Well, we just got back from the FallCon, and after looking through all of our loot, Marilyn prompted me to read her blog and check the comments on mine. Be sure to read hers if you haven't yet.

I had a really good time at the convention. I manned the CCAS table with Carl for a fair portion of the day. Sherwin Schwartzrock was sitting at the table next to us - he's a fellow CCAS guy whose art I find rather attractive. I got to meet a fellow named Ben Avery (Hi, Ben!), who wrote the comic adaptation of the George R. R. Martin novel "The Hedge Knight". We had some great conversations about strong female protagonists in stories (and the shameful way which women are commonly depicted in comics), the difficulties of coordinating efforts between writers and artists, and some discussions of fairy tales. At around 1 or 2, I got lunch and made my way around the convention, making sure to meet the short list of people I had wanted to say hello to or examine more closely. I met a few new folks I hadn't previously spoken with before (such as Jeff Parker, creator of The Interman - he drew a nice sketch of Hellboy for me), and I had better conversations than I had anticipated having.

Zander Cannon remembered me, and we spoke about the stuff that had gone on in our lives since we had last spoken in San Diego (he had just been married at that point; since then, he and his wife had spent time in Japan, and now he is part of a comics/freelance illustration company called Big Time Attic in Minneapolis), and he was very encouraging of my attendance of MCAD, recommending his old roommate, Vincent Stall.

Sam Hiti also remembered me, and as I commented about how far I thought he had come in his art style since his first "End Times-Tiempos Finales" minicomics, he gave me a lot of really good advice on how to approach the composition and creation of comics. It was like a free lesson. Hooray!

I finally got to meet Matt Feazell, the creator of Cynicalman (known to my friends as Mr. Dude). Despite the rather respectable depiction Scott McCloud drew in Understanding Comics, Matt looks every bit the eccentric - deliberately odd 40s-ish clothing, complete with crumpled fedora. He refused to shake hands, and I immediately thought, "Wow, he is an eccentric," but then he explained that it was because he had a cold. So he's considerate. He's also quite funny, as his comics attest. He had an offer going at his table: draw Cynicalman on one of his Post-It Notes and win a free minicomic. I drew Cynicalman Circa 1017 AD, with helmet, baldric, broadsword and beard. I told him I was interested in writing historical fiction, and so he picked out "The Cynicalman Version of the American Revolution." I laughed until I stopped. I also bought a copy of "Understanding Minicomics."

Michael Jantze was, alas, all business, but given his situation, I guess I can't blame him. He didn't recognize me, but again, can't really blame him. He had previously asked me to give him an interview for Megazeen, and I pitched the idea to the Megazeen guys but never heard a response. I feel badly that I wasn't able to help him out when he really wanted it. But hey, perhaps I can still help out a little. He's leaving behind the world of newspaper syndication, which apparently is a dying field. His wife has convinced him to give the world of online strips a try, and so he's asking for interested people to subscribe to his strip, The Norm (which I happen to like rather a lot). Check out his site and see if it sounds like a reasonable investment!

I met a few other Christians (including a very talented fellow named Hamilton who wasn't really interested in creating comics, though he liked reading them), a few of the "grateful parent" types, and a few people paused in front of the table that I wouldn't have expected to (including a couple of Goth-looking guys who were interested in hardcore Christian bands - I felt badly that I couldn't think of a single website to send them to!). No overt mockery or even rolled eyes, which was nice, but on the other hand, no real conversations either (except for chatting with other Christians).

The people I felt badly for were the guys with the Bush/Cheney table. I couldn't believe that they had actually set up a table at the Con, but I guess they must have figured that since the Kerry folks had a table there, they should at least have a presence. I think they were far braver than our group - they must have known that they were walking into the lion's den. Unfortunately (and predictably), they were so harassed from every side that (at least, according to the guys at the MCAD table) they eventually left...though their table with all their stuff remained. They were already gone by the time I realized that they were there. I wish I'd had the opportunity to give them a little encouragement, but to be completely honest, being there as a blatant representative of Christ, I didn't think it would have presented the right message. As much as I support the President, I can't claim "Jesus would have voted for President Bush" (though that's more to do with the fact that I don't know how involved with politics Jesus would have been, had he been born in 20th century America than the notion that I think Kerry might be an equally meritous candidate), and my primary cause at the convention is to represent the faith. Perhaps that's an excuse to not have to expose myself as a Bush supporter in an adamantly pro-Kerry crowd, but that's the reason I didn't go over. At least, not until most everyone had left the convention hall to eat the free dinner, when I cravenly snuck over to the deserted table and claimed a Bush/Cheney bumper sticker for myself.

Oddly, I don't really recall there being quite so much cheesecake as Marilyn reported, but then, I've been to the San Diego Con and she hasn't, and I didn't really look around as much as I scanned for specific artists. It's also possible that because I was so focused on not looking at that stuff that I might have just filtered it out. Or perhaps I just don't notice the sheer amount of it any more, taking it for granted that it's all over the place? Well, I can say that I passed by Adam Hughes' table. AARGH! He has such talent! He wastes it so! I can say that his latest collection of sketches doesn't focus on the enormous female anatomy that last year's book did. But I must also confess that it focuses on a different bit of female anatomy.

I keep telling Marilyn that she needs to be the one to complain, because, as an actual female, her opinion would hold more clout than mine would. As Marilyn pointed out, there are women who sit with some of these guys behind their tables. Most of them do not resemble the fantasy women in the drawings. What must they be thinking? Do they justify it to themselves, and how? Don't they feel as though they're betraying their own gender, to support such shallow and harmful depictions? Don't they have any idea what this sort of thing does to the way men think of women?

Having said that, I still had fun, learned some good things, bought a couple of cool comics, got a lot of free stuff, and enjoyed some fellowship with brother-artists. Not a bad way to spend the day.