Elayne's Chicago/San Diego Con Report [LONG!!!]
Elayne Wechsler-Chaput
Elayne's Belated Con Report
Chicago and San Diego, 1997
DISCLAIMERS: I haven't taken copious convention notes now for a couple of
years, so this combined report will be somewhat rambling and lacking in
detail. Anyone whose names I ve inadvertently omitted should not take
offense; not for nothing am I referred to as Sieve-Brain. My Soulmate
Productions partner, Robin Riggs, who accompanied me to both these
conventions, will be kibbitzing here and there, but he's mostly over in
the corner inking GREEN ARROW #127 as I type (on Soulmate's first computer
acquisition, his old Mac PowerBook 150 which he's leaving with me when he
returns to Merrie Olde-- quite a treat to finally type in an air-
conditioned room, and now all I have to do is find an old external 14.4 or
28.8 Mac-compatible modem with its own power supply and I can even go
online from here...but I sense that I digress...), and will occasionally
add his observations
<< in set-off type with narrower margins, like this, >>
so I'm mostly flying solo here.
Chicago Comicon - July 4-6
Speaking of flying, American Airlines doesn't seem to have been a terribly
lucky choice for many fellow con-goers this year. We flew to Chicago and
back on an AA flight with Leah Adezio (creator of ARI OF LEMURIA, which
she's graciously allowed me to co-write), who had no problems as far as I
could tell (aside from the fact that we couldn't secure an exit row so
there was little room to stretch during the hour-and-a-half flight from
Newark), but this was apparently the journey wherein it was our turn to
fall prey to the odds. Since Robin's been staying at Chez Chaput we
figured we'd use one suitcase for both our stuff, and the monstrosity I'd
bought for Heroes Con would do the trick. Into it went our proposals,
Robin's portfolio, various edibles for the evening's party, and all our
clothes and sundries. Of course, the luggage didn't make it on the same
flight we did; that'll teach us to check in two hours early on a holiday
weekend! Naturally, I took the only reasonable course of action-- I
panicked. Instead of enjoying myself at the ARI-themed party Leah and I
were giving at the Hyatt (and for all of you who haven t yet heard, yes,
she found the book a new home with Sundragon Comics and issue #1, which
Leah will pencil as well as ink, should be out by Motor City Con 98), I
got so sick to my stomach I couldn't even look at the "sea foam punch"
Todd Allen offered me or the sushi Mike Chary was preparing fresh at the
table, and opted to leave my own party (with many apologies to Mike, who
did a great job with the food!). For her part, Leah spent much time in
the "smoking section" down the hall, so the affair went on sans hostess
for a bit, but I hear attendees had a lovely time, and would enjoy hearing
more details about the "flying fish" if anyone would care to provide them.
During the short time I was at the Hyatt room, I got to say hi to
party-goers Kate and Aardy, John Adams, Todd Allen, Jeremy Billones, Jim
Cubby, Rob Davis, James Dracoules, Erik Hancock, Greg Legowski, Steve
Lieber, Tom McCraw, Bala Menon, Dan Mishkin, Jeff Moy, Brian and Ellen
Saner-Lamken, John Sardegna, Jackie Schnoop, Paul Storrie, Patrick and
John Stout, Denise Sudell, David Tallan and Tara Jenkins, Sidne Ward,
David Warner and Rich White (again, sorries to anyone I missed, either
that night or here in my report). Tom, Jeff and I joked about what I felt
was Wizard's most amusing mistake-- they'd given me a spot in Artist
Alley! Jeff wasn't even listed for a space, so I suspect I actually got
his in error, since my name was listed right after Tom's and Ron Boyd's.
I briefly toyed with the idea of setting up to do script reviews-- after
all, everyone reviews portfolios, but few pros seem to have enough time on
their hands at cons to give scripts a thorough read, and I'd actually done
this at previous cons. But I didn't know what the outcome of the luggage
situation would be (as it turned out, it arrived at about 8:00 the next
morning, having sat at O'Hare since the previous evening but not entered
into AA's crack worldwide tracing system until-- coincidentally-- two
minutes after I called at 6:30am and bitched), so my mind was on other
things at the time.
Besides, this was my first chance, aside from a couple brief visits to
pick up work at DC, to introduce Robin to many of the people who only knew
him by name, my favorite moment on the con's first day being our meeting
up with Mike Wieringo and Richard Pace.
<< This was my first experience of a U.S. Convention, and it
was quite alarmingly different from my experiences with
UKCAC. Richard reminded me that we had actually worked on
a book together and that he had asked for me to ink other
work too, which is very flattering. He showed me some very
nice pencils he's just done for an upcoming STARMAN. >>
Neither of us had physically recovered enough from the luggage snafu to
fully enjoy ourselves, so we decided to take it a bit slower than
originally planned. On Friday we took in the Friends of Lulu-sponsored
"Business of Comics" panel, featuring moderator Cheryl Harris and
panelists Jan Utstein, Johanna Draper, Vijaya Iyer, Francisca Pulido,
Jackie Estrada, Brenda Feikema (ARI's letterer, BTW) and Anina Bennett.
The talk turned, much to Cheryl's apparent consternation, more to Lulu
activities than to the topic of the business end of the industry, and I
was a little disappointed at the way some of the panelists came out
sounding anti-superhero. This attitude was echoed a bit in Frank Miller's
Eisner keynote speech a couple weeks later in San Diego (more on which
anon), and seemed terribly counterproductive to me, as I believe comic
book subject matter should be all-inclusive, not an either/or situation.
Superheroic fiction, whatever its limitations, is currently the industry's
bread and butter, and it's suicide to seek to abandon that core genre
while the medium's still expanding, certainly not while other genres have
yet to prove themselves in the marketplace (for whatever reasons,
including potential female readers not knowing of their existence).
Of the major companies, DC seems to be in the best position to take
advantage of this two-pronged strategy, but despite the presence of
Vertigo editor Axel Alonso on their Friday panel (which also included Bob
Wayne, Bob Greenberger, Dan Raspler, Kevin Dooley and Mark Waid) and a few
nods to their non-superhero imprints during their slide show, the
mainstream DCU took center stage. Paul Levitz announced promotions to
Group Editor for Dan Raspler and GE/Art Director for Mark Chiarello, as
well as reviewing 1996's successes (and again, it's hard to convince a
company to keep branching out if their "experimental" imprints aren't
selling well). The costume/powers shift for Superman was greeted quite
negatively, even when Bob W tried to liken it to the Silver Age Supes
stories where he'd have a red ant's head. The difference? Merely
"pacing"-- the old weird-things-happening stories ended in one issue, and
never took the time to explore those changes effects on Supes' loved ones,
etc. Some of us ventured there might have been a REASON for that, as well
as for how much better single-issue stories sold in comparison to today's
serialized, non-stand-alone arcs. Still, even among the usual
expectations certain things sounded interesting, like an upcoming series
called CHASE, about a woman who works for the Department of Extranormal
Operations. Newcomer Dan Johnson writes, with art by J.H. Williams and
Mick Gray. This made my pull list immediately, and I only hope DC doesn't
decide this book satisfies some sort of quota, and shuns other female
leads as a result. I'll also say here and now, especially after a
discussion in San Diego with John Ostrander, that some of the Tangent
books sound quite interesting (naturally, I'd urge most everyone to pick
up John's NIGHTWING entry).
Considering Wizard's target readership, I suppose the awards weren't too
surprising, as the usual young-fan-fave suspects were rounded up (Jim Lee,
Todd McFarlane, Bob Harras, Scott Lobdell). Nice to see Laura Allred get
Favorite Colorist, and nicer that her award was announced by Amanda
Conner, but that constituted the only gal-pal moment of the otherwise
sexist and slightly uncomfortable evening (I left after about 20 minutes,
so I don't know if the rather juvenile joking stopped; I'm sure the Wizard
Babes stayed on stage the whole time). A couple cute moments in any case,
including Amanda and co-host Jimmy Palmiotti (her beau) clenching for
about half a minute, and Mark Waid running up to accept Lobdell's Favorite
Writer award promising to take good care of it for Scott. He came back
later to announce another award, saying, "Excuse me a minute, I'm still
trying to scratch off the nameplate..."
Robin and I found a number of rac* friends and took public transit to
Grant Park, wherein the annual Taste of Chicago festival was going on. We
got there about an hour before closing, but managed to sample enough
edibles to return more than sated.
<< I had to make a speedy exit and hurry back to the hotel
as something I ate upset my stomach (which kind of put
a damper on the rest of the weekend for me). Apologies
to those we were with for not waiting to travel back
with you. >>
We rode back to the hotel, watching the Independence Day fireworks out the
wide front window of the train (VERY cool!), and forewent the Wizard party
that evening (the same problem cropped up the next night, alas, preventing
us from attending the Friends of Lulu party).
We hung out in the dealers' room a lot during the day on Saturday, as
plans to work the Friends of Lulu booth got somewhat scuttled for the
second day in a row and it was suggested to me that I might make better
use of my time elsewhere. Apologies to anyone who expected to find me
working the FoL booth during either this convention or San Diego, but such
had never been in my and Robin's plans to begin with, and fortunately the
booths at both of these well-attended cons had plenty of enthusiastic
Lulus staffing them. Most of the events we'd planned on attending
happened in the evening. The first was Wizard editor Jim McLauchlin
hosting a roundtable discussion whose name was suggested by Peter David,
as a takeoff on the political talk show "The McLaughlin Group." This
group-- consisting of Peter, Fabian Nicieza, Mark Waid, and Jeph Loeb--
fielded questions from Jim and later from audience members on issues
relevant to the industry, both silly ("are the people of Metropolis the
stupidest in the comic book universe?") and serious ("no Marvel booth at
Chicago-- good or bad?").
The strangest moment occurred when the topic of AGENT AMERICA and its
originality was raised. The understandably-defensive Loeb launched into a
somewhat venemous tirade in response to what he felt was excessive
Liefeld-bashing among fans and even other pros, and while I could see the
point he was trying to make (that Liefeld certainly has a viable fan
contingent, and people who don't like his work should refrain from buying
it instead of knocking his admirers for a difference in taste, especially
considering a market that needs all the new readers it can get), I just
didn't think he articulated it as reasonably as he might have (especially
being a writer), and he didn't actually address the question of uniqueness
originally put to him. To be fair, he was rather put on the spot; to be a
bit mean, he should have expected it, and refrained from "taking the bait"
by overreacting.
Things lightened up considerably during the Fan/Pro trivia match hosted by
Craig "Mr. Silver Age" Shutt, and featuring Mike Chary, Sidne Gail Ward,
Todd Allen and Matt Holmes versus Mark Waid, Dan Mishkin, Kurt Busiek and
Tony Isabella, with Johanna Draper keeping score. While Waid had great
praise for Sidne ("she's their only hope!"), as usual he pretty much stole
the SA trivia contest single-handedly (though, to be fair, the other pros
all supplied at least one answer each). Lots of fun, and many of us
followed up with the annual Legion fan/pro dinner at Giordano's. Robin
and I sat with Ron Boyd, among others, and the three of us probably
accounted for over half the drink bill (which Ron graciously paid). It
was scary but very educational listening to two of DC's best inkers
talking shop, and I got a flash of deja vu when the same thing happened
during San Diego with Robin and Cory Carani.
<< It was nice to meet Ron and Cory. Whenever inkers get
together there is always common ground; you can always
bitch about the pencillers. :) Everyone seems to get
on with Ron instantly. He had a wonderfully entertaining
running battle of "wits" with one of the waitresses at
the Legion dinner. He also subjected me to the most
devastatingly accurate nipple tweak I've ever encountered,
and just because I'd been insulting his work. >>
Brad Horning, who'd earlier presented me with a gorgeous XS action figure,
showed off his entire Legion line-- simply too amazing for words. We left
about halfway through the live chat led by editor KC Carlson.
On Sunday we took in the noontime "Comic Book Jeopardy" panel featuring
Mark Waid versus Kurt Busiek. I didn't mind so much the fact that the
contest was sort of rigged against Waid (but honestly, not all that much,
his knowledge of current stuff just isn't as good as Busiek's), with Kurt
winning 82-68, but I had way too much of my fill of the Wizard guys'
self-congratulatory attitude. The fanboy audience seemed to get a kick
out of all the in-jokes between Jim McLauchlin and Buddy Scalera, but for
those of us not there to see their cutesy byplay it got real old real
fast. I loved the "buzzer" Jim gave Mark to use, though-- a rolled-up
pre-release copy of FIGHTING AMERICAN #1, which he was told to bang
repeatedly to signal his response. I get the distinct feeling Jeph Loeb
was not in this audience. After the official contest Jim opened things up
to audience Q&A, and I had to raise my hand and ask "Just how DO you
pronounce Kurt's surname?", as his mispronunciation of "Busiek" all
session had been making my teeth itch.
Robin started feeling better just in time for Alex Tam to take our
picture, holding a fully-painted cover Robin did for one of our Soulmate
projects (thanks for the photo, Alex, it came out great!), and for us to
start our round of goodbyes. I tried to get a slight consensus on what
friends thought of the convention. Chris Gronlund and Cynthia Griffith
were a bit disappointed at the slow sales of their SECOND-RATE HEROES, but
Brian Clopper said BOMBASTIC did pretty well there, and the Herd guys to
whom I spoke (Bob Ingersoll, Tony Isabella and Roger Price) were in high
spirits about their con activity as well. Oddly enough, the remark I
seemed to hear the most was "Where have you been? I haven't seen you
around at all!" Perhaps visibility is better accomplished by standing in
one place; maybe I should have kept my AA space (which I gave to Leah)
after all. <g> I gathered up a fair number of small press and indy books;
hung with the Legion guys for a bit while Robin showed off his PowerMac's
colouring program to Tom and Ron; finally had a chance to introduce
Robin to Mark Waid and Brian Augustyn, whose OPERATION: STORMBREAKER he'd
inked; and Brian gave me a nifty present-- a color proof of this year s
FLASH Annual, for which he wrote the lead story. Robin and I laid a bit
of groundwork for pitching our proposals, but due to various unforeseen
circumstances it was clear the big push would come in...
San Diego - July 17-20
We blamed much of Chicago on the luggage and the water, so we bought a new
suitcase (we're getting rid of the curse on the old one by giving it away,
as Leah seemed to like it far more than we did).
<< I decided it was safest to avoid changes in water and
so resolved to drink only bottled water and nothing
with ice in it. This happily worked for me and my
delicate British constitution weathered San Diego
far better than Chicago. >>
Where my most-heard phrase in Chicago was "where were you?", in San Diego
I lost count of how many people confronted me with "I thought you weren t
coming this year!" Well, that was before I had proposals written and
samples rendered by a better artistic partner than I could ever have
dreamt possible. As I noted last year, if you have some business to
conduct, even entry-level pitches (at least on my part, considering
Robin's industry experience), San Diego's the place to be. And while we
weren't wined and dined, neither did we expect to be; all in all, I'd say
we accomplished the modest professional goals we'd set for ourselves. Oh,
and we had a lot more fun than we'd experienced a couple weeks prior,
that's for sure!
Our grand experience began at Newark Airport, where-- luggage safely
stowed aboard our Continental flight-- we ran into John Ostrander at the
gate, for what became the first of many conversations with him over the
next few days. John's one of the warmest and most personable guys I know,
and it's a pleasure to talk with him even when the topic turns rather
bittersweet, like it did this time as he reminisced about past conventions
he'd attended with his late wife (and my hero) Kim Yale.
We checked in at the Hyatt Regency (luggage intact!) early enough to have
most of Wednesday to ourselves prior to the Diamond welcoming party, and
found much to our delight that the hotel abutted Seaport Village, one of
my favorite finds during the 1996 convention. We waved to Mark Waid and
Devin Grayson, who were leaving the Village just as we arrived, and Robin
spent much time playing with his digital camera shooting photo reference
for one of our proposed series, which is set in a coastal town.
<< Although the series is set on the east coast, an awful
lot of what I saw in the Seaport Village was perfect
for what we wanted. I was amazed to find all this
literally on our doorstep.>>
Afterwards we strolled to the con center to pick up our badges, where we
ran into Dan Mishkin, who already had dinner plans. I decided to show
Robin "Escher Plaza," as I refer to the Horton Plaza shopping center and
food court, and we grabbed some sushi on the upper level before swinging
around to Ralph's. Umm, was Ralph's always there on the opposite corner
across from Horton? That whole area looked kinda new this year. Anyway,
we picked up water and other necessities and went back to change for the
party.
Is it me, or did anyone else attending notice the proliferation of cigars
and cell phones at this occasion? Even more than the palm trees, this was
my tell-tale sign that I was indeed in southern California. (I swear I
still don't see too many cigars in NYC, thank God.) Biggest surprise of
the evening-- Amanda Conner is now a blonde! (Fittingly, formerly-
silver-haired Naomi Basner balanced her out and now sports auburn
highlights... wonder if I should lighten up my locks again?) Allan Gross
treated me to some local microbrew, but I'm afraid it wasn't as much to my
taste as the stuff that comes in bottles. I'm such a philistine.
On Thursday I caught up with, among others, Marc Hempel, Mark Crilley,
Steve Grant, Jill Thompson, Jenni Gregory, Batton Lash, Rich Johnston,
Paul Smith, Linda Medley, and Charles Vess-- got neat sketches from the
last two, and I hope all Chicago and San Diego attendees had the chance to
visit their (and Jeff Smith's) Trilogy booth. Lovely and imaginative, with
beautiful (but =sigh= expensive) "citizens" handmade by Linda populating
the area, and an impressive tree decoration in the middle (wish it were
walk-through!). Not to take anything away from DC, Dark Horse or other
well-done booths, but what these three writer/artists did on a relative
shoestring definitely won best-of-con from me and, I'm sure, many others!
We attended most of the DC "Write Stuff" panel, featuring Grant Morrison,
Mark Millar, Garth Ennis, Ron Marz, Dan Jurgens, Denny O'Neill, Chris
Claremont, John Ostrander, and Mark Waid, where there was lots of good
"breaking" in talk, advice on proposals and so forth. Ennis mentioned the
importance of having a sense of closure in a story, and Jurgens opined
that "Continuity is both our greatest curse and our greatest blessing."
An astute audience member (I think it was a rac* er) asked why all the
writers chose to work in the relatively low-paying medium of comics, and
the near-unanimous response had to do with freedom and control over one's
work. We did find out, though, that both Morrison and Millar are looking
at writing for other media.
We stopped by the Head Press table to give Robert Leudke a lettering
correction on our 2-pager for NO JUSTICE, NO PIECE, his CBDLF benefit book
(thanks to Scott Peterson for spotting the typo!), picked up a flyer and
press release advertising same, and scoped out the nice Brian Stelfreeze
cover. We'd joked with Brian on AOL a couple weeks earlier about his
tendency to "sublimate" things in his art, and this cover seemed no
exception, but it gets its point across very well. Look for NJ/NP in the
August issue of Previews (possibly with Robin's art in the solicitation!).
I checked out the Acclaim booth and had a chance to chat with Jesse
McCann, who complimented me on my reviews and gave me a copy of his latest
project-- PINKY AND THE BRAIN for DC. Jesse officially works for Diamond
and unofficially liases for Acclaim, which has a much looser policy
regarding freelance writing than some other companies do. Later that
weekend I met up with Sean Carolan, who remembered me from my Uncle Floyd
days, of all things, and who is now writing for ANIMANIACS with his
partner Jennifer Moore. There's gold in them thar licensed property
hills!
We sat in on the always-enjoyable Mark Waid chat, where I caught up with
Kevin Gould, one of Mark's collaborators from his fandom days. Kevin had
some pictures from last year's pro/fan trivia match, as well as other
goodies and tidbits, and we spent the hour and a half counting how many
times Mark mentioned Grant Morrison's name (about five, I think). Robin
and I also made the tail end of the Legion panel, arriving just as Carmela
Merlo was discussing the interesting process whereby she, husband Roger
Stern and co-plotter/colorist Tom McCraw write a typical issue of
LEGIONNAIRES. I didn't realize Tom's plots were done in rough outline
form, and delighted to hear how Carmela breaks down the plot by panel and,
after getting the refined plot back from Roger, writes the first draft of
the script! Not for nothing is she an Adult Legionnaire! Roger noted
that sales of Legion books are holding steady and, "in this market,
holding steady is real good." Tom Galloway ran a fun little panel here
(which also included Jeff Moy and Cory Carani).
After attending more of the fan-teams trivia quiz than we'd planned
(oddly, I found myself knowing many of the answers), Robin and I looked in
at the fundraiser party for the SD Council on Literacy (for about ten
minutes, as there was nobody we knew), grabbed a bite then took the
shuttle bus up to the Friends of Lulu party at the Bristol Court. I had
loads of fun hobnobbing with my fellow Lulus, watching Mark Evanier hold
court with Marie Severin and Ramona Fradon, staring up at the stars
through the open ceiling during our chat with Len Wein, his lovely wife
whose name escapes me, and John Ostrander, hearing about Paloma Gonzales'
latest trips to Mexico to see her family, and applauding Marie as she was
voted into the Women Cartoonists Hall of Fame at the first annual Lulu
Awards (other awards went to Trina Robbins for "The Great Women
Superheroes," the Lulu of the Year winner, a copy of which Trina brought
for me; and Jessica Abel [ARTBABE] who won the Kim Yale award for Best New
Talent). Lulu always gives the best parties, and this was no exception--
I wait all year for those chocolate-covered strawberries! Mmm!
We tried to get into the Top of the Hyatt bar, which seemed to be Party
Central especially for our DC friends, but it was pretty full up. As it
turned out, we did wind up checking out the place most nights, but the
other pros tended to congregate right by the bar itself, where it was
smokiest and there wasn't any place to sit, and my sensitivity to
cigarettes and desire for comfort kept me away from that section.
Friday morning started badly, as we chose the wrong place for breakfast.
At first we thought the wait staff from the Blarney Stone was borrowed
from Dick's down the block, where they're *supposed* to be surly and
ignore patrons as part of that restaurant's gimmick. But no, we just hit
the most incompetent place in the Gaslamp Quarter, and I'm sorry I didn't
short-change them on the (over)price of our juice.
After we found a nice place to eat we headed for the con center so I could
attend the writers' panel, which was both disappointing and reassuring. I
guess folks were partied out from Thursday evening, as only three of the
six scheduled writers showed: Steve Grant, Dan Jurgens and Tom DeFalco.
They spoke a bit about script formatting, and I took notes on some
observations (I particularly liked Dan's comparison of a comic page to a
series of slides in a slide show, rather close to the way I describe them
as clicks of a camera shutter), but overall there wasn't much information
I didn't already know, which I deemed a good thing-- it meant I was moving
in the right direction. "Submissions made along with art samples almost
always have a better chance of selling"-- check, and done, thanks to my
partner. "The comics industry consists of circles of friends, and those
friends tend to hire friends"-- check, and done. "Show your work to as
many people as possible"-- check, and done (at least as far as this
convention was concerned, as the Soulmate Productions package went to
those industry friends whom I most wanted to see it). "Three questions to
ask yourself about your story: 'why is it different?', 'what does it tell
me about the character?', and 'what is it about?'"--check, and done. I
left early but buoyed.
Robin met me in the hallway with the news that he'd found Alan Davis, the
only other person besides me he'd really known prior to this summer's
conventions.
<< Alan had told me that he would be attending the con
this year as an adjunct to his family holiday. We
said that we'd meet there but had arranged no formal
meeting place or time. I kept an eye out for him but
hadn't much hope of running into him once I saw how
large the San Diego con actually is. While I was
browsing original art at Scott Dunbier's table I
glanced at the fellow on my left and realised that
it was Alan. I find it amazing that although I was
six thousand miles from home and surrounded by several
thousand other people I should end up standing next
to my friend. >>
We met Alan down by the DC booth, and the first thing that struck me about
him besides his burly physique (he looks more like a mineworker, say, than
a typical British comic book pro... Now *Robin*, naturally, looks like
the latter <g>) was his slight Scottish accent, which surprised me as I
knew he was born and raised in England. Apparently the town in Northants
whence he hails is populated by those of Scottish and Irish descent, and
the Scottish accent is powerful enough (just ask anyone who spoke with
Mark Millar or Grant Morrison <g>) to have stuck through the generations.
Not enough to make him incomprehensible, but it gave his speech quite a
pleasant lilt.
We seemed to hit it off well enough, near as I could tell, though I think
my rather sedentary nature amused the very active Mr. Davis, who
practically sprinted up the heavily slanted sidewalk by Golden Hall on the
way back to his hotel. "Don't like San Francisco much, then, do you?" he
joked. Actually, it's one of my favorite cities, I just try not to walk
its steeper streets that much. <g> We had a terrific lunch with Alan, who
introduced us to his wife Heather, son Thomas and daughter Pauline prior
to accompanying us back to the con center (thank goodness Pauline was on
my side and voted to take the bus back!).
We made it back for the last half hour of the "Heroes Return" panel,
featuring Tom Brevoort, Ron Garney, Mark Waid, Peter David, George Perez,
and Kurt Busiek. I allowed myself an inner grin at the reaction on some
of the panelists' faces to seeing me walk into the back of the room next
to one of the industry's most famous and highly-regarded artists. Alas,
as Bob Harras (Alan's editor on FANTASTIC FOUR and a personal favorite of
Pauline's) wasn t on the panel, ClanDavis left after a few minutes, with
Alan promising to catch up with us again either at Saturday's masquerade
or on Sunday. A fun and fascinating afternoon, time well spent.
I was able to introduce Robin to my old friend Jim Valentino, inundated
with proposals now that his Shadowline projects are up and running to
great praise. Jim's quite proud of the fifth issue of his own work, A
TOUCH OF SILVER, and went over the plot with us page by page as he flipped
through the unlettered issue with us. We talked Legion (he's a big Legion
fan from way back), caught up on personal stuff, and I left him some
Soulmate proposals, none of which I really think fit Shadowline but I
wanted to keep him updated on what I'm doing anyway. Lea Hernandez was
hanging out by the table as well, and I look forward to seeing what comes
of her proposal for Jim!
Then it was off to the Pro/Fan trivia challenge, featuring Len Wein, Kurt
Busiek, Mark Waid and Roger Stern against Tom Galloway, Tom Galloway, Tom
Galloway, and Tom Galloway-- I mean, Tom and Jim Drew and Jim Murdoch and
David Goldfarb (aka the Bismoll Chapter of the Mike Tyson Fan Club). As
much as Chicago s pro/fan trivia match was the Waid show, this was
definitely where Tyg shone, though I was pleased to see David get many
answers as well. Since the parameters for this contest were extended to
books written up until the end of CRISIS, the fans' (well, Tom's)
knowledge overwhelmed the pros as it had two years ago. Len was
especially chagrined, occasionally saying, upon flubbing an answer, "Wait
a minute, I *wrote* that book!" Final score: Fans 195, Pros 160, but of
course it felt like everyone won. I'd love to see the parameters expanded
even more into modern books, with perhaps a woman or two on each team in
the future...
We declined an invitation to the Legion dinner so Robin could grab a nap
and recharge for the Eisners, while I walked through the Village to get
some pizza (in retrospect a mistake, as my stomach kept reminding me). We
arrived at the Eisners too late to sit anywhere within decent visual
range, but I had the chance to meet Sean Medlock, who was sitting in front
of us, as well as a couple others who recognized the name on my badge. The
show itself was somewhat long, with the entire Inkpot Awards being
announced beforehand by host Scott Shaw!, who also gave a very fitting
salute to those in the industry who'd passed away between last year and
this-- just about everyone was mentioned except for Kim Yale. It took
Robin a good ten minutes to calm me down-- it's not that I blame Scott per
se (as he said, some names will slip by the wayside), but as excluded as
women seem to have been from Eisners in the past (a situation which is
certainly changing, I'm pleased to note), I guess it's even more
heartbreaking not to hear their accomplishments acknowledged and
appreciated when they re no longer around to make more. Besides, as I ve
said, Kim was and will always be my hero; if not for her and women like
her, I wouldn't be involved in this business, and I felt rather...
invalidated by the inadvertent omission of her name.
Anyway, after asking the audience to "synchronize your Tomagotchis," Scott
ran down the list of invited/special guests, mentioned that Sergio
Aragones had won this year's Reuben award, and announced the Inkpot
winners. Walt (KING OF PERSIA) Hokum won the Russ Manning Award for Most
Talented Newcomer (the absence of women in that slot bothered me the
most), Joe Kubert got the Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award, and general
honors went to Dick Ayers, Russ Heath, Bob Haney, Terry Brooks, George
Tuska, Michael Moorcock, Steve Bissette and (goodness, finally a double-x
chromosome!) Carol Lay. The Spirit of Retailing Awards went to Central
City Comics in Columbus, OH (this year I *will* make their night-before-
Mid-Ohio-Con party!), Chicago Comics, and That"s Entertainment in
Worchester, MA.
After Jackie Estrada stepped back in to administer the Eisner portion,
first announcing the Lulu awards from the previous evening, Frank Miller
gave the keynote speech. Having heard about Frank's past addresses, I was
surprised at how non-forceful a speaker he really is. I can't help but
wonder how much his laid-back, seemingly unprepared manner takes away from
the credibility and impact of his words. He opined that the "lucky ones,"
those writers and artists who can pretty much pave their own path at this
point, must be the ones to turn things around for the industry, and should
"stop behaving like spoiled brats" whining about the latest downward
spiral. "We're in the driver's seat, and we won't drive very far if we
keep the gear shift in reverse." Fine, I m thinking, so far this sounds
not unlike many Friends of Lulu meetings I've attended. Forward-thinking
is good; examining the possibilities inherent in the artform is terrific;
trying to keep doing stuff that is no longer selling, and targeting it to
an ever-dwindling demographic, is probably suicidal. I'm with ya, Frank.
Ah, but then things shifted subtly, as Miller launched into a brief
critique of what he termed "retro comics." "Why," he asked rhetorically,
"are so much of our energies devoted to nostalgia?" Surely this isn't a
question to be aimed solely at comics. After all, why is our mass
entertainment caught up in another wave of big-budget alien and disaster
films? Closer to home, Frank, what appeals to you about hard-boiled
detective fiction, surely one of the more nostalgic genres out there? It
was my (and apparently others') assumption, however, that Miller wasn t
actually addressing the preponderance of everything-old-is-new-again in
any genre but superheroes-- the most easily-picked-on and yet still-
proven-profitable genre currently in the industry. I think he was
referring in specific to the subgenre of superheroes I've termed
"reconstructionist," that seek to recapture the fun of reading comics
which didn't exist in large part during the deconstructionist period of
the '80s due to a plethora of works like-- quelle coincidence!-- Miller's
DARK KNIGHT RETURNS. Was Frank actually peeved, nay contemptuous, at the
sense-of-wonder-recaptured backlash to the grim-and-gritty movement he
helped found? Nigh unthinkable! And certainly not unproductive at best,
or smacking of sour grapes at worst. "Retro," pronounced the Mickey
Spillaine heir apparent, "ain't nothin' but nostalgia with a nose ring."
Well, pierce my nostril and call me Nora Charles, Nicky.
Not too many shockers in the actual Eisners, although I was disappointed
at some of the results (no female winners, Mark Crilley didn't win any of
his four nominated categories, etc.). It was neat to see Will Eisner
winning the award named for him. I was surprised that Steve Rude beat out
the tough competition, but all four guys nominated are damn good. Charles
Vess winning Best Penciller/Inker was a neat surprise. Absolutely nobody
was surprised that Matt Hollingsworth wasn't around to get his Best
Colorist award, being out in the bar or something. Alan Moore's Best
Writer win raised my eyebrows, considering his strong competition. All
that awful retro stuff, like KINGDOM COME and BATMAN: BLACK & WHITE and
ASTRO CITY, seemed to win a lot of awards. Inducted into the Hall of Fame
were four worthy gentlemen, Gil Kane, Julius Schwartz, Curt Swan and
Peanuts creator Charles Schulz. We stayed about two minutes for the
too-loud party that followed, then went up to the bar for a bit before
crashing.
Saturday was our day to walk 'round the exhibition hall/dealers' room and
buy stuff, much of which will no doubt make it into my summer review
special. We also did a couple more pitches, and Robin had a nice chat
with fellow inker Cory Carani while Cory doodled in my sketchbook and
waited on line to talk to Mike Allred. I was pleasantly surprised that
Janet Gilbert, wife of MR. MONSTER creator Michael Gilbert, knew who I
was, and I promised to read her husband's latest stuff for review (how
could I not?). In the evening Robin and I went out for sushi again, this
time to a way-too-expensive place called Taka. Great food, but I thought
I heard Robin's Visa card groaning. We swung by the masquerade, but
Paloma was the only one I even recognized on line. No other pros; do they
still let the pros in separately beforehand? Anyway, no sign of
ClanDavis, so we returned to the hotel to do some lettering and check out
the bar.
We were up bright and early Sunday to give the dealers' room another
once-around, where I spotted Jason Asala's POE booth. Jason's aunt had
created a bunch of Poe dolls (complete with their own plastic body bags ),
and this became my bright-and-shiny-impulse-buy of the con. After this we
attended the annual Friends of Lulu meeting, wherein progress reports were
given and ideas for future projects were batted around. Trina Robbins was
in fine form as she discussed how we might better honor our foremothers in
comics who may not be around much longer; I had much the same idea when
composing the piece Robin and I had lettered the evening prior (we wound
up only showing the painted cover to Marie Severin, who was among the
women I had in mind when I wrote it).
We left the meeting slightly before it ended in order to attend the panel
on "The Retro Approach to Superheroes," which promised to be even more
interesting in light of Miller's Eisner keynote comments. On the panel
were Jim Valentino, Kurt Busiek, Len Wein (introduced by Kurt as "someone
who did retro comics when they were new"), Brent Anderson, and Mark Waid.
We sat with Devin Grayson (who had a great exchange with Kurt, stating at
one point, "That's not retro, that's craft," whereupon Kurt responded
jocularly, "Ah, but craft is a retro idea!"), and found ourselves in a
much more participatory atmosphere than at previous panels; even Robin put
his two pence in! Much time was spent trying to get a consensus on what
"retro" meant. Some ideas tossed out included iconic simplicity, love
for characters, an upbeat attitude, accessibility (are single-issue
stories retro by nature?), things that remind readers of older stuff, and
stories that summon up an old feeling when reading them. To Mark, retro
wasn't a very positive word, as it connoted something that lacked vision,
merely parroting what had come before "like a tape recorder," and he'd
much rather read his vast collection of old Silver Age stuff than modern
books designed to conjure up that period. Kurt said that, to him, retro
referenced the past, but not necessarily a hopeful past. He also decried
the editorial dictat of bringing old ideas and characters back for the
sole purpose of destroying them. He noted that the pendulum has always
swung back and forth in mass entertainment (which is always more
reflective of the society and the time than about the subject matter in
question), and soon the "shiny, happy" approach will give way to
whatever's next on the horizon.
An interesting digression came from Devin, who noted that some grim and
gritty characters have acted as more of a release than a role model for
kids. She opined that many kids today don't have the accessibility to
relate to positive-looking comics, as they can't even begin to enter that
world. Mark added, "Can Superman still reach a kid who has to go through
a metal detector to get to homeroom?" Are many kids today bereft of a
sense of hope? Jim didn't seem to think so, citing his own life (upon
which A TOUCH OF SILVER is based) and how comic books helped lift him
above negative domestic situations. Kurt said that, even if comics can't
reach some of these kids, heroic fiction itself is still of great appeal,
citing TV shows like Xena and Hercules. A very enjoyable panel, the best
one of the entire con for me.
After making a last round of the exhibition hall, meeting with Trina
Robbins to pick up the two books she'd brought for me (including her Lulu
Award winner), then lunching with with Ed Douglas at the Spaghetti
Factory, we caught up with Alan on the mezzanine level just as Kurt
Busiek's spotlight panel was to begin. Alan was sitting with Christian
Lichtner of Liquid Color, who apparently lurks on rac* enough to have
recognized my name as well. I felt kind of embarrassed not to know him in
return, as I don't currently read X-MEN, which he colors.
<< It was a pleasure to meet Christian (for my money the
finest colourist currently working) and find that he
knew and liked my work too. With Davis, Farmer and
Lichtner, the FANTASTIC FOUR is certainly going to
LOOK wonderful. >>
Christian and Alan were discussing FF particulars, and we left them to it,
promising to return shortly after taking in some of Kurt's panel (my
favorite revelation from which was that Kurt originally wanted UNTOLD
TALES OF SPIDER-MAN to be named FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN, which
he believed would have helped sell the title better to its target
audience of mostly-young newcomers).
We returned just as Alan was putting the finishing touches on his
contribution to Christian's Hellboy sketchbook. He let me watch him draw,
and I suppose the fangirl in me must have escaped long enough for Alan to
notice, as he joked afterwards, "You aren't following me into the
bathroom, are you?" <g> We walked back down to the exhibition hall to
exchange hasty farewells; pro badge or no, as it was after 5pm, they
wouldn't let us walk through, but somehow the Davis charm got Alan past
the guards.
The con officially over, we finally took a dip in the Hyatt pool and made
ready to go to dinner, when Alan called again. Seems he and ClanDavis
were down in the lobby, waiting to say a proper goodbye. I was absolutely
floored that he d come that far out of his way just to do so, but I m sure
that's a testament to his friendship with Robin. After dinner we swept
through the bar one last evening, spending time with Michael Grabois. The
next morning saw a few folks still in the dining room, including Grant
Morrison and Alex Ross, who breakfasted together; wonder what they might
have been talking about?
All in all, we had a much more satisfying and fun time in San Diego this
year, but I believe that every con is, in the end, what you make it. I
look forward to doing it all over again next year!
- Elayne
--
I am currently seeking an administrative assistant/secretarial position in
New York City (preferably Manhattan or Brooklyn). My resume can be found
at http://ezinfo.ucs.indiana.edu/~fchary/elayne.html - please e-mail me
for further information, including references.
Tom Galloway
In article <5rfv8h$e...@panix.com> fire...@panix.com (Elayne Wechsler-Chaput) writes:
>After attending more of the fan-teams trivia quiz than we'd planned
>(oddly, I found myself knowing many of the answers), Robin and I looked in
>course it felt like everyone won. I'd love to see the parameters expanded
>even more into modern books, with perhaps a woman or two on each team in
>the future...
Hey, Black Ink Irregulars Farm Team! I think I've got a candidate for you
to replace David "Finally Banned" Goldfarb with next year. It's even
female! :-)
Somewhat more seriously, I doubt the parameters will expand further into
modern books. To be blunt, when the topic was unlimited, the BII crushed the
pros by Chicagoan margins. On the other hand, the match this year was
reasonably close, and despite Elayne's "Tom, Tom, Tom, and Tom" comment, the
other BII were much more in the match than last year's when it really was
like that. In particular, David got about as many toss-ups as I did from
what I recall of the stats I was keeping. And that was what I hoped for; a
competitive match with fuller participation from the BII.
As for adding women, well, I posted for volunteers for this year's team
and no women applied. Part of the problem will also be that the teams are
getting relatively set. Since myself, Jim, and David are now banned from
the regular trivia, that gives us precedence on being on the team. And
on the pro side, all but Mark have been on all three years, with this
being Mark's second year. Everyone seems to be enjoying the event, making
it hard to work new people in.
It's also the case I think that we've managed to acheive an excellent
combination of participants who are both very good at comics trivia *and*
entertaining performers in terms of comments and stage actions (i.e. Mark's
concussion on the first bonus :-)). And a lot of what I think makes this
event work well is that combination. Tim Lynch told me afterwards that he
was sitting with a friend who knew almost zero comics trivia, but still
enjoyed the event greatly due to all the humor going around. While both
teams want to win and take it seriously, neither team takes it too seriously
and everyone's having fun. I'd be hesitant to bring anyone new in unless
necessary due to a drop out to avoid disrupting the current chemistry.
>holding steady is real good." Tom Galloway ran a fun little panel here
>(which also included Jeff Moy and Cory Carani).
Thanks, but there are some panels when moderating is just too easy due
to who you have on the panel. Getting Jeff, Roger, and Carmela, as on-site
additions made this such, particularly Roger after we exhausted the
somewhat limited topic of "Why has the Legion maintained popularity" and
turned into a more general what's up in the books.
My other panel was just as easy; Online Comics with Scott McCloud as a
panelist. As I mentioned to also panelist Nat Gertler beforehand, this'd
be a breeze. Just make a statement or take a question on the topic, say,
"So, Scott, what do you think of that?" and go to sleep for ten minutes
or so. Then make another comment/take another question and repeat. :-)
(Not that Scott is a panelist who hogs the mike. It's just that he's
thought a lot about the topic, has a lot of interesting things to say
about it, etc., that it makes for a great panel if you just wind him
up and let him go at it, which is certainly the easy for the rest of
the panel approach).
tyg t...@netcom.com
akiyama
Elayne wrote:
>Is it me, or did anyone else attending notice the proliferation of >cigars
>and cell phones at this occasion? Even more than the palm trees, this >was my tell-tale sign that I was indeed in southern California.
I noticed the cell phones, too. A friend I was walking the floor with
used his to call someone else in the hall to tell them where he was.
I'm glad I missed the cigars. They smell like what they look like:
smoking turds.
>Lea Hernandez was
>hanging out by the table as well, and I look forward to seeing what >comes of her proposal for Jim!
So does she!
Elayne Wechsler-Chaput
Tom Galloway (t...@netcom.com) wrote:
: In article <5rfv8h$e...@panix.com> fire...@panix.com (Elayne Wechsler-Chaput) writes:
: >After attending more of the fan-teams trivia quiz than we'd planned
: >(oddly, I found myself knowing many of the answers), Robin and I looked in
: >course it felt like everyone won. I'd love to see the parameters expanded
: >even more into modern books, with perhaps a woman or two on each team in
: >the future...
: Hey, Black Ink Irregulars Farm Team! I think I've got a candidate for you
: to replace David "Finally Banned" Goldfarb with next year. It's even
: female! :-)
My vote's for either Sidne or Kate. Or both. :)
: Somewhat more seriously, I doubt the parameters will expand further into
: modern books. To be blunt, when the topic was unlimited, the BII crushed the
: pros by Chicagoan margins.
Yeah, that's what I suspected. Ah well, then I'll never be on one of the
teams, I fear. :(
: On the other hand, the match this year was
: reasonably close, and despite Elayne's "Tom, Tom, Tom, and Tom" comment, the
: other BII were much more in the match than last year's when it really was
: like that.
Agreed, but I think a lot of this was because you actually kept your
answers short. :) :) :)
: As for adding women, well, I posted for volunteers for this year's team
: and no women applied. Part of the problem will also be that the teams are
: getting relatively set. Since myself, Jim, and David are now banned from
: the regular trivia, that gives us precedence on being on the team. And
: on the pro side, all but Mark have been on all three years, with this
: being Mark's second year. Everyone seems to be enjoying the event, making
: it hard to work new people in.
Good points, all. That's why I was happy to see another all-fan trivia
match at the con; it's a good training ground, IMHO. Of course, that one
was mostly male as well. :(
: It's also the case I think that we've managed to acheive an excellent
: combination of participants who are both very good at comics trivia *and*
: entertaining performers in terms of comments and stage actions (i.e. Mark's
: concussion on the first bonus :-)). And a lot of what I think makes this
: event work well is that combination. Tim Lynch told me afterwards that he
: was sitting with a friend who knew almost zero comics trivia, but still
: enjoyed the event greatly due to all the humor going around.
That's certainly why I attend them.
: >Tom Galloway ran a fun little panel here
: >(which also included Jeff Moy and Cory Carani).
: Thanks, but there are some panels when moderating is just too easy due
: to who you have on the panel.
You'd think so, but I've seen other "moderators" with very good panelists
who have done HORRID jobs of it, Tom. (One who comes to mind is a good
friend, so I won't mention his name. <g>) In many of these cases I've
seen panelists-- well, okay, I've seen Waid de facto take over as
moderator. I maintain that, whatever his faults as a writer or a person
or whatever, Mark Waid is one of THE best panelists and moderators that
any convention can get.
Elayne Wechsler-Chaput
Lea Hernandez (aki...@concentric.net) wrote:
: Elayne wrote:
: >Is it me, or did anyone else attending notice the proliferation of >cigars
: >and cell phones at this occasion? Even more than the palm trees, this >was my tell-tale sign that I was indeed in southern California.
: I noticed the cell phones, too. A friend I was walking the floor with
: used his to call someone else in the hall to tell them where he was.
It was very, very strange to see Billy Tucci walking around with one. In
New York we'd all laugh at him for such behavior. I couldn't help it, I
called him a sell-out yuppie when I saw him. :)
Michael Long
In <5rie03$l...@panix.com> fire...@panix.com (Elayne Wechsler-Chaput)
writes:
>: >Is it me, or did anyone else attending notice the proliferation of
>cigars
>: >and cell phones at this occasion? Even more than the palm trees,
this >was my tell-tale sign that I was indeed in southern California.
>
with
>: used his to call someone else in the hall to tell them where he was.
>
>It was very, very strange to see Billy Tucci walking around with one.
In
>New York we'd all laugh at him for such behavior. I couldn't help it,
I
>called him a sell-out yuppie when I saw him. :)
>
>- Elayne
Tell you the truth cell-phone providers are coming out of the
woodwork here.It use to be you couldn't live here without a car-now you
have to have a cell-phone too or better yet a car phone and a cell
phone plus a pager.I live in red-neck country east of San-Diego and
it's about as abundant here.
Michael Long
Brian H. Bailie
Elayne Wechsler-Chaput wrote:
>
> ...and Robin
> spent much time playing with his digital camera shooting photo reference
> for one of our proposed series, which is set in a coastal town.
>
> << Although the series is set on the east coast, an awful
> lot of what I saw in the Seaport Village was perfect
> for what we wanted. I was amazed to find all this
> literally on our doorstep.>>
I would only toss out this word of caution, dependent on how accurate
you
are planning to make your series. Eastern coastal towns are quite
different
from what I saw in San Diego, just as, say, Carolina coastal towns
differ from
New England ones. They're not quite interchangeable. Just my 2 cents
worth.
>
> Then it was off to the Pro/Fan trivia challenge, ... <snip> I'd love to see the
> parameters expanded even more into modern books, with perhaps a woman
> or two on each team in the future...
As I recall, an open invitation to any and all interested applicants.
You make
this sound like another of your "why are you evil men excluding women"
rants.
Brian
--
As a dreamer of dreams, and a travelin' man
I have chalked up many a mile.
I've read dozens of books about heroes and crooks
And I've learned much from both of their styles.
- J. Buffett
Dave Thomas
Good report, Elayne.
Oh, the Ralph's was a new addition this year, and a very welcome one.
Why pay high prices for crap food at the convention center, when you
can walk two blocks and get just about anything you want to eat. We
didn't find it until Saturday, though.
DT - Pixel Planet
Reviews of CG software, books, programming tools, games, CDs and more!
http://www.pixelplanet.com
Elayne Wechsler-Chaput
Dave Thomas (Da...@pixelplanet.com) wrote:
: Good report, Elayne.
Thanks.
: Oh, the Ralph's was a new addition this year, and a very welcome one.
Thanks for confirming this. That fakey-fakey parklet across the street
was new too, wasn't it?
: Why pay high prices for crap food at the convention center, when you
: can walk two blocks and get just about anything you want to eat. We
: didn't find it until Saturday, though.
The convention shuttle bus actually stopped there! :)
And Robin and I discovered one of their sections sold sushi-to-go. We
should have gotten that instead of going to Taka on Saturday. :)
T. Troy McNemar, Esq.
Previously, fire...@panix.com (Elayne Wechsler-Chaput) wrote:
> Tom Galloway (t...@netcom.com) wrote:
> : In article <5rfv8h$e...@panix.com> fire...@panix.com (Elayne Wechsler-Chaput) writes:
>:> After attending more of the fan-teams trivia quiz than we'd planned
>:> (oddly, I found myself knowing many of the answers), Robin and I looked in
>:> ...
>:> course it felt like everyone won. I'd love to see the parameters expanded
>:> even more into modern books, with perhaps a woman or two on each team in
>:> the future...
>
>: Hey, Black Ink Irregulars Farm Team! I think I've got a candidate for you
>: to replace David "Finally Banned" Goldfarb with next year. It's even
>: female! :-)
>
> My vote's for either Sidne or Kate. Or both. :)
Sidne wanted to play and had intended to play until we realized that we had
7 potential members for the team. (Andrew Woodard and Jon Serota also
wanted to play.) I offered Sidne my spot before going up, but she was nice
enough to let me play instead.
Sidne would not have confused Silver St. Cloud with Shondra Kingsolving.
--
T. Troy McNemar, Esq. Tro...@indirect.com
"YADNUS! YADNUS! YADNUS!"
--Zatanna the Monster Truck Announcer
Favorite comic of the week: XERO #5
Runner up: CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN #8
Defeat the Legion of Evil Gamblers in Las Vegas on Aug. 1-3! See:
http://www.primenet.com/~sward/saturngirl/lsh/lsg.html
LLL!
Hosun S. Lee
I'd like to note that not only did I snag a cart, deliver the sushi while
Mike was parking, have two bell-boys yell at me, pay $5 to have the same
sushi throw out the window, advertise the Elitit Bastards t-shirts... I
also said "Hi" twice. B-)
--
\\ \\ Hosun Lee / Vorpal Bunny(TM)
\\_\\ "Go to a hospital and switch your pager with a doctor's while
( X-X) nobody is looking. Return the pages."
{_^_} - Troy McNemar on how I can improve my social life in California.
Elayne Wechsler-Chaput
Hosun S. Lee (ho...@newstand.syr.edu) wrote:
: I'd like to note that not only did I snag a cart, deliver the sushi while
: Mike was parking, have two bell-boys yell at me, pay $5 to have the same
: sushi throw out the window, advertise the Elitit Bastards t-shirts... I
: also said "Hi" twice. B-)
You did? Oh man, Hosun, I don't even remember saying hi to you! I hang
my head in shame... :(
Sidne G. Ward
tro...@indirect.com (T. Troy McNemar, Esq.) writes:
>Previously, fire...@panix.com (Elayne Wechsler-Chaput) wrote:
>> Tom Galloway (t...@netcom.com) wrote:
>>
>>: Hey, Black Ink Irregulars Farm Team! I think I've got a candidate for you
>>: to replace David "Finally Banned" Goldfarb with next year. It's even
>>: female! :-)
>>
>> My vote's for either Sidne or Kate. Or both. :)
>Sidne wanted to play and had intended to play until we realized that we had
>7 potential members for the team. (Andrew Woodard and Jon Serota also
>wanted to play.) I offered Sidne my spot before going up, but she was nice
>enough to let me play instead.
I have to be honest with you here. I was *willing* to play on the Farm
Team, but more than willing to let someone else play instead who would
likely know more answers.
I've attended this trivia contest a number of times and I know that I
don't have the wide range of comic, cartoon, etc. knowledge necessary to
be able to answer very many questions. Although the contest isn't limited
to modern comics, a number of the questions relate to them and I just
don't read enough different books currently to compete.
I would certainly be willing to fill in a spot if the BII Farm Team ever
has trouble fielding 4 members, though.
>Sidne would not have confused Silver St. Cloud with Shondra Kingsolving.
Well *that's* for sure! :) Just be glad I wasn't sitting beside you
during that part of the contest. You probably would have beat me to the
buzzer, answered incorrectly, then I would have had to restrain myself
from screaming in your face. :)
Sidne Gail Ward
sw...@primenet.com
Only 3 days until the Legion of Super-Gamblers try-outs in Las Vegas! For
details see: http://www.primenet.com/~sward/saturngirl/lsh/lsg.html
Robin
In article <33DCEA...@erols.com>,
"Brian H. Bailie" <bba...@erols.com> wrote:
>Elayne Wechsler-Chaput wrote:
>>
>> ...and Robin
>> spent much time playing with his digital camera shooting photo reference
>> for one of our proposed series, which is set in a coastal town.
>>
>> << Although the series is set on the east coast, an awful
>> lot of what I saw in the Seaport Village was perfect
>> for what we wanted. I was amazed to find all this
>> literally on our doorstep.>>
>
>I would only toss out this word of caution, dependent on how accurate
>you
>are planning to make your series. Eastern coastal towns are quite
>different
>from what I saw in San Diego, just as, say, Carolina coastal towns
>differ from
>New England ones. They're not quite interchangeable. Just my 2 cents
>worth.
Thanks Brian. I don't know how accurate the town will end up being,
probably about as accurate as Marvel's New York (i.e. superficially in
places). My reason for taking so many pictures there was it looked the way
Elayne had been describing the settings she envisaged and she was there to
confirm the parts that matched what she wanted.
Robin Riggs.
Wondering how much of the background it's worth drawing when
it's going to be obscured by all those words. :):):)
Robin
In article <5rj4li$o...@panix.com>,
fire...@panix.com (Elayne Wechsler-Chaput) wrote:
>And Robin and I discovered one of their sections sold sushi-to-go. We
>should have gotten that instead of going to Taka on Saturday. :)
Too bloody right we should! It wouldn't have been as good but it would have
been a HELL of a lot cheaper. :):):)
Robin Riggs.
Sidne G. Ward
ka...@enteract.com (Kate the Short) writes:
>On 28 Jul 1997 11:27:19 -0400, fire...@panix.com (Elayne
>Wechsler-Chaput) wrote:
>> Tom Galloway (t...@netcom.com) wrote:
>>
>> : Hey, Black Ink Irregulars Farm Team! I think I've got a candidate for you
>> : to replace David "Finally Banned" Goldfarb with next year. It's even
>> : female! :-)
>>
>> My vote's for either Sidne or Kate. Or both. :)
>Who, ME?
>Aside from the fact that I've *read* very little silver age anything, I
>have never been to SDCC. Probably won't for another two years (next
>year's honeymoon will NOT be at a comics convention!).
This isn't a SA contest. It's the regular trivia competition at SD.
There will be a *few* SA questions, but also comic strip, modern comics,
cartoon, etc. questions. It's a tough contest.
Sidne Gail Ward
sw...@primenet.com
Only 2 more days until the Legion of Super-Gamblers try-outs in Las Vegas!
Denise L. Voskuil
In article <33DCEA...@erols.com>, bba...@erols.com says...
>Elayne Wechsler-Chaput wrote:
>> Then it was off to the Pro/Fan trivia challenge, ... <snip> I'd love to see
>he
>> parameters expanded even more into modern books, with perhaps a woman
>> or two on each team in the future...
>As I recall, an open invitation to any and all interested applicants.
>You make
>this sound like another of your "why are you evil men excluding women"
>rants.
I'm not so sure about that - sounded more like wishful thinking to me - but I
know I personally won't be eligible for a fan team if it is limited to
superheroes of any kind.
- Denise
--
Denise L. Voskuil - dvoskuil@: uic.edu/mcs.com/eden.com
**Please remove the 'spamsucks' in my address to reply via E-mail;
I'm sick of spammers grabbing my address off of Usenet.**
I'm too low in the hierarchy here to officially even
*have* an opinion.
David L. LeBlanc
fire...@panix.com (Elayne Wechsler-Chaput) wrote:
>Anyway, after asking the audience to "synchronize your Tomagotchis," Scott
>ran down the list of invited/special guests, mentioned that Sergio
>Aragones had won this year's Reuben award, and announced the Inkpot
>winners. Walt (KING OF PERSIA) Hokum won the Russ Manning Award for Most
>Talented Newcomer (the absence of women in that slot bothered me the
>most), Joe Kubert got the Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award, and general
>honors went to Dick Ayers, Russ Heath, Bob Haney, Terry Brooks, George
>Tuska, Michael Moorcock, Steve Bissette and (goodness, finally a double-x
>chromosome!) Carol Lay. The Spirit of Retailing Awards went to Central
>City Comics in Columbus, OH (this year I *will* make their night-before-
>Mid-Ohio-Con party!), Chicago Comics, and That"s Entertainment in
>Worchester, MA.
That should be Worcester! and HURRAH!!!!
I have been beating their drum since they lost after getting to the finals
last year. A more dedicated group of comic retailors you will not find on
the East coast. Congratulations Paul Howley and all at THAT'S
ENTERTAINMENT!
....---====*David LeBlanc> Comic...@aol.com
Editor of the ComicBook Net Electronic Magazine
http://members.aol.com/ComicBkNet
Kate the Short
On 28 Jul 1997 11:27:19 -0400, fire...@panix.com (Elayne
Wechsler-Chaput) wrote:
> Tom Galloway (t...@netcom.com) wrote:
> : >(oddly, I found myself knowing many of the answers), Robin and I looked in
>
> : to replace David "Finally Banned" Goldfarb with next year. It's even
> : female! :-)
>
> My vote's for either Sidne or Kate. Or both. :)
Who, ME?
Aside from the fact that I've *read* very little silver age anything, I
have never been to SDCC. Probably won't for another two years (next
year's honeymoon will NOT be at a comics convention!).
kate.
| Kate the Short - ka...@enteract.com - http://www.enteract.com/~katew/ |
| Patron Saint of .xbooks - Backup Moderator of news.newusers.questions |
| X-Men/Comics FAQs have moved: http://www.enteract.com/~katew/faq.html |
| New? see http://www.geocities.com/ResearchTriangle/8211/nnqlinks.html |
Elayne Wechsler-Chaput
Robin Riggs (Robin...@dial.pipex.com) wrote:
: fire...@panix.com (Elayne Wechsler-Chaput) wrote:
: >And Robin and I discovered one of their sections sold sushi-to-go. We
: >should have gotten that instead of going to Taka on Saturday. :)
: Too bloody right we should! It wouldn't have been as good but it would have
: been a HELL of a lot cheaper. :):):)
*shrug* Your Visa card, darlin', not mine. :)
Elayne Wechsler-Chaput
Robin Riggs (Robin...@dial.pipex.com) wrote:
: My reason for taking so many pictures there was it looked the way
: Elayne had been describing the settings she envisaged and she was there to
: confirm the parts that matched what she wanted.
: Robin Riggs.
: Wondering how much of the background it's worth drawing when
: it's going to be obscured by all those words. :):):)
Bite me, you prima donna. We're already doing the book Marvel style, so
I'm not even scripting "all those words" till you're done with all the
pretty pictures. :)
- Elayne (determined to cover Robin's mistakes with lots of balloons <g>)
Randy Meredith
: fire...@panix.com (Elayne Wechsler-Chaput) wrote:
: >The Spirit of Retailing Awards went to Central
: >City Comics in Columbus, OH (this year I *will* make their night-before-
: >Mid-Ohio-Con party!)
Congrats to Steve and the gang at Central City!
BTW, Elayne, the party you skip every year is at Laughing Ogre Comics,
Central City is the one that does the program book and programming for the
show. However, Gib & Co. at Laughing Ogre do put on a great get together.
It was fun last year listening to Maggie Thompson tell everone about the
Neverwhere TV show.
I'm also sure that Elayne will agree with me that Roger Price puts on a
great con and that everyone should plan to attend Thanksgiving Weekend
(Saturday/Sunday) at the con's new location The Adam's Mark Hotel.
Randy Meredith
Columbus, OH
Elayne Wechsler-Chaput
Randy Meredith (rmr...@freenet.columbus.oh.us) wrote:
: : fire...@panix.com (Elayne Wechsler-Chaput) wrote:
: : >The Spirit of Retailing Awards went to Central
: : >City Comics in Columbus, OH (this year I *will* make their night-before-
: : >Mid-Ohio-Con party!)
: Congrats to Steve and the gang at Central City!
: BTW, Elayne, the party you skip every year is at Laughing Ogre Comics,
: Central City is the one that does the program book and programming for the
: show.
Oops. Thanks, Dave Van Domelen also corrected me on this. I should also
note that the Central City guys have been instrumental at helping staff
the Friends of Lulu booth when we've needed supplementary assistance.
: However, Gib & Co. at Laughing Ogre do put on a great get together.
: It was fun last year listening to Maggie Thompson tell everone about the
: Neverwhere TV show.
: I'm also sure that Elayne will agree with me that Roger Price puts on a
: great con and that everyone should plan to attend Thanksgiving Weekend
: (Saturday/Sunday) at the con's new location The Adam's Mark Hotel.
I'm hoping to go this year (depending on my job situation, of course), and
since my 40th birthday is two days after the con I'd like to give a
night-AFTER-the-con party on Sunday evening, so I can attend the Laughing
Ogre party on Friday night at last...
Denise L. Voskuil
In article <5rfv8h$e...@panix.com>, fire...@panix.com says...
>Anyway, after asking the audience to "synchronize your Tomagotchis," Scott
>ran down the list of invited/special guests, mentioned that Sergio
>Aragones had won this year's Reuben award, and announced the Inkpot
>winners. Walt (KING OF PERSIA) Hokum won the Russ Manning Award for Most
>Talented Newcomer
Nitpick: That's _Holcombe_, though since some people I know thought his name
didn't even appear ON this Xeric-winner (it does once, on the copyright
notice), I suppose you can be excused. :)
>The Spirit of Retailing Awards went to Central
>City Comics in Columbus, OH (this year I *will* make their night-before-
>Mid-Ohio-Con party!), Chicago Comics, and That"s Entertainment in
>Worchester, MA.
Chicago Comics is a gem among shops. Great selection, with superheroes only
taking up maybe 1/6 of the wall space (and still a good selection, it seems)
farther back in the shop. Lots of indies, plus European and Japanese imports,
zines, minicomics, plus novelty items. Nice staff, too.
Jim Smith
Kate the Short wrote:
>
> On 28 Jul 1997 11:27:19 -0400, fire...@panix.com (Elayne
> Wechsler-Chaput) wrote:
> > My vote's for either Sidne or Kate. Or both. :)
>
> Who, ME?
>
> Aside from the fact that I've *read* very little silver age anything,
As an aside, why _do_ these Pro/Fan matches revolve so heavily around
the Silver Age (or so is my understanding)? Isn't that sorta like
agreeing to fight Paste-Pot Pete at the old Elmer's Glue Factory?
I mean, if the topic were "Superman comics 1993-present," I just might
be able to take out Waid, Busiek, et al. all by myself. Maybe.
Jim "Admits 1995 seems like a blur now" Smith
http://www.wworld.com/users/5smith/jim/
Robin
In article <5rnccb$1...@panix.com>,
fire...@panix.com (Elayne Wechsler-Chaput) wrote:
>: Robin Riggs.
>: Wondering how much of the background it's worth drawing when
>: it's going to be obscured by all those words. :):):)
>
>Bite me, you prima donna. We're already doing the book Marvel style, so
>I'm not even scripting "all those words" till you're done with all the
>pretty pictures. :)
>
>- Elayne (determined to cover Robin's mistakes with lots of balloons <g>)
"Prima Donna"? I think you're confusing me with that Davis guy again. :)
Actually I'm determined to fill every square inch of the page with
intricately drawn backgrounds to combat Elayne's current mantra of
"Whitespace=bad. Words=good". :):):)
Robin Riggs.
Tom Galloway
In article <33DFB3...@wworld.com> 5sm...@wworld.com writes:
>As an aside, why _do_ these Pro/Fan matches revolve so heavily around
>the Silver Age (or so is my understanding)? Isn't that sorta like
>agreeing to fight Paste-Pot Pete at the old Elmer's Glue Factory?
Heck, try the very first Silver Age match when Kurt Busiek suckered us
into agreeing that the cutoff for the Silver Age just happened to coincide
with the end of Marvels and thus the end point of his extensive research
into Marvel history for that project...(I should note that I consider
this a fair and reasonable trick to do, right up there with waving
Liefeld Captain Americas when Mark Waid buzzes in...).
Seriously, the thing to remember is that all of these started with
San Diego. Three years ago, Jim Drew and I were banned from the regular
trivia match there for being on the winning team 3 years in a row...and
the winning margins weren't pretty. However, Len Wein had been competing
that year as well, so he, us, and triviameister Jim Hay quickly came up
with the pro/fan match. So two years ago we did that, with the same pro
team as for the past two years save to sub in Aladdin scriptwriter
Ted Elliot for Mark Waid. The topic was unlimited. The fans crushed the
pros, particularly on the more obscure modern stuff (I recall Len's
expression when I answered (correctly) "Julius Knipl, Real Estate
Photographer"; it amounted to "What *is* that?").
So they challenged us to a rematch, but to Silver Age only i.e. the
stuff they grew up with and had time to read and had branded in their
memories.
Well, despite the score, that first match was enjoyable. So various
people going to Chicago last year ended up setting up a pro/fan match.
And since that year's San Diego was to be Silver Age, they went ahead
and made theirs Silver Age...and got Craig "Mr. Silver Age" Shutt
to be the question writer/moderator. Since that went well, they
repeated it this year, still with Craig as coordinator, thus Silver
Age city. Dragoncon, I figure, was just following the bandwagon
of San Diego and Chicago, as well as sharing some pros who like the
Silver Age stuff.
For San Diego last year, the pros won by 20 points (and a brain fart
on my account). But the problem was that, as was pointed out after
the match, I literally could've been up there solo and the score
would've been the same; I got all the fan toss-ups, and knew all
the fan bonuses, even if someone else also knew them. Part of this
may have been age; Mark Waid, Kurt Busiek, and I are all within
a year or two of each other, Roger Stern and Len Wein are older,
and the rest of the BII were considerably younger in terms of
when/what they were reading as kids.
So for this year, we tried to figure out a format that would retain
Silver Age stuff for the pros, maintain a competative match, and
get more of the BII into the match as well. So we did Silver Age
through pre-Crisis. Seemed to work pretty well, but we may tinker
a bit more with it for next year. But the main reason for Silver
Age is that it gives the usual suspects on the pro team a better
knowledge of the topic going in, making for a more interesting match.
Not to mention that you can get a *lot* of comedic material out
of some of those Silver Age stories...
tyg t...@netcom.com
Hosun S. Lee
On Wed, 30 Jul 1997 22:11:28 GMT, t...@netcom.com (Tom Galloway) wrote:
>In article <33DFB3...@wworld.com> 5sm...@wworld.com writes:
>>As an aside, why _do_ these Pro/Fan matches revolve so heavily around
>>the Silver Age (or so is my understanding)? Isn't that sorta like
>>agreeing to fight Paste-Pot Pete at the old Elmer's Glue Factory?
>
>Heck, try the very first Silver Age match when Kurt Busiek suckered us
>into agreeing that the cutoff for the Silver Age just happened to coincide
>with the end of Marvels and thus the end point of his extensive research
>into Marvel history for that project...(I should note that I consider
>this a fair and reasonable trick to do, right up there with waving
>Liefeld Captain Americas when Mark Waid buzzes in...).
It's nice to give the pros an advantage, but Jim's right. He...wait a
second, excuse me while I wait for the earth to stop shaking. Wow. I
never thought I'd ever write those words...
Okay, I do like the idea of going at least up to pre-Crisis, because
us young 'uns while are probably more familiar with SA material than
some other folks, know far too much about books done in the past 20
years or so.
-Me.
Denise L. Voskuil
In article <tygEE5...@netcom.com>, t...@netcom.com says...
>Seriously, the thing to remember is that all of these started with
>San Diego. Three years ago, Jim Drew and I were banned from the regular
>trivia match there for being on the winning team 3 years in a row...and
>the winning margins weren't pretty. However, Len Wein had been competing
>that year as well, so he, us, and triviameister Jim Hay quickly came up
>with the pro/fan match. So two years ago we did that, with the same pro
>team as for the past two years save to sub in Aladdin scriptwriter
>Ted Elliot for Mark Waid. The topic was unlimited. The fans crushed the
>pros, particularly on the more obscure modern stuff (I recall Len's
>expression when I answered (correctly) "Julius Knipl, Real Estate
>Photographer"; it amounted to "What *is* that?").
Uncultured wimps. :) Hmm, that reminds me that I'd been planning on reviewing
that Julius Knipl collection, thanks. See, I'd do well on modern questions,
but I'm useless on most superhero books.
Elayne Wechsler-Chaput
Denise L. Voskuil (dvos...@uic.spamsucks.edu) wrote:
: In article <5rfv8h$e...@panix.com>, fire...@panix.com says...
: >Anyway, after asking the audience to "synchronize your Tomagotchis," Scott
: >ran down the list of invited/special guests, mentioned that Sergio
: >Aragones had won this year's Reuben award, and announced the Inkpot
: >winners. Walt (KING OF PERSIA) Hokum won the Russ Manning Award for Most
: >Talented Newcomer
: Nitpick: That's _Holcombe_, though since some people I know thought his name
: didn't even appear ON this Xeric-winner (it does once, on the copyright
: notice), I suppose you can be excused. :)
Well, it wasn't written down anywhere (the Inkpots were purely verbal, as
opposed to the Eisners, for which there was a program printed), and I'm
afraid I'd never heard of KING OF PERSIA, so I was doing my best
phonetically; thanks for the correction! :)
Elayne Wechsler-Chaput
Piggybacking off someone else's response, since Brian's post refuses to
show on my system for some odd reason...
In article <33DCEA...@erols.com>, bba...@erols.com says...
: >Elayne Wechsler-Chaput wrote:
: >> Then it was off to the Pro/Fan trivia challenge, ... <snip>
: >> I'd love to see the
: >> parameters expanded even more into modern books, with perhaps a woman
: >> or two on each team in the future...
: >As I recall, an open invitation to any and all interested applicants.
: >You make
: >this sound like another of your "why are you evil men excluding women"
: >rants.
I have never "ranted" any such thing. I've raised the point that I have
personally felt excluded sometimes, but I've never called men evil (I
quite like men, in fact), and I think my feminist rhetoric has been fairly
reasoned. This sounds suspiciously like a "why are you gals always
getting hysterical" rant. :) :) :)
I don't for one minute believe the Pro/Fan trivia matches have conspired
to deliberately exclude women. I merely said I'd like to see more women
participating in the future. Get Carmela Merlo up there on the Pro team,
she knows at least as much as her husband! :)
Tom Galloway
In article <5rtr7o$k...@panix.com> fire...@panix.com (Elayne Wechsler-Chaput) writes:
>participating in the future. Get Carmela Merlo up there on the Pro team,
>she knows at least as much as her husband! :)
Speaking on behalf of the BII, we plan to boycott Carmela until we get
in writing that there won't be a "Snakes in Comics" bonus category
in any match she's in. :-)
tyg t...@netcom.com
David Goldfarb
In article <tygEE5...@netcom.com>, Tom Galloway <t...@netcom.com> wrote:
)(I recall Len's
)expression when I answered (correctly) "Julius Knipl, Real Estate
)Photographer"; it amounted to "What *is* that?").
Well, be fair, Tom -- you were getting those expressions
from our side of the table too. I know I'd never heard of it.
This year, the following was a tossup: "On two occasions,
new students at Professor Xavier's School have made it through their
first try in the Danger Room, only to be struck down by totally
unrelated forces." Now, for an X-Dino like me this was a gimme;
I rang in around "struck down" to answer, "Kitty Pryde and Dani Moonstar".
I wasn't quite prepared for the howls of outrage from the pros -- I
think it was Len who shouted, "Do you have a LIFE?".
At the time, I shouted back, "No!". It only occurred to me
a week later to answer, "Hey -- you guys are good at the comics you
read when you were 12; I'm good with the comics *I* read when *I* was 12."
David Goldfarb <*>|"It's okay to disagree with me. However, once I
gold...@ocf.berkeley.edu |explain where you're wrong you're supposed to
gold...@csua.berkeley.edu |become enlightened and change your mind.
aste...@slip.net |Congratulating me on how smart I am is optional."
| -- Karl Johanson
Brian H. Bailie
In article <5rtr7o$k...@panix.com>, fire...@panix.com (Elayne
Wechsler-Chaput) wrote:
> Piggybacking off someone else's response, since Brian's post refuses to
> show on my system for some odd reason...
Because it had better sense than to get mixed up in anything... :)
> In article <33DCEA...@erols.com>, bba...@erols.com says...
>
> : >Elayne Wechsler-Chaput wrote:
> : >> Then it was off to the Pro/Fan trivia challenge, ... <snip>
> : >> I'd love to see the
> : >> parameters expanded even more into modern books, with perhaps a woman
> : >> or two on each team in the future...
>
> : >As I recall, an open invitation to any and all interested applicants.
> : >You make
> : >this sound like another of your "why are you evil men excluding women"
> : >rants.
>
> I have never "ranted" any such thing.
I'm sorry you took my satiric comment so harshly.
You DO have a tendency to include a slant on your opinions on feminine
exclusion in a vast number of your posts, however. To the point, in fact,
that I now read over them with the same attention of one listening to the
child who kept yelling "wolf".
> I've raised the point that I have personally felt excluded sometimes
I feel excluded from the Atlanta Braves pitching staff, but that could be
because I don't have a 95 mile an hour fastball.
If you're specifically saying that you personally feel excluded from the
fan OR pro trivia team, could it be that it's not because you're a woman,
but because you have a self-admitted sieve-brain? And that you've admitted
that your knowledge of subject of the Silver Age is also less than
stellar?
Brian
(Whose knuckleball is still spectacular, though.)
--
As a dreamer of dreams, and a travelin' man
I have chalked up many a mile.
I've read dozens of books about heroes and crooks
And I've learned much from both of their styles.
- J. Buffett
Elayne Wechsler-Chaput
Brian H. Bailie (bba...@erols.com) wrote:
: In article <5rtr7o$k...@panix.com>, fire...@panix.com (Elayne
: Wechsler-Chaput) wrote:
: > Piggybacking off someone else's response, since Brian's post refuses to
: > show on my system for some odd reason...
: Because it had better sense than to get mixed up in anything... :)
: > In article <33DCEA...@erols.com>, bba...@erols.com says...
: >
: > : >Elayne Wechsler-Chaput wrote:
: > : >> Then it was off to the Pro/Fan trivia challenge, ... <snip>
: > : >> I'd love to see the
: > : >> parameters expanded even more into modern books, with perhaps a woman
: > : >> or two on each team in the future...
: >
: > : >As I recall, an open invitation to any and all interested applicants.
: > : >You make
: > : >this sound like another of your "why are you evil men excluding women"
: > : >rants.
: >
: > I have never "ranted" any such thing.
: I'm sorry you took my satiric comment so harshly.
It's Usenet, Brian. :)
: You DO have a tendency to include a slant on your opinions on feminine
: exclusion in a vast number of your posts, however.
Only insofar as it affects me personally. :) I'm just a joiner, what can
I say? Yes, not feeling included is certainly one of my bugaboos. I
*wish* I could be included in one of the trivia teams, and will probably
go for the "fan/fan" one next year if I'm allowed to with a pro badge,
because I knew about three-quarters of the questions Jim asked there. But
no way am I ready for the rac* big-time. :)
Timothy W. Lynch
fire...@panix.com (Elayne Wechsler-Chaput) writes:
>I don't for one minute believe the Pro/Fan trivia matches have conspired
>to deliberately exclude women. I merely said I'd like to see more women
>participating in the future. Get Carmela Merlo up there on the Pro team,
>she knows at least as much as her husband! :)
Yeah, but I can't picture her in Roger's straw hat. :-)
Tim Lynch
Tom Galloway
In article <5s2phl$d...@panix.com> fire...@panix.com (Elayne Wechsler-Chaput) writes:
>*wish* I could be included in one of the trivia teams, and will probably
>go for the "fan/fan" one next year if I'm allowed to with a pro badge,
>because I knew about three-quarters of the questions Jim asked there. But
Unless Jim's changed the rules since the pro/fan match started, pros
are eligible to play in the regular one; Len Wein played in it before
the pro/fan started. Heck, come to think of it, at least half the
BII Farm Team this year were wearing pro badges due to various fine
points, so presumably anyone not playing in the pro/fan match or who's
among the three who are banned from the fan/fan is eligible.
Heck, why don't Elayne and Sidne recruit Carmela and some other woman
and compete as one of The Liberators/Femme Force/Female Furies/
Revolt of the Girl Legionnaires next year? [titles of various all women
groups I recall of the top. I'd suspect Elayne would vote for the
Furies, and Sidne for the Legionnaires...]
tyg t...@netcom.com
Crisper Than Thou
Elayne Wechsler-Chaput <fire...@panix.com> wrote:
>Still, even among the usual
>expectations certain things sounded interesting, like an upcoming series
>called CHASE, about a woman who works for the Department of Extranormal
>Operations. Newcomer Dan Johnson writes, with art by J.H. Williams and
>Mick Gray. This made my pull list immediately, and I only hope DC doesn't
>decide this book satisfies some sort of quota, and shuns other female
>leads as a result.
I hadn't thought of ourselves as an equal opportunity series. Hmmm. I just
didn't want to do Yet Another Power Girl character. I don't even remember
why we made her female.
No, wait, I do remember. Never mind.
Anyway, I think you'll like her. We certainly do.
>I'll also say here and now, especially after a
>discussion in San Diego with John Ostrander, that some of the Tangent
>books sound quite interesting (naturally, I'd urge most everyone to pick
>up John's NIGHTWING entry).
Definitely. A lot of work has gone into the whole Tangent project, and the
bits of it I've seen definitely show it.
>"Submissions made along with art samples almost
>always have a better chance of selling"-- check, and done, thanks to my
>partner.
I should have come to that panel, being the "new guy". They're absolutely
right. I would go so far as to say, "Attach yourself, remora-like, to
an artist with whom you can really work. Feed each others' imaginations.
And when one of you breaks in, never forget that you want to work
together."
--The Elder Dan
--
The government can take everything but your paranoia.
Denise L. Voskuil
[cross-posted to alt.comics.fandom]
In article <tygEED...@netcom.com>, t...@netcom.com says...
>In article <5s2pdu$c...@panix.com> fire...@panix.com (Elayne Wechsler-Chaput)
wr
>ites:
>>Well, as Mark Waid joked at Mid-Ohio last year, "Ask me questions about
>>anything having to do with DC up until the time I discovered girls." :)
>This, of course, is the *real* reason we're blackballing women from
>competing. Seven of eight of us would be so distracted that Jim Drew
>would run away with the match by his lonesome. :-)
This means that either Jim has better self-control, or you guys are nothing to
write home about in looks. ;)
- Denise
--
Denise L. Voskuil - dvoskuil AT uic.edu
Tom Galloway
In article <5s4plr$234s$1...@piglet.cc.uic.edu> dvos...@uic.spamsucks.edu (Denise L. Voskuil) writes:
>>This, of course, is the *real* reason we're blackballing women from
>>competing. Seven of eight of us would be so distracted that Jim Drew
>>would run away with the match by his lonesome. :-)
>This means that either Jim has better self-control, or you guys are nothing
>to write home about in looks. ;)
Or 3) Jim has lousy taste. Actually, given his "Trivia Queen" self
naming at the Legion dinner, I think 3) is more and more likely. :-)
Then again, Jim did get either 1 or 0 toss-ups this year, so perhaps
he was distracted...:-)
tyg t...@netcom.com
Jim Murdoch
Jim Drew got at least one toss-up, I was the Jim who didn't answer any this
year.
Jim Murdoch Spam, UCE, and all other types of
sm...@primenet.com junk email will be billed to the
univ...@lsh.org sender and ALL associated ISPs at
the rate of $1000 each per message.
Denise L. Voskuil
In article <tygEEE...@netcom.com>, t...@netcom.com says...
>In article <5s4plr$234s$1...@piglet.cc.uic.edu> dvos...@uic.spamsucks.edu
(Denise
>L. Voskuil) writes:
>>This means that either Jim has better self-control, or you guys are nothing
>>to write home about in looks. ;)
>Or 3) Jim has lousy taste. Actually, given his "Trivia Queen" self
>naming at the Legion dinner, I think 3) is more and more likely. :-)
Thank god _someone_ got the joke - I already got a few pieces of E-mail from
people informing me of Jim's sexuality, which I have known for a few years,
probably.
[The joke was that if Jim isn't distracted around all those men, he's either
got strong self-control or the other guys aren't good-looking.]
- Denise
--
Denise L. Voskuil - dvoskuil@: uic.edu/mcs.com/eden.com
Tom Galloway
In article <5s7169$j...@panix.com> fire...@panix.com (Elayne Wechsler-Chaput) writes:
>Tom Galloway (t...@netcom.com) wrote:
>: Heck, why don't Elayne and Sidne recruit Carmela and some other woman
>: and compete as one of The Liberators/Femme Force/Female Furies/
>: Revolt of the Girl Legionnaires next year? [titles of various all women
>Seriously, it's a cute idea, but if the BII is set in stone and all that,
>and of course God *forbid* the pros go without Kurt and Mark, there really
>isn't a place for us in the regular pro/am tourney...
Yes, but there is in the amateur one, and y'all should at least put up
a good fight against the BII Farm Team if not win. Besides, y'all need
to pay your dues there like the rest of us. :-)
tyg t...@netcom.com
Todd VerBeek, gwm
>>fire...@panix.com (Elayne Wechsler-Chaput) writes:
>>>Well, as Mark Waid joked at Mid-Ohio last year, "Ask me questions about
>>>anything having to do with DC up until the time I discovered girls." :)
>In article <tygEED...@netcom.com>, t...@netcom.com says...
>>This, of course, is the *real* reason we're blackballing women from
>>competing. Seven of eight of us would be so distracted that Jim Drew
>>would run away with the match by his lonesome. :-)
My pal Denise L. Voskuil said:
>This means that either Jim has better self-control, or you guys are nothing to
>write home about in looks. ;)
Well, adult gay men tend to have strong self-control by natural
selection... the ones without it don't survive high school phys-ed class,
at least not with all their parts. And as for the latter, well... as
lecturer Brian McNaught so eloquently puts it, "Gay men have taste."
{grinning, ducking, running}
Cheers, Todd
"Indeed Bilbo found... he had lost his reputation. It is true that for ever
after he remained an elf-friend, and had the honour of dwarves, wizards, and
all such folk as ever passed that way; but he was... held by all the hobbits
of the neighbourhood to be 'queer'.... I am sorry to say he did not mind."
David J. Snyder
In article <5s79n4$lrc$1...@piglet.cc.uic.edu>,
Denise L. Voskuil <dvos...@uic.spamsucks.edu> wrote:
>
>[The joke was that if Jim isn't distracted around all those men, he's either
>got strong self-control or the other guys aren't good-looking.]
>
-Dave (not Hasselhoff)
--
"So I'm no more responsible for my own decisions while I'm here at work
than, say, the Death Squad soldiers in Bosnia?"
"That's stretching it. You're not being asked to slay childen or anything."
"Not yet." - Randal and Dante, CLERKS
Elayne Wechsler-Chaput
Tom Galloway (t...@netcom.com) wrote:
Good point; if I can get another three gals together, we're there. :)
the boo damons
Elayne Wechsler-Chaput wrote:
>
> Brian H. Bailie (bba...@erols.com) wrote:
>
> : > In article <33DCEA...@erols.com>, bba...@erols.com says...
> : >
> : > : >Elayne Wechsler-Chaput wrote:
> : > : >> Then it was off to the Pro/Fan trivia challenge, ... <snip>
> : > : >> I'd love to see the
> : > : >> parameters expanded even more into modern books, with perhaps a woman
> : > : >> or two on each team in the future...
> : >
> : > : >As I recall, an open invitation to any and all interested applicants.
> : > : >You make
> : > : >this sound like another of your "why are you evil men excluding women"
> : > : >rants.
> : >
> : > I have never "ranted" any such thing.
>
> : I'm sorry you took my satiric comment so harshly.
>
> It's Usenet, Brian. :)
>
> : You DO have a tendency to include a slant on your opinions on feminine
> : exclusion in a vast number of your posts, however.
>
> Only insofar as it affects me personally. :)
bullshit. brian's right.
--
"Maybe it's our idea of perspection [perfection]
that's wrong." -Phyllis Frisa
Elayne Wechsler-Chaput
Tom Galloway (t...@netcom.com) wrote:
: Heck, why don't Elayne and Sidne recruit Carmela and some other woman
: and compete as one of The Liberators/Femme Force/Female Furies/
: Revolt of the Girl Legionnaires next year? [titles of various all women
: groups I recall of the top. I'd suspect Elayne would vote for the
: Furies, and Sidne for the Legionnaires...]
I love this idea. Mind if I ask Trina Robbins? :)
Seriously, it's a cute idea, but if the BII is set in stone and all that,
and of course God *forbid* the pros go without Kurt and Mark, there really
isn't a place for us in the regular pro/am tourney...
- Elayne
Elayne Wechsler-Chaput
Dan Johnson (cri...@best.com) wrote:
: Elayne Wechsler-Chaput <fire...@panix.com> wrote:
: >Still, even among the usual
: >expectations certain things sounded interesting, like an upcoming series
: >called CHASE, about a woman who works for the Department of Extranormal
: >Operations. Newcomer Dan Johnson writes, with art by J.H. Williams and
: >Mick Gray. This made my pull list immediately, and I only hope DC doesn't
: >decide this book satisfies some sort of quota, and shuns other female
: >leads as a result.
: I hadn't thought of ourselves as an equal opportunity series. Hmmm. I just
: didn't want to do Yet Another Power Girl character. I don't even remember
: why we made her female.
Well, I always liked John Byrne's theory: All other things being equal,
why not? It's not like DC has a dearth of lead MALE characters. :)
: No, wait, I do remember. Never mind.
Uh oh. :) :) :)
: Anyway, I think you'll like her. We certainly do.
Well, you're biased. :) Seriously, can you tell us more about her, and
about the book, now that we have you around here? Oh, and standard
question-- if this book is being run out of the Bat-office, that would
make you at least the second or third "brand new" writer to get published
from an office *notorious* for rejecting newcomers. How did you do it?
: >"Submissions made along with art samples almost
: >always have a better chance of selling"-- check, and done, thanks to my
: >partner.
: I should have come to that panel, being the "new guy". They're absolutely
: right. I would go so far as to say, "Attach yourself, remora-like, to
: an artist with whom you can really work. Feed each others' imaginations.
: And when one of you breaks in, never forget that you want to work
: together."
Yep, you've pretty much described how Robin and I work too. Fortunately,
Robin "broke in" a LONG time ago, so I'm pretty much riding his coattails.
:) :) :)
Crisper Than Thou
Elayne Wechsler-Chaput <fire...@panix.com> wrote:
>Well, you're biased. :) Seriously, can you tell us more about her, and
>about the book, now that we have you around here?
The basic things that the book is about:
* It's about a normal person's view of the supernormal world. It's about
people who have to drive on roads that might be blown up twice a month.
People who have to buy superhero disaster insurance because you never know
when your apartment block will be flattened. People who had supervillain
attack drills all through elementary school.
* It's about trying to maintain a normal relationship when your job makes
your life un-normal. Her fiancee is even more normal than she is, and
he has to live with the fact that the person he loves gets up every morning,
straps a gun on, and goes face to face with people who have been known to
collapse skyscapers.
* It's about a Californian's opinion of New York City. I'm the Californian.
My wife's a New Yorker. I *love* visiting NYC. It is so completely and
utterly alien. I have a bajillion things to say about that city, and
the number grows by an extra zero at the end with each successive trip
out there. So Chase is a recent San Francisco to New York transplant.
* It's about the government's view of "the metahuman problem". C'mon, we have
thousands of pages of legislation on the subject of labelling of food
products. What are the laws like for people who could probably conquer
most countries single-handedly? Are mages who turn lead into gold guilty
of fraud? Do flying superheroes need transponders to avoid mid-air collisions
with commercial airliners? Can I sue someone who's read my mind without
permission?
* It's about one person's attempt to understand her own biases and predjudices,
and to come to grips with her own traumatic past.
Depending on which part of which issue I'm fiddling with, each of the above
"abouts" is my favorite part of the book. Right now, that last item is my
favorite bit, because that's what Jimbo and I were talking about last night
on the phone.
>Oh, and standard
>question-- if this book is being run out of the Bat-office, that would
>make you at least the second or third "brand new" writer to get published
>from an office *notorious* for rejecting newcomers. How did you do it?
Didn't get in through the Bat Office. Got in through Eddie Berganza, who
is editing the book. Eddie is much more interested in seeing new things than
a lot of the editors; the Tangent project is being driven by him and the
effort shows on all of it. The Bat Office was asked to intro the character
prior to the release of her own book, but after BATMAN #550 comes out we
don't have anything to do with them. Well, for a while.
>Yep, you've pretty much described how Robin and I work too. Fortunately,
>Robin "broke in" a LONG time ago, so I'm pretty much riding his coattails.
I've known Jimbo about ten years now, long before he was doing any professional
comics work. It is impossible to put the two of us together for any length
of time without new ideas coming into being, springing full-formed like
Athena from the head of Zeus. By the time Jimbo was doing his first pro work
in comics (stuff that he would be mortified to see brought up for signing
at a con nowadays), we had about six or eight very different projects that
we desperately wanted to work on.
Of course, for those projects to ever see print, we had to get established as
a team. Jimbo magnanimously volunteered to go first, since he already had a
beautiful portfolio of art and getting an editor to read a proposal is like
pulling teeth. Once he was established enough to have editors asking him
what he'd *like* to work on, as opposed to just asking him if he'd like some
work thrown his way, he said, "I know this really great writer..."
Phase two: Pitch them something they already wanted. They were drawing up
plans for a monthly book for Sentinel (Alan Scott), done as a suspense book.
I know Mark Millar submitted a proposal for it; not sure who else. So I
submitted a proposal for Sentinel, which I dreamed up in a couple of days.
It was, I say without ego, utterly fucking brilliant. Sadly, the series
was scrapped. But Eddie had liked my Sentinel proposal a lot. So he said,
"Why don't you submit something else? I don't have any established ideas
ready to go, so why not create something totally new?"
After I picked my jaw up from the floor, Jimbo and I got to work, and a
couple of weeks later, I was faxing Eddie the first proposal draft of
CHASE. That was December of 1995. (My God, I've been working on this
for a year and a half. Ow ow ow ow.) I flew out to NYC to visit in-laws that
Christmas, met Eddie in person, and we worked on polishing the hell out
of that proposal until it was ready for submission to the senior editors.
I would characterize their response as "highly positive" and we got the
go-ahead for a full series.
Phase three: CHASE is a major success, and Jimbo and I start making progress
towards those early projects that have been sitting on my laptop since 1991.
Still working on this one. ;)
Elayne Wechsler-Chaput
Leah Adezio (slad...@nac.net) wrote:
: Elayne Wechsler-Chaput wrote:
: >
: > : In article <5s7169$j...@panix.com> fire...@panix.com (Elayne Wechsler-Chaput) writes:
: > : >: Heck, why don't Elayne and Sidne recruit Carmela and some other woman
: > : >: and compete as one of The Liberators/Femme Force/Female Furies/
: > : >: Revolt of the Girl Legionnaires next year? [titles of various all women
: > : >Seriously, it's a cute idea, but if the BII is set in stone and all that,
: > : >and of course God *forbid* the pros go without Kurt and Mark, there really
: > : >isn't a place for us in the regular pro/am tourney...
: > : Yes, but there is in the amateur one, and y'all should at least put up
: > : a good fight against the BII Farm Team if not win. Besides, y'all need
: > : to pay your dues there like the rest of us. :-)
: >
: > Good point; if I can get another three gals together, we're there. :)
: Ask, baby. Ask. :) I know you weren't one of the originals, but the
: Bitches in Black could ride again! :)
Hey yeah, that's right! I'm sure we could talk Trish Mulvihill into it,
or Joanna Sandsmark, or Johanna Draper... good idea! Oh dear, I'm afraid
we've already chosen the name, then. :)
Leah Adezio
Elayne Wechsler-Chaput wrote:
>
> Leah Adezio (slad...@nac.net) wrote:
> : Elayne Wechsler-Chaput wrote:
> : >
> : > Tom Galloway (t...@netcom.com) wrote:
> : > : In article <5s7169$j...@panix.com> fire...@panix.com (Elayne Wechsler-Chaput) writes:
> : > : >Tom Galloway (t...@netcom.com) wrote:
> : > : >: Heck, why don't Elayne and Sidne recruit Carmela and some other woman
> : > : >: and compete as one of The Liberators/Femme Force/Female Furies/
> : > : >: Revolt of the Girl Legionnaires next year? [titles of various all women
> : > : >I love this idea. Mind if I ask Trina Robbins? :)
> : > : >Seriously, it's a cute idea, but if the BII is set in stone and all that,
> : > : >and of course God *forbid* the pros go without Kurt and Mark, there really
> : > : >isn't a place for us in the regular pro/am tourney...
> : >
> : > : Yes, but there is in the amateur one, and y'all should at least put up
> : > : a good fight against the BII Farm Team if not win. Besides, y'all need
> : > : to pay your dues there like the rest of us. :-)
> : >
> : > Good point; if I can get another three gals together, we're there. :)
>
> : Ask, baby. Ask. :) I know you weren't one of the originals, but the
> : Bitches in Black could ride again! :)
>
> Hey yeah, that's right! I'm sure we could talk Trish Mulvihill into it,
> or Joanna Sandsmark, or Johanna Draper... good idea! Oh dear, I'm afraid
> we've already chosen the name, then. :)
Well...I don't know how Trisha is on trivia, and having spent a loooooong
time on the phone with Joanna the other night, I don't think she'd be
interested, as she's rather moved away from comics right now, but.....
We could draft alternates. And you need the wardrobe. Come to think of
it, I'd need *summer* black. All my cool black clothes are more for
winter wear.
I know!
Let's go shopping!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)
Leah