“Halt!”

We complied with the command and the Stormtrooper centered his blaster on us. My friend got a bit jittery and the Stormtrooper put him in cuffs. This is how we ended up at the booth for the 501^st Legion, and that’s where I met their leader, Scott Allen. He gave me his card, which featured him in full costume as the Dark Father himself.

I learned a lot about the 501^st, mostly that they weren’t out to destroy the galaxy. Turns out they have a ton of divisions, all geared toward charity. Their upcoming charity features a rather interesting set of items up for bid. We managed to see part of a set of custom Stormtrooper helmets. 60 artists have been commissioned to create 60 custom helmets to be auctioned off during Celebration 5.

While I photographed with my phone and jotted down my chicken scratch notes, Scott told me about their droid hunt. Natives of San Diego Con probably know about this, but essentially a certain number of tickets are given to con goers. The tickets contain a little droid, and each one is unique so there is a collectible element to the game as well. The Stormtroopers are then dispatched to hunt down the lucky (or unlucky) patrons with the card and bring them back to base. There, the perpetrator is given a raffle ticket for more prizes.

They let us off with a warning and we went off to witness a real live wrestling match. I didn’t get the specifics, but it was like a smaller version of something WWE would do. Really thrilling and surprisingly loud.

I met up with Simon, Dana and Matt shortly thereafter and we walked around aimlessly making lunch plans while Dana shmoozed it up with the artists. It seemed like that girl knew literally everybody there.

Matt and I rattled our gums off with my artist friend while Simon directed Matt to point and shoot. Dustin Nguyen (Batman: Streets of Gotham) was finally at his booth and I had to approach. It was time to break off again and get my journo on.

Nguyen was a popular guy amongst the artists. He had a gaggle with him, and they all spoke shop talk. Not being an artist, it was difficult to look for an opening. Dustin told that if you really want to be an artist in comics, find a style and read anything that has that style in it. This will help you hone in on something you want to do, rather than waste time chasing your style on a blank page.

Visual reference is big with these guys.

Nguyen has worked with Dini in the past so he was pretty familiar with Dini’s script style. The great thing about Dini, Nguyen told me, is that he spells it out for you. His Batman is deliberate and precise. This brings up an interesting point, as moments ago I had spoken to Ryan Odagawa who told me much the same thing. Spell it out in a precise and simple way.

Dustin was short with his answers, but he did tell me that some new DC kids stuff is around the bend, so everyone be on the lookout for that.

I was off to meet up with Simon as the con had sapped the energy from me and I required sustenance. I found them with Lady Deadpool. “Freeze,” she said, “I am Lady Deadpool.”

Rich Bashara
Rich@comicimpact.com