After FINALLY closing a long-standing action item Saturday morning (Hoo-Effing-Ray!), The whole lot of us ventured across town to hang out at the VA Comicon for a few hours and rub elbows (sometimes literally, given the crowds) with fans, creators, and geeks of all stripes.

This weekend’s show was a much larger than the usual “four hour dealer’s room with half-a-dozen small press guys” affair, spanning two days and three rooms in the hotel convention center space, as well as most of the hallway; packed with writers, artists, exhibitors, and a few costumed attendees (unusual for this normally low-key event), including great Harley Quinn and John Stewart Green Lantern outfits.

The big draw this time around were the high profile guests, including Guest of Honor Larry Hama, comic industry veteran and the creator of the modern GI:Joe franchise; Chris Claremont, best known for nearly 20 years work writing X-Men, prolific artist Michael Golden, and Chuck Dixon, who has written everything from Batman to The Simpsons. For me, GI:Joe panel with Hama, Dixon, and artist Robert Atkins alone was worth the price of admission. I hope things went well and profitably for the con organizers and they keep putting together these bigger shows; the crowd this weekend sure seemed to indicate there’s a demand for this sort of event in the region.

I have a lot of fun at these things; it’s very cool to meet someone whose work I really enjoy (Larry Hama’s work on GI:Joe in the ’80s hooked me for good on comics and graphic storytelling, it was a big thrill for me to chat with him for a few minutes while he signed my copy of GI:Joe #1), and I love discovering new comics and artists. This year, besides picking up the latest stuff from the terribly gracious creator Dan Nokes (Pistoleers #2 – excellent work, btw- and the Paranormals 1-6 trade), I picked up a stack of comics from John Gallagher, whose kid-friendly superhero Buzz Boy is lots of fun, with a tone that reminds me, at least a little bit, of the stuff from my MU co-alum Jimmy Gownley. I also had a great conversation with John about the blessings and perils of working on licensed and promotional comics (his company, Sky Dog, does promotional comics and design for clients like restaurants and professional sports franchises). He also took the time to talk to the kids about the craft of writing and drawing comics; I think they enjoyed the attention.

That’s the other thing that’s cool about cons, or book festivals, or whatever; the kids get to see and meet the people that are out there creating stuff they enjoy. Mary got to meet and get an autograph from the guy who created Lockheed the dragon, and see professional artists at work doing commission sketches, and Andrew got to talk with the guy who invented the modern GI:Joe characters, and who worked as a creative consultant on the 2009 movie, which he’s watched at least half-a-dozen times since I picked up the the Blu-Ray. As I’ve said before, I can think of worse role models to put in front of them.