MoCCA 2011

For some reason I've had an allergic aversion to posting anything this month, so for the three of you out there who care (talkin' to you, mom!) here's, uh, something:

The MoCCA comic fest was MoCCA-y. Losts of great comic artists and comics all crammed in a huge military armory. Usually I get up and walk around quite a bit to holler at my brethren and pick up some new comics. This year, however, I didn't. I think it was mostly due to not having money to spend (baby often needs a new pair of shoes) and possibly because my table-mate Victor is endlessly entertaining.

I did do some trading, though. I'm still working through what I got at SPX last year, believe it or not. Oh well, I can't complain about having too many comics to read.



Here are some dueling portraits Victor and I did of each other. They look crappy because we were each wearing the other's glasses while drawing them. You can see what we look like unfiltered through incorrect ocular correctors in the accompanying photo (Jonathan Baylis on the left, Victor Kerlow in the middle, and me screwing up the hand-chain format on the right). 

Oh, and thanks to everyone who bought stuff. The Snoop shirts sold really well, and I sold completely out of the new issue of Losers Weepers! 

SPX 2010

The somewhat bitter-sweet SPX was last weekend, and having a little distance from it now I think it went pretty damn well!

I say "bitter-sweet" because although I love almost every aspect of the Small Press Expo, I felt like people weren't buying many of our comics. Apparently it was an optical illusion, 'cause when I went home and tallied up the sales they were pretty much in line with previous cons. That is to say, we made back what we paid for the table, but lost money once you figure in gas, tolls, parking and food.

Luckily, comics aren't about money. If they were, these conventions would look like the Texas hill-country. I can't stress enough how nice it is to be in a room full of like-minded people. I spend the majority of my (working) time isolated, hunched over a drawing table. When I emerge from my dingy cavern squinting and shielding my pale face from the sun, I have to explain to people that, no, I don't draw comic strips like Garfield or Family Circus. Mine are generally populated by degenerates and addicts (who may or may not hate Mondays). There's no need to explain at SPX. Everyone gets it.

I got to catch up with a lot of old friends. I shared a table with Sophia Wiedeman again. Frienemy Ulises Farinas was to my left and L. Nichols was directly behind me. A surprising number of folks from my past (mostly Richmond era) stopped by the actual convention: A.Thomas Crawley, 'Becca & Jon, Webb and Vinnie Panizo. Even Lulu stopped by to help sell comics.

We stayed with our good buddy Sara Markese, and she showered the whole family with presents (I got a sweet pigeon shirt and a "#1 Pop Pop" hat). I had dinner with my old roommate Patrick Cavanagh and his new lady-friend Crystal, good buddy from Austin Paul Petersan & his lady-friend Kamber (chef extraordinaire at Sticky Fingers vegan bakery) and another VCU alumni Anna West.

All in all, it was a great success. My new comic (available here) didn't sell as well as I'd hoped, but you can't win 'em all.