{"id":1000,"date":"2004-08-17T17:30:00","date_gmt":"2004-08-17T21:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/craigzablo.com\/?p=1000"},"modified":"2019-03-10T16:41:55","modified_gmt":"2019-03-10T20:41:55","slug":"tampa-con-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/?p=1000","title":{"rendered":"Tampa Con Report"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>On <\/span>Saturday<\/b>, <\/span>August 7th<\/b> my son <\/span>Mike<\/b>, <\/span>John Beatty<\/b> and I loaded into my <\/span>“Jack Carter XG350”<\/b> and headed to <\/span>Tim Gordon’s Tampa Comic Book and Toy Convention<\/b>. We try to make it to at least 2 of the three shows <\/span>Tim<\/b> puts on each year because they’re<\/span> just_ that _much_ fun<\/b>. And this show was no exception.<\/span><\/div>\n

We decided that we’d get a good buffet breakfast before the show opened. As we sat down with our plates, in walked Alex Saviuk <\/b>who was also in search of some morning nourishment. Alex<\/b> usually attends Tim<\/b>‘s Tampa<\/b> shows and it’s always nice to see him. We finished eating and headed over to the convention. The doors hadn’t opened, but there was a huge line waiting. No doubt, the word is getting out about how much fun Tim<\/b>‘s cons are.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Ethan Van Scriver<\/b> was already set up. Ethan<\/b> is one of the DC comics<\/b> most popular artists and always shows up for Tim<\/b>‘s conventions. The doors hadn’t even opened and Ethan<\/b> was already working on sketches for fans. The guy is ALWAYS<\/u> busy. John Higashi<\/b> “turned me on” to Ethan<\/b>‘s art a couple of years ago so that’s ANOTHER<\/u> thing I owe to Johnny Star-Warz<\/b>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Alex Saviuk<\/b> was set up. Next to <\/span>Alex<\/b> was Mark <\/b>and Stephanie Heike<\/b><\/a> from <\/span>AC<\/b> comics. Although I never get to spend much time with ’em, the <\/span>Heikes <\/b>always have something funny to say. Behind the <\/span>Heikes<\/b> was <\/span>Miguel Insignares<\/b> with a nice <\/span>“Dawn of the Dead”<\/b> trailer running on a loop next to the cool <\/span>DOTD<\/b> poster. That’s Tim Gordon<\/b> and<\/span> Miguel <\/b>in the pic to the left… looking like they just stepped off the set of <\/span>“Dawn of the Dead!” <\/b><\/div>\n

Marc Maculay<\/b>, an actor who has appeared in “Monster,” “The Punisher,” “Bad Boys”<\/b> and many other movies was ready for the fans. Some small press artists were set up to our left. Mitch Hyman<\/b>, creater of the ever-popular Bubba the Redneck Werewolf<\/i>, Jesse “Cadre” Hansen<\/b>, Michael <\/b>“The Ciderview Project”<\/i> and Austin Janowsky <\/b>were all having a blast. Dick “Cracked” Kulpa<\/b> was set up at his usual spot just as you entered the convention room.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Yeah baby, things were looking good.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

When the doors opened, the convention room<\/b> quickly filled. The room is really huge and so even though there were hundreds [and hundreds] of people coming in, there was never that claustrophobic feeling that some convention rooms produce.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Several fans came up to <\/span>John<\/b> for autographs or sketches. <\/span>John<\/b> has really been doing some cool sketches<\/b> lately and the fans are definitely digging the tones and colors that he adds to them. I got pictures of some of them, but missed out on a few… one was a really nice <\/span>Cap<\/b> that <\/span>John<\/b> did for a fan’s <\/span>Captain America <\/b>themebook.<\/span><\/div>\n

I had a chance to talk briefly with Randy Martin<\/b>. Randy<\/b> collects Edward Scissorhands<\/b>. In fact it was Randy<\/b>‘s Scissorhands<\/b> sketches that inspired me to start my Stallone<\/b> sketch theme. Randy<\/b>‘s one of the good guys and so it was cool touching base with him.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Miguel Insignares <\/b>remembered me from Atlanta Con <\/b>and said that he still wanted to do a Stallone<\/b> piece for my gallery when he gets some time. That’d be sweet. Miguel<\/b> has been attached to some really cool projects<\/b> and you just know that there’s more to come!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Marc Maculay<\/b> [pictured above with <\/span>Mike<\/b> and me] noticed my <\/span>StalloneZone<\/b> t-shirt and asked me about it. We ended up having a nice conversation about <\/span>movies, education<\/b>, etc. <\/span>Marc<\/b>‘s been acting professionally for over twenty years and did it without having to relocate to <\/span>New York<\/b> o<\/span>r LA<\/b>. It was ironic that he played a scene in<\/span> “Monster”<\/b> with <\/span>Charlize Theron<\/b> that Beatty<\/b> had been telling me about just a week earlier. <\/span>John<\/b> had watched the movie and it really impresed him. The next day he was telling me about this particular scene and sure enough the actor involved was <\/span>Marc<\/b>! Now how often do we get to meet actors who’ve impressed us?
\n<\/span><\/div>\n
\"\"<\/a>The <\/span>costume contest <\/b>was a hoot! <\/span><\/div>\n

There were two divisions… kids and adults. The three kids that entered all won some convention cash<\/b> and had a fun time. Then came the adults… I never quite know what to make of costumers<\/b> at conventions<\/b>. Sometimes they are so good, they look professional<\/b>… but other times…<\/p>\n

There were several outstanding costumes<\/b>. I thought that Catwoman<\/b> would take first or second, Wolverine<\/a> <\/b>would get whichever spot Catwoman<\/b> missed and third place would go to… well, one of the others. I was so surprised when the guy who came in first won, that I didn’t even get a picture of him! At any rate, everyone enjoyed the costume contest<\/b>… and I mean everyone. Even the artists<\/b> stopped drawing to watch the action.<\/p>\n

Then all too quickly it was time to go. The con<\/b> ended at 4:00 and we still had to drive back to Daytona<\/b>. We made sure to tell Tim <\/b>what a great time we had and hit the road.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Tim<\/b>‘s <\/span>next show is <\/span>November 14th<\/b>. <\/span><\/div>\n

As I’ve said, all of Tim<\/b>‘s shows are great, but this one is going to be really special. NOEL NEILL<\/b> [Paramount <\/b>Movie Star, Popular Pin-Up for WWII GIs, and best known as Superman’s Girl – Lois Lane<\/b>] will be a guest! Ethan Van Scriver, Jim Fren<\/b>, and Rob Granito<\/b> have also already agreed to appear!<\/p>\n

Who knows, maybe we’ll see YOU there as well!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Saturday, August 7th my son Mike, John Beatty and I loaded into my “Jack Carter XG350” and headed to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":912,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[58,56],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-art","category-comics","comments-off"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/912"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1000"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1000\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21747,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1000\/revisions\/21747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}