Talking Hands
Jun. 8—You may have figured out by now that I am just a little (all right, shamelessly preoccupied) interested in what people are calling "pop culture" these days. This, of course, began as most things do in my youth; you know, back in the dim recesses of history when the earth was still cooling and dinosaurs like me ruled the planet. Back then, comic books were chiseled onto stone tablets and colored with various berry juices, then delivered to the local cave-mart on brontosaurus back. We had to protect them with amber covers back then, or the sabretooth tigers would lick the pictures off, then all we had left were coasters. But enough of my middle school years ...
Funny thing though is, even if I secretly wished that the love of stories of strange, larger-than-life people and places would take over the public consciousness, I was never sure if they would. and I certainly didn't think that one day I would be able to sit down and interview the people who created the assorted bits and pieces that made up my childhood, placed in and around school, family and friends, and the other things that all come together to make each of us the unique mosaic that we become. Still, whether we expect it or not, sometimes we get lucky. Have I said, "best job ever"? ... probably, because we know I am inclined to repeat myself.
Last weekend, thanks to Catrina Hencye of the Huntington Comic and Toy Convention, I was able to sit down and talk to a true titan in the comic industry, Jim Shooter. Jim began writing comics at the ripe old age of 14, and his career has spanned 57 years as he worked for DC Comics, Marvel Comics, and later was the key founder of Valiant Comics. But this column isn't about Jim really — there is a whole other article dedicated to him — but rather it's about me. Well, it is my column after all. and from what I have learned about Jim, a man who has no problem sharing credit and spotlight with anyone, I don't think he will mind one bit. Especially once he realizes I am poking fun at myself.
Now, interviewing a celebrity at a venue dedicated to their own "brand" is challenging at best, and I have a rule that (even though I am also a fan) I will not impede the flow of fans coming in to meet the celebrity for autographs and such. It was no surprise to me that Jim had a lot of fans because his name is spread with a broad brush across nearly six decades of the medium, and I fully expected to only be able to squeeze in around 15 minutes between waiting for fans to talk to him. But he was expecting me — again, thanks to Catrina — and he even asked me to sit down to talk.
No, I didn't tell him that it was a big mistake to make me comfortable because I am not (much of) an idiot; and if any potential future interviewee is reading this, promptly forget that please. I like to talk to people, and if I am comfortable, then I am harder to get rid of than grape juice on white carpet. But that isn't the funny part that I was talking about. I didn't know this until later, but while I was listening to Jim give me a behind-the-scenes look at the stories I read growing up, my daughter was speaking to my wife on the phone and giving her a color commentary of my, shall we say, interviewing style. Apparently, I speak a lot with my hands ...
"He's doing the 'no, don't worry about interrupting' hands," she told my wife at one point as I motioned a fan closer to the table and the celebrity they wanted to see. Then she said, "Maybe he's almost done because he's doing the 'wrapping up' hands." But then she communicated her disappointment to my wife, saying, "Now he's using the 'let me tell you something' hands, so it's going to be a while." With all that flailing about, I am surprised I didn't poke someone's eye out. Fortunately, though, no one was harmed in the making of the interview. Go ahead and laugh because I did. and even though I wasn't aware of doing it, I won't say that it won't happen again, because I'm sure that it will. I'll just make sure I stay at arm's length for everyone's safety.
Unconscious gestures aside, though, I have to say the experience is part of the magic of conventions like the Huntington Comic and Toy Convention. It gives you the ability to travel through time, so to speak. In my case, I got to be a child again while still being an adult. It was almost like looking over my own shoulder while I read those stories back then — and I appreciate them even more now. It deepens the value of all those pieces and polishes the mosaic to a brighter sheen. and it doesn't matter if the pieces came from the Golden Age or the Silver Age of comics — or even if they come from the Current Age of comics — because they all become our own Personal Age of Comics, or anything else we enjoy for that matter. and that kind of magic is just really cool, talking hands or not.
