Posts Tagged ‘@$$hole!’
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If this is your first time to my website: welcome.
To those of you returning to the site after seeing one of my panels or meeting me at the anime show last weekend (or just returning in general): Welcome back.
Let’s talk about my favorite convention to attend, as an exhibitor or (and especially) as a guest. Anime Central, or ACEN as it’s known by the fans, is the third-largest animation convention in the country. It’s put on by volunteers and organizations who work for the Mid-west Animation Society, and it’s the most fun weekend I have all year. I have a lot of history with this show, and no more so than what happened this year….
THURSDAY
After a long day at the office, I grabbed my 150lbs of merch and gear and headed off to the Blue Line to head out to Rosemont. Being the incredibly buff dude that I am, I of course stood the entire time (please note my sarcasm), and then waited for a pick up. The ride wasn’t coming fast enough for me and the hotel was only a block away (I walked further to get to the Blue Line), so I hoofed it and dropped my stuff in the room with Russell Lissau (Shrek, The Batman Strikes).
Thankfully I had some dinner before leaving the office, but there was food provided in the Green Room for the guests. Eventually Steve Horton (Superman Annual, Spinning to Infinity) and Alan Evans (Rival Angels) arrived, and the group of us went upstairs to say our hellos and drink the night away.
FRIDAY
The first official day of the show was met with an early morning breakfast at O’h, the restaurant in the Hyatt. The group was joined by our very awesome convention staffer, Amy, who stuck with us throughout the entire weekend and put up with all our nerdy antics. She’s good people.
11am rolled around and I was once again the only comic artist attending opening ceremonies. This happened to me last year as well, and I had to follow a big voice actor on the stage. I had nothing prepped, and I told myself that this year I would have a speech ready. Ever since they announced my guest status, I started writing a 2-3 minute rabble-rousing speech for the group.
Since registration was having a few glitches, the crowd was a bit lighter than last year. And they were also kicking guests off the stage after about a minute. Suffice it to say, I had to cut the speech short – but the crowd still got excited.
After that it was pure sales until the webcomics panel I put on with Steve. We invited our good friend Alan, who’s had a long-running series and also does all of the work on the #1 wrestling webcomic series on the internet, Rival Angels!
We pretty much filled the Rosemont B auditorium with people, and put on a very informative – and highly entertaining – panel for the masses. I was getting people coming up to the table all weekend thanking me for the panel, and coming to my other panels throughout the weekend because of how well we put that one on.
After the panel I focused on sales until the end of the show for the day. Sales were strong for a Friday, but I had expected to do better the first day of this show. Last year, I only had a single book available (@$$hole), and this year I had three more (Reading with Pictures, Hope: The Hero Initiative, and Junkyard Chase). After the floor closed we met up with Beth and headed out to dinner.
After dinner, the group went to go see Pirates 4 at the Muvico. The theater was quite the experience, as we saw the movie not only in 3-D (skippable), but also with D-BOX seats.
D-BOX seats are gyrating seats, similar to a vibrating video game controller…but for your butt! When the boat sways, your seat sways. It was a very different experience, and one that would only work for action flicks, and I’m not sure I would pay extra for it on all flicks – but it was a very fun experience to have, for sure.
After the flick we went back to the hotel and up to the Green Room for more booze and socializing. Gyu, one of the staffers, brought out a very nice bottle of Highland Scotch, and Steve Yun and I had a few celebratory drinks to kick off the weekend.
SATURDAY
Saturday was the big day. The day I had two panels, the attendance would be the largest, and people would be having the most fun. It was also the best day to get my sales goals above where I wanted them. Basically, I wanted to double what I did on Friday (and I came VERY close), but mostly I wanted to have a good time with the fans – and not lose my voice doing so.
After setting up the table, Beth and I started meeting the fans and selling the crap out of everything on the table. For some strange reason my Chocobo sketch cards I had spent the last two weeks slaving over didn’t sell so well…but I had a lot of interest in them. People were asking if they were stickers or magnets. But alas, they weren’t – so no sales there.
But the books were selling like hot cakes. People wanted a follow up book to @$$hole! like no one’s business. Unfortunately I had spent the last year writing other stories (and updating the website) instead of making another book for that story.
Next year, for sure. But I digress….
The first panel of the day was Reading with Pictures, where Josh and I fielded questions about the role comics can play in education. The panel went great, and people really got into asking some very good hard questions about literacy, overcoming objections, and why comics are better than text books – in some instances.
After a successful panel, I went back to the floor to continue my selling spree. Beth was a huge help, while I did things in the background like rubbed my banner’s head (for luck).
Around 6pm it was time for the fun panel – The Panel that Shall Not be Named! Last year ACEN gave me this panel to cover off on my book, @$$hole!, which they just didn’t want to repeat in polite company. However, there was no description for the panel. And no one could tell me what I was supposed to talk about. So I started telling goofy convention stories, and everyone had a blast.
They liked it so much, in fact, they brought it back this year. And it an almost-full room, to boot!
I can’t get into the details of the panel (you need to attend one at a show, though), but everyone had a blast and laughed their asses off. It was some of the most fun all weekend.
After the panel I started to sell copies of the books, which could run a little later since there wasn’t another panel immediately after mine. However, I ran out of copies of @$$Hole!, thinking that people would buy more than just that book. Thankfully, the people who didn’t get a copy were kind enough to follow me back to the convention floor, which was already closed. As a guest I was able to sweet-talk my way back in to grab three more copies for them, and everyone was happy.
After that, it was a bum rush to drop all of our stuff off at the hotel and make it to the restaurant in time for our 8pm reservations. We ate at Gibson’s Steak House, right across the street from the convention center. Last year we went here as well, and it was such a fun time we made reservations there again this year.
After dinner the group returned to the hotel, exhausted and stuffed. We split up for a bit, some of us going to the Green Room and some to the Presidential Suite where we enjoyed some homemade “adult” slushies.
SUNDAY
The final day of a convention is always the most difficult. You’re exhausted, but the adrenaline won’t let you rest completely. Thankfully I didn’t have any more panels to give, so it was a restful sales day. Beth and I manned the table like pros, and eventually the convention came to an end.
As I said earlier, ACEN is by far my favorite show to attend – and especially be a guest at. The show is amazing because of the hard work and dedication of the organizers, staff, and volunteers – and also because of the awesome attendees they attract.
Seriously, a special thank you to everyone involved and who attended the show.
”Comment
Well folks, it’s been a lot longer than I anticipated, but ultimately I couldn’t stay away from this comic any longer.
I wanted to hold off until I was able to finish the photo fight scene pages, but unfortunately those are taking quite a bit longer than I thought. It’s a project that I’ve wanted to do ever since I first started the photo comic pages several years ago. So my options were two fold:
1) Hold off on any updates until the pages are ready to go live, which at this rate would be sometime this summer
2) Update non-related comics, and continue to work on the photo fight pages in my spare time. This may mean they take a little longer to put together, but at least then I’m updating the comic in the meantime
So there you have it, updates are coming. And yes, I am working on a lot of other projects. And there are a lot of comic conventions and events coming up, especially this month.
On May 7, I’ll be signing at Comix Revolution in Mt Prospect for Free Comic Book Day. I did a signing at this store a month back for the premiere of Hope: The Hero Initiative and had such as great time they invited me back.
And then May 20-22 I’ll be a guest of honor at ACEN in Rosemont, Il. It’s one of my absolute favorite shows, and I hope to see you all there. They haven’t announced my panels just yet, but as soon as I know I’ll update on here.
Anyway, everything in between is being spent doing the work. So I hope you enjoy the pages as they come out, and I’ll keep you all posted on the Photo Fight story arc progress.
Cheers,
T
I woke up to the phone ringing at around 8:30am.
“This is your breakfast wake up call,” comes a familiar voice from the other end.
“Hi Russell,” I replied. “I set the alarm for 9 this morning…wanted to sleep in.”
I got up, took a shower, and headed off to grab breakfast real quick before our 10am panel for Reading with Pictures. By this time, my voice was really starting to disappear – and my Barry White impression was just about spot-on. Josh, Russell, and I were in the early morning panel with a sparse but involved group of people. Josh told the usual stories about how he learned how to read from comics. Russell told stories about the inspiration for his story in the anthology. And I told stories about the inspiration for Albert the Alien.
A few people from some of my earlier panels of the show were in attendance, which is always flattering. It shows that, since I was in such a variety of panels with many different topics, that people were interested in me. Things that were important to me, and that I spend my time working on. That’s a very humbling realization.
After the panel ended I headed out to the floor. It was the last day to sell, and I sold the crap out of everything I had. People from panels stopped by, people from earlier in the weekend who said they were going to buy something stopped by, complete strangers stopped by, and so did old and new friends.
I missed closing ceremonies because I wanted to sell everything I had, and I almost did. I walked the floor the last few minutes of the show to trade books with people, and then packed up my gear. The staffers invited me back to the green room for dinner with the amazing crew who made this weekend possible. After eating far too much food, I was invited to have some adult slushies with some of the convention organizers in the Presidential Suite. Man, what a room!
I didn’t take any pictures of it, but this room doubled as the green room a few years back. It’s got a kitchen, living room, office, bedroom, and a bathroom that would make rich people jealous. The shower was big enough for 5 people not touching. And I’m not exaggerating.
I left the show much later than expected, but having had the greatest weekend I’ve had in the longest time. Possibly ever.
I want to thank everyone responsible for putting that show together, and for making me a guest of the show. I can’t even begin to name them all, and trying to do so would not do it justice – because I know I would mis-spell someone’s name.
To the people who put on the show, the people who I met, and the people who made me a guest of the show – from the bottom of my heart I thank you.
This weekend I spent in the gracious company of Alan Evans (Rival Angels) at Anime Milwaukee. Leaving work on Thursday, I hopped a bus up to the city where Alan picked me up and took me back to his humble abode. Alan and I have been friends for years now, and through those years I’ve never before met his wife or cats – who are all awesome! But I digress.
Thursday was a restful night of lounging around the house and catching up, since Alan and I haven’t hung out since Mid-Ohio last year. We talked about the con, our goals, comic stuff, and basic nerdy topics. It was great catching up and talking shop with Alan. One of the best parts of conventions is the camaraderie with your fellow creators and lovers of comics and anime.
Friday we headed out in the morning to get the to con, even though Artist Alley didn’t open until 1pm. Alan and I set up, got our badges and gear, and made signs to announce our panels for the weekend. Alan has a great sign for his book, and even bought out the cover 4 ad (that’s back cover, for anyone who doesn’t know) in the brochure for the show, which looked great. The entire weekend he was getting recognition from the ad, and hopefully he gets a lot of web traffic from it as well.
Around 1pm the show really picked up. Our table was at the end of the L-shaped artist alley, and people seemed to enjoy walking around a blue circle of tiles that sent them away from our table, but towards the vendor room. Alan and I kept making fun of the situation, calling it “the blue ring of death.”
Friday went pretty slow sales wise, but towards the end of the day I had two panels back-to-back: Crafting Fictional Worlds at 3pm, and Writing Comics at 4pm. The trick was that I went over by a few minutes at the first panel, so I had to bum-rush to the second panel. Attendance for the panels was pretty strong, and the audience had questions throughout the panel and after.
When the panels were done, I went back to the table and waited out the remaining hours with Alan.
After the show, we got dinner and went back to his place to watch Zombieland with his wife. The flick was HILARIOUS. You know you’re in good company when everyone can laugh at jokes about Bill Murry, and also add more jokes into the mix.
Saturday was the big day of the con, but Alan and I had Making Webcomics panel about an hour after the show started. Not even bothering to fully unpack, we grabbed some items and went to the panel. Alan counted a good number of attendance, and we gave out our knowledge and experience. After the panel, Alan and I were invited to move to a new table location in the center of Artist Alley. This was a great chance for us, since we were no longer affected by the blue ring of death. We also met our awesome neighbors. Sales picked up for Alan and I as the day progressed, but we did have a few slow spots – mostly around the time that the voice actors were giving their panels.
Alan and I ended the day and headed back to his place, where his wife made a delicious chili. Alan and I watched Jurassic Park 1 and 2 while working on comics – probably the greatest creative / productivity / nerd night I’ve had in ages! Seriously, I’ve missed having creative nights like that, and it was exactly what I needed to help charge the batteries for the final day of Anime Milwaukee.
Sunday was the final day of the con, and also the day of Daylight Savings Time. Alan and I set up the table and started selling our tails off. Alan sold a few prints and books early off, and I had a slower morning. At 3pm (the last hour of the con) was my panel for @$$hole!, to which I had been promoting all weekend in the hopes that people would show. And they did. A decent sized group of people for the last panel of the convention, and I was very humbled that the audience wanted to spend their last hour of the con listening to my stories about @$$hole!. I put my all into it, telling stories about what inspired the comic and even acting out some of the scenes from it on stage. I answered questions, I told touching and humorous tales of the world that exists in my demented little mind – and everyone seemed to love it.
In the end, I thanked them all for spending their last hour of the con with me, and hope to see them all again soon.
After the panel the show ended, Alan and I broke down our table and said our goodbyes to the people we had met. Alan took me to a local gyro place, and then we headed to the train station so I could get back to Chicago.
It was a fun weekend spent in great company. I had a blast, and I look forward to doing it again next year.
…and if people from the con are reading this, please send me some pictures from the convention. My camera is broken and Alan’s ran out of batteries. 