Fanboy Faux Pas – Six Degrees to Blackest Night

Sometimes Fanboy Faux Pas can have positive effects that extend beyond the object of fanboy affection.  Attending my first San Diego Comic-con, I got into the groove of going to the signings at the DC Comics booth.  My favorite character is Batman.  I saw that Judd Winnick was signing and I had to see him.  He was slated to take over writing Batman after Brian Azzarello finished his Broken City story arc.  Not only am I a big Batman fan, but I’m also a big fan of reality TV.  I had been watching Real World since I caught a marathon showing of Real World New York the year it first aired.  Judd was a member of the cast of Real World San Francisco, so meeting him would a double treat like a Dairy Queen Chocolate dipped ice cream cone.

One of Judd’s fellow cast members on Real World San Francisco was Rachel Campos.  Rachel and her twin sister attended ASU at the same time I did and lived in the same dorm as I did.  The Real World San Francisco depicted her as a spoiled, self-centered conservative.  Today’s reality TV uses targeted clips to create caricatures of the people to help for a story.  Based upon my experiences with the Campos twins, no manipulation of the footage was needed.

I waited patiently in line to talk to Judd.  I knew that in addition to writing, that he was an artist who attempted to get a daily cartoon syndicated before moving into comic books.  I asked him to draw a Batman sketch for me, which he did.  In the time it took to finish the sketch, I told him how much I felt sorry for him because he had to endure his Real World castmate.  He was very graciously saying that he was still in contact with Rachel and that reality wasn’t as bad as the show portrayed.  I walked away thinking that I was probably a little over the top and hopefully he would forget about the incident by the next time I saw him.  What I couldn’t have anticipated was the impact that the incident would have on one of the other writer’s who was at the same table.

A little over a year later I attended a signing with Geoff Johns.  I introduced myself and asked him to sign some Teen Titan and Infinite Crisis comics for me.  He looked at me and said that he had seen me before, but my hair had been longer.  I tried to remember when I had him sign anything or met him at a convention.  I realized months later that Geoff had been at that same table with Judd.  Although he didn’t remember the conversation, he remembered me.

For those keeping score:

Me–>ASU–>Rachel Campos–>Judd Winnick–>Geoff Johns–>Blackest Night

Shawn Demumbrum
SpazDog Comics
www.spazdogcomics.com

Email: shawn@spazdogcomics.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/SpazDog
WebComics Articles: http://www.examiner.com/x-10892-Web-Comics-Examiner