] so you can get the most out of the show.

This past weekend I traveled to MegaCon with my buddy, John Beatty.  We always have a blast at the show and this time was no exception.  I didn’t take many photos, but I did get a shot of me with these two ladies.  They were busy every day of the show posing with fans.  I have no idea what they were there promoting… but like most everyone else I ended up getting a photo with them.

One of the best things about going to MegaCon is meeting up with folks I seldom see.  That’s Alberto Ruiz in the photo above with a Steampunk Poison Ivy. [I think that Ivy has hypnotized Alberto!]  It had been a couple of years since I crossed paths with the mighty talented Mr. Ruiz.  I also got to hang a bit with John Higashi, Mike Zeck,  Bob McLeod, Mike White, Gene Gonzales, Ron Salas, Dan Panosian, Dave Johnson, and many others.  I owe special thanks to John Higashi for “introducing” me to Tim Sale [John works with Tim at his table keeping the commissions flowing].

That’s Alberto [well, his hand, anyway] in the photo above sketching for a fan.  John was also sketching and I watched him kick it on a couple of Star Wars pieces and a Black Knight piece.  Who knows what I missed when I was out talking with artists and getting a few sketches of my own [which I will post in the coming weeks].

If you follow comics at all then you may have heard about the controversy with one of the artists at the show.  Rob Granito was set up at the show selling “his” art when a piece about him was posted at Bleeding Cool.  The article exposed that Granito was copying other artists’ work and selling it as his own.  In addition Granito was shamelessly taking credit for the work of others in order to help promote his copied artwork.  One of my con buds, Matt Crews [be advised that Crews uses adult" language... a lot], actually went over and engaged Granito in conversation about “his art” and professional credits all the while videoing the conversation.  A Rob Granito is a Fraud Facebook page went up.  Granito was contacted by convention promoters and informed that he was no longer welcome at their shows.

In summary, MegaCon was another fun and entertaining show for all… well maybe all but one.