I am Kyle's self-indulgence

I'm very excited about going to see Dave McKean in Chicago. I usually read books and comics based exclusively on who the writer is: Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore are my favorites, but I've learned to follow a few others as well. I almost never read comics for the art. I tend to think that good writing can make up for mediocre artwork, but good artwork never makes up for bad writing.

The one real exception to my rule is the work of Dave McKean. I will buy just about anything with his name attached to it, provided I can afford it (which I occasionally cannot). He is an artist in the truest sense of the word, and the books he produces are often art objects in themselves. In the process of indulging my obsession with his work I've been lucky enough to acquire a few very hard-to-find items at very reasonable prices, and I've dreamed of the day that I could meet Dave McKean in person and have some of these treasures autographed.

In a wonderful bit of serendipity I've learned that this weekend, when we were already planning our biennial trip to Chicago to see some long-distance friends, Dave McKean will be in town for a two-day show of his paintings and films. Not only that, but on Friday, again the day we were already planning to go downtown, he will be at Challengers comics for a free signing event. While I'm afraid it won't be practical to go to his paid shows, due to our previous obligations, the signing event is a perfect opportunity.

My only disappointment is that each person is allowed only one outside item to be signed, and assuming I can convince my friend Andrew to come along, that means I can bring only two books, which makes my decision a difficult one.

Of course I'll be bringing my copy of Pictures That Tick, of which only one hardcover edition of 4000 copies has been printed so far (a paperback edition will finally be coming out later this year).

The next most obvious choice is Cages, a monster of a graphic novel that's as big and thick as most college textbooks. It's not as difficult to come by as Pictures That Tick, but it's his comic masterpiece and would be great to have signed.

I do have a third book, though, that is not as remarkable as either of those two, but is the rarest item in my collection. It's called Skeletons, and is a slim little chapbook of two Ray Bradbury short stories, illustrated throughout by Dave McKean. Only 500 copies were printed, and I probably would not own it now if my sister had not bought it for me off my Amazon wishlist during the probably one week it was actually available. I don't think she had any idea how rare it was when she ordered it for me, but I'm grateful she did. Anyway, for its obscurity and utter rareness, this would also be a very cool item to bring to have autographed.

I'm actually tempted to bring all three. I've never been to a signing before, so I don't know how strictly these rules are enforced. If I conceal the Skeletons chapbook inside one of the others, could I sneak it in and get it signed? It probably seems like I'm spending way too much time thinking about this, but I'll probably never get to meet Dave McKean again, so I really want to make the most of it.

If I've sparked your interest in Dave McKean, or if you want to see more of what I keep going on about, check out this very good, very timely interview, which includes a ton of samples of his artwork.