[Groop] Gary G's Con Report Day Three (Last Day)

[GARY GROSSMANN]

Hi Folks!

OK, if you just read what I write, you might think that the Con consists of
Sergio's table and few other things.  But that's just because I'm strange,
even by Con attendee standards.  The Con is unbelievably HUGE!!!!  The
convention center has got to be three football fields long.   Any area of
interest you have in comics, cartoons, fantasy, sci-fi and stuff like that
is there.  Someday I'm going to get to WonderCon, which many people prefer
because it's smaller.

One thing I forgot to mention was that on Friday, one of Sergio's exhibitor
friends (I never saw his name, the damn badges never stay right side out)
brought this young man (no more than 30) around to talk to Sergio about
buying the original art from the Pacific and Epic Groos.  Sergio has always
said he intends that art to essentially be Charlene & Christen's inheritance
and has pretty much decided the best way to sell them is for each comic to
be sold as a unit.  (22 or whatever pages, plus the cover.)  He threw out
the figure of $10,000 and the guy didn't blink!!   What I don't think the
guy understood is that Sergio doesn't plan on selling them for a while.

Anywho, Saturday was breakfast with Larry & Kaytee, spending time at Sergio'
s table, doing a little running around to do stuff like buy Back Issues #11
(It has like five (5!) previously unpublished Groo drawings in it!-Thanks
again, Dana, for the head-up!), mailing off the Disabled Services booklets
to myself, and buying Sergio's "Ramones" poster and mailing that to myself.

What, you may ask is that?  Well, in short Sergio and bunch of other folks,
like Scott Shaw, are part of a promotion by Tower Records for the new 4 CD
set of the Ramones, a seminal punk band of the seventies.  I don't know the
details.  All I know is Sergio did a fabulous crowd scene of a Ramones
concert that has (you guessed it) a Groo in it.  So I had to have it.  The
only way you could get the limited edition lithograph was to buy the package
deal of CD, comic book with all the artists contributions, and the
lithograph.  So it's like where do I sign, here's my credit card, and oh, by
the way, how much does it cost?  I guess I'll have to put off getting that
tooth fixed for a month or so.

I saw Richard Gutierez (I'm a lousy speller) for the first time in a couple
years, which was really great.  If I have forgotten anyone, I apologize.  I
love to see all the Groopies that make it to the con.  Larry and I were
actively recruiting new members.  Josh told me we have about 300 members at
the moment, which is pretty much as high as its been.  We were wondering if
the number would explode if the Groo Movie actually happens.  (That might be
scary!)

Quick Draw was great!!  Scott Shaw!, Jeff Smith, and Kyle Baker are all very
funny, so it's not just the Sergio show, although he really is the King of
extemporaneous cartooning.  If you come to the Con and you are a Sergio fan,
you MUST see Quick Draw.  If you could only come one day and had to chose
between the Groo panel day and Quick Draw day, I would chose the Quick Draw
day.  Near the end, Mark was about to ask the audience to shout out "New
Occupations for Sergio" that he would then assign to the cartoonists.
(Earlier they had done New Occupations for the Hulk) But Sergio took over
and told the audience that they were to shout out New Occupations for Mark,
which he assigned to Scott, Jeff, and himself.  Sergio's drawing of Mark as
Wonder Woman was.well it was actually pretty frightening!!!

I hung out at Sergio's table until just before closing time and then I had
to dash to the airport.  All in all another really great Con.  I spent about
half the time at Sergio's table and the rest of the time seeing a smattering
of the Con, interspersed with seeing and hanging out with fellow Groopies.
When I am there by myself, that's just about perfect.

Take care all -Gary G.

PS  Hey!  Wake UP!  I'm done!