Look for this, and you shall find.

This is the first year I will be tabling solo, and I’m super excited. You’ll find me in the Small Press pavilion at table P-14. Look for my boss new hand-lettered sign!

See you there!

I’m headed down to East Brunswick, New Jersey this weekend for my exciting guest appearance at MangaNEXT! I’m really looking forward this show, and getting a chance to catch up with my buddy Lea Hernandez, manga creator extraordinaire. I also hear rumors that there will be another Super Art Fight going on! Breaking News UPDATE! I will be IN the Super Art Fight!

I’ll also be heading up two panels, too!

The Importance of Setting in Storytelling: Friday 8:00-9:30pm – Could also be called “How I use backgrounds in my comics.” I’ll be going over why setting and using backgrounds can produce a powerful effect in storytelling, and the techniques I use to create all these crazy backgrounds here in Paradigm Shift.

SUPER ART FIGHT! Saturday, 12:30-1:30pm – BE THERE!

The Business of Art & Comics: Saturday 4:00-5:30pm – I’ve been making a living as a working artist for over 10 years now, and after so long in the trenches you’re bound to pick up a thing or three on how to survive. I’ll be covering the stuff they didn’t teach you in art school on how to make it out here in the cold, indifferent Real World™, and how you can make it, too!

So, come on out and join in the fun. It’s Halloween, so you never know what might happen. Mwu ha ha ha ha!

I hooked up with my awesome roomie, Carla Speed McNeil, and got our hotel situated and took off for a fantastic Mediterranean dinner at a snazzy joint called Ilili (really, say it out loud – it’s fun!)

My very patient neighbors were Contradictory Ed on one side, and The Multiplex’s Gordon McAlphin & Freewheelin’ Liz Baille on the other. Thanks for being such a good neighbors and putting up with my nonsense.

After a somewhat slow start on Friday, things really kicked into high gear on Saturday. Thankfully, the cavalry was called in. First, my friend Michele (who cosplayed as Kate!) came through and acted as a very capable sales & booth helper, all while pulling it off in character, no less! Then, I was unexpectedly descended upon by four gentlemen I met at Otakon a couple of years back. In exchange for a couple of extra badges I had on hand, they came back on Saturday to help pass out cards, sell books, handle money, fetch coffee, water & such, and generally save my bacon. I even had a chance to get up walk around. On Saturday! It was crazy good. Thanks again to Dario, Stefan, Joe, and Kevin for being such great sports on such short notice. And once again, Thanks to Michele for the great costume, acting, and assistance! You all were fantastic Deputies!

And lastly, thanks to everyone who came by, looked at art, bought books or just chatted. You’re the reason I can keep doing this thing. You rock!

This time tomorrow, I’ll be in New York City, setting up for the (other) Big One, New York Comic-Con! You’ll find me in the Webcomics Pavilion at Table #2489, so come back and visit, ask questions, and talk comics with me!

Back on the convention treadmill, I’ll be camping out in Intervention’s Artist Alley this weekend, just down the road from the mother of all indy comics shows, SPX. So, if you’re in Rockville or Bethesda, Maryland this weekend, come by and see me!

Update: Coming to one, but not sure if you can hit both? Intervention and SPX are teaming up to to fix that! Details here.

Well, I’m back and mostly recovered from another year and the Mother of All Cons: San Diego Comic Con. This was my ninth (yes, ninth!) year at the show, and it was definitely my most successful to date. I had the pleasure of sharing my table and hotel with the excellent Shaenon K. Garrity, creator behind the amazing and hilarious comics Narbonic and Skin Horse and her husband Andrew Farago, widely known as curator of the fabulous Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco.

This year we had an excellent location in the Small Press pavilion, right across from Oni Press, a position that destined us to compete and take advantage of the hordes that descended upon them for Scott Pilgrim! (I should know, because I was right there with them to pick up Volume 6!)

Preview Night kicked off excellently well, but by the of the day on Thursday I was coming down with a cold, which meant I had to take things easy in order to get through the rest of the weekend. So, I didn’t get to party quite as much as I would have otherwise liked, but I still had plenty of time to hang out with many friends I hadn’t seen in quite awhile.

One the highlights of the show was to see Jason Thompson again and pick up his gut-bustingly funny King of RPGs. Seriously, if you’ve ever done any bit of role-playing or table-top gaming in your life, you will totally appreciate this send up done in consummate shonen manga style. As Shaenon and Andrew can attest, it had me cackling! I also had the pleasure of dining with he, and Roger Landgridge, whom I also hadn’t seen in an age and is now pounding page after page of Muppet comics for BOOM Kids! Good on ye, Roger!

Somehow I also found the energy to crank out a few commissions, too, including a conceptual sequel to Anime Boston’s “Yom Yom Yom” silliness:

After pacing myself, loading up on Airborne and Sudafed, and I managed to plow my way through the five days of convention madness, and thanks to the help all the kind, interested attendees, end up breaking my sales records for every other show to date. It was fantastic!

Thank you everyone for coming by the table at the show. As always, I couldn’t do this without you guys!

Next: I rest. At least until Wizard World Chicago next month…

Time to draw!

You’ll find me in the Small Press pavilion at Table P14 along with the inimitable Shaenon K. Garrity of Skin Horse and Narbonic fame! I’ll have copies of all three PS books, art prints, and $10 ink sketches, too. Come by the table and see us while you venture the ocean of geekdom on the convention floor!

Update: Good news! No cash when you find us? I can now accept VISA & Mastercard on my iPhone, so worry not!

While I’m not used to having a full booth at my disposal, I think we’ve got a good plan. I’ll have my books, prints, and original artwork on display, while Shelli comes armed with a multitude of fan favorites of her very own.

Come and see what we cook up!

This year I tabled next to Comfort Love and Adam Withers, who do a fabulous comic called The Uniques. I may not be into superheroes usually, but their comic sure pulled me in while I was at 10,000 feet on the way home. Very good comics and worth the look.

They even took a stab at Kate and Mike!

I also got to hang out with my long-time friends from Madison. Studio Anti-Thesis was sporting some brand new volumes of their own, including Peter Leithen’s first complete volume of Deverish Also, Stacie Arellano’s Tribute Waters and Kim & Maciek Smuga-Otto’s new Merylion Factor story. Allie Vyle of Rain-Arc Rhapsody was also debuting her first issue of Whispers of the Divide. Additionally, there was time to spend with my friends Paul Sizer of Little White Mouse fame, Brion Foulke (Flipside), Jen Brazas (Mystic Rev), Brian “BMAN” Babendererde (Twilight Tangents), Alisa Kober, and Tim Broderick (Odd Jobs).

Here’s my setup, once again. Everything here fit in my luggage!* I’m pretty proud that I was able to schlep the prints stand on the plane in my backpack:

*Too bad it costs $60 to check two bags these days…

Despite my misgivings about taking too long doing commissions, it worked out just fine. I think the new pricing structure worked out as well as I could have hoped. I wasn’t able to accommodate everyone, but it all worked out in the end. I didn’t have my scanner, but thanks to my friends Maciekand Ray, who had some serious SLR cameras, I should get copies of all of big ones I drew.

One of my fans came by and offered me vintage pop! My brother and sister-in-law have often sung the praises of SKI to me, and I can see why. Way superior to Mountain Dew. Cane Suger and real lemon juice (complete with pulp!), and a serious caffiene kick. A+! I also got a bottle of elusive Moxie, but it met a bad ende before I could drink or photograph it. Dernit! Ms. Yuki from Anime STL came by to visit. Perhaps I will find time to draw her another portrait sometime!

These trips always take longer to recover from than I’d like, and trying to get back to drawing. However, keep your eyes peeled for a big announcement sometime real soon.