San Diego 2005: Greg's journal - Saturday (#5)

[greg]

SATURDAY (07/16/2005):

Saturday's wake up call came much too soon as it had nearly been morning
when we finally turned out the lights. However, Saturday was the big day
for the ValiantFans.com crowd, so we were up and ready to go in almost no time.

We drove quickly to a nearby Wal-Mart in order to purchase a keyboard for use
with the laptop. For some reason, the keyboard on the laptop did not respond
correctly in our tests. I picked up the latest edition of Harry Potter (Book Six)
as well as a spiral notebook we could use as a guestbook for the meeting.

We parked back at the hotel and rode the trolley into the station where the
blue line (from Chula Vista) intersected with the orange line (Downtown San Diego).
Because the orange line trolley was sitting right beside our stop, we hopped
on to take a shortcut to the convention center. It was probably a ten to fifteen
minute walk from the station to the center, so we thought we might get there
a little quicker if we took the trolley already sitting beside us.
(On Thursday, we would have had to wait for a trolley, so walking was quicker.)

Well, the trolley didn't take off immediately, and before long a new driver
boarded and headed us off... in the wrong direction. We rode for exactly one
stop away from the convention center, although it was probably many blocks
from the previous stop, and of course realized it was wrong to pick the trolley we did.
So, like any other stop, if you want to go back the way you came, all you
have to do is wait for the next trolley that comes by. The next trolley
came and went right past us... about 100 yards to a northbound stopping location.
Evidently the southboard stop is not the same as the northbound stop.

So, we headed over quickly but not in time to ride that particular trolley.
It would be another fifteen minutes before we caught a ride back to the
station where all of the confusion started. Luckily we passed the time a bit
by chatting with a woman wearing a Mile High Comics t-shirt. She was a local
who was hired to help staff the Mile High booth during the convention.

We were still plenty early when we arrived in Room 24A for the first
ValiantFans.com Open Conference. I believe we had a little over an hour
before the meeting was to begin. Chris S. and I pulled the two tables
from the stage and created a line of four tables at the front, with
twelve chairs and an aisle dividing the tables. The first two rows
of chairs were stacked on each side and dragged out of the way.
The meeting room, guest table

Chris hung his Cystic Fibrosis Foundation banner on the back wall,
and set up the laptop to be connected to the Team Alyssa information webpage.
The plan was to sell raffle tickets for various prizes which had been donated,
and also to allow anyone with a credit card (instead of cash) to donate
directly to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation via the website.

I placed the guestbook on the first table to the right as you entered,
and also had a small stack of the "Beginner's Guide To Collecting Valiant"
printed up for anyone who might like a copy. The first "guest" to arrive
was Scott (comikxguy) from Amazing Al's comic shop in Chula Vista. Valiant fans
who were already known to be attending included myself, Chris S., Justin,
Brian, Heather, Chris G., Kristie, Dino, and Chris M.
Joe (ZephyrWasHot!!) arrived early, as well as a
Valiant fan named Kyle who was dressed as Harry Potter.

Former Valiant artists were arriving as well, and before long we had
Kevin VanHook (and his two sons), Jim Calafiore, Rodney Ramos, and Charles Yoakum
in attendance. I wish I had found time to meet and greet everyone who attended.
Other audience members included Jason, Gary, Karen, Mark, and Kelly.
(Since I have not sought permission to print last names, I will not do so.)
There were a few other attendees who did not sign the guestbook.

At around noon, Brian Wells began the meeting by welcoming all those
who could make it to the meeting and allowed me to do the same.
I mentioned that there were many others from the website who could not
attend, but were true Valiant fans who still cared about Valiant.
I thanked the artists for attending and mentioned that several of them
have participated in projects for the Valiant fans who also supported
the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. I introduced Chris Scott to say a few words
about the Cystic Fibrosis cause.

Brian asked each artist to introduce themselves, briefly mention their tenure
at Valiant, and to describe what they're working on today. In order of
introduction, the artists were Harry Eisenstein, Jeff Gomez, Rodney Ramos,
Jim Calfiore, Kevin VanHook, Charles Yoakum, Howard Simpson, Sean Chen,
Bernard Chang, Maurice Fontenot, Jorge Gonzalez, and Dennis Woodyard.

click to enlarge

Brian had mentioned that in the 1992 San Diego comic convention,
Valiant (Voyager) had been present and signing copies of Unity #0.
In order to commemorate that event and our own, Brian provided copies
of Unity #0 to this panel, although few had actually worked on the book itself.
It was more of a symbolic "starting point" for Valiant's progress in 1992, and
it was the same symbolic "starting point" for the ValiantFans.com gathering.
Kevin VanHook mentioned that several who worked on that book didn't actually
get any of the "credits", so there would be some signatures there that deserved
to be there as well as the "symbolic" meaning.

Additionally, I had created a souvenir of sorts by combining the "people on the hill"
of Unity #0 with a photo of the San Diego convention center, and printing them
in color on photo paper. Each one was about 5.5"x8.5" and had plenty of whitespace
for the artists to sign. Stacks of the Unity #0 comic and the souvenir print
were sliding along the tables during the meeting, gathering signatures of the artists.
Meeting signed items (photo of Chris Gould's personal copies)

After the introductions of each artist, there was a brief question and answer
session which was surprisingly quiet. I regret that I was moving back and forth somewhat
throughout the meeting and didn't just sit back and take in every word that was said.
At one point, one artist mentioned that Kyle, the Harry Potter fan, reminded them of a
young Jim Shooter and several others agreed.

By 1:30pm, we were required to vacate in order to allow the Asian Ball-Joint Resin Doll Collectors
meeting to begin. I thanked as many attendees and artists as I could, and handed
out both the Unity #0 comic and souvenir print to attendees who I didn't know
if I would have a chance to see again. Any artists who were still standing nearby also
received one or both, as I hoped they would remember the meeting as a nice experience, too.

Bernard Chang handed out tickets for two items that he had brought and drew winning
numbers that turned out to belong to Dino and myself. I got a hardback copy of
"The Black Belt Club", illustrated by Bernard. The end of the meeting seemed a bit rushed,
but when there are Asian Ball-Joint Resin Doll Collectors looming, who's going
to hang around and see what's next? The conversations continued into the hallway
for some attendees, and I felt like the meeting was a success solely because
of the number of former Valiant artists who had a chance to see each other together
in one place, remembering a comic book company from last decade.

After sending a quick text message to Magnus, I returned to the convention floor
to check on the Fighting Cystic Fibrosis backerboard that I provided to Terry Moore.
Robyn Moore (Terry's wife) said that he had not finished it, but that
I could check back toward the end of the day. I walked through the hall
and found myself at Sal Velluto's booth. He said he would have liked to
attend the meeting earlier, but his publisher's luncheon was at the same time.
I enjoyed meeting him, snapped a quick photo, and kept walking.
Sal Velluto in his booth


The booth which had held the Harbinger #1 for $60 had also held a copy
of Magnus #64 for $30. When I visited the booth on Saturday, the Magnus #64
had either been moved, or purchased. I found a creased copy of Solar #10 (first printing)
that I paid $8 for, simply because it had Don Perlin's signature on the front.
I knew it was going to be an "upgrade copy" for someone at the convention.

Mid-afternoon, I found the mezzanine level in the back of the convention center.
A couple of escalators carried people up to an open area which seemed to be
the gathering area for a variety of stormtroopers, as well as other members
of the Star Wars costume group. A group of heavily armored "real-life" fighters
were giving demonstrations on the back patio every hour, and I was able to
send another text message or two to Magnus while stopping for a couple
slices of pizza.
Medieval fighting demonstration

When possible, I tried to get photos of attendees in costume, which yielded
a few more Star Wars fans, some D.C. Comics characters, and a Willy Wonka or two.
Once I had rested a bit, I headed back into the crowd that was "Saturday at the con".
Darth Vader, Leia and Padme's Handmaidens, I call this one "Bubba Fett",
Anakin and Obi-Wan, Stormtroopers, D.C. characters (1), D.C. characters (2),
Willy Wonka, another Willy Wonka, and a Klingon

Hoping to talk more with George Pantela, I returned to the CGC booth,
but he was not present. ACTOR (A Commitment To Our Roots) is a non-profit
organization for helping comic book veterans. They were sharing the floorspace
with CGC in San Diego and were hosting a "celebrity poker" game where anyone
donating $5 to ACTOR could play poker with one or more industry professionals.

I hung around the booth and chatted with Kevin Boyd (who was helping CGC) waiting
for the poker game to begin. Once it did (at 5:00pm), I played a few hands
with Tom Mandrake and about five or six others at the table. At one point,
the majority of chips on the table were in my stack, thanks to a full house
I had made with threes and twos... but you know how it is... you win some, you lose some.
When I had given back all my chips, I thanked everyone and headed off.
Justin had come by just in time to watch me lose, so we spoke briefly about
what else we needed to get done before the end of the convention day.
My brief poker dominance

I dropped back by the Strangers In Paradise booth to check on the Terry Moore sketch,
but was told again that it was not ready, so I got an email address and provided
Mrs. Moore with my own contact information. Toward the end of the day,
I was quite tired and found a seat again across from artists' alley,
just to people-watch and rest.

Chris S. had joined me at the tables, and returned to some nearby backissues
where he obtained a low-priced copy of Armorines #0 Gold earlier in the week.
This time he snagged a couple copies of Magnus #12 for let's just say "less
than cover price". Dino and Jason stopped by for a moment, and we agreed
to meet up later for dinner.

Justin had returned to the hotel separately, since he was still carrying
the laptop and keyboard from the meeting, so Chris S. and I departed
the convention while the security was making the after-convention sweep
for anyone without a "pink badge". On the way to the door, Chris S.
picked up two more sketches from Sergio Cariello and Dan Brereton.
(Whenever I was present for sketchwork, or a pick-up, I snapped a photo.)
Dan Brereton, Sergio Cariello

Our ride back to the hotel by trolley was just fine, and when we got there
we determined that Dino and Jason might want to head our direction for supper.
The Black Angus steakhouse was excellent on Friday night, and seeing how
at least six of the Valiant fans were staying at the same hotel, we thought
it would be easy access for the majority of the people coming to dinner.
Saturday crowd heading to the trolley or downtown

We knew our party was at least seven, knowing that Dino, Jason, Chris S.,
Chris G., Kristie, Justin, and myself would be attending. We confirmed
that Brian, Heather, and Joe were also on their way. Before long,
Chris M. and the "Hired Gun" team were also present, and our table
had become almost a full wall of Valiant fans.

The service was not as good as the night before, most likely because
the staff wanted to do everything as a group, including waiting until
all fifteen meals were prepared before serving. Additionally, we had
been told of and given a "free appetizer" the night before, but the
Saturday staff either didn't know about it, or didn't want to admit
they knew about it.

Though it was slow, the food was good, and nowhere near as disastrous
as the Blarney Stone situation was on Thursday. Following the meal,
which was graciously paid for by our hosts, we stood in the parking
lot of the Motel 6 chatting about Valiant and getting to know Jason,
whom Justin and I had just met earlier in the day.

Chris S. wanted to pack and to get some sleep, so Justin and I provided
a ride for Dino and Jason back to their hotel. Since Justin drove,
I guess all I did was provide a little company. After hearing about
Dino and Jason's earliest Valiant memories, and also about the
"shoebox" that used to serve as a birthday prank, we dropped Dino
and Jason outside their hotel room, just as a white rabbit hopped
in front of the car and stared at us for a moment.

Since I am a sucker for symbolism, I likened the white rabbit to
the beginning of the movie "The Matrix", which is a reference to the
classics "Through The Looking Glass" and "Alice in Wonderland".
Dino claimed he didn't see a rabbit, and Jason and Justin had a
good laugh regardless. After all, it was 3:00am, and we had just
finished talking about a shoebox.

Justin and I rode back to the hotel talking about our collections
and about how the week had gone. Before long, the sun was rising
on Sunday morning and we hadn't had a minute of sleep.
Oh well, sleep may be overrated anyway.

-Greg Holland

[Vault-Keeper]

Great recollections, Greg! Thanks again for sharing! I wish I could have been there to meet everyone. Maybe next year!---Steve

[depluto]

The end of the meeting seemed a bit rushed, but when there are Asian Ball-Joint Resin Doll Collectors looming, who's going to hang around and see what's next?

Very true, those jerks are ruthless!