The fan/creator connection. . .

koonchu

Recently, I had the privilege of being the camera-gal for a close friend of mine who runs a Japanese-culture oriented website. She attended the Chicago comic-con and had a pretty good time. If I can recall, she had five artists she really wanted to meet. Of those five artists, only one of them left a bad taste in her mouth.

At the time, the entire point of shooting footage was to interview con-goers. But as the second day rolled around, her experience with a certain Tony Moore left a really bad taste in her mouth. He wasn't rude or anything, but he seemed walled-off from the fans and had some lady be his go-between for anyone that wanted to talk to him or ask him questions. At first, I was thinking that my press-buddy was exaggerating the entire experience. And then the second day came and I began to notice that she was right; certain artists do have better rapport with their audience. And I realized this right around the time she actually started crying about how Tony Moore had somewhat dissed us girls as press.

She also interviewed Frank Cho, who went above and beyond for us as press (the episode should be up now). But I guess she just took the whole thing to heart hard "The Walking Dead" is her favorite series right now.

I'm wondering, what do you guys (as fans) expect from your fave authors? I personally love manga and couldn't' give a crap if the author was a jerk, so long as he/she continues writing my fave characters. . .

ScoobaShag

I used to assume that most comics creators were walled-off people in general, but the more I go out to cons and talk to people it's quite the opposite. At the same time it doesn't surprise me that some creators would shove people to the side. Comic Artists are a particularly bogged down profession in terms of the sheer amount of stuff you have to multi-task at a given time.

Still, personally, if that artist is to consider themself a professional and would like the public to consider them professional, I expect them to act accordingly. That doesn't mean they should bow down to their audiences or anything, but a little courtesy and respect goes a long way. Especially when you're talking to the person who's paying your bills, essentially.