Oak City Comicon

I was in Raleigh for the Oak City Comicon yesterday with my good friend from Leather Mischief.  We both had really a good day, but never got much of a rest.  Big crowds, a lot of people looking at our stuff and a lot of people who liked it enough to make a purchase.  In a comicon, there is a lot of things for you to spend your money, so when people spend it on my art and comics I feel very grateful.

This was my best 1 day show yet.  In the past year I keep going to shows that set a new personal record.  I still have shows that I don't do well, but that is just part of the deal. 

Next week I have another show that set a new record last year, Winston Salem Comicon.  So time to try for a new personal best.

Issue 13 is at Ka-blam being printed.  I should get it back by the middle of May.

Post Con Post

I went to the Winston Salem Comiccon on Sat. Sept 5th, put on by Burke Street Comics.  Normally I do not like to talk money here, but I will write that this was my best 1 day show ever.  It was constantly busy and a lot of people bought a lot of different stuff.  It was a fun and fast paced day.  I took a page from issue 13 to finish penciling, but got next to nothing done on it. 


My next show will be Oct 3rd in Roanoke, VA.  I always have good shows there, and they have a great crowd of fans.  But now, I have a new goal to beat.

What I have been doing

I had a few days off of work around the weekend and holiday, which was very nice.  I have been getting some artwork ready for NCComiccon.  Aside from just getting so fed up with Staples, nothing has been happening.  The copy choices in Wilson, NC are extremely limited.  Also finished some one of a kind pieces.


A mental tangent has started, so a few friends and I are starting a geek equivalent of fantasy football, we are starting a FANTASY LAFF A LYMPICS LEAGUE.  Which will be a Facebook creative story telling exercise.


All in all, a great weekend.  Now back to work for a few days until NCComiccon this weekend.

NCComiccon

Been working to get some things ready for NC Comiccon, always one of the biggest shows I do.  It is in Durham, which is not far away from me.  I have several fun ideas for prints, as well as a couple of other unique paintings and crafts.


This show has consistently been good to me, so I want to bring the best of my work.  Unfortunately I have been putting off working on issue #12 because of that (and other shows).  I have the story written, and blocked out, and the first 11 pages penciled.  I have some vacation time coming soon.  I am looking forward to sitting and working on the other projects, but especially issue 12.

Finally, a convention

Winston Salem Comic con is this Saturday.  It has been too long for me.  I have done several shows in Winston Salem but this is the first I've been to put on by Burke St Comics.  I am so looking forward to this.


My day job is weighing heavy on me lately, it is always good to get to a convention but now especially.


Anyone who sees this give me the secret phrase "A couch!" and get a prize.

Winston Salem

First comic book convention in a while is coming up on 09/13.  Winston Salem, looking forward to it.  I have found that Winston has a good, diverse crowd of comic fans.  I like doing shows there and meet a lot of friendly people.  Now to make sure I have enough stuff to take with me.

Shows, Shakespeare and stuff

I went to Winston Salem for Jay and Eddie's Comic Book Show on Saturday.  Had a nice time, saw a lot of people I knew, that is getting to be a real favorite thing of mine.  I try to socialize more with the people I meet at shows (instead of just jumping back on the road for the long ride home), and I am getting better about that.  Comics (or at least making mine) has always been such a solitary and private thing, I think I overlooked the social aspect of it all.  Just keeping in touch with people you see at shows makes it a lot different.  I made a point of that in Heroescon last month and then again in Winston Salem on Saturday.  Glad I did.


Now I have a production to finish here.  The Complete Works of William Shakespeare is a play I am directing here in Wilson, NC.  That has been a lot of fun and hard work getting together.  But I have a great group of people working on it and it is going to be an amazing show.  A different creative vibe flowing.


The next shows I have are Winston Salem and Greenville, NC.  More details to follow.

Comic show in Winston Salem

I am working a lot on directing a play called The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged).  If you have the chance you should see it.  If you have the chance to see mine, then all the better.  It is one of the funniest things on the planet.  And I don't consider that to be an exaggeration.


I have work tomorrow, then rehearsal tomorrow night, and then I wake up early and go to Jay and Eddie's Comic Book Show.  I need my comic book convention fix, it will be fun.  I will get to see some dealers that I have gotten to know better, and some artists that I see more and more frequently.


And if anyone walks up to me and says the magic phrase "Bob stole my arm and painted it blue" you win a prize.


If someone walks up wearing a costume from my comic Intermezzo, I will throw so much free $#!&! your way you won't be able to carry it.

Ok... Heroescon

Long, exhausting, possibly even will get me sick, and a REALLY AWESOME WEEKEND!


I visited more people, sold a fair amount, actually made table cost and then some (Which is a first for me at Heroescon).  Did not buy as much as I would have liked, but that is probably for the best.


I had a good location, displayed some new stuff.  Overall it was very energizing.




Way back in the day I was 16 or 17, my first comic book convention was Hereoescon.  It was in a hotel.  It seemed huge to me then, but it was tiny compared to what it is now.


Ahhh.  The next show will be July 19th, Jay and Eddie's comic book show in Winston Salem, NC.

Intermezzo Spotting

A friend tagged me in a picture on Facebook.  Foundation's Edge, a comic book shop in Raleigh, NC near NC State's campus had copies of Intermezzo on their shelves.


Yay!


That was a minor geekgasm for me.  (Minor/major)


Plus I went to Nostalgia Newstand, which is the closest comic book shop for me now.  They still have copies I took them on their shelves too.




I hope your day was good.  I've had a good one.  And Dr. Scanner isn't working, but its ok today.

Post Charlotte Comicon Post

Had an excellent show yesterday.  The Charlotte Comicon has been consistently good for me, and yesterday was no exception.  A fun time, got to meet lots of good people, and see some cool costumes.  There will be pictures posted soon.


This weekend I will be... home.  With my wife, who has been very patient with the amount of conventions over the past month (4 out of 5 weekends have had a convention).  So it will be nice to stay home and spend some time together.


But the next weekend I will be in Richmond.  But Wendy will be with me.

Charlotte Minicon Jan 25th

This Friday I will attend the Charlotte Minicon, a one day show in (of course) Charlotte.  I haven't done this one before, but the guest list is looking very impressive (its run by the same people who put on Heroescon).  And Charlotte is always a good place to go, and I meet people from other shows in the area who will actually remember me (which is cool).


Hopefully I will post more on this before the show, if not I will put a post show update.

One Day convention at the North Wilkesboro Library

I had to say that I had my hopes set a little low for this show. It was the first one they were putting on, it was inside of a Library, first time I've been to Wilkesboro... Just stuff.


It was a small room, but it was a small room with only one comic dealer and the rest of us were artists.  The crowd was small but friendly and really interested in what you have to say.  You had walk in traffic from the library,  and they were interested too.  The crowd was fairly small, but they stayed longer and were really involved with the show.  Yes it was their first show, but they were eager for it.  So it wasn't the best one day show ever, or anything like that, but it was a good fun place to be, and I think they are laying the foundation for something to grow. I was glad to be there (of course I am always glad to be at a comic book show)


I got to see some familiar faces from the Winston Salem area; Jay and Eddie, Bobby and Suzanne, and Denis who put the show together. And met some new people.


All that, and I am home with two more days of this weekend, so that is fantastic.




Next weekend, I am going to the Charlotte Minicon, which is organized by Heroes aren't hard to find, which puts together Heroescon every year. I've wanted to do one of their smaller shows for a while, but this is the first one I have managed to clear.  I've been to Charlotte a lot, so it has a familiar feel to it.

Charlotte Comicon Post Show

Had a great overall weekend. Missed Wendy and didn't get much sleep, but I got to see a new comic book store in my hometown Lexington, NC.  There hasn't been one of those in years.  I stopped by and talked to them; nice guys. I also dropped off a couple issues of iNTERMEZZO. The place is called Top Hat Comics, and has some cool unique stuff.

Visited with my Mom, had a good night together and then on to the comic show.

Charlotte Comicon is called "The biggest one day comic show." I don't know if that is technically true or not, but it is very big.  Met a lot of people and sold more comics than anything else (that always makes me happy).  A couple who bought issues 1-3 in my last show in Winston Salem were there and they bought 4-9 and talked for quite a while. There names are Bobby and Suzanne (I think, I told them I am bad with names).  I always like Rick Fortenberry's shows. I also got to see Jay and Eddie, who put on the last show I did.  Sheltron Drum, who puts on Heroescon. Waki (John Wycough Who is just fun to be around, and meet some new people.  Just what a comic book show should be.

I reserved a space for a minicon in Charlotte on Jan 25th.  That means I will be in Wilkesboro on the 18th and in Charlotte on the 25th that month.  Started looking into setting my calendar early and try to plan ahead.

Oh, and I put some new pics up of costumes that I saw at the show.  Lots of fun stuff there.

Roanoke pics

I've posted several pictures taken at the Roanoke Comicon on my flickr and facebook pages.  They had a lot of neat costumes, check it out.

Here is the obligatory picture of pretty women in skimpy, sort of comic related costumes.

Post Roanoke Post

I had a very good show at Roanoke this past Saturday.  They had a huge crowd, and I met a lot of people and a good number of them bought a comic, art print, original sketch, or craft.  It was a variety of things sold, with no big seller. That is very cool to me, it means that people are finding something to fit their taste.

So great show, then got lost on the way home. That happens to me a lot, so Wendy and I have bought me a smart phone so I can use the GPS Directions app thingy from now on.

I have a bunch of pictures that I will post soon.

Next up... NCComicon this weekend!

Family portrait commission

A friend that I play Heroclix with on Thursday nights (who has the entire set of iNTERMEZZO, you should try it) commissioned me to paint him, his wife, and their five kids as the Avengers.  Each of them picked what characters they wanted to be and I drew, inked, and painted a 2 foot by 3 foot family portrait.  I delivered the original before posting this, so he got to see it first.  Here are the inked, and painted versions.

What if Superheroes Behaved like Politicains?

Its a pic of a sketch instead of a scan (the scanner is still the bane of my existence) so it is a little hard to read.

"We would love to stop the Masters of Evil, but we have Shut Down the Avengers until we decide if our battlecry will be AVENGERS ASSEMBLE! OR AVENGERS UP AND AT 'EM!"

This is the second in what may become a series of this idea.  Here was the first...

Daily Sketch time

I am actually keeping this up.  So far the constant use of the scanner has kept it from further being the bane of my existence. 

Here is Plastic Man, a fantastic character (when they use him).

Sketch

One of the daily sketches I am posting both here and on my Facebook page.  This one is the best Catwoman who ever purred...

And so far the scanner is working (fingers crossed).  I will try and remember to post a sketch a day.