Con Report: Cincy Con 2013
Yep, we admit it - we're crazy late on these con reports this year. Later then usual. But, that's the way it's gotta be when you're #1 priority is getting our book for Random House done by years end! *phew*
Spider-Man and Venom by Adam
Anyway, when last we left our intrepid heroes, they had left Dragon*Con behind and were driving north to Ohio. Lovely place, Ohio; we have a lot of friends in the area. Since we were doing Dragon and the brand-new Cincy Comicon back-to-back, we’d decided to just go straight from one to the other without returning home in-between. Because why drive all the way back north to Michigan just to turn right around and head south again? Silliness! Our plan involved a lot of couch-sleeping with pals, but that’s no problem at all for us two road warriors.
Felicia from Darkstalkers by Comfort
First was a stop for lunch with Ashley Peacock, one of Adam’s old highschool buddies and a super-sweet human being. He’s been living in Covington, KY across the bridge from Cincinnati for a lot of years, so we rarely ever get to see him. Taking the time for a lazy lunch and talking over life and times and what have you was a really good time. From there, it was a brief jaunt north to Columbus to spend a couple days with Lora and Mike Innes.
You know Lora Innes, right? She’s the super-fun, super-spunky creatress of the wildly entertaining (and historical!) comic The Dreamer. Which everyone should read. Moving on, Lora was hard at work on a project pitch, but the idea of hanging out and all getting work done together is pretty much what we call “every day,” so we were good. Mike made some amazing grill magic happen, we ate great ice cream, we had a lot of fun.
Gender-bender Cyclops by Adam
Gender-bender Ice-man my Comfort
Two days of this, guys! We got a lot of work done, Lora finished her pitch, and most importantly we were relaxed and refreshed after the insane Dragon*Con weekend. We moved on to one last stop on our Ohio tour--but detoured to visit our offset printer (Four Colour Print Group) for the Rainbow in the Dark Omnibus to get a walkthrough on how to give them exactly the files they needed in the way they needed them. They’re good people, and (as regular readers saw previously) we’re incredibly happy with what they produced for us.
A scheduling mistake sprouting from back-to-back Cincinnati Cons (Cincy this weekend, another the weekend after) meant that the people we would have been staying with that night were out of town instead, not expecting our arrival until the next week. But we rallied, got a cheap hotel room, went out to a nice dinner and a movie. We recommend The World’s End, by the way. Not as great as the other two films in the “Cornetto Trilogy,” but still an excellent comedy.
Didn't get to go hang out with a friend, so instead we saw World's End! Super fun, loved every minute of it!
So it was that we rolled into Canton, KY to set up at the convention well-rested, happy, and ready to rock. The con center itself was a very nice building, and the whole time we were setting up we had people checking on us and making sure everything was going smooth and problem-free. It was the first year for Cincy, and they seemed to be working hard to make it a good experience for everybody.
There was a VIP preview night for people who had contributed to the Cincy Comicon Kickstarter. It wasn’t overly busy, but there was a good energy and we picked up a few sketches to start off the weekend. That night was a big drink-and-draw event at the Cincinnati Museum Center - the building the Super Friends cartoon based the Hall of Justice on:
Behold, the inspiration for the Hall of Justice! And we totally got to visit it!
Unfortunately, we had a mess of a time getting there. We were spending the weekend rooming with our Fightin’ Flatsman, color assist wizard, and friend Travis Perkins. The three of us grabbed some pizza before heading to the event, which took longer than we wanted, but we weren’t concerned. See, our GPS could NOT figure out where this museum was, nor could it hold a steady satellite connection to guide us. Our phone was just as useless. We wound up driving over an hour to get nowhere. By the time we finally arrived, most people had left and there was very little time remaining at the event.
We still tried to have a good time, wandering the museum and seeing some of the neat exhibits. We got to draw some while listening to the last couple songs Kirby Krackle were playing. Well... it was worth a try. Better luck next year. We reconvened at the hotel to finish up for the night.
Zatanna and Robin by Adam and Scarlet Witch by Comfort
A fan with the 9th and 10th Doctors by Comfort
Ah, but there was yet more to go wrong that night! After our “new” laptop broke down at Otakon (mere weeks prior), our “Grandpa” laptop died at the hotel. Wonderful! On top of the looming expense of having to replace it, we also had two panels that weekend that required a functioning lappy. But, once again, the con runners came through. One of the workers at the show let us borrow her laptop, which saved our bacon big-time, because...
We had our “Let’s Make a Character!” panel Saturday, and it was as fun as ever. This time, our creation was a macaroni-and-cheese loving anti-hero; a modern Quasimodo-slash-Eddie Vedder hybrid who lives in the alleys and knows of a plot by the powerful against the people - a plot nobody will believe!
Our modern Quasimodo-slash-Eddie Vedder hybrid that we made with our audiance at 'Let's Make A Character'
Hinata by Adam
Dangerous Targaryen by Adam
The rest of Saturday was pretty great. We were selling tremendous numbers for a first-year show, and the people we met were all having a great time. The Cincy crew were putting on a really good show; attitudes were upbeat, there was a lot to see and do, and volunteers and staff were constantly coming around to check on us. The head show-runners were always on the floor and accessible, and several times came by to see how we were doing. They were insistent that we shoot it straight with them; as Tony Moore said to us, if we aren’t making money, they wouldn’t consider the show a success. It was great to feel like the people running the show were so interested in the welfare of the creators on the floor. Many shows do not give you this impression.
One of the more delightful things of the show was this guy and his working R2 that he'd made. The two of them just roamed the floor the whole weekend. And this guy was clearly a pro! He often times would stand at a distance and just have R2 interact with people. There was even one time where R2 was the center of a impromptu dance party of little kids. It was spectacular!
A cyber-cop character by Adam
A creepy scarecrow character by Comfort
Saturday night we just chilled out at the hotel with a bunch of cool guys, most we were meeting for the first time. We had a blast just hanging and drawing and joking around and slinging Simpsons references around alongside bad puns and quick-snaps. We were introduced to “The Fox” by Ylvis, which... good lord... there aren’t even words. If you haven’t seen it yet, do yourself a favor and wow. Just wow.
“The Fox” by Ylvis - mind blown!
Sunday we were supposed to be on a Q&A panel about self-publishing, but the other guest couldn’t make it. Luckily, we happen to have a road-ready seminar/panel about Creating Comics/Manga/Webcomics from Concept to Publication. With the aid of our borrowed laptop, we turned lemons into lemonade and enjoyed a fun hour with a great group of people. Seriously, it was a BIG crowd, which we weren’t necessarily expecting. New cons frequently don’t have high panel attendance, but Cincy was a major exception to that trend.
Original Fantasy characters by Adam
Frankenstein's Bride, Kenpachi, and a Peacock feather by Adam
The show wrapped up as a huge success. We were invited to Cincy Comicon as guests after the Baltimore Comic Con let us know we were no longer welcome at their convention, and we walked out of this first-year show with a higher gross than we ever made at Baltimore. The money was good, the show was well-run, the space was attractive and relaxing, and everybody present seemed to be having a fun, easy-going kind of weekend. It was an amazing show.
We highly recommend this convention to anybody near the southern Ohio/northern Kentucky region. We know there was some hubbub and bad blood around it, and we understand the reasons, but (having no knowledge of or previous encounters with the other Cincinnati convention) it seems clear to us that the number one goal of the showrunners is to put on the kind of convention they’ve always wanted to attend. For the fans, for the creators, for the casual attendees looking for something to do for a weekend, that’s a very good thing. Two thumbs up, Cincy - keep on doin’ whatcha do.
Madoka as Bill Cosby by Comfort. And a drawing of Michael by Adam on a t-shirt, and a quick sketch of Telepath by Comfort
Our good friend Lan Pitts had to put to sleep his kitty just after Dragon*Con. We did this picture of him with his cat because we really flet how sad he was owning kitties of our own.
We packed it in, said our goodbyes to Travis, and hit the road for home. While we had had a wonderful two-week excursion through Dragon*Con and Cincy, we were ready to sleep in our own bed yet again. We’re looking forward to next years’ showings for both cons already.
Just a few con reports left to cap the year, gang. Stay tuned for more!
-Comfort & Adam
Spider-Man and Venom by Adam
Anyway, when last we left our intrepid heroes, they had left Dragon*Con behind and were driving north to Ohio. Lovely place, Ohio; we have a lot of friends in the area. Since we were doing Dragon and the brand-new Cincy Comicon back-to-back, we’d decided to just go straight from one to the other without returning home in-between. Because why drive all the way back north to Michigan just to turn right around and head south again? Silliness! Our plan involved a lot of couch-sleeping with pals, but that’s no problem at all for us two road warriors.
Felicia from Darkstalkers by Comfort
First was a stop for lunch with Ashley Peacock, one of Adam’s old highschool buddies and a super-sweet human being. He’s been living in Covington, KY across the bridge from Cincinnati for a lot of years, so we rarely ever get to see him. Taking the time for a lazy lunch and talking over life and times and what have you was a really good time. From there, it was a brief jaunt north to Columbus to spend a couple days with Lora and Mike Innes.
You know Lora Innes, right? She’s the super-fun, super-spunky creatress of the wildly entertaining (and historical!) comic The Dreamer. Which everyone should read. Moving on, Lora was hard at work on a project pitch, but the idea of hanging out and all getting work done together is pretty much what we call “every day,” so we were good. Mike made some amazing grill magic happen, we ate great ice cream, we had a lot of fun.
Gender-bender Cyclops by Adam
Gender-bender Ice-man my Comfort
Two days of this, guys! We got a lot of work done, Lora finished her pitch, and most importantly we were relaxed and refreshed after the insane Dragon*Con weekend. We moved on to one last stop on our Ohio tour--but detoured to visit our offset printer (Four Colour Print Group) for the Rainbow in the Dark Omnibus to get a walkthrough on how to give them exactly the files they needed in the way they needed them. They’re good people, and (as regular readers saw previously) we’re incredibly happy with what they produced for us.
A scheduling mistake sprouting from back-to-back Cincinnati Cons (Cincy this weekend, another the weekend after) meant that the people we would have been staying with that night were out of town instead, not expecting our arrival until the next week. But we rallied, got a cheap hotel room, went out to a nice dinner and a movie. We recommend The World’s End, by the way. Not as great as the other two films in the “Cornetto Trilogy,” but still an excellent comedy.
Didn't get to go hang out with a friend, so instead we saw World's End! Super fun, loved every minute of it!
So it was that we rolled into Canton, KY to set up at the convention well-rested, happy, and ready to rock. The con center itself was a very nice building, and the whole time we were setting up we had people checking on us and making sure everything was going smooth and problem-free. It was the first year for Cincy, and they seemed to be working hard to make it a good experience for everybody.
There was a VIP preview night for people who had contributed to the Cincy Comicon Kickstarter. It wasn’t overly busy, but there was a good energy and we picked up a few sketches to start off the weekend. That night was a big drink-and-draw event at the Cincinnati Museum Center - the building the Super Friends cartoon based the Hall of Justice on:
Behold, the inspiration for the Hall of Justice! And we totally got to visit it!
Unfortunately, we had a mess of a time getting there. We were spending the weekend rooming with our Fightin’ Flatsman, color assist wizard, and friend Travis Perkins. The three of us grabbed some pizza before heading to the event, which took longer than we wanted, but we weren’t concerned. See, our GPS could NOT figure out where this museum was, nor could it hold a steady satellite connection to guide us. Our phone was just as useless. We wound up driving over an hour to get nowhere. By the time we finally arrived, most people had left and there was very little time remaining at the event.
We still tried to have a good time, wandering the museum and seeing some of the neat exhibits. We got to draw some while listening to the last couple songs Kirby Krackle were playing. Well... it was worth a try. Better luck next year. We reconvened at the hotel to finish up for the night.
Zatanna and Robin by Adam and Scarlet Witch by Comfort
A fan with the 9th and 10th Doctors by Comfort
Ah, but there was yet more to go wrong that night! After our “new” laptop broke down at Otakon (mere weeks prior), our “Grandpa” laptop died at the hotel. Wonderful! On top of the looming expense of having to replace it, we also had two panels that weekend that required a functioning lappy. But, once again, the con runners came through. One of the workers at the show let us borrow her laptop, which saved our bacon big-time, because...
We had our “Let’s Make a Character!” panel Saturday, and it was as fun as ever. This time, our creation was a macaroni-and-cheese loving anti-hero; a modern Quasimodo-slash-Eddie Vedder hybrid who lives in the alleys and knows of a plot by the powerful against the people - a plot nobody will believe!
Our modern Quasimodo-slash-Eddie Vedder hybrid that we made with our audiance at 'Let's Make A Character'
Hinata by Adam
Dangerous Targaryen by Adam
The rest of Saturday was pretty great. We were selling tremendous numbers for a first-year show, and the people we met were all having a great time. The Cincy crew were putting on a really good show; attitudes were upbeat, there was a lot to see and do, and volunteers and staff were constantly coming around to check on us. The head show-runners were always on the floor and accessible, and several times came by to see how we were doing. They were insistent that we shoot it straight with them; as Tony Moore said to us, if we aren’t making money, they wouldn’t consider the show a success. It was great to feel like the people running the show were so interested in the welfare of the creators on the floor. Many shows do not give you this impression.
One of the more delightful things of the show was this guy and his working R2 that he'd made. The two of them just roamed the floor the whole weekend. And this guy was clearly a pro! He often times would stand at a distance and just have R2 interact with people. There was even one time where R2 was the center of a impromptu dance party of little kids. It was spectacular!
A cyber-cop character by Adam
A creepy scarecrow character by Comfort
Saturday night we just chilled out at the hotel with a bunch of cool guys, most we were meeting for the first time. We had a blast just hanging and drawing and joking around and slinging Simpsons references around alongside bad puns and quick-snaps. We were introduced to “The Fox” by Ylvis, which... good lord... there aren’t even words. If you haven’t seen it yet, do yourself a favor and wow. Just wow.
Click to view“The Fox” by Ylvis - mind blown!
Sunday we were supposed to be on a Q&A panel about self-publishing, but the other guest couldn’t make it. Luckily, we happen to have a road-ready seminar/panel about Creating Comics/Manga/Webcomics from Concept to Publication. With the aid of our borrowed laptop, we turned lemons into lemonade and enjoyed a fun hour with a great group of people. Seriously, it was a BIG crowd, which we weren’t necessarily expecting. New cons frequently don’t have high panel attendance, but Cincy was a major exception to that trend.
Original Fantasy characters by Adam
Frankenstein's Bride, Kenpachi, and a Peacock feather by Adam
The show wrapped up as a huge success. We were invited to Cincy Comicon as guests after the Baltimore Comic Con let us know we were no longer welcome at their convention, and we walked out of this first-year show with a higher gross than we ever made at Baltimore. The money was good, the show was well-run, the space was attractive and relaxing, and everybody present seemed to be having a fun, easy-going kind of weekend. It was an amazing show.
We highly recommend this convention to anybody near the southern Ohio/northern Kentucky region. We know there was some hubbub and bad blood around it, and we understand the reasons, but (having no knowledge of or previous encounters with the other Cincinnati convention) it seems clear to us that the number one goal of the showrunners is to put on the kind of convention they’ve always wanted to attend. For the fans, for the creators, for the casual attendees looking for something to do for a weekend, that’s a very good thing. Two thumbs up, Cincy - keep on doin’ whatcha do.
Madoka as Bill Cosby by Comfort. And a drawing of Michael by Adam on a t-shirt, and a quick sketch of Telepath by Comfort
Our good friend Lan Pitts had to put to sleep his kitty just after Dragon*Con. We did this picture of him with his cat because we really flet how sad he was owning kitties of our own.
We packed it in, said our goodbyes to Travis, and hit the road for home. While we had had a wonderful two-week excursion through Dragon*Con and Cincy, we were ready to sleep in our own bed yet again. We’re looking forward to next years’ showings for both cons already.
Just a few con reports left to cap the year, gang. Stay tuned for more!
-Comfort & Adam