Looking one weekend back: the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo

The 2009 Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo was the best experience I've had as a guest thus far. I spent the weekend stationed at Another Dimension's booth. Also in attendance there were Riley Rossmo & Dave Casey of Proof and Fiona Staples of Wildstorm briefly joined us on the first day.

The advantages to signing at Another Dimension were many. For one, it placed me nearer to the crowds as they pressed their way through, often stopping for something from Another Dimension's wares and discovering me by chance. Second, it provided me with a crowd of people (there were about ten of us at Another Dimension at most) to converse and pass the time with during the slower moments. Third, Another Dimension provided me with food and that's the way to a man's heart.

I, in turn, was good to them. They provided some shelves of Marvel books I had written and did my best to sell them to passerbys. Although I had a stock of my own books to sell, I often helped people find items which I knew Another Dimension had in stock which really pleased them.

A few of my friends came by; a few mutual friends appeared as well. The most memorable person to visit my table was a boy who identified so strongly with Iron Man that he would claim to be Iron Man. He did share his real name with me, but I was sworn to secrecy.

In all I signed 29 copies of my books. I also signed 2 copies of the convention sketchbook even though I had nothing to do with it.

After completing one sketch of Proof Riley asked me, "How's your lettering?" I replied, "I've never lettered." He returned with, "How's your printing?" I admitted that I could print and he had me provide a speech balloon for the sketch.

I made a little time to see a few guests whose work really mattered to me; I collected autographs from Bryan Lee O'Malley, Michael Golden and Sergio Aragones. I didn't intend to spend much time or money on product at the show, but the crowd at Another Dimension - particularly Riley - spurred me on as we started informal competitions to see who could find the most interesting/rare comics at the lowest prices. At one point, I unearthed a copy of DC Special#5, an all-Joe Kubert book. When Riley saw it he reached out and grabbed it, creating a brief tug-of-war! It was like something from a sitcom, but Riley relented in my favour (I later gave it to him as a gift). I also bought a page of Riley's Proof art when I saw it had the Ink Monkey; Ink Monkey is my favorite Proof character. I also received a Robocop on a Unicorn sketch from Dave.

After each day's work I joined the Another Dimension crowd for dinner/drinks, a relaxing way to close each evening.