My Fan Expo Chicago 2023 loot pile, plus Anne’s lanyard with new pins and buttons.
Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:
It’s that time again! This weekend my wife Anne and I attended the second edition of Fan Expo Chicago at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in the suburb of Rosemont, Illinois. Last year they arose from the ashes of the late Wizard World Chicago, which we attended eleven times and whose already-shaky financial standings didn’t fare any better during the pandemic. Fan Expo threw such a great inauguration party, and invited such a staggering guest list this time that we agreed an encore was in order…
…and it all comes down to this: everything else about our convention weekend that I didn’t already share. Mostly that means the comics, but not just the comics.
I’ve been a collector since age 6, back when they were so cheap that Mom didn’t mind me throwing a few into our grocery cart every week. 45 years later they remain a weekly habit and one of my favorite parts of every good comic-con experience. Mind you, I’m pickier than I used to be, which is partly due to Opinions but is mostly a defense mechanism for the sake of my budget and our limited household storage space. One of the few benefits of the pandemic was that I got so, so close to getting my unread pile under control (perhaps I should add finger-quotes) as the worldwide shutdown gave me a bit more free time for reading. Now that cons are back in business, I’ve once again buried myself under six tons of Artists Alley acquisitions from our last several shows. But I allowed myself a little dabbling here.
Among other victories, we made time for a comics panel. Nowadays 95% of those tend to be classes for aspiring creators that do me little good ever since I let that dream go around 11th grade. In recent times a new type of panel has been popping up more and more: Sketch Duels! Two artists take to the stage, are given subjects, and then draw and draw and draw while a moderator bugs them with questions and keeps the audience engaged so everyone’s not just sitting there for an hour watching two furrowed brows and listening to pencil scratches and ambient hallway noise. I’ve added Sketch Duels to our “maybe” list at a few past shows, but kept missing out till now.
Our Saturday afternoon opponents have worked in the medium for decades and have works in my collection. In one corner: the detail-oriented Brandon Peterson, who’s done a variety of projects at Marvel (including several X-books), DC, and Image, and was a staffer at the ill-fated CrossGen Comics during their fifteen minutes of prettily colored existence. In the other corner: Dave Johnson, whose sharp eye for cover design has made a multitude of books leap off shelves, both with one-off variants and with sizable runs on the likes of 100 Bullets, Detective Comics, and most recently The Good Asian, one of the best miniseries of 2022. This pairing was a great temptation to lure me into the Sketch Duel concept. Their moderator was Anthony Ruttgaizer, an indie comics creator and club DJ who knows how to keep things rolling and fill dead air.
Left to right: Ruttgaizer, Peterson and Johnson.
Ruttgaizer invited the audience to toss out subject ideas for the duel. The ultimate winner was “Spawn vs. Carnage”. Johnson took Carnage, whom I’m not sure he’s ever drawn on a cover, while Peterson took Spawn. He admitted this might be unfair considering he’s currently working on a not-yet-announced Violator project for Image (alongside other collaborators such as Cully Hamner) and was just sketching Spawn the other day. Not that anyone was worried about fairness; much like Whose Line Is It, Anyway?, everything is made-up and the points don’t matter.
Among other tidbits discussed while they drew and drew and drew:
- Peterson has experimented with controversial AI art programs just to test their capabilities and limits, but had to waste so much time on corrections and adjustments on each piece that it would’ve been faster just to draw those pieces himself from scratch. He could imagine minor uses for them, but could also imagine them eliminating entry-level positions that make a great toehold for aspiring creators looking for ways to “pay their dues”, so to speak. Johnson foresees doom if publishers pursue that avenue.
- One of Peterson’s least favorite projects to date was a Doctor Strange miniseries written by a high-profile sci-fi TV creator’s assistant, but with said TV creator getting top billing. It became a “you draw what I say” work-for-hire gig that allowed him no real collaboration or input, just my-way-or-the-highway marching orders. This was especially a shame considering Strange is one of his favorite characters.
- Johnson entertained the possibility of revisiting the Superman: Red Son alt-universe graphic novel he did with Mark Millar and illustrating a sort of “The End” sequel to it.
- To a perceptive question concerning how not to waste time obsessing over art details: one of them quoted the late artist Lee Moder (co-creator of Stargirl): “I have to be less precious about my art.” The other cited the late Steve Dillon (co-creator of Preacher), who abided by the rule that whatever the word balloons point at in a given panel is what matters most.
- For background noise while drawing, Johnson puts on TV procedurals, which don’t require his constant attention. Peterson queues up old sitcoms like WKRP in Cincinnati and Seinfeld. Ruttgaizer has developed a rather concerning addiction to Coronation Street.
When time was up, Ruttgaizer treated the audience to the results via the magic of old-fashioned overhead projection:
Spawn by Brandon Peterson.
Carnage by Dave Johnson.
No winner was declared between the two of them per se. Audience members had been given raffle tickets on our way in. At the end, the sketches were awarded to two lucky attendees (not us, alas). All told, this was good fun and I’d love to see more duels.
Beyond that panel, my comics experience was limited to a bit of shopping and a few laps through the entirety of Artists Alley in search of new reading matter. I almost never buy prints or original art at cons. I’m a huge disappointment to 98% of Artists Alley residents looking to ply their wares and pay their tabling fees. I know prints and art are much easier to lug into and out of a convention center than entire cases full of books and comics, but that’s how I roll. I’m also exceedingly finicky about covers. If the front cover of your life’s work is an ordinary character standing still, staring back at me like a staid Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe entry, and not actually conveying any emotion or plot to me except “I Am a Main Character”, odds are I’ll keep walking. (Perhaps artists like Dave Johnson have raised that bar too high.)
That said, the following folks successfully added to my unread pile this weekend. For what it’s worth, autographed works get Top Priority in my reading order.
Michael Cherkas and Larry Hancock! I remember when ye olde Amazing Heroes fanzine reviewed their Renegade Press series The Silent Invasion back in the mid-’80s. Their black-and-white conspiracy thriller has been collected by NBM and they’ve published new stories.
Russell Lissau! A certified Friend of MCC whom we’ve met at past shows, Lissau is a reporter for Chicago’s Daily Herald who’s worked in DC’s Bat-books and written numerous indie comics.
Steve Horton! Writer of such works as Amara’s Blade and Satellite Falling, we last said hi to him at Wizard World Chicago 2016. Recent works include a David Bowie graphic bio done in collaboration with Michael and Laura Allred. (Hi again there, Russell!)
Anthony Ruttgaizer! You might remember him from that Sketch Duel we were just talking about. Books for sale included the all-ages Heroes of Homeroom C and his workplace-inspired Strip Club Quotes.
Shout-outs are likewise owed to other artisans and sellers who brought cool new objets d’art for us to acquire:
- Vikki Claire, the first person I’ve ever witnessed selling merch inspired by the super awesome Reservation Dogs.
- Kevin Johnson, the artist and Mysterio cosplayer who appeared in Part 2.
- Heroes in Action, premier purveyor of FanSets character pins, which are absolutely Anne’s jam.
- Beth Zwolski Tobias, a.k.a. TheChalkGirl, who added a few new buttons to my con-backpack collection.
- Jamie Coker, whose buttons and magnets keep grabbing our attention.
- Drew Blank, a master of focusing on woefully undermerchandised series like Parks & Rec and What We Do in the Shadows.
- Copper Coast Confections who make yummy sugary stuffs, which are one of our foremost comic-con survival tools.
A six-pack of their truffles. Flavors from the top down: dark sea salt caramel, tiramisu, chocolate cheesecake, Irish creme (I think?), dark peanut butter, and dark espresso.
We conclude with one more photo gallery called “And the Rest” — shots of other arts and sights throughout our three days of pop culture overload and hiking.
The long hallway connecting the parking-garage Skybridge to the Stephens Center, through which we stealthily infiltrated the place at 7:30 a.m. Saturday.
A mural over by the panel rooms invited fans to inscribe the names of their favorite characters, shows, universes and/or IPs.
Sample fandom tributes from said mural.
Our mortal enemy: online dealers and consignment sellers who bring carts full of stuff, join autograph lines posing as ordinary fans, and slow down an already languorous and time-killing process by having actors sign 20-30 items at a time.
Over by the photo-op restrooms, ingenious placement from Windy City Ghostbusters, one of several organized fan groups in the house.
If you love coin-op fortune-telling but think Zoltar is problematic, the Garbage Pail Kids offer an alternative.
Another Drew Blank creation. We have so many questions but refuse to ask any of them.
…and on that note: that’s the con that was. The End. Thanks for reading! Lord willing, we’ll see you next con, two weeks from now.
Other chapters in this very special MCC miniseries:
Part 1: Cosplay!
Part 2: More Cosplay!
Part 3: Stars and Strikes
Epilogue: The Food After the Fan Expo Chicago 2023 End Credits