All right, so I was sort of grumpy when I saw that Rod Blagojevich was going to be on tonight. But then I read a version of this in my morning newspaper:
(AP) ROSEMONT, Ill. (AP) - Former Ill. Gov. Rod Blagojevich compared himself to a superhero as he stood alongside folks dressed as Superman and Batman at the Chicago Comic Con.
Blagojevich said Saturday at the show in suburban Chicago that he draws inspiration from the superheros as he faces his own battles.
He charged $80 for each photo taken with him and $50 for autographs.
The Chicago Sun-Times has more:
He declined to say which superhero he identified with, but likened himself to a Biblical David fighting Goliath.
"I don't really have a slingshot, but I do have the truth on my side,'' he said.
But not everyone was excited about his appearance.
Larry Arroyo, dressed as DC Comics villain-turned-hero the Shade, waited for Blagojevich to return to the booth just so he could "boo him'' for his "tasteless'' appearance.
"I understand he has a lot of legal bills, but he doesn't count as a celebrity,'' said Arroyo, who was apparently unimpressed by Blago's stint on "Celebrity Apprentice'' with Donald Trump.
Even worse, Arroyo said, "He's charging more than Shaft."
Less than Shatner, though. His autographs went for $75. Among the related info I found online were several critiques of Wizard's Chicago Comicon -- mainly that it's neither in Chicago nor mainly about comics -- some photographic and video evidence of Blago's attendance (he's at 16 & 17 in that photo slideshow, but don't rob yourself of the costumed context), and, of course, forum chatter:
Just got home, got there early and took off a bit early. There were tons of people there, met alot of really awesome dealers and got some sweet deals on some silver age ASM I needed.
In my haste to get outside for a much needed smoke break, I was looking back for a friend that got lost in the crowd while not paying attention of anything in front of me, I ran smack into ex-gov. Blagojevich and one of his police escorts. They didn't seem to mind getting pushed aside, and it was quite funny to hear the crowd boo him every time they announced his appearance.
Later he went on to block the entrance to the place to take pictures with people, I'm still not sure why he decided to come there, it was all out of place.
And Twitter found me this:
@BrentSpiner Now have mental image of #blago in superhero orange spandex. Please delete from my brain soonest. about 5 hours ago via Twittelator from Arlington Heights, IL in reply to BrentSpiner
I really should get back into comics. Maybe I'll set up that Google Chrome browser I've barely used with webcomic etc. sites -- no matter how I organize my firefox bookmarks, the 'check twice a week' sites get drowned out. Maybe that'll be something to do during tonight's inteview. Though the cats know that sometimes that's playtime, so... |