Let's see: WILL EISNER: I first "met" Will when I penned a note to him (per Cat Yronwode) about his initial graphic novel thing, Life In Outer Space. He was glad to get some honest reaction and gave me a Spirit sketch. We became pal-acquaintances and I loved the guy. Interviewed him at Dallas. Sad he died.
ALAN MOORE: Met him in San Diego. Took a picture of him (he was gracious, like most Brits) and one of his then-wife to be fair about it. Later, when he was signing a buncha comics, I talked politics and philosophy with him and he said his belief was that there were two real political viewpoints, one being fascism, where people essentially did the same and thought the same, and anarchy, where everybody went and did their own thing. I brought up the bit that Mao did pretty much the same to gays, as I understand, that the Fascist Britain government did to V's inspiration, and he seemed to agree that in a Communist society there could be a right-wing V For Vendetta. He was a nice guy.
NEIL GAIMAN: A prince. Interviewed him twice at Dallas and had fun both times. Traded comics with him. Took him down in a letter once about a too-violent scene in Sandman, and he said he was sorry it upset me. Even nicer than Alan.
STEVE BISSETTE: Big guy with a trademarked black hat he should still be wearing. We should get up a petition to that effect. We disagree about everything political, but that's ALL we disagree about. We are both friends on a deeper level than pro to fan. Love the guy.
MARK WAID: Actually, he called me up back in the early 80's because he found we were both in Texas, and he came to Wichita Falls to live for a bit. Stayed at our house for a night or two. We did the Crisis Indexes together just before he went to edit Amazing Heroes, after which he became a star. I once pitched him a Flash cover idea: Wally West being chased at hyper-speed by John Wesley Shipp. He laughed.
ROY THOMAS: I don't even remember when the first time I met him was. We both share a love for the Golden Age and I borrowed one of his characters (with his permission) for a comic story. Did a three or four-part interview with him for Comics Interview. Last time I saw him was a few years ago at the Robert E. Howard Fest at Cross Plains, Texas.
HOWARD CHAYKIN: In Chicago, he blew up at a fan who made a rather inconsiderate criticism of his art. To diffuse the tension, I asked Howard if he could give an autograph to a fan-friend of mine who was collecting them. He said "Sure", glad to clear the air, and gave his autograph to her. Moral of the story: Don't bait artists. And especially don't bait Chaykin.
BILL WILLINGHAM: Good old boy. Not pretentious. Met him in Dallas and got him to do a great sketch of Pat Savage and some of her gang which I dreamed up. Told him I'd seen a lot of comics with names like Supreme, Prime, HARD Corps and WildCATS..."How about a book called...ADEQUATE?" He nodded. "Yeah. 'Good Enough For You'", he suggested.
MARV WOLFMAN: We were on a writer's panel together. I showed some books I got at bargain prices to Roy Thomas and said, "I Christianed them down on it." Marv said, "I get lower." I put my hand on his shoulder and said, "That's 'cause you came first."
LEN WEIN: Got his picture at San Diego, as I did for a lotta folks, and told him I'd tack it over my bed. He said, "Then you'll never sleep again!"
Lots of other stories. I'll think of some more.