WIZARD WORLD CHICAGO!!!

TUES-WEND----

I worked and suffered till time to go to comic con. I probebly pooped and slept somewhere in there... EARTHGIRL comics did not show up, so I will not have them at Chicago. (grrrr...)

THURSDAY---

I woke up around 7:30am and we headed to Chicago. We went the 131 to Grand Rapid route. And despite SHANE's insistance that its a shorter route to Benton Harbor, I timed it and its the exact same. So, fuck him. But seriously, near Holland, MI, we hit construction and it delays us an hour. (not counted in the 3 hour ratio time to Benton Harbor, so don't ask). Finally, we get out and hit I-94. Again, construction around exit 27 to the Indiana border. Delayed another 30 minutes. Then around I-94/294 Illinois, there is MAJOR construction and we are delayed an hour and twenty minutes!!!

Last year, I took I-94 through Chicago where it was bumper to bumper congestion/frustration. This year, I took I-294 around Chi-town to Rosemont. I had to pay five friggin' tolls on the way, but the breathing room was well worth it. We got off on a different exit cause off of 294, there is no direct route to Rosemont. We'd have to get off on I-190 and then Hit Rosemont. So we backtracked through backroads getting to Rosemont. We found the Hyatt and they didn't have our reservation. But after a frustrating 20 minutes of checking, they realized that we were at the WRONG HOTEL!!! Why they build two Hyatts within 2 miles of each other, I don't know.

Finally, we hit our hotel and have a hell of a time parking cause a convention just got out and the hotel parking garage is scoured with people! But finally we do and we check in. We learn that we have to hold the room with a card or pay an extra $90 up front to cover "possible" room fees (like if we eat from the bar, get room service, download TV porn, etc.) So we opt for the cheaper way and we head up to the 6th floor. The hotel is very extravagent. The design looks something like out of LOGAN'S RUN! (thanks to Eric Adams for that comedic gem.) The room was super nice. We had a huge circular bay window that faced the O'hare airport so we were constantly seeing planes take off and land. Beautiful view of the con center and all of Chicago right outside the window! (i'll post pics soon). The room had a snack bar which all the candy bars and sodas ranged from $4.00-10.00. No joke. So we didn't buy any of that. Instead we went and unloaded the car. While going through the lobby, I saw JIM MAHFOOD and DAVE CROSLAND sitting in the lobby. I wanted to go over and say hi, but they were with a few friends and likely just flew in from L.A., so I chickened out. I did walk around to see if there was anyone around that I knew. and I didn't see anyone. So, we went up to the room.

Check in time at the con was at 4:00. We went in, got our badges and met our table neighbors who set up. We also did some perusing of the dealers and exhibitor booths. It was indeed a big con! I also finally got to meet one of my favorite artists, Rich Koslowski. A very nice dude. And I highly recommend finding his work. As a matter of fact, he is co-illustrating the new FAMILY GUY comic from Devil's Due!

After that we went back to the room and ordered a pizza to be delivered. $20 for a 16" as opposed to the 10" pizza from room service that was $29.00!!! We ate and I passed out.

After a couple hours sleep, I woke up and my stomach was burning cause of the pizza. so inbetween bouts to the bathroom, I wated DAY OF THE DEAD on our portable DVD player we brought with us. A great film! Finally, I passed out again around 4am.

FRIDAY---

After waking up several times during the night crapping (pizza always tears me up), we got up and hauled our crap into the con and set up. I fought with our new display rack for about an hour and finally got it working. We set up and the con opened. It was a very good friday. I'd say saleswise, I did my best friday at any con ever! I started strong from the gate!

The only books I bought were Eric Adam's LACKLUSTER WORLD. I traded some of my books with Rich Koslowski for a 3 GEEKS trade I didn't own yet. Also, I told him the story of how I met the 3 GEEKS. Goes something like this:

For a while at cons, people kept asking me if I was Rich Koslowski, or if I drew 3 geeks. I'd never heard of the book and didn't know who or what they were talking about. I tracked down the book and saw why.... My character Mortin... is a fat, red head dude. So is one of the 3 geeks. It worried me for a while, but in reality, why should it? Mortin is not one of them. The guy in 3 geeks is a huge comic nerd that speaks like THOR all the time. Mortin doesn't read comics, he loves star trek and porn and talks normally. But still, fear of being sued hit me right away. You never know in this crazy world.

So, I told Rich this story and he scoffed at the comparison as well. It confirmed to me the fact that Rich is not only a very cool cat, but a damn nice guy. Cause he could have got uppity and said "what! Where? You stealing my ideas???" But he didn't. Not that he should either. Its like anyone could get mad that you make a superhero book and DC does too! So long as its not SUPERMAN, you're alright! (but I am just reminded that MARVEL owns the word "superhero." Great, now they are gonna sue me for using it in my blog!)

So I left and we got room serivice. A $28 dollar hamburger and fries. (see, we couldn't leave the hotel cause we'd have to pay for parking AGAIN, so staying put was the best option.). And then we passed out.

SATURDAY----

I wake up and head to the con center alone around 8am. I set up and the con opens. HUGE crowd. Tons going on..... except at my table! Actually, with the exception of the people next to me who were pimping a Zombie book, everyone in my row was having a bad sales day right off. Every one of my friends reported low sales. I didn't make my first sale till around 1-2pm!!! Insane! But after that first sale, my spirits are lifted and I start making more sales.

I'm always very tired and bored until I make that first sale. I keep in mind my body language, my attitude and facial features. Some don't. I smile to everyone. And its not like I'm ONLY sales driven. If I sell 1 or 1,000,000, it doesn't matter. What matters is that people read it and get what I am trying to do. The type of book I do is like BLANKETS, or STRANGERS IN PARADISE. It wins awards. It isn't a huge seller like a DC or MARVEL book... or any current trend going on (zombies anyone??). So, it didn't discourage me in the least. After I made my first sale, I was up and pumped up. I made some decent amount of sales work and made alot of new fans and friends. I was also interviewed for some podcast. The name escapes me now. But when I remember it, I will post. The benefit of that downtime was that I got to do two pages of PLEASANT LIFE #2 art. Its coming along.

Not having as high as sales as I had hoped prevented us from going to JIM MAHFOOD's live art show. I was pretty bummed. We really didn't have the cash. We needed to get home! The wife went through all her spending money buying shirts and DVDs, and I had to now take care of the food situation. Kind of a bummer, but I didn't see all that much I'd buy anyway. After enough trips at a con, things kinda blend together. Especially for me cause I don't read many mainstream comics. Thank God for that.

We decided back at the hotel to get a pizza again cause it was the cheapest and most filling. Luckilly, I ate it and didn't get sick. We watched SouthPark and porn and fell asleep around 11pm.

SUNDAY----

We woke up, cleaned up the room and packed the car. We checked out and luckily, the nice lady at the desk gave us the cheaper parking rate. Saved us $30! We went to the con and immediately went shopping. I didn't buy anything exept for one old STARLOG magazine for $3.00. Not having money sucks.

I set up the table and sold decently. I did around 5 commissions. It was a very fun and productive day. We left early, arund 3pm. I said my goodbyes to my friends, took some pics and off we went. Driving home seemed to take forever! We stopped in Sawyer, Michigan to gas up and we went to the LIONS DEN porn shop. I bought a couple mags to draw some "adult art" from. I plan to sell more of it at cons next year, so I need reference material right?

On passing exit #27, I called SHANE and said I was passing his house. I thought about popping in, but we were so tired that we just wanted to get home. and all up I-94 heading home.... construction! and on I-69 north... construction! and finally, on I-127 North.... guess? Yup...

Finally arrived home at 10pm. We cleaned house and turned on the fans and A/C. We watched American Dad and I fell asleep on the floor around midnight.

All in all, a great weekend. My sales were lower than I expected, but I am not a sales driven guy. I branched out and did a bigger con. I made some mistakes and I had some weaknesses. But now I know what I got to work on, cause I WILL be back next year!

T