Highlights from 1998's UY Dojo Event at the San Diego Comic Con!
My Adventures at the SDCCBy David "Wily Pueo" Gravatt After a five-hour flight from Honolulu into LA and then another 2-1/2 hours on the road to San Diego, me and the gang did a drive by of the convention center right around 9:30 a.m. or so on Thursday. The line outside was an ugly sight. We decided to go to Horton's Plaza and get something to eat. Afterward, me and a friend made our way to the convention center, while the rest of the blasphemous crew decide to do some sightseeing and shopping in the city. Luckily for me, I prepaid for my convention pass and had to wait less than five minutes before getting into the convention center. However, my non- prepaying friend finally got inside after almost two hours! Anyway, on entering the convention center, the first order of business was to track down Stan Sakai at the Trilogy Tour site. After all, he is THE MAN behind my favorite comic title USAGI YOJIMBO. I figured the Trilogy Tour tree and statues would be easy to spot so I just walked up and down the main aisles looking for them. Whoa, that was a mistake and talk about your sensory overload. After about half an hour, I finally rumaged through the bag of junk I was given on entering the building and found the list of booth locations--much easier after that (heh). Finally, I found Stan. After a few minutes of waiting while he did sketches for a couple of folks, I finally got to speak to him and inquire about a commissioned piece. He said he only did commissioned work that he could finish during the convention. That was disappointing since I wanted to commission a large painting. Still, I left him the letter I prepared before leaving Hawaii, a combination commission proposal and fan letter, and asked him to take a look at it and let me know Friday, the next day, how he felt--if my proposal was not acceptable to him then that would be okay. Well, the next day, soon after the convention opened its doors, I made my way back to Stan's booth, but his wife, Sharon, informed me he was at the Dark Horse booth for an autograph session--he would be back in about an hour. Well, it was a long hour, but I finally caught up with him when he returned to his spot at the Trilogy Tour site. He said YES he would do the painting if he could publish the image as a cover to one of his collected books or such. That was fine by me! It will be a couple of months before he will be able to do the painting--probably completing it in October or November. It's costing me a pretty penny, but this is the dream piece I was hoping for before leaving for San Diego. Since Stan was generous enough to allow full payment at the completion of the painting, I also had more money spend at the convention--including more on him!!! On Saturday, I bought the calendar page he did featuring "Eowyn and the Nazgul King" and the last hardback book I needed, #8, to complete my set. I did spend a hunk of cash on other stuff, but to put it in perspective, including the commission, I spent almost exactly half of my San Diego Convention budget on Stan, and I was happy to do so. I am not a rich guy or anything, but I had been saving up for the convention for the last six or seven months. I have to add what gracious folks Stan and Sharon are. I felt more than a little odd being a 30-year-old fanboy hanging out at their booth, but they made me feel comfortable--especially talking to Sharon about Hawaii. I was worried though they would think I was stalking them since I used the Trilogy Tour tree as a rendezvous point for meeting my friends at various times throughout the convention! Anyhow, it's been a GREAT year--acquired Albedo 1-5 (yes the grail #2 even), the last couple Critters issues I needed, the entire hardback collection, the TMNT Usagi figurines, Sakai's original calendar artwork, and, of course, the commissioned painting!!! Did I not mention finding the Usagi Yojimbo Dojo, as well? RRRYYYYYAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!
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San Diego Comic Con 1998
