2010 PITTSBURGH COMICON REPORT

I think I've finally recovered from this past weekend's Pittsburgh Comicon, lol. I haven't been this tired from a convention in a long time. It feels like the entire weekend zoomed by. Seriously, it went by super fast. But I had a really great time and got to chat and hang with people I rarely get to see. I travel with Jamie Fay and Rey Arzeno (6+ hour in a car!!!) and we got in late Thursday afternoon. We quickly dropped off our stuff at the Con and then checked into our hotel room. Thursday night is always a good night for catching up with people and Al Dorantes from Luchador Enterprises always throws the best parties. Al also always does something special for the "Make-A-Wish" charity auction that's held on Saturday night. Last year it was people drawing on plates and this year it was nice ceramic tiles. I actually did one, but only one, lol, 'cause I'm still not 100% feeling my art. It's getting better though. So, Thursday was great and everyone was excited for the weekend.Friday the convention was open from 1-7. There wasn't too much traffic that first day, but I still managed to do okay. Mainly because (surprisingly, lol) my art was selling. I sold a few pieces of art and some sketch cards, as well as a few SENTINELS books. Jamie and Rey were both totally booked up the first day and both sold a bunch of prints. They also took part in the "Quick-Sketch" charity draw which has them do quick sketches that get raffled off for charity afterwards. We had a lot of buzz for our collab book with Luchador Enterprises and Space Monkey Comics, COMICON ON MONSTER ISLAND, but we should have done more promo for it. Next year we'll do that for sure as we have a lot of good ideas! After the convention people all went out to eat with the plan to meet up after at the hotel bar or the usual Friday night penthouse party. Sadly though, the hotel was recently renovated and they changed a lot. There is no longer the cool, upbeat and fun bar there and it's been replaced with an uptight, VERY SMALL, NYC lounge-like bar with not as friendly bartenders. On top of that, there was no party thrown by the convention organizers. That really stunk because one of the best parts about the Pittsburgh Comicon is the friendly atmosphere that allows you to socialize and make new friends since everyone goes to the same party afterwards. We still managed to make the most of it and had a great time.

Saturday was a whirl-wind. It went by really fast. I felt like I didn't sit all weekend and talked so much that I think I'm still trying to get my voice back. Many of the awesome people we've come to know stopped by and we got to chat with them a bit. Of course they all asked about NEVERMINDS and I had to promise that it'll be done by the end of the year! lol. It will be! Jamie and Rey were doing another busy day with them both drawing from start to close. They also took part in the "Quick-Draw" charity event. I sold more books Saturday then art which was great. I also sold a few of my own sketchbooks! Yeah! lol. Sunday was costume day and it's always great to see all the people who dress up. Our #1 SENTINELS fan, Keefer, even showed up dressed as Hammer from Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long and gave us a musical performance that impressed as right on the con floor. Ya got guts, kid! It was great! Jamie, Rey and I were all so-so busy but not like Saturday. This allowed me to get a bunch of awesome sketches that I'll post soon.

All in all, it was a great show and even though I didn't sell the volume of stuff I hoped to, I still came out better than a lot of folks. It's sad that the show didn't have the draw it usually has and that they changed so many things.