Heroes Con 2013 came and went over the weekend and I'm still in full recovery mode. It's always such a blast and continues to be my favorite convention to attend every year. I did some great interviews and moderated some awesome panels for my podcast COMIC NEWS INSIDER. Thanks to everyone at Heroes for making it so awesome including Shelton, Rico, Andy, Karla, Doug and SOOOOO many more. Mad love to my CNI booth helpers/photographers Faren and Faith Kilpatrick-Cauble (Fotos by Faren), Tulpa Black, Melissa Bleier and Ted Carruba. I know you love the rundown, so here goes!
- Friday: After working almost 12 hours the night before and sleeping only 2 hours, I was off to Charlotte. Uh-oh, not a great start. Stuck on the runway for over an hour due to limited gates being open. Or something. As always, buddy Doug Merkle was awaiting with the shuttle and took my new friend Vivek Tiwary (whom I had just met a couple of weeks before) and I off to the hotel. Vivek is the writer of the upcoming graphic novel called The Fifth Beatle and has had an amazing career in music and theater. We had a great chat about a lot of it in the shuttle. Alas, no early check-in so I ran over to the convention (after changing...gotta look presentable!) to set up. First thing to notice, the convention has doubled in size so it immediately had a different feel to it. Not a bad thing at all. Rows were much wider with more maneuverability. And more people not just attending, but displaying. The podcasters had our own little row in the 2000s. Nice to have fellow new media around. And big ups and thanks to Brian "Pants" Christman of Comic Geek Speak for holding it down until I arrived. While I do some interviews at the table and like to meet people there, I'm often away doing interviews and panels. Nice to have a home base and thanks to Heroes for providing it. Friday is the day to get my bearings and greet everyone I know (so many friends!) and meet others. I did end up interviewing Vivek later and it was very fascinating. You'll be able to hear that on the podcast, of course! Seemed a bit sparse in attendance but that's normal for the Friday. Oh, forgot to mention my crew! Good pal Melissa had just moved to Charlotte weeks before and agreed to help out with the booth. She often does some interviews for me at San Diego Comic Con. And new CNI photographer Tulpa Black, from my hometown of Jacksonville, Florida, drove up and did lots of picture taking for me all weekend. Dinner at the famous soul food spot, Mert's and then back to the Westin lots of drinking/hanging. Did I mention the downpour? Best not to.
- Saturday: Got about 4-6 hours of sleep so not too bad. Crowds were definitely bigger on this day and having the extra space really helped. No clusterfuckery in the aisles. I ran about and started doing some interviews and just chatting with other people. Especially new folks just to hear about their work. Also, good pal and my current podcast wife Erica Schultz (M3) showed up late Friday as she was on a panel or 2 on Saturday. She also did a signing at the CNI table for a couple of hours. My first panel to moderate was later in the afternoon. It starred, and I do mean starred, Amanda Connor and Jimmy Palmiotti with special guest Frank Tieri. It was just supposed to be Amanda and Jimmy but they wanted Frank to come up since they were old pals and are working on a project. I know the 3 of them and got mad love. It was a fun discussion of their work and it really just flowed like a conversation between us and the audience. Quite entertaining! You'll be able to hear it on the podcast in the near future. More running around to chat with folks and then a surprise visit! Well, not so surprising. My old best high school/college pal Ted drove up from Jacksonville and arrived right at the end of the show. We drove off to the liquor store for some booze and invited fellow Jacksonville peeps Rachel Pandich and Ashley Lanni Hoye of Aspire comic fame along with Rachel's hubby Tom and their friend to join in on the bourbony goodness. I think I frightened them with my tales of my Jacksonville debauchery in my youth. Finally dinner time so I got the oyster crew of Becky Cloonan and Ming Doyle to join Ted and I. Their pal Neil Bramlette also joined us. I love those gals Becky and Ming. The 3 of us have become fast friends over the past couple of years and I cherish these talented and smart ladies! Post-dinner, as per usual, back to the Westin for more drinks! The art auction is this night and I caught a bit of it before dinner. Not sure of whom had the record piece sold but I'm betting it's out there. Good times with good pals!
- Sunday: Slow start to the day for all of us. And I got about 4 hours of sleep again.The show starts later at 11am...smartest move they could do as they know people are out the night before. I had a panel first thing in the morning at 11:30 about covers called Good Girl Art with Amanda Connor, Jenny Frison and Phil Noto. Unfortunately, Adam Hughes and Frank Cho had to bow out but the 4 of us had a blast chatting about their work, covers, interiors and more. I said it at NYCC when I met her, and I repeat it here...that Jenny Frison is one of the funniest people on the planet. You can hear the panel some time in the near future on the podcast. Full discloure, this was a funky day for me. I had been exhausted all weekend and I guess it really hit me on Sunday. I went around and did some interviews and promised interviews to others later. However, when it was time for my last panel about Indy to Mainstream comics with Becky Cloonan, Kelly Sue DeConnick and Robbi Rodriguez, it hit me like a ton of bricks. (No food didn't help either). I suddenly got lightheaded and felt like I could pass out. I held on but I wasn't at my best. Apologies to the panelists (whom I've reached out to and they say it wasn't noticeable) and attendees. I am a much better moderator than that! Post-panel, I did another interview and then realized I better go lie down to try to shake the tiredness. MASSIVE apologies to those I said I'd interview or would possibly come back and talk to. Quite a few and I'm just as gutted. If I missed you and you're at another con I'm at, we'll definitely sit down. I'll be at SDCC and NYCC for sure. Still, even with that minor clusterfuck, the day went well and everyone seemed happy. After my 2 hour lie down to feel better, I got up to have dinner with a large crew of people in the hotel restaurant. It was my roomie Templesmith, Cloonan, Francavilla, Belanger and many others. Oh, again...forgetting the CNI crew. Official CNI photographers Faren and her daughter Faith showed up Sunday and took some great pictures (which you'll see some below). Always great to have them around. Faith is a budding little artist as well and I appreciate my cartoonist friends taking time to chat with her about her work. After dinner, it was off to the official Dead Dog party at the Heroes comic store. Great stuff and a great way to wind down. Back to the hotel bar for some chill drinks and finally bed.
I know I'm forgetting names of people I saw and hung with so I wont even attempt. Just know I still love you, kids! Again, many thanks to the CNI crew Ted, Tulpa, Faren, Faith and Melissa. And massive thanks to Shelton, Rico, Andy and others for always being so good to us. Even though I got a bit ill on the last day, I still got some great interviews over the weekend as well as moderated some awesome panels. All of which you'll hear on the podcast soon! Plan on attending Heroes Con next year now! Best true comic book convention around!
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