Shields up, nerd alert!!

Today was the annual Calgary Comic and Toy Expo which is not to be confused with the much larger Calgary Comics and Entertainment Expo. The Comic & Toy Expo has always been a bit small which is a little nicer because it's easier to talk to and meet the guests. I went by myself because Cody said he forgot to ask for the time off, but really I think he didn't want to go. It's not like I cared, but he didn't even tell him until I was waiting around for him to go this morning. Of course I still went and I ended up spending more money that I had planned, but I only got a few comics. By the end I was carrying a bunch of stuff which made it pretty hard to flip through comics, so I just gave up on that. In fact I looked at every table, but hardly looked at any comics, I was just too lazy. I did buy a couple though. Most of my money went to original art.

I got those "Best of Spider-Man" books volumes 1-3 for only $25. That's a sweet deal because usually a single volume will go for $30. They are also hardcover and look really sweet, but unfortunately were heavy and kept getting heavier the longer I had them. The other picture shows the only comics I bought(the other Spider-Man ones don't count because they are "trade paperbacks"). I couldn't say no to the "Married...With Children" comic and it's #1! It's from defunct publisher Now Comics who also put out such classic titles as The Real Ghostbusters and Ralph Snart. Remember Ralph Snart, Cam?

I spent most of my time waiting in line to get a sketch and some books signed from artist Todd Nauck. His line wasn't that long, but he was only charging $25 for a sketch and for some reason everyone in front of me was getting two sketches. What a bunch of greedy jerks!

Those are the books I got him to sign and that is my sketch of Spider-Man I got done. Todd does the sketches while you wait and cranks those things out in about 15 minutes, sometimes less. Most of his work has been with DC like Young Justice and Teen Titans Go!, but recently he's done some Marvel stuff with some stories starting in Amazing Spider-Man Family this month.

I spent the rest of my money at David Hahn's table getting a sketch, original art, his artbook as well as some comics signed.

I was complaining to him that on his Marvel work he doesn't get to the covers. He said he was gonna ask them about that and then said I should e-mail them and tell them that too. The picture on the bottom is of a couple art cards and his art book. The art book has sketches, character models, landscapes, tech, and for some reason food. The food was funny, he did some illustrations for a cook book, so the food pictures got stuck in there. The art cards are just reproductions of comic work except the Spider-Man and Mary Jane one I hadn't seen before, so I'm not sure where it is from. It looks cool though.

This is his Firestar character model sheet he did as prep for drawing Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane. He'll draw the character and then submit it to the editors for approval.

I also got a page of Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane #16 patch shots. He said he drew some stuff that didn't turn out they way he wanted, so on a seperate sheet he drew these pictures and then when the pages were scanned into the computer he removed the old pictures and put in the newer versions. It's a cool looking page because it's got like five different Spider-Mans on it and they are all different angles and stuff.

Finally from David Hahn it's the everlovin' Thing! I should've asked him to put a "Yancy Street" sign behind him, but totally forgot about it. Bummer.

I almost forgot, but before I left I stopped the lady that sells the homemade chocolate pops. I've mentioned her stuff a couple times before. She had the regular choco pops, but this time also had cupcakes with chocolate characters on the top. I already had too much stuff to carry (damn Spidey hardcovers) so I went with the chocolate pops because they're easier to carry.

That's it! The show was okay, I'm happy I got some cool stuff. There were some total nerds there, one guy was talking to Todd Nauck and everytime he opened his mouth I wanted punch him. The guy was so annoying, I'm sure every comic book show those artists visit has those guys at it. I don't know how they put up with it. There was also this guy who is apparently an "artist" and he's always at these shows even though his stuff sucks. I think he is just some guy who reads comics and likes to draw although he's never done any professional work or anything. He was wearing this Iron Man costume, the kind you can buy at Wal-Mart. It was even more pathetic because he didn't have the mask on, the back of the suit wasn't zipped up and he was wearing a pair of black ski boots. You think he would've at least painted the ski boots yellow and red to match the rest of his costume.

They had a costume contest and some of the costumes were pretty cool, some more than others. I don't think the Iron Man loser was in the contest though. The girl that won third place was super hot although I had no idea who/what she was supposed to be. She had green hair, green clothes and pretty much everything was green, so maybe some anime character? Some little kid was running around with a ninja mask waving a plastic sword around and being insane. I also saw some other kids dressed as Batman, Spider-Man and Bumblebee.

I'm already looking forward to the other big show in April 2009. They've already announced a guests like Frank Cho, Terry Moore, Darwyn Cooke and Bryan Lee O'Malley. O'Malley had better show up because he was supposed to be there last year, but cancelled. I've got a stack of crap for him alone.