Friday got off to a quick start. Saturday is normally the busiest, craziest day of the con, but for me it was Friday because I had so many folks stopping by to say hello and catch up on things.
First off, ‘Warp webmaster Dave De Mond (that’s him on the far left) had flown in from Chicago the night before to join the crew, and chronicle the con for an upcoming video he’s now editing. (I’ll let you know when that’s ready for viewing, and where.) After he got settled in, old friends just seemed to come flying in:
First up was Sal Quartuccio (aka Sal Q), owner/publisher of SQP Art Books, home to many adult-themed “good girl” and “bad girl” collections, as well as The Savage Art of Bob Larkin, a book I highly recommend since it showcases the work of our favorite Pandora Zwieback cover painter. I’d include a link to the SQP site, but it’s Not Safe For Work—or for under-18 fans of The ’Warp and Pan. (Lorelei fans, though, are a different story.) I will say this, however: Sal is one publisher who definitely knows his audience! 😀
Amanda Sprecher dropped by with her mother, Kim. Amanda is the creator/writer/artist of The Adventures of Jade and Butch, a small-press comic about two kids who are constantly thwarting the invasion plans of an evil alien race. Here, she’s modeling the Jade & Butch T-shirt and alien-eyestalks hat that she sells, along with her comics, at her Web site. Go check it out!
Super Pan-atic Julie Zannino came by with her husband Joe to chat about Pan’s upcoming adventures (yes, including the still-in-the-works second novel, Blood Reign), and to take a gander at a preview of Eliseu Gouveia’s art and color work for next year’s Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual #1. It’s some amazing stuff! I caught a glimpse of their daughter, Abby, on Sunday, but she was riding hellbent-for-leather for a presentation of the new CW show Arrow. You don’t get in the path of someone that dedicated! 😀
And Enrica Jang, publisher of Red Stylo Media and writer of the crime-noir/apocalyptic comic series Azteca, stopped by to chat. Enrica told me that Red Stylo’s expanding into a new book-publishing imprint. Go check out her growing list of acclaimed titles, and then keep an eye on her company for all the latest news!
Also paying visits were Matt McElroy of DriveThru Fiction, one of The ’Warp’s e-book distributors; artist Vince Evans, whom I hadn’t seen since my days as an editor for ibooks, inc.; and my buddy J. D. Calderon, who was handing out bookmarks to promote his Kickstarter campaign for publishing a hardcover collection of his Oswald Chronicles webcomic.
Damn! That was like two days of activity packed into one afternoon!
Sales-wise, our Goth adventuress Pandora Zwieback picked up a few more fans with the purchase of Blood Feud copies and Pan T-shirts, as did Lorelei, the star of our Mature Readers graphic novel Lorelei: Sects and the City. Pan might have gained even more readers, but there were a lot of potential buyers who had their eye on other items; as one teenaged girl remarked, “I can’t buy [Blood Feud] yet. First I have to find out how much money I have to spend at the Adventure Time booth so I can get the free bag! But I’ll be back.”
No, she didn’t come back. (Hey, it happens.) And… spending money in order to get a free bag? Definitely a Comic Con thing. But that’s what you have to expect when you’re an exhibitor at… Thunderdome!
Tomorrow: Unleash Hell!
