Thursday, April 06, 2006

Emerald City Comicon Report: Sunday- Shutting It Down!


Comics Fairplay ECCC 2006
Originally uploaded by Heidi Meeley.
Sunday morning came too early. The time change did nothing to enhance things, but we were determined to be up and at 'em early. We went downstairs to the buffet once again to carb load and get on our way. Jonnie joined us for a few minutes, and then it was off to the con with he and Mike along for the ride. Poor guys! I admire their courage.

Once we hit the doors, we were surprised how quiet things seemed. The line to get in was much shorter, and everyone seemed pretty mellow. I sat back to greet the day, and was pleasantly surprised by Polite Scott and his lovely wife Robin. We had a great conversation and then headed upstairs to the DC Panel.

We sat in front of Laura and her hubby Eric to await the panel. Silly me, I just assumed she would know that it was Polite Scott with me. Bad Heidi! I should have made sure. As we waited for the panel to start, Eric allowed Scott and I to peruse his sketch book. It is an awesome sight, and I was quite envious.

The panel started when Kurt Busiek and Gail Simone went upfront and took questions. Bob Shreck followed later, as he had to climb the stairs. Poor guy. All three are very outgoing and give great talk, but there was not a sense of what to ask. (Note to Jim: This is where a moderator would come in handy, hint hint!!)

After awhile, with my husband ringing my phone, I took off and went back to the booth. The highlight was that Brian, our very esteemed, handsome, and talented friend had taken over the ACTOR part of our proceedings. Brian is an excellent fundraiser, and smartly proceeded to tell Jim and I to buzz off so he could get down to the business of making money for a worthy cause! Smart man.

That being the case, Pamela and I wandered over to the concessions where she bought me a large diet coke- thank you Pamela, you saved a life that day! She and I relaxed and pondered life before deciding it would be nice to give Brian a breather.

Back at the booth, Brian had done an excellent job of keeping things going. He had raised quite a bit of money, and was probably hoping we could keep the momentum going. Well.... we tried, but didn't do so well. By the end of the day, we did get better.

We saw Laura downstairs, and she and Eric were having a nice time. For a more accurate report of things, check out her blog, as she didn't wait as long as I did to report the show. I can learn from you, Laura! She was dismayed that she hadn't properly talked to Polite Scott yet, so I was very happy later that she got to see him before he and Robin went to the Science Fiction Museum.

Selling tickets and passing the rest of the day made it go all too quickly. Before I knew it, Brian was taking Mike to the airport, and we were faced with the prospect of trying to finish fundraising for ACTOR solo! I got down to it, and had a wonderful time interacting with my fellow fans. We were so priveleged with the bounty we had. Dan Brereton donated a gorgeous Kane water color and Kirk Jarvinen did an incredible sketch of Thrillkiller Batgirl. We were also blessed with a Birds of Prey trade courtesy of Gail Simone and a Spider-Man sketch from Joe St. Pierre. Brian came through with several action figures, the first appearance of Superboy Prime, and a calendar signed by most of the creators present. Once this was added to the action figure, trade, and comics we already had, it was quite the bounty for the comic fan.

I am happy to say we raised mucho dinero for ACTOR and made some fans very happy. We drew at 3:30 p.m and several attendees came to watch. Some walked away with swag, others were disapointed, but it was for a worthy cause.

The day ended all too quickly and we had to say goodbye to our friends. I will miss our booth neighbors Joe and Shon immensely. I hope they stay in touch! Joe, we never did finish our conversation, so we will have to pick it up later.

We went to dinner with Kirk and Pamela, which was the perfect way to wind down. It was a wonderful, relaxing meal with two people I really like, so it doesn't get better then that.

Back at the hotel, we hit the lounge, hoping to run into Scott and Robin. As luck would have it, they came down not long after we did. What a blast! Thank you again for the beers and great conversation!

After Scott and Robin departed for bed, I sat alone while Jim waited for Adam Hughes to do a sketch. Poor Adam had vowed to do as many sketches as possible in the lounge that night, and he was put to the test. Jim loved watching him, and tried not to bother him too much as he was working.

I didn't have to hang alone for long, as I was able to spend some time with Jim D. and some of the creators. It was nice just to chill. Thank you to Darick for the beer.

Just as I didn't think things could get any better, my hubby took me over to Adam's table and presented me with a custom sketch of Black Cat wearing a Flashdance style shirt that says "Got Milk" on it. I was touched and surprised to find that Jim had spent all that effort for me. The sketch is incredible, so I hope to post it soon.

Funny moment: Tony Harris comes over to where I am looking at the sketch and we have a brief exchange as so:

Tony: "Are you crying?"
Me: "No!"
Tony: "You just look like you have one of those faces where you cry easily. Are you sure you;re not crying?"
Me: "No, I'm just drunk."
Tony" "Oh." (very knowingly!)

Too funny.

Thank you to my fellow lounge mates for the great evening. My diet went to hell in a handbasket that night, but it was worth it for the companionship and sheer fun. We have to do it again next year!

After all the excitement, Jim and I basically crawled upstairs to bed. It was a perfect end to a perfect weekend.

Just one problem: We had to get up the next morning and go home.

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