DINNER WITH FRIENDS...AND A LEGEND 
Howdy all. This weekend is the F/X Con in Orlando, and I was previously scheduled to go and hang out with my good pal, John Higashi, and our equally grand amigo, Craig Zablo. I was mostly interested in getting two more of the Serenity crew to sign my film poster, and possibly a couple of the guys to sign my Terminator poster. Artist-wise, I was interested in meeting Gene Ha, artist of Alan Moore's Top 10 and most recently The Authority, and of getting to talk to one of my idols...Writer/Artist Matt Wagner. If you aren't familiar with Matt's work, he is the creator/writer/artist of Mage (modern-day take on the Arthurian mythos with hero Kevin Matchstick as the Pendragon...yes, Matchstick as in part of my email, and I have a tpb cover...the only cover of anything that I own), Grendel (taking the villain of Beowulf's name and several incarnations of an assassain for hire), and several Batman, and other DC projects. (I even have a Batman commission he did for me a few years back air-brushed on to a jean jacket I have) I had met Matt a few time
s before, but hadn't had the chance to talk with him in the past couple of years. Anyway, circumstances as they are, and with MegaCon so close, I ended up not being able to go. However, my friend John Higashi would not let that stand. He had gone to great lengths to set up a dinner with Matt and Gene Ha on the Friday evening following the convention, and urged me to drive out...if only for the dinner, for which he was graciously picking up the tab. I went back and forth about it in my head, seeing as I truly had no money, was teaching on the Friday, had a rehearsal, and nothing is ever simple about taking off quickly...but when he called me again Friday afternoon, I said "Hell Yeah." I left my MND rehearsal early, grabbed an overnight bag, a couple of Matt's hardcover books, and hauled ass to Orlando...Emerill's at Universal to be exact. I met up with John, Matt, and Gene without a problem and then proceeded to have one of my all-time favorite evenings in the past few years. I did my best not to "geek-out" in front of Matt, and even managed not to do the old Chris Farley thing..."So...Matt Wagner...creator of 
Mage...you know when you took like, the old Arthurian legends, blended them with the archetypal hero's journey and Greek Mythology, and put them into graphic novel form that shook the world...and continues to spread its influences in both independent and mainstream comics around the world...you remember when you did that?" "Uhh...yeah?" "Yeah...that was awesome." I managed not to do that...although that was going through my head. It turns out that Matt is a huge "foodie" or person who enjoys fine cuisine, and dazzled us all with tales of his culinary adventures across the world. Yes, The James was silent in that part of the conversation...since I'm not exactly the most sohpisticated guy in the world, especially with food...but
then films came up. I heard the bell ring folks, and then I could contribute to the conversation and not feel like a complete idiot. After dinner...two had Atlantic Redfish, Gene had Duck, and I went for the steak...I'm a daredevil, we had parts of two desserts, and then left Universal. I followed John as he dropped Matt and Gene off at the hotel, and then went with him back to his lair, surrounded by crack-whores, meth-labs, and junkies in his econo-suite apartments. We stayed up for a while talking about art, looking at some of his new acquisitions (always mind-boggling), and relishing the fact that I had not acted like a complete idiot in front of someone whose work has always been near and dear to me. One drag was that Craig StalloneZone Zablo decided to go back home after the con, so I missed hanging out with another good friend of mine, but hopefully we'll catch up next time. I left early t
he next morning to make my Film Crew's gathering, leaving my books with John to get Matt to sign, and am now looking forward to hanging with him again for the MegaCon, and further adventures. Thanks again, John...for giving me so many opportunities to meet and hang out with several of my favorite creators outside of the convention arena. You are the Man. Check out Matt Wagner's work in Mage, Grendel, Green Arrow covers (the Green Arrow postage stamp), and Batman mini-series.
Howdy all. This weekend is the F/X Con in Orlando, and I was previously scheduled to go and hang out with my good pal, John Higashi, and our equally grand amigo, Craig Zablo. I was mostly interested in getting two more of the Serenity crew to sign my film poster, and possibly a couple of the guys to sign my Terminator poster. Artist-wise, I was interested in meeting Gene Ha, artist of Alan Moore's Top 10 and most recently The Authority, and of getting to talk to one of my idols...Writer/Artist Matt Wagner. If you aren't familiar with Matt's work, he is the creator/writer/artist of Mage (modern-day take on the Arthurian mythos with hero Kevin Matchstick as the Pendragon...yes, Matchstick as in part of my email, and I have a tpb cover...the only cover of anything that I own), Grendel (taking the villain of Beowulf's name and several incarnations of an assassain for hire), and several Batman, and other DC projects. (I even have a Batman commission he did for me a few years back air-brushed on to a jean jacket I have) I had met Matt a few time
s before, but hadn't had the chance to talk with him in the past couple of years. Anyway, circumstances as they are, and with MegaCon so close, I ended up not being able to go. However, my friend John Higashi would not let that stand. He had gone to great lengths to set up a dinner with Matt and Gene Ha on the Friday evening following the convention, and urged me to drive out...if only for the dinner, for which he was graciously picking up the tab. I went back and forth about it in my head, seeing as I truly had no money, was teaching on the Friday, had a rehearsal, and nothing is ever simple about taking off quickly...but when he called me again Friday afternoon, I said "Hell Yeah." I left my MND rehearsal early, grabbed an overnight bag, a couple of Matt's hardcover books, and hauled ass to Orlando...Emerill's at Universal to be exact. I met up with John, Matt, and Gene without a problem and then proceeded to have one of my all-time favorite evenings in the past few years. I did my best not to "geek-out" in front of Matt, and even managed not to do the old Chris Farley thing..."So...Matt Wagner...creator of 
Mage...you know when you took like, the old Arthurian legends, blended them with the archetypal hero's journey and Greek Mythology, and put them into graphic novel form that shook the world...and continues to spread its influences in both independent and mainstream comics around the world...you remember when you did that?" "Uhh...yeah?" "Yeah...that was awesome." I managed not to do that...although that was going through my head. It turns out that Matt is a huge "foodie" or person who enjoys fine cuisine, and dazzled us all with tales of his culinary adventures across the world. Yes, The James was silent in that part of the conversation...since I'm not exactly the most sohpisticated guy in the world, especially with food...but
then films came up. I heard the bell ring folks, and then I could contribute to the conversation and not feel like a complete idiot. After dinner...two had Atlantic Redfish, Gene had Duck, and I went for the steak...I'm a daredevil, we had parts of two desserts, and then left Universal. I followed John as he dropped Matt and Gene off at the hotel, and then went with him back to his lair, surrounded by crack-whores, meth-labs, and junkies in his econo-suite apartments. We stayed up for a while talking about art, looking at some of his new acquisitions (always mind-boggling), and relishing the fact that I had not acted like a complete idiot in front of someone whose work has always been near and dear to me. One drag was that Craig StalloneZone Zablo decided to go back home after the con, so I missed hanging out with another good friend of mine, but hopefully we'll catch up next time. I left early t
he next morning to make my Film Crew's gathering, leaving my books with John to get Matt to sign, and am now looking forward to hanging with him again for the MegaCon, and further adventures. Thanks again, John...for giving me so many opportunities to meet and hang out with several of my favorite creators outside of the convention arena. You are the Man. Check out Matt Wagner's work in Mage, Grendel, Green Arrow covers (the Green Arrow postage stamp), and Batman mini-series.
posted by The James at 6:52 AM
1 Comments:
You should have gone to the Sunday dinner !!!! :P :P
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