Briana, Bill, and I met in the main lobby before being summoned to meet Svengoolie and crew outside as they were being dropped off.

We quickly headed over to Will Call and picked up our badges while Sven posed with starstruck staff members.

Except for Bill, we were all experienced with C2E2; briskly traveling the outskirts of the main hall before staking out a table behind the scenes. Unfortunately,  we were thrown a curveball with fewer tables, all occupied, and loaded with supplies strewn pell-mell like a FEMA camp. After a brief break, Jim asked a few of us to set up the autograph table, which we were happy to do. As with all his signings, we were met with a long line of eager fans awaiting their chance to meet Sven. Another C2E2 constant is Svengoolie superfan Mike being first. Not far behind him were two ladies from Albany, NY – one dressed as the host and another Svengoolie Squad member, Gwengoolie. Soon Jim came out to fire up the crowd and Svengoolie entered the scene to waves of applause.

My job was to photograph the fans with their cameras. Everything went smoothly and everyone seemed to have a great time. One clever fan had Sven sign a “personal check,” which viewers recognize as a historic Svengoolie buzz phrase. In my years of Svengoolie appearances, I’d never seen someone do this, and even Sven commented on how surprised he was that no one had thought of it before. Unlike previous years, Svengoolie had a mic that could be activated to record some of his more colorful fans while Patrick and Chris were on standby to film them. I can’t wait to see how these play out during upcoming shows.

What made me even happier with this autograph session was that it was right next to the booth where actress Nancy Allen was signing at the same time. From Carrie (1976) to Dressed to Kill (1980), I think she’s fantastic and have never seen her in person. So it was awesome standing just ten feet from her for a full hour. It was also ironic, as I have tickets to see Blow Out (1981) at the Music Box theater with my son in a couple of weeks. Allen did not know who Svengoolie was, but they had a nice conversation afterwards. It went so well that her manager even approached us the next day, saying Ms Allen would like to be interviewed (more on that in my next post) and would like to stop by his studio during a pre-planned, upcoming Chicago visit.

After the signing and completing Svengoolie’s photo op, Jim was eager to get to Artist Alley and film some interviews. Svengoolie, however, wanted to find his dear friend and wrestling legend, Jim Lawler. At the end of the day, Sven’s the boss, so Jim and I set out to locate him. We knew his booth number, but our cell reception was so bad we couldn’t access the convention map. Ultimately, we were unsuccessful even with the assistance of two different C2E2 Crew members. We knew we’d have more time to find him on Saturday, so, unfazed, it was Artist Alley, here we come.

But not before an unplanned stop at the signing booth of voice actor, Billy West! As we reentered the convention hall, West saw Sven and embraced him. He was an obvious Svengoolie fan and agreed to do an interview after he finished signing. This was excellent as he was one of our main objectives.

With a renewed sense of vigor, we made our way to Artist Alley.

Chris Jones was first on the list of artists Sven paid a visit to. Loyal Svengoolie fans will remember Jones was interviewed during last year’s event, but this time there was an added layer of entertainment. Chris would provide clever responses to Svengoolie’s rapid-fire questions while sketching the host in real time.

Next on the list was Dan Dougherty, who was unintentionally quite funny. As we approached his table, he proudly held up his variant edition of the latest Svengoolie comic. “You see this comic?” he excitedly told Sven. “I’m the one who drew this!” Svengoolie replied, “I know, that’s why we came to see you.”

It was especially nice for me since Dougherty’s Svengoolie variant cover was exclusive to my local comic book store (AF Books in Frankfort, Illinois). I had attended his signing when the issue debuted, but now he was the one getting the autograph.

The Svengoolie interviews surged on as he filmed with MAD Magazine artist, Tom Richmond, and Aw Yeah Comics’ Franco and Art Baltazar.

Satisfied enough time had passed, we returned to Billy West, hoping he had time for us. To Svengoolie’s delight, he was ready and gave a spirited interview complete with some of his iconic cartoon voices.

Svengoolie’s first day at C2E2 2025 had left him quite pleased. He’d snagged more footage for his show in this single day than 2024’s two days combined. We knew tomorrow would be long, so they left for the station while I checked out the event myself. During my wanderings, I managed to find the great Jerry Lawler. He was thrilled to hear Sven had been looking for him and asked that we please stop by his booth the next day.

And if you tune in to my next post, I’ll be happy to tell you all about.

~Dave

Coming up next…The Return of the King!