My morning at the Long Beach Comic Expo

[maichan]

I bought my advance ticket from my local comic book shop a few weeks ago, so was able to get into the LBCE a little early this morning.



I'm always overwhelmed when I attend these things - the whole comic con experience is still rather new to me but at least now I know what to expect.

One of my missions today was to have some artists sign my copy of the Sakai Project. Several contributing artists were in attendance and I think I was able to get all but one of them to sign their illustrations in my book. The artists included:
Katie Cook
Dennis Culver
Tony Fleecs
Dave Johnson
Todd Nauck
Dustin Nguyen
Eddie Nunez
Patrick Scullin
Mike Vasquesz
Dean Yeagle

The only one I missed was Dan Panosian, whose table was empty during the time I was there (and I left before 1pm).

While I was at Stan's table I met Dojo member Robert Kassebaum. Robert told me he's been attending conventions for a long time, including San Diego Comic Con (close to 30 years - correct me if I'm wrong Robert). As requested, Stan had a bag of goodies waiting for Mayhem and me. The goodies included the French Sketchbook and the finger puppets.


Stan also included an assortment of freebies for me...


As well as copies of the Star Wars variant covers and a copy of The Witcher...


Stan signed several books for me,


...including my HC copy of UY Book Three, The Usagi Yojimbo Saga Book 1...


and The Adventures of Nilson Groundthumper and Hermy...


I was planning on having Stan do a quick sketch for me, but instead I decided to buy some items from his portfolio...




I also went around and had a few artists add something to the sketchbook I started a few years ago, (but hadn't gotten very far with until now)...

Katie Cook



Dean Yeagle



Mike Vasquesz



Dustin Nguyen



Eddie Nunez



And a few things I picked up from these artists... my favorite is the small watercolor that Katie Cook did of our dog Momo...



That was my day.

I hope some of you that attended will share what your day (Saturday or Sunday) was like.

[Maka]

Sweet!

Thanks for the list of artists. I been so busy at work and family that I haven't looked at who was in artists' alley. Looks like you had a fun time and picked up some cool sketches and art. The two pieces from Stan's collection are awesome. Glad you got to meet Robert. He is cool.

And nice beard, Stan.

Peace, maka

[JLM]

Congratulations on that haul. I am a big fan of the Usagi and Martian sketch.

[Steve Hubbell]

Nice recap of your day!

I really love Katie Cook's little Usagi watercolors, ever since the first MCCC which I took one of my nephews to, and Stan showed us the one Katie had done for him. Of course, we rushed over and asked if she would do one for each of us. Really neat!

Got to admit to being surprised by the beard, and as Maka said, looks good....

[BuckRogers]

Wow! Super stuff! Looks like you made that absolute most of your experience!

And I also have to say that I love the Katie Cook watercolor. Just awesome.

Man, I REALLY need to go to one of these comic-cons! They look amazing!

[Gaffey]

Is that an Usagi window decal?

Who drew the Herobear/Usagi cover?

I like this one

[Mayhem]

Who drew the Herobear/Usagi cover?

Travis Hanson according to my Google-Fu: http://www.comicsbeat.com/first-look-at ... is-hanson/

[maichan]

Who drew the Herobear/Usagi cover?

Travis Hanson according to my Google-Fu: http://www.comicsbeat.com/first-look-at ... is-hanson/

That is correct, as verified on the inside cover. Too bad he wasn't at the Expo... or was he?

[Stan Sakai]

That is correct, as verified on the inside cover. Too bad he wasn't at the Expo... or was he?

Travis was at the Expo, just a couple of booths up the aisle. He was next to buddy Mike Kunkel of Herobear and the Kid fame.

[jabba359]

Who drew the Herobear/Usagi cover?

Travis Hanson according to my Google-Fu: http://www.comicsbeat.com/first-look-at ... is-hanson/

That is correct, as verified on the inside cover. Too bad he wasn't at the Expo... or was he?

He had a booth, but the couple times I passed by it over the course of Sunday's show, he wasn't there.

[Stan Sakai]

Travis had a booth, but the couple times I passed by it over the course of Sunday's show, he wasn't there.

Yeah, like myself, he was on a lot of panels on Sunday. In fact we were both on the Graphic Novels for Young Adults panel.

[Stan Sakai]

Is that an Usagi window decal?

I like this one

Yes, that is a window decal. The Usagi/martian drawing will be included in the Senso collection along with the other cover ideas.

[jabba359]

As requested, Stan had a bag of goodies waiting for Mayhem and me. The goodies included the French Sketchbook and the finger puppets.


Stan also included an assortment of freebies for me...

Ah dang, I grabbed the big bag of freebies dedicated for the trivia contest giveaway, but I forgot to ask if Stan had brought my personal bag of goodies (I had requested a bookmark, finger puppets, and "any other free things he might have laying around"). I guess I was so impressed by the big bag of stuff for the trivia giveaway that it didn't dawn on me until I was on the way home that I had also requested some stuff for me to keep as well. Oh well, maybe I can get myself a bookmark and finger puppets at WonderCon.

[Robert Kassebaum]

It was good seeing you again. I always like to meet fellow Dojo members at the conventions. Yeah, Stan's beard was a surprise (I told him later if he wore an eye patch and tied a water gourd to the end of his walking stick, he would look like Katsuichi. Got a good laugh from Stan afterwards) Glad you had a good time.

[jabba359]

I also got a few more signatures in my Sakai Project. Katie Cook had a really long line at SDCC every time I tried to go to her booth, so I missed her there. This time, however, the line was much more manageable. I also got a little Usagi painting from her.



The only others in attendance that I hadn't gotten signatures from yet were Dennis Culver, Dave Johnson, and Dan Panosian. I managed to get Dennis and Dan to sign, but Dave wasn't at his table any of the times I wandered by. But with the three I added at the show, that gets me up to 61 signatures now.