Bruce Timm
Just wandering around, I accidentally stumbled onto a sign at a booth that said Bruce Timm would be signing at a specific hour on a specific day. I put that down on my chart of all the artists I wanted to find, and the time and place I could find him, to be sure I could try and get a chance to show him my Kirby-style monster stuff. I thought for sure he would be one artist who would appreciate my Doris Danger stories, because he’s such a great Kirby-style artist.
We noticed early on that a line was beginning to form, and wound up waiting in line for an hour or so before we got to the action. This Bruce Timm line was actually for the Justice League cartoon, so it also had all the voice actors. We didn’t really know any of them, although it turned out we recognized one from a Friends episode, and later realized another was Sidney’s sidekick in Alias.
Got to Bruce Timm and showed him the copies of the Doris Danger stories. He didn’t seem interested that Dick Ayers had inked them. He didn’t seem interested at all, and just kind of carelessly flipped through them. I asked about a pin-up, to which he flatly replied no, and we were rushed the rest of the way through the line, and that was that. I felt so intimidated by him.
Bill Sienkiewicz
Met and spent a little time with Bill Sienkiewicz, who said he would do a pin-up. Watched him draw sketches for a few people. He would use pictures he drew in his own book as reference for sketches he would draw in the books. He had ink, brushes, pens, and weird dental tools that he dipped in the ink. He had a pinwheel-type device that he would roll over the art to leave scratchy lines. Really interesting working style, how he gets all his textures and line qualities.
I had asked Bill whatever happened with his “Numbers” series with Alan Moore. Two of my favorites on one book together. I had enjoyed the first couple issues, and nothing came after that. When I asked Bill, he raised his voice like he might get upset if I kept prodding him about the subject, and basically clammed up. He was not going to go there, he said. He made it very clear he wasn’t getting into that story with me, or anyone.
When I asked about a pin-up, he said he was doing commissions right then, at that very moment. I went to a bank teller and got some cash, and then I tried to write up a little hand receipt/waiver. I’ve always had everyone I get a pin-up from sign it, unless they don’t charge me for the pin-up. I always ask that I have permission to publish it, permission to keep it (if I can afford it), permission to use their name for advertising or marketing or press releases, and that they don’t expect any royalties or additional payments. I’m sure some artists have thought I’m an asshole to make them sign something, but in twenty years it will cover them as well as me, because we both know how I intend to use their pin-up.
By the time I got the money together, and had my contract/waiver/receipt, it was getting later in the day, and he said he might not be able to get to it today, but to check back in with him later. We checked later in the day, and he was gone. We went the next day, and he never turned up.
Over the next few months, I emailed Bill, and finally called him. I was honestly beginning to feel a little nervous, knowing I’d given him a sizeable wad of cash. While leaving a message on his answering machine like this, “Bill, I’m beginning to get a little concerned, because I haven’t heard from you,” he picked up, and assured me he would have it to me within a week or two. Maybe a month later he contacted me to say it was finished, and he’d send it to me priority, and I’d get it in a few days. Maybe a few weeks after that it actually, finally did come in the mail. What a crazy monster he sent me.
Mike Mignola
After last year, seeing such a line for Mike Mignola, and him not even taking one and a half seconds to sign a comic for me when I held it out and handed him a pen, I felt like Mike must be such a big wig, he’s pretty unapproachable. I constantly poked around at the Darkhorse booth, hoping he might pop by to talk to editors or something. I never saw him, and finally asked if there were any autograph times he had scheduled. They told me I had just missed him (GODDAMN THE LUCK!). They said they thought he did have a signing the next day. But then they let me in on a shocking secret. They said he had a table all weekend, and I could just go over and meet him there any time. I was shocked. He wasn’t listed in the catalogue. You mean he’s not unapproachable? I had him all wrong. So all this time that I thought he’d been totally unapproachable, he’d actually been TOTALLY approachable. He’s just approachable in SECRET. On the sly. Only to those in the know.
I went directly over to where they said, and there he was, just sitting there by himself, and no one even knew he was there. There was maybe one person in line. I walked right up and had the opportunity to tell him how I loved his stories. I sputtered how great I thought his art is, and how much I enjoyed his stories’ subject matter. I showed him the photocopies of my Doris Danger stuff, and he took a copy, but didn’t really look over it. I asked if he did any sketches, and he said he usually brings some nice sketches that cost money, but he’d do a quick Hellboy sketch. I was so shocked, I immediately found Elizabeth (She was waiting in line for me to meet Bruce Timm), and asked her to get another sketch for me.
Later, I went over to Dave Stevens’ table, and Mike was over there talking about his upcoming Hellboy movie. He was saying, even though Guillermo del Toro was great, he still ran across the occasional studio-red-tape-pains-in-the-ass-bullshit. He was saying, “Well YOU know how it is (to Dave, who knew, because he had to go through it all way back when the Rocketeer film was made) when you get these Hollywood guys involved. There was this one exec, and he just didn’t get it. And he kept saying things like, What if he’s a person, but he turns into Hellboy when he gets mad?” And things like that. He was obviously seeing the frustrations of having to let a bunch of morons with no artistic vision or understanding put their hands in the pot and try to ruin everything with their god-awful formulas and cliches of what they think a movie should do. He obviously was having to fight to keep the character and the integrity of his creation.
* * *
That year, we got kind of burnt out on waiting in lines to meet artists. We spent hours in each line, for Frank Miller, Matt Groening, Bruce Timm, and next thing we knew, the convention was over. It didn’t help that due to our hotel problems, we had to go home a day early. But when it was time for us to leave a day early, we were so worn out, we were ready to go. It felt like we weren’t able to be quite as productive as we’d been previously. But we were pretty exhausted anyways, and on the other hand we met some of the cream of the crop of my idols in the industry.
But I was realizing, it’s a lot more productive, if you can just find where these artists are hanging out, and meet them that way, rather than take all this time waiting in line for the same people. That was a valuable lesson, and I haven’t really waited in line to meet people much since then, unless I can’t find another way to get to them.
This con, even though I of course didn’t get artists saying, “Man I’d love to do a pin-up,” and even though a number of artists said they weren’t interested, the potential for pin-ups was really starting to come together, and I was starting to amass some great potential for the self-publishing of my book.