MEETING BRUCE TIMM

There were some bad spelling errors in yesterdays post due to a lot of technical problems I couldn't correct them in time as my Battery was eaten up very quickly by that piece of crapverse Vista premium anyway I'll try and fix what I can as I am still in Melbourne until Wednesday. All the cartoons I post here will be re-edited and scanned properly when I get back home so please understand that they are temporary for now.Armageddon Expo Day One CONTINUED
With the dissapointment of not meeting Bruce on Saturday. SammyG and his girl invited me out to a few drinks in Melbourne and I had my very first Cocktail. Now I'm really good at handling my beer however this was the first time I had something with Vodka in it. And initially it did not faze me until later on when I had a couple of beers on top of it................ I'm going to leave this Blank now Because I can't really remember what happened after that.

Armageddon Expo DAY TWO

Sunday 14th October
DAY TWO CONVENTION REPORT
I woke up at home with a bit of a hangover I grabbed some coffee and ran to catch the train I was a little late into the convention but I headed up to the Auditorium because there was a special screening Of Doomsday/Superman with an intro by Bruce and Andrea. They even went and sat in my isle afterwards for half an hour. I geekedout!!
After the movie ended I headed down to the main area and had a drink with Huge Ackman from the drawing board where we discussed people from the board. I found out Huge was on a List for a Bruce Timm sketch since he was still in line the day prior before they said no more sketches!!
I headed off to the signing area where I was told to speak to the Armageddon Girl sitting next to Bruce. I asked about this list that exists and she said that No-One else can be added to the list and if I wanted to wait in line with the possibility of obtaining a sketch I was welcome to but those on the list get first preference and no guarantee.

Bruce was listening and I thought well okay while I'm here may as well introduce myself So I said "Hi Bruce I'm Tinman2040 from the drawing board" "who?" he replied 'Oh sorry I'm the guy who put the Bruce Timm coming down under thread' to which he said 'Oh right' I said yeah I'm just trying to negotiate a sketch 'oh Okay'. "So no chance I can get on the list then" I said to the Girl........ 'None' she said 'but like I said you are welcome to wait after everyone else on the list theres about 25 people'.

So I Headed off to have a Chat with Doug Holgate whom I have known on the drawingboard for many years and I was telling him about this damn list. Doug was Nice enough to draw a sketch on the first page in my sketchbook which I hope to be taking around ComicCon next year to get all the people from the Drawing Board to do some doodling in it!! I will post it when I get home because a photo just won't do it justice.

Doug Holgate Draws Me a Monkey in Space!!
Although I would have loved to have finally met artist Nicola Scott and serenity star Alan Tudyk The lines of people were impossible to negotiate and I had decided that the only reason I was there was to see Bruce. This was as close to Alan Tudyk as I could get the lines of rather lumpy female firefly fans were crazy as well as insane!!
This is of John Wesley Shipp AKA THE FLASH!!!
So with 2 hours before Bruce would appear again I went and waited first in line. And if anyone came along whos name was on the list I would give them preference first. About half an hour went by and I got really bored I was still standing on my own so I decided to have a little fun.

For those who don't know me I am a massive Bruce Timm for the last 15 years since Batman Animated Series debuted I have read and breathed every Bruce Timm related article his style is phenominal. So over the years I have accumilated a hefty collection of B.T. Memorabilia The Best of these is the Cel artworks that I have one of, which is 'Worlds Finest' a limited edition of 500 of Batman and Superman to commerate the first animated crossover. It is signed by Bruce too.

Anyway I got Bored and the people selling the cel artwork were kind of giving me the evil eye for waiting like I was some Vagabond. So I turned around and said "oh hey that Cel 'Worlds Finest' on the wall is that really $2600??". To which they stuck there nose up and said 'WHY Yes it is'. "Oh great" I replied "I really made a great investment when I bought mine when it first Came OUT!!!!!!!!" Suddenly the people went quiet..... "errrrrr you have that??" they asked. "Oh god yes" I answerd back 'for like 10 years And heaps more mostly signed by Bruce" I added.

Their attitude changed quickly they brought out this book with all these cels in them and wanted me to go through it "if you want one let us know we'll get bruce to sign and dedicate it for you". Well Hmmmmmm let me see.... so for the next half an hour I went through the book and they kept asking if any caught my eye....Not Yet...... It takes a while for me really soak them all in!! They were really pushy and there was no way in hell I was going to buy another thing that expensive but I really milked it. Anyway the line began to form behind me and another guy showed up who was not on the list. Eventually a guy came that was on the list and I let him know I wasn't on this list and he could go first. He was telling me how much of a Harley Quinn fan he was and then he asked where my Joker Keyring was and I said I had to take it off because some people have tried to swipe it by bumping into me while at the con. So it came to pass that it was 2:30pm Bruces last signing and most likely final time in Australia.

The Line had gotten long at this point but so far only two people from 'The List' Had showed up and made themselves known and true to my promise they went first!! so Bruce was doing their sketches and I was chatting to voice director extraordinaire the very nice Andrea Romano and we talked about Pinky and the Brain and also how badly the batman animated series and all its incarnations had been treated here in Australia on TV and DVD "yes we've heard that' she told us "Its quite Sad'. 'Yeah' I said 'I was hoping Bruce might have some say in it' 'I can't do anything' Bruce replied. So while I was waiting I got andrea to sign my Batman Animated Book as well as my Batman Beyond Banana Peeled Winged stuffed toy 'Is that even OFFICIAL??' Andrea asked To which Bruce looked at it and said 'Yeah it is' So anyway the armageddon girl returned to sit next to Bruce and I asked how many were on the list that had showed she said I don't know?? And then the guy who I was talking about the cels with much earlier said well he's a Big fan obviously and he's waited 2 hours he should get a sketch. And I said the guy behind me too has been here an hour as well. To which the Armageddon Girl said oh okay
you wanna Pay now?? So I got my $40 out and paid it with glee. The girl left again........

Bruce finished the last sketch a really cool Wonder Woman and then turned to me "Joker Please Bruce" I asked 'Hey are you on the list???' he looked at me angrily I answered "well no Those last people were on the list and no one else has showed up yet so the girl told me I could I get a sketch and paid her too. Bruce turned to find The girl had gone and just said 'Oh did she well I didn't see that, oh well okay a Joker??' 'Yes Please Bruce' I replied.

So over the course of the 10 minutes of talk we discussed the Jokers different designs and how he didn't like the Skull design and was glad he changed it. I asked about Batman Beyond and why it was called the lame name 'Batman of the Future here and he said it was because in some european countries 'Beyond' really doesn't have any meaning.

As well as it originally going to be called Batman Tomorrow and how it would have ended up with the announcement of 'TODAY ON BATMAN TOMORROW' and what it was like to be talked about on the internet and I was telling how much I have loved his work and how I had bought an original artwork from his official supplier of THE SPIDER and I was suprised that it had liquid paper on it 'well its an artists best friend where would we be without it' I said yeah but my first thought was WOW even Bruce Timm makes mistakes' to which he smiled and replied 'Of Course'.

He was almost finished with the joker sketch and began to rub out the pencils. Oh can you leave them I asked 'Oh Really' Bruce seemed repulsed by the Idea!! I told him how much I had learned from that one piece of The Spider artwork the way he drew the cape I said someone offered to buy it from me and I said No WAY!!!' But I told him well its your artwork and what you feel comfortable giving me as I backstepped!! So he rubbed out some more and said "There well theres a a little pencil you can see" "oh thats really awesome Bruce thankyou" I said.

At first things were awkward But 5 minutes into the coversation it became much easier to talk to him and I think he knew I was just geeking out and a real fan and really interested in the process and not in it for the money. When I pulled out my comics to have signed I got out my copy of 'Mad Love' first Bruce was suprised 'Wow thats the original cover' he said. 'Well thats what I wanted to ask you about because I heard it was supposed to be in Hardback' puzzled I then stated 'well cardboard cover'. "Ahh no it was supposed to be released in a Prestige format and that didn't happen this is the original cover". Cool I said. Well these won't end up on ebay I said this stuffs like my Bible please sign it wherever you like. Then I gave him a copy of Modern Masters and had him sign it 'To Matt goodluck with your artwork' B.T.. even though you've never seen it bruce I don't care gives me plenty of confidence. He smiled again. Whoah scary.

Finally I asked if I could have a photo with him and he said 'Oh Sure' and as you can see heres the result its a little blurry not too much but well its still cool I got to Meet Bruce Timm afterall!!
I also bought alot of cool stuff at the Expo, namely action figures Mostly these were Damaged Stock like wrecked boxes so the value had decereased massively check these out they Include
Han Solo from Sideshow $40 normally $110, Buffy/Sarah Michelle Gellar Doll $30 Normally $110, Sarah Connor from T2 $40 $110, Doctor Finklestein from Nightmare Before Christmas $10 normally $30 and my favorite the Beatles Cartoon Set for like $30 normally $120. The only one that was the most damaged was the Beatles as the stool that Ringo sits on had a broken leg nothing a bit of glue can't fix!! In the not damaged department I picked up Battle of the Planets Mark and Jason dolls, a baby chewbacca and a Gigantor. Very Cool overall a good Haul folks and I hope to attend next year!!
Closer look at the Beatles Cartoon set' Not a big Beatles fan but I loved the cartoon when I was a kid.
I'm heading home tomorrow so I will see you all when I get back!!