Big Lick NOVA 2024 - Christopher Priest (AKA James Owsley)

 

When a convention is announced, I always go through the same motions. First, I look at my list of issues from the symbiote story arc of Spider-Man, and see if any of the individuals will be there. The second thing I do is cross reference every single person against Comic Vine and Marvel Fandom to see if these individuals did any other particular books that I would have an interest in getting signed. However, because this information can sometimes be inaccurate, my third step is to physically check each book to confirm.

It was doing this latter that Christopher Priest keep pinging for a few issues in the symbiote story. When I would physically check the books, I wouldn't see Priest's name anywhere. This led to a whole bunch of confusion on my part. Going further down the rabbit hole, which wasn't as deep as implied, I discovered that Priest used to go by his birth name, James Owsley before changing his name legally in 1993 to Christopher Priest.

This caused a bit of a conundrum for me. Do I get him to sign my books? Or do I skip it, since what he signed wouldn't match with any credentials noted in the issues? I ultimately ended up going through with it, and even contemplated asking him if he'd write (after signing), AKA James Owsley. However, I opted out of respect to not make that request. Interesting enough, if you look at the signatures, he did sign some as Owlsey, and others as Priest. I'm not sure how he decides which to sign as which, but I dig the mix and match.

Also signed by Jim Shooter,
and Rick Leonardi at
Big Lick NOVA 2023, and
Art Adams at Awesome Con 2024

Also signed by Jim Shooter,
at Big Lick NOVA 2023, and
Joe Rubinstein at Awesome Con 2024

I think I more so want The Amazing Spider-Man 282 to be part of the symbiote story arc, even though it probably isn't. In truth, the only aspect of the black suit, and it may even be the cloth version, that appears is on the cover.

Also signed by Jim Shooter,
and Rick Leonardi at
Big Lick NOVA 2023

Priest actually designed the layout for this cover, which is among one of my favorites, and most iconic in the series.

Also signed by Jim Shooter,
and Rick Leonardi at
Big Lick NOVA 2023

Shrouded in controversy, the one-shot Spider-Man Versus Wolverine is unto itself a great read. However, it often gets over shadowed by the inner squabbling at Marvel that led to its creation. During this period, changes in editorial staff were occurring, and this new regime wasn't inclined to agree with their predecessors on the direction the Hobgoblin story arc was going, which would have revealed Ned Leeds to be the villain. As such, this issue served one purpose - To kill Leeds off, thus ruining the intended plan.

Also signed by Jim Shooter at
Big Lick NOVA 2023

Controversies aside, that wrapped up my signing session with Priest. Not too many books. Chris doesn't charge for his autographs. Instead, he opts for donations to the Hero Initiative.

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