Max Brooks and artist Shane Davis for Shadow Walk
Brooks is known for World War Z. Davis is recognized for his art in Superman/Batman and Superman: Earth One. The last time I went to the Autograph area was for Ian Whyte, who played as the Predator from AVP: Alien vs. Predator. I tend not to go to these things, because there isn't anyone that interests me or the cost of the autograph is not worth it. HOWEVER, the cost to have Brooks sign my World War Z book and both of them to sign their new series was ZERO! Can’t miss out on that now.
My Little Pony
I was not surprised that the artists of My Little Pony (MLP) comics were there, especially since there has been an increasing interest for the series. I have to say what made the acquisition for the autographs in the artist alley easy was because the artists were lined up next to each other in the same row. However, unbeknownst to me, Katie Cook would have a line of fans waiting for an artwork. So I waited on line, until someone at her table asked who’s here for an autograph. Obviously, I raised my hand and he took my comic to have Cook sign. All the other artists were also kind enough to take a picture with me and my signed comic.
Tony Fleeces
Amy Mebberson
Katie Cook and Andy Price
Sara Richard and Amy Mebberson
Transformers
When it comes to New York Comic Con (NYCC), one of the first things I do is look at the convention exclusive items. I believe this was how I came across Acid Free Gallery; probably saw a limited edition Transformer artwork on the NYCC website. When I found them in the Dealers Room, obviously I was excited. However, I was curious to know if their art was fan art. The man at the booth informed me that the artworks were officially licensed by Hasbro, Inc. and went on to explain the printing of the works (some had a metallic look to it).
Now, I am standing there trying to figure out what I want. They did not have Drift, who’s my favorite, so I kept looking at all the artwork. Should I get this or should I get that? I ended up aiming for the Decepticons and Autobots long vertical orientation poster. Question was: “since each one is $50 do I want 1 or should I get both?” The people at the booth knew I was pondering and COINCIDENTALLY enough, the artist JUST came by and was getting ready to LEAVE to catch a train. Someone stated to me who the artist was and said, “he’ll sign it for you.” Oh yeah, definitely a selling point. THEN came the kicker. The guy, who was explaining to me about the printing, said if I bought both, he’ll give me a discount. Ok, he won me over and I brought both. I got my artwork signed by the artist and a photo opportunity. It was nice of him to stay for a few more minutes. (^_^) I hope he made it to his train though...
Besides the people in the dealers room, there were Transformers people in the artist alley. Unfortunately, what made this hard was that everyone was all spread out! It became difficult to remember where everyone was: all the rows started looking the same after a few rounds of walking. Plus, I had no idea that there was going to be more than two Transformers artists. Heck! If it were not for their Transformers banners, I would have completely missed these guys! I wished they were all lined up in a row like the MLP artists.
Andrew Griffith
This man must really love his fans. I went to the artist alley at night and when I found his booth, he was actually packing to leave. He appeared to be in a rush, but he took the time to sign something for me and have his picture taken. I completely appreciated this. Let’s not forget to mention that while he was signing my comic, I told him who I was & that we had a twitter chat about him breaking my camera. He was joking by the way. See below for yourself.
@lynthatye @NickRoche just to be clear, that was self- deprecation and in no way a threat of violence or retaliation. ;)
— Andrew Griffith (@glovestudios) September 12, 2013https://twitter.com/lynthatye/status/378204324196667393 (WHOLE Tweet conversation)
Livio Ramondelli
Oh this guy! He’s a very nice man. Besides signing my graphic novel and having my picture taken with him, he seriously took his time talking to me throughout the weekend. I know there are some people out there who have difficulty mingling with others, especially at conventions, but he is such an easy person to talk to. When I asked him about his unique 3D-ish art style, he made the effort to give me a clear explanation. My conclusion, he’s just awesome at coloring his work.
Casey Coller
Because Nick Roche was unable to attend this year, Casey Coller took his place. Unfortunately, he was only there for one day. I was so sad, because I did not know he was going to be there! I did not have anything for him to sign!! HOWEVER, he was selling prints of his lineart. I bought a cover lineart of Arcee (Robots in Disguise #18) and got him to sign it.
Daniel Khanna
I’d never even heard of him until that day. I went up to the guy and started having a small conversation about his career. Turns out he’s been working on Transformers for a while and is known for his work on Transformers UK and for the Transformers Collectors Club. I was browsing through his prints, but it took me a couple of days to figure out WHAT to get from this guy. I ended up buying a print with female Transformers on it. Apparently, one of them is suppose to be Otimus Prime’s girlfriend (O_O)
Brian Shearer
I was walking by and spotted Swerve on his table. Swerve is another character that I like from Transformers More Than Meets The Eye series. He is a bartender with a cheerful and youthful personality. I approached Brian and asked about his Transformers work. He explained to me that he’s an inker for some of the Transformer issues. I was intrigued, because most of the people at the Artist Alley tends to be the person who does the line art or pencil work for a series. It was nice to meet someone who had other artistic contribution to the series.
DC
Cliff Chang
I met this guy eons ago when I invited him to come and speak at my college during Asian Heritage Month. I started reading the DC's New 52 Wonder Woman because I heard that they changed her origins. I am enjoying the series and Chang’s art is very befitting to the dynamics of the story. Love his art style!
Trevor McCarthy
He was so easy to spot! He had a bunch of Batwoman art at his booth that you seriously couldn’t miss it. I wanted him to sign my Batwoman #18, because the art is perfectly symmetric. There’s something about this cover that kept haunting me and I asked him about the cover design. Lo and behold, with 30 years of experience, he is VERY clever. He explained to me that what I am seeing is Bones (the skull) embedded into the artwork created by the fire bird and Batwoman. The light bulbs in my head started going off. It was one of those “Holy crap! Why did I not see it?” moments. Awesome optical illusion!
Chris Burnham
Well this was a funny moment. When I went to the booth, there was a sign that indicted he was not there for a certain amount of time. However, there was a man sitting behind the table. Since I had no idea how the artist looked like, just to be sure, I asked, “Are you Chris Burnham?” He smiled and pointed at his banner behind him. Then I pointed to the sign that indicated that he was not here. That’s when he realized… “Oops.” We had a chuckle and he kindly signed my comics.
Marvel
Ryan Stegman
I did not realize this guy was so popular. There was a line for him and I think there were at least 10 people in front of me. It was not too long of a wait, so I was able to get my Superior Spider-Man comic signed by him.
Greg Pak
You know, when I saw his name on the Artist Alley list, I was like, “why does his name look familiar?” I did some online research and learned that he was the writer for Phoenix End Song. I remember buying that graphic novel, but the question was, where did I put it? I had to dig through a closet to find the book and once I found it, I was ready to get his autograph. Now the only person left that I want an autograph from is the artist.
© 2014 Linda Thai
Photography by Linda Thai
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