the way to
wondercon was wonderful. it was hard to miss aquawoman posing behind the yerba buena fountains, or the jedis unloading from the muni.
when i had received the pass, my immediate thought was "who else is going?" and i figured
tech-boy would be. because
come on. and he was. so we met up.
superheroes were everywhere, and there was no denying that i was headed into the thick of it.
and as soon as i made my way past the stormtroopers posing for pictures with pandas, and steampunk navigators, i found myself in front of lou ferrigno. yes, the partially deaf body-builder who used to do pull-ups with his toes and starred as
the incredible hulk during the 70's.
and let it be known,
lou ferrigno refused to arm-wrestle me-- but if i were him, i'd be afraid of me, too.
it was hard to find jeff. the entire thing felt like a humid powell street-- except all the homeless people had been swapped out with scott pilgrim characters, and the amateur photographers had multiplied in an act of geeky mitosis. i would find myself stuck behind goku, being shoved by a transformer, while i tried-- desperately-- to make my way to
artist's alley to see jeff's booth.
it wasn't long before i determined the outside to be more enjoyable than the inside. sort of like the
voodoo lounge on van ness.
but then, amidst furries and captain america, was jeff.
"we've been looking everywhere for you!"
"i have to piss like a racehorse," he shouted back.
"no way man," i said, "you have to show us your booth first."and, as if by magic, we returned to his booth at the exact moment the DC comics talent scout was about to leave.
PHOTO EVIDENCE of the happening:
"you're good luck," jeff said to tech-boy and me.afterward, i found jeff had already spoken with marvel comics and several others. they all like where he's going with his art. he is doing
fine-- and it's so deserved. so i bought a black and white spiderman 2099 print from him, and he signed it to
the president, before i made my way around the rest of the space.
i wound up grabbing a small canvas by
nick caesar, in celebration of both spider-man and a style i've always enjoyed. but ultimately, had to leave.
the number of people, the lack of cell phone reception, the zombies... it all just sort of freaked me out, and i needed a bit of sun, air, and cigarettes. besides, i found the best shots to be of superheroes and sci-fi folk relaxing.
especially the one below.
what a sad gorilla.
p.s. - definitely take a moment to check out
jeff's and
nik's work to understand why i'm so happy.
