Heroes Con 2009 Report

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Heroes Con 2009 was an amazing show. There’s just something about the friendly, laid back atmosphere that runs through the Heroes convention that makes it so appealing. That and the guest list… and the panels… and the auction… and the costumes… and the…

What follows is a long, but abbreviated con report [as if THAT makes any sense].  If you just want to see the photos, then click here.  Otherwise, read on, Leon…

I drove up to Charlotte the day before the show with a brief stop in Jacksonville to meet up with “The James”, Matt “Pecker” and “Sweet” Will. We took two cars [in order to accommodate “The James” protein shakes, vitamin pills, yogurt, cheese, water and other supplements — the dude has gone hard core after losing nearly 100 pounds in the past year]. The 6 plus hour ride went by quickly as we rotated who was in each car.

We stayed at the Hilton directly across the street from the convention center. Hal, who had reserved the room, was already there. After the normal amount of visiting, blowing up air mattresses [and popping one – don’t ask], we decided it was time for lights out.  Of course we didn’t go to sleep and instead got on the topic of strange sketch requests — which led to a long riff about a mythical guy who wanted “Granny Goodness” drawn the way he likes her.  Yes, it was all silly and we’d been up for far too many hours, but I can’t remember when I’ve laughed so hard. The laughter would die down and then someone would start up with “I want ya to draw Granny Goodness…” and then we’d all be howling again. Guess you had to be there.

Friday at the show I was able to pick up sketchbooks [with head sketches] from Francesco Francavilla and Gene Gonzales. I also picked up a model sheet that Dick Giordano had drawn prior to working on the Demolition Man comic adaptation. I saw Craig Rousseau and dropped off reference for a sketchbook sketch. I visited with Evan Bryce and gave him reference for a sketch. I met Chris Samnee for the first time and entered his Heroes Initiative Charity Raffle. I got autographs from: Eric Powell in my Goon: Chinatown hardcover, Ed Brubaker in my Sleeper trade and Ivan Brandon signed my Viking #1. I talked a bit with Steve Niles, but he’d already signed my novels. I also made it a point to stop by and say hello to all of the guests that I knew. It’s always great to see them again. Everyone said that they were having a great show.

“Superman” Dave set up dinner for us at the Fox and Hound. I’d never eaten there, but enjoyed the food and company. In addition to “Superman” Dave, there was “The James”, “Sweet” Will, Matt “Pecker”, Zack and his soon-to-be-wife, Gary McKee, Jason Walker, Matt Haloub, Tom Fleming and at least 8 or ten others that I didn’t know. On the walk back to the hotel, we ran into Evan Bryce. He had his IPhone and showed me a photo of the sketch that he’d done for me. Whoa! Evan is a really talented artist, and I was expecting good things, but he went beyond my expectations.  I’m saving the scan of Evan’s Stallone sketch for a separate post soon to come.

On Saturday I set up sketch commissions with Robbi Rodriguez, Andy Kuhn, and Jeff Wamester. I picked up my Craig Rousseau sketchbook/sketch, and Evan Bryce sketch. “The James” was impressed with Evan’s piece and so I introduced him to Evan. “The James” being the sketch master that he is, set up a watercolor commission with Evan. I bought Jason Walker’s sketchbook and he threw in a Demolition Man headsketch.  When I wasn’t visiting with artists around the convention floor and taking photos, I hung out with Jason and Gary as they worked on their commissions. By accident I ran into Mike and Sandy who put on the Florida SuperCon. They were there supporting Heroes and talking to artists about a possible appearance at the next FSC.

Dinner was going to be at a Mexican joint across from the convention center. Unfortunately it was full and the place was hot.   Since some of us wanted to hit the auction, we decided to split up. I ate at Fuel [a Heroes Con tradition] along with Matt Haloub, Zack & his better half, and Tom Fleming. Tom is into MMA and we had a great discussion during dinner. He’s really a funny and cool guy. I was glad I got to get to know him a bit better at this show.

We then headed over to the auction. Eric Cante’s auction piece was stunning, but I had a feeling that the Frank Cho painting would break the previous Heroes Con Auction Record of $4,200+. I took several pictures and decided to tweet results of key pieces from the auction floor. The Cho piece ended up going for 5 grand… and so did the Mark Brooks’ Scarlet Witch painting! Evan Bryce came in and we talked for a bit. I stuck around to the end of the auction since I wanted to see if Rico would win the Andrew Robinson painting. I was pulling for him, but unfortunately he didn’t get it. I was happy to learn that Dexter Vines was the winner — it’s always cool when someone you know wins.

Matt Haloub and I headed back to the Hilton. When we entered the room the place was empty. Everyone was still out partying. Matt asked me my plans for the last day of the show. I said, “’The James’ still has a couple of pieces to pick up and that it would depend on when they were ready as to when we left. “The James” is really excited about them.” At that point Hal came out of the bathroom laughing. He had heard us speaking and he thought I was “The James” and couldn’t figure out why he was speaking about himself in third person. Of course that led to each of us speaking in third person.

Soon after “The James” and crew showed up at the room. Matt Haloub called it a night and headed to his hotel. “The James” was feeling pretty woozy and conked out… followed by Will. It seemed like a good idea and so it was lights out. I was expecting some “Granny Goodness” talk, but instead we got on a riff which began… “So You’ve Been Dating This Chick for Six Months…” she would then proceed to provide you with some information about herself and the question was, was the info a deal breaker?  Some were easy [she has a vitamin B deficiency] but most were strange and totally funny.  Again, it was one of those things where you just had to be there.

Sunday, as I was going over my list, I realized that there were two artists that I really wanted to see, but up to this point had missed. Otis Frampton wasn’t there [I later learned that his father had passed away. My condolences to Otis and his family] but Derek Fridolfs was.  I walked over with Hal and “The James” to see if Derek was available for a sketch. He was. I got him to do his take on Cosmo from “Paradise Alley”, “The James” and Matt liked Derek’s work and so they got sketches too! James got a sketchbook and a Batman sketch and Matt got a two figure commission of Zatanna and The Demon. I also set up a sketch with Dave Wachter who said he’d have to finish it and mail it to me. [Dave has already sent me a scan of the piece — he went above and beyond on it since he didn’t have it ready at the show!]

Finally we said our goodbyes and packed out gear. It had been a great show. As I was pulling up to pay for parking [$18 a day times three days] I couldn’t imagine how the weekend could have been any better and that’s when the parking attendant waved us on through with no charge!

I am already looking forward to Heroes Con 2010.

Great Teaser for TUF 10

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This teaser for the next season of The Ultimate Fighter lasts for just 22 seconds, but boy are they well done.  Rampage Jackson… “Sugar” Rashad Evans… that GIANT standing behind them… and of course Kimbo Slice.  After watching that teaser I want the season to start NOW.

Daybreakers Follow Undead

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AICN scored the first look at “Daybreakers” –  the Spierig brothers’ follow-up to “Undead”.   Quint describes the film by saying it’s a:

futuristic vampire tale starring Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe and Sam Neill. It’s about a plague that turns the vast majority of the Earth’s population into vampires. The remaining humans have to be rounded up and farmed as the supply of fresh blood grows smaller and smaller and the demand grows larger and larger. The vampires must figure out a way to replicate the blood or save the human race or they, too, will die out.

Sounds pretty cool.  Check out the AICN post here and see the poster in it’s ginormous glory.

Heroes Here I Come!

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Tomorrow I’m heading to  Heroes Con in Charlotte, North Carolina. Most folks refer to it as the best comic convention on the East Coast.  Most folks would be right.  From Friday, June 19th to Sunday, the 21st I’ll see if the praise still holds true.  My guess is, it will.

I plan to tweet updates from the show and post a major con report next week.  Until then…

My Three Amigos

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It was pretty cool to get home to find that three of my buddies made the news today and not a single one in the courthouse docket.

John Beatty has this little interview about what he’s been up to posted at Comicon.com.

Gene Gonzales made a new sketchbook and it [rightly] rated a piece at Scoop.com.

Ron Salas is the artist on a new comic, Existence 2.0, coming from Image and CBR.com posted a 12 page preview.

Dead Zombie Ratings

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According to this site, the ZONE should be rated PG-13 due to using the word “dead” 9 times, “zombie” 4 times and “death” once.  Well, I do write, on a fairly regular basis, about how great the comic “The Walking Dead” is… and it is about zombies.

I guess if I’d been talking up “Hellboy” I might have gotten an “R” rating??  Oops.

Gene Gonzales’ Ray Tango

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Gene Gonzales did this quick sketch of Sly as Ray Tango from “Tango and Cash” as a bonus for buying his new sketchbook.  He offers this deal to anyone picking up a copy, so check out Gene’s art and if you like what you see put in your order. You won’t be disappointed.

UFC 99 Results

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UFC 99 are in.  Let’s see how my predictions held up…

Marcus “The Irish Hand Grenade” Davis Vs. Dan “The Outlaw” Hardy: What made this fight interesting was a real dislike stemming from Hardy calling Davis a “fake Irish man”. I went with the fake Irish Man over the fake Outlaw.  Unfortunately, at least for Davis and me the “fake Outlaw” won via split decision.

Spencer Fisher Vs. Caol Uno: Fisher eeked out a unanimous [29-28 on all three cards] decision.  I thought it would be an easier win, but I was right in picking Fisher.

Mike Swick Vs. Ben Saunders: Swick won via a second round stoppage defeating Saunders who I had picked to win.

Mirko Cro Cop Vs. Mostapha Al Turk: I picked Cro Cop, who won via a first round stoppage [which turned out to be caused by an eye poke].  Surprisingly, the finger poke wasn’t the most controversial aspect of Cro Cop’s night.  You can read how Cro Cop pulled a fast one on Dana White here.

Cheick Kongo Vs. Cain Velasquez:: I thought that Cain would have his way with Congo and it would end before the final bell.  Cain did dominate the fight, but it went the full three rounds with Cain winning on all cards 30-27.

Rich Franklin Vs. Wanderlei Silva: I predicted an entertaining fight with Franklin winning.  It was and he did.

UFC 99

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UFC 99 is tonight.  Although there are a couple of good fights on the card, there aren’t enough to tempt me to get the PPV.  Let’s take a look at what they do offer…

Marcus “The Irish Hand Grenade” Davis Vs. Dan “The Outlaw” Hardy: Both men come in with similar records [21-5 vs 21-6].  What makes this fight interesting is that these guys seem to have a real dislike for each other stemming from Hardy calling Davis a “fake Irish man”.  Whew!  Talk about insults.  I’m going with the fake Irish Man over the fake Outlaw.

Spencer Fisher Vs. Caol Uno: Fisher has the much better record and I’ve seen him fight before.  You guessed it, I’m taking Fisher.

Mike Swick Vs. Ben Saunders: This may be the fight of the night.  Swick is 13-2 and Saunders is 7-0.  Both men are strong, fast, and skilled.  I’m going with Saunders in what I expect to be a fast paced and brutal fight.

Mirko Cro Cop Vs. Mostapha Al Turk: Cro Cop is working his way, he hopes, back into contention.  I predict he’ll win by knockout.

Cheick Kongo Vs. Cain Velasquez:: Congo is 6-4 and a solid 240 pounds.  He has a record of 24-4.  Cain is 6-1and 240 with a 5-0 record.  On paper it should be a tough fight.  I think that Cain will have his way with Congo and end it before the final bell.  Cain appears to be the real deal.  We shall see.

Rich Franklin Vs. Wanderlei Silva: The main event pits two of the most popular former champions in the game against each other.  Both men need a win to get back into the title hunt.  Silva is going down in weight and Franklin up.  They’re fighting at a catch weight of 195.  I think that Franklin will win.  It should be an entertaining fight.  [As crazy as it sounds, I think we’ll soon see Wanderlei Silva fighting Anderson Silva even if Wanderlei looses to Franklin tonight.  They don’t like each other and Anderson worked with Franklin for tonight’s fight.  Of course if Wanderlei wins, there’s even more reason for them to fight… I just don’t see it happening.]

Florida SuperCon

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I spent last Saturday at the 4th annual Florida SuperCon and had a blast.  It was my first time to the FSC, so I really didn’t know what to expect.  I’m happy to report that the show was well run, and contained plenty of media guests, artists, activities, and panels to keep fans of all interest levels entertained.

If you like checking out convention photos, then you can click on the individual links in the post or here to see a slideshow of photos [with additional ones not linked below].

I walked onto the convention floor just a bit before the doors opened to find Pat Broderick setting up.  It was cool talking to Pat, and refreshing to hear that he still collects art.  In fact, Pat was disappointed to learn that legendary artist Gene Colan wasn’t going to be able to make the show due to health reasons. Pat had hoped to get something from him.

Dick Giordano was surrounded by fans the entire day.  Dennis Calero was set up and sketching.  I had hoped to get him to sign my copy of Duane Swierczynski’s Severance Package novel [Dennis did art for it] and it was the first place I ever saw his work.  Can you believe that I accidentally left my copy at home?  [I didn’t forget my Walking Dead hardcover and was able to get Tony Moore to sign it.]   Still, it was nice to meet Dennis.

Another artist that I met for the first time was Mitch Breitweiser.  Mitch was twittering from the show and cracking me up with some of his tweets.  It’s also possible that Mitch has some magical powers, since I took at least one photo of him and when I got home none were on my camera!

Sean Shaw was set up and drawing when he wasn’t talking up the UFC!  In fact artist alley was hopping with folks like: Saint James Comics, Derrick Fish, Chris Darden [who was painting], Alex Ferrer, Austin Janokowski, Richard Green and so many others.  I picked up two Stallone sketches at the show: Andrew Charipar gave me his take on Deke from “Nighthawks” and newcomer, Cayce Moyer took a shot a Rambo.

It seemed that every third person was in a costume and man, there were some really good ones.  Like this one, or this one, and especially this one.  I taken more photos of the costumed guests and you can see them here.

Brian Thompson, Ted Raimi and Bruce Campbell were the main media guests.  Ted Raimi did a one hour panel where he talked to the audience and then led folks chosen from the crowd to join him in a skit of “How a Movie Gets Made in Hollywood.”  Bruce Campbell won the crowd over with a one hour session where he simply took questions from the audience.  Talk about rapport with the fans, stage presence and great sense of humor.  I enjoyed that panel more than any I’ve ever seen and I’m not a HUGE Bruce Campbell fan… or maybe I should say I wasn’t…

As you can probably tell, if you’ve read this far, I had a great day at the Florida SuperCon.  I expect that next year will be even better since I’m going to try to make it for more than one day.  If you can, you should too!