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New York Comic Con: Day 1! SERIOUS WIN.
GUYS. THAT WAS AWESOME.
SO FUCKING SWEET.
DUDE.
I thought, like, that it was going to be really weird and stressful and disappointing? AND IT WAS SO AWESOME.
Because, you see. . . Katie ran into Sho. And then we stalked him. Not in NYC, that would have been incredible, but at the Con. He was supposed to do a thing for the fans at 2:45 by his booth, but it turns out, before that - filming the Con for News Zero. Katie (my twin sister) found him at 2, I showed up at 2:20, and we followed him til 2:35 or so. Just, like. A couple feet away from him. He was RIGHT THERE. BEING SHO.
We were sort of trying to be subtle, so we would look at whatever part of the Con they were filming at. This involved a lot of moving around and apparently we were in front of the camera a lot. Katie probably has a good chance of being on News Zero if they use any of this footage! I might be too! XD I will be watching the backgrounds very carefully. At one point, I turned around and I was right next to him. I was like "oh, I almost bumped into a guy in a suit - !!!!"![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ayamachi was more aware of where they were filming and avoided being on camera. XD
Which was also my reaction when I first saw him, "there's a guy in a suit. . ." Then I was like "SHIT THAT'S SHO. HE'S A REAL PERSON. RIGHT OVER THERE. RIIIIIIGHT THERE." He's so, so, so cute!! I found him even better-looking in person. Tinier, though! Maybe it was just being surrounded by Americans. He looked quite skinny, though. And tan. And with fluffy hair. And just adorable!! And hot!! Really good-looking. The theory Katie and I came up with is that on TV, we expect people to be gorgeous, so there's kind of a higher standard? But in real life, people are not supposed to be that attractive!! (except for my friend Stefan) So he looks even better. Really, incredibly cute and also totally hot.
Speaking of the fluffy hair! Before I got there, Katie got to see them fixing Sho up during the filming. XD I repeat: so cute! Not a lot, but they fluffed his hair up (it does take maintenance, apparently!) and touched up his make-up. . . just a tiny bit. XDDDD
He was so goddamn cute. And he was conducting the interviews so seriously, and looking really calm, and amused, and interested. Calm - composed? Katie says he seemed to be somewhat in control, as well - he'd be interested in something, so they'd go over and film it and check it out. Rather than him being managed the whole time. And they'd stop people in costumes. She heard him ask people in English "Who are you dressed as?" I didn't get to hear any English, which is disappointing. One person is more stalking-efficient. She said he would say a couple things to each person in English, at the beginning of the interviews, but then there was also a translator. I think Katie got closest to an interview with a crazy manga fan who didn't know who he was and was really overwhelmed. Partly by the translator, who was apparently quite cute trying to lean in as much as possible and still stay out of the frame. :D Little job skills that we don't notice. Katie said Sho was very good at looking at the person he was interviewing even if it was done through the translator. She also got the impression that he had to think really hard about his English. I'd imagine it's because he learned it well but doesn't get to use it enough to keep it fresh and on the tip of his tongue. It's an effort. I'd imagine he could understand a fair amount of what the people were saying, though, especially if they spoke carefully - understanding is easier than speaking.
So yeah, it seemed that most of the fans didn't realize this was occurring? So there wasn't a huge crowd following them. Just a tiny crowd. And most of them were with News Zero. XD [ames_909 tells me that everyone was waiting in line for tickets at that point. That explains. I'm really glad I didn't want to go to the showing - I predicted that it would just be stressful trying to get tickets, and I didn't want to be running around anyway. I'd made dinner plans, too.]
EDIT: I thought we didn't have any pictures but it turns outayamachi owns me and totally took one! BEHOLD THE PROXIMITY. Obviously it's phone quality, but it's definitely one of the most clear pictures I've seen, and definitely DEFINITELY one of the most up-close ones. You can see in the foreground the reason there weren't more: the huge bodyguard. XD
Anyway, we got distracted by Neal Adams (more on that later) and lost them but it was about time for him to make his official appearance. So we head towards the Yatterman booth, and indeed, huge crowd of fangirls. We figured we would wait around just in case something happened, but already feeling satisfied at the course of events. And it was pretty hilarious. There was, like. . . the exhibit hall was two stories tall, so there was a room with glass walls overlooking the hall, and it appeared that the expectation was that Sho would appear in that room. So people were waiting there, which was a little ways away from the Yatterman booth - in the Grand Theft Auto booth. We were really amused by all the people walking by thinking this huge group of fangirls were just that pumped about Grand Theft Auto. By the way, I've seen fancams and my memory of the following doesn't necessarily jive with them - I was in just a haze of excitement that. . . yeah. XD
It turns out we have some shame, because we didn't join in any of the chanting of "Sho-kun! Sho-kun!" I mean, we had an image to uphold - I always feel the need to act tough at comic book conventions so people will know I'm a real fan. ;) We did, however, cheer when random staff members entered the glass room - it always caused a little buzz of excitement every time the doors opened and closed. The staff were clearly really amused by the horde of young women as well. Although not taking advantage of the situation to do a silly dance or anything.
So, eventually Sho comes out, still wearing his little News Zero suit and still looking ludicrously adorable in it. God, I can't believe I was just a few feet from him. It felt surreal - the impression is that I've jumped into Japanese TV, rather than feelingn like Japanese TV has jumped into my life (seeing him filming on the Con floor, that is). Anyway, even though he was, you know, much further away and behind a wall, it was still a very fun and satisfying experience, his brief appearance. Cos he was so sort of gobsmacked by the fans, I guess. He was sort of waving and seemed a bit confused - I don't know if it was the weird set-up, or if he wasn't expecting many people (I think it might have actually been less than I was expecting - probably because of the scheduling shenanigans, also I was on the edge of the crowd). [Someone else suggested that he was embarrassed which is exactly it, I think - he was all up behind a glass, we can't hear him, and this huge group of people is gathered just to see him. And it was a really normal room, with a bunch of random Con staff in it, and stuff. So he was sort of. . . pleased that we were there but didn't know what to do with himself?] People sang A.ra.shi (I once again discovered that I'm not completely shameless, and did not join in XD) and he did the "for dream" hand gestures with all of us (those I did do). Seeing him react to the fans was just really cute. He was terribly sweet. He pointed to the Yatterman booth, which happened to be riiiight behind me so I was like "WHAT?" XD And he waved lots. People were shouting something as well. I couldn't make it out, but he put his ear to the glass to try to hear it. Generally he just seemed really pumped. And probably jet lagged.
Additional Sho timing notes: I found out last night that instead of "maybe he'll do the panel, maybe not," they switched things to "not doing the panel, doing an appearance at the booth at 2:45." I was supposed to leave work at 2:30. XD So my boss was totally chill with my just adding an extra half hour of leave time. Things also got weird because I still have to take lunch, even though I was leaving exactly when I would get back from lunch, so I took lunch til 1:30 but I was meeting with my boss til 1 so I sort of flubbed things around. . . the point is I got to the con at 2:20. Way too late if I'd wanted a ticket, again, luckily I wasn't going for that. So, yeah - getting out of work was another thing that could have been stressful and turned out nicely. Half day on Friday is fun. :D
Conclusion: Sho is a muffin and I adore him.
I had no interest in going to the premiere, I don't even know how you were supposed to get tickets, so, yeah.
But I did have a FUCKING AWESOME time at the Con after we all dispersed. (We ran away as soon as it seemed like Sho was leaving so we could put some distance between ourselves and the crowds. If he did something amazing right at the end, I don't know about it.)
I'll put this behind a cut, since I guess less people are interested? I got to meet and talk to and get autographs from some really awesome people, though. So awesome!! Dude. AAAAAAAAH. It was just such a satisfying and positive experience.
So, I mentioned Neal Adams! He's the artist responsible for my icon. He's best known for helping to redefine Batman, to make him cool and dark and tough. He also (with his partner in crime, Denny O'Neil - who also wrote the Batman stuff) is the artist behind the Green Lantern-Green Arrow team-up that kind of made it OK for comic books to be about social issues. So he's a legend. An absolute legend. But beyond that, I also just adore his artwork. I've expanded but for a while he was behind almost all of my comic book icons. XD
So while we're following Sho around, I look up and see a huge booth that says "NEAL ADAMS" in huge letters. We go over and there he is! And he's adorable!! A sweet, chubby, smiley middle aged man in a big squishy sweater, sitting and sketching and chatting with fans. We're sort of hanging around and I see there's a table that says all the trades (trade paperbacks, or collections of comics) on it are $10, and they had a collection of "The Brave and the Bold" - a comic that had a different hero teaming up with Batman each issue. I love it a lot, so I was pumped - it's a great price. And the woman who sold it to me asked if I wanted it signed. HELLS YEAH. She asked if I wanted it personalized, I thought it was a trick question. So she brings it to Neal and tells him my name - I'm basically right next to Neal anyway, except this big guy was standing right in front of him. So I'm sort of peeking around and when Neal finishes he's like "Are you Laura?" and I was like ":DDDDD" and he was like "Be careful so you don't smudge it!" cos he signed on the cover. And I was like "I will treasure it!!" And I'm beaming, and Katie is standing behind me beaming, and so Neal Adams was like "You have a really nice smile! Both of you!" And I was like ":DDD We're twins!"
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! He was so nice and so awesome and I have a copy of the Brave and the Bold signed by him! I love him so much!! ::swoons::
OK, so after we finish with the Sho-ness, we start working the floor. We head over the autograph area to see if anyone interesting was there. One of the names was Peter Mayhew, which sounded really familiar but we couldn't place it. Well, he played Chewbacca!! AWESOME. He had a short line, too, so we went over and Katie bought a picture of him with Han and Luke and Leia, and he autographed it for us, and was soooooo nice and so chill. We were really confused because some of the autograph places were weird so we were all awkward and he was really nice. Big guy, obviously - although skinny, now. Lots of hair, hat. HUGE HANDS. HIS HANDS. DUDE. THEY WERE THE SIZE OF SHO. I couldn't stop staring at them as he signed. So awesome. (The lack of a camera was disappointing here - the staff person who was with him asked if we wanted a picture with him, which I totally would have. Damnation! Basically I just really wanted this guy to feel loved and admired, somehow. Cos he's so legend and he just seemed so cool, he deserved to be showered with adoration!)
At some point we went over to where all the people selling back issues set up, and went to the discounty ones. I've been trying for years and years to find some Robin back issues, Robin III, the Chuck Dixon run. And I was SO DAMN SUCCESSFUL! Jesus, it was awesome. I found everything. And all for either $1 each or 2 for $1!! I didn't get any of the issues with Spoiler, which is good - saved me a lot of money. But I got a bunch that I've really, really been wanting. So happy! I almost bought them on ebay. XD I also got a bunch of Justice League America comics by Keith Giffen - with Blue Beetle and Booster Gold and all that. They seem really fun.
Things not bought (yet) - a Central City Track t-shirt. :D Central City is the home of the Flash - Barry-Flash, my favorite comic book character. I think I'm going to get it on Sunday. We also didn't buy HUGE SQUISHY ROUND TOYS. Katie almost bought the chicken. But it was $40. We were saying if she'd gotten it, she could have jumped into all the photos people were taking (a lot) with her huge round chicken.
Next phase of the adventure: Penny Arcade! I'm being pretty chill with my chronology - Sho was first, then Neal Adams, then more Sho - the rest of it I don't know. I was kind of shaking with excitement the whole time. It was too much. XD Talking to strangers, especially strangers that I'm a HUGE FAN OF is really scary. Katie kept telling me to just talk to artists that I like, like Zander Cannon and Peter Gross, but I couldn't do it.
Speaking of which, Penny Arcade. We'd passed the booth earlier and ogled Tycho and Gabe, who are also adorable in person (turns out, everyone's adorable). Well, I knew what they look like so it wasn't a shock but still. Also I think I've seen them in person at San Diego Comic Con so. But still! Cute! Anyway, earlier the booth was really crowded, but when we passed it later, there was almost no line! So I bought their fourth book (i'd just bought the fifth at Borders the other day XD) to get them to sign. But I couldn't think of anything to say and they were nice, but just sort of signing it and I was like "okay!" Of course they were waiting for me to say something but I was too shy and it made the whole thing weird. So I was feeling sort of "daggit" about that, and I was like "maybe I should just stop by later if there's no line and say 'hey, I couldn't say this before but I love your comic.'"
But then! Luckily!ayamachi was on the phone and it turned out a friend of a friend of a friend wanted something signed by Gabe and Tycho. A person named Cory. Or Corey. So we're like, "What the heck!" But they didn't want to buy anything, so I pulled the cardboard backing out of one of my new comics, the white paper that they put in the little bags? And I was like ". . . Will you guys sign something that hasn't been just purchased?" Some people get really weird about signing - you have to pay, or you have to pay if you haven't bought anything, or whatever. But they were totally chill and really sweet. They said they'd sign anything that didn't bite or sting. XD So we were like "Great! Sign this blank piece of paper to a person we don't know and whose name we can't spell!" They were like "XDD Okay?" I think I said "I've been told to get you to sign something for Corey but I don't know them!" So Gabe wrote "For Cory?" and did a quick sketch and Tycho added "(maybe?)" underneath. XD
And when we popped back over, they were like "You're back!" and I got to explain the mission and say I was glad I got to come back because I felt bad that I hadn't told them how awesome the comic was before. And I told them I'd just bought their fifth book the other day so I got two autographs and two books, cosmic balance is maintained.
Anyway, so that made the only unsatisfying experience to be even more awesome and entertaining and fun and memorable than it would have been!
We wandered around Artist Alley looking for people, and Peter David (who is not an artist!) had a booth but wasn't there. He's supposed to be there on Sunday. :DDDDDD YES. DUDE. I AM BRINGING YOUNG JUSTICE WITH ME. SO EXCITED! It's my favorite comic book! No Darwyn Cooke, which is probably for the best. I might have died from too much nervous excitement.
By the way, Katie and I draggedayamachi around for all of this, so I want to say sorry. . . it was a horrible double whammy of "twin world" and "comic book world" which are both things that cause us to be completely incomprehensible. Sorry! You are awesome for putting up with us! :D Thanks for hanging out!!
So!! One more "famous person that I adore run-in moment!" I really can't take many more of these, I was shaking! But as we were walking back through the floor, sort of on our way out, sort of to ponder the Central City Track shirt again, we saw. . . Terry Moore! I knew he was going to be there but he was randomly with the Graffiti Designs booth (I guess they do sell a lot of Strangers in Paradise shirts! And the Central City one, btw). So it was really just. . . if I didn't know what Terry Moore looked like, we wouldn't have gone over. XD But I was like ". . . That's. That's Terry Moore." And he's incredibly non-threatening, so him I did manage to go up and talk to without the pretext of an autograph. We didn't buy anything. We just said we loved his work, and he shook our hands. And I talked to him about how I'm behind on Echo because my dad is buying it and I wait til I go home to read it (I know, not a great idea to tell the creator you're skimping on his work). And then we talked about how much we love SiP and his art, and about how he'd done it for 13-14 years and it was time to move on, and how we're glad to see an ending for the characters but sad to see it end. But excited to see him doing something new! And he was saying that he didn't want to keep the characters going forever, it'd be like Blondie (the syndicated newspaper comic strip). So we were joking that it'd be so weird if one day the fourth panel was just "The End."
So that was also really, really amazing. I was wishing I could have been more witty and charming, but I wasn't too weird and awkward, so I will settle for that. And he's just adorable. I know I've been saying that about everyone but he's even cuter than Neal Adams! He has this adorable little smile and he was sooooo sweet! So cute! He was adorable at San Diego as well. :D SO CUTE.
AAAAAAUGH EVERYONE IS CUTE AND AWESOME. And I saw and met and spoke to so many amazing people! And didn't make a complete fool of myself! I was shaking with excitement. XD Sho was amazing and exciting and, well. . . Katie and I realized - it was just doki doki! That's what it felt like, to be so close to him and see him in person. And surreal. And then to go up and speak to so many people that I really, really admire. Peter Mayhew was a bit of an opportunistic thing, although I do adore Star Wars and Chewie and think he's awesome. But Neal Adams really is one of my all-time favorite artists, Penny Arcade really is one of my all-time favorite webcomics, and Terry Moore really is one of my all-time favorite authors (and artists!!). So it was just incredible, and really overwhelming, to get to speak to all of them. Major, major bonus of the small size of the NYCC - people are more accessible and I'm less intimidated by lines, etc!! Normally I hate speaking to celebrities so it was even more "!!!!!!!!!!" than you might think, even. XD
I'm still reeling about the whole thing! :D :D :D SO AWESOME.
SO FUCKING SWEET.
DUDE.
I thought, like, that it was going to be really weird and stressful and disappointing? AND IT WAS SO AWESOME.
Because, you see. . . Katie ran into Sho. And then we stalked him. Not in NYC, that would have been incredible, but at the Con. He was supposed to do a thing for the fans at 2:45 by his booth, but it turns out, before that - filming the Con for News Zero. Katie (my twin sister) found him at 2, I showed up at 2:20, and we followed him til 2:35 or so. Just, like. A couple feet away from him. He was RIGHT THERE. BEING SHO.
We were sort of trying to be subtle, so we would look at whatever part of the Con they were filming at. This involved a lot of moving around and apparently we were in front of the camera a lot. Katie probably has a good chance of being on News Zero if they use any of this footage! I might be too! XD I will be watching the backgrounds very carefully. At one point, I turned around and I was right next to him. I was like "oh, I almost bumped into a guy in a suit - !!!!"
ayamachi was more aware of where they were filming and avoided being on camera. XDWhich was also my reaction when I first saw him, "there's a guy in a suit. . ." Then I was like "SHIT THAT'S SHO. HE'S A REAL PERSON. RIGHT OVER THERE. RIIIIIIGHT THERE." He's so, so, so cute!! I found him even better-looking in person. Tinier, though! Maybe it was just being surrounded by Americans. He looked quite skinny, though. And tan. And with fluffy hair. And just adorable!! And hot!! Really good-looking. The theory Katie and I came up with is that on TV, we expect people to be gorgeous, so there's kind of a higher standard? But in real life, people are not supposed to be that attractive!! (except for my friend Stefan) So he looks even better. Really, incredibly cute and also totally hot.
Speaking of the fluffy hair! Before I got there, Katie got to see them fixing Sho up during the filming. XD I repeat: so cute! Not a lot, but they fluffed his hair up (it does take maintenance, apparently!) and touched up his make-up. . . just a tiny bit. XDDDD
He was so goddamn cute. And he was conducting the interviews so seriously, and looking really calm, and amused, and interested. Calm - composed? Katie says he seemed to be somewhat in control, as well - he'd be interested in something, so they'd go over and film it and check it out. Rather than him being managed the whole time. And they'd stop people in costumes. She heard him ask people in English "Who are you dressed as?" I didn't get to hear any English, which is disappointing. One person is more stalking-efficient. She said he would say a couple things to each person in English, at the beginning of the interviews, but then there was also a translator. I think Katie got closest to an interview with a crazy manga fan who didn't know who he was and was really overwhelmed. Partly by the translator, who was apparently quite cute trying to lean in as much as possible and still stay out of the frame. :D Little job skills that we don't notice. Katie said Sho was very good at looking at the person he was interviewing even if it was done through the translator. She also got the impression that he had to think really hard about his English. I'd imagine it's because he learned it well but doesn't get to use it enough to keep it fresh and on the tip of his tongue. It's an effort. I'd imagine he could understand a fair amount of what the people were saying, though, especially if they spoke carefully - understanding is easier than speaking.
So yeah, it seemed that most of the fans didn't realize this was occurring? So there wasn't a huge crowd following them. Just a tiny crowd. And most of them were with News Zero. XD [
ames_909 tells me that everyone was waiting in line for tickets at that point. That explains. I'm really glad I didn't want to go to the showing - I predicted that it would just be stressful trying to get tickets, and I didn't want to be running around anyway. I'd made dinner plans, too.]EDIT: I thought we didn't have any pictures but it turns out
ayamachi owns me and totally took one! BEHOLD THE PROXIMITY. Obviously it's phone quality, but it's definitely one of the most clear pictures I've seen, and definitely DEFINITELY one of the most up-close ones. You can see in the foreground the reason there weren't more: the huge bodyguard. XDAnyway, we got distracted by Neal Adams (more on that later) and lost them but it was about time for him to make his official appearance. So we head towards the Yatterman booth, and indeed, huge crowd of fangirls. We figured we would wait around just in case something happened, but already feeling satisfied at the course of events. And it was pretty hilarious. There was, like. . . the exhibit hall was two stories tall, so there was a room with glass walls overlooking the hall, and it appeared that the expectation was that Sho would appear in that room. So people were waiting there, which was a little ways away from the Yatterman booth - in the Grand Theft Auto booth. We were really amused by all the people walking by thinking this huge group of fangirls were just that pumped about Grand Theft Auto. By the way, I've seen fancams and my memory of the following doesn't necessarily jive with them - I was in just a haze of excitement that. . . yeah. XD
It turns out we have some shame, because we didn't join in any of the chanting of "Sho-kun! Sho-kun!" I mean, we had an image to uphold - I always feel the need to act tough at comic book conventions so people will know I'm a real fan. ;) We did, however, cheer when random staff members entered the glass room - it always caused a little buzz of excitement every time the doors opened and closed. The staff were clearly really amused by the horde of young women as well. Although not taking advantage of the situation to do a silly dance or anything.
So, eventually Sho comes out, still wearing his little News Zero suit and still looking ludicrously adorable in it. God, I can't believe I was just a few feet from him. It felt surreal - the impression is that I've jumped into Japanese TV, rather than feelingn like Japanese TV has jumped into my life (seeing him filming on the Con floor, that is). Anyway, even though he was, you know, much further away and behind a wall, it was still a very fun and satisfying experience, his brief appearance. Cos he was so sort of gobsmacked by the fans, I guess. He was sort of waving and seemed a bit confused - I don't know if it was the weird set-up, or if he wasn't expecting many people (I think it might have actually been less than I was expecting - probably because of the scheduling shenanigans, also I was on the edge of the crowd). [Someone else suggested that he was embarrassed which is exactly it, I think - he was all up behind a glass, we can't hear him, and this huge group of people is gathered just to see him. And it was a really normal room, with a bunch of random Con staff in it, and stuff. So he was sort of. . . pleased that we were there but didn't know what to do with himself?] People sang A.ra.shi (I once again discovered that I'm not completely shameless, and did not join in XD) and he did the "for dream" hand gestures with all of us (those I did do). Seeing him react to the fans was just really cute. He was terribly sweet. He pointed to the Yatterman booth, which happened to be riiiight behind me so I was like "WHAT?" XD And he waved lots. People were shouting something as well. I couldn't make it out, but he put his ear to the glass to try to hear it. Generally he just seemed really pumped. And probably jet lagged.
Additional Sho timing notes: I found out last night that instead of "maybe he'll do the panel, maybe not," they switched things to "not doing the panel, doing an appearance at the booth at 2:45." I was supposed to leave work at 2:30. XD So my boss was totally chill with my just adding an extra half hour of leave time. Things also got weird because I still have to take lunch, even though I was leaving exactly when I would get back from lunch, so I took lunch til 1:30 but I was meeting with my boss til 1 so I sort of flubbed things around. . . the point is I got to the con at 2:20. Way too late if I'd wanted a ticket, again, luckily I wasn't going for that. So, yeah - getting out of work was another thing that could have been stressful and turned out nicely. Half day on Friday is fun. :D
Conclusion: Sho is a muffin and I adore him.
I had no interest in going to the premiere, I don't even know how you were supposed to get tickets, so, yeah.
But I did have a FUCKING AWESOME time at the Con after we all dispersed. (We ran away as soon as it seemed like Sho was leaving so we could put some distance between ourselves and the crowds. If he did something amazing right at the end, I don't know about it.)
I'll put this behind a cut, since I guess less people are interested? I got to meet and talk to and get autographs from some really awesome people, though. So awesome!! Dude. AAAAAAAAH. It was just such a satisfying and positive experience.
So, I mentioned Neal Adams! He's the artist responsible for my icon. He's best known for helping to redefine Batman, to make him cool and dark and tough. He also (with his partner in crime, Denny O'Neil - who also wrote the Batman stuff) is the artist behind the Green Lantern-Green Arrow team-up that kind of made it OK for comic books to be about social issues. So he's a legend. An absolute legend. But beyond that, I also just adore his artwork. I've expanded but for a while he was behind almost all of my comic book icons. XD
So while we're following Sho around, I look up and see a huge booth that says "NEAL ADAMS" in huge letters. We go over and there he is! And he's adorable!! A sweet, chubby, smiley middle aged man in a big squishy sweater, sitting and sketching and chatting with fans. We're sort of hanging around and I see there's a table that says all the trades (trade paperbacks, or collections of comics) on it are $10, and they had a collection of "The Brave and the Bold" - a comic that had a different hero teaming up with Batman each issue. I love it a lot, so I was pumped - it's a great price. And the woman who sold it to me asked if I wanted it signed. HELLS YEAH. She asked if I wanted it personalized, I thought it was a trick question. So she brings it to Neal and tells him my name - I'm basically right next to Neal anyway, except this big guy was standing right in front of him. So I'm sort of peeking around and when Neal finishes he's like "Are you Laura?" and I was like ":DDDDD" and he was like "Be careful so you don't smudge it!" cos he signed on the cover. And I was like "I will treasure it!!" And I'm beaming, and Katie is standing behind me beaming, and so Neal Adams was like "You have a really nice smile! Both of you!" And I was like ":DDD We're twins!"
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! He was so nice and so awesome and I have a copy of the Brave and the Bold signed by him! I love him so much!! ::swoons::
OK, so after we finish with the Sho-ness, we start working the floor. We head over the autograph area to see if anyone interesting was there. One of the names was Peter Mayhew, which sounded really familiar but we couldn't place it. Well, he played Chewbacca!! AWESOME. He had a short line, too, so we went over and Katie bought a picture of him with Han and Luke and Leia, and he autographed it for us, and was soooooo nice and so chill. We were really confused because some of the autograph places were weird so we were all awkward and he was really nice. Big guy, obviously - although skinny, now. Lots of hair, hat. HUGE HANDS. HIS HANDS. DUDE. THEY WERE THE SIZE OF SHO. I couldn't stop staring at them as he signed. So awesome. (The lack of a camera was disappointing here - the staff person who was with him asked if we wanted a picture with him, which I totally would have. Damnation! Basically I just really wanted this guy to feel loved and admired, somehow. Cos he's so legend and he just seemed so cool, he deserved to be showered with adoration!)
At some point we went over to where all the people selling back issues set up, and went to the discounty ones. I've been trying for years and years to find some Robin back issues, Robin III, the Chuck Dixon run. And I was SO DAMN SUCCESSFUL! Jesus, it was awesome. I found everything. And all for either $1 each or 2 for $1!! I didn't get any of the issues with Spoiler, which is good - saved me a lot of money. But I got a bunch that I've really, really been wanting. So happy! I almost bought them on ebay. XD I also got a bunch of Justice League America comics by Keith Giffen - with Blue Beetle and Booster Gold and all that. They seem really fun.
Things not bought (yet) - a Central City Track t-shirt. :D Central City is the home of the Flash - Barry-Flash, my favorite comic book character. I think I'm going to get it on Sunday. We also didn't buy HUGE SQUISHY ROUND TOYS. Katie almost bought the chicken. But it was $40. We were saying if she'd gotten it, she could have jumped into all the photos people were taking (a lot) with her huge round chicken.
Next phase of the adventure: Penny Arcade! I'm being pretty chill with my chronology - Sho was first, then Neal Adams, then more Sho - the rest of it I don't know. I was kind of shaking with excitement the whole time. It was too much. XD Talking to strangers, especially strangers that I'm a HUGE FAN OF is really scary. Katie kept telling me to just talk to artists that I like, like Zander Cannon and Peter Gross, but I couldn't do it.
Speaking of which, Penny Arcade. We'd passed the booth earlier and ogled Tycho and Gabe, who are also adorable in person (turns out, everyone's adorable). Well, I knew what they look like so it wasn't a shock but still. Also I think I've seen them in person at San Diego Comic Con so. But still! Cute! Anyway, earlier the booth was really crowded, but when we passed it later, there was almost no line! So I bought their fourth book (i'd just bought the fifth at Borders the other day XD) to get them to sign. But I couldn't think of anything to say and they were nice, but just sort of signing it and I was like "okay!" Of course they were waiting for me to say something but I was too shy and it made the whole thing weird. So I was feeling sort of "daggit" about that, and I was like "maybe I should just stop by later if there's no line and say 'hey, I couldn't say this before but I love your comic.'"
But then! Luckily!
ayamachi was on the phone and it turned out a friend of a friend of a friend wanted something signed by Gabe and Tycho. A person named Cory. Or Corey. So we're like, "What the heck!" But they didn't want to buy anything, so I pulled the cardboard backing out of one of my new comics, the white paper that they put in the little bags? And I was like ". . . Will you guys sign something that hasn't been just purchased?" Some people get really weird about signing - you have to pay, or you have to pay if you haven't bought anything, or whatever. But they were totally chill and really sweet. They said they'd sign anything that didn't bite or sting. XD So we were like "Great! Sign this blank piece of paper to a person we don't know and whose name we can't spell!" They were like "XDD Okay?" I think I said "I've been told to get you to sign something for Corey but I don't know them!" So Gabe wrote "For Cory?" and did a quick sketch and Tycho added "(maybe?)" underneath. XDAnd when we popped back over, they were like "You're back!" and I got to explain the mission and say I was glad I got to come back because I felt bad that I hadn't told them how awesome the comic was before. And I told them I'd just bought their fifth book the other day so I got two autographs and two books, cosmic balance is maintained.
Anyway, so that made the only unsatisfying experience to be even more awesome and entertaining and fun and memorable than it would have been!
We wandered around Artist Alley looking for people, and Peter David (who is not an artist!) had a booth but wasn't there. He's supposed to be there on Sunday. :DDDDDD YES. DUDE. I AM BRINGING YOUNG JUSTICE WITH ME. SO EXCITED! It's my favorite comic book! No Darwyn Cooke, which is probably for the best. I might have died from too much nervous excitement.
By the way, Katie and I dragged
ayamachi around for all of this, so I want to say sorry. . . it was a horrible double whammy of "twin world" and "comic book world" which are both things that cause us to be completely incomprehensible. Sorry! You are awesome for putting up with us! :D Thanks for hanging out!!So!! One more "famous person that I adore run-in moment!" I really can't take many more of these, I was shaking! But as we were walking back through the floor, sort of on our way out, sort of to ponder the Central City Track shirt again, we saw. . . Terry Moore! I knew he was going to be there but he was randomly with the Graffiti Designs booth (I guess they do sell a lot of Strangers in Paradise shirts! And the Central City one, btw). So it was really just. . . if I didn't know what Terry Moore looked like, we wouldn't have gone over. XD But I was like ". . . That's. That's Terry Moore." And he's incredibly non-threatening, so him I did manage to go up and talk to without the pretext of an autograph. We didn't buy anything. We just said we loved his work, and he shook our hands. And I talked to him about how I'm behind on Echo because my dad is buying it and I wait til I go home to read it (I know, not a great idea to tell the creator you're skimping on his work). And then we talked about how much we love SiP and his art, and about how he'd done it for 13-14 years and it was time to move on, and how we're glad to see an ending for the characters but sad to see it end. But excited to see him doing something new! And he was saying that he didn't want to keep the characters going forever, it'd be like Blondie (the syndicated newspaper comic strip). So we were joking that it'd be so weird if one day the fourth panel was just "The End."
So that was also really, really amazing. I was wishing I could have been more witty and charming, but I wasn't too weird and awkward, so I will settle for that. And he's just adorable. I know I've been saying that about everyone but he's even cuter than Neal Adams! He has this adorable little smile and he was sooooo sweet! So cute! He was adorable at San Diego as well. :D SO CUTE.
AAAAAAUGH EVERYONE IS CUTE AND AWESOME. And I saw and met and spoke to so many amazing people! And didn't make a complete fool of myself! I was shaking with excitement. XD Sho was amazing and exciting and, well. . . Katie and I realized - it was just doki doki! That's what it felt like, to be so close to him and see him in person. And surreal. And then to go up and speak to so many people that I really, really admire. Peter Mayhew was a bit of an opportunistic thing, although I do adore Star Wars and Chewie and think he's awesome. But Neal Adams really is one of my all-time favorite artists, Penny Arcade really is one of my all-time favorite webcomics, and Terry Moore really is one of my all-time favorite authors (and artists!!). So it was just incredible, and really overwhelming, to get to speak to all of them. Major, major bonus of the small size of the NYCC - people are more accessible and I'm less intimidated by lines, etc!! Normally I hate speaking to celebrities so it was even more "!!!!!!!!!!" than you might think, even. XD
I'm still reeling about the whole thing! :D :D :D SO AWESOME.