Geppi’s Entertainment Museum Welcomes Bouchercon Crime Authors Come to Baltimore

In celebration of the arrival of Bouchercon XXXIX, the preeminent annual gathering of crime fiction authors, editors, artists and fans, and in conjunction with Crimespree magazine, Geppi’s Entertainment Museum (GEM) will host a signing on Friday, October 10, 2008, from 1:00 PM to 3:30 PM, at the museum’s 301 West Camden Street facility in Baltimore.

Guests for the signing at GEM included crime comic book writer Brian Azzarello (100 Bullets), artist Jill Thompson (Scary Godmother), novelist and comic book writer Greg Rucka (Whiteout, Queen & Country), crime novelist and comic book writer Duane Swierczynski (Severance Package, The Immortal Iron Fist), crime novelist and online comic book writer Tim Broderick (Cash & Carry, Children of the Revolution), crime novelist and comic book writer Gary Phillips (Shooter’s Point, High Rollers), crime novelist, comic strip writer, comic book writer and filmmaker Max Allan Collins (Road to Perdition, Ms. Tree), and crime novelist and comic book writer Victor Gischler (Shotgun Opera, Punisher).

Like other major conventions ranging from the realms of science fiction to coin and currency collecting, Bouchercon selects a different host city each year. For this year’s October 9 – 12 event, Baltimore is the host city. Anchorage, Alaska (2007), Madison, Wisconsin (2006), and Chicago, Illinois (2005) have hosted the recent Bouchercons. Indianapolis, Indiana will host the 2009 event.

“We are extremely happy to welcome our friends at Bouchercon to Baltimore, and we’re very pleased to welcome some of the convention’s crossover guests who are also known for their comic book work to our museum,” said Melissa Bowersox, Executive Vice-President of GEM. “This is a great opportunity to introduce the convention’s many other attendees to our fantastic facility and to Baltimore itself.”

“Geppi’s Entertainment Museum is something that every fan of popular culture should see at least once, if not more,” said Jon Jordan, Editor of Crimespree. “Crime fiction has long been a vibrant, vital part of American pop culture and it can be found in the pulps, comic strips, comic books, radio programs, television shows, and movie material featured at GEM.”

“The old walls between the world of prose fiction and non-fiction on one side and comic books on the other have been shattered in the last few years by people like Max Allan Collins and the other Bouchercon guests who will be signing here at the museum,” said Dr. Arnold T. Blumberg, GEM’s Curator. “This is a great celebration of that.”

In addition to the creators signing at GEM and a legion other crime authors, the convention’s guests of honor include Lawrence Block, Distinguished Contribution to the Genre, Laura Lippman, American Guest of Honor, John Harvey, International Guest of Honor, Mark Billingham, Toastmaster, Robert Rosenwald & Barbara Peters, Lifetime Achievement Award, and Thalia Proctor, Fan Guest of Honor.

Bouchercon also hosts the Anthony Awards, which recognize the achievements of creators in the crime genre in an array of categories ranging from Best Novel to Critical Work, as well as panels and discussion groups. A presentation from DC Comics on their new Vertigo Crime line is also scheduled.

In addition to the cities mentioned above, since its debut in Santa Monica, California in 1970, Bouchercon has been held in Toronto, Las Vegas, Austin, Washington, DC, Denver, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Monterey, St. Paul, Nottingham (UK), Seattle, Omaha, Pasadena, London, San Diego, Minneapolis, San Francisco, New York, Culver City, Oakland, and Boston. It was previously held in Baltimore in 1986.

Geppi’s Entertainment Museum, which opened to the public in September 2006, is dedicated the promoting the awareness of the inexorable link between the history of popular culture and general history, with a specific focus on the role of popular culture in the United States in educating children since the nation’s founding. The facility is designed to guide guests along its walk-though timeline, showing each of the eras of popular culture in detail.

The museum is located at 301 West Camden Street, Baltimore, MD 212201. Additional information is available at www.geppismuseum.com
Tim

Crime Comic Book Creator Signing at Geppi’s Entertainment Museum

Friday, October 10, 2008, from 1:00 PM to 3:30 PM, a number of crime comics creators will be at a special signing event at Geppi’s Entertainment Museum, 301 West Camden Street in Baltimore.
The event, coinciding with the big mystery convention Bouchercon, includes
- Max Allan Collins (Road to Perdition)
- Brian Azzarello (100 Bullets)
- Greg Rucka (The Complete Whiteout)
- Jill Thompson (Scary Godmother)
- Tim Broderick (Cash and Carry)
- Duane Swierczynski (The Immortal Iron Fist)
- Gary Phillips (Darker Mask)

For more information, visit the museum’s website at http://www.geppismuseum.com/

So here’s my Bouchercon wrap up, looking at the Geppi Museum signing and Saturday afternoon/evening.

Friday’s Geppi Museum signing wasn’t well attended, but who cares. It’s a terrific place and I recommend people go. Brian Azzarello and I were in a large room with hundreds of comics behind glass. Probably just a small representation of the entire collection, but there was the first Superman comic, the first Batman comic and it went on from there. I saw famous covers from comics I’d only read about. Amazing.
And speaking of cool:

I’d never met him before, but Gary Phillips picked up a copy of my book sight unseen. That’s him above, in the center talking with fans.
But I met Brian for the first time, as well as his beautiful wife Jill Thompson. I’m a small-press guy and they treated me like a seasoned pro. That’s pretty cool.

Cut to Saturday afternoon, and I’m getting ready for the Batman panel. I’m bummed out that Greg Rucka wasn’t able to make it, but DC editor Will Dennis did a nice job stepping in. Victor Gischler was there (and o hoot on the beer panel afterward) and McKenna Jordan did a nice job of moderating.

Directly afterward was the beer panel, and as I said before, it was my downfall. Started drinking at 4 pm, hit a party or two afterward and hung out in the bar as late as I could. Met a few new friends: Lori Armstrong, who held her own on the beer panel against the always hilarious JA Konrath; Brett Battles, who cheered on the Tampa Bay Rays loudly; and Chris Kuzneski, who patiently put up with us amusing drinkers.

So would I do it again? Absolutely. I had a terrific time, saw old friends and met new ones (hi RJ!), introduced myself to some new fans (I hope) and learned a lot about the craft.

OK, let’s finish it off with some photos:

Here’s me and Brian Azzarello at Geppi’s Museum. (Brian is the cool one)

Here’s Lee Child hanging outside on Sunday.

We hit Challenger Comics on Western Ave. to meet Jill Thompson. She was signing books and doing scetches to benefit PETA.