Day one was great!
Day two blew my mind!
Day three left me speechless and in happy shock!
I have been trying to find the words to convey day 3 even with Comikaze having closed the doors on this year’s show over 2 days ago I am still speechless, overwhelmed, amazed and in shock. All of it good, but never the less it makes it hard to express the day.
For those that know me, how often have you seen me completely shocked and speechless? Or even better, how often have you heard me speaking so fast you wonder if I am taking any breathes as I am speaking at hyper speeds? That was me after the events of Sunday. But it wasn’t just those events alone. It was those events layered on top of day one and day two.
The day started like any other day at a con, that is until I tried to function only to find that I was still functioning in a partial days from the amazing events of Saturday. Nothing like packing and unpacking several times as you keep realizing the things you need you just packed away. Finally I was done and off to the final day.
After stopping at both Top Cow and Starbucks as caffeine was much needed by not just me, but Elena and Betsy as well, it was time to truly just wander the floor and see what was there beyond the booths that I would beeline to.
There was the guy at Her Universe that decided to duck beneath the counter so he would be out of the shot and the merchandise could speak for itself.
The visit with Rahsan and Shannon Ekedal where I had fun watching another artist admire the level of detail in Rahsan’s art. Love seeing one artist admire and appreciate another artist’s work, especially when they are admiring art I also love. Guess my taste in art can’t be all that bad then.
Taking a photo of an artist’s booth just to prove I had stopped by but he wasn’t there, and then deciding to go one further and leave my business card like they used to leave calling cards. No question whether I got to his booth or not. The funny part is that if I had turned around the other day when I found Joe Jusko’s booth I would have seen Rick Basaldua’s booth right across the aisle (oops)
A couple of guys hamming it up for the camera while sitting on the couch with Iron Man of all people.
And then FINALLY meeting R.H. Stavis, I had only been trying to meet her all weekend. Wanted to be sure to get photos of her, preferably with her breast cast for Keep A Breast (KAB). Since I finally met R.H. at her booth that meant photos of her but no breast cast (for now). Very nice woman and now I need to check out some of her writing.
And finally what had become a normal stop for me at this year’s Comikaze… the KAB booth. There it was time to take photos of the line already forming up for Marc Silvestri who would be signing at the booth soon. But before it got crazy I took more photos of both breast casts that were being raffled off. And though both were amazing pieces I knew which one I really wanted to win, that didn’t stop me or anybody else from trying to get more people to buy raffles even if it would lower my chances of walking off with an amazing one of a kind piece of art by Marc Silvestri.
And of course took more pictures and then a few more. This time the signing was set up a bit better so it was possible to get shots of Marc interacting with the fans that stopped at KAB to meet him. Torn on which shots were my favorite, the ones with kids or the ones with friends of Marc or Bridget’s that would stop by.
Did I mention that you never know who you will see at a comic book convention? Comikaze is no different as, heavy metal singer, Sebastian Bach stopped by the KAB booth while we were all there.
Let’s not forget getting to admire the fresh tattoo of Marc Silvestri’s signature that was being sported by a fan. He had Marc sign his arm Saturday (I believe) and went out that night and had it turned into a tattoo. Came by Sunday to show Marc and Bridget how it had turned out. In taking photos of that tattoo, had the pleasure of also getting photos of his Stan Lee and George Perez autograph tattoos. Now that is the sign of a true fan.
After taking photos of R.H. Stavis with her breast cast that was being raffled off for KAB it was time to go back to wandering and spending a little more time with Rahsan and Shannon. This is most likely their last US con for awhile as they will be heading to Germany for a year so wanted to get as much time in with them as possible until they are back stateside. They are an amazingly sweet couple of people and so cute together. Had fun hanging out with them and left with an original page of art from Think Tank, my favorite page (will make you wait for the photos though). I promised that Newton will be admired and well taken care of so tomorrow the page will be visiting my framer for plans to be made on how we will best protect it.
Now it was time to head back to Top Cow to ensure I was there in time for the drawing for the Silvestri breast cast to benefit KAB. Though I managed to get photos of Bridget showing off her boobies (the piece of art) and even of Marc drawing the ticket I am pleased to say I couldn’t get a photo of the winner’s reaction as I was stunned and shocked and they had to say it two or three times before I believed it but… have you guessed yet? Yes, I was the winner of the raffle. I still can’t believe it even though Bridget’s Boobies as the piece has become known is currently sitting in my office. It to will be going to my framer to see if she has any ideas for an acrylic or lucite case for it (don’t think I want glass simply because it would be my luck that the glass would get broken). Between the events of Saturday, the Think Tank page and then winning the raffle I was beyond being in shock. Dazed, stunned, amazed, speechless and in shock comes much closer to describing how I was feeling.
But even more than winning the raffle, the time I was fortunate enough to spend with (or to speak with) Bridget, Marc, Chris, Elena, Betsy, Vince, Shaney Jo (of Keep a Breast), Shannon, Rahsan, Joe Jusko, Stan Lee and the list goes on, made this the most amazing of comic book conventions. I went to this year’s Comikaze with no big expectations. Even debated the wisdom of booking my hotel to be there for all three days. I must say I am very happy that I took the risk as I would have hated to miss any of it.
Regina, thank you! You put on a great show.
And now for a couple teaser photos (it will take at least a few days to go through all the photos from the weekend but they will be coming):
