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San Diego 2006 Con report

Started by jimm94,

18 posts in this topic

jimm94

jimm94

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For my 2,000 post, I present to you my official 2006 San Diego Comic-Con International report! yay.gif

 

 

Friday 4:00 AM PST - Wake up for flight out of San Jose to San Diego. sleeping.gif

 

 

8:30 AM - I arrived without incident, and called Shin (sckao) to co-ordinate with him regarding my badge and set up of his booth for the day. I managed to squeeze in plenty of good times after hours, and had a sufficient amount of time to walk around the exhibit hall to browse, but my primary reason for attending the show this year was to work for Shin at his booth. I met up with him at his hotel and we walked over to the con together.

 

 

11:00 AM – Met Jim Steranko for the first time and had a lovely conversation with him. I brought up my observation that there are many parallels in his work to that of a jazz improviser (I am a saxophonist and huge jazz aficionado). He agreed that his experiences as a musician had a definite influence on his art and storytelling approach, and that his art contained shape, form and rhythm much in the same way a soloist or composer would develop. He seemed genuinely appreciative and attuned to this concept, and we talked about music for around 5 minutes or so. He even asked me several questions regarding what recordings and players I was currently enjoying. He was gracious enough to sign my copy of “Steranko: Arte Noir”, which was formerly a rare unsigned copy I had previously purchased directly from David Spurlock, and two prints I bought at the show. One was his famous “Silk Stocking Killer” drawing. The other was a printer’s proof of the Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back wraparound cover painting he did for his Mediascene Prevue magazine in 1980. As a life-long Star Wars fan, this was the perfect crossover piece for me.

 

I also bought and was able have Steranko sign a copy of his new calendar from Vanguard Productions. He was a true gentleman, and it was a conversation I’ll never forget. A part of me was in awe to be speaking with my favorite living comic creator, but I was pleased to converse with him about a subject related to, but outside of his involvement with comics.

 

“Silk Stocking Killer” (Contains Nudity):

http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Nebula/8650/chandler.html

 

 

Steranko books:

http://www.creativemix.com/steranko/

 

Friday Late Morning/Afternoon - I spent most of the rest of the day plying Shin’s wares alongside his wife Lisa. Tim (tth2) stopped by the booth to introduce himself, but I unfortunately was unable to speak with him very long as I was engaged with a customer.

 

My roommate for the con, Dan (Drummy), stopped by the booth to say hello, and to co-ordinate dinner plans. Dan is a great guy, and I was fortunate to have him as a bunkmate! thumbsup2.gif

 

During a quick jog around the neighboring aisles, I bought the nearly perfect Monterey copy of the 2001: A Space Odyssey Marvel Treasury from Ron Murry. If CGC graded Treasuries, this would be a shoe-in for a 9.8. The only thing better than large format Kirby art, is ultra high grade large format Kirby art! cloud9.gif

 

I also picked up an exclusive Star Wars collectible to flip on the ‘Bay while I was out and about in the exhibit hall. It’s a small 3-D sculpture based on Howard Chaykin’s 1976 Star Wars poster that was given away at Comic-Con that year.

 

 

Friday Dinner – A nice, relaxing dinner with Paris Fred, Drummy, tth2, Greggy, Jeff and Melissa. Each and every one of these people are wonderful human beings. It is an honor to know them and consider them friends. In bed by 10:30 PM after an early wake-up call and a really long day selling books. sleeping.gif

 

 

Saturday – Selling books for Shin at his booth most of the day. Pov’s pre-code books were moving like hotcakes (no doubt thanks to my finely honed sales/negotiation skills! yeahok.gif), along with multiple copies of ASM 361, 362, 363 and Secret Wars # 8. Venom was supa hot at this show! I also sold CW’s Silver Surfer #1 in CGC 7.0 for him that the booth.

 

 

Satuday Night – Forum Dinner. Not too racous, but a good time with both new and old friends. Kudos again to bullet123 for hosting again this year. Drummy and I were staying at the Hyatt where the dinner took place, so I was in bed 5 minutes after leaving the party at midnight.

 

 

Sunday AM – Walked the con for about 2 hours. I went to try to get another one of the Star Wars con exclusives since I liked it so much I decided I wanted one to keep. It was not a good sign from a resale perspective that the item was still available on Sunday, but I bought another anyways.

 

 

Sunday afternoon – Feeling very tired and grumpy. Grrr!!!!!! Bought a portfolio for my OA and other prints that when I got home turned out to be too small for several of my pieces. Dammit!!! frustrated.gif Additionally, I negotiated a sizeable deal for Shin and Poverty Row before closing up shop for the year.

 

 

Overall, it was a fun show despite spending so many hours working at the booth. I am grateful to Shin for the opportunity because I would not have been able to attend otherwise. I am buying a house soon and was on an extremely tight spending budget. My biggest regret was missing two panels that I had been looking forward to all year. Oh well. I look forward to attending again next year, hopefully with a few more dollars in my pockets for funny books!

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Drummy

Drummy

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Jim was also a great roomie...likes FF and TOS, so who can complain?

 

Had a great time at the Con, and probably the best thing about it was picking up the fullsize Bowen original Thor and red Daredevil statues for a combined $575. (The go on Ebay for between $300 and $400 apiece). Both in perfect shape!

 

Dan

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CW

CW

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That explains why my Silver Surfer finally sold. Thank you Jim. Your superior negotiation skills came through big time as I had been hauling that thing around for quite some time looking for a home. I am sorry I did not stay long enough to meet up with you and the guys/gals. Next year we'll party.

-Chris

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jimm94

jimm94

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What about the part where you were ostracized from the all-Asian table at the Forum Dinner? poke2.gif

 

I was so upset that you guys didn't believe Jeff when he tried to tell you I was half Chinese, that I've been trying to block that incident from my memory ever since. frown.gif

 

stooges.gif It was nice to meet you, Gene! hi.gif

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jimm94

jimm94

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My biggest regret was missing two panels that I had been looking forward to all year.

 

Which ones, Jim?

 

The Annual Kirby Tribute Panel, and the big Star Wars one led by Steven Sansweet. I also wanted to go to the Kirby Museum panel, but I missed that too.

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jimm94

jimm94

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That explains why my Silver Surfer finally sold. Thank you Jim. Your superior negotiation skills came through big time as I had been hauling that thing around for quite some time looking for a home. I am sorry I did not stay long enough to meet up with you and the guys/gals. Next year we'll party.

-Chris

 

Hi Chris,

 

You're very welcome. I even got your full asking price for it! yay.gif

 

I'm sorry you had to leave the con early this year - Congrats on your big purchase though! thumbsup2.gif

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greggy

greggy

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What about the part where you were ostracized from the all-Asian table at the Forum Dinner? poke2.gif

 

I was so upset that you guys didn't believe Jeff when he tried to tell you I was half Chinese, that I've been trying to block that incident from my memory ever since. frown.gif

 

stooges.gif It was nice to meet you, Gene! hi.gif

We can smiff out our own kind so there's no fooling us. cloud9.gif
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