FISCHER: A signature event

By Travis Fischer, tkfischer@charlescitypress.com

I am, once again, back from the magical land that is Comic-Con International.

My yearly pilgrimage to San Diego for the world’s best pop culture convention is always a good time. Some things about it change year after year, but other things remain the same.

One thing that is eternally prevalent at Comic-Con are autograph lines. Whether in the designated autograph space of the Sails Pavilion, a booth in the exhibit hall, or immediately after a panel (much to the annoyance of the convention staff as they try to set up the room for the next event), there are no shortage of opportunities to get a photo and a signature from your favorite writers and actors.

Personally, I haven’t gone hunting for autographs at Comic-Con for a long time.

In my early years of going to the convention I was all about meeting various celebrities and getting their signatures because for some reason we’ve collectively decided that’s what you do when you meet famous people.

Or even not so famous people.

Looking through some of my old Comic-Con souvenirs, I’ve got a handful of photos I don’t remember getting from apparent celebrities I don’t know. No offense to Mark Lutz, who played “The Groosalugg” in nine episodes of “Angel” but I have no idea what I’m supposed to do with your photo.

You meet a celebrity, get something signed, take it home, and it ends up in a box or a folder somewhere. I’ve got signed photos that have been sitting in a book for 20 years waiting for me to do something with them.

It’s unlikely that I ever will.

Eventually the novelty of it all wears off. Celebrities, whether big name personalities or obscure television actors, just become another part of the Comic-Con ambiance.

Recently though, I’ve started to go more out of my way to make sure I come home from San Diego with photos and signatures. Granted, I’m more selective about it than I was 20 years ago, but in recent years it’s become more important to me to meet the people responsible for the various comic book, TV shows, and other media that defined my childhood.

2022 saw the untimely deaths of both Kevin Conroy and Jason David Frank. The former being the definitive voice of Batman for a generation and the latter being mine, and most other peoples, favorite Power Ranger.

Both of them were big parts of my childhood and in spite of being regulars of the convention scene for many years, I never met either of them and now I never will.

You take for granted that these people will be around for years and years, but that’s not a guarantee. Especially as we all continue to get older. You never know when your next chance to tell a writer, actor, or other creative how their work impacted you will be your last.

So yeah, I’ve reassessed the value of spending some of my precious vacation time to meet these people, shake their hand, have a chat, and get a souvenir. Valuable not because I think I’ll be able to sell them off someday, as so many people who hold up lines getting stacks of comics signed do, but valuable because the work these people created means something to me.

— Travis Fischer is a news writer for the Charles City Press and really should figure out something to do with Mark Lutz’ photograph.