Shanan and I headed over to Adelaide again this year for Supanova after a great experience last year. I was looking forward to finally meeting the illustrious Art Adams.
While waiting to get in on Saturday morning, I caught up with Ryan, Luke and Song, although they all managed to get in early by 'helping' exhibitors.
When the doors officially opened, I rushed to the area for Art and ended up 6th in line, so I figured I was in with a chance if he did three pieces per day. When Art arrived, I waited my turn and then placed an order for an Etrigan bust piece and asked Art to sign my 'New Fantastic Four' comics. He was an absolute gentleman, and his daughter (who was doing her own sketching nearby) was an absolute sweetie.
I then headed to Katie Cooke and asked her for an Etrigan sketch as well. She said that she would come up with the cutest Etrigan I had ever gotten (and anyone who has seen my Agnes Garbowska Etrigan knows that it is pretty difficult to top!)
Next on the list was Andy Price. Shanan had approached him first to ask him to do a Skyward piece for her in memory of fellow North Carolina artist Jeremy Dale, a close friend of Andy (and who Shanan had developed a close relationship with) who unexpectedly passed away recently. I of course asked for a greyscale Etrigan sketch. He indicated that he might not be able to get to it by the end of the con, since he was expecting to only get one of his more detailed pieces done (and Shanan was first on that list), but I indicated that if he got it done for Brisbane, Royd could pick it up for me. I also shocked him by bringing out some Quantum Leap comics from the 1990s that he illustrated for him to sign.
After that, Shanan and I went off to get our photo with Firefly actor Alan Tudyk, and got our print of the Paternoster Gang from Doctor Who signed by Neve McIntosh (who plays Madame Vastra), as she had to pull out of Armageddon last year where we had it signed by the other two actors. She was most impressed with the print and asked about the artist, Stewart McKenny. We indicated that he would be at the Brisbane con the following week and would contact him to let him know she wanted a copy. He was chuffed with the response, and she said that she would go and find him at the con.
We had arranged a couple of pieces from local artists prior to the con. Shanan had actually arranged for Michael Dutkiewicz to do a sketch of Hoggle after the Adelaide con last year, but he ended up losing the piece and did another one the night before this con. Shanan was extremely happy with the result though.
I had also arranged a Silver Surfer piece from Wayne Nichols for Shanan, in the hopes that it would direct her attention away from my Ron Lim SS sketch, which she has had designs on. It turned out great, but unfortunately I don't think my ploy worked.
On Sunday, after helping Shanan by waiting in line for an autograph from Alan Tudyk while she waited for Louise Brealey (Molly in Sherlock), I went to see Art to see how he was coming along with his requests. He said he had sketched out a number of them, but wasn't sure if he was going to get through them all. I told him not to worry about rushing mine, as I could get Royd to pick it up in Brisbane, for which he seemed to be quite grateful.
Then it was back to Katie, and I must say that she certainly did what she intended - this is indeed the cutest Etrigan in my collection!
Andy didn't think he would be able to get either Shanan's or my pieces done by the end of the con, so again we indicated that they could be picked up in Brisbane.
The last thing to do was to attend the sketch-off, which was a great time. The theme was Wonder Woman as a pin-up, and all the end results were fantastic. Martin Abel and Joyce Chin did one piece each, while Art ended up doing three pieces in the time alotted (a bust piece, another bust piece with Wonder Woman as a gorilla, and a head shot), and Katie did at least 6 pieces (with the first being a Wonder Woman picture in a frame pinned up on the wall). I was lucky enough to win the Adams head shot in the raffle that followed. I haven't been able to get a good scan of the piece, so this photo will have to do for now.
All in all, it was a fantastic con. It was great meeting up with regular congoers Alex, Royd, Ryan, Luke and Song, and meeting Jason Mazar (another fellow collector) for the first time.
Fortunately, all the additional sketches were completed at Brisbane, and I need to publicly thank Royd for acting as my art mule. Thanks again mate!
I couldn't be happier with my Etrigan by Art Adams:
The Etrigan by Andy Price is also fantastic:
Shanan's Labyrinth piece by Katie Cook is absolutely wonderful, and the scan doesn't do it justice (there is glitter that you can't see in the scan):
And both Shanan and I were floored by Andy's take on Jeremy's characters from Skyward, which Andy also dedicated to him. Shanan was a little emotional on seeing it:
Is the raffle limited to the 5 or 6 Australians who collect comic art?
