So at Fan Expo last weekend I finally met one of my heroes, Ninja Turtles co-creator Kevin Eastman. He was totally cool to all the fans and it was the thrill of a lifetime to finally meet someone who was so influential to me. I had met Peter Laird at Fan Expo a few years earlier and I bought a reprint of the very first TMNT issue to have him sign. I brought it along with me this year to have Kevin sign, so now I have issue one signed by both guys. It’s like the 7th reprinting 20 years removed from its first release, and Kevin’s no longer involved with TMNT and the two of them don’t really talk anymore, but still, it’s a special thing.

Towards the end of the last day of the show, I happened to be wandering around and I saw Kevin at his Heavy Metal booth sitting by himself and drawing a picture of Wolverine. He recognized me from the day before and so we started to talk for a bit while no one else was around. It was a cool moment. I really should have gotten a picture but I didn’t even really think about that. But he said he had an awesome time it seems like he’ll probably be there again next year. Anyway, he promptly discarded the drawing of Wolverine because he didn’t like it and only drew it to prove that he couldn’t after drawing “36 thousand Ninja Turtles” that weekend.

I also bought his TMNT “Artobiography“, which is the closest thing to a full TMNT art book there is right now, and the Body Count Graphic Novel. Both worthwhile purchases.

Probably the coolest thing was that, while getting is autograph, the guy ahead of me in line turns out to be one of my top students who I haven’t seen in years. Neither of us recognized each other at first because both of us have much longer hair now, but we got to talking and we had a little reunion right there in front of Kevin Eastman. That’s a cool moment that can only happen at a convention.

Sayonara.