Looking back, all these cons begin to blur together. I’m pretty sure this is the year, following my tremendous fun and successes at the San Diego Con, that I began getting excited about meeting artists and trying to get more pin-ups. Before the con, the Wondercon website listed all the featured artists, and I remember I really studied every page posted, and tried to analyze and strategize to see exactly who would be where and when. The site listed all the featured guests on one page, and then all the “artist alley” people on a different page, all the signings, all the booths. But for some reason it also listed every comics professional who’d bought a ticket to attend. I remember getting really excited to see Bruce Timm in this secret area of listed people. I even went so far as to look him up at other websites, to try and find a picture of him, so that I would recognize him walking around. I found a picture, but it turns out, it didn’t help me. And I mean it REALLY didn’t help me.
Joe Kubert, Dave Gibbons, and Jim Lee were listed as extra special guests.
I walked by the DC booth right as I walked in. I asked if they knew where Bruce Timm was. They told me they just saw him, but that he probably wouldn’t be hanging out at the DC booth, and that he was definitely around.
I saw Sergio Aragones there, and the more I thought about it, right there that day at the con, the more excited I got about wanting a pin-up from him. His comics were quite pivotal to me, growing up. Right when I was first collecting comics, middle-school-age, I loved his Groo stories, and really enjoyed his Mad “Between the margins” books. I approached him, showed him the stories inked by Dick Ayers, and asked about a pin-up. He didn’t look that closely. He just said, Oh, he thought maybe I just wanted a quick sketch or something. He told me to come back to him after I’d put a few issues out, maybe in a year or so. He didn’t like to do pin-ups for artists until he’d had a chance to kind of see their published work, see that they were serious. The reality is, a lot of artists show up for a while, all full of gumption, and then are never heard from again. I guess he’d been around the block enough times that if he did a pin-up for someone, he wanted to make sure either the artist’s work was all right, or that the artist would have a little lasting power.
I shyly approached Thomas Yeates, and showed him my Dick Ayers-inked stories and asked for a pin-up. He was very easy to approach, and he said it sounded fun. Howard Chaykin was sitting with him and talking a lot, but his badge was facing backwards. I recognized him though, so I said to him, “Are you here under cover?” I realized I should have said, “Are you here under cover, Howard?” He just replied, No, I’m here as me. I’m always here as me. Then he walked away.
I got his attention a little later. I was feeling bold, since it had been so easy to approach Thomas. I asked Howard if he does commissions, and he said, No, absolutely not, never, and turned his back on me. I was especially embarrassed, because it happened in front of Thomas, who politely tried to act like he didn’t notice I was snubbed.
Met Jill Thompson, and thought she was a real cool gal. Very friendly and approachable and talkative. Said she’d enjoy doing a monster pin-up, and to email her. Said she’d definitely remember me, because no one had ever asked her for a commission of a giant monster. Strangely, I emailed both her and her website, and never heard back from her.
She talked a little about going to art school. Her school specialized in illustration, and there was a rival art school nearby. I could tell she wasn’t impressed by the rival school and its “artsy” attitude. She talked about their foo-foo “art” morals and principles, and said she always went to school with the intention of getting work. And she got out of school and started working, and all these “artists” from the other school were still not working.
I approached Dave Stevens and showed him my copies of stories and pin-ups. I think he really enjoyed them. I was intimidated to ask him about doing a pin-up, and when I did, he said he’s way too busy. But he was polite and friendly about it.
Waited in line for a Travis Charest sketch. Asked him about pin-ups, and he said he works way too slow, and can barely get his scheduled work finished on his deadlines. Aw shucks!
Russ Heath was there, so they set up a double-signing “war comics” theme with him and Joe Kubert. I saw where they set up, but it was such a big line, I kept waiting and hoping the line would die down. It finally died down, and I realized they had capped it. They weren’t letting anyone else wait. So I kept an eye on it anyways, just to see if Joe Kubert was going anywhere afterwards. He got up, shook hands with the gang, and left. I shamelessly stalked him, just to see if he was going to go hang out at a booth somewhere, but he just walked right out of the con. So I missed my chance to meet him.
Jim Lee and Dave Gibbons had really big lines too, so I didn’t bother with waiting for them either. But I didn’t try to stalk them afterwards either.
Lastly, I found an original art dealer who had tons of Jae Lee and Bruce Timm art. I was hoping one of those artists might turn up (although Mister Lee wasn’t listed anywhere to make an appearance), so I poked around. Flipping through the Bruce Timm folders, a tall, red-headed, skinny fellow with glasses kind of poked around at the folder I was holding, making an almost clownish scene as if he wanted to look at the folder I was looking at. I asked if he wanted to flip through, and he said, “No, no, you go ahead.” Someone who turned out to be in charge of the booth was kind of smiling at a secret joke and shaking his head at this guy. I moved on and looked at Jae Lee art, and the tall guy lost interest in me.
Of course it’s obvious where this story is going. After the con I told a friend I was disappointed I didn’t ever find Bruce Timm, and he said, “Oh, I saw him doing sketches at that original art booth.” Click. It all came together. When I was looking at Bruce Timm original artwork, Bruce Timm himself was the one who had come over, and I could have visited with him, fawned over him, looked at his art with him and maybe gotten a sketch. He was acting so playful and silly and approachable. I’m sure we would have become best friends. But I was so clueless, I just screwed that golden opportunity.
I wound up feeling really disappointed that I had actually been jibed by Bruce Timm and didn’t realize it.