Supanova Perth 2011

[Wrothy]

At the behest of certain impatient people (*cough*Mikey*cough*), I thought I would post my con report sans some proper scans, which I won't be able to do until I return to work tomorrow. So expect some better pics at a later stage.

The con had a preview night on Friday night, and I fully intended to attend at least part of it in order to get my wristband to make it easier to get in Sunday. Unfortunately, things went a little awry. Ken, who was staying with me for the weekend, had an unexpected delay in his flight which meant that he left an hour later than originally planned. In addition, at about 6:30pm in Perth the heavens opened up, dumping 30mm of rain in the space of an hour. This further delayed Ken's touchdown, so by the time we got to the con, it was 8:45pm. Despite activities taking place on Friday until 10pm, by the time we got there the ticketing people had all packed up and left, so we headed back home with tickets still in hand.

Come Saturday, and we were up bright and early to get an early spot in line. Ken and I ended up in different lines because we used different ticketing agencies to get our tickets. Fortunately, one of my friends was in one of the main lines to get in, so we both manged to get a spot early on in the line once we were able to get our wristbands.

Whilst waiting for the doors to open, Alex popped by and handed me a folio. Inside were two pieces for me from the Sydney con the previous week. First off was the Billy Tan Etrigan that Alex got me as a prize for winning his quiz contest:



The other piece was an Etrigan by Jon Sommariva that I had arranged through Alex for pickup at Sydney:



On the opening of the doors just after 10, Ken and I headed straight for the table where Dave Finch, Billy Tan and Dave Johnson would be set up. They ended up having two lines - one for Finch, and one for Tan and Johnson. We were pleasantly surprised when all three artists turned up within a few minutes (normally the headline artists don't turn up until about 10:30). I waited patiently in line for my turn to speak to Dave Finch, and when it came time I asked him to sign my copies of Batman: The Dark Knight. I then asked if he would be willing to contribute to a jam sketch piece that Mike G (bat_collector) is putting together. Fortunately, the piece arrived just in time for the con (at around 3pm on Friday!) Mike wanted him to sketch Batman as part of the jam, and Dave obliged:





By the time this was finished, there was quite a line for Dave, so I said I'd come back to him the next day in order to get a piece for myself.

I then went to Dave Johnson and set up a half body Etrigan sketch for pickup later in the day.

Then it was across to Artists Alley, and I picked up a couple of pieces that I had prearranged with Stewart McKenny. A Gambit for my wife Shanan:



And an Etrigan for me:



In addition, I picked up a copy of Stewart's latest print for Shanan, as she is a huge fan of The Princess Bride:



Unfortunately, Cary Elwes, who was originally scheduled to attend the con, had to pull out due to his involvement with the Wonder Woman TV series (which is a little ironic given the fate of the show).

I then wandered down Artists Alley, and arranged a sketch for my Legion of Doom sketchbook with up-and-coming Perth artist Emily K. Smith. I was extremely impressed with the result, and will definitely be arranging further commissions with her:



At the same booth, I bought a promotional piece of art for the locally produced series Rombies. The paper is a very unusual size (38cm x 54cm) - apparently it is used for manga double page spreads (the artist Skye Ogden currently resides in Japan).

[Wrothy]

It was then time to brave the celebrity lines, and I got Amy Acker to sign this photo after not too long a wait:



Nearing the end of the day, I went back to Dave Johnson to see how my Etrigan was progressing. I had dropped by earlier and saw it in it's early stages. At this point he was nearly finished, and he said to come back in 10-15 minutes. The requisite time passed, and as I approached I could see him drawing in a dialogue box and speaking to his handler about how Etrigan speaks backwards. He saw me and showed me the end product, which had Etrigan saying "Go fcuk yourself" backwards. I laughed, but didn't have the heart to tell him that Etrigan speaks in rhyme, not backwards! However, he had only written it in pencil, so he quickly erased it. I was very happy with the result - he uses the texture of his sketchpad paper to great effect:



I then headed into the city to catch up with the Melbournians (Ken, Alex, Rod, Steph and Belinda) for dinner. We headed into Northbridge and had dinner at a great Italian restaurant, and then went to an ice cream parlour for dessert. A great time was had by all.

Come Sunday, and I was ready to get my own David Finch piece. Ken and I arrived reasonably early again (although not quite as early as Saturday!), this time with my wife in tow (she had come in later on Saturday with her sister after getting a manicure, pedicure and facial). We headed straight for Dave's line again and I ended up second in line behind a woman from one of the stalls who ended up getting a discount from Dave by giving him a couple of wallets from her stall which are made using comic pages. After her piece was finished (a 3/4 body Nekron), Dave started on my Etrigan bust after doing some quick signatures. He got about halfway through doing my piece when it was getting close to his Q&A session, so I told him to let some more people through requiring signatures and he could get back to my piece after he got back. I think my patience and willingness to let others through for signatures paid off in the end, as you can see:



That was it in the way of art purchases, although I also picked up two issue of The Brave and the Bold from the 1970s with Etrigan (who else! ) appearances. In addition, one of the local stores was having a sellout of trades and HCs, and I managed to get copies of Annihilation Conquest Pt 2, Eternals by Neil Gaiman and the first Daredevil Marvel Masterworks for a sum total of $40. Alex made out like even more of a bandit, with a short comic box full of HCs!

Whilst I was waiting in Dave's line, Shanan and her sister were chatting with Neil Kaplan and his fiancee, with the end result being that they were invited back to have dinner at home with us. After dinner, Neil's fiancee Sharon went off with the girls to talk wedding dresses, while Ken and I had a great chat with Neil, who is most definitely a case of fan made good. He had some great stories to tell, and before I knew it, it was time to take them back to their hotel. On dropping them off, James Marsters was having a smoke at the front of the hotel, so we briefly exchanged pleasantries before he headed back in.

All in all, the con was a fantastic experience. I ended up with some wonderful pieces of art, got to catch up again with a bunch of my Melbourne friends (especially Ken!), and had a fascinating chat with Neil Kaplan.

I'm just waiting to see when Supanova will be held in Perth next year, as I'm a little worried it might coincide with Heroes Con in North Carolina, which I am intending to attend. Hopefully they don't end up conflicting, as it appears the Melbournians thoroughly enjoyed themselves and are looking forward to coming back.

[Rocket]

Awesome stuff Steve!! Was great hanging with everyone including of course, yourself and looking forward to the next group con!!

[mwf6171]

That Princess Bride print is amazing. That is my wife's favorite movie. Could you PM me that artists' info so that I can try to get one for Kelly? My 5 yr old walks around the house saying, "anybody want a peanut?"

Thanks for "certain impatient people."

[Wrothy]

Originally Posted by mwf6171

That Princess Bride print is amazing. That is my wife's favorite movie. Could you PM me that artists' info so that I can try to get one for Kelly? My 5 yr old walks around the house saying, "anybody want a peanut?"

Thanks for "certain impatient people."

The artist is Stewart McKenny - he is on Facebook, and his website address is http://www.stewartmckenny.com/.

And you're welcome mate - just remember that when you talk the talk, you gotta walk the walk.

[abarron]

Fantastic pick ups and sounds like you had a great time

[BoloMusashi]

Awesome stuff! I got a sketch off Emily as well, and yeah I'm also planning on organising some future work. I wanted to get a couple more sketches but I was helping a friend with his booth, plus I'm on a tight budget after putting a month's worth of rent down as a bond for a new rental. I'll temporarily hijack your thread for 2 seconds ...

Captain America by Jeffrey "Chamba" Cruz


Magneto by Emily K Smith

[Wrothy]

So you got the Magneto - congrats! And a very nice Cap from Chamba too.

And there's no such thing as hijacking a thread like this one - anyone who got pickups at the con is welcome to post them in here!

[BoloMusashi]

Originally Posted by Wrothy

So you got the Magneto - congrats! And a very nice Cap from Chamba too.

And there's no such thing as hijacking a thread like this one - anyone who got pickups at the con is welcome to post them in here!

LOL, I saw Emily working on your Captain Cold and knew straight away that I had to get a sketch. I'm hoping to sort some more work once they all get back from SDCC.

[blink90210]

Time for Special K to hijack this thread...