One of the many panels at SWF 09 was Meet the Author: Mark Waid, held yesterday at the Chamber. His presence at SWF 09 is somewhat belated; he was supposed to join other comics writers Gail Simone and Kurt Busiek at the last SWF in 2007, but unfortunately he couldn’t make it at the very last minute. ):
About Mark Waid from the SWF website:
Mark Waid (United States)
Mark Waid is a comic book writer and editor who has written some of the best-selling graphic novels of all time, including Kingdom Come and Superman: Birthright. Currently editor-in-chief of independent comic book company BOOM! Studios, he is the writer behind The Incredibles, which is based on the 2004 Disney-Pixar film of the same name, and a variety of his self-created works.
I was extra-excited to see him because I had a special centerfold from the SWF 07 programme that Gail Simone and Kurt Busiek signed – I just needed his autograph to complete my centerfold.
His panel was a really interesting one to listen to. He talked about how he went from fanboy to pro comics writer thanks to an opportunity from legendary editor Julie Schwartz, his influential eight-year run on The Flash, how Kingdom Come came about, what it was like to work with three other superstar writers on weekly series 52 for DC, and his thoughts on some of the recent trends in comics. I’m glad to see at least one creator isn’t for big event comics.
Mark Waid talks about his career with moderator Terence Chua
There were quite a few questions, and eventually we went outside for autographs! Unfortunately we ran out of time, because he had to be another panel at 3pm. But that was okay! I went for lunch with Sarah, Nerwen and Raven; we returned before the end of the 3pm panel, and I was first in line.
Fully signed at last!