Coast City Comicon - The Aftermath, Part Three

After the panel, I was getting hungry. However, I had to muster up some courage before I could eat.

I went to a convention in 2004 in Westbrook, Maine where writer Brian Wood and artist Becky Cloonan were signing copies of their brand new series Demo. I had heard of the series, but never bought an issue...until that con. I bought issue #2, and both of them signed it.

Remember before, where I mentioned my tendency to talk to strangers in awkward situations?

Well, I struck up a conversation with Wood and Cloonan about how happy I was to see creators appear at a convention in Maine. I told them that there are a lot of fans in the state, and hope that they decide to come back - despite the rather lackluster attendance of the one-day event.

Flash-forward to this convention. Becky Cloonan was there, selling Wolves and The Mire - her own books. And rather than buy one of her new works, I brought out the same copy of Demo #2 and asked her to sign it. She was surprised to see that she'd already signed it, and I basically asked her if she could do so again.

Rather than just sign her name elsewhere on the cover, she was kind enough to create a brand new drawing of Emily - the character in the issue - on the inside of the front cover. She had to look through the issue to remind herself how she drew the character, and we laughed about it as I thanked her again and put the book back in the board and bag I had it in and moved on. She was really nice, and now I am committed to collecting the rest of the series.

On a side note - I understand the interest in getting a creator to sign a book...or photo...or whatever, but it shouldn't be for the purpose of selling on ebay. It should be to commemorate the experience...and prove to nay sayers that yes indeed you were there, and you did get to see that person.

Anyway, it was Lunch Time!