First off, the convention was amazing. It was the most successful event I’ve had to date (other than my book release party last September), and a total blast.

Chatting with con goers

What really made it rock was that I met so many people who were on the same wavelength—folks who immediately picked up on the references in the art and identified with the message and/or approach I’m taking to make my dream of a better world come to life. There were also a lot of people who were gung-ho about supporting local artists, which really helped. I want to send out a big ‘THANK YOU’ to everyone who stopped by and picked something up—you really made my weekend!

Poster Power!

Pretty much all the artists I spoke with met with similar success, which I was glad to hear. It was ironic that despite the challenging economic times we live in, this seemed to be the best Motor City Comic Con in the last few years, as if people were searching for a good reason to enjoy themselves amidst the struggles we’re all facing. Whatever the cause, though, everyone I spoke with was having a great time and really living it up.

I also want to send out a big thanks to my parents who contributed to the growing cost of having a table at the convention, and an extra special thanks to RYAN CLAYTOR and JAY JAYCOT and JONATHON GORDON—these, my fellow comic comrades from Lansing (and table neighbors during the the convention), made a special, out-of-their-way-trip Saturday night to grab extra copies of my books which were on consignment at comic shops in Lansing, because I was doing so well at the show that by the end of Saturday I was down to only three books! Their side-trip made it possible for me to return to the show on Sunday with enough stock to last the rest of the show. Thanks guys!

Ryan Claytor, Infamous Photo Infiltrator

Incidentally, my goal was to sell all my remaining books at this show—though I had no idea what to expect, initially—and by Sunday’s end I had only two books left! ROCK! Now I’ve got to order more books, and boy is that a good feeling!

Lastly, I also want to thank my buddies Elliot and Jeremy who were kind enough to help me out at my table over the weekend, making it possible for me to get away for a bit and see some of the other amazing artists at the show. It’s good to be busy at these things, but it makes it that much more difficult to see what else is going on and really network with people. Because of my buds I was able to do that—THANKS, GUYS!

That pretty much says it all for the MCCC.

The next show coming up is in Chelsea, MI on the 12-13th of June: Kids Read Comics!

Check it out if you can!

E!

I’ll be attending an event in Chelsea, MI on the 12-13th of June, called Kids Read Comics. This will be my first time at this show, which is targeted at kids of all ages, promoting literacy in general, but with a strong focus on comics, obviously.

There will be a pack of local creators in attendance, with a variety of panels being held to explore the educational—as well as entertainment—value of comics, the unique qualities of the medium and how comics are evolving. Those of you with young teens and some free time would likely find this show a lot of fun.

For more info and directions to the show please visit the main site: http://kidsreadcomics.org/

A.I. Announcements for Thursday, April 23rd, 2009

Greetings, Everyone! It’s been a few months since I’ve sent out an email update, and with all the springtime happenings going on I decided it was time to catch you up-to-date. Incidentally, there’s a bunch of new readers getting this email for the first time, so welcome!

As for those of you already subscribed to my RSS feed or keeping tabs on me via Myspace/Facebook you may have noticed I’ve been attending some shows lately. The next show coming up is the Motor City Comic Con, May 15-17th. For a recap of the other shows I’ve been at since the holidays, check out the links below.

Recent Event Recaps

• SPACE Recap – April 22nd, 2009
• MSU comics forum recap – March 30th, 2009
• Tails of Sparky – The release of a new Sparky book I contributed to.

TTFN!

E!

At the SPACE con this last weekend Steve Peters released his latest Sparky project, ‘Tails of Sparky,’ in which I not only contributed to a few jam comics, but—best of all—grace the cover along with Steve and several other artists, like Dave Sim, Lee Thacker, Max Ink and James Kochalka.

There’s several great pieces in there, and of them all I’m particularly fond of Lee Thacker’s visionary take on The Origin of Sparky, exploring the mystery of Sparky from the view that he’s a long-discussed, mythological character of wide influence and debatable origins. Totally Awesome.

Anyway, if you’d like to obtain a copy you can contact Steve via Awakening Comics and order your copy direct.

This is Mr. E! to Ground Control…

I’m stepping through the door
And I’m floating in a most peculiar way
And the stars look very different today…

For those of you who didn’t get the notice, I went to SPACE this last weekend. FYI, SPACE is the Small Press & Alternative Comics Expo, held in Columbus, OH each year. The last time I attended was in either 04’ or 05’—before all the $#@! in my life hit the proverbial fan—and this year (09’) was an awesome re-entry.

It began at 5am on Saturday with a bitchin’, four-hour road trip with my comic comrades from Lansing, Ryan Claytor, Jay Jaycot and Jonathon Gordon. Couldn’t ask for better company on a journey of this sort.

The show lasted from 10am-6pm on Saturday and 10-5 on Sunday, and it was not only the best SPACE con I’ve ever attended, it was the most lucrative experience I’ve had at a convention to date.

Lightweight Setup

I experimented with a different setup this time, since the carpooling  posed distinct limitations on what we could collectively carry, and I think it may have helped in more ways than one. Instead of the heavy/bulky gridwall I’ve previously used to hang framed versions of my prints, I picked up a foam display from Staples and slapped the prints up with some double sided sticky tape.

Besides being lightweight and far easier to transport, it gave people a better view of the art. It’s a long way from perfect, but the nature of these shows is to constantly improve your game, so this time I think I met with success.

All-in-all it was a fun weekend. I got to reconnect with my buddy Steve Peters (creator of Sparky and Awakening Comics) and a whole host of other sequential artists–plus I met a lot of new folks—many of whom were attending SPACE  for the first time—huzzah!

Workin' on a Sparky Jam comic

Jammin'

The Comics Forum at MSU this weekend was a truly excellent event–

For those of you who didn’t get the word that this was going on, Michigan State University put on it’s second annual forum devoted to comics, hosting a variety of panels from accomplished comic book artists around Michigan. I was in attendance in the artists’ alley with about fifteen other creators, and I think it’s safe to say we all had a really good time.

Besides the fact that this is a free event for both the artists (no table fees!) and attendees—it was an outright scholarly event, in contrast to the typical convention circus filled with vendors, washed up celebrities and caravans of costumed freaks (no offence to the freaks out there, gods bless ya’). What we had instead was mostly students and faculty, with a decent dose of local comic book fans.

Most of the students that came by were taking courses that address (amongst other things) the impact comics have on social development and the traits comics exhibit as a unique form of expression. It was interesting for me because most of the students rarely read comics—if ever—so it was a great opportunity to not only expose them to why it is we artists do what we do and why we have such a passion for comics, but we also got some insight into the various reasons someone might not be drawn to comics.

One guy in particular explained to me that though he’s an avid reader and loves art, the combination of text and images seems cluttered and cumbersome to him, repelling his interest in the medium—something I never would have imagined.

Besides having a lot of fun and some really good conversations, this event was a great way to wrap up the Madness of March and ease into the ritual of the spring convention circuit.
Next up—SPACE!

MSUCF 2009 Promotional Poster, by Ryan Claytor

The XCape Con was my first convention in over three years (since the release of the LC4 comic at the May Motor City Comic Con, 2005) and though it was a slow weekend for all the guests I felt like it was a success for me, personally.

In the past I was too hung up on how I did sales-wise, and that always led to a certain degree of anxiety, usually exacerbated by the multitude of challenges I was facing in the rest of my life. Now I’ve got a much stronger presentation and am focused on connecting with people and having a good time. I also am getting a better sense of how to approach the people who are strolling by and inviting them in; fortunately I have some new friends who excel at that— Jay Jacot and Ryan Claytor —who I was lucky to be set up next to, and pick up some of their practices.

Xcape Con Setup

Overall, I met a lot of great folks, made some valuable professional contacts and did better in sales than I’ve done at previous conventions—which I chalk up to having a better outlook as well as better product.

My thanks to everyone who stopped by and grabbed something—it was a pleasure meeting each of you…and thank you everyone who offered some form of advice or info—I appreciate every bit of it and will be doing my best to make use of it here in the weeks and months ahead.

I’m looking forward to the next con already!

I’ll be participating in 24 Hour Comics Day at Clem’s Collectibles in Lansing with a growing list of other local artists on Saturday, October 18^th, starting at 10am and going till 10am on Sunday.

For those not familiar with the event, the idea goes like this: die-hard comic artists spend 24 hours making an original, 24 page comic from scratch, with no pre-planning. And let me be clear-each person is creating their own comic, as opposed to creating one as a team…so, yes…it’s a grueling process not intended for the faint of heart.

This will be my first go at it…so I’m sure I’m up for quite a challenge.

I’ll also be doing a book signing at Clem’s on the 29^th of October, so keep both those dates in mind if you’d like to stop by and see me in Action!

The books are in…

…and the clock is rapidly ticking down to the release party…

I want to encourage everyone to get there as early as you can, since I plan to start the event (at 6pm) with a brief presentation—roughly 15-30 minutes long—to basically talk about the book, explain its purpose and share a bit about my plans following this event. Even if you can’t make it in time to catch that portion of things I’ve got a buddy who’ll be shooting a video of the event, so it should be available on youtube shortly thereafter.

Incidentally, if anyone has forgotten where the book release party will be at, the info is here.

I’ve been out beating the streets the last couple days, posting flyers and postcards around Lansing/East Lansing, now that classes are finally in session at MSU and LCC. It’s actually been a bit of fun, and it feels good going out and raising awareness of the book and the event. It’s even nicer when I stumble into someone who is genuinely interested in comics and excited about coming to the event.

I sent out press releases on Friday to Lansing and Howell newspapers and radio stations, so hopefully I’ll get some attention through all that, as well.

Honestly, I could really use another week to prepare for this release—everything’s taken twice as long to deal with as I’d expected, so I’m behind where I want to be with a number of things. All-in-all, though, it looks to be shaping up pretty well, and has been one hell of a learning experience.

Incidentally, It turns out I’m competing for that weekend with the wedding of a relative on my dad’s side of the family which we all overlooked, so an extra week would’ve helped there, too—but them’s the breaks.

Anyhow, if you haven’t done so already, please invite some friends to join you—let’s make this thing a bash!

Can’t wait to see you all there!

E!

——————————-

P.S. —

My buddy, Steve Peters (creator of Sparky), just came out with a new book: Awakening Comics #0, which is a precursor to his Xeric Award-winning series, Awakening Comics. It covers Steve’s entire artistic life, from birth to the time period in which the first issue came out in 1997. It is a prequel issue that sets up the events of Awakening Comics and casts them in a new light.

If you’d like a copy, the book is available direct from Steve himself, for a mere $3.99. To purchase, visit www.awakeningcomics.com.

For all of you out there who’ve been avidly awaiting your very own, tangible copy of my first, full-size, solo project, the wait is nearly over! I’ll be premiering the Archetypal Images Sponsorship Special at the Gone Wired Café in Lansing, a gorgeous art-friendly coffee shop that’s showcased some of my work in the past.

When:
Sat Sept 6^th from 6pm – 9pm+

Where:
Gone Wired Café
2021 E Michigan Ave, Lansing, MI 48912
(517)853-0550

Still haven’t seen the book? Check it out online!

Please RSVP below if you have a moment—I’d love to start getting a sense for who-all can make it.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

E!