Stuff... just stuff

Not much is happening. dragoncon at the beginning of the month, that was cool. Makes me think about setting up there one year, maybe... one year.

NCComicon is coming up in Nov. looking forward to that one.

Been working on issue 6 as much as i can. Work has been brutal lately, my body is trying to shut down on me. Unfortunately my schedule doesn't have time to slow down and take it easy until I feel better. I've finished inking through page 9, not bad but no where near where i want to be. Same old story.

dragoncon

I made it back from Dragoncon. Flying really made the trip a lot easier. Instead of spending 8 hours on the road, I spent 1 hour in the air. It cost more but was worth it.

While in Atlanta I met Stan Lee, got a couple of autographs (Avengers #4 and Avengers #63 (the second comic book story I ever read, this copy was signed by Roy Thomas- the writer, and Gene Colan- the artist). My best friend Jeff and i also got a picture made with Stan.

I took almost 400 pictures. I plan to post some of them on my Flickr page soon. I also plan on posting a lot of pictures on Facebook, so look for me there. This is my first weekend home in a month, so it will be nice to get some things done (but more importantly to spend some time with Wendy).

Back, tired, busy, and happy.

Baltimore Post game and Dragoncon is a comin.

So Baltimore is over... whew. It was quite a weekend. I am exhausted, yet back at work.

Saturday was... disappointing. Not because I wasn't making money (I'm used to that) but because I didn't get many takers to try Intermezzo. I would tell people about it, they would laugh, maybe say something about how funny it sounded and walk away. To me, the biggest obstacle has always felt like "how do I get people to look at Intermezzo" with the feeling being that people will give it a try if they hear about it and see how funny it is. But the question staring me in the face at the end of the day "What if intermezzo just isn't good enough?"

Bless Stacy for being the poor soul to talk me off the artistic ledge. She let me vent enough so that Sunday I wasn't the bitter, scary dude behind the table. So Sunday went well, one of the better days I've had. I almost made my table cost back (which would have meant i only would have lost my hotel room $, dare to dream). But anyone who goes into this for the money is either insane or just stepped out of a time machine from 1995.

I don't think my funk on Saturday night was an overreaction though. I really needed to rethink how I approach this. I had some ideas to try and minimize how much i am spending, where i need to focus my finances, and how i can accomplish some modest goals without spending all of our savings (mine and Wendy's together, because if it were just me I would have been bankrupt at least once by now. With Wendy in the picture, I have more to lose and too much at stake to throw it into this without considering the consequences.)

While i sat behind the table and the evil voices took over and ran my mind for the better part of a day I decided to sketch. It is considerably different than anything i have drawn in many years. It is a different part of me entirely, and not anyone you will see in Intermezzo. I am not able to post it (for reasons that are beyond me).

Anyway, Dragoncon is this weekend. I am not set up at a table because i have seen many bigger names than I (and who isn't?) sitting with no one coming up to them, looking bored, and set up in a basement somewhere. It is not a good choice for me to spend the money to do that.

But at Dragoncon this year will be STAN LEE. So I am going, I am going to get a picture, and an autograph and probably say something stupid to the man. But this is my one chance to do that, and any comic geek worth his geek would jump at the chance to do the same. Anyone who tells you different is lying through their teeth. This man is crucial is creating some of the biggest characters in comic book history. those characters are still around today because they speak to people on a deep level.

BALTIMORE

WOw, It is time. It seems this summer has flown by.

So Baltimore, here I come (ready or not). If you read this and find me at Baltimore Comic Con if you say the phrase "The Eagle Flies at Midnight" you'll get a free gift.

Hope to see lots of people there and get some new readers for Intermezzo. One new reader found me on Facebook, that was cool. Look for Brian Wingrove if you wanna.

Time Flies

It is hard to believe that Baltimore Comicon is one week away. And Dragoncon is only 2 weeks away. Where has this summer gone?

update- whats coming up, what Im doing

Less than three weeks to Dragoncon! Woohoo!
Less than two weeks to Baltimore Comicon. Also Woohoo! Haven't been there before, Stacey went last year and had a good show. My schedule allowed it this year, so i am looking forward to it.

I am working away on issue 6. Pencils are done. I am inking the cover right now, i think it is my favorite. I still have the painting to do, but I think it is really fun.

I am almost finished reading Deaththreats, a book about Drew Hayes. If you don't know his work, you should. He was a self publisher who signed with Sirius in the 90s who wrote and drew a book called Poison Elves. One of the things that really made him stand out was his opening comments and letters page (called Deaththreats) where he opened himself to his very core for his readers. Historical Perspective: this was before every yahoo with a blog was doing the same thing. He exposed his depression, relationships, fear of intimacy, everything uncensored. I often think of what he did, relating to readers in the same way, but these days its commonplace. Its a shame.

more pictures

more pictures from the Improbables project. More on what it is when it gets close enough that I can tell it is going to happen.

Thanks to the help of 10 friends last weekend i am closer to that being a reality. Thank you all, and i am glad you had so much fun.