Sunday, April 20, 2008

Firsts from the New York Comic Con

This past Friday, which happened to be the 70th anniversary of the public debut of Superman, I attended my first comic convention.

While there, I was treated to three other firsts:

1. It was the first time I saw Boys of Steel on display. It was not the finished book, since that doesn't
yet exist in tangible form, but rather a galley—a prepublication, unbound version of the book. Random House sent me a stash of them in January, but it's a different feeling to see one in public. I was momentarily stunned when the hard workers at the Random House booth told me they were giving out a limited number of the galleys for promotion...now the book is really beyond my own head.

2. It was the first time I signed Boys of Steel for someone. Of course, it was a galley, but that didn't decrease the joy of the moment in the slightest.

3. It was the first time I was interviewed for television about Boys of Steel.

Oh, and a fourth: it was the first time I ate a vanilla-filled churro.

However, the highlight was a comment from Jim Steranko, comic book artist/writer/all-around legend. I'd consulted him during my Bill Finger research and his responses were consistently prompt and kind.

As he thumbed through the Boys of Steel galley, he said, "Jerry would've loved this."

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