Bouncing back and forth from one side of the convention hall to the other, I was quickly growing frustrated. Either lines were cut off for upcoming breaks, artists were gone because they were already on breaks, or the lines were ridiculously long. Then there was Art Adams...
This guy...This...Guy...
I was excited to get Marvel Team-Up 141 signed by him. For those of you who don't know, this is the first appearance of Spider-Man in his black symbiote costume in that particular title. When I first came to his table, the line was ridiculously long, so I moved on to cross more autographs off in the interim. When I cam back around 2:30 PM, he was gone with a sign on the table that read, "Back in a few hours." Someone else was standing there waiting, and informed me he saw that sign two hours ago. That same person said moments later, "I can't wait anymore. I have to go. Good luck. I hope he comes back soon."
Moments later, I left, and came back at 5:30 PM. The sign was still there, with Mr. Adams MIA. I asked the woman sitting behind the group of tables, "Does anyone know when he'll be back?" She replied, "He's at his hotel working on commission."
This was incredibly disappointing, and ultimately ended up being my breaking point. Mind you, at this point in the day I was tired, my feet hurt, I hadn't eaten since breakfast, only had one bottle of water the entire day, and didn't have the energy or desire to stand in a one-man line at an empty table. I connected with my buddy, and we left.
However, prior to 5:30 PM, I did manage to go to other tables.
Apparently, the picture taking mishaps occurred even earlier in the day than I thought, as I didn't snap a photo of Klaus Janson. DOH!
I could have gotten a lot of books signed by Mr. Janson, and had them with me, but that price point of $10.00 per signature was killing me. That adds up fast. As it was, I dropped $80.00 at his table.
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Lead in to Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars
Also signed by Jim Shooter at Big Lick 2023 |
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Lead in to Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars
Also signed by Jim Shooter at Big Lick 2023 |
Klaus also worked on the highly popular "silent" issue, G.I. Joe 21. Much like issue one, it's surprising me how many times I've pulled this one out to get signed.
I didn't necessarily need this deliciously shiny 11 X 17 reproduction of The Amazing Spider-Man 252. Klaus inked the cover of the book, and "F" me, I didn't know this, so I didn't bring that issue with me to get signed.
I stopped by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez's table a couple times before I caught him there.
The only work I know from him was from the 1992 movie adaptation of Batman Returns, which just so happens to be my favorite in the entire franchise of Batfilms.
I asked if he would sign the books in gold, and though he tried to use my paint pen (see below photo, bottom left corner), it simply wouldn't work. He ended up using his own gold Sharpie.
As I was taking photos of him, the convention staff member who was working his table with him made a comment I didn't quite catch, but it was enough for Mr. Garcia-Lopez to give him a very unamused look.
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| He is not amused... |
I was excited to meet one of the two men behind all of those wonderful movie posters, Greg Hildebrandt (his brother, Tim, unfortunately passed away in 2006).
Also unfortunate, was that Mr. Hildebrandt was tucked away behind stacks of boxes, and artwork. You only got to interact with his staff, and this is where the additional unfortunate news was delivered. He respectfully declined to sign my convention book. He has a strict policy that he will not sign work which he didn't contribute to. I suppose it's his prerogative, but it's disappointing all the same.
Fortunately, I did have something he worked on. My copy of Spider-Man 2099 Special.
Speaking of artists I didn't have anything from, or apparently took photos of, Pop Mhan was one of the last stops I made as I walked around the hall. Pop is a highly respected artists of present day Masters of the Universe comics, and I wanted to get myself a print from him, as well as have my convention book signed. The latter he did for free.
His prints were three for forty, or one for fifteen. While he did have three different Masters of the Universe related art pieces, I stuck with just this one. Good stuff!
Again, for those keeping up with costs, each of these creators, with exception of Pop Mhan, were charging $10.00 per signature.
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