Emerald City Comicon Report 2009
My convention reports are now going to be divided into sections. This should allow you to navigate to the stuff that interests you most. Not that you wouldn’t want to read every word of my flowing prose. Who wouldn’t?
Lunatic Love - This will be where I give shout-outs to the fabulous fans, old and new, that came to see us at the convention.
Music Makers and Dreamers of Dreams - In this section, I’ll be giving my fellow creative people the love in the hopes that you’ll check out their work.
The Con Life - This is where you’ll get to read about the crazy cool stuff we experience at conventions.
Convention Critique - My fellow creators, this section is for you. Here’s where I’ll give my overall impression of the show from the point of view of an exhibiting writer and artist.
Lunatic Love
Thanks to everybody that came by our booth at ECCC! You made Saturday the single busiest convention day we’ve ever had. Amazing! The bladder of steel that I developed from teaching came in handy, let me tell you.
Special shout-out to Uber-Lunatic Victoria and her family. Victoria is one talented kid, and I’m not just saying that because she loves Little Vampires, Wolfie, and Frank. That just means she has impeccable taste. Her awesome talent is totally separate from that. Keep sketching, girl!
Another shout-out to Warm Fuzzy Stomach Guy. After buying a Little Vampire T-Shirt and Supermanning into it in the nearby restroom, he returned and asked me to do a sketch and pointed at his torso. I thought I would be sketching on the shirt. It wouldn’t be a story worth telling if that were the case, now, would it? I approached with the Sharpie, and he hoisted up his shirt with a proud “Yoink!” I got to draw on his warm, fuzzy stomach. That’s a first for me, ladies and gents. I have drawn on man flesh.
Music Makers and Dreamers of Dreams
We saw many familiar and beloved faces at Emerald City Comicon this year. Daniel and Dawna of Monster Commute were amongst the webcomic elite near the entrance. Emo and Chemix of Emonic shared a booth with Cody and Sheatiel of Binary Winter, and Searnold was in Artist’s Alley promoting Behind a Hero. Tyler Chin-Tanner was out from the East Coast promoting his Wave Blue World books.
Jack Shen, artist of the most boobtastic fantasy females, asked if he could share our table space. After taking a moment to wonder why anyone would want to put up with James and I for an entire weekend, I said yes. Our booth was spacious, and we had the room. It was nice to be in a position to help another creator out, and it was wonderful to have the company of someone as cool as Jack.
We made some awesome new friends too. Lani Olson came to talk shop about her webcomic, PR Issues: Life of Pack Rat. Shannon and Matt of the Seattle Geekly podcast interviewed me, probably because Wil Wheaton was busy. We’re right below Wil on the list of “very cool famous nerdy people that should be intereviewed.” Seriously, check the list. We’re there, in very tiny type.
Check me out as I nervously spew into their microphone. My interview begins in Episode 9 at 1:12:14. But don’t skip the beginning, when James’s “Talentless Hanger-On” status gets some love. And Daniel of Monster Commute is also interviewed. Actually, just listen to the whole thing, ‘cause it’s nerdy funny, and ‘cause Shannon is now the proud owner of a Little Vampire T-shirt. And ‘cause I said to.
Neal Bailey, author, poet, madman, and Kristen, super cosplayer, sharer of brownies, madwoman, were not tethered to a table. This meant they could go to the bathroom anytime they wanted. Jealous! They stopped by the booth several times, but we didn’t have any significant amount of time to spend with them until Sunday evening. Eating dinner with Neal and Kristen set my brain on fire with ideas and motivation. Or maybe I’m just allergic to the two of them. Next time I see them I’ll pop some Claritin, just to be safe.
Alina Pete, creator of the webcomics Weregeek and Moosehead Stew, was sharing an Artist Alley table with Jennie Breeden, creator of The Devil’s Panties. They invited us along for a wacky road trip through Seattle with the awesome driving and navigation team of Rob and Layne. I give the details of that sushi and troll filled adventure in the Con Life section of this report.
The Con Life
Some convention experiences make me tilt my head to the side in bewildered amusement. Others make me want to scream “I love my life!” to the heavens and all those beneath it. And others make me realize just how at-home I feel in this world of crazy and creative folk.
Sketching on that guy’s stomach was a head-tilt-to-the-side experience. But so was having a globe-trotting German-Croatian bookie mercenary join us for a dinner at a British-style pub.
Talking Dungeon Mastering with Jerry Holkins of Penny Arcade was a “love my life” moment. He agreed that I was insane to be DMing a game with engineers as players. Thank you Jerry, I just needed to hear it from a fellow geek. Chillin’ at the same bar as the actors that played Helo, Chief, and Tigh of Battlestar Galactica was another life-loving moment.
But hanging out with Jennie and Alina and the Awesome Geek Boy posse after convention hours made me feel like a happy bee girl dancing in a field of bees. After booth set-up on Friday night, we scrunched into Rob’s new Nissan Rogue. Okay, wesat. It was Jennie who scrunched into the trunk. If there are scuff marks in the back of Rob’s new vehicle, at least those scuff marks came from Jennie’s badass boots. After a whirlwind-and-not-exactly-purposeful tour of the streets of Seattle, we made it to Fremont, and the fabulous Blue C Sushi.
I’ve never been to a kaiten-zushi restaurant before, but I figured out pretty quickly that you shouldn’t put your head down on the conveyer belt and let the food just march into your mouth. But if someone could make a conveyer belt restaurant where you could do just that, let me know.
After that awesome dinner, we hoofed it over to the Fremont Troll to partake of some running amuck and climbing. The only surreal part of the whole experience was that there was nothing surreal about it. The whole night I felt like this was the life I was supposed to be living, and that there were no finer people to be climbing trolls with.
Convention Review
Emerald City is on my list of “cannot miss” conventions, and I highly recommend it to fellow creators. The booths were arranged in an island configuration, which gave us a massive amount of space to work with. And the price for the booth was half of what we would pay for a similar set-up at conventions like Comic-Con or the Wizard World shows. Note to fellow creators: the booth prices are going up slightly, but they are still a bargain!
Another plus was the balance ECCC managed to achieve between the different forms of geek media. There were sci-fi stars like Ray Park and Jewel Staite, the BSG actors, and our Nerd-Lord-And-King Wil Wheaton. But the TV/Movie actor presence did not overshadow the vendors or publishers. If any media was favored, it was webcomics, which shows that the nature of ECCC is very open and forward thinking, IMHO.
The attendees were a large and diverse mix of families and traditional comic book fans, with a smattering of anime and steampunk devotees, and, yes, a few Furries. There were close to equal amounts of guys and gals, which is always a plus for me. The crowd was laid back and friendly. This was our first convention where there were no “creepy fanboys.” You know who they are, people.
As far as attendee spending power, I think it’s enough to say that the convention center ATM’s were out of cash on Sunday. My economic recovery. Let me show you it.
Regarding the location, the Washington State Convention & Trade Center is one of the best we’ve ever done a show in. The underground parking is copious, and the services within the center took care of all our FedEx Office, coffee, and lunch needs. And we were within walking distance of fun places like Pike Place Market, and a short monorail ride away from the Space Needle.
ECCC gets a huge thumbs-up from Lunasea Studios. We’re already signed up for next year’s show, which will run March 13 to March 14.
Lunatic Love - This will be where I give shout-outs to the fabulous fans, old and new, that came to see us at the convention.
Music Makers and Dreamers of Dreams - In this section, I’ll be giving my fellow creative people the love in the hopes that you’ll check out their work.
The Con Life - This is where you’ll get to read about the crazy cool stuff we experience at conventions.
Convention Critique - My fellow creators, this section is for you. Here’s where I’ll give my overall impression of the show from the point of view of an exhibiting writer and artist.
Lunatic Love
Thanks to everybody that came by our booth at ECCC! You made Saturday the single busiest convention day we’ve ever had. Amazing! The bladder of steel that I developed from teaching came in handy, let me tell you.
Special shout-out to Uber-Lunatic Victoria and her family. Victoria is one talented kid, and I’m not just saying that because she loves Little Vampires, Wolfie, and Frank. That just means she has impeccable taste. Her awesome talent is totally separate from that. Keep sketching, girl!
Another shout-out to Warm Fuzzy Stomach Guy. After buying a Little Vampire T-Shirt and Supermanning into it in the nearby restroom, he returned and asked me to do a sketch and pointed at his torso. I thought I would be sketching on the shirt. It wouldn’t be a story worth telling if that were the case, now, would it? I approached with the Sharpie, and he hoisted up his shirt with a proud “Yoink!” I got to draw on his warm, fuzzy stomach. That’s a first for me, ladies and gents. I have drawn on man flesh.
Music Makers and Dreamers of Dreams
We saw many familiar and beloved faces at Emerald City Comicon this year. Daniel and Dawna of Monster Commute were amongst the webcomic elite near the entrance. Emo and Chemix of Emonic shared a booth with Cody and Sheatiel of Binary Winter, and Searnold was in Artist’s Alley promoting Behind a Hero. Tyler Chin-Tanner was out from the East Coast promoting his Wave Blue World books.
Jack Shen, artist of the most boobtastic fantasy females, asked if he could share our table space. After taking a moment to wonder why anyone would want to put up with James and I for an entire weekend, I said yes. Our booth was spacious, and we had the room. It was nice to be in a position to help another creator out, and it was wonderful to have the company of someone as cool as Jack.
We made some awesome new friends too. Lani Olson came to talk shop about her webcomic, PR Issues: Life of Pack Rat. Shannon and Matt of the Seattle Geekly podcast interviewed me, probably because Wil Wheaton was busy. We’re right below Wil on the list of “very cool famous nerdy people that should be intereviewed.” Seriously, check the list. We’re there, in very tiny type.
Check me out as I nervously spew into their microphone. My interview begins in Episode 9 at 1:12:14. But don’t skip the beginning, when James’s “Talentless Hanger-On” status gets some love. And Daniel of Monster Commute is also interviewed. Actually, just listen to the whole thing, ‘cause it’s nerdy funny, and ‘cause Shannon is now the proud owner of a Little Vampire T-shirt. And ‘cause I said to.
Neal Bailey, author, poet, madman, and Kristen, super cosplayer, sharer of brownies, madwoman, were not tethered to a table. This meant they could go to the bathroom anytime they wanted. Jealous! They stopped by the booth several times, but we didn’t have any significant amount of time to spend with them until Sunday evening. Eating dinner with Neal and Kristen set my brain on fire with ideas and motivation. Or maybe I’m just allergic to the two of them. Next time I see them I’ll pop some Claritin, just to be safe.
Alina Pete, creator of the webcomics Weregeek and Moosehead Stew, was sharing an Artist Alley table with Jennie Breeden, creator of The Devil’s Panties. They invited us along for a wacky road trip through Seattle with the awesome driving and navigation team of Rob and Layne. I give the details of that sushi and troll filled adventure in the Con Life section of this report.
The Con Life
Some convention experiences make me tilt my head to the side in bewildered amusement. Others make me want to scream “I love my life!” to the heavens and all those beneath it. And others make me realize just how at-home I feel in this world of crazy and creative folk.
Sketching on that guy’s stomach was a head-tilt-to-the-side experience. But so was having a globe-trotting German-Croatian bookie mercenary join us for a dinner at a British-style pub.
Talking Dungeon Mastering with Jerry Holkins of Penny Arcade was a “love my life” moment. He agreed that I was insane to be DMing a game with engineers as players. Thank you Jerry, I just needed to hear it from a fellow geek. Chillin’ at the same bar as the actors that played Helo, Chief, and Tigh of Battlestar Galactica was another life-loving moment.
But hanging out with Jennie and Alina and the Awesome Geek Boy posse after convention hours made me feel like a happy bee girl dancing in a field of bees. After booth set-up on Friday night, we scrunched into Rob’s new Nissan Rogue. Okay, wesat. It was Jennie who scrunched into the trunk. If there are scuff marks in the back of Rob’s new vehicle, at least those scuff marks came from Jennie’s badass boots. After a whirlwind-and-not-exactly-purposeful tour of the streets of Seattle, we made it to Fremont, and the fabulous Blue C Sushi.
I’ve never been to a kaiten-zushi restaurant before, but I figured out pretty quickly that you shouldn’t put your head down on the conveyer belt and let the food just march into your mouth. But if someone could make a conveyer belt restaurant where you could do just that, let me know.
After that awesome dinner, we hoofed it over to the Fremont Troll to partake of some running amuck and climbing. The only surreal part of the whole experience was that there was nothing surreal about it. The whole night I felt like this was the life I was supposed to be living, and that there were no finer people to be climbing trolls with.
Convention Review
Emerald City is on my list of “cannot miss” conventions, and I highly recommend it to fellow creators. The booths were arranged in an island configuration, which gave us a massive amount of space to work with. And the price for the booth was half of what we would pay for a similar set-up at conventions like Comic-Con or the Wizard World shows. Note to fellow creators: the booth prices are going up slightly, but they are still a bargain!
Another plus was the balance ECCC managed to achieve between the different forms of geek media. There were sci-fi stars like Ray Park and Jewel Staite, the BSG actors, and our Nerd-Lord-And-King Wil Wheaton. But the TV/Movie actor presence did not overshadow the vendors or publishers. If any media was favored, it was webcomics, which shows that the nature of ECCC is very open and forward thinking, IMHO.
The attendees were a large and diverse mix of families and traditional comic book fans, with a smattering of anime and steampunk devotees, and, yes, a few Furries. There were close to equal amounts of guys and gals, which is always a plus for me. The crowd was laid back and friendly. This was our first convention where there were no “creepy fanboys.” You know who they are, people.
As far as attendee spending power, I think it’s enough to say that the convention center ATM’s were out of cash on Sunday. My economic recovery. Let me show you it.
Regarding the location, the Washington State Convention & Trade Center is one of the best we’ve ever done a show in. The underground parking is copious, and the services within the center took care of all our FedEx Office, coffee, and lunch needs. And we were within walking distance of fun places like Pike Place Market, and a short monorail ride away from the Space Needle.
ECCC gets a huge thumbs-up from Lunasea Studios. We’re already signed up for next year’s show, which will run March 13 to March 14.