Rose City Comic Con 2017 - My Experiences

Rose City Comic Con has come and gone for this year, and again it was a wonderful event! I have been to every RCCC since the beginning, and 2017 was by far my favorite year so far!



Before I go any further, let me apologize for the delay in the publication of this review. Days after Rose City, my laptop crashed and I was unable to retrieve any of the photos that I took and didn't have a fully functional computer until now. I am thankful that I shared at least some of the photo's on my Facebook page. When/if I can retrieve the photo's from my hard drive, I will add them as an addendum.



The great part about 2017 was that they expanded it to a 3-day event. This was a common thought among the people I spoke with last year. from what I experienced, I think that it was a wise choice to make.



Another change that was made was that RCCC moved the badge pick-up are upstairs and used the area where they used to have the pick-up open for the celeb area and where they displayed 3 different transformer vehicles.















This was a nice use of space, IMHO.

My personal priority for day 1 was to get in line for "Weird Al" Yankovic, as I have been a fan since I was a kid. My first LP (vinyl record) was "Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D; and I still have it and my copy of Dare to Be Stupid over at my parents house.



The only issue is that they decided to queue people right in front of the celeb area, and did not open the lines for these guests until all the people who were queued to enter were allowed to enter. Not sure that was a great decision to make, but I'm not going to complain too much. I was still able to get a good place in line for the signing.



Let's now go back to last year when "Weird Al" came to McMenamins Edgefield, I had decided to commission artist Robert "Floydman" Sumner for a Star Wars comic book cover with "Weird Al" on it. When "Weird Al" was announced as a guest for RCCC, I knew that I wanted to have him sign said cover.



When I finally made it to the man himself and presented the Star Wars Annual cover to sign, he marveled at it for quite a while, believing that it was commercial work and that he had seen it before. I made sure he knew that it was a custom piece, and he was taken aback by the artwork and asked if he could take a photo of it. I couldn't tell him no. I was also able to get proof positive that I actually and finally was able to meet my all-time music idol.

Once I was able to get that off my to do list, I started to get a better look around. I was able to check-in with artists Gene Guilmette, Ben Hansen and Ron Randall; who have all contributed to my non-profit, Comic Book Covers 4 Cancer. With the expanded show floor, there was so much to take in.



As opposed to years past, I didn't overload myself with items to have signed. I know that in prior years I have felt that I spent so much time trying to get items signed that I missed getting to panels or get to meet new people at the event. Point of fact, when I took some time to grab a seat and rest my feet, I actually took in a panel about solving a Rubix Cube.

It's unfortunate that I don't have more of my day 1 photos. I was actually happy with myself for taking so many this year.



Day 2 started early enough that so many artists and vendors weren't even at their tables. It was the only time I found the Hero Initiative booth, and nobody was available for me to buy some of their books. But I was able to hit the I Like Comics booth and take advantage of their $4 trades.



Early on, I also got to drop by Mike Zeck's booth. His wife was bringing people in while Mike worked on some art. She informed me of the special/limited G.I. Joe cover that was available. When I saw it, I knew I needed it for my collection.

She also mentioned that there was a deal if I bought the G.I. Joe comic, then the prints would be half of the posted cost. There was a set of Spider-Man covers from the "Kraven's Last Hunt" storyline that were grouped together for a special price. I asked if there was a special deal if I bought the comic and the Spider-Man prints. She began to tell me that there wasn't, but then Mike "corrected" her. I told them that they had a deal. It was at that point that Zeck realized his error, but was a man of his word and sold the prints and comic to me for the agreed upon price. So now, I also have these wonderful additions to my print collection.















Special thanks go to artists Andy and Veronica Fish, Katie Cook, Jim Mahfood and Jason Metcalf for allowing me to pick-up their donated covers from them with our CBCS Comics witness.



















Due to timing issues, Chip Zdarsky and Valentine De Landro dropped their covers off at the CBCS booth. Looking forward to seeing how they all turn out once graded.












As for the Batgirl issues that were going to be signed, Since Brenden Fletcher was a no-show, our CBCS witness informed me that artist Cameron Stewart was attending as well, so we got his and Babs Tarr's signatures on them. They are also in the hands of CBCS for grading.

Unfortunately I was unable to touch base with every contributing artist who was attending, and I am sorry to those I didn't get a chance to stop by and say "Thank you" to.

The goal for next year is to receive a table for the event so we can continue to promote the cause. That means that there will be calls for fundraising to help get us there, so keep your eyes peeled in 2018 for those announcements.

As mentioned previously, the next series of auctions will be determined once the covers donated at RCCC return from CBCS. I'm thinking around the beginning of December. You can always keep updated on our Facebook page.



As for the additions to my signature collection, I stopped to visit Skottie Young:

Erik Larsen:

 

Jim Mahfood:

Ron Randall:

Chris Roberson, Mike and Laura Allred:

Chris Roberson and Georges Jeanty:

Serenity: Firefly Class 03-K64 - No Power in the 'Verse

Serenity: Firefly Class 03-K64 - Leaves on the Wind

When I went to the last ever Stumptown Comic Fest, I picked-up the volume 1 & 2 of Witch Doctor from Brandon Seifert. That was back in 2013. Since then, I have tried to keep my eyes opened for when Lukas Ketner was going to be making an appearance in a local con. 2017 was my year to finally get his autograph on my trades.

And even though I am a huge Funko Pop collector, I only picked-up a single new addition to my collection from Matt's Cavalcade of Comics.

Dates for next years event have already been announced: September 7-8, 2018. I'm planning on being there, one way or another. If I am unable to get a table for #CBC4C, then I hope that I will again be allowed to officially cover the event as a member of the media.

RCCC Announcement: Killing is one thing... curing is another in the forthcoming BITTER ROOT

KILLING IS ONE THING… CURING IS ANOTHER IN THE FORTHCOMING BITTER ROOT

PORTLAND, OR, 09/08/2017 — Image Comics is pleased to announce at this
year’s Rose City Comic Con an all-new ongoing series from David Walker,
Chuck Brown, and Sanford Greene that will launch in 2018 titled, BITTER
ROOT.



BITTER ROOT is set in 1920s with the Harlem Renaissance in full swing.
The new series will follow the Sangerye Family—New York (and the
world’s) only hope for salvation from supernatural forces threatening
doom and destruction. Once the greatest family of monster hunters in the
world, the Sangeryes must move beyond the tragedies of the past, or be
forced to sit back and watch an unimaginable evil ravage the human race.



“Bitter Root is going to be unlike any comic book people have
seen,” said Walker. “We're mixing action and horror, with a cast of
characters unique to the medium to tell an epic tale of the Sangerye
family and the sacrifices they are willing to make for humanity. I'm
excited for this series for several reasons. It gives me the chance to
work with Sanford again, Chuck, who is a great co-writer, and Image,
which publishes some absolutely amazing comics."



Brown added: "Bitter Root is a dream project. Walker, Greene,
and I share the same tastes while bringing our own unique talents and
perspectives to the book. Bitter Root takes a classic horror
genre and remolds it into something new and eye opening. I haven’t had
this much fun creating comics in awhile."



BITTER ROOT #1 from Image Comics will hit stores in 2018. 

 

Realizations and Lamentations

Today, while eating lunch, I noticed my right hand shaking while I held my spoon. This got me back to thinking about how at one time in my life, I wanted to inking comic book art.



For several years I would find various penciled pieces to download to print for later to work on. I actively reached-out to Image and Marvel for copies of penciled work I could ink and add to my portfolio in hopes of one day actually being able to make some kind of living out of it.



For years I kept searching for a drafting table that could help facilitate my desires. It wasn't until after my divorce that I finally found the table that I had been wanting. I remember seeing it at Michael's when my then fiance and I were shopping for items for our wedding. I remember thinking that it would be great to get it when I had the spare money and a coupon to boot.



Sadly, it was several years after that chance encounter that I just happen to have the money, coupon and it was available at Michael's again. So I took that as a sign and made my purchase.



I brought it home and assembled it. I made space for it, and even acquired a new chair to use at it. I was in heaven at the thought that I could one day get back into the activity that used to help center me when my mind stirred.



I found my pens and the pieces that I had been collecting to practice on. I even printed several of those pieces on card stock similar to Blue Line pages. I was ready to get back to inking. I had the next piece I was eager to work on.



Then the day came when I had time to myself and I could focus on doing some work on the piece. I picked-up my pen. I positioned my magnifying light. I began my first strokes to the art...



And I couldn't draw a straight line to save my life.



It's not like my hands were violently shaking, rather just shaking enough to not be able to hold the pen steady. And this is what I saw today while holding my plastic spoon.



The simple act of feeding myself today brought back the flood of emotions I have gone through. I know that I won't be able to go back to inking again. I now use my drafting table as my computer desk. My micron pens have been sitting in storage for years. They're probably all dried-up and should be thrown away. I still have the penciled images... some even hi-res scans from professional artists... sitting on my computers hard drive. Several of them have also been printed and are in a storage tote somewhere.



I'm glad to have had something that brought a little bit of joy to my life, but I wish it would not have left me.



I felt the need to make sure I wrote this today. I needed to get it off my chest.