{"id":1119,"date":"2005-09-04T12:48:00","date_gmt":"2005-09-04T16:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/craigzablo.com\/?p=1119"},"modified":"2021-10-03T17:49:17","modified_gmt":"2021-10-03T21:49:17","slug":"tampa-was-a-blast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/?p=1119","title":{"rendered":"Tampa Was a Blast!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last weekend, <\/span>Big Beatty<\/b>, <\/span>John Higashi<\/a><\/b> and I made<\/span> our way to the <\/span>Tampa Comic Book and Toy Show<\/b>. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

As many of you know, it’s my <\/span>favorite little convention<\/b>. But<\/span> if <\/span>Tim Gordon<\/b> continues to put on such great shows, it<\/span> won’t be<\/span> little <\/b>much longer. It’s held <\/span>three times <\/b>a year<\/span> and has added the <\/span>Tampa Indie Film Fest<\/b> to a program<\/span> which already includes <\/span>celebrites signing autographs<\/b>,<\/span> artists sketching<\/b>, a <\/span>costume contest<\/b>, <\/span>prize drawaings<\/b>… <\/span>there’s <\/span>ALWAYS<\/b> something going on to interest everyone.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Beatty, Higashi<\/b> and I drove down the night before. It’s become a tradition<\/b> that we go down a day ahead of the show, hang out with other collectors<\/b> and eat dinner at a place called Sweet Tomatoes<\/b>.<\/p>\n

This time Randy Martin <\/b>joined us for dinner. Afterwards we went over to his place to hang out. Randy<\/b> has the coolest Edward Scissorhands art collection <\/b>that you can see if you click HERE<\/b><\/a>.<\/p>\n

The next morning, Beatty<\/b>, Higashi<\/b> and I headed over to the show. Higashi<\/b> was on a mission. His goal was to get to Ethan Van Sciver<\/b> to add to a sketch that he’d started a few shows ago, and to set up a commission <\/b>with Pablo Marcos<\/b>. My plan was to meet Pablo Marcos<\/b> and possibly get a Stallone<\/b> sketch from him. Beatty <\/b>was there just to stir up some fun.<\/p>\n

Higashi<\/b> started getting that predator look<\/b> in his eyes and I knew that soon he would be in full con mode<\/b>. The doors opened and the crowd headed in. As we were walking to the artist area<\/b>, I saw Randy Martin <\/b>had set up and so I stopped to chat with him. Higashi<\/b> continued to make his way to Ethan’s spot center stage<\/b>.<\/p>\n

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A few minutes later, I headed over to the stage area. Higashi<\/b> was waiting for Ethan <\/b>to arrive. I said, “Hi” to Marty Nodell<\/b> and his son. I was just hanging out waiting for Big Beatty<\/b> to mosey over when Cindy Morgan<\/a><\/b> walked up to me and introduced herself. Cindy<\/b> was a guest of the show and is best known for her role as Lacey Underall<\/b> in Caddyshack<\/b>. She asked if I was with the show. I told her I wasn’t. As luck would have it, Tim
\nGordon<\/b> [who runs the show] was passing by. He stopped and was able to answer Ms. Morgan<\/b>‘s question. There was a bit of small talk and then she excused herself to set up. Tim<\/b> and I spoke a bit before he went on stage to introduce the guests and welcome the crowd.<\/p>\n

I decided to head over to the film room when suddenly Captain Battle<\/b> and his Battle Team<\/b> appeared.<\/p>\n

His Battle Team<\/b> was filming fan reaction as he walked through the crowd meeting and greeting young and old alike. I shook hands with the good
\nCaptain<\/b> and was awarded his first dvd movie<\/b>. I’ll write more about that soon.<\/p>\n

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In the film room, Beatty<\/b> and I watched a retrospective<\/b> on Irwin Allen<\/b>. Allen<\/b> was first known for his tv shows<\/b>, Lost in Space<\/b>, Voyage to the
\nBottom of the Sea<\/b>, The Time Tunnel<\/b>, and Land of the Giants<\/b>. He then went on to become the King of Disaster Movies<\/b> with The Posideon Adventure<\/b>, and The Towering Inferno<\/b>. Higashi<\/b> came in. He’d been successful in getting Ethan<\/b> to add more to his Star Wars<\/b> piece. The three of us watched a short film called Contact from Beyond<\/b>. The people who made the film were in the audience and the crowd enjoyed the experience.<\/p>\n

That’s the look that Wild Bill Black<\/a><\/b> had on his face when he saw Beatty <\/b>and I re-enter the convention hall. Bill<\/b> was talking to Marty Nodell<\/b> and had made the trip to Tampa<\/b> just to hang with Marty<\/b> for the afternoon. It’s always great to see Wild Bill<\/b>, who is busier than ever with his comic<\/b> and dvd businesses<\/b>.<\/p>\n

I spent some time talking with Jesse “Cadre” Hansen<\/b> and Mitch “Bubba the Redneck Werewolf” Hyman<\/b>. It’s always a blast speaking to these guys as they love what they’re doing and their fan base continues to grow. Beatty<\/b> came over to see some new stuff that Cadre<\/b> had created. When Beatty<\/b> gives praise, you know it’s earned. He and Mitch<\/b> talked about Beatty<\/b> doing a cover for a future issue of Bubba<\/b> — so that looks like it’s going to happen.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Then is was time for the costume contest<\/b>. It’s surprising to me, because of the size of the show, how many really good costumers<\/b> are always there. You have to admit that it adds something to a show, when you see characters<\/b> walking around and they look like who they’re supposed to be. The winner was a guy dressed as The Shadow<\/b> — at the last show he came as Marv<\/b>. In the picture above, that’s me with The Scarecrow <\/b>from Batman Begins<\/b> and Kevin<\/b> from Sin City<\/b>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The only thing left to do was for Higashi<\/b> to set up his Star Wars<\/b> commission. That’s Pablo<\/b> and his lovely wife<\/b> pictured above. Higashi<\/b> and I were in line as Pablo<\/b> sketched for fans. Higashi<\/b> asked me if I was going to try for a Stallone<\/b> sketch. Because of the time factor, I said that I didn’t think so. We watched as Pablo<\/b> completed a beautiful Vamperella<\/b> sketch… then a Zombie<\/b> pencil sketch… and then a Conan<\/b>. Man, each sketch was a beaut. Higashi<\/b> set up his commission which
\nPablo<\/b> was doing as a take-home<\/b> piece. I then arranged to have a Stallone sketch<\/b> done and mailed with Higashi<\/b>‘s. I don’t know which character Pablo<\/b> is going to do… but you can be sure, it’ll be sweet.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Sadly it was time for us to get on the road. Higashi<\/b> had been able to get Ethan<\/b> to add to his piece and Pablo<\/b> to commit to a commission<\/b>. I had been able to arrange for a Pablo<\/b> sketch as well. We’d been able to visit with old<\/b> and new friends<\/b>, see some fun films<\/b>, check out some wild costumes<\/b>, and just have a great day<\/b>. Tim’s next show<\/b> is in November<\/b>. If you’re able to make it, I can promise that you’ll have a fun time<\/b>. Heck, you may even get to be in a picture with Steve<\/b>, Big Beatty <\/b>and Wild Bill<\/b>!<\/p>\n

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Last weekend, Big Beatty, John Higashi and I made our way to the Tampa Comic Book and Toy Show. As<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":912,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[58,56],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1119","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\/1119","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=1119"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1119\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28286,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1119\/revisions\/28286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}