This Year at Phoenix Comicon…

This was my first year ever at Phoenix Comicon and it was a blast!

I spent most of my days at my table with Christian, the other half of Validation

Christian at the table we shared. The table is covered in comic books and art.

We sold out of copies of Validation by early Sunday afternoon, which is awesome! And I sold out of bookmarks not once, but twice. I even sold out of one of my really old art prints (I’m glad they sold. I’ve been wanting to find them good homes for years).

While at the con I saw my first ever Dalek with a voice box and rotating head…

Dalek rolls around the convention floor.

 

I also got the chance to meet my readers, which was fantastic. I even met new readers, including these girls:

three girls read copies of Validation.

There was also dinner at the Hyatt restaurant and enjoying the nighttime view of the city.

The restaurant itself rotated. It was the first ever rotating floor I ever dined on and it was…surreal.

And creepy.

And sort of terrifying when you’re drunk.

night time view of Phoenix

I also got the chance to have lunch with two guys from Team Four Star. They were really cool people. Later on I got to ask them a question at a panel they hosted. Realistically, theirs was the only panel I was interested in going to that entire weekend. I’m glad I went!

The entire time I was at the con, I was meeting comic artists and former TV producers over dinner, talking to really cool fans, and I even got interviewed twice!

The folks over at Watch Play Read and Land of the Nerds were kind enough to interview Christian and myself at the con. They should be up online soon.

Christian and I will also be appearing in other interviews. I’ll post links when they’re ready for sharing.

Phoenix Comicon treated everyone really well. The complaints were few and far between. Mostly we (the creators and guests) were all excited for the VIP lounges and the food the con provided for us.

The quickest way into my heart is with food, and Phoenix Comicon has won me over.

They had a bowl full of blueberries and it took all of my willpower not to just grab the whole thing and walk off.

Also in their guest lounges, they had toys and games on the tables and you could just take them.

companion cube from portal was a prize in the lounges.
Why yes! I will take a Companion Cube. Don’t even ask!

That’s how I got a Companion Cube and a copy of J.R.R. Tolkien’s translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

And a dinosaur hand puppet.

I love dinosaurs, in case you can’t tell.

T-Rex Sissy Fight

 

This past weekend was one of the best weekends I have had in (what historians would call) a long. Ass. Time.

I’ve been sending thank-you messages to the people I met at the con and I still feel like it’s not enough.

The love I felt while I was there was immense. Not just the love for Validation or Johnson & Sir (but there was a lot of that, too!).

There was just such a love for comics and art and pop culture and it was so energizing and inspirational to see the enthusiasm and love everywhere.

Everyone was awesome.

I’m hoping to make it back to Phoenix Comicon next year.

Vacation is Over, and Now…

Believe it or not, despite the daily blog updates, I was actually on a little vacation this past week.

My mom flew in to visit here in Arizona, so I was spending some quality time with my family, including some time at the San Diego Zoo:

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I saw my first panda! They’re smaller than I thought they would be.

There’s also been a lot of movie-watching. I recommend The Great Gatsby but NOT The Wolf of Wall Street. The former is what the latter wishes to be.

I also recommend The World’ End. It’s fascinating and hilarious, and the ending really got to me. It’s a movie that sticks to you, in a good way.

Today’s my last day of vacation. Tomorrow, I’m back to the drawing board!

And now that I’m not on RedBubble anymore, I can focus on making new art and comics for Storenvy, ValidationJohnson & Sir, and the Free Comic Book Day event at the library (date, time and location are on the sidebar of this blog).

I’ll do my best to update this blog everyday (hey, I’ve been doing pretty good so far). There will be sketches and works in progress for the projects this week, and I also want to do a series of posts about the making of my comics. Writing, layouts, sketching, inking, colors…

So keep checking back!

And for an inspirational photo of the day, behold a shade nook under a tree:

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