Portland Comic Book Show: Seen & Heard

Our favorite comic book vendors!
Originally uploaded by Heidi Meeley.

The Portland Comic Book Show was a great experience in many respects. First, meeting Pamela and Kirk Jarvinen was an absolute pleasure, one I rhapsodized about earlier. I look forward to seeing them again, and can't say enough nice things about them.

Otherwise, we were able to go through the creator's alley without a lot of lines, which was like a dream. We started with Aaron Lopresti, because I wanted to see if his wife would be there. I went to high school with her, and hadn't seen her for over 10 years. Unfortunately, she wasn't coming in, but I was able to pass on my greetings. Jim was able to get a great head shot of Kyle Rayner from Aaron as well.

Jim was able to get a fabulous sketch of Kyle Rayner from Kirk Jarvinen and also picked up one from Phil Foglio. They had a nice dialogue, and Phil seemed well known and well respected. It was a thrill to look at his wares. Next time I would like to get goggles from him.

I discovered Last Kiss, a new twist on romance comics done by John Lustig. What a great book! Lustig also had magnets a greeting cards, and I picked a few up. Lucky for me he will also be at the upcoming Seattle Con, so hopefully I will be able to buy more then. If you get a chance, go to his website at lastkisscomics.com.

Good gossip of the show was about a local creator who seems to be getting too big for his britches and embracing the word "super star" without quite being there. Taking a cue from uber expensive Michael Turner, this creator is jacking up his prices and expecting the fans to like it. I can hardly wait to see what the future holds for this formerly humble fella. I hope he doesn't crash and burn.

Shopping was incredible. If I wouldn't have been on a budget, I would have had a really good time. Somehow I kept some self control and was able to save $43 for the upcoming Seattle show, which I will be pimping here soon. My coolest purchase was a page of JLE art from Ron Randall. That gentleman is another class act.

We ran by civilian for the day Matt Haley and his friend who I am embarrassed to say that I don't know her name. She is a very talented artist in her own right, and has a site www.gothfox.com. At any rate, Matt told us that GI Spy is going to be a PS game, so it sounds like an exciting future. He is very busy, but will be at Emerald City next April. Go check out his stuff at www.matthaley.com. His commissions are incredible, and his art just keeps getting better.

We went by our favorite retailer's booth, but decided to hold back until the Seattle show in two weeks. Randy and John will have their full assortment of stuff, and we can hardly wait.

Overall, I would definitely have to rate the Show an A. Meeting Pamela and Kirk, getting a little gossip, buying original art, and of course some awesome books made it a fabulous day.

The next show will be Sunday, March 5, 2006. Featured guests listed are: Gail Simone, Kirk Jarvinen, Gary Martin, Randy Emberlin, and Daniel Cooney with more to be announced. Mark your calendars!