I have been intending for two weeks to write up my report of events at the Minnesota FallCon, and I kept putting it off as I don’t have the pictures loaded up yet. But here, in brief, is how it went.

• First off, I don’t think it’s possible to overstate that the Minnesota Comic Book Association is simply the finest group of event organizers in the history of conventions, or possibly all mankind. They support the big names who attend and help make arrangements for their attendance at our convention, as they did for beloved artist/goofball Gene Ha (who moved to Chicago and is no longer local, but still came to spread the joy that is Gene). The MNCBA also supports the little guys, the aspiring newcomers, the alternative comic dudes, the small press and self-published. And they support the veterans; more on that in a moment. We’re all equally welcome to the break room and the afterhours dinner. This all may seem like common sense, of course, until you hear the stories of other conventions. Like, say, a certain convention that would be a synonym for “Gandalf Planet” where the creator of Green Lantern has to fork over $200 for a table and his wife is not allowed into the break room to get a beverage for the disabled comics veteran.
• I spent the weekend promoting Job Wanted and selling more than a few shirts. People still love the “Everything I Need To Know I Learned From Comic Books” shirts, and two ladies buying presents for their sons practically cleaned me out!
• Highlight of the convention? Meeting Don Rosa and buying several of his prints. Don is THE writer and artist for Uncle Scrooge, carrying on the finest traditions of Scrooge creator Carl Barks. Don signed my Gladstone collections of his stories and we talked about his work, while I ogled all of the prints that he has created of Duckburg parodies of famous comic book covers. Don gave me a CD cover that he had done for a Finnish rock band, who were tickled that he agreed to do it. You see, in many European countries Don gets treated like a rock star, because Uncle Scrooge and Donald Duck comics sell in phenomenal numbers there. I mentioned that I would be attending Wizard World Texas in November to promote my new book. Don said, “Wizard World? Yeah, they’re one of the conventions that stopped inviting me. They said that what I did didn’t count as comic book art because they don’t sell in the States. They’re some of the most-sold comics in the world, but that doesn’t count with them.” I guess Don needs to look into joining Insane Clown Posse so that he can get the star treatment in the U.S.A. Needless to say, I enthused loudly at the injustice of this.
• Saw Erik Burnham again, although I hadn’t tried hard enough to get us seated together and he ended up two rows over from me. I’ll be sure to make arrangements for the spring MicroCon, when we’ll be selling Job Wanted together. Erik’s a great guy, although he bailed on me at dinner time, the bum. So I was manning the table all alone, unable to get away for too long, but I did make the rounds a couple times. I saw Dan Jurgens with his son…although the kid looks so exactly like Dan that I suspect he is merely raising a clone of himself in case he needs a kidney. Talked with mah man Gordon Purcell for all of 30 seconds as he passed by on Sunday, which was disappointing; Gordon’s always fun to talk to, if you get the chance. Gave a quick “hello and glad you’re here” to Gene Ha in the break room while I was stuffing my mouth with diet-busting barbecues, Doritoes, brownies and Twinkies. (Don’t look at my gut! It’s not my fault…that’s all they had! It’s a break room, not a fresh salad bar. Maybe I’ll bring some carrots in my pack next year. Besides, I hopped on my exercise machine and jogged through an episode of Babylon 5 as soon as I got home, I swear!)
• Strangest moment of the weekend: I’m walking the floor late Sunday, talking to shop owners about carrying Job Wanted in their stores, and I see an artist named Darryl Cobbs who was promoting his “Impressive Comics Presents” book. I looked through his portfolio and there, amidst all the pages of his original characters, is a picture of Kilowog and several other Green Lanterns. I smiled at it, commented on how great it looked…and then realized it was an actual comic page, not a sample. I didn’t recognize the art, although I hardly have all pages of Green Lantern memorized, so I asked him what it was from. “Green Lantern #48,” he said. I was amazed that I was meeting the guy who did the art on “Emerald Twilight,” but I looked again at the page. I don’t remember any scene where Kilowog is amongst the other Corps members, as he is the last to face Hal Jordan and then he’s needlessly murdered at the end. I looked up and asked, “Wait, is this…?” He confirmed: it’s the ORIGINAL artwork for Green Lantern #48, before the story was yanked and replaced by Emerald Twilight! What I was seeing was a page from the epic story promoted with a house ad in “Darkstar”; Hal Jordan splitting with the Corps as they disagree over which Guardians of the Universe are imposters. Once again, I really wish that story hadn’t been pulled. Not only because Emerald Twilight ruined Hal Jordan, but because the original story sounded so good…and the artwork I saw looked very exciting as well.
• I met Stephen Legge, a Fanzing reader and the webmaster for Mike Grell, on Sunday. That night, I introduced the guy to Snuffy’s on Larpenteur Avenue, an American burgers-and-malt shop, just so I could give him withering looks as he asked for vinegar for the onion rings. (Those Canadian weirdoes. They put gravy on french fries, too. And they still call them FRENCH fries because of all the Quebecky guys.) All kidding aside, Stephen was funny and I was very glad to meet him. And, as if I wasn’t feeling guilty enough for having even more fattening food for supper (HONEST – 45 minutes on the elliptical walker as soon as I was home, I mean it), Stephen picked up the check! Kudos, kind sir. (If I’d known that I could have gotten the double deluxe cheeseburger. KIDDING!)

Thanks to everyone at MNCBA and all of the attendees for making 2003 FallCon so much fun.

I can’t wait for MicroCon when I’ll have my own book, Job Wanted, to sell. (I had to laugh at my listing on the MNCBA web site because the book wasn’t titled in all-caps like the other comic books on the page, nor did it say “writer” before the name of the book, so it looks like I’m just looking for a job!)