ECCC 2011 - Meeting the artists

One of the main reasons I go to comic shows and con's are to meet and greet the artist's and writer's I enjoy. I've decided to offer my opinions on the artist's and writer's I was able to meet this year:

• Max Brooks - Author of "The Zombie Survival Guide" and "G.I. Joe: Hearts & Minds". Great guy. Easy going and interesting to talk to. I think he may have been taken back a little (in a good way) when I asked him to sign my variant copies of the Hearts & Minds series.
• Tom Feister - Artist for "G.I. Joe: Origins". He was fun to talk to, and didn't mind that I dropped the entire Origins virgin covers that he did to sign. I actually bought 3 prints from him of my favorite covers from the series. He also let me know that IDW is going to be publishing a book with his covers. I'm looking forward to its release.
• Adam Hughes - Cover artist for titles such as "Wonder Woman" and "Catwoman". When I met him 5 years ago in Seattle, he was a nice guy and we had an opportunity to talk for a while. Seemed like a good guy then. I was looking forward to seeing him again. I even made a mad dash to find book's he had worked on so I would have something for him to sign and I could have some time to talk to him. I was very disappointed when he barely said 2 words to me. It could have been because he was tired after a long day at the con.
• Mike Mignola - Artist, writer and creator of "Hellboy". I never got the chance to actually meet with him because there was a constant line at his table. I do regret not being able to see him.
• Larry Hama - Writer of "G.I. Joe" from Marvel and writer for various Joe titles for IDW. As G.I. Joe was the series that got me started reading and collecting comic books, I was looking forward to meeting him more than anyone else. I packed-up so many books for him to sign for me. I had questions prepared to ask him. My inner fan-boy was going to be released. When I arrived at his table Friday afternoon, there was a sign proclaiming that Larry wasn't able to appear. I know that these things happen, but I was very disappointed. I hope that I will be able to finally meet him some day.
• Mike Wolfer - Artist for "Lady Death" from Avatar Press. Not much of a talker or I didn't say anything really engaging. Seems like a nice enough guy. I wish Brian Pulido had come along with him.
• Scott Lobdell - Writer for "Uncanny X-Men", "X-Men (Volume 2)", "Generation X" and many other titles. Nice guy and he was curious as to how/when/where I was able to get John Romita, Jr's signature on several of my Uncanny issues. He liked the idea of signing for charity... which the Portland Comic Book Show used to do many years ago... and also the fact that my LCS (Tony's Kingdom of Comics in Keizer, OR) always seems to be playing some part in the community by raising money for charity, or collecting food for the food bank. Seemed down-to-earth and willing to chat.

If I had a strong back and more patience, I probably would have visited more of the artists that were in attendance at this year's convention. Again, I am looking forward to next year's event!