Stuff happens and it’s not always good stuff. Which is why, every day on Facebook and Twitter, I remind myself of what brings me joy in this hard world of ours. Here are the things that made me happy in February.
February 1: My morning American Airlines flight to the North Texas Comic Book Con was great. Comfortable seat on aisle (8B) with no one in front of me or next to me.
February 2: The North Texas Comic Book Show. The sensational event was packed with terrific comics creators from the 1970s and beyond. So many good moments with old friends. I recommend this convention to fans and comics creators alike.
February 3: Doing my cheesy Godzilla sketches for Amy Chi and her son. Such a pleasure to meet her...and, yes, I will be doing more cheesy sketches when you least expect it.
February 4: Chatting with Neal Adams in the waning hours of North Texas Comic Book Con. A great deal of the benefits creators now get are because Neal fought the battles decades ago. I’m still learning from him and appreciate his friendship.
February 5: Getting a shout-out from Svengoolie on his February 2 airing of The Giant Claw. We met at the Hall of Heroes Convention in Elkhart, Indiana.
February 6: Dan Davis doing a fine job drawing my pal Tom Batiuk’s Crankshaft comic strip. It’s such a seamless transition I have to keep reminding myself of Dan’s involvement.
February 7: Michael Roberts’ Hot Type, Cold Beer and Bad News: A Cleveland Reporter’s Journey Through the 1960s. A great book about a less-than-great newspaper. I worked at The Plain Dealer for about three years and this book brought back some memories.
February 8: Gail Simone asking and receiving answers from fast food chains on comics preferences. What a fun thing! She recognizes the great responsibility that comes with her power as one of the best people in comics.
February 9: The woman who hit my SUV causing thousands of dollars in damages admitted her full liability in the matter. We will even get our deductible back.
February 10: The Halsey-hosted episode of Saturday Night Live was the best and most complete episode of the season. Great sketches. Great musical performances. More, please.
February 11: Realizing that, even beyond Black Lightning, my comics and other work has meant so much to so many people. I say this with gratitude for the kind words.
February 12: Alter Ego #157. Editor Roy Thomas and interview ace Richard Arndt have outdone themselves with incredible material onGolden Age Wonder Woman writer Joye Murchison and the Silver Age’s Barbara Friedlander.
February 13: Lindor Valentine's Day Strawberries and Cream White Chocolate Truffles. Sinfully good. I only regret I didn’t receive any for Mistress Day.
February 14: Scooby-Doo Team-Up #46. Writer Sholly Fisch and artist Dario Brizuela delivered an hilarious adventure teaming the Scooby Gang with my favorite super-hero. Many LOL moments. Thanks, guys.
February 15: Gotham. This final season is crazy wild with wonderful performances, bizarre characters and unexpected plot twists in darn near every scene. I like that it’s coming to its end and loving the ride up to that.
February 16: That Chevy Equinox TV Commercial with the alligators is brilliant! I need to see the car’s “Surround Vision technology” in a “creature feature” as soon as possible.
February 17: Revealed in a new Progressive commercial: the usually denigrated “Jaime” has an amazing house, wife, kids and musical chops. For years, he’s been nothing but comedy relief in the ads. I love seeing Flo and her lackeys rendered speechless.
February 18: Saintly Wife Barb’s birthday celebration. Last night, we had a great time at Rockne’s with Eddie, Kelly, Aunt Nora, Uncle Terry, Aunt Pat, Cousin Heather and her son Zack.
February 19: Gotham City Garage. This was recommended to me by one of my Facebook friends. I got the first volume from my library and enjoyed it. Will review it soon.
February 20: Sholly Fisch and Scooby-Doo Team-Up. Both should be nominated for every comics award for which they’re eligible. I’d vote for them.
February 21: Pensacon 2019 was bigger and better than ever. It’s my favorite convention. I’ll come back as often as I’m invited. This event truly represents the best of fandom.
February 22: A Pensacon magical moment. Sharing the ride from the airport to the hotel with Pinky and the Brain: Maurice LaMarche and Rob Paulsen.
February 23: Doing fun informative Pensacon panels with the Longbox guys, Kevin Grevioux, Mark Maddox, Barry Gregory, Ande Parks, and others. Hope to do more in 2020.
February 24: Dinner at Pensacola’s fabulous Fish House, which was all decked out as Hogwarts. My photo was taken for their “wall of fame” of presidents, astronauts, entertainers and more. I’ll be the guy people point at and say, “Who the heck is that guy?”
February 25: J.D. and Oscar, who grew up next door to us in Medina, live in Pensacola. With their wives Haley and Megan and Oscar’s son Harrington, they came to Pensacon. First con for them. So great for Eddie and I to spend time with them.
February 26: Being warmly greeted by old friends and making so many new friends. It’s a Pensacon tradition!
February 27: Mike Ensley and the Pensacon crew. Mike is one of the most moral, upstanding people and his crew, especially my beloved Maria, are efficient, friendly and unfailingly kind.
February 28: Marvel won four well-deserved Oscars this year. Black Panther and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse were outstanding in every way. My congratulations to all who worked on them.
Reminder: I’ll be at the Big Apple Comic Con, Saturday and Sunday, March 9-10, at The Penn Plaza Pavilion, Pennsylvania Hotel, 401 7th Avenue in New York City. I’ll be doing a Bronze Age panel with my pal Arvell Jones and moderating a Q&A session with Mike Colter of Luke Cage. I’d love to see a bunch of my bloggy readers at the con.
If you’re planning ahead, I’ll be a guest at the Great Philadelphia Comic Con, April 12-14 at The Greater Philadelphia Expo Center, 100 Station Avenue, Oaks, PA. Keep watching the bloggy thing for news of my other 2019 convention appearances.
I’ll be back tomorrow with more stuff.
© 2019 Tony Isabella
February 1: My morning American Airlines flight to the North Texas Comic Book Con was great. Comfortable seat on aisle (8B) with no one in front of me or next to me.
February 2: The North Texas Comic Book Show. The sensational event was packed with terrific comics creators from the 1970s and beyond. So many good moments with old friends. I recommend this convention to fans and comics creators alike.
February 3: Doing my cheesy Godzilla sketches for Amy Chi and her son. Such a pleasure to meet her...and, yes, I will be doing more cheesy sketches when you least expect it.
February 4: Chatting with Neal Adams in the waning hours of North Texas Comic Book Con. A great deal of the benefits creators now get are because Neal fought the battles decades ago. I’m still learning from him and appreciate his friendship.
February 5: Getting a shout-out from Svengoolie on his February 2 airing of The Giant Claw. We met at the Hall of Heroes Convention in Elkhart, Indiana.
February 6: Dan Davis doing a fine job drawing my pal Tom Batiuk’s Crankshaft comic strip. It’s such a seamless transition I have to keep reminding myself of Dan’s involvement.
February 7: Michael Roberts’ Hot Type, Cold Beer and Bad News: A Cleveland Reporter’s Journey Through the 1960s. A great book about a less-than-great newspaper. I worked at The Plain Dealer for about three years and this book brought back some memories.
February 8: Gail Simone asking and receiving answers from fast food chains on comics preferences. What a fun thing! She recognizes the great responsibility that comes with her power as one of the best people in comics.
February 9: The woman who hit my SUV causing thousands of dollars in damages admitted her full liability in the matter. We will even get our deductible back.
February 10: The Halsey-hosted episode of Saturday Night Live was the best and most complete episode of the season. Great sketches. Great musical performances. More, please.
February 11: Realizing that, even beyond Black Lightning, my comics and other work has meant so much to so many people. I say this with gratitude for the kind words.
February 12: Alter Ego #157. Editor Roy Thomas and interview ace Richard Arndt have outdone themselves with incredible material onGolden Age Wonder Woman writer Joye Murchison and the Silver Age’s Barbara Friedlander.
February 13: Lindor Valentine's Day Strawberries and Cream White Chocolate Truffles. Sinfully good. I only regret I didn’t receive any for Mistress Day.
February 14: Scooby-Doo Team-Up #46. Writer Sholly Fisch and artist Dario Brizuela delivered an hilarious adventure teaming the Scooby Gang with my favorite super-hero. Many LOL moments. Thanks, guys.
February 15: Gotham. This final season is crazy wild with wonderful performances, bizarre characters and unexpected plot twists in darn near every scene. I like that it’s coming to its end and loving the ride up to that.
February 16: That Chevy Equinox TV Commercial with the alligators is brilliant! I need to see the car’s “Surround Vision technology” in a “creature feature” as soon as possible.
February 17: Revealed in a new Progressive commercial: the usually denigrated “Jaime” has an amazing house, wife, kids and musical chops. For years, he’s been nothing but comedy relief in the ads. I love seeing Flo and her lackeys rendered speechless.
February 18: Saintly Wife Barb’s birthday celebration. Last night, we had a great time at Rockne’s with Eddie, Kelly, Aunt Nora, Uncle Terry, Aunt Pat, Cousin Heather and her son Zack.
February 19: Gotham City Garage. This was recommended to me by one of my Facebook friends. I got the first volume from my library and enjoyed it. Will review it soon.
February 20: Sholly Fisch and Scooby-Doo Team-Up. Both should be nominated for every comics award for which they’re eligible. I’d vote for them.
February 21: Pensacon 2019 was bigger and better than ever. It’s my favorite convention. I’ll come back as often as I’m invited. This event truly represents the best of fandom.
February 22: A Pensacon magical moment. Sharing the ride from the airport to the hotel with Pinky and the Brain: Maurice LaMarche and Rob Paulsen.
February 23: Doing fun informative Pensacon panels with the Longbox guys, Kevin Grevioux, Mark Maddox, Barry Gregory, Ande Parks, and others. Hope to do more in 2020.
February 24: Dinner at Pensacola’s fabulous Fish House, which was all decked out as Hogwarts. My photo was taken for their “wall of fame” of presidents, astronauts, entertainers and more. I’ll be the guy people point at and say, “Who the heck is that guy?”
February 25: J.D. and Oscar, who grew up next door to us in Medina, live in Pensacola. With their wives Haley and Megan and Oscar’s son Harrington, they came to Pensacon. First con for them. So great for Eddie and I to spend time with them.
February 26: Being warmly greeted by old friends and making so many new friends. It’s a Pensacon tradition!
February 27: Mike Ensley and the Pensacon crew. Mike is one of the most moral, upstanding people and his crew, especially my beloved Maria, are efficient, friendly and unfailingly kind.
February 28: Marvel won four well-deserved Oscars this year. Black Panther and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse were outstanding in every way. My congratulations to all who worked on them.
Reminder: I’ll be at the Big Apple Comic Con, Saturday and Sunday, March 9-10, at The Penn Plaza Pavilion, Pennsylvania Hotel, 401 7th Avenue in New York City. I’ll be doing a Bronze Age panel with my pal Arvell Jones and moderating a Q&A session with Mike Colter of Luke Cage. I’d love to see a bunch of my bloggy readers at the con.
If you’re planning ahead, I’ll be a guest at the Great Philadelphia Comic Con, April 12-14 at The Greater Philadelphia Expo Center, 100 Station Avenue, Oaks, PA. Keep watching the bloggy thing for news of my other 2019 convention appearances.
I’ll be back tomorrow with more stuff.
© 2019 Tony Isabella
No comments:
Post a Comment