NYCC Report with a cool story

[jmatt]

I wanted to share with you a very cool moment I had at the NYCC this year:

After going to the Valiant booth and getting some stuff signed and meeting the Valiant team, I wandered over into Artist Alley in search of Clayton Henry, so he could sign my AA #14 con special. I have to admit, I’m drawn to his art like a moth to flame and I had $500 burning a hole in my pocket.

So I arrive at his table and he’s very gracious and even lends me one of his chairs so I can sit as I pore over his six inch stack of original Valiant pencils for sale. (I’ll show you what I bought tomorrow)

Anyway, as I’m sitting there Justin Jordan suddenly appears at my side. I stand and greet him and we chat for a few minutes before he departs and I return to drooling over all that Henry comic art goodness.

Three minutes later, an older gentleman appears in the very same spot. He looks at a Shadowman banner hanging behind Clayton and asks if he’s the regular Shadowman artist. Clayton replies that it’s just a one-off drawing he did for the book at one time.

“Oh, I ask because I used to draw Shadowman.” Now I’m on my feet and he’s talking to me. “I used to write it too.” I cannot describe the look on my face. “I’m Bob Hall.”

After I got up off the floor, I start gushing like a schoolgirl, telling him how revered he is on the board and how much we all loved his Valiant work and on and on. He tells me he’s there looking for work and produces a book of his artwork (not originals) that he’s using to showcase his stuff for comic book companies. I start flipping through it and he’s narrating as I do.

Before he leaves, he tells me I can keep the copy I’m holding. I’m giddy. I ask if he’s willing to do commission work and he says most certainly, then asks if I’ll post this solicitation for him on our forum. He also asked me to lobby VEI on his behalf, which I mentioned to Atom! on our office tour.

So here it is:

Anyone looking for Bob Hall commissioned artwork should contact him via his website http://www.bobhall.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Now I ask you, what are the astronomical odds that the two writers for Shadowman would appear standing in the same exact spot within three minutes of each other?

My two regrets: I didn’t have the presence of mind to get a pic with Justin… and I didn’t ask Bob to sign his book.

[jmatt]

Me and Bob:



Me and Clayton with my newly prized possessions, the cover art for Archer & Armstrong #0 and the 2-page interior spread; the cover was $550 and the 2-pager was $300 (thank goodness he took plastic):



Bob's book:



Interior, the last page he drew of Shadowman:



Clayton and Bob:



Me and Dino:



Me and Bob Layton:

[bygranddesign]

Awesome story JMatt!! Love hearing these stories.

Thats an amazing coincidence to meet Bob Hall and Justin Jordan ... Now you just need to meet Milligan for the past, present, future trifecta of Shadowman

Clayton Henry is a cool dude also .. Met him at a convention a few months ago and bought a page from Archer and Armstrong issue 2

[Peter]

Great story and pics, what a wonderful thing to happen.

The stars do align at certain moments, I feel happy just hearing about this.

Thank you for putting Pics up, it gives those of us who can't possibly make it there, a sense of what it all looks like.

[drmirage]

Nice!

[lorddunlow]

So jealous right now. That is so awesome. Glad you had that awesome experience!

[slym2none]

Me and Bob:

Looks like y'all got photobombed.

(:



-slym

[slym2none]

Also, it seems like a shame if Bob Hall can't get some VEI work... even if it was covers, or a one-shot, but something to do with Shadowman, definitely!



-slym

[lorddunlow]

Also, it seems like a shame if Bob Hall can't get some VEI work... even if it was covers, or a one-shot, but something to do with Shadowman, definitely!



-slym

QFT

[jmatt]

Thats an amazing coincidence to meet Bob Hall and Justin Jordan ...

When he revealed who he was, Clayton and I just looked at each other. "The other Shadowman writer was just standing there not three minutes ago...".

Oh, and sitting in Clayton's artwork pile were a ton of pages with X-O. I think I may have been looking at either an upcoming X-O story or a Unity issue...

The office tour was fantastic again. Dino and Atom! are just so cool to hang with, as was Warren Simons.

I got to see a lot of upcoming artwork in Warren's office, including that oh-so-cool cover for EW #5, Eternal Emperor. There was another piece with him on horseback that was totally Frazetta.

Oh, and I'll just toss this out there: Big Boy. With a twist. None of that was official but I got a nod.

Attendees were given copies of Unity Red, and we had them signed by all VEI staff that was present. Are these guys the best, or what?

[MarkRoseHFX]

thanks for sharing

I'd love to see Bob Hall work for VEI

[blujay]

He also asked me to lobby VEI on his behalf, which I mentioned to Atom! on our office tour.

So here it is:

Anyone looking for Bob Hall commissioned artwork should contact him via his website http://www.bobhall.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Warren and Dino you guys don't have an excuse now. I want to see freakin' Bob Hall working for VEI PRONTO!

[depluto]

Great stuff!

[ShadowTuga]

This was great to read, thanks for sharing it!

[kevinbastos]

SO JEALOUS.

And now, the Bob Hall commission.

[lorddunlow]

SO JEALOUS.

And now, the Bob Hall commission.

+1

[AnthonyF]

Wow, great post, with nice pictures to boot!

Congrats on picking up the Clayton Henry artwork, I'm so envious!

[wrunow]

Wow, great post!

Bob Hall hung with us at the 2007 NY Valiant Con. Has to be one of the nicest men I've met in the industry.

Have fun!

[doodlebird]

Very cool !!

[pixierosa]

That's a great story. Perfect timing on your part.

Bob Hall is from my former hometown, Lincoln, Nebraska. He's a frequent visitor at our LCS, and the owner cannot speak more highly of him. Before Bob did the piece for the hardcover, the owner repeatedly told me how Bob's work is even better now than it was then, Valiant needs to give him work, etc. I hope they do.

Bob was in the shop one time when I was there, so the guys that work there quickly grabbed me a Shadowman from their back stock, and Bob graciously signed it. I felt like a complete dork but he was humble and pleasant. He's a man who seems to have a lot of integrity. He also does a lot of work with the local theatre groups.

[jmatt]

Very happy with my purchases.

Cover a&A #0



a&A #0 2-page spread pp 16,17



Ken (kjjohanson) actually made me jealous with his; he bought the pages from issue #1 where Ivar activates the boon. That's a pretty serious moment in the Valiant Universe.

I'm standing in front of the a&A #0 display at the Valiant booth, holding my cover pencils up to the book and I call Ken over "Hey, check this out." He goes "Oh yeah, take a look at this" and whips out the boon pages from #1.

[betterthanezra]

Wow, great post!

Bob Hall hung with us at the 2007 NY Valiant Con. Has to be one of the nicest men I've met in the industry.

Have fun!

Yeah and we all got drunk together at that bar in the evening...

-Brian

[hawkeyeps]

Cool thanks for sharing Jmatt

[dmezynski]

That is a great story! I'm jealous that you got to meet Bob Hall.

[jmatt]

Bob Hall is from my former hometown, Lincoln, Nebraska. ... He also does a lot of work with the local theatre groups.

The last line of his half page bio at the beginning of the book: "...and is also the Artistic Director of Flatwater Shakespeare Company in Lincoln, Nebraska."

The books is gorgeous. The interior pages are all cardstock.