L.A.W.L.S.

Let me start this blog by saying this, THANK GOD my buddy Ali tagged along for this show to help me out or else I would have died of exhaustion the first day! Just like the last con I did (Emerald City Comicon) I barely even had anytime to stop to walk away and visit with people, let alone take pictures of my booth and my friends. For this reason, the pictures I used for this blog are pretty limited… but not AS limited as my ECCC11 Wrap-up Blog Pretty much from the get go of this show I was exhausted, literally before we even set out and drove to Arizona I was already tired as hell. This fact pretty much bled into the rest of the show and it was tough to have the energy to talk with everyone (until Sunday anyway).

After a ~6hr drive from LA to PHX, we got to the convention center JUST in time to set up the rig behind the table (where I display my prints)… but were kicked out before we could do any real set up. Which was fine really, I was too tired to care, but the unfortunate thing was the fact that I had to wake my ass up first thing the next morning and drive to two different parts of town to register myself as a business in Arizona AND get a freakin’ permit to sell in the city of Phoenix. Serious… I could barely understand what the hell the point of that was, in California the process is streamlined. You literally roll up to a building, fill out a form, 5 minutes later then hand you a permit and BAM your done. The whole thing is free in California, but in Arizona not only did I have to pay AZ for the business license but then I had to pay Phoenix for a permit. >< Basically I had to pay an extra 60 or so dollars on top of my table just to exhibit for this con. It annoyed me at first, but whatever, in the end everything worked itself out and I pretty much forgot about it til now.

The show it self was amazing. Each day got better and better; starting slow enough that I could chat with everyone who came up to the table and ending in such an intense rush of people coming thru that I could barely sit down and relax. I met several fans this time around and got to talk to several really interesting people about art, comics, and other nerdy stuff. Always fun. Interestingly enough, at this show, I sold out of a lot of things I really didn't think would sell out of. For example, I made a small run of "Sweet Tits Muffin Co." Prints from the "Enough is Enough” strip and some SEX, DO IT Prints… both of which pretty much sold out by the second day! Also I made a pile of “Save the Environment, Kill yourself” and “Nuke Em” buttons from the “Protest Signs” and “Whale for Vendetta” strips (respectively). Knowing this I will probably get more made of all of those and put them online in the store in the next few days or so! It’s made me wonder though… maybe I should put either the “SEX, DO IT” OR the “Save the Environment, Kill Yourself” designs on a shirt and/or tote bag. What are YOUR thoughts on that?

After the con each day I pretty much fell into a routine of hanging out with the same people and going to the same restaurants, which actually was pretty rad cos I got to sit and really get to know people this time around. Sometimes at conventions it’s really tough to get to know other exhibitors because we are all SO busy through out the day and TOO exhausted by the end that we barely wanna do anything! I shared a hotel with my buddies Joel Watson of Hijinks Ensue and Ali Showkati of RobTheBot, which made it obviously easy to hang out with them, but generally at shows I don’t get to do this as much. Other than hanging out with Joel and Ali, I also got together with Jeff Schuetze and his friend The Cornfather (I just call him Hollywood), Roberto Hoyos, Erfon Elijah and Erik Booker. I must say, the nights at the bars after the show were probably just as fun as the actual show because, for once, I got to drink and hang out with people who actually want to talk about the things that interest me; Comics, Art, Business! I think I was able to learn at least one thing from each of these people AND still be able to get drunk at the same time. This to me makes a perfect evening…. yes, I’m a nerd.

At every convention I make a point of hunting down at least one other webcomic artists I haven’t met yet and/or haven’t known about. So, who might you ask did I meet in Phoenix? Well, I met two pretty cool dudes I thought I’d take the time to point out to you guys. Firstly, a guy you may know about named Randy Milholland, you know, the guy who does Something Positive! He was probably one of the most relaxed, down to earth dudes I’ve ever met in my life. To me that was pretty rad. It’s not like every cartoonist I ever met is a crazy ass, overly ecstatic, lunatic or something…but he was just one of those nice guys that is really easy to talk to. The other guy I met is a comic you probably haven’t heard of, but I actual have randomly sat down and read his comic front to back one day at work. His name is Will Hightower of IDK Comics. I know his comic may not be for everyone one, but let me tell you, there are a few solid pieces of gold in there that made me laugh pretty damn hard! It has a tendency to be very dark, anti-marriage and offensive… so read it at your own risk, but I dig it.

And on THAT note… That is all. Now I just need to rest and prepare for the next con and start jammin’ some new god damn comics for you guys! :] See y’all Friday.