r/comiccon • u/SeventhSon22 • May 09 '26
Con Autograph Question Is this too much for 1 author?
Hey everyone, heading to my first con next weekend where Chris Claremont is going to be signing. Assuming he doesn't have a limit of how many sigs you can buy, would this be too much? I don't want to be the guy who holds up a line too long if that's frowned upon.
I was initially only going to bring the ones up top + GLMK, but JRJr is going to be there too and I thought I'd go for the double whammy. Also going to be there two days and figured maybe do half and half over the two days.
Thoughts? Thanks.
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u/ecarner1 May 09 '26
The only thing I can add to this is...get as many done as you want. BUT...Claremont is a notorious talker. With that many, you could be there for an hour or more. Nice guy...but loves to talk.
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u/Holiday-Aside-2810 May 09 '26
if you do want them all to be signed. Please don't do it at the same time. do two leave the line for a bit and repeat. give others a chance. have them in order that you really wanted to be signed to its okay if they didn't get signed at this con.
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u/SeventhSon22 May 09 '26
That's where I'm at. Was gonna do 2 or 3 one day and another 2 or 3 the following day given its a 2 day con. Thanks.
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u/DiGiTaL_pIrAtE May 09 '26
If it's a paid autograph. Do em all at once! THEY should set a limit. All at once will let u exchange words for a minute or 2.
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u/dpol27 May 09 '26
If it’s paid, do them all in one go! If you don’t, the next guy will. Signing 5 vs signing 8 is not gonna take much longer. I’ve been to many many cons, and you would be totally fine to do that. If it’s free, what I’ve done with 8-10 books in the past is do half on one day, and half on another. Being considerate, etc.
I will say that he’s much more likely to have a limit if it’s free tho. Paid will likely be no limit. Sometimes people will do a few free and any additional for a price.
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u/IllustriousLog7476 May 09 '26
The people saying just 2 are 1st dumb and 2nd unaware of meeting Claremont. He notoriously takes each interaction as a long meaningful experience. Bring as much as you want (within reason) and explain your love for his work. He’s super cool and his line is often long. I got lucky at Terrificon last year that he only had about 7 people at the end of Sunday. At NYCC I waited 3 hours and still didn’t get him.
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u/Esau2020 May 09 '26
At NYCC I waited 3 hours and still didn’t get him.
That's got to be frustrating, considering all the hoops you've got to go through just to be able to buy NYCC tickets. And NYCC tickets aren't cheap - a single day for 2025 was $90. I can't believe there are people who are willing to pay that kind of money just to get into an event, who once they've done so are just as willing to spend literally hours on line just to meet one person - but that's a topic for a whole 'nother thread.
Getting back to the matter at hand, I think creators should limit the amount of items they'll sign at any one time, even if they're charging for signatures, in order to prevent situations like this. Fans should be able to buy as many as they want, but it should be something like the creator will only sign five items at any one time, and if you want more you have to go back to the end of the line and wait your turn so that others have a chance, rinse and repeat until you have all the signatures you want.
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u/IllustriousLog7476 May 09 '26
It was frustrating but only because I was completely unaware of what was going on because it was one of my first times going to a big time creator. Now I’m versed in planning out my cons. Certain larger collectors or shops should just have a certain time at the end of the show to go do their 150 long box just to make it easier. While at Nick Dragottas line when Absolute Batman came out an estore owner came up skipped the line and had him sign 300 copies of some variant. Literally 5 people ahead of me and I waited 40 minutes for this eBay guy to get his paycheck.
Big cons require so much patience I swear!
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u/El_ray538 May 09 '26
Ayo! Comic Revolution! I’ll be there. I’ve not been before but my buddy says Chris Claremont is really welcoming and will sign everything. Hope you have fun!
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u/JLAsuperdude May 09 '26
If you’re willing to pay, I don’t think that’s too many. Just know that Claremont charges like $10 per signature.
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u/mr_oberts May 09 '26
That’s gonna run you a few dollars.
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u/SeventhSon22 May 09 '26
99% sure I'm not doing all of em. Just wanted to know given I'm new to this.
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u/Swervies May 09 '26
Claremont’s pretty cheap considering his stature, he has been $15 a book last few years at Heroes Con and was only $5-10 for many years before that (free back in the 80’s-90’s but that is ancient history)
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u/DudeManBo1t May 09 '26
You going to Heroes I'm assuming since you mentioned JRJr and Chris Claremont? He normally does not have limit but if you are worried about taking up too much time, cant go wrong with a 10 comic limit. I've seen people roll up with short boxes to get what must have been half the comics in that short box signed by Chris. Just be prepared to wait because his line usually fills up pretty quick
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u/MrDDog06 May 09 '26
Are you paying for the auto or are they free ? (Ik some aurthors/artists are free).
If paid. Take as many as you want. You're pauinf after all.
If free. 1 - 3 id say is reasonable, more is a bit taking the piss.
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u/Swervies May 09 '26 edited May 09 '26
Do not listen to these people telling you a limit of 2-3 books, you should take all these. I have been attending Heroes Con for 40 years, let me tell you there will be jackasses rolling up with entire boxes of comics - I think that is rude but I have no problem with people bringing 10-15 books at a time. You will likely be waiting an hour or more unless you get there very early, so I would not even think of getting back in line. Claremont is not quick, oh and one more thing, DO NOT ask him to sign next to or near Jim Lee’s sig if you have any of those!
If you are going to Heroes and want any rec’s from a local, like food/parking/events hit me up OP! (nevermind, I see you mentioned next weekend, Heroes is next month)
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u/dpol27 May 09 '26
What’s the story with Jim Lee?
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u/greatswordstudios May 10 '26
Jim started ignoring his scripts, and editor Bob Harris sided with Lee when Claremont complained. Directly led to the end of Claremont’s 18 year run.
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u/Swervies May 09 '26
I was sort of joking, it’s probably dead and buried now, but there was beef between them for years. I personally saw Claremont sign over/on top of Lee’s signature on some books years ago at Heroes Con. Probably do not need to worry about that now, I think they made nice.
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u/dpol27 May 09 '26
Oh damn - I have heard of some other similar stories over the years, regarding different people. The disappointing part is for whatever fans’ books or items were getting jacked up in the crossfire.
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u/avarskriss May 12 '26
can vouch for this for heroes i go every year cus my dads a guest artist but i rarely wait in lines [my dads friends with most artists there] but my co-worker goes too and last year he spent a whole day getting just comics signed
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u/Odd-Alternative9372 May 09 '26
Please - they will tell you what the limit is when you get there. Don’t take advice here. At the Artgerm line at PlanetCon, there were people with 30+ items. They didn’t care as it was $20 per item.
Were the line folks annoyed? Sure - standing in line for 2 hours and watching several people with 10+ items while you had one or two was just a mental process of “this is even longer of a line than I thought,” but it isn’t like he’s swinging through every other week either.
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u/BenThereOrBenSquare May 10 '26
Maybe I've just seen too many guys pull up with a longbox to get signed, but I think this batch is perfectly fine. Just have them all ready to go. Don't be opening up all the bags when you're at the front. Have them stacked and ready to sign.
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u/NachoMarx May 09 '26
I had a guy bring nearly over 15 for Claremont. They spoke for half an hour. At Planet KC. It caused lines so big they had to segment. Thrice. I brought two lol.
They themselves won't mind, Chris is a fun talker and he loves to chat!
Anecdote: We spoke about Psylocke origins and Mojo for abit. He opened the comics, went over the panels and framing. He's awesome.
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u/SineQuaNon001 May 09 '26
If you're paying for the autographs? Go for it. The guest will be pleased. The other attendees behind you if there is a line might not be!
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u/Equivalent_Mood7111 May 11 '26
Get them all done if you can, just find out about if he has a book signing limit, the line for him last year at HeroCon Charlotte was around 2 hours. People will show up with short boxes if they can.
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u/Saboscrivner May 12 '26
Claremont charges per signature, but his line is almost always super-long. If you've waited that long, are willing to pay, and he doesn't impose a limit, I'd go for all of them.
When I met him about a decade ago, my buddy and I spent over an hour waiting in line to get to him. I had brought a few books with me to get signed, but I balked at the prices and just ended up presenting him with one comic to sign: Marvel Team-Up #74, where Spider-Man met the Saturday Night Live Not Ready for Prime Time Players. He and his young handlers got such a kick out of the randomness of that choice, and we all had some laughs about it.
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u/BearCatcher23 May 09 '26
I've been collecting autographs since 2015 and the most I've seen for a single signing is around 50 scripts for Seinfeld. The actor put his head down and went to signing. He is normally very chatty but he had a lot to go thru. I was directly behind this guy and I didn't find it rude at all. He drove 6 hours away to get them all signed.
Your guy may be chatty for a bit but once he gets to signing he should be quick about it. Don't feel bad for bringing this many.
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u/Swervies May 10 '26
Yeah, you have obviously never met Chris Claremont. He will not “be quick about it”🤣
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u/PixiePop_Bug May 09 '26
I definitely wouldn’t get them all signed, I agree with the commenter that said get two signed and if you have a friend give them a few to get signed as well, assuming they don’t have their own stuff they want signed and that you’ll be paying but I’m not going to lie, if I was an author and someone came up to me to sign 8 comics I’d be offended and certain that they are going to resell it all. Also you’ll have people in line behind you so I’d also take the amount of time it’ll take to sign it into account.
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u/Volntyr May 09 '26
Try and limit it to two but if you have a friend joining you, hand them two as well