The Secret of the Wednesday’s Haul

I’m trying to put together a con report but my head right now is having trouble stringing two consecutive thoughts together.  I’ll probably have something out tomorrow for Pop Syndicate and a more personal piece out on Tuesday either on the blog or out as a podcast but I wanted to quickly describe one scene that I think will define Wizard World Chicago 2008 for me.

On Saturday morning, I was in line at the Avatar booth waiting for Warren Ellis.  Of all the creators in Chicago this weekend, Ellis was the one I wanted to see and brielfy meet the most.  I’ve been wondering for a while what Ellis was really like because I’ve always maintained that his on-line persona was just that; a persona but not the real Warren Ellis.  At Friday’s late night Question & Answer session, Ellis’s charm and humor came through much more than it does just through reading his replies on his forums or emails.  Maybe it was the English accent.  Maybe it was the usually present sly smile or the small twinkle in his eye that I could see clearly across the room.  Maybe he’s just a good actor but he seemed to be actually enjoying being there.

Saturday morning, his signing was supposed to begin at 11 a.m. but he did not show up until around 11:20 a.m.  I half expected the old bastard Ellis, cranky and not wanting to be around the fanboys.  Instead, Ellis quickly walked up and down the line, half seeing how long it was and half wanting to briefly chat and thank people for waiting.  Walking back to the Avatar table to begin signing, he stopped just behind me to talk to two young girls who couldn’t have even been 10 years old and who were probably there with their by their father.  He bent over and ever so gently and polititely asked them, “Have you been waiting long?  Well, we’ll see what we can do to get you out of here.”  No barking.  No biting heads off.  No sense of entitlement because he was the talent and we were just the fanboys.  Just a nice man, taking some time to talk to his fans and sign some books.

I’ll have more out later when I can actually think a bit more clearly.

Covering the same topic

• She’s a guitar slinger– Friday Night Fights
• Did he read the same book as me– a review of Astonishing X-Men #26
• Podcasting Panel @ Wizard World Chicago