I had a very busy week last week. I spent Monday prepping for the June Foray Celebration at the Goldwyn Theater the following night. Tuesday was more prep in the morning, set-up and final staging in the afternoon and the show in the evening.
Wednesday, my friend Amber and I boarded an early flight to Baltimore and checked into the Hyatt Regency near the convention center. Thursday morning, we met my longtime buddy Marv Wolfman for breakfast in the hotel at 8:15. At 9 AM, we took a cab to the Baltimore Penn Train Station. At 10 AM, we were on a train to Philadelphia. At 11:15 AM, we were in Philadelphia. We got into a cab and I said, "Take us to the Liberty Bell!"
We spent much of the afternoon sight-seeing, stopping only for lunch at what may well be my favorite place to eat in the country. It's the Reading Terminal Market, which is an in-case-you're-interested .6 mile walk from the Liberty Bell. Lemme tell you about this place…
The Reading Terminal Market is an indoor Farmers Market crammed full of little stalls that sell every kind of food imaginable. There is food you take home and prepare in your own kitchen and food you consume on the premises. As much as I love the world-famous Farmers Market here in Los Angeles, this is better. If all I wanted to do in life was eat, I think I would move to Philadelphia and find the closest living space to the Reading Terminal Market.
It opened in 1893, consolidating a number of smaller markets in the area. It was a train station then but it stopped being that in 1984 and since then, it's just a place where you go to roam the aisles, look at tons of yummy-looking food and make the difficult decision as to what you'll get. There are at least four cheesesteak vendors in the hall and Marv patronized one. Amber got Chinese Food and I opted for this place — The Original Turkey…
I'm a big fan of roast turkey, especially when it's freshly-roasted and what this place serves is as good as any gobbler I've ever gobbled anywhere at any time in my 65 years on this planet. Some of you will probably write and tell me it's heresy of the highest order to go to Philly and not partake of a cheesesteak or at least a little cream cheese. Maybe so…but I could not have enjoyed my meal more than I did.
Our sight-seeing culminated with a backstage tour of the Walnut Street Theater, which is the oldest theater in this country that is still operating. As you probably know by now, it is presently housing a superb production of A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum starring my chum Frank Ferrante. Frank has played this theater many times but he still learned things on the tour as a nice lady who works there led him, Marv, Amber and me around. Then we dined until Frank had to dash off to get ready for his second show of the day. Then we saw the show — you probably have some idea by now that I liked it — and took at cab back to the train station and a train back to Baltimore and a cab back to the hotel and an elevator back to…
Friday, Saturday and Sunday were spent at the Baltimore Comic-Con, which was quite a fine convention…and, incredibly, almost wholly about comic books. My new knee was giving me a speck of trouble due to all the hiking in Philadelphia so I didn't do my usual con routine of constantly roaming the aisles. I spent most of the time seated in the booth of Abrams Comicarts, signing my book on Jack Kirby and other things I've written, and talking with my friend, Abrams editor Charlie Kochman.
Among the folks I got to see and talk with: Walt and Louise Simonson, John Workman, Todd Klein, Ron Wilson, Paris Cullins, Tom King, Dean Haspiel, Jerry Ordway, Stan and Julie Sakai, Mark Waid, Elliott S! Maggin, Jack C. Harris, Bob Greenberger, John K. Snyder III, Don Rosa, Andrew Pepoy, Joe Staton, Billy Tucci and Thom Zahler. I am surely leaving out Someone Important. My apologies to Someone Important.
I did four panels — one with Mr. Kochman about my current book on Kirby, one with Marv Wolfman where we just interviewed each other for an hour, one with other folks talking about Mr. Kirby and a very nice tribute panel about our friend Len Wein. The panel on Len was full of great stories, most of which shared a common theme: Len laughing. I miss Len laughing. Len laughing was a good thing.
This was the first convention I've attended on that side of America since around 2008. In my mother's last few years, she got a bit panicky at the thought of me in another time zone so I only ventured outside Pacific for brief, necessary business trips. Around the time she passed away, my friend Carolyn began getting sicker and so I continued to not venture far from home.
I also had another reason to not go to conventions: They're kind of arranged these days for professional folks like myself to sell things and I don't sell anything. I don't sell things I've written. At most, I will sit for a time at the table of someone else who's selling them. I don't sell my autograph except sometimes when someone with the entire press run of Groo wants them all signed by me and I feel I can't say no because Sergio signed them all. Even then, any money I charge for excessive numbers goes to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. (And by the way, Groo collectors: When are you people going to realize that the value of a comic book is based on its scarcity and copies of Groo that Sergio hasn't signed are much rarer than copies that he has?)
Anyway, the last half of this year, I'm getting around more. I'll be in New York for the New York Comic-Con next week (again, probably behind or around the Abrams booth) and then in November, I seem to be going to the Miami Book Fair.
Getting back to Baltimore: My thanks to Brad Tree, Roger Ash and everyone else involved in putting on this very enjoyable convention. Amber and I flew home Sunday night and I've already told you what happened there. I unpacked and now I'm repacking for what looks like a very busy week in Manhattan. Almost wish I had time to hop a train to Philadelphia, see Frank's show again and eat more of that turkey. I'll probably have to settle for shows I haven't seen before and dinner at Sardi's.