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Roger Ash
by Roger Ash
I started this column shortly after returning from the Baltimore Comic-Con, but exhaustion and deadline for Worlds of Westfield and the updated web site sidetracked me. this time for sure!
For those of you who don’t know, I’m on staff at BCC (this was my sixth year) and my job is programming so I spend many of my time in the panel area. We expanded to three days this year from the two we had always done in the past, which implied lots much more panels and lots much more fun. Yes, it was also much more work, but that chooses the territory.
Heading to the convention center.
I made it out to Baltimore Thursday only four hours later than expected (stupid stormy weather) and headed to the convention center to make sure the panel rooms were being set up correctly and say hi to all the convention folks. By this time, this feels practically like a family reunion. A family you like and can’t wait to see. numerous of these people I only see once a year and our weekend together is a highlight of the year for me. It was also essential to check in as the convention moved to a different part of the Baltimore Convention center this year and I wanted to find exactly where the panel rooms were and how the convention floor was laid out. This is especially essential as my team and I typically walk creators up to the panel rooms and knowing the best way to get them to the rooms is necessary.
I also had the pleasure of meeting Bruce Canwell, associate Editor of the library of American Comics. If you’re a regular reader of the Westfield blog, you’ve probably read various interviews I’ve finished with Bruce over the years. We also exchange emails occasionally talking about comics, comic strips, and baseball. meeting him, oddly enough as he was headed to an Orioles/Reds game, was like seeing an old friend. It was good to finally meet and we had a few other opportunities to talk over the weekend.
Thursday was a fairly early night as I was exhausted out from the flights and delays and I knew that I wanted to be as awake as possible Friday for the start of the show. While I’m not going to mention every panel this year (there were a lot!), I think I’ll mention enough to give you a flavor of the weekend.
Me with Harry & pal (I don’t recall her name). Harry led a cosplay panel on Saturday.
Even though the doors didn’t open till early afternoon Friday (Noon for VIP ticket holders, 1:00pm for everyone else), there was still lots to do Friday morning. first up was meeting with my team of Tim, Kevin, and Marty to plan out the day. next was to make sure the rooms were set up, open, and ready to go.
This year we added cosplay panels for the first time and they were a substantial success. local cosplayer Han pan led a number of them and was indispensable in educating me about cosplay. While I delight in seeing the costumes throughout the weekend, cosplay is something I know practically nothing about. To have someone help me as she did was very much appreciated.
The “Sexy or Sexualized” panel with (left to right) Simone, Gibbons, Bennett, Levitz, Hughes, Blanch, and Zahler.
There were plenty of other panels including developer spotlights on Dan Parent, Walter & Louise Simonson, and Greg Capullo. one of the much more popular panels of the day was the very topical “Sexy or Sexualized” panel. Moderated by Paul Levitz, panelists included Gail Simone, Dave Gibbons, Marguerite Bennett, Adam Hughes, Thom Zahler, and Christy Blanch (who led a related panel, “Gender & Comic Books”, on Saturday). It was a wide-ranging talk with lots of interesting discussion.
The day concluded with the All-Star Reception, which is a dream event for comic fans as you get to mingle in a low essential atmosphere with a number of comic creators. even though I was working, it was the one time I was able to speak much with Dave Gibbons, whom I’ve wanted to meet for years.
Saturday has always been the busiest day of the convention and this year was no different. It was an especially busy day for me as we had four tracks of panels running all day, with a couple hours of five panels for good measure. There were spotlight panels on Dave Gibbons, Paul Pope, Gail Simone, Fred Hembeck, Garth Ennis, and media guest Joel Hodgson (Mystery science theater 3000). Frank Cho did a drawing panel at which, from ideas from the audience, he drew Rogue washing a triceratops (yes, you read that right). If you wanted publisher news, Saturday was the day for you as there were panels from Marvel, DC, Valiant, BOOM! Studios, Dynamite, Archie, and Visionary. There were also panels on editing and Miracleman. two new Farnk Cho projects were announced as well; Skybourne from BOOM! Studios and world of Payne (with writer Tom Sniegoski) from Flesk Publications.
Me with Karen Johnson at the Harvey Awards.
The panel that really got to me as a fan, though, was “Peanuts and Beyond: The other Side of Charles M. Schulz.” This was presented by Karen Johnson, director of the Charles M. Schulz museum and research Center. Her presentation featured photos of Schulz from throughout his life as well as lots of art, much of it unpublished. It was fascinating to see how he worked out Peanuts strips as well as non-Peanuts art that he drew over the years. The real treat of the presentation came at the end. Jean Schulz, Charles’ widow, gave consent to show for the first time in public, his final drawing. It’s of Snoopy and was done after coming out of surgery not long before he passed away. It was wonderfully moving and I don’t mind admitting that I had a lump in my throat when I saw it. It’s something I’ll never forget. The panel was then closed out with folks from BOOM! Studios talking about Schulz’ legacy in the Peanuts comic book.
Baltimore Comic-Con 2014 Yearbook
There was also an art auction of work from the 2014 yearbook which featured Matt Wagner’s Grendel. There was lots of fantastic art up for bidding from artists including David Finch, Alan Davis, Craig Rousseau, and Wagner himself. even better, a portion of the proceeds went to Seth Kushner and his fight against leukemia.
Saturday closed out with the Harvey Awards, which were hosted this year by writer/producer Michael Uslan. He was a terrific host and Gail Simone gave an outstanding keynote address. It was a fantastic evening and you can see all the winners here.
The big event Sunday is the costume contest, which is big enough that it has its own team and is for that reason something I don’t have much involvement with, though I do delight in seeing all the creative costumes. There were still plenty of panels Sunday including a spotlight on media guest Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca), a conversation between mark Waid and Paul Levitz, and award-winning colorist and teacher Jose Villarrubia talked to Adam Hughes and Allison Sohn about their artistic influences.
Wolverine panel with (left to right) Trimpe, Brevoort, Rubinstein, Soule, Tieri, and Cho.
I got to sit in on a couple panels as well. first was the “Funny Animals” panel which featured Steve Leialoha (Howard the Duck, Fables), David Petersen (Mouse Guard), Andy Runton (Owly), Steve Conley (Bloop), mark Buckingham (Fables), and moderator Jamar Nicholas. It was a fun mix of creators and it was interesting to hear how they approached non-human characters. With Logan dying this month, “A Wolverine Celebration” looked at this popular character. Marvel’s Tom Brevoort moderated the panel featuring Herb Trimpe, Joe Rubinstein, Charles Soule, Frank Tieri, and Frank Cho. My favorite moment of the panel came when someone in the audience asked who they thought Wolverine’s true love was. Without missing a beat, two or three of them answered in unison, “Cyclops.”
Steve & Howard
Just because I was busy all weekend, that doesn’t imply I wasn’t able to squeeze in a bit of fun time on the convention floor. While I didn’t have time to search for old Dell Hanna-Barbera comics like usual, I did add to may art collection. As a substantial fan of Steve Gerber’s classic run on Howard the Duck, a big goal was to get a Howard piece by Steve Leialoha, who was the original inker on Howard. I had never met Steve before and it was a pleasure to finally meet him and he did a really fantastic Howard drawing for me. I was a very pleased camper.
The Baltimore Comic-Con was terrific fun and I always delight in going. Seeing Marc, Shelly, Brad, Andie, Tim, Kevin, Marty, David, Mandy, Tracey, Chris, Randy, Todd, David, Matt, Dustin, Lynne, Alex, Paul, Thom, Mark, Bob, and so numerous others makes the weekend a terrific experience. Sure, it’s exhausting, but completely worth it. hope to see you there next year on September 25-27!