PITTSBURGH COMIC CON 2008 REPORT

So, the Pittsburgh Comic Con was this past weekend. I shared my table this weekend with Jamie Fay and Andrew Charipar. Both guys drew a story in the SENTINELS Anthology and were there doing sketches. They did a lot too! I don't remember when they weren't drawing at the table. Andrew was also selling copies of his OGN, TALES FROM THE CORNERSTONE. He had issues 1 and 2 and some copies of his sketch book there. Also there showing their support and helping out was Ryan and Lauren. Thanks guys!

Overall, I had a good time at the show. The only downer was that the attendance was much lower than ever before. I figure that was due to a few reasons. One, a bunch of creators cancelled for varies reasons. Two, this was the week after the NYC Comic Con and Pitts is really not that far from NYC. I think a lot of the crowd that normally would have gone to Pitts didn't because they went to NYC. Third, the weather was beautiful this past weekend and who would want to be inside when the weather is so great. Of course, there's also that other thing, but I'm not going to talk about that. I think all those reasons and the current economy all played a part in the small crowd.

Still, I did good and we had a lot of sales for SENTINELS. We also had a lot of requests for NEVERMINDS. And I can promise this, we'll definitely have it for next year. Patience! I got to talk to a lot of great people like Bob Eddy, Keefer, Jeff, Daron, Al, the Comic Geek guys and of course Bryan J.L. Glass.

Another great thing about this convention, is that I started my first sketch book. I know, that's really not that great a thing, lol, but I've never had a sketch book before and have always just gotten one or two sketches from various artists. But having a hardcover sketch book and having all your sketches together is cool to me. And I got some AWESOME sketches. In this post are the two I got from Jamie and Andrew (the two guys pictured above with me). I love them! I thought it only fitting that I got Jamie to draw Firebomb and asked Andrew to draw the tiplets. Sweet, huh? Over the next few posts I'll be posting the rest.

Thanks again to everyone who stopped by the Drumfish table and chatted with us!

And though I wasn't planning to go, I'm now going to be at the Wizard World Philly Con at the end of the month. Never been there before and it's my hometown. Hope it goes well!

OFF TO PITTSBURGH COMIC CON!

The Pittsburgh Comic Con is this weekend. Yup, another week, another convention. I only just recovered from the NYC Con, but I'm about to make the 6 hour drive to Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh convention was one of the first cons I ever went to and it has always been one of my favorites. There are really a lot of great people who attend the con and SENTINELS has a pretty good following there. This year though, I'm not sure how it will be. With the trial that just ended and all, I don't know what kind of attendence there will be. A few of the pros have cancelled too and that can be a bad sign. I'm hopeful that things will be okay and the show is great as usual. We'll see. I'd hate for the con to end, I've always been treated great and had an excellent show.

Going to the con with me is NEVERMINDS artist, Jamie Fay, and Andrew Charipar (artist on Serpenta's story for the SENTINELS Anthology and creator of TALES FROM THE CORNERSTONE). Both Jamie and Andrew will be doing commissions.

Also attending the convention is Ryan McLelland (writer of Serpenta's story and creator of WISE INTELLIGENCE and PHILLY). He'll be there with his girlfriend, Lauren, shopping, selling and doing some reporting. All of that of course is only if Ryan doesn't stop off at Hoss's and eat the .99 cents burger. Few ever return from that!

One last thing to mention before I head off is that Jamie Fay recently had a story done about him in his local hometown paper. Check out this link to read what they wrote: http://www.patriotledger.com/archive/x170773552 .

NEW YORK COMIC CON 2008 DAY 3

Sunday seemed to fly by at the New York Comic Con. The last day of the convention was much calmer than the previous days, but still there was a huge crowd. Estimates put the crowd this year at 64,000. That's up a lot from last years 49,000. This is really exciting, I can just see in a few years this being compared to the San Diego Con. The only thing different is I think there will be less Hollywood. And that's a good thing. This years convention really felt like a COMIC convention.

A big highlight over the weekend was getting to hear from all the readers of SENTINELS and how much they enjoyed the series. Thanks everyone, your words are truly appreciated and mean a lot to us.

Also, the SENTINELS Anthology sold extremely well and the color got a great response. People are already asking when or if we're doing another SENTINELS Anthology. Right now there are no plans. I'm focusing on NEVERMINDS along with Jamie Fay and Luciano is working on CRUEL THING with Lean (Leandra Martinez). I'm also working on developing another title and once that's done, hopefully, Luciano and I will re-team to finally get CASPIAN CURSES out there. After that...who knows. :)

Lastly, I had the chance to chat with a lot of comic creators this weekend, among them was (once again), Amanda Conners. Amanda is such a great artist and the fact that she is an extremely friendly and honest creator makes her that much more a superstar in my eyes. Amanda did the drawing of Julia from the 3rd Gen SENTINELS that's with this post. I love it! It compliments the one she did of BoBo at Megacon last month. Thanks again, Amanda!!!

NEW YORK COMIC CON 2008 DAY 2

Wow! Day 2 of the New York Comic Con was crazy. It had to have been one of the most crowded cons I've been to and the biggest outside of San Diego. We had a steady flow of people stopping by the Drumfish table and sold a lot of books. Thanks to everyone who stopped by to say hello and gave SENTINELS a try.

Jamie Fay was super busy doing commissions today and already has 4 lined up for Sunday. This year he's added color to his sketches and they really look amazing.

Like I said, the con is so big this year I haven't even seen it all yet. Hopefully, Sunday I'll have a chance to do a little shopping. :)

After the con, we went to the Indy After Party for a bit. Although I am no longer part of running the party, I wanted to stop by and show my support. The party was packed and everyone seemed to have a good time. Great job guys!

Finally, here a pic of the team helping me at the con. Noel, Jamie and (this time we got a picture of her!) Leonor. Thanks to the three of them for all their help.

More tomorrow!

NEW YORK COMIC CON 2008 DAY 1

So, the New York Comic Con started today! Overall the con was a lot of fun. Joining me to help out is Jamie Fay, Leonor Mamanna and Noel Short. From 10-3 it was just professionals and totally slooooow. I'll never understand why they have it that the general public can't come in with everyone else, but what do I know. And they use the word "professional" fast and loose. I know many people who got in early under the title "professional" but really aren't. I guess just saying that you're with a publication, or podcast or magazine is good enough. Next year I hope they open it early to everyone. The more the better in my eyes.

We have a great location in Artist Alley at table B29/B30. We're next to Art Baltazar and Franco Aureliani, the creators of Tiny Titans from DC. Art is working on a drawing of all the 3rd Gen SENTINELS for me. I can't believe it, but he's only charging a dollar a character. Crazy, right? They're very cute sketches and I hope to post them on Sunday. Also I have another commission from Amanda Conners coming. Can't wait to see what she does tomorrow.

The crowd was a steady flow of people and there were no long lines like the last two years waiting to get in. We'll see how it is tomorrow, but hopefully the bigger space has fixed the problems they had. The space for the entire con this year is MUCH better. I walked around a few times and still haven't seen everything.

Many local and familiar comic folks where there, like James Rodriguez, Andrea Grant and Melvin Ylagan, as well as creators from outside the city like Andrew Charipar (artist on Serpenta's story for the SENTINELS Anthology).

Above is a quick pic of Jamie, Noel and I taken at the con. Why does my head look so big? That's the last time I lean into a picture. Leonor wasn't feeling so well, so no pic of her today, lol. I'm gonna snap one of her tomorrow whether she likes it or not. :P

Thanks to everyone who stopped by today!

Much more tomorrow.

ANOTHER NEVERMINDS SNEAK PEEK

In gearing up for the New York Comic Con this weekend, we're putting together a free preview of NEVERMINDS to hand out. Jamie's really doing some great work here, as you can see from the new preview art above. Stop by the Drumfish table and get a copy!

NEW YORK COMIC CON NEXT WEEKEND!

The New York Comic Con is almost upon us! The convention is this Friday (April 18th) to Sunday (the 20th). Drumfish Productions will be in Artist Alley at table B29-B30. I'll be there along with Jamie Fay (artist on the Firebomb story in the SENTINELS Anthology and NEVERMINDS), who will be doing commissions and Noel Short (writer of Splash's story for the SENTINELS Anthology). We'll also be helped by our PR Princess, Leonor Mamanna. Stop by and say hello if you're at the con. And if you don't, Leonor will be sure to find you and pull you in. :)

Noel is also looking for an artist for his new project, BREAKERS! It's a really great project that has an underwater focus. So if anyone is looking for some work and thinks they might be interested, stop and show Noel your portfolio.

Last, but not least, Andrew Charipar (artist on Serpenta's story for the SENTINELS Anthology and creator of TALES FROM THE CORNERSTONE) will be at his own table at the con. Andrew will be doing commissions and selling his trades. Be sure to check them out, they're great books! And to get a sneak peek at Andrew's sketches, check out his Serpenta sketch along with this post. It was a gift to me while at Megacon last month. Thanks again, Andrew!