HeroesCon '08 - Day One

The trip down to Charlotte didn't seem to take that long at all. I think it helped that I crashed at Matt and Squeeze's the night before, so we could just get up and roll. Our first stop in Charlotte was, of course, Fuel Pizza. Wolfed down a couple slices and then headed back to the Squeeze-Mobile for unloading. Let me tell you a little secret, those art portfolios may look like they don't weigh much, but when they're full of sweet, sweet 'Ringo art they weigh a ton. We got the booth set up, said hello to our extended family of Todd and Craig, proceeded to hunt down some trade deals and snagged a couple copies of the 'Ringo Tribute book. I then hit the Quickdraw Contest and whipped up a quick Tom from TELLOS.


Of course, I didn't place in the contest, but I did get a free sheet of bristol out of it and art for a blog post. (Expect two more drawings.) After that the show pretty much shut down, we picked up Nick Cardy from the Hilton and headed over to Fuel for the Tribute Book art auction. Todd started us off with some humorous stories of Mike followed by Mark Waid and Mr. Cardy. I ordered some 'za and the auction started. After about 15-20 minutes security came and tried to shut us down. Matt's face went white when sirens started wailing around us, but the situation resolved itself as we weren't actually exchanging money on the property, which was their major bone of contention. The auction wrapped up a few pieces later and I escorted Mr. Cardy back to his hotel. Meeting and getting to know Mr. Cardy was one of the real pleasures of this year's HeroesCon. Funny, genuine and still drawing his rear off, Nick Cardy is always quick with a smile and a story. I'll elaborate more on him as I go through the other two days of the con. Though I will say this...it took us twice as long to walk the block and a half back to his hotel because every ten steps we were stopped by someone wanting to talk to Mr. Cardy. He'd oblige them for a few minutes before saying he was tired and needed to go to bed. Another ten steps and, "Hey, Mr. Cardy!" As the day drew to a close I curled up with some DOOM PATROL and a bottle of water. Halfway through I started kicking myself for not reading these books earlier. Good, crazy stuff and Richard Case can draw his arse off. Lights out until tomorrow.

DAY ONE LOOT:
DOOM PATROL: Musclebound
DOOM PATROL: Magic Bus
THE HOOD
PERHAPANAUTS - Pages 2 & 3 (1st Issue Image)
PUNISHER: Up Is Down and Black Is White
WHAT IF? A Tribute To Mike Wieringo
WONDER WOMAN: Who Is Wonder Woman?