Useless Hero Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 I guess it's just your luck sometimes. I've heard people say Arthur Suydam is a solid guy, yet at a show he abruptly told a kid he had to buy a print if he wanted his book signed. Someone mentioned bad times with Alan Davis, both times I met him he very engaging and on top form. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockMyAmadeus Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 I love George Perez. I really do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MPS Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 I had the exact same experience with Steranko. He's extremely engaging and takes his time with each fan. He also sells some of his difficult to locate books at fair prices. It was great meeting him. But it's true - don't take his photo. Steranko seems like a stand up guy and one of the artists I'd like to meet besides John romita sr. I've only met one artist and I've only been to two comic cons but mike zeck was a stand up guy. Very nice and helpful ill never forget that as well. One of the coolest artists out there I'm sure. Don't get me wrong, I was thrilled to meet him and he was very pleasant. Chit chatted for a bit with me and my wife. Just don't take his picture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whizzer Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 I love George Perez. I really do. Yep, never seen Perez be anything other than warm and charming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artboy99 Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 For now, I'll describe the creator as a 'well-known comic book writer / artist'. First London convention, he was all alone at his table in artists' alley, so I went up to ask him to sign one of my books. Chatted away for about a minute, then he says he has to go to a signing booth at the opposite side of the exhibition hall. I say I'd rather come back and see him the following day, explaining that I'm very bad with crowds because of Asperger's Syndrome, very stressed, very burned out towards the end of the show, and so it would be better if I leave it for tomorrow. He then waffles on about one of his relatives having neurofibromatosis, which is absolutely nothing to do with autism, how he takes things like this very seriously, and insists I walk with him the whole length of the hall. We reach the signing area and then, pointing his finger, he aggressively demands... 'Get to the back of the queue!' I just turn and walk away, appalled. No 'clever' counterarguments here, please. If I explain that I have a disability which makes it extremely difficult to handle close proximity with large crowds, then I don't expect to be herded into position like this and ordered to do something which I have clearly stated I don't even want in the first place. Not only is this manipulative and abusive, it's also completely illegal under disability discrimination law, America and Europe. Always devastating when you discover that someone whose work you've followed for decades is such a pitiful excuse for a human being. Would have been far more fan focused and friendly of the person to simply sign your one book and then go to the other signing location. That said, it is possible the convention has set rules about where the artist can sign. I have heard of things like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lonzilla Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 True story.. First time I met Jim Starlin I handed him my Batman 426 to sign and he wouldnt touch it because it had a Mike Mignola autograph which was signed with a silver sharpie. Apparently Jim's allergic to silver sharpies. Im not making this up. If you want Jim to sign a book for you DO NOT have him do it with a silver sharpie Awww damn, was hoping to get my Captain Marvel 29 signed in silver. How about gold ink then? I had heard several horror stories about Neal Adams, but when I met him in May he couldn't have been nicer. He was funny, telling great stories and chatting it up with everyone. If I was a Crow fan I would have been disappointed in James O'Barr. He just signed the book and didn't look up and say anything. The SS book I got done was a gift for my girl and I really could care less Creators are like pro athletes and musicians, people have good and bad stories about meeting them. Case in point: I've met the awesome and cool Dave Mustaine from Megadeth AND the jerky cokehead version too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artboy99 Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 One question I have is how much are the creators/ artists being paid for their time in attendance at whatever function they are at? Time is valuable to an artist, and spending a couple of days signing is time spent not completing art for deadlines or art for commissions. It might be an opportunity to make some bucks sketching, and signing if they charge for the signature and also an opportunity to sell some prints BUT there is no guarantee you do sell anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow Images Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 MIke Baron has been the only person to every actually pissed me off. I went to have him sign a copy of my Flash #1 and he rolled his eyes at me said nothing and signed it on the inside like he was ashamed of it. If you want some to care about your new book on Jazz I guess you shouldn't act like an , I might of actually asked about it. From what I saw the rest of the convention he pretty much got no traffic. Now I don't know whether to throw or give the book away. James O'barr was definitely off putting but I had heard that going in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whizzer Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 One question I have is how much are the creators/ artists being paid for their time in attendance at whatever function they are at? Time is valuable to an artist, and spending a couple of days signing is time spent not completing art for deadlines or art for commissions. It might be an opportunity to make some bucks sketching, and signing if they charge for the signature and also an opportunity to sell some prints BUT there is no guarantee you do sell anything. Most artists will open a commission list prior to the show via their websites or fb pages which will normally fill up pretty quickly for the bigger artists. They will also be selling OA from portfolios as well as sketch books and prints. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dupont2005 Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 (edited) I doubt many of them are getting paid to attend at all. They're promoting their work. The sales of OA is also a purpose of promoting their work. This is why they save it for the con when they could have a perpetual commissions list through online means, as well as sell out of all their OA online. They save it for the con to generate lines, to get people to see their new stuff. It's kind of like how movie stars don't get paid to go on Letterman, that's what they do to get people talking about their movie. If creators weren't saving the sketches for the con I'd own a lot more sketches Edited August 13, 2014 by dupont2005 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paladin Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 I heard a story about Barry (WINDSOR) Smith openly laughing and mocking a portfolio of some poor guy at a con.... anyone ever witness something like this? Before I opened this thread I automatically thought of my interaction with BWS, and lo and behold, your post was about him as well. I have met a ton of creators in my life, and he was hands down the biggest horse's I have come into contact with. It was at Heroes Con about 25 years ago and there weren't any other attendees at his table. He had a sign on his table that stated he would sign 3 books only, which is not a problem with me. I walked up with my 3 books and stood there as he had a conversation with someone to his right, (another creator). I waited, and I waited, and he continued to ignore me. I was patient and chose to not be rude by attempting to interrupt him by saying hello. He had not yet looked at me, but then spoke in my direction without looking in my direction. He said "I will sign 3 books and 3 books only." He had not looked to see that I had 3 books on the table. He pulled the books over, while continuing his conversation with the other creator, his head still turned to the right. He signed the 3 books and did not try to make eye contact with me...did not speak to me, acted like I was not even there. Once they were signed he put down his marker and continued his conversation. I had to reach over and get the books myself. He did not look at me once. Let me just say that I no longer own the books as I could care less. Most creators are truly grateful and considerate of their fans, but BWS truly feels he is above his. I actually had the ignore routine done on me to. The artist was charging $20 for quick sketches. Not sure if he was in some sort of sketch zone cause he wasn't saying anything, but he did stop to talk to a writer who had walked up to the table while he was doing my sketch. Right after that, the artist started talking to a guy who had just arrived at his booth. He seemed to finish up the sketch in a hurry and then apologized and said that the guy he was talking to was his boss. And I'm like thinking, "sorry to bother ya dude with my $20. I'll let ya catch up with your boss" , needless to say I wasn't impressed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big.Mike Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 I have had great experiences with Jim Balent, Jim Lee, Chris Claremont, Art Adams, and Ron Lim. My bad experience- Tim Vigil. I was looking at a comic at Tim Vigil's table and he takes the comic away. Well, I never bought a Tim Vigil comic again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G.D. Kennedy Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 (edited) I don't know I would say that it was bad -- more bizarre -- but at NYC Special Edition this year, I took a couple of Afterlife with Archie books up to Francesco Francavilla to get signed. He promptly informed me that he only did signatures during the last 15 minutes of every hour. I'd never heard of that before -- and neither had anyone else at the CGC table. It certainly was pretty bizarre for someone who had no line at his table, and, at the magic fifteen minute mark, had a grand total of two people there. Edited August 13, 2014 by spaga Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junkdrawer Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 Neal Adams Blue shirt offends me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemonman5 Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 Of the creators I've met, these were: ... exceptionally pleasant: Sergio Aregones, George Perez, Joe Kubert, J.G. Jones, James Robinson, Mike Deodato Jr., Yanick Paquette, Mark Waid, Walt Simonson, Gail Simone. ... real f*ktwits: Frank Cho, Tony Harris. With the exception of the two above, I don't have problems with any creators. I've been yelled at by Giordano for my choice of sharpie and Carmine Infantino got really crusty when I asked him to sign a book that he said wasn't his (which it was) - but they were the elders of the comic world so it was nothing but good. Marv Wolfman told me he would sign ten books for me then I would have to go back to the end of the line... problem was, there was no line. So he made me wait a few minutes before signing the next batch. It was more absurd than offensive. I've heard some stories about Cho not being the nicest person, and I kind of saw that when I get my sketch done at NY Special Edition. He comes off as a no nonsense type of individual. In the end, he got to the show hours late because he wanted to finish my sketch, which makes him awesome in my book, but I'm sure not so awesome to anyone wanting a signature from him at the show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdoginohio Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 John Byrne. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revat Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 Of the creators I've met, these were: ... exceptionally pleasant: Sergio Aregones, George Perez, Joe Kubert, J.G. Jones, James Robinson, Mike Deodato Jr., Yanick Paquette, Mark Waid, Walt Simonson, Gail Simone. ... real f*ktwits: Frank Cho, Tony Harris. With the exception of the two above, I don't have problems with any creators. I've been yelled at by Giordano for my choice of sharpie and Carmine Infantino got really crusty when I asked him to sign a book that he said wasn't his (which it was) - but they were the elders of the comic world so it was nothing but good. Marv Wolfman told me he would sign ten books for me then I would have to go back to the end of the line... problem was, there was no line. So he made me wait a few minutes before signing the next batch. It was more absurd than offensive. I've heard some stories about Cho not being the nicest person, and I kind of saw that when I get my sketch done at NY Special Edition. He comes off as a no nonsense type of individual. In the end, he got to the show hours late because he wanted to finish my sketch, which makes him awesome in my book, but I'm sure not so awesome to anyone wanting a signature from him at the show. I think I had a similar experience with Cho, he wasn't rushing, he just came across as professional. Which is fine with me. Not a cuddly warm engaging dude, but he wasn't cold or rude or anything either. Top experiences Tim Sale - I had a bunch of stuff for him to sign for me and my friends, but I didn't want to monopolize his time so I only had him sign a few items at a time. Each time, he time he did a quick sketch based on whatever I gave him to sign. By the 4th time, I felt bad about getting another sketch, so I told him he didn't need to do another one. Then he felt bad I didn't want one. Then I felt bad, and let him draw me another one. I left with like 20 things signed by him and 4-5 sketches (all given away to happy friends). Herb Trimpe - I didn't have much interaction with him, but while I waiting in line he was talking to someone else and telling stories about Jim Steranko and John Romita. Herb was cordial to me, but I didn't want to interrupt his conversation, so he kindly signed my items and we both said thank you. Other standouts - Steve Leialoha, Steve Englehart, Ariel Olivetti, Robert Kirkman (before things got too crazy for him) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revat Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 Also I'd say the toughest experiences relate to a female agent of some copper artists... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bio-Rupp Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 MIke Baron has been the only person to every actually pissed me off. I went to have him sign a copy of my Flash #1 and he rolled his eyes at me said nothing and signed it on the inside like he was ashamed of it. If you want some to care about your new book on Jazz I guess you shouldn't act like an , I might of actually asked about it. From what I saw the rest of the convention he pretty much got no traffic. Now I don't know whether to throw or give the book away. James O'barr was definitely off putting but I had heard that going in. Met O'Barr at Heroes Con1994. This year was undoubtedly the highlight of his fame. New Crow movie came out... all kinds of merchandising $$$ to be made by him... everyone wanted to meet him... ... and it felt like he hated every minute of it. I mean he wasn't rude or mean... just that he really would have been happier if his book hadn't have taken off. If that makes any sense I asked him to sign a Crow movie and please personalize it to one of my friends as a gift... He said (in his vampire-ish voice)... " I will sign it any way you so desire " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MedicAR Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 Marv Wolfman told me he would sign ten books for me then I would have to go back to the end of the line... problem was, there was no line. So he made me wait a few minutes before signing the next batch. It was more absurd than offensive. This makes me think of the airline desk clerk at the end of Meet the Parents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
