Post by BIGFANBOY on Jun 28, 2008 17:16:38 GMT -5
Saying Goodbye to Michael Turner 1971-2008
I first met Michael Turner in 1996, and it was a meeting that almost didn’t happen. Back in the 90s I was booking guests for the Dallas Fantasy Fair, a popular and long-running comic book convention in the DFW area. My contribution to that show, outside of working directly with the guests, was to bring in the newest and most popular talent in the comic book industry. Top Cow had recently released WITCHBLADE, and I was immediately a fan. I told Larry Lankford, the man behind the Dallas Fantasy Fair, that we should really get Michael Turner as a guest. So we pursued it, worked out all the details, and Mike was locked in to attend his first Dallas show in the summer of 1996. Then tragedy struck. Larry ran into some major money problems, and the 1996 summer Dallas Fantasy Fair was cancelled two weeks before the show dates. This was a big deal folks. At the time, that show was the third largest comic book convention in the United States, and now ever so suddenly it was gone. This was also before the days of internet, so getting the word out was going be more than a bit difficult. A group of dealers banded together and quickly created a show to serve in the DFF’s place, the same weekend, in a slightly different location. I was brought in to try and reclaim some of the guests who had already been booked. My buddy Jeff Dickens and I made it a mission to salvage bringing in Michael Turner, as we thought he was going to be one of the best guests at the show. Jeff was invaluable during this process, and worked out all of the details with Mike. Now due to the last-minute nature of the event, and budgetary concerns surrounding it, I offered to have Mike stay at my place to save on hotel costs. At the time I was living in a one bedroom apartment, just under 600 square feet… certainly nothing fancy. But Mike was cool with that. He understood the circumstances, and was fine with the arrangement. The show itself went very well, and Mike had a great time.
This was one of his first convention appearances, and you could already see he was going to be a superstar. One of the other headline guests was even courting him, hoping to steal him away from Top Cow. I remember Mike asking Jeff and myself what we thought he should do. Us. Two guys he just met. Two guys who at the time had no real connections with the comic book industry. And he took our advice, saying no to the very generous offer. It was in hindsight a major decision, and even changed the face of many things to come. That weekend was a blast. We had a lot of fun hanging out with Mike, and he seemed to have a great time as well. One of the best moments came after the show ended, when we headed back to my place, had a few beers, and watched TOMMY BOY… twice. Mike and I both loved that film, and could practically quote it line for line. By the end of that weekend, I had made a new friend. Jeff and I used to joke about how it was only a matter of time before Mike would be too big to take our phone calls. Over the course of the next few years, I saw him a few times at various conventions, and we talked from time to time on the phone to keep in touch.
In May of 2000 I started promoting my own comic book shows. My first guest? Michael Turner. By this time Mike had moved from doing WITCHBLADE to a new creator-owned book called FATHOM. This was my first show completely on my own, and having Mike there was a big deal. This was eight years ago, but he was already so big in the industry that he could’ve justifiably passed on the invite. He didn’t. This was also the beginning of something I started seeing regularly with Mike, a line of fans lasting the entire show. People would spend all day waiting to meet him, and he made their experience worth it with his genuine kindness. It was another great weekend… but there was something different. Mike was in an unbelievable amount of pain. He informed me that he hadn’t slept for days, and there was an intense pain in his leg that just wasn’t getting any better. I knew he was an extreme sports type of guy, snowboarding and whatnot. Mike even said he thought it might have been from a snowboarding accident he had. But it wasn’t. A few weeks later I found out it was in fact cancer. Now I just felt bad. The idea that Mike had signed autographs and met fans all weekend when he probably should’ve been in a hospital made me feel very guilty. But that was the thing about Mike, no matter how bad his cancer got or how much pain he was in, he never let it interfere with meeting his fans. Mike was one of those guys that realized just how important the fans were, and that they should never be taken for granted.
Since 2000, I would see him three to four times a year at various shows. We’d sometimes find time to have a drink, and even quote a few lines from TOMMY BOY every now and then. As popular as he was, and as busy as he stayed, Mike would always tell me to come sit with him behind the booth so we could catch up. I cherished those moments too. He was always being pulled in so many directions, and there were so many people that wanted a piece of him. I used to tell Mike “You need to learn to say NO.” But he never would. Even after signing insane amounts of comics for three to four days straight, he’d gladly sign yet another stack without ever complaining. He went out of his way to do sketches for everyone that was willing to wait. He attended as many shows as humanly possible in his condition. Mike never said NO. He wasn’t going to let his cancer make him say NO. He had a life to live. He had people who wanted to meet him and shake his hand, and he wasn’t about to say NO to those people.
In March of this year I talked to Mike on the phone about seeing whether or not he could come back to Dallas for a show. He told me then “Mark, I gotta let you know, I’m not doing too good right now.” Wizard World Los Angeles was a week or so away… in his backyard, and he was one of the headliners. Mike added, “I’m not even sure if I can make the L.A. show, if I do it will probably only be for an hour.” I went to that show. I saw Mike. You could tell he was hurting. He just looked drained and tired. But he still had a smile, and was still happy to take on a line of fans. He still made time to say hi to me and ask me how I was doing… how I was doing. You see, Mike cared about that, it wasn’t just a passing friendly question. He cared about his friends. He cared about his fans. And you know what, the guy was indeed a superstar, and he never once got “too big” to take my phone calls. His career only lasted shortly over a decade, but what a decade it was. This industry will miss Mike terribly, and I can only hope the fans look back on his work, and realize the love and devotion that went into it… all in the face of tremendous personal pain. I miss ya buddy.
Sincerely,
Mark Walters
Dallas Comic Con Event Manager