Wizard World Philadelphia 2006 Report, Part OneBetter late than never, eh? Wizard World Philadelphia in June was my very best solo appearance ever, thanks to all of you who showed up to say hi and talk comics. As always, click on the photos to see full-size, uncropped images.

Here’s a look at my booth. I was lucky to be sitting next to a really great guy, John Hebert, and his girlfriend. Hebert is an incredibly gifted draftsman who worked for Marvel on both the X-men Adventures and the Punisher titles. People were really excited to see him. His table was beset by X-Fans the entire weekend.

Hebert was a blast to exhibit next to. He’s a really classy guy and he has the best stories. I always dreamed of working for Marvel when I was a kid and here was a guy who lived that dream and didn’y mind my living vicariously through his memories.

If I remember correctly, the beautiful girl in the ShadowCat costume won and award for her handiwork. Her and her charming beau stopped by the table. I may have talked them into checking out the Evil Inc book or they may have already been regular readers. My memory is somewhat fuzzy on that point. But I do remember having an enjoyable chat with them both.

WWPhilly was also where I kicked up my solo appearance presentation a notch or two. I invested in a vertical banner for the back and a horizontal banner for the front. The vertical banner is sweet and amazingly affordable. I’ll probably add two more and build a little wall of banners behind me when I’m doing Artist’s Alley next.

I mentioned it before, but I have to say it again. This was an incredible con for me. A few dedicated readers stopped by each day and bought multiple books and commissioned sketches. They inspired me to start bringing giftbags to say thank you to the people who go above and beyond in their support of me and my comic.

Of course, there was the usual parade of costumed conventioneers. I have to admit a real fondness for this part of comic-con culture. I love to see grown-ups playing dress-up. It makes me happy that I’m not the only one who’s sad that Halloween only comes once a year.

If you follow the forums, you’ll recall a guy who posts under the handle “MadKalnod.” I don’t know if he wants his real name used, so I’ll simple refer to him as “Mad.” I met Mad at WWPhilly and had a really great conversation with him about everything from comics to politics. mad gave me a CD that he had an extra copy of: “Mike’s Superhero Music Mix” or something to that effect. It’s a lot of the orchestral arrangements to superhero moveis like “Superman” and “Batman” as well as some instrumental TV Themes like Teen Titans and even The Tick. I started playing it for my four-year-old on our trips to school. It actually became his introduction to orchestral music. I took the opportunity to use the music to talk to him about different instruments, different arangements, basic music theory, etc. It was one of those nice gestures that turned out to be something marvelous for my son and I.

And I swear to goodness, you’ve never seen two people laugh such heaving laugh as my son and I as we sing the “lyrics” to The Tick. The first time we started singing along, I was laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes. That parlayed itself into a fascination with the character. Needless to say, when I returned from Comic Con, I brought home a Tick action figure and a DVD.

SPOON!

Anyway, forum-readers will remember Mad posting about his quest for a Giganta HeroClix. Now the awful truth can be told. He did, indeed, find the object of his desire.

You people are weird.

And I wouldn’t have it any other way.