Heroes Con Report!
Well, I just got back from my first time at the Heroes Con in Charlotte, NC. I've actually wanted to attend this con for a couple years now because I've heard so many good things about it, but various circumstances never allowed me to go (for example, last year it was on the same weekend as my wedding!). Well this year I was determined not to miss it! I'm so glad I went, because it really was a good show - a decent size; not too big, not too small, tons of creators and interesting guests, and lots of families came by with their kids which was so great to see. At most cons I go to, I'm lucky if I see 3 or 4 little girls tagging along with their dads. But at Heroes, I saw many more, and not only that - but entire families: moms, dads, sons, daughters, babies in strollers, and even some grandparents.
And even better, I was seated right next to Jim Amash, inker on Sabrina and Sonic, Teresa Davidson, my letter, and Ian Flynn and Tracey Yardley, writer and penciler of Sonic the Hedgehog, respectively. So with this sort of "Archie corner" we got quite a lot of traffic which was nice!
Since I arrived just before the show started, and left almost as soon as it ended, I didn't have much time to explore the city of Charlotte, but it seemed like a nice place and the weather was mild. Instead, I got up a few times to explore the inside of the convention and ran into a lot of old acquaintances such as Brian Defferding and Patric Lewandowski, (We all shared some comic classes back at MCAD), and Chris Moreno who, incidentally, is also moving to LA at the end of the month with his significant other. I also got to catch up with Tim Seeley, who was one of the first guys to give me a shot at comics when he put one of my short stories in his anthology, "From Heaven to Hell", back when I was still in college. I also chatted with Louis Small Jr. (He's funny - and trouble! ^_~ ) and Jonboy Meyers, who penciled the Spider-Man/Arana story I wrote. He's a great guy.
I also got to meet a few new people such as Todd Dezago, writer on Perhapanauts. He's so friendly and funny - I had a good time chatting with him. And of course, I got to meet my inker and letterer Jim and Teresa for the first time. Jim has been working on the Sabrina book with me ever since I started back in 2004, so it was nice to finally put a face to the name (and voice).
I didn't have as many sketch commissions as usual at this con, but I think that's because it was more of a family show and less of a place where tons of hardcore fanboys go around filling their sketchbooks. Or maybe people didn't realize that I can draw more than just Sabrina. Or maybe it's because Jim convinced me to raise my commission price. (Hmm...) In any case, I did hand out a ton of comp Sabrinas and got a few people interested in the series, so that definitely made up for it. A lot of people still assume that it's directly related to the TV show, and they'll tell me "Oh, I never watched/liked that show" and therefore aren't interested in my comic. So I'm always trying to show people that's it's not related to any of the past Sabrina incarnations - it's has a new look, plot, characters - everything is different.
On Friday night I had dinner at Jolina, a nearby Mexican/BBQ place which was pretty decent, and I went to an after-party at the hotel afterward where a couple bands were playing before a screening of Rosario Dawson's new film, Descent. I skipped the screening though, and went to bed early since I just wasn't in the mood for an intense NC-17 movie that night. ^_^
On Saturday night I went to watch the auction with a friend, Erick, who I first met at a Boston convention years ago, and who was now at Heroes helping out some of his buddies at the show. I had donated a Sabrina page to the auction and was beginning to regret it as soon as I had a look at all the other pieces of art that were available. I could just imagine them announcing my piece and then hearing crickets in the room. Luckily, it wasn't that bad at all. My page had a couple bids and ended up going for 50 dollars. (phew!). There were so many amazing pieces in the auction I wished I had enough money to bid on them. But no one could beat the bid on Adam Hughes' Star Wars piece which ended at $5000!
I had one panel about kids' comics on Sunday with Ian and Teresa and we had a good crowd who asked some smart questions. I actually really enjoy doing panels now. I used to be so terribly nervous and I dreaded doing them. But somewhere along the line I started feeling comfortable and now I like doing them quite a bit!
Before I knew it, the weekend was over. It really flew by! I had a great time at the show and I hope I'll be able to go back again in the future, even if I will be further away now. I'd like to thank Shelton and all the people who put it together, and who so kindly invited me to participate, and who put me up in a great room at the Westin. I really appreciate it!
And even better, I was seated right next to Jim Amash, inker on Sabrina and Sonic, Teresa Davidson, my letter, and Ian Flynn and Tracey Yardley, writer and penciler of Sonic the Hedgehog, respectively. So with this sort of "Archie corner" we got quite a lot of traffic which was nice!
Since I arrived just before the show started, and left almost as soon as it ended, I didn't have much time to explore the city of Charlotte, but it seemed like a nice place and the weather was mild. Instead, I got up a few times to explore the inside of the convention and ran into a lot of old acquaintances such as Brian Defferding and Patric Lewandowski, (We all shared some comic classes back at MCAD), and Chris Moreno who, incidentally, is also moving to LA at the end of the month with his significant other. I also got to catch up with Tim Seeley, who was one of the first guys to give me a shot at comics when he put one of my short stories in his anthology, "From Heaven to Hell", back when I was still in college. I also chatted with Louis Small Jr. (He's funny - and trouble! ^_~ ) and Jonboy Meyers, who penciled the Spider-Man/Arana story I wrote. He's a great guy.
I also got to meet a few new people such as Todd Dezago, writer on Perhapanauts. He's so friendly and funny - I had a good time chatting with him. And of course, I got to meet my inker and letterer Jim and Teresa for the first time. Jim has been working on the Sabrina book with me ever since I started back in 2004, so it was nice to finally put a face to the name (and voice).
I didn't have as many sketch commissions as usual at this con, but I think that's because it was more of a family show and less of a place where tons of hardcore fanboys go around filling their sketchbooks. Or maybe people didn't realize that I can draw more than just Sabrina. Or maybe it's because Jim convinced me to raise my commission price. (Hmm...) In any case, I did hand out a ton of comp Sabrinas and got a few people interested in the series, so that definitely made up for it. A lot of people still assume that it's directly related to the TV show, and they'll tell me "Oh, I never watched/liked that show" and therefore aren't interested in my comic. So I'm always trying to show people that's it's not related to any of the past Sabrina incarnations - it's has a new look, plot, characters - everything is different.
On Friday night I had dinner at Jolina, a nearby Mexican/BBQ place which was pretty decent, and I went to an after-party at the hotel afterward where a couple bands were playing before a screening of Rosario Dawson's new film, Descent. I skipped the screening though, and went to bed early since I just wasn't in the mood for an intense NC-17 movie that night. ^_^
On Saturday night I went to watch the auction with a friend, Erick, who I first met at a Boston convention years ago, and who was now at Heroes helping out some of his buddies at the show. I had donated a Sabrina page to the auction and was beginning to regret it as soon as I had a look at all the other pieces of art that were available. I could just imagine them announcing my piece and then hearing crickets in the room. Luckily, it wasn't that bad at all. My page had a couple bids and ended up going for 50 dollars. (phew!). There were so many amazing pieces in the auction I wished I had enough money to bid on them. But no one could beat the bid on Adam Hughes' Star Wars piece which ended at $5000!
I had one panel about kids' comics on Sunday with Ian and Teresa and we had a good crowd who asked some smart questions. I actually really enjoy doing panels now. I used to be so terribly nervous and I dreaded doing them. But somewhere along the line I started feeling comfortable and now I like doing them quite a bit!
Before I knew it, the weekend was over. It really flew by! I had a great time at the show and I hope I'll be able to go back again in the future, even if I will be further away now. I'd like to thank Shelton and all the people who put it together, and who so kindly invited me to participate, and who put me up in a great room at the Westin. I really appreciate it!