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I debuted a new table cover at the show!! |
Speaking of bubbles, kudos to the convention organizers for requiring everyone to be fully masked and show proof of vaccination or a recent negative test in order to attend. With people visiting from around the country and the world, they did the smart and responsible thing—especially since I consider mask wearing to be only a minor inconvenience. I’d done the Comic-Con Special Edition show in November (which served as a dry run of sorts for this show) and already have been going to restaurants, concerts and plays masked, so I don’t consider such policies onerous at all. Plenty of cosplayers often found clever ways to integrate the mask into their costumes.
I don’t know if it was an anomaly, but I have started to notice during recent events and signings an increased interest in my trade paperbacks and more openness to new material. I’m not sure whether this is the result of pent up demand due to COVID or the result of my efforts to better promote myself, but I even ended up selling out of one of my trades—and this was after enlisting a friend who was coming down Saturday to swing by my home on Friday and bring more trades with him, as I reported at the time on Facebook. That was after realizing I was down to only a couple of those books on Friday.
As I mentioned, I enjoyed connecting and speaking with lots of folks. It’s nice to see that my work still can catch the fancy of people as they walk by and bring them over to learn more about it. People are still attracted to the “old school” classic vibe and clean lines. I'm always amazed that I occasionally barely have to do anything to "sell" my book before someone decides to buy an issue, a trade paperback or even more—and especially heartening, of course, when people return as repeat buyers, including those who first read my work from a previous year (or sometimes just the previous day), and purchase the rest of the series! A few examples:
A gentleman who had not been to Comic-Con for 10 years who told me I was one of two people he made a point of seeing at the show and said he needed every issue since #13 (I just released issue 23!).
A boy from Mexico about 12 or 13 years old who came over, picked up my book and said shyly and tentatively in broken English, “You’re work is GREAT!” and immediately purchased two trade paperbacks. That was the extent of our conversation.
I spoke at length as well with another gentlemen who bought some books about the great Jack Benny radio show (see, it’s not always about comics!).
It really struck me what a great mixture I have of both new readers and ongoing—I even had a guy come up to tell me that he had already reached his purchased budget at Comic-Con but said he wanted to come by and tell me that he had picked up several early volumes and found them “fun as hell”! He promised he’d start next year in the Small Press.
Anyway, it felt pretty busy throughout the show. It’s funny how certain things can go in waves—for example, on Sunday, within the span of a couple hours, I had several people run up to my booth to buy my “Death at Comicon” issue based on the banner at my booth and the issue’s concept. Of course, this is a perennial seller, but it was funny how I had this spike in sales on this one issue within a specific time span on one day. Just goes to show ya!
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| Lonnie Milsap |
At the risk of omission, the sundry creators, industry folks and social media friends I saw and talked with included Tom Batiuk (and his lovely wife Cathy), Bobby Breed, Steve Bryant, Barry Gregory, Jenni Gregory, Jackie Estrada, Enrica Jang (my booth neighbor this year and in 2019!), Benton Jew and his SO, Deeana Iselgrud, Tom Mason, Scott McCloud, Lonnie Milsap (who I’ve known for years but only just discovered attended and worked at UCLA the same years as me!!), Bill Morrison, Rik Offenberger, Don Nguyen, David Olbrich, Joe Pi, and Christie Shinn. There were a few I hoped to see but missed—it was difficult to get away to visit the floor, particularly with Artist’s Alley on the complete opposite side of the hall.
Original Art
Noting that he had not seen it before, now he couldn’t decide on which piece to purchase. I mentioned to him how someone else was thinking of buying it—he sweetly indicated that he’d be willing to have me ask the other person if they were still interested, but I told him I didn’t want to keep him from getting the piece if he was ready now. I half-joked how difficult it used to be part with my original art (it really isn’t anymore)—he promised he’d give the art a good home and take good care of it lol! I posted about the sale on social media—and about 5 minutes later, the other person commented that he knew he should have purchased it lol. (I know the other person and knew he’d understand—he was indeed very generous in congratulating the other person.)
Comic-Con After Hours
This year, however, I had the fortune to have Thursday dinner with Funky Winkerbean cartoonist Tom Batiuk and his wife, Cathy (more on that in a future post). Tom was a special guest at the show. On Sunday, I had a post-Comic-Con dinner before departing for L.A. with longtime industry friend Barry Gregory of Gallant Comics. We go way back to the 1990s, when he—along with his wife Jenni and my now-wife—were invited to an all-expenses paid trip to Montreal for a signing! We’ve been friends many years—indeed, I asked Barry to serve as my moderator/”wing man” during my Spotlight panel at Comic-Con in 2018 (where I was a featured guest and received the Inkpot Award). Barry is also my printer via Ka-Blam.
In my report about last November’s Special Edition Comic-Con, I mentioned that my wife and I had our first dinner together during the show in nearly two decades. This is due in large part to my late hours at the show and my wife handling the kids. With the kids older now (in fact, my daughter could not make it), we were able to have a grown up dinner together twice—once at a seafood place and another at a somewhat upscale Russian restaurant that I’ve actually eaten at about three times before!
Anyway, it was a fun time and energizing as always—not even that flat tire I experienced on the way home dampened my enjoyment and memories!
Links to some key posts on Facebook during the show:
- Arrival and set up
- My original art
- SDCC day three post
- Final day post (and false emergency)
- Return home post (flat tire!)
Click here to go straight to the photogallery.
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| Andrew Pepoy |
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| Dave Olbrich and Jackie Estrada |
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