The Energon Pub

I love this time of year! Sorry that it took awhile to post these pictures...

Little moments I love from Comic-Con this year:
-Riding the elevator with Denys Cowan and nerded out with him about The Question and his Prince comic. He was shocked that I own the Prince comic

-Running into folks from the board. Always a good thing!

-Caught up with Geoff Johns and asked him about reprinting his old Flash stuff. He wasn't sure. The next day I saw Dan Didio and bugged him about it. He said they have plans for it and I don't have to pay hundreds of dollars for those out of print editions!

-I bugged the **** out of Hasbro for [url="http://www.606studios.com/bendisboard/showthread.php?t=193954"]Captain America frisbees[/url]. The guy's eyes lit up as soon as I mentioned it.

-I bugged DC Direct about Y: The Last Man products. I suppose the window has passed since #60 since they won't do anything until an eventual movie.

-While chatting with Kathryn Immonen, I told her how much I dug Runaways. Man, I love her brief run.

-Took my best friend Stephen to Comic-Con, it was his first trip to San Diego and he lost his damn mind. I would be walking and turn around to talk to him, only to discover he’s taken off in a different direction to grab a freebie.

-I probably walked 20 miles each day. I feel ripped.

-I walked in one day with my Farenheit 451 shirt which I loved. Security yelled at me to stop, I thought I did something wrong. The guy just asked me what time Ray Bradbury was signing. I told him I didn’t know and went about my business. This happened several times that day. I was puzzled.

Bradbury fans, if you wear a Batman shirt I don’t ask you what time Grant Morrison is signing.

-Closing out the trip with riding the elevator with Guillermo Del Toro. I tried to be cool about it but as soon as I stepped inside I was like “I LOVE HELLBOY.” He noticed the stacks of shortboxes and and beer on top of it. “I see what’s important.”

(I’m sure I’m forgetting something but I’ll edit them in later)

On to some photos

The calm before the storm...


Jim Lee is on my key!


Breakfast of Champions!


Stan Winston would give this to employees who worked with him for more than 10 years.


Never got to visit the Scott Pilgrim Experience but it looked fun!


First wave of people entering Comic-Con. Insanity.




Nerds take over San Diego. Love it.








In brightest day...


Walking Dead booth, so cool!


My god has a hammer.




Seriously, my favorite costumes!




David Finch’s Winnie the Pooh & Friends. I wanted to steal this.


My pal got a Gonzo as Penguin sketch. Quite possibly the only time you’ll see a Muppet smoke!


My pal also got Cliff Chang to do Bettie Page!


One of many photos of me with Transformers


See?


I told my boss I quit my job.I just joined a ruthless terrorist organization determined to rule the world.


Jessie!


Hall Hell madness


Love the Stan Winston booth...







The mass exodus everyday.




Machete Taco Truck!




Veterans of the First Cylon War.


IDW & Their ‘Bro Panel with Mike Costa and Larry Hama action.




Bubblemen promo for that Skyline show.




Went to the Eisners for the first time. Really cool awards show! All my favorite nominees won!



Photos from the Legendary Pictures booth...











Flycatcher!


Love the Killing Joke look!
























Cassie Hack!




She-Ra!


So happy to see Gene Yuen Lang and Derek Kirk Kim win the Eisner! Love those guys.


Michael Scott sketch by J. Scott Campbell. I wanted it!


Beautiful.




More pictures to follow later...

Met Matt Fraction, Gabriel Ba, and Fabio Moon on preview night. First in line to see Fraction!


I may need a restraining order against Fraction.


More Ba & Moon. I think they were shocked I actually owned Roland. I had to tell them how much I loved Ursula, really great book.


Among the many books I brought for Ba & Moon, they signed my BPRD: 1947 paperback along with Mike Mignola and Joshua Dysart. Working on getting Dave Stewart to sign it!


Eric Powell!



I had Bendis sign a ton of stuff like the Alias omnibus, Daredevil: Hardcore, Powers hardcover, Fortune & Glory. Though I’m quite pleased I had him sign my Ultimate Spidey hardcover, right next to Stan Lee. My favorite piece on my bookshelf.


My yearly autograph session with Kirkman. This time the uber nice editions of the Complete Invincible Libary (now with Ryan Ottley and Cory Walker’s signatures) and The Walking Dead Deluxe Edition.



Ryan Ottley & Jason Howard signed my other comics as well.


Met Drew Struzan and he signed my art books. I asked him if they’re ever going to a print of The Mist’s Dark Tower painting. He said no but it’s in his new book. I nearly fainted. I stared at that page soaking in all the detail because there’s never a clear shot of the painting in the movie.


Checking out Doctor Thirteen, now signed by Cliff Chang.


Saw John Layman and Rob Guillroy the morning after they won the Eisner.


Love Rafael Albuquerque’s work in Superman/Batman. Couldn’t wait to check out American Vampire. Once I saw the cover where it said it was about sex, drugs, and rock & roll I had to buy it!


Mike Choi & Sonia Oback’s (does she go by Sonia Choi now?) newest project! So stoked.


Just needed Ande Parks to complete my autographs for Archer’s Quest hardcover. Wondeful!


Art Baltazar & Franco Aureliani signed my comics!


Greg Rucka signed my 52 #1. Now all I need now is Grant Morrison and JG Jones.


I’m a huge Hack/Slash fan so I was bummed that I missed Tim Seeley at every possible signing. Though I ran into him on the con floor and chatted with him. So glad that the book is back!


Speaking of Tim Seeley, I had my first professional comic work signed by him years ago. This year, I decided to get all the artists that contribute to the book to sign it. I had Sean Phillips, Ben Templesmith, and Bill Sienkiewicz sign it. To this day, I don’t quite understand how my name is in the credits along with those top talents. One of the gems in my collection.


I was going to leave early but I heard Adrian Alphona showed up unexpectedly. I made one last trip to the convention to get my Runaways hardcover signed by him and Christina Strain as well (met Jo Chen earlier in the week)


The haul! Big ups to my pals for pointing out the Dave Stevens book. I’ve been looking for that as well! TwoMorrow had those Modern Masters books for $10 a piece. Couldn’t resist picking those up!


Even more stuff to come!

And now for my favorite part of conventions... sketches!

First off, Jim Mahfood. Saw him walking around San Diego on Preview Night and nerded out with him about Clerks and Generation X comics. I had to get a Kevin Smith sketch the following morning. I was a bit nervous when I saw him throw ink on the page but it turned out great!




Dan Jurgens to drew Superman for me. I loved his Death of Superman era stuff and figured tons of people would’ve already asked him for a Supes sketch. He said that I was one of the very few, lots of people have been asking for other DC characters.


Next up, Cliff Chang! Told him how much I dug The Brave & The Bold #33, especially the double page spread in the end where Barbara Gordon opens a door. He was wondering how I figured that page out, I said it was those Mad fold in’s. He said it was JMS’ very specific instructions to create the double page spread that way. I’ve got to admit, I love JMS’ layout ideas sometimes, such as Rising Stars with the ghost page.


Fiona Staples’ Wonder Woman! Really loved her work with Mike Costa’s Hawksmoor, who then appeared out of nowhere like a ninja. Plus her DV8 covers rock.


I waited for about an hour and a half for Jo Chen, so worth it since I now own this amazing Molly Hayes sketch!


I saw Sean Phillips tweet he would be at the SplashArt booth signing after his panel. I headed early figuring to be the lines. I was first in line but waited about an hour and forty five minutes. So worth the wait to finally add Sean’s signature in my Marvel Zombies hardcover along with Kirkman and Suydam’s signatures.


I always see John Cassaday walking the floors but never sign at a booth. While waiting for Sean Phillips, I saw him walking around. I stopped and asked if he could draw Jean Grey. “I’ll make her Dark.” Excellent


Saw Lee Bermejo. As he drew inside my Joker hardcover, I mentioned how much I loved his art as a kid with the Wildstorm Resident Evil comics. It’s a real trip to see how far his art has come.


Even though Art Baltazar charges only $1 for sketches, he said he’d do Robin for free because I brought my own comics. What a hell of a guy!


As perviously mentioned before, I was about to leave until I heard Adrian Alphona was around. I’ve always wanted a Alphona sketch so I had to go back. Well worth it. Thanks, Jew Mafia, for the heads up!



The highlight of my sketch collecting this year... Gabriel Ba & Fabio Moon! I’ve grown to love the twins over the years through 5, Umbrella Academy, Pixu, Sugar Shock, and Casanova. I knew I wanted a sketch from them but didn’t know what. I eventually figured I wanted them to draw each other since I love it when they do slice-of-life art. I wasn’t sure if the twins would be up to it but Fabio said that at least they’re good at drawing each other!

It was a real joy watching the twins go to work. It was weird watching Gabriel look at Fabio, like he wasn’t sure how he looked like.

Not only was it a brilliant piece, I seemed to cross paths with them over the course of the trip. Such as checking into the hotel while they hung out in the lobby or crossing paths in the hotel hallways. At one point, Fabio said “I remember you from every year.” God, I hope I don’t come off as creepy.

I seen the dude on G4 last week in th Colonial Pilot uniform but I didn't know Cylons were there.Those cosplay girls are hot