The boob grab on the cover really let people know what they were in for. It hooked some into reading the comic, while completely turning off others. That let me know that we'd nailed the intent, as it lets you know from the get go what sort of comic book Temple is. The other page that had the same effect, only exponentially greater, was the splash page - which I'm saving for a later post, sorry.
What I loved about the Comic Con experience, besides, obviously, all the intersting outfits, was getting that immediate reaction from someone in the industry. It was a chance to get feedback from someone I wasn't married to, the child of or the co-dependent of. I had the opportunity to go to a couple of portfolio reviews. The Dark Horse review was fantastic. Not in the, "OH MY GOD YOUR ARTWORK IS LIKE THE VOICE OF GOD WE WANT TO PUBLISH YOUR EVERY DOODLE" kind of way, but in a truly constructive criticism way. I picked up a bunch of helpful information in that quick meeting that will make my artwork much stronger from this point on. We also got some nice reactions and feedback from people we handed the comic to in the Exhibit Hall. The folks at the AIT/Planet Lar booth passed the comic amongst themselves with obvious smiles, which was amazing and incredibly encouraging to witness.
My favourite moment in the hall, though, came when Jake and I were plotting our next move and I looked over and realized I was standing next to Joe R Lansdale. Lansdale has written some of my favourite books and comics (his Jonah Hex stories with Tim Truman were mind-blowing). I introduced myself and handed him a copy of the Temple sample. He dug into it and seemed genuinely impressed, noting specifically the colours. I was already tripping out on a nerd high when he asked me to sign the comic for him. I don't know, or really care, if he was just being polite, but giving an autograph to someone you admire is just freaky cool. I got him to sign a copy of his new book, Dread Island, which I promptly forgot on the table in my star-struck stupor.
Speaking of being star-struck, I'll mention the other incredible creators I managed to meet while down there. The first was Eric Powell, creator of The Goon. When I first showed The Goon to my buddy Jake, he said his art looked like it was meant just for me. His style synthesizes so many of the things I love about comics, with a strong connection to the art from early MAD comics, especially Wally Wood. We talked Roller Derby briefly before he signed a copy of The Goon Vol 1. Next was the Godfather of Comics, Stan 'The Man' Lee.
This moment was just incredible. Stan Lee, holding a comic I drew. If you don't know how cool that is, there's no way for me to explain it. The final star I met was film director and comic writer Kevin Smith.
This is easily the coolest picture I have of someone reading Temple. Jake and I managed to get onto the guest list for an Etnies Shoes party promoting a line of shoes based on his films. The party included a live Smodcast, the podcast Smith does with his pal and producer, Scott Mosier (who I also got to meet very briefly).
Alright, I'm beat. Time for bed. There may be more Comic Con posts, if my brain files all the information soon.
