Dragons Keep: FCBD 2007 Report
Free Comic Book Day 2007 went really well down at Dragons Keep today. The store was packed, yet there were plenty of comics to go around. We met lots of new friends, including some folks who look like they may just end up becoming new regulars at the shop (bringing four factions of Warmachine with them!) I did lots of sketches, and didn't have time to pay attention to much of what was going on to my right. When I took a break, though, I got to look at over Dylan Johnson's shoulder as he worked, and quickly realized that not only can the man hand you your head in just about any hand of Magic: The Gathering, he's also got some serious art chops. 
Later I worked my way down to Chad Hardin's spot, and got to page through his portfolio. He sold the pencils for his cover to Bloodrayne #1 for something like 10% of what I expect it was worth -- it is a beautiful piece, surrounded by other beautiful pieces in the portfolio that you can probably still acquire for a song as long as you can catch up with Chad before he figures this out. You may recall that I am not a fan of the Bloodrayne film. Chad isn't either, and his comic is a much more engaging and artistic property. Interestingly, one of the guys who came up to gush over Chad's Bloodrayne comic pencils (which are eminently gushoverable) also gushed over the Bloodrayne film. I say "interestingly," when what I mean is "I barely avoided a spit-take when I overheard." Wow. I resisted the temptation to participate in the conversation, because while I had plenty to add, it is bad form to verbally assault people who might be spending money with your friend. Besides, this particular Bloodrayne fan was, like most adult males of our generation, quite a bit larger than I am. Oh, and I was trying to keep my bile down and the diet soda off of my artwork. I sold a few books, had a lot of great conversations, made numerous children happy (it turns out that their standards for "draw me a Spider-man" are quite a bit lower than those of the portfolio scouts for Marvel) and basically had a day of fun and profit. It was followed by a couple of hours of delicious sushi, on the tab of my good friend RJ.