Wholesome Chris Condon
It was Fan Expo 2025, and I had been reading some of Condon’s recent work most notably, Ultimate Wolverine and a short story in Issue 3, Volume 3 of Creepshow (2024). I mentioned that to Chris and he seemed receptive but reserved.
Sadly, at this fan expo the “mood” seemed to be “You only want my signature for the sake of making money”. I have collected comics since 2016 with over 1,500 floppies in my collection. Many are signed. 0 have ever been posted for sale or sold.
Anyways, Chris signed the cover originally in white, but the marker was fading leading to off-marks which he tried to remove with a cloth. He apologized for “ruining the book”. I told him “Dude, it’s not ruined. It’s a neat little story”. He told me to leave the book with him and he’d do a neat little drawing for me free of charge.
I said “That’s amazing” and assured him he was not obliged to do that. But he insisted.
I returned 30 minutes later to this—the iconic “Creep” from Creepshow which is amazing!! I thanked him to which he replied “it’ll increase the value at least!”
I replied, assuring him, “this is for me”.
It’s kinda sad that that is the take away from most artists and writers alike; that these expo’s and cons are no longer revered by creators as “for the fans” and more so “investment opportunities”, where they, the creators are simply an instrument to bigger profits. But I suppose those are the interactions they are used to. It’s important to remind them, that those are not the only type of folks who attend these events.