L.A.W.L.S.

Artists (and people) above, left to right:
Joel Watson – Hijinks Ensue
Andrew Bell – The Creatures in My Head
Jon Rosenberg – Scenes From A Multiverse
Joenis Norac (me) – ArtisticDOOM
Chris Yates – Reprographics
Random chick who bout a FAIL WHALE T
Daniel Davis – SteamCrow
Baracus Cosplayer

Wow. That’s about all I can say about SDCC, is just Wow. San Diego Comic Con was probably one of the most exhilaratingly busy and tiring experiences I’ve had in a long long time. Each day had it’s own reason for being interesting, but I’ll just give you guys some of the more interesting points and more than anything, share with you some of the artists I sat and chatted with or met at the convention. Rather than bore you with the little details about me standing behind my booth for 5 days straight.

Preview night was rather slow, but a good day due to the fact that it allowed me to chit chat with some of the surrounding artists and other friends around the convention. I exhibited alongside my good friend, Ali of Rob the Bot, but to the right and left of us were two GREAT artists we got to chat with. Kennon James, was to the right of us. He does a comic called “Mohagen” about a fish and a fish bowl decoration. He also had a great book full of random fish he’s drawn. The random awesomeness of the fish he drew in that book blew my mind. I wish I could share it all with you guys but I couldn’t find any of his fish drawings online. The artist to the left of us was Devon Devereaux. I LOVED his super cool greaser-esque type artwork. He also was the artist of a “not so children’s children’s book” called “the Littlest Bitch.” Both of these guys have great stuff I suggest checking out. After the duration of the convention, I got to get to know them and would love to be able to have the privilege to do more conventions alongside them.

Each day got progressively more intense, excluding Saturday… I have NO clue what the deal was about Saturday. Someone was stabbed in the face with a pen or something like that in Hall H. I think it MIGHT have been that day.. but honestly.. I don’t know. Here’s a random blog post I found about what happened from Google: Stabbing Article. It sounded pretty crazy from the rumors I heard stirring around the convention center. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get away from my booth longer than a few minutes. In fact, I was so crazy busy that I accidently ended up fasting every day during the convention itself from 8am – 9pm. I’m telling you, it nearly killed me, but it was totally worth it. Now that it’s over though, I feel healthier. Oddly, it feels like the fasting helped clean out my system. Which, honestly, was very much needed. The past few weeks, even the past month, I’ve been slaving over my art work so much I feel like I’ve probably been sacrificing TOO MUCH of my health…. but I know if I want to make it anywhere in this business, it is, to some extent, needed. Just maybe not to the extent I’ve taken it this last month haha.

On Saturday night, I went to dinner with Cari of Story of the Door and her awesome friend, Jessica Correa. I had never seen Jessica’s work until stopping by their booth, but now that I have… I’ve gotta say, looking at her work has changed my life. It’s really amazingly dark and awesome stuff. For instance, check out this crazy piece called “Gothic Queen.” SO COOL! I met a few other artists that night and I wish I had contact information for them as well, but in my exhaustion I forgot to exchange info. :/

This strip is really just a collage of things that didn’t fit into the humor of the “joke” in the first strip. I had to make this second one to give special attention to a few things. Firstly, the couple I coined “Mr. and Mrs. Awesome.” They are actually, Rebecca and James Hicks, the master minds behind “The Little Vampires,” and good friends to me. They are two of a few people I feel greatly indebted for any of the success I have had in the past few years. James is a well of knowledge that has given me so much insight to the convention front, including what cons I should or shouldn’t do, how to organize and structure our booths, and has introduced me to a plethora of interesting artists and fellow convention buds. Without him and Daniel Davis of SteamCrow, I would have been COMPLETELY under prepared for this convention and even Emerald City.

Secondly, I just wanted to make a point of how much of a geek Ali is. He literally stopped this cos-player by saying “Rinoa” really loudly over the table to get a picture with her. Also, I figured I’d throw in some random booth shots and a picture of a tattoo that some dude had that I really liked. I wish I could remember his name. After 5 days of madness, honestly its SOOO hard to remember names. I can remember faces and stories, but names… not so much.

Overall, this convention was a success. The best one I’ve done, and I will do anything I can to insure I will be there again next year. I apologize to any of the artists I didn’t get to mention and/or didn’t get a chance to seek out at the con. BUT, on the other hand, I’d like to thank my friends who came by the booth (Marisa, Ariel, Sara, Becky) and all the AWESOME & interesting people who came up to the booth to talk to me. I hope to see as many of you again next year at the convention and hopefully, by next year, many more new people.

/ This Ends my San Diego Comic Con Rant.