Posts Tagged ‘mail order ninja’
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Anime Central is this coming weekend, and it’s my favorite show to attend. I’ll be a guest again this year, which is excellent. I had such a fun time at this show last year, I can barely contain myself.
ACEN has always been an interesting show for me. Even before I was a guest, it held a lot of unique experiences. I went for the first time in college with my friends (who still attend), and met a whole bunch of celebrities, ate a lot of pocky, bought more manga than I have room for on my bookshelves, and also saw a girl get arrested for “prostitution.”
I’ve also met some of my greatest friends at this show, including comic writers Russell Lissau (The Batman Strikes, Shrek, Strawberry Shortcake) and Josh Elder (Mail Order Ninja, Starcraft, Reading with Pictures). These two have been extremely encouraging of me in my professional comics career, and have been great friends outside of the field as well.
Last year I did several panels (I was scheduled for 3, I think I ended up doing something like 9), had an absolute blast, and met a bunch of new friends and fans.
There’s even a video of me addressing opening ceremonies – about 2,000 people. And I had to go on stage after the star guest of the show, so no pressure. This year, though, I’m more prepared for my opening ceremonies speech.
I was so nervous. Not because of the crowd, but because I had to follow Vic on the stage. The man’s a entertainer by trade. I just sit at home and write comics while trying not to get clawed to death by my cat.
They haven’t announced my panels for this year yet, but I’m sure it’ll be on some fun and entertaining / semi-educational topics. And no doubt another panel about funny conventions stories (of which I could tell for HOURS).
The show’s in Rosemont, Il this weekend, and I hope to see you all there!
***EDIT***
The show finally announced a tentative panel schedule for me this year. I’ll be doing the following:
FRIDAY:
3-4pm: Webcomics: The good, the bad, and the ugly
SATURDAY:
3-4pm: Reading with Pictures
6-7pm: Trevor Mueller and the panel that still won’t be named
Please note these panels, days, and times are all subject to change. But will hopefully have the final panel list soon, since the show is this weekend!
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Friday was the first official day of the convention, and I headed down to breakfast with Russell and Steve Horton (DC Holiday Special) at O’h (the restaurant at the Hyatt).
After breakfast, we headed out to the floor to set up the tables (which were right by the main entrance of the show – we couldn’t have asked for a better location). As people started filtering in, I was approached by several groups of people for pictures and autographs – which I’m always glad to give.
Our tables were over by the other comic guests including Misako Rocks! (Savage Love) and Fred Gallagher (MegaTokyo), and we were also joined by our good friend Josh Elder (Batman Strikes, Mail Order Ninja).
Around 1pm, I was escorted to the stage in the Hyatt for Opening Ceremonies. All of the guests are invited and encouraged to attend, even though the event tends to start a little late. Unfortunately because of that late start, Josh and Steve had to step out to get to a panel that they were both on, and since Russell wanted to stay on the floor to sell, it made me the resident comic guy at the show.
Behind the stage I met some cool people, including the band members of the Spoony Bards, many of their members being from Chicago. They even invited me to one of their shows this coming weekend, but I digress.
So while Vic Mignogna is on the stage, I’m told that I’ll be next. Suddenly a very cold sweat hits me – one of the most popular people at the show is on stage, and I have to follow his act. Thankfully, our speeches were separated by the announcements of the missing comic creators.
I came out when my name was called, looking out at a good thousand plus people in the audience. The lights mostly obscured my vision, so I couldn’t count exactly, but I could tell that the room was filled. The amazing thing was that the clapping that welcomed me wasn’t just polite and sparse – but a roar from the crowd!
“So I guess they selected me to represent the comic creators at this show,” I said. “Which means we’re all in some kind of trouble.”
(pause)
“Just kidding, the rest of the guys are at a panel right now.”
After informing the crowd about my panel schedule for the weekend, and why they should stop by and buy my stuff, I exited the stage and watched a few more presenters before returning to the floor.
I met fans and sold my heart out until my first panel of the weekend, Marketing and Advertising your Comic at 5pm. For what promised to be an education (and therefore less entertaining) panel, a good chunk of people showed up. Many were actually looking to promote something other than a comic – some even just looking to get into marketing or advertising as a career – and I tried to keep the panel as open as I could. Come Q&A time, the questions went flying. Thankfully, I was able to follow up with some of the people after the panel ended to make sure that they walked away with satisfying answers.
I went back to the floor with just enough time to pack up the table, and then the group of us went to dinner at the O’h restaurant again (at the behest of one of the convention coordinators). After dinner, we returned to the green room for relaxing and drinking. I met one of the con liaisons and we ended up playing DJ Hero (which I suck at), and then went to the rave (where we watched some 16 year olds in a sweaty “hump train”), and then back to the green room for one last drink of the evening before bed.
Saturday would be the big day, and I didn’t want to miss a moment of it!
To be continued…
Help Bring Comics into the Classroom
Reading with Pictures is an educational non-profit organization that promotes literacy and the visual arts through the use of comics in the classroom. To achieve our goals, we’ve recently launched a pledge drive on kickstarter.com to finance the publication of a groundbreaking educational comics anthology. The anthology features a cover by Jill Thompson (The Sandman) and original stories by over 50 all-ages creators including Fred Van Lente (Amazing Spider-Man), Chris Giarrusso (Mini-Marvels), Jim Gownley (Amelia Rules), Jeffrey Brown (Sulk), Scott Sava (The Dreamland Chronicles), and RWP Executive Director Josh Elder (Mail Order Ninja). This limited edition anthology will serve as a proof of concept that comics can be both entertaining and educational, and the only way to guarantee that you get your copy is by pre-ordering on Kickstarter today!
Learn more by visiting us online at www.readingwithpictures.org.
At Reading with Pictures, we’re getting comics into schools and getting schools into comics.
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