Superfun Adventuretime is no doubt getting a lot of hits due to this post by "Yellow Hat Guy," a.k.a. Ryan Coons, at the Chicago Comic Con this weekend. After demanding an apology from Rob Liefeld for his work on the 1990s Marvel event "Heroes Reborn," Coons bought a copy of How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way and left it in a bag on Liefeld's table. He said he inscribed a note to Liefeld in it that included his email address and cell phone number in case Liefeld wanted to contact him with that apology.
The comments field includes both supporters and critics, with some folks calling Coons names and others offering him words of encouragement. Artist Cameron Stewart fell into the "not amused" camp:
I’m a professional comic artist, and I attend conventions often. Most of the time the experience I have with fans is pleasant and courteous, but there’s usually one or two who are so clueless of how to interact with people in a respectful and polite manner that it spoils the otherwise fun day. So you don’t like Rob Liefeld, big deal. His work isn’t to my tastes either but I would never dream of trying to publicly humiliate him in person. He’s taken the time and expense to come to that show to ply his trade – just as you work at your job – and interact with the people who DO appreciate his work and presence. He’s not there for you to be snide and condescending and to be the recipient of your asinine, half-witted pranks. I’m sure you got a big kick out of it (I love how you describe yourself as shaking and sweaty because you “can’t process that much awesome” instead of it being because you’re cowardly and nervous), and you probably high-fived your friends and giggled all the way home to write your smug blog report, but what you did was classless and childish. I guarantee you that this blog post is making the rounds of the pro community (another pro artist forwarded it to me, and *not* because he thought it was a hilarious prank), and thanks to your readily-identifiable yellow hat, you’ve marked yourself as someone to avoid at cons. Well done.
Update: Liefeld offers his account of the incident via Twitter. "Guy looked like someone I wouldn't trust around my kids, could barely speak, almost pee'd his pants, and now he's bold. I don't thinks so," he tweeted, followed by, "And I love that the video doesn't match his descriptions. I'm smiling. Because that's what i do. I'm always smiling."
Also, Liefeld gave the copy of How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way to Marat Mychaels, whose copy was lost in a house fire.