New Young Justice print!

I wanted to show you guys a preview of the new print I’ll have debuting at C2E2 in a couple of weeks!

When word got out that the Young Justice comic book series that I drew was coming to an end, I got asked a lot if I had done any Young Justice pin-ups or prints. “No,” I always told people, “I’ve been too busy drawing the comic!”

C2E2 (The Chicago Comic Book and Entertainment Expo) will be the first major convention I’ve attended since Young Justice came to an and, so of course I HAD to have a Young Justice pin-up in time for the show. I’ll be making the pin-up available as a print at C2E2, and after the convention it will be available in my Etsy Store.

I’ll have more information about my schedule and other fun stuff I’ll be doing at C2E2 online soon! I’ll be at Table B7 in Artists Alley doing commission sketches and selling original comic book art at the show I hope to see many of you there!

A tale of Batman, me, and one young fan.

“Check Please!” says it all…

I just told this story in responding to a comment on another post and I thought it was worth sharing with a wider audience.

I remember one of my earliest conventions at which I had a table as an artist – it was before I’d “broken in” to do work for DC Comics or any other major publisher. I had displayed a Batman drawing I’d done on the wall behind me – it was my response to a lot of Batman art I’d seen that didn’t strike me as having a lot of mood or atmosphere. My piece was a black and white ink drawing that was 90% black with just a moon and just enough edge-lighting in white to make out the shape of Batman’s cowl and cape.

This young kid was walking buy my table and the sight of that Batman drawing stopped him in his tracks. He looked up at the drawing and his eyes got big. “Do you… draw Batman?” he asked me.

“I drew that Batman, if that’s what you’re asking, but I haven’t worked on the comic book yet, no.”

“Oh,” the kid matter-of-factly replied, and walked away without saying another word.

This is NOT the Batman drawing from the story…

I thought it was pretty funny at the time, and I *still* think it says something about fans and conventions – but don’t ask me exactly what that is!

A Guide to Asking for Signatures and Drawings at Conventions

I recently got asked on my Facebook page if I could share my thoughts on fans asking for autographs and sketches at conventions. I thought others who are new to attending conventions might enjoy hearing the basics of this process. I can only offer my perspective, but it might prove useful for anyone approaching other artists or celebrities at conventions as well.

Speaking for myself, I’m happy to sign anything I’ve worked on for fans at a convention, whether they’ve bought it from me or not. Sometimes you’ll see celebrities at conventions who charge for their autographs, or will only sign the items they’re selling. This tends to be most common with actors selling photographs of themselves at conventions. Usually celebrities with these kinds of restrictions will have signage at their table clearly stating their policies.

While those policies can be frustrating, keep in mind that such revenue is probably a big factor in that celebrity being at the convention at all, and convention appearances may be an important source of income for them. Often the celebrity is willing to sign a personal item for a fan, but if I’m going to wait in a signing line to speak to a celebrity at a convention I try to purchase something from them as a courtesy. I feel like it’s my way of paying for the opportunity to meet them and have that brief exchange with them when I get my turn at the front of the line. Otherwise I’m taking up their time and trying to get something from them for free when they’re trying to make some money and there is a line of people behind me waiting to do business with them.

Regardless of what a given celebrity’s policy is, if you’re going to ask for a signature on an item you’ve brought or for a photo with them, ask politely. And if they decline, accept that decision politely. You might think you’re only asking them for a small thing, but to that celebrity, doing it for you may make them feel obligated to do it for everyone. And that might be more of an obligation than they can afford to make.

As far as asking for artwork, I’ll often have fans ask me for a free sketch, and typically I’ll politely decline. I’ll occasionally throw in a quick head sketch with a signature for young fans at the conventions, but it’s at my discretion. It’s something I like to do for kids, but it’s very dependent on how much time I can spare at that moment. On the other hand, when an adult asks for a free sketch, it can come across as “I want the service you’re charging for, but I don’t want to pay so why don’t you just give me something for free?” Also, although this is rarely the case where I am concerned, it’s important to note that sometimes an artist is at a convention but they aren’t doing commission sketches at all. They might be there to sign autographs and sell pre-made prints or books, but aren’t drawing at the show.

(Here’s a tip – If you want a sketch from an artist at a convention and can’t afford what they’re charging, be on the lookout to see if they’re doing a signing for a publisher. Sometimes an artist will be doing quick sketches for free in such a setting that they aren’t doing when at their own table. Free sketches tend to be relatively quick and simple – you get what you pay for – but they’re better than nothing, right?)

Regardless of the setting, if you ask for a sketch, again – ask politely. And if the artist declines, accept their refusal politely. It’s expensive for creators to travel to attend a convention, and often they’re paying for that table in an Artists Alley. Commission sketches are a big part of how artists try to offset some of those expenses – with no guarantee of making enough to show a profit.

As a rule, creators and celebrities love meeting fans. It’s always great to hear from people who enjoy your work. But there are mercenary fans who try to ruin it for everybody. It’s not uncommon to see a convention sketch or autographed item for sale on eBay or elsewhere, usually for a higher amount than what was paid to the artist/celebrity (assuming they were paid anything.) And, the surest way to make a creator whose work you enjoy feel terrible is to act entitled and treat them as though by showing up they’re now obligated to do whatever you ask of them. So, well, don’t do that. Just be polite and courteous and you’ll both have a great experience!

“Can I please get a photo of you Mr. Freeman? I loved you on The Electric Company!”

Don’t get me wrong on any of this – I love meeting fans. I really enjoy attending conventions and encounters with fans are almost always the biggest highlight of the weekend for me, and I think most comics pros feel the same way. But I’ve been approached by a lot of fans both the right way and the wrong way, and the fondest memories are definitely of the fans who did it the right way!

So for the final time – our two recurring themes:

By all means ask for that autograph, personal photo or whatever, but do so politely.

If the answer is no, accept that answer politely, and understand that there may be a good reason that no needs to be the answer.

I’ll be a GUEST at GallifreyOne 2014

I had a great time at Gallifrey One this past February, so I couldn’t be more delighted to announce that I’ll be returning in 2014 as a Guest of the convention! 2013 may be the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who, but 2014 is the 25th Anniversary of the world’s largest and longest-running annual Doctor Who convention.

Gallifrey One: 25 Glorious Years will be held February 14-16 2014 at the Los Angeles Airport Mariott Hotel. I’m excited to be joining the already-impressive slate of guests they’ve announced for 2014, including Colin Baker (The Sixth Doctor), Katy manning (Jo Grant), John Levine (Sgt. Benton), Richard Franklin (Sgt. Mike Yates), Frazer Hines (Jamie McCrimmon), Paul Cornell (Writer, “Human Nature”), Gary Russell (Novelist/Script Editor) and MORE!

I’ll be announcing what panels and signings I’ll be doing with the convention gets closer, but in the mean time I’ll have to see how many new Doctor Who prints I can get done by then!

You can always read up on all my planned convention appearances for the coming year on my Appearances Page!

Gallifrey One 2013 – Part 3 of 4 (The Young Justice Meetup)

Continuing my report on my trip to the Gallifrey One convention, and what an adventure it was…

SATURDAY (Part 2)

In case you’re just joining us, I had traveled to Los Angeles to attend the Gallifrey One Sci-Fi convention that was celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who, and catching up with various Los Angeles area friends. I’d had plans to have a rare in-person meet-up with my Young Justice collaborator Greg Weisman on Friday for lunch, but a longer-than-hoped-for set-up at the Gallifrey One art show meant I didn’t have time to get across town to Greg’s office and the meeting didn’t happen.

With the help of Hal (aka ChristopherJonesWebMinion on tumblr), I had been organizing a meet-up for Young Justice fans at Gallifrey One for Saturday evening in the lobby of the convention hotel. When I told Greg about it, Greg said he was in, but he wanted his presence to be a secret surprise. So now it looked like I was going to see Greg after all, but instead of a quiet lunch it would be along with an undetermined number of unsuspecting Young Justice fans. All during the convention I’d been plugging the meet-up at panels and when talking to anyone who expressed any interest in the show or my comics work. Now I was pushing it even harder, but I couldn’t mention it’s biggest selling point. A lot of language along the lines of “you don’t want to miss it” and “we’ll have surprises” was used.

During the afternoon, Hal had disappeared to retreat to the hotel room and change into her Novice Hame cat nurse costume from Doctor Who. Given the make-up involved, this takes a while, although not as long as you might think, given that it’s basically a process of attaching and blending a 1-piece mask. She and I met up in the lobby in time to start gathering the troops for the meet-up.

Hal as Novice Hame
Photo by Teh Curmudgeon

The lobby was crowded with Gallifrey One attendees chatting and milling about, so when I spotted a chair in the corner that was opening up I pounced on it, figuring I could plant myself there and hold court as a hopefully respectably-sized gathering of Young Justice fans gathered. I had fashioned a makeshift “Young Justice Meet-up” sign earlier in the hotel room, and as the first YJ fans gathered Hal took to holding it so it could be better seen – so we had Novice Hame from Doctor Who promoting our Young Justice gathering!

And gather they did. The fans seemed as happy to gather with other Young Justice fans as to talk me, I think, which was fine. I think a couple may have stopped by and left, but our group had grown to about a dozen when I spotted Greg standing at the back of the group. I introduced Greg to the assembled group and just stepped forward, made his way into the corner behind me and the two of us (mostly Greg) held court for the next hour. It was all very low-key and rather informal, which I think was part of its charm. I had a great time and I think the meet-up proved to be a weekend highlight for a lot of the Young Justice fans who managed to make it there. More fans attended than stuck around for the picture below, but 0negirlarmy was good enough to supply a some of the photos she took of the event, as her camera was doing better under the lighting conditions than mine. 0negirlarmy, by the way, wasn’t even attending Gallifrey One. She was local to the area and when she saw the event mentioned on Tumblr, drove across town to be there! Hopefully she found it worth the effort!

Greg and me in the corner Photo by 0negirlarmy

The Young Justice Meet-up – Gallifrey One 2013. That’s me holding the sign and Greg in the blue shirt taking a knee.

Greg and I with Greg’s gift.

Afterwards, Greg, Hal and I were joined by my friends Mike and Alicia for dinner in one of the hotel restaurants. It was a great opportunity to for Greg and I to talk shop, reflect on the last year and a half on the Young Justice comic, and share stories. All this was while Hal was still in full Novice Hame garb, which posed a problem when she wanted to order a beer and got carded. When we were leaving the restaurant, some of the staff stopped Hal to get photos. Even with all the crazy costumes at the convention, it’s not every day a cat nurse dines in your establishment!

Eventually Greg had to run and the rest of us soon called it a night. The Young Justice meet-up had been a grand success, and soon it would be time for the final day of Gallifrey One 2013!

NEXT: SUNDAY

You can find all the installments of my Gallifrey One 2013 trip by clicking the link.