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Thursday, August 16, 2007

Better Late Than Never Chicago Recap

The topsy-turvy whoosh of Chicago is in the rear-view mirror and things went great for Hero. The Ultimate Spider-Man #100 Project book sold great guns, and Paul Jenkins shooting pool was quite the hit. Shouts goin’ out to the Westside:

• Massive thanks to our volunteer crew of Chris Klamer, Wendi Freeman, Mike Fleming, Stephen Olle, Dan Corbett, Chris Neseman, David Price, Ron Richards, David Fowlie, and I-pray-I’m-not-forgetting anyone.

• Big Ups, as the kids might say, to our talented writers and artists who helped with signings and sketchings including Phil Hester, Gene Ha, Tim Seeley, David Michael Beck, Arthur Suydam, Brian Pulido, Gordon Purcell, Tim Vigil, Joe Benitez, J. Scott Campbell, Michael Golden, Francis Manapul, Alex Saviuk, Jim Starlin, Jim Valentino, Matt Wagner, and I-pray-I’m-not-forgetting anyone.

• Kudos to Joe Quesada and Mark Millar, who showed up to shoot some stick (HEY! Mind outta the gutter!) against The Mighty Jenks.

• Salutations to Maggie Thompson, Steve Borock, and the CGC Forum crew, and especially a brave/foolish man named Kenny Sanderson. At the CGC Forum dinner, Kenny offered to eat and entire BOWL of sour cream if all Forum members ponied up $5 each for Hero. They did, and $270 later, Kenny increased his caloric intake by about 2000.

• Warmest regards to the Wizard World crew and the denizens of the Great Midwest. BELIEVE me when I tell you this: I go to a lot of these things, and I observe. Even more, I count the cashbox at the end. The Wizard World Chicago crowd is a buying crowd. They love comics. They get it. And they’re not afraid to reach for their wallets. The San Diego audience, to a large extent, thinks it’s Halloween. They get a giant bag, and they want you to fill it up with candy. I spent half of Wednesday at San Diego running halfway down an aisle saying to people, “Sorry, Mac. That’s not free, it’s $5.” Not so at Chicago.

• The greatest thanks are reserved for Paul Jenkins, who worked his balls (billiard balls, that is) off all weekend, and Michael Turner. Turner, sporting what he calls his “stylish new walk,” showed up to challenge Jenkins to a best-of-9 9-ball tournament on Sunday and gamely hung with the master. Final was 5-3, and you could see the flopsweat marshalling on Jenkins’ brow. Turner’s right leg ain’t what it used to be, but he can still play. It was great to see Mike get out and have a little fun shooting some stick, and I hope he enjoyed it as much as we enjoyed having him there.

Okay, I lied. The GREATEST thanks of all, as always, are for Lou Malnati’s, the finest pizza in Chicago (and that’s sayin’ sumpthin’!). Did you know—DID YOU KNOW—that Lou’s has a pizza that has a crust made of sausage? I’ll say that again: A CRUST MADE OF SAUSAGE! It’s not crust! It’s sausage!

No, actually…it’s heaven.

Jim McLauchlin

Paul Jenkins vs. Joe Quesada (Billiards Thunderdome)

Below you will find a link to my You Tube site and you will find Jenkins vs. Quesada, Jenkins vs. Millar, Jenkins trick shot and the Ultimate 100 signing that we have all decided was the worlds fastest signing with 10 artists in attendance.

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=genfan1

Chris

Monday, August 13, 2007

Paul Jenkins has completed his sacking of Chicago

Final tally:

Paul: 107

Everyone else: 7

The kid can shoot.

Jim McLauchlin

Saturday, August 11, 2007

Paul Jenkins is invincible

Through three days, Paul is 77-5.
Geez, the kid is good.

Jim McLauchlin

Thursday, August 9, 2007

Paul Jenkins, Day One

Paul went 9-0 shooting pool, including one guy he beat SHOOTING BEHIND HIS BACK. He's tough.

The stakes for the Jenkins/Joe Quesada match are official:
* If Paul wins, Joe will do a cover for any one of Paul's books AND Joe will write a letter on Marvel stationery to Peyton Manning apologizing for every bad thing he's ever said about him (Paul's a HUGE Colts fan, and Joe has a mad-on for Manning.
* If Joe wins, Paul has to wash Joe's car. Shirtless. And Joe gets to take pictures in what he calls "a sexy photo shoot."

That's FRIDAY at the Hero booth, #140 at Chicago. Be there.

Jim McLauchlin

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Everyone loves a Big Dirty!


Everyone wants to know what The Big Dirty is. Can’t say I blame ’em.

At The Hero Initiative Booth, #140 at Wizard World Chicago, you can challenge Paul Jenkins to pocket billiards and win great prizes such as original art and CGC-graded books. That’s a mere $30.

But ONCE a day, Paul will take a $500 challenge for a $1000+ prize package known as The Big Dirty! Said Dirty is:

• A $500 Dynamic Forces shopping spree for signed material (value: $500)
• An Ultimate Spider-Man #100 Project hardcover (limited edition of 1000) autographed by Stan Lee! (value: $75)
• A Marvel Then and Now DVD autographed by Stan Lee! (value: $75)
• An 11-by-14 Joseph Michael Linsner one-character commission drawing (value: $200)
• A CGC 9.6 or higher Crisis on Infinite Earths #1 autographed by Marv Wolfman and George PĂ©rez (value: $75)
• The Fantastic Art of Arthur Suydam hardcover book with an original sketch inside front cover by Suydam (value: $75)
• A Paradise Comics Toronto Comicon lithograph autographed by Terry Moore, Matt Wagner AND Marv Wolfman (value: $50)

Good luck, Willie Mosconi.

Jim McLauchlin