My Harvey Awards Night

Baltimore Comicon was its usual greatness. Marc Nathan runs a darn fine show, and has a ninja-like awesome staff. And I'll write more about that soon, but I had a long day of driving and unpacking, and I'm a little beat. I'll post fun stuff and stories and pictures soon, including why I'm jealous or Lora Innes. But for now, I know what you want to really read about…

The Harvey Awards.

Yeah, I didn't win. And I'm disappointed, but man, it was an awesome experience. Let me warn you now, this is gonna be a long one…

I was nominated in two categories: Best Letterer and Best Cartoonist. When you're in comics, everyone knows what the awards and the categories are. When you're talking to people outside the industry, its a harder explanation. It's kind of like being nominated MVP in soccer. People understand it's a good thing, but come on, it's soccer, does anyone in the real world care? So it's hard to find people outside the comics circle who get it. But I'll do my best to explain it.

The Harvey Awards are kind of like the SAG Awards. Voted on by comics professionals. There are the "technical" categories, like Best Letterer and Best Colorist, and the more prestigious categories, like Best Artist and Best Cartoonist. They're all important, though.

The awards are held in the Mariott Ballroom. It's a pretty swanky affair, actually. Hors d'overs, drinks, fancy dinner. I and my Mom headed over about seven.

Yeah, my Mom. When she found out I was up for a Harvey, she decided to come. She was planning on Amtrakking up and surprising me, but was stymied by the ticket-getting process. So she asked in that "I'll just show up anyway" way for me to bring her along.

As the awards approached, the gravitas of the whole thing began to weigh on me. It's a pretty cool thing to be nominated for a Harvey, and the thought of receiving one started to twist in my brain. It was nice to have Mom there to act as a safety valve to keep me from spending too much time in my own head.

I sat with a bunch of my fellow nominated friends and their families, and we had a great time. And the Scott Kurtz started the awards.

I already hated Scott Kurtz. He got to be on MacBreakWeekly, and I love that show all to pieces. Jealousy's a horrible thing. Then, on top of it, he turns out to be a great host. Funny as can be. There was a Glengarry Glen Ross parody cartoon that was pretty funny, and his first quip of the night was "We'd like to thank you all for attending, but our attendance isn't up to Diamond's minimums, so the whole night is cancelled."

It's funny because it's true.

Scott also gets it, in a pretty awesome way. After the whole Kanye West thing, I expected there to be some "You've got a great book, Taylor Swift, but…" thing along the way. I even joked that we needed to have an over/under pool on the first joke. I would have lost, because there never was one.

I mentioned this to Scott after the ceremony, and he said that they thought about it, but any joke like that would have taken away from someone's big moment. That's pretty cool, to be that aware of the moment for the individual to not go for the big joke.

The first award given was the Best Letterer. Honestly, I didn't think that I'd win. I was up against some great letterers, and ones who still practice hand lettering. I started that way, and can still bust it out when I need to, but I'm mostly font-based these days. So, when I lost to John Workman, I was pretty centered with it.

What followed was two hours of the most fun awards I've ever been part of. I'm not a big fan of awards shows. I've always said that unless I'm up for one, or have money riding on it, I don't watch them. I was up for this one, though. Scott was very funny, and so were most of his presenters. It was a great time.

And it almost distracted me from worrying about the big award.

I had all that time to think about winning or losing the Best Cartoonist Award. It was a little nerve-wracking. But a weird thing happened along the way.

I realized the honor that it was to be nominated.

The whole ceremony has a very real spirit of collegiality to it. There's a "we're all in this together" vibe. As it went on, you really get a sense of the heft of the award and the recognition. There have been 22 Harvey ceremonies. If each one has five nominees, and none of them overlapped (which is an oversimplification) that means 110 people have ever been nominated for Best Cartoonist. I'm one of them.

Wow. That's just… wow.

So, by the time that my award category rolled around, I wasn't worried about winning. I was just humbled to be in that company.

Oh, yeah, and I was up against Al Jaffee, of Mad Magazine fame. If I'd won, I might have Kanye Wested myself. It's Al Jaffee, I'm not in his weight class. So, when he was, it was no surprise.

That's all right, though. If you've got to lose to someone, he's a pretty good person to lose to. I can't complain at all.

It was a great time, and I'm glad I got to share it with my friends and family. Congratulations to all the nominees and to those who did win, especially Bryan Glass who was just so thrilled that it was heartwarming. He did a somersault onto the stage, in fact. Heck, I almost didn't want to win just to not have to follow that.

So what's next?

There's an episode of "The West Wing" where the President and his staff are getting upset about the lack of progress they've made and the problems they've failed to find solutions for. In it, Sam Seyborn has this exchange:

Sam: I was thinking about what you asked me before about have I been able to think of anything, and I said, "No." And you said, "Neither have I and neither has the President."
Leo: What about it?
Sam: I wouldn't speak for anybody else, but you know I'm not done yet, right?

I'm not done yet, either.

The Big Poozer

I've got some commissions that are still on my list from Mid-Ohio-Con and from the internets, where I also take commissions. Here's one done for someone in advance of Baltimore Comicon. It's extra smart on his part, because this way I could color it and he can pick it up at my booth. Since I color on computer, it's not something I can do at a con.

You know, if you were going to Baltimore and wanted a commission, you'd be just as smart to order one in advance, too.

This pic is of one of my favorite Green Lanterns, Kilowog. There were a lot of GLs added to the Corps in the Eighties that had staying power, and I think chief among these is the big poozer himself.

Mid-Ohio-Con 2009 Recap

Man, I love Mid-Ohio-Con.

I went to my first Mid-Ohio-Con in 1988, when it was still in the barn. I've been with it ever since (minus a couple of years when I was away at art school). It's my home show, and after twenty years, it's just chock full of my friends.

James and Bill Henry are now in their second year of running the show, and they're doing a great job. From my view on the ground, their second year was better than the first. Crowds were solid, and Saturday alone I sold more than I had in both days of the con any year before. Trades flew off the rack, shirts sold, hoodies moved, and I did more than a few commissions.

One of my favorites was a commission to draw Mark and Abby and Superman and Lois. I decided to make them cross-save their respective lady friends. I think it turned out great. I also did a Lightning Lad, a Cheetah, and Iron Man and more. It was a pretty diverse group.

And, just like last year, I did a drawing for the charity auction live on stage. Last time I think I did a Crusader drawing, so this time I decided to do some of the ladies and did an Abby/Amazonia illustration.

I always hate listing all the friends that I see at the show, for fear that I'll forget someone. Plus, it sounds like Romper Room. "I saw Paul and Mariann and Lisa and Carl and Tony and Bob and Robyn and Rog…" But it's true. I've made such great friends at the show.

I did make some new ones, like Lora Innes, who I just don't understand how I didn't meet before. She writes and draws the great comic The Dreamer, available in print and webcomics forms. Check it out here. And I met Bryan Glass of Mice Templar fame. We shared a few drinks at one of the receptions during the show.

And I made a bunch of friends on the Webcomics panel that I did on Sunday. I was probably a little too snarky, a little too Chandler sometimes, but everyone seemed to like it. On it was Wes Molebash, whom I'd met last year, Lora, Trevor Mueller and Alan Evans. It was a great time.

I was set up between the insanely talented Art Baltazar of Tiny Titans and Power of Shazam fame and Old Man Sean McKeever. Not that Sean's that old, but his set up had a couple of rocking chairs and a little table. It looked a bit like a front porch. We kept saying he needed a corncob pipe and saying things in our old man voice like "Pepperidge Farm remembers" and "Get off my lawn."

And I managed to frequent a grade school friend's restaurant, BD's Mongolian Barbecue in the Arena District. Turns out it's a favorite restaurant amomg some of the guests. (Sergio Aragones, who was there the year before, made sure to eat there twice.) I wound up heading over there with Mark Evanier, Carolyn Kelly, Bob Ingersoll, Marv Wolfman, Len Wein, Maggie Thompson and Gregg Berger. I know most of them, but Gregg was new, although we'd briefly met a few years back in Los Angeles.

Gregg is a cartoon voice actor. He was Grimlock on the original Transformers cartoon, and several characters on G.I. Joe. Being a big fan of the Joe cartoon, I asked him which voices he did. He went through the litany and did each voice as he did. "I was Firefly, who liked to blow things up, and Cutter, Ripcord, who liked to jump out of airplanes, and Spirit, the noble Indian warrior." I was fuzzy on the first two, but who could forget Spirit and his eagle?

Ah, it was such a good weekend. I'm already looking forward to next year. So mark November 6-7 on your calendar.

And for those of you wondering, and I know you're out there Mariann and Lisa, yes, I managed to keep my money all the way home this time. No lost Buffy lunchboxes for two years in a row now.

More stuff later, I'm sure. But for now, I have to get ready for my next con in four days, Baltimore Comicon!

Mid-Ohio-Con Time

I'm leaving today for Mid-Ohio-Con. The only thing delaying me right now is the accursed program books. Don't worry, they'll be done. I'm just waiting on my printer to get them done so I can drive them down. Everything else is loaded and in the car.

I'll be there all weekend, so stop on by and say "howdy." Maybe buy some books or get a sketch. II'll have all eleven issues of Love and Capes, the special issue #11 1/2 that previews the wedding issue, the previous collection of shirts and pins, and the new ringer sketch shirts and hoodies. Tons of fun.

Believe me, I had to haul itall into the car.

In other news, I finished page 22 yesterday. So I'm two pages off my intended pace, but still in good shape. The next scene is giving me fits in writing it though. Hopefully my drive to Columbus will clear my head a bit.

Great Googly-Moogly!

It's seems un-possible, but it's true. Mid-Ohio-Con is next weekend. I'll be there, as usual, with some new Love and Capes stuff, as mentioned elsewhere. The big MOC is always a great time, so if you're anywhere near Columbus, come on down.

Similarly unbelievable is that September is almost over. Man, this month went fast. Of course, the upside is that the sooner October comes, the sooner we can stop suffering through the Cleveland Indians' 2009 season.

Love and Capes Convention Exclusives

You know, I should probably do something special for the upcoming cons. Wait, did you say "What cons?" Why, Mid-Ohio-Con, and Baltimore Comicon, two of my favoritest shows ever. MOC is always a great time, and as I've mentioned once or twice, I'm up for a Harvey Award at Baltimore. So, with all that, and with the guidance of my own personal Jiminy Cricket named Marc, I'm doing a Love and Capes exclusive comic for each show!

Now, I don't have time to do a completely original book. I toyed with the idea of doing a "clip show" version of the book, where during the bachelor party, Mark and Abby reminisce about things that happened to them in the past eleven issues… er, three years. Then I started working on #12 and realized I had something special. And, since I am taking an extra month to get the twelvth issue done, how about a preview book?

So, at both Mid-Ohio-Con and Baltimore Comicon, you'll be able to buy a twelve page preview comic with the actual first twelve pages of Love and Capes #12. The Mid-Ohio-Con version will feature Mark and Abby dancing in the sky above Columbus, and the Baltimore Comicon version will have them dancing over the night sky of Baltimore's Inner Harbor.Click and embiggen either cover!

Best of all, each issue will only be $2.00!

If I have any leftovers after the shows, I'll put them up for sale on the Love and Capes store.

Mallrats

As photographed by ace shutterbug and good friend Bob Ingersoll, here's a picture of my "mascot" along with the sign for Comics and Friends, the new comic shop in the Great Lakes Mall.

I'll be up there from 12-5 on Saturday for the grand opening, along with some guy named Frank Cho. I hear he draws comics.

New Love and Capes T-shirts Coming Soon!

Hey, it's a picture of a model in a Love and Capes shirt. And it's about the same time as last year when I announced a new Love and Capes shirt. Could it mean…?

Yes. There will be a new Love and Capes shirt done in conjunction with Mid-Ohio-Con. It'll be the Con Crew shirt, and the VIP shirt. I'll have some made that I can sell here, too. So, if you're not going to be at the show and want one, now's the time to let me know. And, if you've been one of those people who wanted a larger size, or a babydoll or something, now is the time to let me know. It's a lot easier to make decisions about those early!

The shirt is the first one to feature Charlotte and Darkblade (as well as Amazonia, Crusader and Abby). It's a "sketch" shirt, designed to look like a lot of my originals do. Except not on crumpled paper and with coffee dripped on it. You can feel free to spill your own coffee on the shirt.

The main design will be a ringer shirt, blue to match the simulated Col-Erase pencils on the shirt. Get one, it'll be awesome!

Now if only we could get someone from Big Bang Theory to wear it.

Comix4Site Auction

While I was at San Diego, I was asked to donate some art to the Comix4Site auction, raising money for John Ostrander's glaucoma surgery. It's a good cause, and John is a great guy, being kind enough to spend way more time with a younger version of me at a Mid-Ohio-Con years and years ago. The auction will take place in Chicago this week, and hopefully much good will come from it.

What did I donate? Being a comics heavy group, I thought that one of my obscure ideas would do well there. So, I gave them Black Lantern Cheeks.

Comic-Con 2009: Day the Last

And so another Comic-Con comes to an end. Well, it did a couple of days ago, actually. I'm only now decompressing for it.

I love doing Comic-Con. It's the pinnacle of the comics world and I'm in there swinging. That's all I can ask for. So, while I complain about the walking and the exhaustion and the blisters and the expense, it's still better than the alternative. A job.

The Con went extremely well. So well that my reports still have to be redacted. Sorry. But I can say that I'm doing a couple more businessy things in LA than I ever have before, and that I pretty well have locked up a gig coming out of the show. So that's a pretty good show.

Some things I can talk about:

I was a guest on This Week in Media. It's part of the TWiT network, which includes such other excellence as MacBreakWeekly and This Week in Tech. I was on talking about the Con and other media-ish experiences. It was a lot of fun, but I have to admit I was exhausted after Con. Hopefully I managed to bring the upbeat and coherent in it.

I was also a guest today on Dork Forest, Jackie Kashian's podcast. It was a double-treat, as the other guest was my friend Dean Haglund, of X-Files and Lone Gunmen fame, as well as being the inventor of the ChillPak. It was a blast. Jackie's a great hostess, and Dean's a great interview. I think I held my own.

And, the other part of my media blitz was an unexpected bolt of awesome: Fantastic Fangirls compared and contrasted Grant Morrison's run on All-Star Superman #3 with Love and Capes #10.

And, um, I came out on the winning side. How cool is that. Check out the full text here.

If this keeps up, I really will get the Shatnerian Ego I've been accused of having.