Granite State Comic-Con

Next week at this time, I will be heading up the highway to Manchester New Hampshire for the Granite State Comicon, one of my favorite local conventions, and one (like the Boston Comic-Con) that seems to be growing each year. Here is the link: http://www.granitecon.com/

This used to be the con I would head to so I could buy tons of comics. The mission was always to thumb through dealers boxes and buy and buy and buy.

But each year more and more artists are coming and this turns into another convention where I am trying to line up commissions! And there are a couple of great ones coming ... so we'll see if I get lucky.

Aaron Kuder is going to be there. Kuder will be taking over Action Comics as artist soon, joining writer Greg Pak. But I have liked his art style on Legion Lost, Lobdell's Superman and Green Lantern New Guardians.

After seeing his rendition of Wonder Woman, Dawnstar, and Yera, I think his Supergirl would be great.

A Kuder commission is my number one goal for this con.

Jeremy Haun will also be attending. Haun is best known for his work on The Darkness but he also was recently named as the artist on Batwoman once JH Williams time is done.

So Haun is also someone I will be hoping to grab a commission from as well.

And Art Baltazar, of Tiny Titans and Superman Family Adventures will also be there. I loved both of those books, especially the love that they showed Supergirl. I met Franco Aureliani at the Boston show a couple of years ago.

I would love to get a Baltazar commission. The dream would be a page that had both the Tiny Titans and the Superman Family Adventures version on the same page.

So those are my top three commission hopes.

But in case some of those don't happen, there are plenty of other creators who grab my attention.

JK Woodward, who was the artist on most of the IDW Fallen Angel series, and did the series in paint (!) will be there.

I consider Lee as some sort of Elseworlds Supergirl so I will at least have some issues for him to sign.

Renae DeLiz will also be there. DeLiz is the guiding creative force behind the Womanthology projects and is currently doing a Kickstarter Peter Pan book. A while back she posted pictures of an Amethyst reboot she wanted to do. Now that is a book I would buy!

I don't know if DeLiz does convention commissions but it can't hurt to ask.

And Ethan Van Sciver will also be there. I already have a couple of Van Sciver commissions, so I doubt I will get another, but he would be a premier artist for someone else to pick up!

The list goes on - Rebekah Isaacs, Joe Eisma, Mark Texeira, Dan Parent ... etc. And I haven't even mentioned the My Little Pony group - Katie Cook, Andy Price, and Amy Mebberson.

Anyways, this will be a busy con for me and that is a good thing.

Anyone else going?

Boston Comic-Con Is One Week Away

The re-scheduled Boston Comic-Con is happening a week from today and I am so psyched to be able to go. The 'new' show feels even bigger than the one original planned for early April that was derailed by terrorism. Here is the link to the show: http://www.bostoncomiccon.com/

As always, I am interesting in grabbing commissions, meeting and chatting with creators, grabbing some autographs, and attending some panels.

Here are the commission plans:

I have lined up a commission with Aaron Lopresti, an artist whose work I have always loved, especially his run on Wonder Woman with Gail Simone. This was a huge win for me as Lopresti is someone I always hoped to meet and grab a sketch from.

I also lined up a commission with Joe Eisma whose work on Morning Glories has been spectacular. Can't
 wait to see his take on Supergirl.

With those two commissions lined up, it is sort of a crap-shoot as to who I will run into in time to get on their commission list. In the best of all possible worlds I would be able to get any 2 of the above 5 artists who will be attending: Mark Bagley, Phil Jimenez, George Perez, Amy Reeder, and J.K. Woodward. And there are so many others there who I would love to get. As with many things, time and money will be the constraints.

I will be running into Bagley and Woodward at other cons, so I may be able to hold off on them. I figure I will plop myself into George Perez's line first thing on Day Two in hopes of being near the beginning of his line of Sunday.

But outside of commission hopes, there is a lot for me do here. I would love to chat with Scott Snyder about Superman Unchained. I suspect his line will be out the back door. I would loooovvvee to talk to Dan Didio about Supergirl and the DCU in general. I would love to talk to Tony Daniel about his brief run on Action Comics. And one of my favorite creators of all time, Howard Chaykin, is coming back to Boston. On top of that there are some great panels planned and an original art auction too!

I have a bit more tech on my side this year so I may try to do more 'live' posting. We'll see if that is possible.

Hope to see some of you all there!