BATMAN STRIKES, Wizard World and Season 5 tie-ins

[rlissau]

Batfans:

I wanted to tell all of you what a GREAT time I had at Wizard World. I sold tons of BATMAN STRIKES (the free sketches I was offering helped, I think), and new Bat-writer Josh Elder sold a fair share, too.

We got to spend some quality time with Chris Jones, and we hung briefly with fellow Johnny DC writers Jai Nitz and J Torres. In fact, Torres, Jones, Elder and I did a group signing Friday at the DC booth that was so much fun. For the first time, I did a signing that required a line to be capped!!!!

I also met with awesome Bat-editor Nachie Castro, who greenlit a new story and gave me some encouraging words about Things To Come. Let me tell you, the books that come out after Season Five begins are going to BLOW YOUR MINDS.

Hopefully Chris'll see this and share his impressions of the con, too.

For more on WWC:

You can hear an interview I did at: www.aroundcomics.com.

You can also see a photo and read about us at: graphicclassroom.blogspot.com/

And as always, there's www.myspace.com/rlissau

Also, I was profiled in the newspaper I write for:
www.dailyherald.com/timeout/story.asp?id=3930327§ion=mainevent

[Christopher Jones]

It was great getting to see so many of my Batman Strikes co-horts in one place. One of the things I think many fans don't realize is that comics are a collaborative medium in which you rarely meet your collaborators. I met Josh Elder for the first time at this show. I just met Jai Nitz for the first time at SDCC a couple of weeks back. This was the first time I'd seen Russell since meeting him at the same show last year. I've been working for editor Nachie Castro for three years now, and only met him in person at the New York convention this past February. I even got to meet with Ernest Mayes who wrote the story for the insert comic I drew that featured The Batman and Cal Ripken Jr.! I also saw J. Torrez and hatched plans for a huge mini-series event featuring the best character in comics: Tyroc* (you had to be there).

I have friends in the comics business who are local to my area here in the Twin Cities who I only tend to see at conventions in other cities around the country: Zander Cannon, Terrance Griep, Gene Ha, Tom Nguyen, and my out-of-state buddies Phil Hester and Ande Parks.

There's also my friends and colleagues from the DC Comics staff, and that's without even getting to all the FANS I had a chance to meet and talk to. I think I did close to 80 sketches over the weekend, and signed tons of comics, and enjoyed talked to many, many fans of The Batman Strikes! and other comics I had done.

And we survived the mighty thunderstorm we drove through on the way home! Now I just have to get cranking and get this current issue of Batman finished.

Oh, did I mention there was exciting news about future guest star characters in The Batman Strikes? Heh, heh, heh...

Chris

*http://www.answers.com/topic/tyroc

[/\/\att]

Oh, jesus Chris....not tyroc! You know this reminds me of a plot my friend Mike and I hatched to bring back ROM for a whole new generation, lmao. sigh.

Sounds like you guys had a great time! I should be living in Chicago next year so hopefully I can meet some of you guys finally.

[Christopher Jones]

I *hope* I can be at WW Chicago next year. They're moving the dates to May 30-June 1, which makes my ability to attend really iffy. I'm hoping I can make it work. That's getting into the final push before the convention I help RUN in the Twin Cities on the first weekend of July: CONvergence.

[rlissau]

Chris:

Every calendar I've seen for WWC '08 says June 26-29.

[Christopher Jones]

Weird. The other dates were what I found when I looked before, but now I see your dates everywhere. Then there's no WAY I can be there....

Chris

[rlissau]

And I really want to do Convergence in 2008. Hrm. That stinks.

[Christopher Jones]

They're a week apart, which means it might be possible to ATTEND both. But I can't travel to a Chicago convention the week before helping RUN the other. By a week out, CONvergence is a full time job...

C.