San Diego photo parade

The last of the photos from San Diego are up now on the flickr page. At some point, I suppose, I shall break it down here in prose form.

Yes, sorry

I meant to blog continually throughout the show, but I was not in the mental space to do so. Something about this show really took it out of me brain-wise. I will play catch-up in a day or two after I've inserted myself back into my life and have spent at least 24 hours holding my wife and child.

All in all, however, good show.

Let's take another shot at that...

Our lovely model is wearing the shirt that I made as a gift for all the folks I'm meeting in San Diego that have had a hand in 100 Girls success. The shirts also come in black with white type. They are a wonder to behold. No, I won't be making any more, than you for your interest.

OK, Let me try this again. Even getting about five hours of sleep makes the world a little more understandable. And here's the thing: half the decisions about what movies will get made and eventually show up in your local cine-plex, they get made here in San Diego during the con. That means that the American entertainment industry is running on four hours of sleep and is fueled by over-priced alcohol. Think about that the next time you're plunking down ten dollars to watch a movie.

Anyway, I'm going to try to do this as linearly as possible so as not to get derailed. Again, the atmosphere at the show seems to prohibit clear thought. I can only write this because I'm outside the one-mile wide zone of influence.

Tuesday saw me get into town a little late. The plan sat on the tarmac for around an hour. This was a cause for much complaining until I started to hear other folks' travel horror stories. All one needs to stop whining is a little perspective. I will complain about my poor planning, however. Once in town, I went to the hotel, checked in, freshened up, then went and retrieved the boxes I'd shipped to myself. More than fifty pounds of awkward boxes, my backpack, and me. I hit several people in the head with the box containing the banner as I walked along and get apologizing. I thought one mom was going to rip my throat out when I pumped her girl. Thankfully the crowds that already clogged the sidewalks made pursuit difficult.

A security guard let me set the boxes down near him while I negotiated the check-in process. This process was time-consuming, but seamless. Then on to the convention floor and my first crisis. You see, I had gone along planning that the table we'd be at was eight feet long. I designed out banner to be that long, had ordered a backing that length to go behind us (for the banner). Problem was, the table is only six feet long. So we nixed the backing (and got a complete refund, thanks Freeman!), and the folks behind us let us hang the banner off their steel pipe display. You can't see the whole banner, but the logo is prominently displayed. See photo.

Set up was easy. Mostly just me and Todd throwing things on the table and moving them around until they had some sort of pleasing semblance of order. We got done pretty much right when the doors for Preview night opened. So then all we had to do was sit back and try to give off the whiff of desperation. That first night, we made a few sales and talked to a few people, but the crowd on Wednesday night is a different animal than the crowd on other days. You can only get in on Wednesday night if you've bought a pass for the entire four days of the convention. If you are that hard core, then ou have planned your visit. You know exactly what booths are giving away exactly what exclusives. And you are making a bee-line for those locales/events/items. Folks like Todd and me, and nearly everyone else in the small press area, have no con exclusives that got listed in the program, so we just get those few folks who want to meander through the hall when it is relatively free of crowds.

After the show, a large group of us went to dinner. Todd's and my friends, Will and Kristin Miller joined us, which was nice. The Miller's are some of those friends that I see only at the show and they are truly one of the reasons I come down. I felt a little bad because for a while, Todd and I got caught up in conversation with Sean, our publisher about this thing. About which I can't talk yet. So we spent a few minutes having this cryptic talk that excluded the two of them and we couldn't really explain it to them. Other than that, the dinner was great. And we were in bed fairly early.

That catches us up to the first day and seems a good place to stop. More later.

Rambling

Hello, Internets, did you miss me?

After a two-day separation from the world wide web, I am back in business.

The show is going well. Very well. Todd and I received news last night that makes us very happy. We are not yet cleared to speak of it, so I won't. But soon. Happy.

We're chatting up some folks, selling some books, eating some excellent food. The food in San Diego is stellar. Even better than the food are the people that I see only once a year while at the convention. Our friends Will and Kristin are always a highlight.

It's one in the morning and I don't feel very coherent right now, but I felt I should write something here.

Maybe I should just mention that there are photos from the convention floor up on the flickr page. Go there and partake in the sweet madness that is Comic Con.

We're off on the road to Comic Con

I am leaving early tomorrow morning for what has accurately been described as Nerd Prom, San Diego Comic Con. This is my tenth Comic Con in a row, and my first to attend on my own rather than under the auspices of a publisher. I'll be manning the table with my good friend and collaborator, Todd Demong.

If you are not attending the convention and would like a taste of it, keep checking back here. I hope to make an entry every night of the con to wax poetic on the day's events. I'll also be uploading photos to my flickr account every night. And, throughout the day from the convention floor, I'll be logging brief accounts, more than likely nonsensical, via twitter. That's probably more than any one person would want to know about the show, but one never knows.

If you will be at the show, here is my schedule, please come by and say hello:

Homebase: Table M9 in the Small Press Pavilion.

Other signings:
Thursday, July 24
1:50-3:30 (Arcana Comics, booth 2514)

Friday, July 25
12:50-2:00 (Autograph area, AA1)
4:20-5:30 (Arcana Comics, booth 2514)

Saturday, July 26
4:20-5:30 (Arcana Comics, booth 2514)

Sunday, July 27
12:50-2:00 (Arcana Comics, booth 2514)

It's a banner day!

Just wanted to share with you the banner I created for Comic Con. If you're there, look for it. If not, um... I don't know -- don't. Just try and imagine this sucker eight feet across. It looks pretty good, I just have my fingers crossed hoping it's still going to look good after it's been at the mercy of UPS for four days.

{Once again, I apologize for using a pun in the entry title.}

Me @ Comic Con

It occurred to me that I should mention where you can find me at next week's Comic Con. This is the first year that Todd and I have rented a table and for most of the show we'll be hanging there, looking out at the crowd, desperate to make eye contact and hawk our wares. But, we do have a few signings set up, so if you don't find us at the table, make sure and look for us elsewhere. Here's the rundown:

Homebase: Table M9 in the Small Press Pavilion.

Other signings:
Thursday, July 24
1:50-3:30 (Arcana Comics, booth 2514)

Friday, July 25
12:50-2:00 (Autograph area, AA1)
4:20-5:30 (Arcana Comics, booth 2514)

Saturday, July 26
4:20-5:30 (Arcana Comics, booth 2514)

Sunday, July 27
12:50-2:00 (Arcana Comics, booth 2514)

Also, keep checking this space while I'm in San Diego. I'll be blogging and posting photos from the convention floor. Should be a magical time.

Good news, bad news

There was a good question left in the comments yesterday by a reader named Jeff. He asked:

I see (on the Comic Con web site) there is a portfolio review for artists and there is lots of detail on the web about that, but I see nothing for a review for writers. Is there someplace at the con a writer can go to drop off his two hopefully interesting sample scripts?

Here's the bad news about cons and writers, Jeff: No one is going to want to read your script. Lot's of editors are willing to review art because it takes just a few minutes and you can do it while being half-distracted by the show, but no editor can take the time out of a show and devote themselves to reading your script. Also, no editor will want to take your script from you and lug it back to their offices with them.

So, here's the good news: save the money you were going to spend to run off copies of the script, and save your back because you won't be lugging all of those scripts around with you.

Rather than trying to get your script in editor's hands, what you want to do is hook up with an artist, or artists. You want to work up a pitch document (a one-page synopsis, some sample art from your artist(s), and a sample of the script. You will not be able to get all of this together before this year's show, and that's okay. Here's what you will do at this year's show: you will met potential editors with whom you would like to work. Introduce yourself, be nice, ask good questions about what thy might be looking for. In this way, you can build a list of editors to whom you would like to send your pitch once you have it finished. And every editor you approach will be wondering while they talk to you whether you are just being social or if you want to get work out of them. I think it's okay to tell them that you might like work from them in the future. You might even talk to them about your idea, but don't mention to them that you happen to have a copy of the script with you, etc.

As a writer myself, I realize how much it sucks that you cannot use the con in the same way as an artist, but you can still use it.

Appearances of note

Despite the quickly approaching arrival of the Sprout, I am still planning on making some appearances in support of my comics. Here's what's in the hopper as of this moment:

Portland Comic Book Show
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Memorial Coliseum
Portland, OR, 97227
Show website
I'm a featured guest at this show -- the first ever, so it should be fun.

Free Comic Book Day
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Danger Zone Comics
1326 State Street
Salem, OR, 97301
(503) 364-7980
I'll be giving away copies of the Arcana FCBD comic (which has a new 100 Girls story in it) and selling a slew of other stuff for your reading edification.

Comic Con International
Thursday, July 24 through Sunday, July 27, 2008
Preview night Wednesday, July 23, 2008
San Diego Convention Center
San Diego, CA 92101
Show website
The big daddy of comics conventions; this will be my tenth year attending and the first where I actually get a table. Come down and say hi to me (and Todd, too!) and buy me a drink. I'll need one.

My being at the first two shows is dependent on my wife not being in labor on those dates, but I'm going to do my damnedest to be there.

Comic Con '08

Just found out yesterday: Todd and I got a table for this year's Comic Con International (July 23 -27). We'll be in the Small Press area pressing the flesh, selling our wares and generally looking bewildered and out of place. We always put on a good show. I'll mention this more as we get closer to the event, but, you know, mark your calendars.

Go Team 100 Girls!

Two bits of good news, vis, 100 Girls in the last couple of days. Yesterday I received the proof of the cover design from Simon and Schuster. It looks beautiful. Whoever designed it did a terrific job. I'm not throwing up a scan of it because I'm not sure if that's allowed, but as soon as I have the go-ahead, I'll make it available for all to behold.

Second: At the end of last year's Comic Con in San Diego, Todd and I decided we'd like to get a table at this year's show. This involved me filling out an application, standing in line for several hours, and handing over a deposit check. After all of that, I was told that it would most likely by April before we heard if we got a table. This is apparently not true. Today I got an email saying that we'd been confirmed for a table in the Small Press Pavilion. Super!

Prior to this, I had been assuming that we wouldn't get a table and so I haven't been planning for the show (which, at six months away, now feels like it's rushing at us). Now that it's a reality, I am totally flipping out trying to figure out what to take with me and what preparations I need to make. I've already made hotel reservations, but Melissa and I need to decide soon if she's going, too -- which would mean that the Sprout would come along and that we'd drive -- or if I'll go by myself -- which means I'll fly.

Gah! I have too much to do. What am I doing spending time on this blog?!

San Diego break-down

I told my manager, Julian, that sometimes I fear my Hell will be just like an endless Comic-Con. He said I should really be worried that it might be my heaven. Here's my wrap-up:

Friday started at 3:00 a.m. after having gone to bed at about 1. I just had to stay up and read the new Harry Potter. After showering and such, I dragged Melissa out of bed and made the trek to the Portland airport. I finished HP on the plane and found it very satisfying. The best book in the series? I was on the ground in San Diego with luggage in hand a few minutes after ten. The cab I grabbed was only able to get me within four blocks of the convention center. I paid the cabbie and joined the crush of humanity making it's way to the convention. Mind you, I was dragging my luggage behind me and wearing a backpack which contained my laptop. I sweat a lot at the best of times; I'm just saying. By the time I got to the convention center, I most closely resembled someone who had drunkenly jumped into a pool with all their clothes on. A pool full of sweat, of course. But the blessed rush of super-chilled air hit me like a promise and it was with a renewed bounce to my step that I made my way to the registration counter to pick up my badge.

I should mention here that I have been attending the convention under the auspices of Arcana Comics for the last four years now and in each of those previous years I have not been properly registered. Each time I have to step out of line and start making frantic phone calls to get Sean up there to help sort things out. So I would have to be naive in the extreme to be surprised that it would happen again, right? Call me Pollyanna! I was completely blindsided be the absence of a badge with my name on it. I swallowed my anger and went and had a seat and started leaving more and more heated messages on Sean's voice mail (or so I thought). One nice thing, I got to see a lot people I know as I sat there. Greg of Tugboat Press fame came by and sat with me for a while. Dave Land, Gretchen and Bernadette. Good times were had by all. Except me, because I couldn't get in the damned show. Dave Land finally came out and gave me an extra Dark Horse badge that I could use until I got things sorted with Sean.

The hall floor is just wall-to-wall people. And I don't like crowds so much. Below is a sample shot of what the crowds can be like.



Seriously, there are times when that is all you can see. I fought this crowd to where the Arcana booth was. Or, should have been. There was a large Arcana banner hanging from the ceiling, but no Arcana booth was actually in evidence. I was starting to panic. No one was answering their cells, no one looked familiar and lots of strangers were jostling me. I was on my way to a grade A panic attack. And then a familiar face! A guy named Gerrin, who also writes for Arcana, came out of the crowd and said hello. I asked him a little desperately where the Arcana booth was and he pointed to the nearest booth -- one that in no way resembled the Arcana booth -- and said, "right there." He didn't have a lot of answers. Didn't know where Sean was, didn't know where Todd was, or where all the Arcana books were for that matter. And just as quickly as he came out of the crowd, he disappeared back into it.

When Sean and Todd showed up, I got the lowdown. All of the books that Sean had shipped to SD for the show, including all of the copies of 100 Girls, they all just didn't arrive. No one was sure where they were, but we all knew where they weren't. This was quite a blow. I was used to spending my time in the booth, safe from the crowd, doing my best to get people to at least pick up the book and look at it. Hard to do that when you've got no books. I felt another panic attack threatening. Fortunately Michael and Julian, my and Todd's managers, showed up to whisk us off to lunch. This was the first time for me to meet Julian in person and I found him to be a really funny, engaging guy. Easy to talk to. Although it was him that suggested Sean come to lunch.

Listen, I'm not vindictive; I know that the badge thing was a mistake and the books getting lost and some other people taking over the booth wasn't really his fault, but I wanted to hold onto my grudge for a while. And Sean, if you're reading this, I really did forget all about it by the time we were done with lunch. Maybe because it was such a good lunch. And I don't mean the food. There are several things in the works for 100 Girls, all of which are very good and exciting and all of which I refuse to mention in more detail until we sign contracts. After two years of exciting things almost happening to 100 Girls, I've learned to be a little tight-lipped. Though we did get a deal memo today which nearly caused me to crap my pants, but that's for another post.

Suffice to say, after lunch everyone was my buddy again and I was invigorated by the thought that with no booth to man, I would get to experience the con as basically an attendee. Something I'd never done before. This consisted mostly of Todd and me wandering the floor looking at cool shit and saying hi to people we know and that we only see at the con, and taking pictures of folks in costume. Speaking of which, I have posted photos of the con up at my flicker account. Go there and marvel at the heights of nerdom. But be gentle, these are my brethren.

Spending so much time with Todd was nice, I must say. He's a great guy and I count myself lucky the day Phil Amara introduced us. Enough mushy stuff.

Both Saturday and Sunday, Todd and I had dinner with Will and Kristen Miller, truly the coolest couple in coupledom. I met them last year and was looking forward to seeing them again this year. And did I mention drinking? Comics is the drinkingest industry there is and every night was spent at the bar at the Hyatt. There I ran into a guy named Ron I-can't-remember-his-last-name-but-he-was-in-Strip-Search-and-he's-very-cool. He's doing well for himself, got a gig drawing a series for Vertigo and as soon as I find his card, I will add a link to his work.

Saturday was a repeat of Friday, minus the really cool news.

Todd left first thing Sunday and I went to a couple of panels, one on the explosion of book publishers introducing graphic novel lines and the other a debate trying to resolve whether or not we should call graphic novels literature. They were both fun and informative and never having attended panels before, I was very impressed. In fact, the comics as literature panel may warrant a post all on it's own. I made a few purchases and snapped up a cool Harry Potter bag (for Melissa, you know) and generally watched the con wind down. That night I grabbed a drink with Devon before he headed back to Portland, had dinner by myself (by this time I was ready for some alone time) and took myself to see the latest HP movie. Again (God help me). Then it was back to the hotel, where I stayed the night with Sean and his wife and kids. His kids are super cute, by the way, and his wife, Shell, is a sweetheart. Next thing I knew, it was Monday morning and I just had time to get breakfast, walk the streets of San Diego for a while, and then head home.

All in all, it was a strange con. It started with disappointment that was quickly supplanted by ridiculously good news, and then I just wandered the show floor for two days. It wasn't how I expected to spend the weekend, but I'm happy with how it turned out.

Damn, this has been a long post....

Home again, home again

Finally am home. It's always a mixed bag being in San Diego for the con -- it's fun being there, but by Sunday I'm always more than ready to come home.

Tomorrow or the next night I'll post an update about all my con doin's. It'll have to be tomorrow or the next night since I'm driving down to San Fransisco on Thursday.

It's strange not being surrounded by lots of people in home-made superhero costumes...

DHP

I have another blog over at gearschool.net which is a way for me to promote my new book from Dark Horse comics. From time to time I plan to repurpose things I wrote there here on this blog. For example, here's a bit of good news that was announced this weekend regarding Gear School:

Dark Horse Presents, DHP to the uninitiated, was the first title ever put out by Dark Horse Comics back in 2000. DHP was an anthology title that saw some of the most amazing and acclaimed comics series published within its pages. The original Sin City story first appeared there, for example. I was truly sad when the book ceased publication and it after if closed shop that I decided to start up my Stripsearch project.

One of the big stories from the con so far is that DHP is back as a web comic. Dark Horse have teamed with myspace.com to bring us the electronic equivalent of a comics anthology.

The big news for me and for Gear School is that September's issue will include an eight-page Gear School story! Finally. A bench mark I'd given myself when I first had an inkling that I wanted to write comics was that I'd have a story in DHP. I guess I get to mark that off my list....

Never trust a pirate

Have survived another year at Comic-Con. Spent a large portion of my day today waiting in line to put in an application to be an exhibitor at next year's show. Todd and I have decided it's time for us to do our own thing with 100 Girls next year. Will explain more later.

For now, I'm going to call it an early night then have a leisurely morning before flying home in the afternoon.

It'll be nice to get home -- it always is.

One for the ladies

Personally, I've been disappointed in the quality of the costumes this year, but these guys looked pretty good.

Survived Day One

Dateline, San Diego: I'll write more later about all of this, but for now I'll say that the first day here had definite highlights and definite lowlights.

And as for the first picture of the con, well, I'll let the photo speak for itself:

It is ridiculous to think that this is new to us

Yes, that is George Clinton. And yes, Mr. Clinton is standing next to a middle-aged man in a diaper.

You have never seen so many white people getting funky.

Tomorrow I am up at the ungodly hour of three to make my plane to San Diego. Once there, I will join my brethren in what has accurately been described as "Nerd Prom."

Pray for me.