Saturday, October 09, 2004

Busiek does local signing

I just got home from seeing Kurt Busiek at a local comic book shop where he was doing a signing. It was one of those experiences we have never had in our town to my knowledge. I have lived here 15 years and this is the first time we have had a comic book creator, other then local Clayton Crain, here for a signing.

My friend Mina's husband Ben owns Heroes For Sale, and that is where the signing took place. Awkwardly, my husband Jim works for the competitor, but the way I see it, any activity like this in our town needs support, so we eagerly went.

The signing started at 11 a.m. but we didn't go until 1, because I am feeling crappy with an bacterial infection. When we got there, it was a homey, casual feel. Kurt was answering questions from the local fans, and it went very well. After awhile, it dwindled down to a half dozen people, so the hubby and I were able to ask the burning questions we had.

Kurt was patient and witty, doing his best to humor us. He got some good cuts in on Jim, and we learned how to pronounce other creator's names. We also learned that Kurt's favorite comic book character is Hawkeye, and that while he is alright with the character's recent demise, there is always the artistic license available to bring him back.

As I speak, Kurt and our friends Ben and Mina are headed to Grants for dinner. It should be a relaxing, delicious way to end the day. I hope that we are able to have more creators in the town in the future, and am eagerly awaiting the upcoming 12 issue Astro City maxi-series.

2 comments:

Carl said...

Got to see him at Megacon 2002 (I think). They had him set up at a table and he was over-run by fanboys and I was with a very meek friend, Doug. He had come almost a 1000 miles to see Busiek and some other DC guys and I was having none of that. So, I muscled my way (we had waited patiently in his line and the the line order evaporated when he showed up, nice!) through the rude teens and got Doug up front to get signed. Then I got my books signed, told him how much I loved Astro City and he was real nice, under seige but nice. Glad you got some personal time with him Heidi...

Heidi Meeley said...

Carl, good for you getting your friend some face time! It is always tough when the more popular creators have lines, because there isn't the personal touch either would like.

Jim and I were really lucky to spend such quality time with Kurt. It was a great experience, and I especially enjoyed watching my hubby as he interacted.

Take care!