Day 1:
The first couple of hours of the show I was able to take the piece around and get on some lists. I found some of the artists already booked for the day. Because of the large crowd and my position on the lists no artist was able to work on the piece. The piece looked exactly the same at 6:00pm as it did at 10:00am. This was kind of discouraging and made me wonder how I was going to get everything that I had lined up done in just one day.
Day 2:
Lee Weeks: Thor
Lee Weeks offered to take the piece with him and work on it the evening of the first day. I didn’t realize it at the time but his generous offer to do this allowed all the other pieces to fall into place the final day of the show. Working on it after the show, adding a great Thor and the time I got to spend talking to him makes Lee Weeks the MVP of this jam in my book.
Jorge Molina: Superman
When I asked Jorge Molina what character he had interest in doing he almost immediately said Superman. He said he didn’t get the chance to work on DC characters much. I gave him the piece after I picked it up the morning of the second day from Lee Weeks. I came back to Molina’s table before he said he would be finished to watch him work to find a really nice, clean Superman completed ahead of schedule which really helped keep the jam moving along.
Michael Golden: Hulk
When I asked Golden’s rep Rene what character she thought he would be interested in doing she said Hulk. I thought a Golden Hulk would be amazing for this piece. But since Hulk was one of the more detailed figures I was concerned that Golden might be too true to the pencil and I’m sure way overstated the fact that the pencil detail should be ignored. When I saw the piece I was very happy to see a Hulk that is definitely Golden and definitely amazing.
Humberto Ramos: Wonder Woman
I missed getting on his list on the first day and was the last one on his list the second day. He had to leave the show early so I was concerned that he would not get to work on it before he had to go. Joseph was working at his table and went above and beyond to help facilitate getting the piece into Ramos’ hands to add a great Wonder Woman to the piece before he had to leave.
Mike McKone: Green Lantern
Mike McKone was very patient and understanding. I came up on his list early on Sunday but I had to make him wait until he had completed everything on his list and only about an hour before the show was over before bringing the piece to him. I asked if he could do Batman instead of the GL that we agreed on but he said he could not do his best work on Batman in that short amount of time. I will have to make sure I get another piece from him sometime in the future.
Alan Davis: Iron Man
Alan Davis was doing pencil only headshots so I really didn’t think about him working on the jam. I was talking to Jason Hickok on the first day of the show about Davis and the jam piece and he said that since Iron Man was a small figure to ask Davis about working on it. They capped Davis’ line during the whole show which kept things manageable at his table but every time I looked there was someone holding an “end of the line” sign. While McKone was finishing up GL I noticed that Davis at the next table had no line. When McKone was done I just walked up to Davis and asked if he would consider working on Iron Man. He looked at the piece, considered it and said that it would be in pencil only. I said that was fine. I was jazzed to get anything from him and figured I wouldn’t have any problem finding someone willing to put ink down on some Alan Davis pencils. After working on it a bit he said he would go ahead and finish it up. His willingness to do this after what I am sure were a couple of long days of drawing turned a great day at the show into an extra special one.
