HeroesCon 2019!

[nicholasdoyle]

Hey everybody! It's been about a week since HeroesCon, and I'm finally rested enough to post a wrap-up/show off some of the cool things I was able to pick up! First off, it was great to finally meet Stan! Both his and Sergio's lines were insane all weekend - they were definitely the "stars" of the convention this year. Their Usagi/Groo jam drawing was featured on the cover of the program, the 3-day badges, and on two different t-shirts (one yellow, one light gray). Speaking of the shirts - they had basically sold out of all of the sizes by the second day of the convention, which I've never seen happen before - usually, you're able to pick up leftover shirts at the store for months (sometimes years) after the convention.
I was lucky enough to be able to pre-order a comission, and it ended up looking even better than I imagined:

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BUT, when I saw that Stan was also going to have sketch covers available, I couldn't resist the chance to pick one up:

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Finally, I have been bringing a Groo themed sketchbook to conventions for the past few years, and I know that Stan generally doesn't do non-Usagi drawings, but I figured there was no harm in asking...which resulted in one of the best drawings in my sketchbook:

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I've got some more to add, but it looks like the attachment limit is 3 images, so I'm going to post a reply to this in a second with the rest...

[nicholasdoyle]

Ok, I'm back! The other highlight of the convention was that I was able to (re)meet Sergio (I met him at Baltimore Comic-Con back in 2007 - I flew up for one day because he so rarely does conventions on the east coast)! Because of a twist of fate (or, really, that the Moleskine sketchbook I have is kind of wonky) the first page of the book has remained blank, so I was able to get Sergio to draw the "first" Groo in my book:

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The day before, I'd had an idea to ask him to do a drawing in the style of the cover of Sergio Aragones Funnies #1 (with a curtain, "welcoming" people to my sketchbook) - but I decided against bugging him about it. Imagine my surprise when he did that exact thing, even using his Swiss Army knife to cut out part of the curtain (you can see the part of the second sketch, by Chip Zdarsky, in the corner)!

Stan and Sergio couldn't have been nicer, and the rest of the convention was awesome, as usual - if you've never been, I *highly* recommend that you try to make the trip to Charlotte one year. The show is comic focused (no movies, no cartoons, no TV) and it's the perfect show for people that love comics and meeting the people that make them.

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[maichan]

NICE!! It looks like you had a great time at the show, and got some great artwork by two great guys! I really like the commision you got from Stan, and those two sketchbook sketches are funny!

Thanks also for getting T-shirts for those of us that asked!

Maybe you could start up a new thread to show us what else in in that sketchbook?

[Maka]

Those are awesome sketches!!! It’s also fun to see one of the sketches Stan has done on the blanks. And great pictures with Stan and Sergio. Glad it was a great con for you. Sounds wonderful! I don’t know if I’ll every make it out there for Heroescon but I put it on my buckets lists. . Thanks for sharing your experience with us! Peace, maka

[maichan]

I received a package full of goodies from Nick today...... Thank you Nick!!!

2019-06-24_02-53-03 by Michael Foertsch, on Flickr

[jabba359]

That's a nice kind of package to get in the mail!

[Maka]

You scored, Michael! Such nice people here at the dojo. Congratulations! Peace, maka

[Gaffey]

I love that Sergio cut the corner of your art. That is so cool. Matt Kindt did something similar to a book I purchased from him but he used a lighter to burn the corner of the page.

Funny story (sort of). When I asked Sergio if he'd draw a Chewbacca head sketch for me he said that I couldn't afford it and proceeded to sign the books that I had brought. He wasn't rude or anything, I just found that response to be a bit odd.

Where did you get the little advertisement card? I never saw those.

[Trevis Woods]

This is a great post!
Love the behind the scenes pics, merchandise and stories from the convention.
Love the commision and love Stan's Groo sketch!

[Steve Hubbell]

Hey Nicholas,
Just a quick note to say that your package arrived and everything looks awesome! Those pictures of the t-shirts look really cool, but my budget was not up to it currently, and the art on the program and the sticker more than makes up for it. And I love the little promo Usagi card, very happy that they were available. Thanks again.

Abayo, Steve

(I'll post some photos of today's goodies later)

[lookatyouhacker]

Well, I hope Stan Sakai tells us how much he enjoyed the Heroes Con 2019 this month.

[Gaffey]

Hey Nicholas,
Just a quick note to say that your package arrived and everything looks awesome! Those pictures of the t-shirts look really cool, but my budget was not up to it currently, and the art on the program and the sticker more than makes up for it. And I love the little promo Usagi card, very happy that they were available. Thanks again.

Abayo, Steve

(I'll post some photos of today's goodies later)

I have an extra XL grey Heroes Con shirt if you're interested.

[nicholasdoyle]

I love that Sergio cut the corner of your art. That is so cool. Matt Kindt did something similar to a book I purchased from him but he used a lighter to burn the corner of the page.

Funny story (sort of). When I asked Sergio if he'd draw a Chewbacca head sketch for me he said that I couldn't afford it and proceeded to sign the books that I had brought. He wasn't rude or anything, I just found that response to be a bit odd.

Where did you get the little advertisement card? I never saw those.

Yeah, I think he's pretty adamant about only drawing his own characters (although my friend was able to get a Spider-Man drawing from him - maybe Chewbacca required too much reference?) Keith Giffen had sign at his table with his various sketch prices, and he had a line that said "Rocket Raccoon - $500 - Keith's only drawn him once and wants to keep it that way!" which I thought was pretty funny.

The HeroesCon cards were on the big table of free stuff near where you picked up your passes; I grabbed a handful to include with the programs I was sending out.

[Gaffey]

The HeroesCon cards were on the big table of free stuff near where you picked up your passes; I grabbed a handful to include with the programs I was sending out.

I didn't know there was a big table of free stuff!

[Paul Montani]

On the topic of Sergio and Stan drawing other people's characters - I was lucky enough to get both gentlemen to draw Casey Jones a few years ago.