WHAT'S
ON MY BRAIN: August 2, 2004
Well, it is over and done with folks, and I've come out of it with minimal
scars and bruises! A good indicator that a really good time was had by
all, and of course I'm talking about the 2004 San Diego Comic Convention!
Yes, I met a bunch of you there, some I don't exactly remember, Simons
fault…sorta…and I hope to meet the rest of you in coming years.
So it started off with a bang, or a travel problem as we like to say in
the Biz, meaning the "Biz." It seems there was a miscommunication
between my east coast office that booked the tickets, and the travel agent
who arranged everything--we confirmed with them Simon Bisley's tickets
they, the travel agent, did not confirm them with Virgin Airlines! So
when Simon arrived at the airport in London he didn't have a seat on the
scheduled plane. Many stressful hours later we were able to rebook him
flights to the states, including a limo ride from LAX to San Diego because
I caused the trouble.
The show just wouldn't have been the same without him, and besides it
was the world premiere of his "Illustrations from the Bible"
book! Hot off the press, we were able to fly in only a few hundred copies,
and as expected it sold out right away. It really is one of the most amazing,
personal projects I've seen him tackle, and I'm just thrilled to have
been a part of it.
Okay, lets get to some photos, and I'll carry on with the tales, although
I'm pretty sure I'm going to make this a two part "What's On"
adventure… |
|
 The
first shot is of the Hotel Marriott where most of the Heavy Metal crew
stays, and where Simon and I beat up all the lamps in his room, threw
a ton of shit out the window, and Simon did a dive on a swiveling desk
chair, landed on his arm, and had to wear a sling for the rest of the
show.
|
 The
next photo is of the front of the convention center, the first or second
day, I can't remember which, but as you can see there were more than a
few folks wanting to get in! I've heard numbers above 100,000 that made
it through the con, and it sure seemed like it, as I barely got to leave
the table to shop for more cool stuff to crowd my studios shelves. |
Here I am posing with Simon in front of the show, I must have had too
many "Bloody Mary's" at breakfast with Simon because it took
me twenty minutes to figure out this wasn't Simon. He was a bit too friendly
though… |
 AHHH,
Here we go, now I find Simon, and he is of course thrilled to see me,
or maybe he was just looking for a light for his smoke while I'm making
him pose for a stupid photo. There you can see the bandage on his arm
from the great chair diving lamp wrecking incident. I can't wait till
Howie sees the hotel bill for this year! |
 Next
up we have a booth group shot of Lorenzo on the far left, the yummy and
amazingly beautiful model Veronika, The Biz, and yours truly striking
a pose. I didn't get that many booth shots for some reason, I'll have
to work on that for next year. |
 Oh
Baby, here she is, the lovely TESS! Amazingly talented, one of the sweetess
people I've ever met in my life, and a true joy to have as a booth slave.
Just kidding about the booth slave, but I'll tell you we couldn't have
done it with out her, I promised her she'd only have to work a few hours
a day but we were swamped, and she barely left the booth the whole time.
God bless you Tess, you are a gem, the whole Heavy Metal staff fell in
love with you! |
 Elvis
lives! This guy's was the coolest, and Simon and I couldn't resist getting
our photo with "The Man" before he left the building! There
were so many GREAT folks there with costumes on, many of which you'll
get to see in upcoming installments of "What's on!" |
 Here's
a great photo of me and my buddy Billy Martinez, creator, and artist of
"Wild Flower" and "Kick Ass Girl" (and also someone
who keeps a stash of Vodka behind his booth like we do) posing with the
idiot with the chins. Didn't get to hang out with Billy this year as much
as in past years, as I think we were all so busy, which is a great sign
for the future of all us comic guys! |
The last
two images are of Derek, Veronika's other half, pulling a Nate Van
Dyke and lifting Simon up for a photo, Derek mind you is like six
foot ten, (see me standing on the chair?) and like his better half,
one of the nicest folks I've ever met! Well, you guessed it, Simon
couldn't be outdone, and had to crank Derek over his shoulder for
a photo op as well!
 
|
|
So
there you have the first installment of the San Diego Comic Con adventures,
there are far too many other people to show photos of and thank to end
here, so I'm going to make you wait another week to see the rest--and
it might even bleed into a third week--trust me you won't mind.
I'd love to tell you about specials and what not, but I'm running out
of room, so I'll just tell you most of the regular site updates are
up, and there are 22 new pieces of original art up in the original art
section. So check them out, and don't forget the "Art of Heavy
Metal Show" at the Echo Gallery in Chicago the 13th, 14th and 15th
of August--more details coming next week.
Bye for now, all the best, Kevin |
