Jeg har skrevet en lille messerapport om dette års Baltimore messe. Den er på engelsk, da den skulle være lagt op på en US hjemmeside, men det glippede. Men håber ikke det engelske volder nogen de store problemer.
Baltimore Comic Con 2023
I love attending comic conventions, and have attended quite a few over the years, and grown fond of a few select ones, but the convention in Baltimore (BCC) has been my favorite for a long time. I am sure that I have praised the BCC before, but it bears repeating, as it is in my mind the quintessential of what a comic con should be, comic creators, comic book retailers and a lot passionate comic book fans. There might also be some TV and movie celebrities present, nothing wrong with that, as long as the focus remain on the comic book part, which it does in Baltimore.
In the 2 years where I could not go to conventions, I spent a lot of time reminiscing all the good experiences I have had at cons, and going to the BCC encapsulates the essence of all these experiences. The con simply have a great feel good vibe, and for someone like me who has been going to US conventions for 30 years, you can get a bit jaded with the amount of experiences you have had, and all the creators, retailers and fellow fans you have meet over the years. So it takes a special convention for you to feel at ease and enjoy yourself, and this is what the Baltimore Comic Con is to me.
As for this year’s convention, I had a pretty rocky road traveling to and from the convention, with cancel flights and a flight that got turned around because of medical issue for another passenger. Much the opposite of my famous fellow Dane H.C. Andersen, who said that “to travel is to live”, and that the destination was not important. I loved getting to Baltimore and spending time there, but as mentioned above my traveling sucked.
However, I did get to Baltimore and had a great time. Baltimore always manage to get some of the biggest names in comics, both new and legendary, combined with a large variety of comic book creators, so that there is plenty for everyone, even for a travel weary Dane.
Some of the names that had the longest lines this year was Brian Michael Bendis, Chris Claremont and Walter & Louise Simonson, not to forget David Finch, Art Adams, Jon Bogdanove who all had hour long lines each day. All though I got in early, I still spent a couple of hours in line for Walter & Louise Simonson on Friday afternoon, together with 100-200 of their fans – but it was worth it!
I also spend Friday catching up with good friends and fellow fans, which I had not seen since last year’s BCC. The day ended with me going out to dinner with some very good friends, and some of the guests of the convention. It was a nice dinner in great company and amazing food. After the dinner, we went back to the Marriott bar, who is back being the watering hole for the after hour activities, and I probably spend a wee hour there, before wandering back to my hotel two blocks away.
Saturday I also attended a few panels, which I did not get around to doing on Friday, as I was on the convention floor all the time. I watched a very informative panel with Geoff Johns, where he spoke about the personal experiences he used for inspiration for a lot of his stories, which played a much larger part that I would have thought. I also saw a panel with Howard Chaykin, which is always a lot of fun, ending with Howard singing (if you have not heard Howard sing you are missing out).
I once again spend a lot of time on the convention floor, and was fortunate enough to pick up a copy of convention guest Patrick McDonnells new GN novel, “The Super Hero’s Journey”. Abrams had brought along 150 copies with them, 2 weeks in advance of the official release. Patrick was also sitting in the booth signing and sketching for everybody who picked up a copy, which I did with enthusiasm. I was lucky enough to get a nice Silver Surfer and Watcher sketch in my book, inspired by another fan who also got them + he also colored the sketches. A great book which I enjoyed reading when I got back home. BTW did I mention he did it for free? As anybody who has attended a convention in the past 8-10 years has discovered, is that just about everyone charges for autographs and especially sketching. The free doodle or small remark, is almost a thing of the past. I can see both sides, in the sense that a creator should get something for his/her time/work, but having something you enjoyed reading and wanting to get it signed by the creator in question, has become too much business for the most part, especially with the witness program and slapping. IMHO more creators should have first signature free, so that new young fans still have a chance to get something signed by their favorite creator, and not having to pay more for a signature than they paid for the comic book, which is expensive enough as it is. It is a different matter for long time collectors like me, who might have a small/big stack of books with me to get signed, knows and understands that there is a charge (plus we earn our own money). Fortunately enough, Baltimore have had their own comics pavilion for kids quite a few years, where kids can get a great experience with comic books and creators who’s target audience is a younger audience. Kudos for having such a thing at a modern comic book convention.
After the convention ended it was off to the 7th Ringo Awards. The Ringo Awards was created as a way to honor long time friend of the convention Mike Wieringo, and it is always a great pleasure to attend. It starts with a reception, before we have dinner (a really nice one!) which leads off to the awards ceremony. Randy Tischler gets the ball rolling, and this year we had Mark Waid doing the Keynote speak, which he did very well. I was sitting next to Mark, at a table who also had Todd Dezago & Craig Rousseau + some of their children. Those three, together with Matt Wieringo, who unfortunately was unable to attend, also give out the Mike Wieringo Spirit Award, which this year went to a very surprised Mark Waid, who did wonder afterwards why they did not need him for all of the meetings that had up to the awards ceremony…. The evening also saw a lot of happy and surprised winners. Last year I was very pleased to see Sal Buscema, a life long idol of mine, win the Ringo Award for best inker, which he was very pleased about when he got the award after the convention (he did not attend). I was equally pleased this year, when good friend Klaus Janson won this year’s award for best inker. He was surprised and very happy about getting the award. The where a lot of different presenters at the ceremony, who all did their bit to add to the entertainment, some more than others. And then we had what I believe have become known as the “Rude Interlude” (I’m sure more can be found of this incidence online somewhere), which brought back memories to me of a Frank Miller speech at the Eisner Awards 12-15 years ago. 20 min. we will never get back again. The night ended at the Marriott bar, and it got somewhat late before I got to bed.
Sunday I packed and checked out of my hotel, and then headed down to the convention early. I still had a few things I wanted to get done for friends of mine, and then I also managed to see a panel more. This one was with Walter Simonson & John Workman, who with Robert Greenberger as moderator, talked about Manhunter at 50 and Thor at 40. It was a very interesting panel, and I even managed to ask a question about returning original art. Other than that, I yet again spent a lot of time at the convention floor speaking with good friends, and got inspiration for new traveling next year.
Baltimore Comic Con 2023 was amazing and my 16th time attending. Next year will be the conventions 25th anniversary, and I cannot wait to attend for my 17th time!
