Orienteering

I recently reread Uncanny X-Men: The Dark Phoenix Saga. If you’ve read my book, Deus ex Comica: The Rebirth of a Comic Book Fan, then you know this was the trade paperback that jumpstarted my long-dormant love of comics. Reading this classic X-Men tale again was a real treat, and I find that each run through of the material yields something new to me. This time, what really struck me was the brilliance of writer Chris Claremont and penciller & co-plotter John Byrne’s work, specifically, the recap on page two of issue #134. It’s preceded by the expected splash page, but by itself the second page is impeccable. The simplicity of it belies the complexity of where we are in the story. It’s both a visual feast of color and a descriptive bit of storytelling to orient the reader. Perfect.

Mini Marvels Magic

Jack loves Chris Giarrusso’s G-Man books and his Mini Marvels work (which I’m also a fan of)! So having the opportunity to meet the man in-person at Mid-Ohio Con was a pretty big deal. The kiddo took his copy of G-Man for Giarrusso to sign. Walking away Jack looked inside the book to find that not only did Giarrusso sign it, but he also did a little G-Man sketch in it, too! So the kiddo had to run back to the table to thank him again!

When I saw that Giarrusso was doing 8 ½ by 11 sketches for just $20 a pop, Jack and I talked about it and decided we couldn’t pass up the opportunity. I have had Hawkeye on the mind since wrapping up the piece I just wrote for the upcoming spring issue of Back Issue magazine, so I knew right away what I wanted. For Jack, who has always loved the three-legged Iron Spider-Man gag in “The Iron Avengers” Mini Marvels story, it was also a no-brainer. We couldn’t be happier with the results!

Mid-Ohio Con Quick Recap

I have always heard great things about Mid-Ohio Con, but have never had the chance to attend. It’s now a Wizard World show, but that didn’t stop us from heading south for the day to commune with our comic and geek brethren!

Some highlights…

• Being at the show with my wife, kiddo, and Alan!
• Getting to spend time catching up with creator friends like Marc Sumerak and Dean Stahl. (Oh, and Alan picked up a copy of Marc's All-Ghouls School trade paperback, which I read last night. What a fun read that's definitely worth checking out!)
  
• Meeting cool creators like Chris Giarrusso (kiddo got his copy of G-Man signed, and we commissioned a couple of great Mini Marvel sketches!), Beck Seashols (talked Star Wars and dachshunds with the fellow native Northeast Ohioan!), Brian Atkins (Robert’s little brother!), and Bill Sienkiewicz (signed my Elektra Omnibus!), among others.
• Running into so many fellow POP! Comic Culture Club members throughout the day.
• Filling some holes in my ROM run from the back issue bins.
• Watching my wife turn to goo while meeting James Marsters (and getting to meet him myself – he was a really cool guy).