To Wizard Magazine: You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means....

At the very least, we had different definitions of what is "Family Friendly".

First, earlier this year, Wizard World allowed a strip-club to have a booth at their convention in Chicago.

Now, I just had got this press-release in my e-mail. The full text is also posted at Wizard Universe. But for our purposes, we only need to look at the headline, part of the text and the tagline. The emphasis is mine.



WIZARD WORLD TEXAS TO HOST TEXAS FEAR FEST!

On top of the impressive list of comic book talent already attending at this year’s Wizard World Texas convention, Corey Feldman (“The Lost Boys,” “Friday the 13th 4” & “5”), Danny Trejo (“From Dusk Till Dawn,” “Rob Zombie’s Halloween”) and cast members from “Friday the 13th: A New Beginning,” “Monster Squad” and “Halloween 4” will be on hand to meet and greet their fans. In addition to the guests, there will be special events, including screenings of “Friday the 13th: A New Beginning” and “Monster Squad” and Fear Jam, a concert featuring Michale Graves, formerly of The Misfits, FirstJason, and The Horrifics with special guest Eerie Von of Danzig and Samhain.

Wizard World, the largest family-friendly comics and pop culture convention in the United States, returns to Texas November 7-9 at the Arlington Convention Center.



Now... explain to me... how partnering with a convention devoted to violent and frequently misogynistic R-rated movies... which in turn attract a LOT of people in bloody, freaky and just plain gross costumes is "family friendly"?

Wizard World Texas 2007 Report

Looking back on my report on Wizard World 2006, it occurs to me that something I said last year was double true this year; Often times, all the fun in a convention is there for the making... it's about the people you meet and the experiences you share with your fellow fans.

This occurred to me after reading a report on this year's Wizard World written by my close friend and writer/artist of Deranged Comics; Don Cook.

Don noted in his personal journal that it seems like fewer and fewer guests of note come to Wizard World Texas every year. The first year, we had the likes of Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes for media stars and legends such as Kurt Busiek and George Perez striding among us mere mortals and our $5.00 hot dogs. This year, we has some woman whose biggest claim to fame is being a MySpace babe and Lou Ferrigno. Three guesses who had the busier booth.

Granting that Don has a point on how Wizard World Texas in particular and Dallas Comic Cons in particular don't usually get the A-List in terms of professional support/attendance, I still stand by the idea that you can have fun at a convention with one vendor, the guest of honor is CarrotTop and the hot rare collectible being the first batch of fliers where CarrotTop was spelled with one 'r'.

Why? Because I had fun this year, despite the lack of any writers I cared about (well, writers I cared about who were advertised - nothing I read about the Con in advance mentioned that Jack of Fables co-writer Matthew Sturges would be there), only five artists I cared to get an autograph from and failure in my yearly quest to find a Starman Jack Knight variant figure. I got to meet a lot of very cool people; fellow stargazers all.

Some were established writers and artists with an independent published work, hoping to expand their fanbase. Others were aspiring talents, looking for a publisher willing to give them a chance. And then there are the common folk; the fans who just enjoy dressing up and sharing their love of a character and the joy of living every day like it's Halloween. Many fans, but all with a deep love of the genre no matter how they choose to express it as they journeyed through the World of Wizard.

Accompanying me on this journey was my good friend Halo Husberg - artist/photographer and probable Costume Contest Winner if I ever get her to show up at one of these things in her White Queen outfit. What follows is a brief photographic chronicle of where we were, who we met and how utterly cool a convention can be even when you are just there to work.

Writer Devin Richard & Writer/Artist Mike Charles of Angel Comics - a new Indy company based out of Houston, Texas.

Artist & Angel Comics CEO Roderick E. Thornton.

Artist Michael Brooks of Angel Comics

Some bloke whose name we didn't get who has a comic published by Drunk Duck! - a web comics community which hosts over 8,000 web-based comics.

Chasen Grieshop of Particle 9 Productions, hard at work on a new piece.

The gear table for Wrestling Wear Galore - the only place that I know of where you can get a real Iron Man, Iron Fist and Nacho Libre wrestler's mask!

Rowan Of The Wood author Ethan Rose, dressed as his own titular character.

A fearsome barbarian, on-call to train aspiring heroes courtesy of Barbarian Battles

The Barbarian tests his metal against young warrior Connor Yarbrough.

(from left to right) Jack of Fables co-author Matthew Sturges, DC Comics VP of Sales Bob Wayne,
DC Comics Executive Editor Dan DiDio, Justice League of America artist Joe Benitez & Action Comics artist Adam Kubert.

The Scottish Batman, Quinten McKinnney. (Didn't Grant Morrison just do a comic about this?)

Fat Momma; first runner-up on last year's Who Wants To Be A Superhero?

Feedback; the winner of last year's Who Wants To Be A Superhero?




The Defuser (winner of this year's Who Wants To Be A Superhero? and Major Victory honor us with a pose.




Aspiring artist Marshall Wilson checks his portfolio.




1st Place Costume Winner - Toney Dempsey as DC Comics' Scarecrow




2nd Place Costume Contest Winners - Ryan McKinley and Matthew Ham of Central Oklahoma Ghostbusters.




3rd Place Costume Contest Winners - the husband and wife team of Ned and Margie Cox, here dressed as Hal Jordan and Katma Tui.




Costume Contest Finalist Chris Newman as Grim Girl




Costume Contest Finalist Mike Bartosh as Gambit.




Gemini Force model Amber Emery. She poses for her boyfriend's comic. Lucky guy!

SPECIAL THANKS ALSO GO OUT TO:

President Nelson who did a great portrait for me in a short amount of time and refused to take extra payment for the rush.

Humbert Ramos, who stayed a little late to get through the line of fans who had been waiting for a while to get autographs.

Joe Jusko, who not only allowed me to get the perfect Christmas present for my girlfriend but also gave me the good news that the Sheena mini-series published by Devil's Due is indeed going to continue as a monthly series!

Phil Hester, who gave me an autograph and a quick Ollie Queen sketch in record time.

Michael Lark, who couldn't stop to talk but ran his booth with a sense of elegance, despite his speed.

Mike Hankins of Dorm Dorks, who had what is easily the funniest new web-comic I've seen in a while. Expect a full review later.

The gents at Cat Torpedo Comics, who remembered me from All-Con 2007. A fact which is nearly as impressive as their stellar work on WonderTeddy and The Silver Spectre.

DCU: Counting Down To Final Crisis Special Report!

I'll have a full report on Wizard World Texas with lots of pretty pretty pictures later this week. Right now, though, I have some exclusive news on various DC Projects that I thought you all would like to hear about A.S.A.P.

* Keith Giffen has just signed an exclusive contract with D.C. Comics. Amazingly, he did not have a rider in his contract that he is allowed to sneak Ambush Bug into anything he writes although the possibility of more Ambush Bug stories in the future is not out of the question.

* Long-time Green Arrow artist Phil Hester will be the artist on a new El Diablo title to premiere in 2008.

* Western fans rejoice! There will also be a new Bat Lash series in 2008.

* A future issue of Countdown will feature a battle between Superman Prime and Mister Mxyzptlk.

* Countdown: Arena will feature characters from at least 26 of DC Comics 52 multiverses.

* Final Crisis will be a stand alone title with no "required" tie-in books.

* In a future episode of Booster Gold, Booster will act to save Barbara Gordon from the attack that ends her career as Batgirl and leads to her becoming Oracle. There will also be a special #0 issue coming out between issues #6 and #7 that will tie in to Zero Hour.

* Green Lantern #25 will be a double-size issue and it will contain a preview of the last part of the "trilogy" by Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver - Green Lantern: Rebirth and The Sinestro War being Parts One and Two.

* In answer to a request for more kids books that aren't a spin-off of a cartoon, DC is releasing three new children's titles. Tiny Titans - a book based off of a popular children's cartoon in the DC Universe which is based on the Teen Titans; a new Superfriends comic that will tie-in to a new action figure line by Mattel; and Shazam! - a new Captain Marvel series in the spirit of Jeff Smith's recent mini-series.

* Fans of James Robinson's Starman who have wondered why the remaining uncollected issues haven't been collected in a TP Format, wonder no more. Starting early next year, DC will be re-releasing Starman in an Absolute format. The first volume will collect the first 17 issues of the series.

* Blue Beetle #26 will be written entirely in Spanish.

* Sadly, the JLA/Hitman series did not sell well enough to draw consideration to an immediate re-collecting of the entire original Hitman series in TP format. However, The Powers That Be have not ruled out finishing collecting the series at a future date.

* DC Comics Editorial has no new information regarding a DC Comics MMORPG or the JLA Movie.

* Dan Didio shot down any suggestion that DC Comics would consider doing an on-line archive service similar to the one which Marvel Comics announced this week - one which allows fans access to read comics on-line but not download them for a monthly fee. Didio's reasoning? "We want people to actually own the comics they're paying us for."

* There may be plans in the future to use Terry McGinnis (the Batman of the Batman Beyond future) in a story.

* There may be a mini-series centering upon the new Ion (Sodam Yat) in the future.

* Grant Morrison is signed to continue writing Batman into 2008 and beyond.

* Adam Hughes is still at work on All-Star Wonder Woman. Beyond that, the only thing that can be said about the All-Star Line is that "books will continue to come out".

* Regarding plans for any future Green Arrow stories by Andy Diggle, Dan Didio said "Not yet".

* All-New Atom still not in danger of being canceled, according to Dan Didio.

* Manhunter WILL return.

* Breach (the Captain Atom of Wildstorm Comics) will return in Countdown: Arena.

* There are more DC Comics straight-to-video movies on the way.

Wizard World Texas- Friday Report

I was at work all day, so naturally I wasn't at the convention.

However, my good friend Don Cook, author of Every Day is Halloween, did go. He has a report on his blog that is quite amusing. You should go read it. And while you're there, read his comic and tell him how much you like it. He could use the pick-me-up after being snubbed by the Suicide Girls.

Looking To The Stars - Wizard World Texas 2006

Okay. Still no part three on the Hellblazer Episode Guide.

Mind you, there is a good reason for this.

Somehow in all the hustle and bustle of Halloween, a rush of unexpected job interviews and all the work I was doing on The Hellblazer Episode Guide, I somehow forgot that Wizard World Texas was happening this past weekend.

Funny how these little things just slip your mind when you’re busy, eh?

Actually, I know exactly why it slipped my mind. Despite being possibly the biggest convention in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, I have only ever been to Wizard World once- the very first year it was held.

The second year I had planned on attending but my manager at the time quit the day before the convention. This left me as the only person capable of opening and closing the store that weekend. Not only did I have to miss the convention – I also had to work the open to close shift for four days in a row.

The third year, I was in little mood to make merry in a geeky fashion. My friend Sam had died the week before. And not even the presence of Summer Glau of Firefly fame was enough to take me out of my funk.

I confess I was somewhat worried about this year. Not because I was afraid of being unable to attend but because there didn’t seem to be much worth getting excited about this year. The first Wizard World Texas – oh that was the stuff of legends. Paul Dini, Kurt Busiek, Paul Jenkins, George Perez and Kevin Smith – all great writers and all among my favorites.

This year, there were only two major professionals I cared much about meeting. One was Ed Brubaker, whom I place at the top of the short list of the people at Marvel who are doing anything worth reading these days. The other was George Perez whom I spent a pleasant half-hour chatting with three years ago at Wizard World Texas. I’ve gone to conventions for less, but given how Wizard World has a reputation for being as huge as it is the idea of going to Wizard World for just two guests was anathema to me.

Well, let me let you kids in on a little secret. Often times, all the fun in a convention is there for the making. It isn’t about what pros you meet or what swag you buy or what exclusive Uber-Kewl Limited Edition Promethium Sketch Cover of Ultimate Redundancy #1/2 you get just for walking in the door. It’s about the people you meet and the experiences you share with your fellow fans.

With that in mind, let me tell you the tale – with photographic accompaniment where appropriate – of the places I’ve been and the people I met. And how this column wound up being about something more than a list of Top Ten Things To Do At Wizard World When You Are Broke.


I arrived at the Arlington Convention Center an hour early and lined up for entry into the grand hall. Good news! George Perez, ready to meet and greet his public, worked his way down the line before the doors officially opened. I already had a few comics autographed by him the last time I was at Wizard World but I still got him to sign my program.

I ran into George again later that day at the booth for The HERO Initative (AKA The charity formerly known as ACTOR) where he was doing sketches. The price was a bit rich for a librarians’ salary but it was still heartening to see so many fans supporting the cause and getting nice Starfire sketches in the bargain.

A rare sight: critic and artist, together and at peace.

Of course even on a librarians’ salary, there is much fun to be had in looking at the plunder you cannot afford. One such place for such plunder is Vividvision - makers of many cool toys and collectible holographic prints. I’m not much a die hard Trekker or Trekkie or – whatever name the folks who love Star Wars have, but those who are will doubtlessly find some colorful wall decorations here.

Oooooh... shiny!

And speaking of decoration, I caught the beauty below as I was walking past the booth for The International Fight League. You may wonder, as I did then, why such a thing would be appearing at what is mostly a comic convention. Well, riddle me this - what else does Gareb Shamus run besides Wizard Magazine?

No, she isn’t one of the fighters. I checked.

I wondered even more why, when I asked about said business, they told me about a fitness training camp they offered as well as their shows. I know I have the look of a hardened criminal but I’m much more at home with a sword or a longbow than my bare fists. Shame that ‘romantic highwayman’ is not a viable occupation these days.

What is a viable occupation is "peddler of Heroclix" – a role I briefly assumed this week after discovering Strikezone Online. If you have a bunch of old cards or game-pieces to clear out of your closet or are looking for that one special card, they are by far the best dealer that I have ever dealt with. Not only did I make an amount of money considerable enough to not worry about my sundry expenses at the convention – I made enough to pay rent!

This may, I believe, make me the first person in recorded history to ever walk out of a comic book convention with more money than he started with.

La pièce de Danger Dans la miniature

Now that I had money, I decided to set about sharing my wealth. I first decided to pick up a little something for my girlfriend. Christmas and her birthday are coming up swiftly, after all.

Oddly enough, my girlfriend does read my column so I can’t go into any great detail about exactly what I got her. But I will say this much. If you have a need for a graphic designer and illustrator capable of working miracles under unusual conditions, I can think of no one artist I could recommend more than Mr. David K. Wong.

Wong At Work

And while I was wandering about the Artist’s Alley, I was pleasantly surprised to find that there was someone I was a fan of, whose name I did not hear advertised in connection to the Con. Jennie Breeden – author and artist of The Devil’s Panties.

I’ll say briefly that the comic (which, her flyers point out, is not Satanic Porn) is one of the most witty, honest and damn funny things out on the Internet. I’ll go into more detail in an upcoming column once I clear my plate. Who knows? I might even be able to get Ms. Breeden to honor us with an interview.

Deceptively innocent-looking, isn’t she?

And with all this talk of porn, I should perhaps mention that the Suicide Girls did NOT grant me permission to take pictures of them for this article. Those who wish to see such pictures are advised to go to Google as I would like to maintain the illusion of being a wholesome family entertainer for a while longer and not directly link to a most adult website.

This is the best you’re going to get from me.

The lovely lady above is Katherine – an employee with Anime Pavilion - a most excellent Anime shop, though I think their place at the convention would be more accurately termed a pergola than a pavilion. I think pavilions have awnings. Perhaps they have one back home in Virginia? I’m not sure. But what I am sure of is that apart from myself, Katherine was one of the few people I saw who bothered dressing up in a festive manner for Wizard World.

Sadly, that is all of the pictures I got of Wizard World. I had the misfortune to have all my batteries die twice. And even the batteries the kindly gentleman with the deadlocks and his friend with the camera gave me wore out all too soon. So let me conclude with a list of people to whom I owe my thanks and offer a thumbs up for a most unconventional convention.

Horrorwood - Not to be confused with Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood but just as cool. This is a suspenseful tale of Cold War era terror in the Hollywood studio system. Not a book for the kiddies, in other words.

Ape Comics - publishers of Horrorwood and many other fine quality comics.

The Hero Foundry - a non-profit organization dedicated to inspiring the youth of today through tales of heroism and the donation of comic-books to schools and libraries. A worthy cause I would support, even if I weren’t a librarian and a comic-book reader myself.

Jester Press - Publishers of the excellent horror title Night.

Coastline Comics - They provided me with the perfect book with which to explain to a young artist "Who is Black Canary?"

Cenikor - a local DFW charity devoted towards helping drug addicts fight their addictions, their booth was perhaps the most unusual one I found at Wizard World. Still, anything to help a worthy cause.

Big World Comics - a wonderful local comics and figures store, even if they didn’t have the Jack Knight figure and statue I was looking for.

Krazy Comix - another large dealer in comics collectibles, who told me of how it was near impossible to find the Jack Knight figure and statue that I am looking for.

Comics and Hobby Connection - this home-business offered friendly service, a fine selection and to track down the Jack Knight figure and statue I’m looking for.

Caricatures Etc - run by local artist, fixture of the DFW Con-scene and triple-threat “Myk” Friedman, this is yet another wonderful place to get custom artwork that is inexpensive but never cheap.

koops comics - a dealer in classic old comics who made me a great deal on an old Conan book as well as one of the few people who recognized my Jack Knight costume, Koop is a scholar and a gentleman. He even let me have a large Target bag to carry off some of my goods when my backpack proved too small for the task!


SPECIAL THANKS TO:

Everyone mentioned above, obviously.

Ed Brubaker, with whom I talked about Hellblazer and a story that never was.

Steve Epting, who was quite nice about signing my program and not doing a skech.

All the staff and volunteers of Wizard World Texas 2006.

All the staff of the Arlington Texas Convention Center

All the people at the Wizard Trivia Contest, who gave my library two new Manga.

All the kids who wanted to look at my Heroclix. There is hope for us all, yet.


Tune in next week. Same Matt time. Same Matt website.

Looking To The Stars: A Very Hurried Wizard World Report!

Wizard World has come to Texas. And what with the convention being in my backyard, not a scant dozen blocks or so from my place of employment, I’m sure you’d expect good ol’ Unca Stars to have been on hand for the whole thing, right?

Well, not quite. What with the convention being in our backyard we were expecting a whole lot of traffic over the weekend so we were informed months ago that nobody was getting any time off that weekend that they wouldn’t normally get. Luckily, what with me usually getting Sundays off, that left me with one day to try and squeeze in the entire convention experience.

For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of going to a convention, here are a few quick survival tips.

1. Arrive early.

Often times, there are special events which require separate tickets than the ones you purchase to get in the door. In this case, there were a limited number of tickets for a special signing by Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes that were quickly snatched up within minute of opening the gates to the teeming masses. Not only can arriving early help ensure that you get to see everything you want to see that day, but you also get to meet interesting people as you wait.

2. Bring cash and a budget.

There’s going to be a lot of things you’re going to want to buy but only so much you can afford. My advice is to bring a set amount of cash that you are going to be set to spend for the whole trip. Not only does this allow you to better keep track of what you have left but it does help when you meet the dealers who don’t have credit card machines (yes, there actually are some left!) or have a fairly high minimum charge on dealing with credit transactions. In addition, there are some things you will have to pay up the nose for here… particularly food. Four dollars for a cheeseburger may be only slightly cheaper than the costs in leaving the Con and coming back if they do not allow in-and-out parking.

3. Plan ahead.

The schedule for the Con is usually available on their website or at the door. If you have certain people you want to meet, it’s always a good idea to plot out where they will be and plan to be there accordingly in order to avoid the longer lines.

The morning had a shakey start. Yours truly was dressed in his Starman costume; in this case, the Jack Knight Starman with the custom painted leather jacket, tin badge and a pair of googles that I found after spending countless hours of searching military surplus stores to find the right model. Well, the strap on the goggles broke as I was waiting in line to get in. Luckily, I was able to improvise a fix using the strings on my backpack to make a new tie.

I spent a little under two hours waiting before the gates opened, fully ready to make the dash to the Wizard booth where the Kevin Smith signing tickets were being handed out. Thankfully, it turned out to be a less of a frenzy than I feared and I got one of the few tickets easily. With that first stressful challenge out of the way, I had some time to explore the floor before going to my first planned signing.

Since I was there anyway, I decided to take the challenge at the Wizard Booth. They were having a contest where you picked a category, answered a question relating to that category and then spun a wheel to win a prize if you got it right. If you got it wrong, you had to undergo a physical challenge (just like Double Dare!) in order to get a prize.

I won a free Rising Stars “Unmasked Patriot” action figure after answering a trivia question about Spider-Man. (Name three members of the original Sinister Six… a piece of cake for a Spider-Fan such as myself.)

The next two hours were devoted to autograph hunting. In no particular order, I secured the signatures of…

• Kurt Busiek, whom signed my copy of JLA/Avengers #1 as I thanked him for bringing back Conan to comics.
• Mart Nodell, who I thanked for creating one of my favorite superheroes of all time (That’s the Green Lantern for those of you unfamiliar with the creators of the Golden Age) and bought a painted mousepad from.
• Aaron Williams, the writer and artist of the excellent PS238 and Nodwick comics, who signed my PS238 #1.
• Paul Dini, who signed my precious first edition of “Batman: Mad Love” and said precious little though one of the Top Cow marketing people next to him seemed very eager to talk to me once he found out I wrote for a review magazine. He gave me a preview of the new Wanted book by Mark Millar, JG Jones and Paul Mounts (which will be reviewed as soon as I have time to sit down and read all the freebie promo books I got this weekend.)
• Harris O’Malley, who gave me a copy of his book “Between The Cracks: The Bridge.” (Again, look for a review next week.)
• Cal Slayton, artist on “Shades of Blue” who autographed two books for me, signed a book for my friend Tanner (who got me reading Shades of Blue in the first place and couldn’t make the con because of work) and even did a quick sketch of Unca Stars in his Starman costume.
• Drew Edwards, creator and writer of Halloween-Man - the creepy, kooky, ooky on-line comic. (Again.. an in-depth review is forth-coming). Dave also gets points for being the first person to recognize my costume to my face.
• Local horror-show hostess and vintage pin-up model, Jami Deadly
• Spectactular Spider-Man Scribe, Paul Jenkins, who signed my #1 issue of that worthy comic as he ran his way up the line of people waiting for autographs at the Wizard Booth. It seems Mr. Jenkins flight got bumped up, so instead of having a leisurely two hours to sign autographs by his lonesome at the end of the Con, he was instead sharing an hour with Darick Robertson (artist on Wolverine) and the line was moving slower than a snail. The manic Mr. Jenkins began to move up the aisle, ask who was there to see him (a surprisingly small number, given that the Con’s free promo comic was one of his- an alternative cover to Wolverine: The End #1) and quickly polished off signatures for all his fans.

And then I went to The Event. The moment that a good deal many were there for and a moment that had a deep spiritual meaning for me; the Kevin Smith autograph session. I speak with no small sense of melodrama here, for I honestly do hold Kevin Smith as responsible for saving my life.

You see, once upon a time I toiled in a lousy job in a video store in a small town, taking abuse from small-minded, low-intellect locals who I knew I was smarter than. Still, I accepted this as something to be dealt with. And then I saw a little film called “Clerks” and I was inspired. I took to heart Randall’s words that you can’t let a job define your behavior or your life and that if you aren’t satisfied with your situation in life, you are under no obligation to tolerate things as they are.

Now, I have escaped from that small town. I am, for the most part, content with my life. I have good friends and a supportive family. I have a great job that could pay more but is not stressful and allows me time to continue my education. I don’t have a girlfriend but that owes more to my not having time to go looking around more than any inability to meet people. And Kevin Smith’s writing was no small part of that.

Sadly, I didn’t get a chance to tell him that. I was too busy trying to remember if there was one “n” or two in the middle of the name of my friend Shannon, whom I was getting a book signed for as she was unable to make the convention on Sunday. But I have a book autographed by Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes, a photo of myself with the Cheech and Chong of my generation and a good story to tell every other Kevin Smith fanboy I the area.

So Kevin… on the odd chance you wind up reading this, thank you for showing me the truth of that saying “Sometimes we are the architects of our own jails,” and helping me to escape mine.

After that, there was precious little to do but wander around and shop. And that is when I made perhaps my greatest celebrity meeting that day, in terms of the person who has had the greatest impact upon the Comics-Reading world. As I was searching fruitlessly for a variant Starman figure (the one with the different color pants and a goatee), I heard the announcer’s call…

“George Perez and Kurt Busiek are now signing autographs in Room 9!”

My eyes widened. Zuzu’s pedals, I had forgotten that George Perez was still here for the Con today! I rushed to the room to find a very small crowd… barely a line. I hoped that everyone had gotten their signatures earlier in the week or that I had somehow beaten the rush because seeing so small a crowd for one of the most influential modern artists in the genre… the man who co-created the Teen Titans and drew JLA and Avengers for years upon years… well, it was a disturbing thing to think of.

Mr. Perez is widely said to be among the kindest of creators you can meet at a Con. It is a reputation that I found to be very well deserved. He was very gracious to every person coming through the line, answering questions and always smiling. He made me feel like I was the only person in the room as I told him about how I reviewed comics and gave him one of my business cards. And it just about made my day when he said “Oh, 411Mania? Yeah, I’ve seen it a few times.”

All in all, it was a most enjoyable afternoon. And as I write this now, I speculate that this may well have been the best twenty-four hours of my life. And this is even ignoring the fact that I met Kevin Bloody Smith!

You see, in addition to my writing for this magazine I am also part of a small independent acting troupe in Fort Worth. The Saturday evening before I went to Wizard World, my fellow actors surprised me by throwing an impromptu party in my honor at what I had been told was an emergency cast meeting. Instead, I found many of my dearest friends waiting with cards and gifts… all for a man they said did a lot of hard work for the group for very little acclaim.

To all of you, I say thank you. I would not be able to carry on without the support of all of you, my friends. And that is worth even more to me than any number of autographed comics. I love you all. Viva Los Bastardos!

Tune in next week. Same Matt Time. Same Matt Website.