New York Comic Con Day One: No Pictures For You!
Why? I just didn't have a chance to take any pictures is all. There'll be at least one obligatory shot of my table with me behind it sometime this weekend. Just not today.
The show went pretty well today. New York starts it's public show around 3:00pm, which is later than most shows, but makes sense. I've often thought three day shows should adjust for people who have those job things I've read about. Or school, too.
The pre-show starts around noon if not before. Which makes for a long day.
I showed up for that and set up my table and chair (big thanks to Paul for grabbing those for me) and then walked around to do the meet-and-greet. Obviously, I can't tell everything that went on, but here are the highlights:
- Got to hang out with some friends I almost see only when I'm on the Left Coast. So I got to see Charlotte Fullerton, Gabe and Chachi Hernandez, Dwayne McDuffie, Jerry Ordway, Ronn Sutton, Janet Hetherington, Leonard Kirk, Len Wein, John Gallagher, Rich Faber and other people that I'm sure I'm just spacing on now.
- Ran into Kevin Gamble, ace producer and writer-star-guy who's on Tiki Bar TV, which is a great iTues download. Get it now... well, after you're done reading at least. I gave him some Love and Capes, including #5 that takes place at the Riki Tiki Tavern, inspired, in part, by said Tiki Bar.
- Got to sit and actually talk with great artist and business runnin' hero Kyle Baker. So many shows are just the wave-and-hand-a-book thing. This was actually a protracted conversation, which was great.
- I met at least three people I intend to use the Old Zahler Charm (i.e. relentless begging and constant follow-up e-mails) to get some work.
- I met one person who specifically asked me to work with him. That's always nice.
- Many Iron Man Toon Tumblers, as well as many other Toon Tumblers were sold. I always like it when my clients do well.
- Had some fans, actual fans, at my table. People who have read the book. People who read this here blog (and requested a Mera commission). I'm not going to name them without permission. But they know who they are. It's good to see the book finding an audience.
So, let me 'splain... no, there is no time. Let me sum up. While the day had no Huge Moment of Importance there were lots of little lower case versions that bode well for me and things to come. That's good. And there are still two days left. That's even better.
New York Comic-Con: Day Zero
Five frakkin' thirty in the morning. That's when I got up today. That's like a day and a half earlier than I normally get up. I've seen 5:30am before a few times, but usually I come in from the other side ad roll into bed. Usually after an After-Prom or a night of heavy drinking with supermodels... okay, just the After-Prom, but still...
Anyway, I got up at the aforementioned UnThomly Hour to drive, along with Bob Ingersoll, to New York for the New York Comic-Con. The drive's about eight hours, and it's one I made for years during my time at the Kubert School. So I didn't have to be awake for the drive. I was, but I didn't have to be.
Along the drive, Bob and I talked of many things. And, I got to expose him to some new music (how could he not have heard Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana song If We Were a Movie) as well as the podcasting brilliance that is MacBreakWeekly.
After a couple stops for fuel and food, we got to the Javitz Center and set up the booth. You may notice that there's not so much a table or a chair there. That's because it's not included. Now, on every other comic convention on the planet, and I believe a couple on Tatooine, a table and chair is part of your booth. Sometimes it's the whole booth.
In fairness, it's my fault. I'm sure somewhere in the information for the show it said "You get nothing." Seriously, I'm sure there is. I, not thinking to look for such a note, never found it. So, I have no table or chair.
Fortunately, you can rent a table for a mere $200. And get a plastic folding chair for $85. Now, I get the Union thing, and the markup thing. You get stuff like this at a show, you're going to get frakked. But $85 to rent a chair, one-ninth of a Herman Aeron sixteen point adjustable chair. That's not just frakked, that's something that they do on Oz.
Look I'm not taking Freeman or the convention center to task. It is what it is and these are the things that happen at a show. They're allowed to charge what the market can bear.
I just hope they need some artwork sometime.
* * * * *
After setting up, Bob and I got dinner at a little Italian place and then headed to see Young Frankenstein, the musical. It's the second Mel Brooks film to become a musical. The first, of course, being The Producers, which I was lucky enough to see with the original cast. Well, I saw it with the origial cast performing. I actually saw it with a couple of friends.
You ask anyone about Young Frankenstein and they'll say the same thing: "It's not as good as The Producers." That's horribly unfair. Just off the top of my head, the Mitsubishi Lancer is not as good as the Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder Convertible. Doesn't mean the Lancer isn't a good car. It's just the Eclipse is a home run.
Okay, that may just be my reality.
I just think The Producers, being a show about a Broadway musical, is a perfect storm of Broadway goodness. Young Frankenstein isn't quite so lucky.
It's a good show. Not great, but definitely solid. And I'm a big musical theatre geek, big enough that I even enjoyed Dance of the Vampires, so it was a great time all around for me.
The performances were great. Megan Mullally is good in the Madeline Kahn role, Andrea Martin is great as Frau Blucher (cue horses) and Roger Bart is fantastic as Frederick Frankenstein. Sutton Foster is very engaging as Inga, and Christopher Fitzgerald does well with the unenviable task of following in Mary Feldman's oh-so distincitve footsteps.
Sadly, we were informed that Kevin Ligon would not be performing the part of Victor. Anyone who's had the pure delight of seeing Mr. Ligon perform in Law and Order: SVU, or better yet in 1776 or Hello, Dolly, in which he got to perform with Carol Chandler, knows what artistry we missed out on.
Okay, I don't really know Kevin Ligon and couldn't pick him out of a lineup if the other four people were Jawas. It's just when we got there, we were informed that he wouldn't be performing and it became a running joke. I'm sure he's great. I wish him nothing but the best. It was just kind of funny to me. But I'm writing this on five hours of sleep and almost twenty hours of straight consciousness, so maybe it's just me.
* * * * *
Anyway, that's how today, Day Zero went. Tomorrow will be Day One of the show. Release the Kraken and bring on the fans, because I've got some books to move.
Men of Iron
This one was a lot of fun to do, especially getting to add a couple of the villains. I took some liberties with Iron Monger and War Machine, both of whom wear mostly black armor and wouldn't be as bright or colorful as is proper for this cover. It was cool getting to put in a MODOK and Cleveland's own Blacklash in the art.
I'm hoping to do a Batman one when Dark Knight comes out later this summer.
If I Can Make it There I Can Make It Anywhere
Just a reminder that I, and Bob Ingersoll, are now on our way to New York City for the New York Comic-Con. I really dig this show. It was very good to me last year and I was barely there in any official capacity. This year I'll be there at booth 2446. I'll be selling Love and Capes, Powerful Women, and doing commissions. And, of course, meetin' and greetin' my fans. If you're there, be sure to come on by.
And, if you're there, be sure to get your sweet Iron Man Toon Tumbler, designed by me!
CleveLand!
They're running a feature on Cleveland's screwed up politics, and wanted a CandyLand type game board with several Cleveland incidents on it. So, everything from the sink hole to the Ameritrust Building, to the County Commissioners, to National City Bank's troubles are illustrated.
Scene Magazine supplied me with a PDF of the finished version, which you can see by clickin' and embiggenin'.
I'm thrilled with the way this one came out. I think it's a great piece.
$240 Worth of Pudding... er, Comics
My copies of Love and Capes #7 have arrived from the printer. The boxes you see here include the complete run of the retail version, which will be stored here at Zahler World Headquarters, as well as a thousand or so copies of the FCBD issue, which are for the Lake County Captains'/Comic Heaven Free Comic Book Day event.
I just gave blood at the annual Bloodsucker's Ball, so I'm not planning on hauling them up to the attic just yet. (They say not to lift heavy things after giving blood.) I'll just push them into the garage later tonight. For now, though, they're being guarded by the 70s Era Earth-Two Hawkman.
Yes! It's the Love and Capes Trade!
I've been hinting at this for a while, but I can finally announce it now... the Love and Capes trade paperback.
Maerkle Press will be partnering with IDW, publishers of such fine stuff as Star Trek and Angel and Transformers, who will be publishing this collection of the first six issues of Love and Capes. The complete stories will be released, as well as a reprint of the "How a Page is Created" special from #4, and a six-page
This has been a long time in coming, I know. I have to especially call-out Harlan Ellison (yes, that Harlan Ellison) who got this ball rolling. Chris Ryall, editor at IDW will be releasing an official press release soon, but I thought I'd mention it here, too.
Love and Capes: Do You Want To Know a Secret? will be coming out in November, just in time for Christmas. It's 168 pages, ISBN 978-1-60010-275-2. And, it will be solicited in both hardcover and softcover, so for those of you libraries that want to order a hardcover, you can (and please do). I'll link to the official press release as soon as I get it.
Maerkle Press will continue publishing the "floppy" issues of Love and Capes. Issue #7 will be the Free Comic Book Day issue, and I'm still lining up when issue #8 will come out. With issue #8, I'll be back on a regular publishing schedule for the second "season". I just had to make sure there was a FCBD issue, because it's such a great promotion, especially since I can now announce the trade. Yay!
Neverending Battle Part Two
I've mentioned before that I'm taking place in a charity auction for the Candlelighters. There's a pretty slick flyer that's been designed by Jesse, who's also part of the event which I'm showing here. Follow this link to the full story, and see how to download your own flyers.
Seven Days and other cancelled UPN shows
This time next week I'll be at the first day of the New York Comic-Con. I'll be there, taking commissions, selling Love and Capes #1-6 and Powerful Women sketchbooks. And seeing those way-cool Iron Man Toon Tumblers fly off the shelves. Man, that glass looks sweet if I do say so myself.
Hope to see you all there. And I'll be posting my full convention schedule for 2008 shortly.
Drawings with Sharp Teeth
The Big Project is done and approved by my art director. I'm not going to post any more art until it prints sometime next week, and then I'll show a lot more of it. I just want to allow the client to debut it.
It was a lot of fun to work on this one. A lot of stuff to draw, a lot of techniques to figure out, and a lot of things to make fit. This is definitely going on my next promo postcard.