THE LEGACY OF LYNDA CARTER 


Friday, August 17, 2001 … 9:25 AM 


“First rule of WizardWorld: If the costume doesn't fit, leave it at home.”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me. I don't mind the guys wearing Star Wars suits, the dude in the Bender outfit or even that fat Jedi Knight ... but when you choose a skintight leather Wonder Woman outfit, make sure your magical arse of truth isn't hanging out, okay?”

“Who the hell do you think you are?”

“Who am I?” I responded. “I'm Neil Kleid - Champion of comics; Journalist for the jaded.

“And I've got to tell you lady ... you just became my first convention story.” 



CAN'T HARDLY WAID  


Wednesday, August 15, 2001 ... 7: 25 PM 


Midtown Comics was packed.

I had to weave my way through the hands grabbing for the latest issue of BATMAN and JSA to reach the independent comics. My editor, Ed Mathews, was on his way to meet me for drinks, and I figured I'd buy a few books before he walked in.

I looked a bit down the rack, and began to reach for HOPELESS SAVAGES, the latest offering from Oni Press, when I realized the entire stack was resting in the hands of a very cute girl as she checked for creases and damages to each book.

I asked if I could have a copy, and she told me they all seemed to be ruined. We began to discuss the book, which led to the fact that she would be attending the WizardWorld convention in Chicago ... an event that would serve as my very first con experience. We chatted, exchanged cards and I met her roommate ... and discovered to my delight that they were both aspiring writers.

I asked them if they knew anyone at the con, and they replied they knew uber-writer Mark Waid (FLASH, KINGDOM COME, CRUX), having met him at a signing. I smiled and sighed, thinking “sure... you spoke to him for three- four minutes. You KNOW Mark Waid.” They asked me the same, and I mentioned I kind of knew Marvel Editor in Chief Joe Quesada, having moderated a forum discussion with he and Mike Carlin here in Manhattan. They smiled and sighed, we promised to see each other in Chicago and off I went to drink with Ed. 
 

Friday, August 17, 2001 ... 10PM 
 

It had been quite a day ... lots of shmoozing and quite a bit of signing at the Writers Bloc table in the Artists Alley, where I was selling copies of the Third Eye Publishing anthology. The con had wrapped, and so had the Bloc dinner, and that meant we were off to the Wizard Press Party, to which we had wrangled some free tickets. As we entered, we noticed fan fave George Perez leaving with a small entourage ... that should have tipped us off that the bar had closed and the free alcohol was no more.

We entered and began to circulate ... I gave a slight nod to WizardSchool creator Buddy Scalera, and then began chatting with Tony Moore of BATTLE POPE fame. My Bloc buddies decided they wanted to head up to the Hyatt Bar ... also known as “Knuckles” ... and I told them I'd be along shortly. I met up with my pal Wilson Ramos, a colleague at small press Committed Comics, who was chatting with artists Rodney and Humberto Ramos ... making for a Ramos triple threat.

And then, from across the room, I saw the two girls from Midtown.

I sauntered over to say hi, and was treated to a double shout of “We saw you today!” (they had seen me hosting the Joe Quesada “What Marvel wants” panel ... more on that later) and stated that they really did not believe I knew Joe ... thinking I had “spoken to him for three- four minutes” at a signing.

I was about to laugh and tell them my thoughts on their relationship with Mark Waid, when my mouth dropped even furtherÉ as Waid himself walked over and placed his arms around their shoulders.

It seems that the roommate had begun a friendly pen-pal relationship with Waid, and now the three were best pals.

The girls introduced us, and Mark (Like that? First name basis!) mentioned the party was dying down, and would we like to go to Knuckles?

And off we went.

We maneuvered through the Hyatt past the Beatlemania convention going on simultaneously (how many times can we you hear “Abbey Road” without shooting someone?), and entered the bar. I stopped to say hello to Joe Quesada and his lovely wife Nanci, and rejoined the drinking party as it sat itself down.

Now let me clue you in on one thing: If ever in a situation where you can listen to Mark Waid talk about writing: LISTEN. As a writer myself, I came away from that discussion with a true understanding of what I needed to be reading, what I needed to be writing and what makes for good dialogue. There was a truly frightening moment when Mark discovered the two women had never read Alan Moore's critically acclaimed WATCHMEN (“You are not allowed to write comics unless you've read it”) but it was quickly forgotten once the discussion turned to the genius of Aaron Sorkin.

Mark discussed what some of his favorite writing was ... stating that he had three pages of FLASH #0 hanging in his office, a scene which touched him since he had put so much of himself into it. I followed that up with a scene he had written between Barry Allen and Wally West in FLASH #149 that simply inspired me, and mentally made the decision to have him sign that page for me that weekend. 


Sunday, August 19, 2001 ... 1PM 


There was no line, and that confused me.

I was standing in the plush Cross Generation Comics booth, looking around to see who I could grab a sketch from, when I realized every creator was busy.

All except for Mark Waid.

I walked over and he gave me a nod-and-smile combo in recognition. We chatted for a moment, and I pulled the aforementioned copy of FLASH from my bag and placed it before him.

Mark smiled and asked me to wait a moment as he re-read the scene.

“Yeah,” he said. “That's personal. That's writing.”

He signed the page to me, and my copy of KINGDOM COME, drew a quick little sketch in my sketchbook and we shook hands as I wished him well. 

Now I can't wait to meet the girls in Midtown Comics again, so when they ask me who I know, I can say “Who do I know? I know Mark Waid.” 
 
 


UP A CREEK WITHOUT A PANEL 


Friday, August 17, 2001 ... 930AM 


Finally.

My first convention.

I sauntered into the large Rosemont Convention Center and took it all in ... the Large Top Cow booth that greeted me; the plush CrossGen booth to the right; and the futuristic DC arena before me.

I turned to my Third Eye editor, Mark Bourne, and mentioned that before we did anything I needed to hunt down Buddy Scalera, creator of WizardSchool.

WizardSchool is an online venture which serves to help the comic book creators of tomorrow. There are sections on writing, pencilling, inking and even painting. A few days before the con, Buddy had asked for volunteers with the WizardSchool panels at the con, and I told him I would lend a hand. I mentioned that I run STAND UP COMICS ... A forum in Manhattan which serves to get the medium of comics out to where it generally is not seen. The first one had brought together DC Executive Editor Mike Carlin, Marvel Senior Editor Axel Alonso and Marvel EIC Joe Quesada.

Buddy spoke to Joe. Joe spoke to Buddy. Buddy spoke to me. Buddy wanted me to host Joe's Friday panel discussion entitled “What Marvel Wants.”

Oh. My. God. 
 
 

Friday, August 17, 2001 ... 12PM 
 

I hesitantly entered the conference room and spotted Buddy standing at the dais ... he waved me over and I dropped my gear behind the table.

“Okay,” he began, “Joe's running late ... what I'll do is introduce the panel, then let Joe talk for a while. Then we'll open for Q &A. Deal?”

Sure, why not.

Buddy sat me down at the table and we waited for Joe to appear as the room quickly filled up.

Two minutes went by.

Five minutes went by.

As we waited, WOLVERINE scribe Frank Tieri walked in to discuss the panel he was running immediately following the current one. He said hi to Buddy and looked at me quizzically as Buddy asked if we had met.

I extended my hand and said:

“Hi, Frank - I'm Joe Quesada.”

Big laugh. Score. 

There was a flurry from the side door and in walked Joe ... smiling and charming as ever. He sat down at the table and gave me a friendly slap on the back.

As Buddy introduced Joe, I looked out at the sea of people and thought, “Wow ... every one of them is wondering who the hell the guy sitting next to Joe Quesada is. Cool.”

I got my intro, and Joe launched into “what Marvel wants” ... he was astute, to the point, charming and personable. His “Stan Lee tosses a toaster out the window” story brought the house down as he reiterated that Marvel wants to “put asses in seats.” The floor was opened to questions ... and I got things rolling with a thought on how hopeful creators should go about preparing submission pages. Joe fielded it all ... from format issues, where to find influences, and even letting me help handle a question on how to write dialogue.

It was truly the highlight of my weekend, and I'd like to publicly thank both Joe and Buddy for giving me that opportunity.

Besides ... it was that hour, along with the forum I ran in July that helped me find an artist for a personal comic book project.

Who says WizardSchool doesn't work? 


OTHER PANEL HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE WEEKEND INCLUDED: 

Friday, August 17, 2001 ... 3PM 


The CrossGen writing panel was singlehandedly tackled by the dynamo that is Mark Waid, as Ron Marz, Barbara Kesel and Tony Bedard looked on with smirks plastered across their faces. Mark even stopped his flow when after commenting how older readers give way to younger readers when the former discover cars and girls, one quick fan asked “What are these 'cars and girls' of which you speak?” 
 

Saturday, August 18, 2001 ... 1PM  


Chuck Dixon tackled the subject of hiding one's plot ... however, it seemed people were a bit more interested in finding out what was going to happen between Nightwing and Oracle in the pages of BIRDS OF PREY and NIGHTWING. I gleaned a lot from that discussion, and even got a chuckle from Chuck when I mentioned I had just purchased a copy of AIRBOY #1.  
 

Saturday, August 18, 2001 ... 4PM  


The low point of the panel weekend for me was after waiting with bated breath for the Brian Michael Bendis/ Paul Jenkins writing discussion, I was attacked with a feverish migraine, forcing me to hunt down some Tylenol. I'd like to thank the good people in the Convention office for helping soothe my burning skull, and allowing me to return in time to catch Paul's baseball comments and Bendis' writing/biking secrets. 
 
 

INDIE JONES 

So, I sat at this table in the Artist's Alley, see?

The Writers Bloc ... the predecessors to Third Eye Publishing, led by Big Shaun “Master of the pitch” Behrens ... had staked out a great location in the Alley across from Sean Chen (WOLVERINE, IRON MAN) and his mom (SEAN CHEN) as well as the nattily attired Steve Lieber (WHITEOUT). Our “COMIC BOOKS KICK ASS!” bumper stickers were going faster than the 4 dollar slices of Con pizza, and we were happy.

Personally, I was simply happy because I was surrounded by my favorite section of comic books ... grass roots independents creators.

Walking up and down the rows of the Alley, I met up with Rachel Hartman (AMY UNBOUNDED), whom I referred to as “Richard” ... the name she usually is given by mistake in the program; Mike Norton (THE WAITING PLACE); Steve Rude (NEXUS), whose table was ALWAYS packed; the legendary Martin Nodell (GREEN LANTERN) , whom I was dying to get some food for from the hospitality room, and scores of others.

But beyond all this, within the Small Press area, I had to wend my way to pay homage to the shrine of my new gods: the Top Shelf booth.

The stand was being manned by three names that should be familiar to indie fanatics worldwide - Chris Staros, father of Top Shelf and the most attentive man I have ever met; Alex Robinson, creator of BOX OFFICE POISON- a tome I purchased, had signed and fell in love with on my plane ride home; and James Kolchalka, who was sketching Robots and Monkeys while shilling his band SUPERSTAR's new CD. I ended up spending A LOT of dough at the Shelf table, picking up Matt Madden's ODDS OFF, James' ROBOT VS MONKEY, Alex's BOP Collected book and copies of Dean Haspiel's BOY IN MY POCKET as gifts for friends. Sadly, the day after I returned I discovered that James' MAGIC BOY strip was pulled from his local paper. That's just wrong.

Other notable small press stops included the FunkoTron booth, where I chatted up bearlike Battle Pope creator Robert Kirkman and his crew, and the Oni Press stand, where I shook Jamie Rich's hand, got a sketch done by urban artist Jim Mahfood, and bought copies of Bendis' FORTUNE AND GLORY and Andi Watson's BREAKFAST AFTER NOON.

I also headed over to STRANGERS IN PARADISE creator Terry Moore to get a quick sketch done, and then by the Image Comics GIJOE “bivouac” to pick up a preview book and get a Snake-Eyes drawing ... go Joe and go indies! 
 
 

ONE BOURBON, ONE SCOTCH AND ONE HELL OF A DRUNKEN PARTY 

As I mentioned before, all the best action took place at Knuckles Sports Bar in the Rosemont Hyatt- what's affectionately known as BarCon. I spent most of my nights wandering the floor chatting up pros and fans alike. It truly was exciting to watch Jason “Jay” Mewes vaulting the bar railing in search of smokes, just as uber artist John Cassady sauntered by with his gorgeous date.

While my first night in the bar was spent in close quarters with Mark Waid and entourage, my second night was a bit of a gut-punch to the senses.

I sat with the Bloc crew for awhile scoping out crowds that included Marvel Senior Editor Axel Alonso chatting with KABUKI's David Mack, 100 BULLETS writer Brian Azzarello and his colleague Paul Jenkins ... who writes practically the entire Marvel Universe. As well, kindly Bat-Editor Bob Schreck held court near the door with the likes of writer Greg Rucka (BATMAN), Vertigo editor Heidi MacDonald and Brian Azzarello (he gets around!).

As we knocked back our drinks, Black Bull's Glenn Herdling came by to say hello, and we spent some time discussing everything from pharmaceuticals to SpiderHam. Once he left to the loo, we traded drunk stories with Wildstorm editor John Layman as the bar suddenly filled with the remnants of the Chaos! Comics and Marvel Knights parties held elsewhere in the Hyatt.

I walked over to a somewhat tipsy Joltin' Joe Quesada who told me to call him sometime soon, and then over to a slightly soused Frank Tieri, who threw his arm around my shoulders and slurred “You're from New York ... I am sooo drunk. And this bar is more bright and depressing than what I'm used to.” After detaching myself from Frank, I got sucked in to a circle where painter Joe Jusko was relating some of his gruesome stories from when he worked on the NYPD. That gave way to a smaller group near Your Man At Marvel Bill Rosemann, and then over to say hi to the RED STAR crowd ... who happened to be chatting up my Midtown Comics girls! Small world.

“KABOOM!”

What the hell was that?

I looked up above the bar railing to see DAREDEVIL:YELLOW writer Jeph Loeb telling a story to SUPERBOY scribe Jimmy Palmiotti and his significant other, the blushing Amanda Conner (GATECRASHER).

“Oh, it's just Jeph,” Rosemann says.

Just Jeph?

God bless BarCon. 
 
 

THE WRITERS' STUFF 


I bought this sketchbook, you see.

In fact, I bought two ...I had purchased one in order to work on my own pieces, and the other I had gotten to collect sketches from famous artists.

So I sauntered ... yes, sauntered ... through the convention and began chatting up anyone I figured would be willing to scratch some marks in my book.

After getting a decidedly formatted Green Lantern from the legendary Martin Nodell and a beautifully drawn Golden Age Hawkman from Steve Lieber, I realized this was a little too easy.

Sure I could get sketches done by artists ... but I'm a writer... I should be getting marks of glory from my colleagues.

And so began the hunt for sketches from writers.

My first mark was an easy one ... Brian Michael Bendis, who actually I an artist as well. He signed my copies of POWERS and FORTUNE AND GLORY and did a little “Bendis” scrawl.

I wandered over to the CrossGen to see if Waid was around when I bumped smack dab into none other than DC artist Eduardo Barreto. Eduardo was not listed as a con guest, so I took the moment to have him do a wonderful Golden Age Flash in my book ... one of the two crowning piece of my book, the other being a very detailed, VERY stylistic Starman by Todd Nauck (YOUNG JUSTICE).

I decided to renew my efforts and got Mark Waid's offering ... the only sketch I cannot reveal since it could get him in hot water. The nice thing is that the style of the piece matches the conjoining Green Arrow sketch masterfully drawn by Phil Hester.

I then began attacking writers full force ... snagging a goofy little drawing from Greg Rucka (BATMAN), a little superhero graph from Jeph Loeb and a Sephie sketch from Barbara Kesel. I added editors to my repertoire with Bob Schreck's Swamp Thing and Marvel Knights editor Stuart Moore's evil grin. I gathered some courage to ask Brian Azzarello for a little scribble:

“You know I'm a writer?”

“I know ... that's what I want!”

He marked the page with my name NEIL and asked if I liked flowers. He drew a bed of flowers underneath ... an act that drew the bemused gaze of the Vertigo staff. He then wrote R.I.P. above my name and encircled it all within a tombstone.

That's just great. Thanks for freaking me out, Brian.

Another wonderful sketch came from James Kolchalka after he mentioned he used the exact same type of book ... to which I replied it as for that reason I had purchased the brand. James drew a wistful picture of his autobiographical character Magic Boy standing along a riverbed.

The Marvel booth gained me a little sun from Robert (CABLE, NIGHTSIDE) Weinberger and two stick figures from WOLVERINE and DEADPOOL editor Mike Marts ... both of his main charges. CrossGen artists Paul Pelletier and Steve Epting spent some time on very detailed sketches, while writer Tony Bedard's offering included the urging to “EAT MORE CROSSGEN!”

On the final day of the con I collected a Sale-esque Joker sketch from writer Chuck Dixon and a nostalgic looking Spiderman from Glenn Herdling, but the best was yet to come:

On my final spin through the CrossGen booth, I realized I had writers, artists an editors ... and all I needed was a publisher.

I tracked down Mark Alessi who, without missing a beat, shook my hand and said, “Hi, great to meet you, Neil.”

Part of me wants to know what he would have done if I was not wearing my pro badge.

When I asked him for a sketch he begged off, saying he felt embarrassed and wouldn't I like a CrossGen artist to do a sketch instead? Damn ... in retrospect I should have tried for a George Perez. Stupid Neil.

Mark did a quick little CrossGen symbol for me and said it was great to meet me, “though I question your choice of artists!”

I retorted that he should be flattered on my choice of PUBLISHERS.

Yes ... sometimes I am even as smooth as Mark Alessi.

Sometimes. 


MY DINNER WITH STEVE 


I'll end with this story, since it's my favorite of the con.

Friday, when the con let out, I followed the Bloc and assorted followers to the nearby Italian restaurant for a tidy repast. The crew ordered a few double dish pies as I picked at my House Salad and watched the fans make their way over from the convention center.

We talked about the day's events and how to effectively master the art of pitching stories, when in walked Steve Lieber and assorted folk.

We were seated right at the door, and watched as Steve sat with three friends waiting to be seated.

Time went by, and as my Bloc-mates dug into their third pie, Steve began to gather a crowd. Fans walked over to say hi, fellow indie pros started chatting shop with him, and he tugged at his sports jacket and smiled as he indulged them

BUT every so often I saw Steve gaze wistfully at our quickly disappearing pizza.

We sat back and talked as Blochead Sean ate his dessert, and the crowd around Lieber melded into a thick wall.

Shaun Behrens looked around our table and asked who wanted to take the two extra slices left from the deep-dish pie.

I commented that maybe we should give them to Lieber ... since he looked so hungry. Big laugh.

Sadly, the boys decided to wrap the pieces to go ... though fight I did for the well-dressed WHITEOUT artist.

Sorry, Steve ... I owe you a slice in San Diego next year. 
 

I'd just like to end this piece by thanking a few people ... most of those I knew did not realize this was my first major convention experience, and even still went out of their way with kindness, and I'd like to mention them by name:

Mark Robert Bourne, Shaun Behrens, Erik Sermenis, Pat Quinn and Ellen Topkiss from the Bloc ... a kinder group of wannabes you'll never find; Buddy Scalera who let me be a bigshot for a day, and his pal Joe who helped get some aspirin after he got me drunk; the always amicable Mark Waid, and Christine and Jeanine for the hook up; all the Marvel and DC editors for putting up with my exhaustive questions and presence this weekend, most notably Bob Schreck, Stuart Moore, Mike Marts, Mike McAvennie and Axel Alonso; Joe Jusko for the scariest story I've ever heard; DC Marketing's Patty Jeres, who I should have said hi to on Friday and Matt Keller; the entire Top Shelf staff; Steve Lieber; Sean Chen; Ed Mathews of PopImage for giving me some much needed tips and beginnings; Glenn Herdling for the memories; and of course, Joe Quesada who could have easily told me to take a flying leap all those months ago when I asked him to do a panel. 


Looking forward to San Diego, 


Neil Kleid

PopImage.com

Neil Kleid is the co-founder of Third Eye Publishing and the creator of STAND UP COMICS - a series of forums designed to get the comics medium out in the public eye. He is a graphic designer, actor and improvisational genius. He also -despite many rejected "Senor Mojo" proposals - harbors illusions of one day writing comic books for a living. Weep for him...

Ed Mathews took most of the photos (Matthew Karabaic took the one of the Elektra-Jedi). Ed knows he's going to get e-mails for this one.

PopImage Forum - Discuss this message at the PopImage forum.