That was an exact quote heard over the way-too-loudspeaker at this year's Big Apple National comic convention. By now, interested parties have probably read Evan Dorkin's scathing review of this show, which was pretty darn accurate from where we sat -- far away from our usual Artists Alley spot, but at least near the open windows which one of the idiots "helping out" the dealer a couple spaces away from us kept wanting to close despite the uncomfortable humidity and humanity. When we arrived and were ushered to our space by Ken Gale, who was helping out Allan Rosenberg, we discovered it was only half a table without any decent cloth covering it, and there was only one chair where 2-3 should clearly have been. Fortunately I was able to get a hold of Allan to remedy that situation, but... well, the whole day had the kind of vibe Evan describes. Robin got settled in okay, as you see:
But nobody came by with their copies of the just-out first issue of Sir Apropos of Nothing to get signed. It just wasn't that kind of crowd. The main reason we were there was to see Sir Apropos writer and creator Peter David, who didn't seem to have a table of his own, so I vacated my spot (I may have been a guest but, with the demise of the ComicMix columns, I had no real reason for sitting there other than to keep Robin company) and, like magic, the table started receiving visitors! As always, it was a lot of fun being with Peter, a true raconteur, and listening to his anecdotes of Kath and the kids, great concerts he's attended, a round of the Smothers Brothers' "Streets of Laredo" (I forget what a terrific singing voice he has), and just generally basking in his company. And good thing, too -- the show was 80% dregs, and 20% relatively nice folks asking Peter and/or Robin to sign stuff that wasn't Sir Apropos or friends/acquaintances of ours like Derek Tague, Dave Gallaher, Marion Vitus, Darren Hudek, and the fellow who keeps my folder at Midtown Comics whose name I can never remember.
Peter reviewed the pencils on issue #4, made a couple suggestions here and there, but generally seemed to find everything appropriately amusing. Hey, it's a comedy book, after all.
I wandered around a little, but it really wasn't the kind of show for taking photos or doing much of anything else. Still, I couldn't resist this shot of Val D'Orazio and Torsten Adair at the Friends of Lulu table:
Torsten returned the favor by snapping this one of me and Robin back at our table. I don't think I photograph very well, I definitely look out of proportion here.
It was great seeing Mark Evanier again so soon after the last time. He and Peter talked about, among other topics, one of the Quick Draw panels that Mark often moderates at San Diego. I can't remember who got the last word in, but it was a close contest.
Peter also spoke with Chris Claremont, who doesn't know us so I kept back and snapped this photo:
And that's it! As mentioned, we didn't bother returning for Sunday, it just wasn't worth it. Favorite quote, from Mark E: "I'm really good at stuff that pays no money." Biggest outside-of-show disappointments: I didn't get the chance to grab some clothing necessities at K-Mart, and the Chinese buffet I used to love when I worked in the area had nothing appetizing to speak of. Biggest inside-of-show disappointments: Too many to list. Peter invited us to hang with him at his table at next February's New York Con, where I'm sure the vibe will be very different indeed.
But nobody came by with their copies of the just-out first issue of Sir Apropos of Nothing to get signed. It just wasn't that kind of crowd. The main reason we were there was to see Sir Apropos writer and creator Peter David, who didn't seem to have a table of his own, so I vacated my spot (I may have been a guest but, with the demise of the ComicMix columns, I had no real reason for sitting there other than to keep Robin company) and, like magic, the table started receiving visitors! As always, it was a lot of fun being with Peter, a true raconteur, and listening to his anecdotes of Kath and the kids, great concerts he's attended, a round of the Smothers Brothers' "Streets of Laredo" (I forget what a terrific singing voice he has), and just generally basking in his company. And good thing, too -- the show was 80% dregs, and 20% relatively nice folks asking Peter and/or Robin to sign stuff that wasn't Sir Apropos or friends/acquaintances of ours like Derek Tague, Dave Gallaher, Marion Vitus, Darren Hudek, and the fellow who keeps my folder at Midtown Comics whose name I can never remember.
Peter reviewed the pencils on issue #4, made a couple suggestions here and there, but generally seemed to find everything appropriately amusing. Hey, it's a comedy book, after all.
I wandered around a little, but it really wasn't the kind of show for taking photos or doing much of anything else. Still, I couldn't resist this shot of Val D'Orazio and Torsten Adair at the Friends of Lulu table:
Torsten returned the favor by snapping this one of me and Robin back at our table. I don't think I photograph very well, I definitely look out of proportion here.
It was great seeing Mark Evanier again so soon after the last time. He and Peter talked about, among other topics, one of the Quick Draw panels that Mark often moderates at San Diego. I can't remember who got the last word in, but it was a close contest.
Peter also spoke with Chris Claremont, who doesn't know us so I kept back and snapped this photo:
And that's it! As mentioned, we didn't bother returning for Sunday, it just wasn't worth it. Favorite quote, from Mark E: "I'm really good at stuff that pays no money." Biggest outside-of-show disappointments: I didn't get the chance to grab some clothing necessities at K-Mart, and the Chinese buffet I used to love when I worked in the area had nothing appetizing to speak of. Biggest inside-of-show disappointments: Too many to list. Peter invited us to hang with him at his table at next February's New York Con, where I'm sure the vibe will be very different indeed.
0 comments:
Post a Comment