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SPACE 2009
SPACE was a great time! Within five minutes of sitting down, I was given two pieces of beautiful original artwork by Gary Gibeaut and George Lane. Now that's how you start off a convention! And that set the tone for the weekend, which was full of camaraderie and community and old friends.
I got to reconnect with Troy Boyle and Tomm Gabbard, whom I hadn't seen since the early '90s, when we were all working on the short-lived anthology comic NUANCE. Tomm belatedly apologized for the inking job he did on my first published work, and I pointed out that my pencils were nothing to write home about either. We reminisced about the old days, and wondered where some of the other NUANCE contributors are now (sadly, we know that one of them, the talented Bill Grubb, passed away several years ago).
It was also great to finally be able to put faces to folks I only knew from online/APAs, like Sam Gafford, Tim Goebel, Jim Main, and Margaret Liss. And of course there were the usual Midwestern con buddies that I'm always happy to see (refer to the swag list below).
I have to give a special shout-out to Larry Blake, winner of the 2009 SPACE Lifetime Achievement Award. Larry had put together complete runs of his Psychozort and Kevin Cool series, collected in 3-ring binders, and I was flabbergasted when he insisted on giving me a set. 4 thick binders full of great comics, an amazing body of work. A couple of people who came by my table seemed impressed that I had managed to crank out 19 issues of Fantasy Theater, but I would just point over to Larry in the next row and tell them that I was a piker. ;-)
My favorite encounter of the con was with a bored-looking young woman who was wandering through the aisles on Sunday. It turned out she had been dragged along to the show by her boyfriend, and was pretty disdainful of the whole "nerdy" enterprise. I pointed out that there were much worse things that her boyfriend could be into. "Heroin, maybe," she said with a smirk. "There you go," I responded, "that's my new motto: 'Comics - They're Cheaper Than Heroin'." That got a laugh, and she started looking through the newest Fantasy Theater. After flipping through a couple of pages, she suddenly got this look on her face that was a mix of utter bafflement with a hint of disgust. I couldn't see which page she was looking at (the Capella story with the cactus monster, maybe?), but her reaction was so strong it cracked me up, and I told her to keep the book. "You know, just like heroin...the first hit's free." She replied, "If I turn into a nerd, I'm totally blaming you". She wished me luck, and I told her she was doing a good deed by supporting her boyfriend's interests. Writing this out, I know I'm making her sound like a total bitch, but we were both smiling and laughing the whole time, and it was probably the most entertaining conversation I had all weekend. And I like to think we both benefited from the chance to see the show through the other person's eyes.
But enough of that. Here's what you've all been waiting for -- the list of goodies I bought / was given / traded for:
Suzanne Baumann:
- Serious Workout
Larry Blake:
- Kevin Cool #1-22
- Psychozort #1-34
- Psychozort Annual #1-2
Pam Bliss:
- Mysterious Strangers
- Tabloid
Troy Boyle:
- Sneak Peek #2
Wade Busby:
- Mr. Emergency #3
Michael Carroll:
- The Right Condition
Michaelangelo Cicerone:
- MicSketch #1
Matt Corrigan:
- Lemonheads #1.5
Kel Crum:
- Potlatch Project #8
Matt Dembicki:
- Bash! Magazine #2
- Dr. Dremo #4
- Postcards
Matt Feazell:
- The Amazing Cynicalman #23
- The Amazing Cynicalman Movie Teaser (DVD)
Jamie Filer:
- Scared Ya! #1
Tim Fischer:
- Studiobook
Sam Gafford:
- Small Press Extra Annual #1
Gary Gibeaut:
- Guard Dawgs: Battle Days
- Guard Dawgs #1
Tony Goins:
- Downs #2
- Nightchild
Brian Hagan:
- Vermin
- You're An Unnecessary Accessory
Max Ink:
- Blink Strips 2008
Larned Justin:
- Homemade Komix #1
Bill Knapp:
- A Thorn in the Side
Pat Lewis:
- Broads and Monsters
Margaret Liss:
- Cerebus Readers in Crisis #4
- Cerebus the Newsletter #14
Steven Meyers:
- F.E.D.S. #6-8
Kenn Minter
- The Experts #1
Michael Neno:
- Silver Comics #1-8
- Silver Comics Annual #1
Steve Peters:
- Paradox (CD)
Nate Powell:
- Swallow Me Whole
Mark Sahagian:
- Shmuck Mini-Comix #7-8
Ray Tomczak:
- Wasted Potential
- More Wasted Paper
Thanks to organizer Bob Corby for another great show!
I got to reconnect with Troy Boyle and Tomm Gabbard, whom I hadn't seen since the early '90s, when we were all working on the short-lived anthology comic NUANCE. Tomm belatedly apologized for the inking job he did on my first published work, and I pointed out that my pencils were nothing to write home about either. We reminisced about the old days, and wondered where some of the other NUANCE contributors are now (sadly, we know that one of them, the talented Bill Grubb, passed away several years ago).
It was also great to finally be able to put faces to folks I only knew from online/APAs, like Sam Gafford, Tim Goebel, Jim Main, and Margaret Liss. And of course there were the usual Midwestern con buddies that I'm always happy to see (refer to the swag list below).
I have to give a special shout-out to Larry Blake, winner of the 2009 SPACE Lifetime Achievement Award. Larry had put together complete runs of his Psychozort and Kevin Cool series, collected in 3-ring binders, and I was flabbergasted when he insisted on giving me a set. 4 thick binders full of great comics, an amazing body of work. A couple of people who came by my table seemed impressed that I had managed to crank out 19 issues of Fantasy Theater, but I would just point over to Larry in the next row and tell them that I was a piker. ;-)
My favorite encounter of the con was with a bored-looking young woman who was wandering through the aisles on Sunday. It turned out she had been dragged along to the show by her boyfriend, and was pretty disdainful of the whole "nerdy" enterprise. I pointed out that there were much worse things that her boyfriend could be into. "Heroin, maybe," she said with a smirk. "There you go," I responded, "that's my new motto: 'Comics - They're Cheaper Than Heroin'." That got a laugh, and she started looking through the newest Fantasy Theater. After flipping through a couple of pages, she suddenly got this look on her face that was a mix of utter bafflement with a hint of disgust. I couldn't see which page she was looking at (the Capella story with the cactus monster, maybe?), but her reaction was so strong it cracked me up, and I told her to keep the book. "You know, just like heroin...the first hit's free." She replied, "If I turn into a nerd, I'm totally blaming you". She wished me luck, and I told her she was doing a good deed by supporting her boyfriend's interests. Writing this out, I know I'm making her sound like a total bitch, but we were both smiling and laughing the whole time, and it was probably the most entertaining conversation I had all weekend. And I like to think we both benefited from the chance to see the show through the other person's eyes.
But enough of that. Here's what you've all been waiting for -- the list of goodies I bought / was given / traded for:
Suzanne Baumann:
- Serious Workout
Larry Blake:
- Kevin Cool #1-22
- Psychozort #1-34
- Psychozort Annual #1-2
Pam Bliss:
- Mysterious Strangers
- Tabloid
Troy Boyle:
- Sneak Peek #2
Wade Busby:
- Mr. Emergency #3
Michael Carroll:
- The Right Condition
Michaelangelo Cicerone:
- MicSketch #1
Matt Corrigan:
- Lemonheads #1.5
Kel Crum:
- Potlatch Project #8
Matt Dembicki:
- Bash! Magazine #2
- Dr. Dremo #4
- Postcards
Matt Feazell:
- The Amazing Cynicalman #23
- The Amazing Cynicalman Movie Teaser (DVD)
Jamie Filer:
- Scared Ya! #1
Tim Fischer:
- Studiobook
Sam Gafford:
- Small Press Extra Annual #1
Gary Gibeaut:
- Guard Dawgs: Battle Days
- Guard Dawgs #1
Tony Goins:
- Downs #2
- Nightchild
Brian Hagan:
- Vermin
- You're An Unnecessary Accessory
Max Ink:
- Blink Strips 2008
Larned Justin:
- Homemade Komix #1
Bill Knapp:
- A Thorn in the Side
Pat Lewis:
- Broads and Monsters
Margaret Liss:
- Cerebus Readers in Crisis #4
- Cerebus the Newsletter #14
Steven Meyers:
- F.E.D.S. #6-8
Kenn Minter
- The Experts #1
Michael Neno:
- Silver Comics #1-8
- Silver Comics Annual #1
Steve Peters:
- Paradox (CD)
Nate Powell:
- Swallow Me Whole
Mark Sahagian:
- Shmuck Mini-Comix #7-8
Ray Tomczak:
- Wasted Potential
- More Wasted Paper
Thanks to organizer Bob Corby for another great show!