My Comiccon Catharsis

It wasn't like a face palm followed by a 'doh!'

It wasn't the clouds opening up and a ray of light shining on me as a chorus sang somewhere out of view.

It was a lot more subtle than that.

It just sort of dawned on me as I sat in the Brick restaurant on Saturday night, having dinner with Jeff and David Marriotte, Jordan Summers, and my wife, when Wil Wheaton came in and David gave him a hug.

What is it? you ask.

Hold on. I'll get there.

Some real highlight moments from Phoenix Comiccon 2012 were having drinks with Ed and Matt Asner, meeting comic artist Billy Tucci, spending quality time with Joe Lansdale, learning from my Jedi Master, Mike Stackpole, shaking hands and spending a moment with Wil Wheaton, seeing old friends, panelling, and just watching the costumes go by.

I mean this was almost too much sensory input.

What was also nice was that my father, my nephew, and his friend were able to come up and share in the experience. Not only were they able to partake in the visual feast of the con, but they were able to see the reunion of most of the cast of Star Trek the Next Generation.

I saw quite a few stars as they sat signing, but I didn't bother them. I had my own business and my own fans to contend with.

On second thought, maybe my catharsis happened when I was on a panel with Janni Lee Simner. We were talking about Dystopian and post/pre-apocalyptic themes in fiction and were agreeing with each other more often than not. It was one of those terrific panels where, although I had no idea what I was going to say, I ended up entertaining and partner-teaching with Janni, so that by the end, people came up telling us it was the best panel they'd attended.

You know, I've been hungry for success for a long time. I want to be great. I want to be top shelf. I want to be read, people to love me, and to be as cool as Samuel L. Jackson. But I think somewhere along the way I forgot that one can attain this while being a nice person too.

Maybe I've been too aggressive.

Who me? Mister Army Man? BTAM his own badself? Aggressive?

I mean, I am a nice person. Anyone who knows me knows that. Sometimes I just don't feel as nice as the next guy. Is it that warrior spirit leaking forth? Is it all the KILL KILL KILL training I've had over the years?

Don't hate me because I'm deadly.

But seriously.

I want to be nice like Mike Stackpole and dispense good advice.

I want to be nice like Ed Asner and his son, Matt, who's a spokesman for autism.

I want to be nice like Jordan Summers, who opens her heart to recently found friends.

I want to be nice like James A. Owen, who's eager to share how to both write and draw.

I want to be nice like the Marriottes, David and Jeff (and M.E.), who are just damn nice.

I want to be nice like Janni Lee Simner, who can't possible have a mean corpuscle in her body.

I want to be nice like Wil Wheaton, who seems to me like a terribly nice guy, who bends over backwards to be extra nice.

I just want to be nice.

Leo Derocher coined the famous aphorism back in 1939, Nice Guys Finish Last.

Bullcrappity.

I don't buy it.

All those nice guys I mentioned above are doing quite well for themselves.

Leo Derocher can go suck my -- wait!  I'm a nice guy, now. At least let me try and be nice for an entire blog.

And if I can make it through this blog, then maybe I can be nice a while longer.

I know what you're saying. You're nice, Wes. Don't be so hard on yourself. Maybe nice isn't the word I'm looking for. Maybe it's something else. I just don't know. All I do know is that I'm going to approach life from here on in a little differently. All those nice people I mentioned above? I'm going to try and be nice like them.

Because in this world, it's possible for nice guys to finish first (and gals too).

And now some costumes for your viewing pleasure...

The rest of the pictures can be found here -- there's 305 of them.

Phoenix Comiccon 2012