STAPLE! 2010 (March 6) Recap

[image: Ruby doing a commission at her table.]

We wrapped up another STAPLE! appearance this previous weekend. The show itself was pretty good. The surrounding events on the other hand was pretty hectic. First off, the hotel was all sorts of confusing. We booked at a Radisson but the hotel had a Holiday Inn sign. Apparently we were there right in time for the conversion (Front desk: "As you can see, when you wake up, we'll be a Holiday Inn"; me: 0_o). Not something we can't mentally handle after an 8hr day and a 3hr drive driving around looking for a Radisson. Oddly enough, the hotel was awesome as a Radisson and is terrible as a Holiday Inn. Funny how that works out.

Like I said, the con itself was pretty good with some odd hiccups. Some things couldn't be helped (like the venue was broken into the previous night and had some of its light controls stolen; i know, WTF); other things could have been handled better (tables didn't have numbers on them and the person helping with tables had the map upside down; thus confusing a lot of people). I won't hold these things against the con itself; but it does give me pause about what to expect at future shows and events. We had a weird vibe going into this one so I'm going to chalk it up to "shit happens". Granted, STAPLE! is the odd show; over the three years we've been there really hasn't been any consistency as to what sells and what people look at. This year was a mix of art collectors and book buyers; which was different from years previous (2008: We sold books, but no prints; 2009: I sold a lot of prints, but no books). Though the guys said they had people read their entire books, say "that was cool", then walk off without purchasing anything. That's new to us for STAPLE!, so I wonder if it's the economy or an influx of a "Borders is a library" demographic. We didn't bother going to the after-party; we drove past the venue and didn't see parking for about four blocks. We just decided to hang out at the hotel and repreBrent. Sometimes it just better to chillax after a convention at the homebase and not bother with all the festivities.

I sold a few copies of the new pinup book; a few people had bought the first volume and actually came to find me to pick up volume 2, which is nice. We didn't do superwell at this show (Evan did though, but he deserves it after his last STAPLE! of making $6 and a whooping $2 take from the year previous that). But that's the ebb and flow of conventions. Our streak of [Awesome] shows didn't break, but floundered a bit. This wasn't as bad as the Baltimore convention; but not our best of conventions either. Either way, you can't let these shows beat you down too much or you'll just get depressed. Time to pick myself up and move on.

STAPLE! 2010 (March 6)

[image: table map for STAPLE! 2010]

Space-Gun Studios is hitting the road again for this year STAPLE! the Independent Media Expo in Austin, TX. It is a great indy show with no dealers; it is all creators and publishers. There isn't a panel for the cast of Lost or a screening of The Ghost Whisperer; STAPLE! is about the love of comics. Space-Gun Studios will be sitting at tables 28-30 with our books from ICBW (if you haven't picked one up already). Sitting with us will be my girlfriend Ruby Caston, she'll have her sketchbook on hand for sale. I'll have copies of Gun Gals|Blade Babes: Vol 2 on hand, not many for this particular print run though. Hopefully I'll be able to get some prints done for the show too.

This year's afterparty will be held at Shangri La off of 6th Street. The STAPLE! afterparties are always great with music and live art; and all the proceeds from the the show will be benefitting a local community radio station called KOOP! Radio. Unfortunately with the location right off of 6th Street on a Saturday night, finding a place to park will be an adventure. Remember to bring some cash for parking.

You can check out my photos from our previous trips: 2009 | 2008

STAPLE! Facebook Page
STAPLE! 2010 Facebook Event

Dallas Comic Con August 2009 Recap

[the Ruby enjoying her weekend working with Titan Comics;
more photos can be found on my flickr account]

Mark and Ben really knocked this one out of the freaking part. The show was craaaaazy big for what it usually is. The crowd was seriously huge, especially for such a small venue. The J. Scott line wrapped around the civic center; which unfortunately cut us off from the main vein of traffic. Nothing against DCC, it's just how the venue is built. There's no real good way to handle a line that big there. Hopefully these bigger shows will keep up and they'll be able to move up to a bigger center. With CAPE on hiatus and WWTX getting canceled, the DFW shows were pretty limited this year. Though DCC really stepped up to the plate and delivered an awesome show.

Overall the show was pretty good to the studio. I was hopped up on no sleep and Red Bull the first day so I was up and about more than I should have been. Sorry to anyone if i seemed a bit spastic; there were a few things i wanted to accomplish at the show so i was running all over the place. I really should learn to stay at my table more; i'd probably make more money and have a more productive convention. Though honestly my summer was wrecked due to trying to juggle so many things at once and scrambling for work. I'm just not use to handling so many different aspects of my life. So I did not get as much as I had wanted to for the show. I couldn't replenish my pinup books and business cards so I rolled in pretty empty handed sadly. I did get three new prints done, but they didn't really raise any eyebrows. It's great being listed as "guests" but when you're not a big enough name to draw in the crowd to you, you have to put yourself out there to meet the crowd. Though I HATE doing the hard sell to any convention goer cause I hate it when it is done to me. It's that fine balance; and honestly it's easy to promote the studio as a whole, but when it comes to promoting myself, i freaking suck at it.

DCC was in fact a good final show for the year, and it came at about the right time too. Once you start hitting the fall it's really time to wind down the traveling and wrap up the year. With that said, I am about to head out to BlizzCon in California within the hour. Thankfully it's not a working convention so hopefully i can just relax for the weekend and come back a bit refreshed. And i'm helping out Ruby with her mom's retail table at AnimeFEST. So busy. As the mantra goes, next month will be less busy. Sadly, it's always next month.

FCBD 2009: Recap

[image: the Kru at More Fun Comics in Denton; photo by Ruby Boiko Caston]

The Space-Gun Kru spent most of the day at More Fun Comics in Denton. It's an satellite store of Keith's comics; and use to be called Treasure Isle. I don't understand why they changed the name or didn't just call it Keith's Comics Denton, but whatevers. The shop is really cool though a bit small right now. They took over the spot on the square pretty fast so they only have the front half of the shop fully running. Which means we were pretty cramped in the back of the store. It's a good place for one or two people, but having the four of us was pushing it. Ah well, live and let learn i guess. It was a fun day; we spent it drawing up free head sketches for people and stayed dried as the skies opened up and freaking POURED down rain. We made some scrillah but not much. I didn't expect to anyways with the event being what it is. It was just a good excuse to get out of the house to do the comic thing that I love so much. Thanks to the guys at More Fun Comics for having us in store and thanks to everyone who dropped by.

Anyways, photos are up on my Flickr account; most of them taken by the lovely Ruby who was hanging out with us that day.

STAPLE! 2009: Aftermath

[image: my point-of-view for the convention. More photos can be found on my flickr account and on Evan's account]

An interesting part of being in comics is the convention circuit, especially for those of us who are not established names. We run into a lot of issues that the pros haven't had to deal with in a long time. It's something you really don't read a lot about in those "How to Do Comics" books. Some shows are great from the drive to the convention center to the face plant on the bed at the end of the long weekend. Others are three days of constant, wretched abuse that lingers on for weeks afterward, making you ask why you even bother trying. On average, conventions are a mix of both sides of that equation. Like most things, there is a bit of good mixed in with the bad.

STAPLE! is great show for its size; and its size is part of why it's a great show. The show is big enough to bring in some really cool and creative people; but it is also small enough that you can actually get some time to talk to people. This is a great show for both fans and creators. Small-time guys can mix it up with the bigger names. STAPLE! especially does this well with its pre- and after- parties. The pre-party was a really relaxed and casual atmosphere. As an artist at a con, this is great because there is no way to talk to people at the actual convention. A comic convention is work, especially for those of us who pay to be there. With travel, table, and product costs, we can't afford to just stand around all day and talk to friends. And when i do talk to other creators, i try not to them too long because i know they're trying to do business as well. But the events before and after are really good at giving us a really relaxed atmosphere to just chat.

Though a great chance to talk to people, these events can really put things into a unique perspective. STAPLE! was not a Total Perspective Vortox, but it did give me a decent view of things. What i saw was a real clear indication of where I stand in the grand scheme of this industry. Though i was able to make some money at this show and had a good time with people, i could not shake this feeling of being out of place. It was as if i was a high school freshman who somehow got mixed in with the career professionals. This was especially poignant during dinner. Granted, these guys probably felt as awkward towards me as i do towards them. However, that really doesn't negate the fact that i recognize who they are and have seen their work on a national level; whereas a lot of times i feel like a glorified tracer. It's a real disheartening and crushing feeling; one that really followed me throughout the night. Combine that with getting lost going to the venue, the music being just a bit too loud, and the heat, i just wasn't in the right mindset to hang out at the after party. So i would like to apologize to everyone at the live art show for my distracted attitude towards you. I was the the point where i just wanted to go home and talk to a friend. I was able to alleviate some of that by hanging out with my sister (it was her birthday as well). Sadly the bar didn't carry any Irish cream so we couldn't do car bombs, but i think the shots of tequila were a good substitute. And finally getting on an art board helped for some reason. I didn't bring my A or B game and i was really struggling with it, but it was an odd cleansing process anyways.

For me, i feel that STAPLE! was a bit of a Pyrrhic victory. I had a good time with friends, i was able actually make some money, and i got to hang out with my sister for a bit. But what lingers around longer are the negatives. That sucks, but it's just how things roll in this industry. Conventions are weird beasts to handle. Sometimes they're great and do what you want them to do; sometimes they smell the fear on you and will go for the throat.

STAPLE! 2009 (March 7)

[image: table map for STAPLE! 2009]

The band is hitting the road this weekend (March 7) for our first out of city convention of the year in Austin, TX. STAPLE! the Independent Media Expo has been running strong for a few years now. Their main focus is the indy scene; so there will be a bunch of new and cool books you won't be able to find otherwise. I personally love this show because of the environment that it has going for it. It's a small show about the books and the creators. It's not about finding limited collectibles, seeing Hollywood stars, or standing in line for an hour for a Jim Lee autograph; STAPLE! is about the love of comics.

Again this year they're hosting a live art auction at Red7 after the con featuring DJs and a performance by nerdcore hip-hop artist Terp2it; the show will be benefitting a local community radio station called KOOP!. The show last year was freaking awesome; the music was great and the vibe was totally laid back and hip. So if you're in the area, come on out; plus it's my sister's birthday and apparently she's never had an Irish Car Bomb. I plan to fix that as soon as I can.

Check out Space-Gun Studio in our first interview on Fanboy Video! This video is from last year's STAPLE! event as we were putting ourselves through the paces. Thanks to Scott and Luke for giving us the time to be pro on film. Don't mind the hat, i thought it looked cool.

Wizard World Texas: Aftermath

[image: my convention painting that was done at the table. Watercolor, gouache, silver paint, and ink on 300 Lanaquarelle.]

The Wizard World tour retires this year with it's final stop in Texas, and what a stop it was. Conventions have been a real drain on the finances: table, travel, food, product. Product is going to take a while to cover, but for the first time ever i covered expenses (table, travel, food, small purchases). I'm typically the one that makes the least amount of money if i make money at all. This is partially due to the fact that i am a dog zodiac so i tend to wander off. But as Evan said "We know we did good because Luan was actually at the table for 95% of the time. Can you imagine what would happen if it was 98%? I don't even want to think about it." It was that good; and the show was pretty good to all of us. We've been doing shows together as a studio for little over a year now, and i think we've done a lot over that year. I think this next year will be a good indication as to where this will be progressing to; and it's been a really good haul so far.

Wizard World Texas is one their newest additions to the tour and it wasn't bought from a previously successful convention (a la Chicago, Philly, LA). So they had to build this show from the ground up, trying to figure out what the market here wants. It's been an interesting evolution over the years, so there are always rumblings of them not having a show the next year. Their first year here they brought along the big booths and heavy names (Lee, Silvestri, Turner, etc), treating it like one of their big media shows like LA or Chicago. They had artist alley tucked away in another room, dimly lit and unadvertised. I think now they understand that people here in Texas don't want the big media glitz. There's a certain pride here of not being like LA or NYC: things here are bigger, stronger, and more easy-going. Over the years artist alley has grown immensely; and they have kept it to small press and independent artists. Gone are the models, small retailers (for the most part), and media people. It is truly an Artist Alley. The main reason i made the money that i did was because i had original paintings. Studio-mate Evan had the same experience and i think Tommy Castillo did bang-bustah his originals as well. People are there to look for convention sketches and original art. I think that's why the live art scene here has been booming lately.


[image: my live art painting for Heroes4Heroes Fundraiser. Watercolor, gouache, and ink on 300 Lanaquarelle.]

Heroes4Heroes had their third annual live art fundraiser on Saturday, and i think it went awesome. It was pretty cool to work along side with such great talent; the Space-Gun Kru ran really strong and turned a few heads. I feel that I need to bring my "A++" game to these sorts of events, this one in particular. The audience for the most part not as local as the other shows that we do. I feel that i am not only representing myself but my studio and the Dallas art community as a whole. Over the course of the last few years, I have identified myself as a Space-Gunner and a proud Dallas artist. So at this annual show, I feel that I need to step up and show that Dallas isn’t just a city of cowboys and corporate offices. There is a real thriving art community here, and we rock it pretty hard.

They had more and a traditional English Open Auction this time, with a stage for the pieces and the bidders were seated in front of the stage. It went fairly well for the most part; though i think how the pieces go up for auction could be more streamlined as a few pieces were forgotten along the back wall for hours. Understandably, they want to get the headlining guests up first/early as their pieces would carry more weight; but a few great pieces got less love than they deserved as the night got late. Though this is their third show and it’s only once a year so there will be kinks here and there to iron out as they find a system that works for them.

This con was a great way to end out the convention tour. The art show was awesome; the convention was really good to us overall. We all left with contacts and money in our pockets; there’s not much more you can ask for. It’s a great way to wrap up one year of shows. Thanks to the Wizard World staff, they were friendly in correspondence and in person as well. We’ve never had any issues with anyone at these shows. Special kicks out to Dave Hopkins and Paul Milligan for being cool convention neighbors; to Tommy Castillo for throwing down some veteran advice on me; and to Terry Parr and Amber May for just being cool and even shelling my pinup book at their table. And a huge thanks goes out to ArtLoveMagic for having the Space-Gun Kru be part of their setup at the live art show.

And now to find real work and replace all the art that I sold.

Photos
Wizard World Texas
Heroes4Heroes Live Art Fundraiser

Wizard World Texas & Live Art Show

[image: Wizard World Texas Location Map]

Well, with the Zuda competition and the lessons therein behind us, it's time to move on to other things. This weekend is the annual Wizard World Texas show in Arlington. This year they are co-promoting it with Texas Fearfest, so there is a fairly eclectic guest list. From Terry Moore to Corey Feldman to Dallas's own Vinnie Paul of Pantera. Weird, no? The dates for next year's show is TBA while all the other cities have their dates pretty solid; so it doesn't really bode well for the convention. I would be sad to see it go as it is THE biggest comic show here in Dallas. Co-promoting with FearFest is a pretty good move on their part. Texas has a pretty damn big horror scene for whatever reason. We'll see how it pans out for them.

The Space-Gun Kru will be set up at 2520 and 2530 a little off-center of the artist alley. We'll have a full spread of books and art for you guys; even with two tables between the four of us it's getting pretty packed really fast. I'll have my Gun Gals | Blade Babe pinup book and prints as well as the paintings that i have been doing recently. This is also an opportunity for you local folks to pick up a copy of Synesthetic for yourself.

Saturday night, Novemeber 8th at 7PM Heroes4Heroeswill be hosting a live art show at the Sheraton Hotel Arlington. Along with a myriad of pros that will be arting live, the Space-Gun Kru will be getting our art on with ArtLoveMagic and other local artist. Heroes4Heroes is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that works directly with members of the United States Military, corporations, and the general public to provide portable media to active troops in order to boost morale and keep our men and women in uniform culturally tuned-in. They gather, organize, and send entertainment material such as comic books, DVDs, CDs, books, magazines, MP3 players, and game systems to our Heroes. This is a great organization that is doing their part to support the troops without having a political agenda. The live art is a free event with cash bars; what more do you need? So come on out, support out troops, and watch some wicked art get done live!

Fanboy Video Recap


Slideshow


Wizard World Texas
Arlington Convention Center
November 7-9, 2008
Tables 2520 and 2530

Heroes4Heroes Live Art Show
Saturday, November 8th
7pm Free Admission
Sheraton Hotel @ Arlington Ball Park

Baltimore Comic-Con: Total Perspective Vortex

[image: part of our setup with Jake's sketchbook, one:off, and Evan's sketchbook; the rest of the images can be found on my flickr account]

Every once in a while, the universe will let you know where you stand in the grand scheme of things. This can be taken as a total beat down of morale or as a harsh life lesson in the form a total beat down of morale. This weekend at Baltimore Comic-Con, it was both and then some.

The kru and I were riding high as we landed at BWI Airport. Laden with 100+ books, prints, and art supplies, we looked forward to a triumphant return to Baltimore Comic-Con as legitimate comic creators. Our setup was stocked with books and prints; the quality and quantity of our products had jumped immensely from our last appearance. The months of prep we did for this convention was noticeable as we set up our tables: the three of us barely had enough room to fit everything on two tables. We ran into small press and professionals alike that recognized us and were excited to see us setup at the show. This was a great sign. Then the doors opened, the crowd rushed in and it rushed hard. Usually there's a slow buildup to the constant rumble: the crowd would trickle through the convention center, the noise would slowly ramp up, and within two or three hours we would be at a frantic pace to keep up with everyone dropping by the table. Somewhere, somehow, the magic mailing list appeared, and everyone got the memo: Baltimore Comic-Con is a great show. The attendance seemed to have double and right off the bat traffic had hit rush hour mode. Getting across the hall became a weary adventure for anyone. By noon, we could tell it was going to be a long day; sadly we didn't realize how long it was going to be.


Traffic was great, our work caught a lot of eyes and people were dropping by to check it out. But checking it out was all they were doing. We all made some pretty quick sales then there was a massive drop off. Then there was a massive drop off in traffic as well. It was like Chicago all over again, but not as harsh for some reason. I think it was because this time we didn't have as measly of a setup; which to a certain degree made it worse. There were months of prep work for this show: months of fidgeting with book specs, and weeks of waiting for books; tons of emails to/from convention reps, printers, and UPS. I have a stack of invoices for stuff i spent a lot of money on; and I end up with nothing to show for it but solid red numbers. This is the harsh reality of it: sometimes hard work pays back with absolute nothing. In this industry, there are pros and amateurs collecting pay. This time, we paid to be the amateurs.

It was a real good knee to the face; I'm talking a solid clinch and constant, Wanderlei-esque barrage for most of the weekend. My hopes were high for this convention; and honestly a bit too high. In my personal experience, I spent most of the weekend watching others make sales, contacts, and connections. My own shortcomings in trying to make it in this industry were brought straight to the forefront, glaring loudly, and making a scene by not making a scene. It was like being back in my design classes in college: the honest glance-over from the professor that said "why are you wasting my time with this?" followed by curt walk-away. As I sat there watching the traffic flow straight pass me, I honestly thought about quitting. I put serious thoughts into flying home, going back to the office in slacks and a button down, and never turning back.

But that's the reality of it, and it's a lesson that I learning the hard way, which is the only way to really learn good lessons. The weekend was harsh, but not the end of the world. There were some sunny spots in the storm kept it from being a total disaster. For one was the loving warmth of our hosts Eva and Steve. Evan said it best: a home cooked meal is the ultimate sponge that soaks up all the fail. Spending a relaxing evening with a nice meal with loving people was the solid corner stone to my weekend. If i had to spend the night in a hotel room somewhere with the day's failures still pounding down on me, I don't know what mindset i would have been in for Sunday. The guys from Gaijin Studios gave us real words of encouragement; even offering us various places to stay if/when we visited them in Atlanta. A plan that i think we'll take them up on soon. And a quick shoutout to our semi-neighbor Michael Bracco (aka. Mikey B, because we know too many Mikes/Michaels). It nice being around such an uplifting and supportive personality. Check his stuff out and send him some love (and money!). Special thanks to the booth babe in the tight vinyl dress across from us. And even more specialer thanks to the cute girl for the most interesting con sketch for Jake ("Doc Savage with Hawkgirl in a suggestive, not lewd, pose"); and for giving me my only sketch for the weekend. I'll take sympathy when I can, especially when she's cute.

This is one of those times that I'm going to have to listen to my own advice: sometimes life sucks, sometimes the industry will beat you down and tear you up, sometimes you want to toss in the towel and give up. But how you take these events is an indication of character; if you can't withstand these harsh realities, then maybe this industry isn't for you. But if you really want to do this for a living, then understand how you fucked up, then shut the fuck up, and then cowboy the fuck up.

Baltimore Comic-Con 09.27-28.2008

[image: my new 11x17 prints, 100lb. glossy]

Three-fourth of the Space-Gun kru (Evan Bryce, Jake Ekiss, and myself) will be at Baltimore Comic-Con this weekend up in Maryland. We had a great time last year and are looking forward to this year. It's kind of a nice turnaround on our part, coming back with Synesthetic and a plethora of other stuff in tow. I've been cranking out the paintings and drawings in preparation for the show. I've got a new convention bag; it holds my 11x17 portfolio nicely with room to spare. We'll see if it holds up to the traveling. I should be getting my Gun Gals | Blade Babe pinup book in the mail on Thursday. There seemed to have been a slight hiccup in my transaction hence the late(r) delivery. We'll see how this turns out. I do have my 11x17 prints though, so at least i'll have something with me. So if you're out at the con this weekend, drop by and say "HI". We'll be at table 88, 89 with Jose Torres, writer of Leviticus Cross. What i look forward to: hanging out with Eva and Steve, our gracious hosts; seeing all the peeps at the convention again; getting a chance to meet Adam Hughes and Bernie Wrightson; and showing the the book to the peeps who saw us on our journey last year. What i don't look forward to: getting through the airport security, the long convention hours, and going to Jury Duty on Tuesday. Ah, cons, it's such a love|hate relationship.

CAPE! Weekend Fallout and Space-Gun Studio Launch

I'm finally settled in from the activities of the weekend, a little tired and a little darker. I don't think I've spent that much time outside is a good long while (probably the last CAPE! show actually.) It was a fun weekend overall, a bit tiring, but really fun. The show had a great vibe and wonderful weather. It was a bit windy at first which was problematic, but as my friend Chad mentioned, why are we complaining about beautiful weather? Yeah we had to tape everything down, but it wasn't anything that big.

CAPE! weekend started with the live art event on Friday. The setup was a bit a bit different with a more stage-like ambiance. Though really good for the artists (there was a long table with their supplies on it), I felt there became a disconnect between the artists and the audience. After attending so many live art events (ArtLoveMagics and even the art show at STAPLE!), having a long table that separated the artist from the audience gave off a bit of an odd vibe. But other than that, it was a great time. The DJ was great at keeping up the energies of the night. I was still hearing his beats the next day at the show. I think having energetic music is really important for a show of that size (which is why i think the STAPLE! show was so good as well). As for the artwork, i think Jason Pearson kind of stole the show for a few of us with his Catwoman piece. A few of us from the Gaijin Studio forums stood behind him and watch him work all evening. Mike Huddleston did some amazing work, this piece was absolutely awesome that made me wish i had more money to spend around. Though everyone did some awesome stuff. I wish we could have stayed until the end, but once 1AM rolled around, we had to crash out with our hour long drive home. The guys were biting at the chomps to get on a board; sadly it didn't work out that way. Next time.

The actual convention on Saturday was pretty awesome. Minus the aforementioned wind, it was pretty manageable. Luckily Evan brought a roll of masking tape, which saved us a bit of trouble. It also kept my badge firmly attached to my chest like a lame version of Tony Stark. I got Robert Kirkman's signature on my sister's Invincible hardback books, he seemed like a genuinely nice guy, funny as well. I had no idea what to say to him besides "I love your work! DUR!". Also, Kristian Donaldson was nice enough to give me one of his new wallets as a graduation gift for her as well. And his friend Chad Thomas did a way cool Harry Potter sketch. I have a good feeling that she would love his art and I'm glad that I was able to get her something from him. She's a big Harry Potter fan, to the point that she sewed an extra pocket into her graduation gown to hide her iPod so she can listen to the audio books during her THREE HOUR graduation. Poor thing, my graduation was like an hour or something.

We were next to David Mack for the day, which was kind of intimidating on my part at least. I'm such a huge fan of his art work, i don't really know what to say to the man. Plus i'm a bit jealous that he still wears his BPRD beenie. I won one at Wizard World Texas a few years ago (which is when i'm assuming he got his), but i had to give it away because it didn't fit me. Anyways, another show in the pocket and a great one to end out the spring shows. We won't be hitting any of the big summer ones, no reason to go spend a lot of money to get lost in the shuffle of bigger names. Plus it'll give us time to work on our individual projects for the fall shows.

Also, check out our new studio website designed by Matthew. It looks pretty slick, i'll post more on that once we get the full site up and running.

CAPE! Pictures
Live Art Event
CAPE! show at Craddock Park

Comic and Pop-culture Expo this Weekend

CAPE! is the Comic and Pop-culture Expo hosted every year by Zeus Comics here in Dallas at Craddock Park. It is held in conjunction with the National Free Comic Book Day, which was created as an effort to bring in new readers and customers to comic shops across the US. Marvel has been taking full advantage of this by releasing their summer movies on the Friday before (Spider-Man 3, Iron Man). It's pretty much a whole weekend of comic books as comic books without the super event feel of conventions. It's about going to the local comic shop and buying comics.

Zeus has turned it into an event here in Dallas with CAPE!. They somehow get in some major hitters to their FREE show. The show is really relaxed and I really enjoy the vibe of it. Also, the night before (Friday), they host a live art auction. This year held again at St. Pete’s Dancing Marlin in Deep Ellum. It's a great event just as a spectator, watching a lot of amazing artist work. Plus all the proceeds goes to the Ronald McDonald House of Dallas.

Also, The Hero Foundry will at a few different locations on Saturday with raffles and such for their great organization. They're about brining comic books and graphic novels to the youths via schools, libraries, hospitals and such. I think it's a great organization and cause, plus the people who run it are great peeps. I did an Iron Man piece for them for their raffle which can be seen here.

And as usual, the Space-Gun Studio Kru will be at hand with our books and new prints. Hopefully it won't rain this year as the event is held outdoors. Last year was fun yet a bit frustrating keeping things dry.

Official Website

Live Art Auction
St. Pete’s Dancing Marlin
2730 Commerce Street
Dallas, TX

CAPE!
Craddock Park
3300 Hawthorne Ave
Dallas, TX

Pictures from last year show:

Dallas Comic-Con Fallout

Well, I'm finally rested from the con. Sadly i had a major fit of the insomnia Friday night; so I could not get to sleep properly. I ended up being goofy all day Saturday. Though i did learn a valuable lesson: If i actually stay at the table, i actually make money. Who would have thought? I think I made the cost of the table back for once. Good step from being in the red completely.

Overall the con was the usual fare from the Dallas Comic-Con crowd. Chatted with some regular con-goers, talked with some new peoples, caught up with other artists, checked out all the cute girls, and got caught by said cute girls for checking them out. I need to to wear sunglasses. It was a nice little con, not as busy as the others they put on. I didn’t catch a lot of advertising for this show. Matthew mentioned that the only reason he knew of this show was because of me. And though the guest list was pretty split between sci-fi and comics, the attendees where pretty heavily weighed towards sci-fi. It seemed like a lot of people were looking for Star War memorabilia and such. I overheard a few attendees express their surprised with the amount of artists in the artist alley. Which was not laid out in the best manner, especially for the pros. They got stuck in a little cubby, which would be nice way to feature them if it wasn’t for the horrible lighting. One pro joked about falling asleep because it was so dark, but they did seem to make it a worthwhile weekend. I think part of it was that the beautiful, sunny weather; the corridor was well lit (due to the skylights) and that left the cubbies really dark in comparison. Thankfully the next DCC will be held at the Plano Convention center; which is better laid out for that. Sadly the Plano convention center also has a few dark corners. How do i know this? Guess who was stuck in a dark corner facing the fire exit for a whole weeked? :sigh:

All in all, a fairly good con. I was delirious from sleep deprivation on Saturday, got to eat some yummy Freebirds, made some scrillah, and sat within earshot of the lovely Christina Hendricks on Sunday. I got to listen to her very cute and very sweet voice all day; it was very distracting. Not only is she a real sweetheart, she is way, WAY more gorgeous in person. Hawt. Like for serious.

Well, that’s one more show in the can. Last show of the spring will be CAPE! on May 3rd, then it's a nice lengthy summer to prep for all the shows in the fall (DCC, Baltimore, Wizard World Texas). We’ll be working on a few books for the fall season, so be ready.

And i put the pictures from the weekend in a general Dallas Comic-Con set at this link.