I had a great time at Heroes Con in NC this past weekend.  So good to meet some of you from here on DA.  Others of you might not have been able to find me (if you were looking) because my table ended up being BEHIND Walt Simmonson's long line of fans all weekend!  Walt is a great guy and I talked him into a quickie head sketch of Thor in my "celebrity artists" sketchbook I've had for years, so I don't want to sound too bitter.  It did hurt my biz there, though.  No doubt.  The good parts were everything else!  Tons of great artists and new friendships were had.  I sat next to my old friend Phil Noto (who I didn't get to talk to much, but it was good to seem him) and directly next to me was Stephane' Roux ([link], who was a gentleman and very busy creating some excellent commissions for his fans.  He'll post those soon so watch his page for that.  We found out we have a couple mutual animation friends since he started out working in the layout department of the Disney France studio.   Small world.  I went to dinner with the ever talented Ben Caldwell, Dave and Greg from CreatureBox, James "Doodle" Lyle (my friend and roommate for that weekend), and the classically talented painter Scott Hampton.  Hung out around the bar (I'm not a drinker so I was having water, in case it matters to some) and got to see my friend Tim Townsend and his doll of a wife Molly once again.   They are a crazy duo and a lot of fun.  With them was Ron Garney who I am a fan of but got to know as a person.  We share a love of the Beatles and other 70s rock (though I'n sure I'm more of a "soft rock" fan than he).  He's a funny guy and I enjoyed getting to know him.  Also on the list of finally got to meets" was Dan "Urban Barbarian" Panosian ([link] and his gorgeous wife.  (Well, Dan, she is.  I mean it in a "I'm still very married way"  You're gorgeous though, no worries.)  ALso, did a dinner with my old friend (and first intern!) Chad Thomas and his good buddy (and now mine) Eric Schweizer.   Besides being a great indy comic artist, Eric is also a sequential art instructor at SCAD, Atlanta.  It was fascinating hearing him talk about teaching and the biz of comics.   He really is passionate and knows his stuff.  He is inviting me to come to SCAD, Atlanta for a visit/ to speak and I'm going to go when it works out!   I sold some books, did some commissions and sold some original art too, so that was all good.  Overall, a great trip.  And to top it off I was finishing my breakfast at the hotel and about to run to grab a taxi to the airport and saw STAN "the man" LEE sitting across from me.  I said hello on my way out.  Cool guy.

Okay, done name dropping.  You all should go next year!