graven.images

A librarian friend informed me that the Whetstone branch has the highest checkout rate for graphic novels in the city. No, it's not just me.

Went to the Brian Wood signing and well... got stuff signed. Pretty uneventful but pleasant. It was a home game so I don't know if that affected the turnout or not. The t-shirts turned out well. I might get one later. Beautiful day today. Had to fight Buckeye traffic all over the place. Did some cleanup in the studio room as I was digging around for stuff to sign. Found the wire shelving and cube systems. I'm slowly swapping out the found furniture in the apartment.

Still uncertain about what to do with all these long boxes all over the place. The thought had occured to me that the easy fix would be a three bedroom. Geesh. I hate the idea of having wall to wall shelves but that might be the real solution.

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The Dodos show got moved to the Summit (Cafe Bourbon Street) tonight. Better spot that I could actually find. Milo's in a semi-sketchy neighborhood. Then again so's the Summit. It's closer. Closer. that's it.

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Really stuck on this idea for a graphic novel. Can't seem to get started on it. Having to work overtime Sunday doesn't help. Grrrrrrr.

brianwood  is coming to my town! He's even whipped up a sweet Laughing Ogre t-shirt. He'll be at the Laughing Ogre Saturday. I'm assuming it's around the same time as the Jason Aaron signing. 3 to 7 or something like that.

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I've never seen an e-blog cover the smaller cons the way Comics Related has. They stop short of going in the restroom to see what the creators were eating that day. I kid. They've posted an exhaustive wrap-up on the Mid Ohio Con. Pictures, podcasts, etc.

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There are quite a few reasons why I'm not for McCain. This article lists a few of them and beyond. Some policy stuff I knew. His background... it's amazing the guy has made it this long in the Senate. Holy crap. I applaud Obama for taking the high road because if he really wanted to go nuts in character assasination, he'd have a field day. McCain's military career is garbled and greatly exaggerated, he divorced his first wife after her looks went in a car accident, his legendary short fuse, the Keating 5 incident also involved Cindy McCain... the list goes on. McCain's only for helping one person... himself. (Note that they tried repeatedly to contact the McCain campaign. each time they declined)
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Wrapped up the show and moved my showbox out of the car and *into storage for another year. In relation to the first year they moved the show to the convention center from Easton, this wasn't that bad. It was slower than last year. Today was dead traffic wise. I had one commission that wasn't an exhibitor or vendor. People were beginning to wrap up a little past 3pm. The show ended at 5pm. Traditionally people start bailing out of this show after 4.

The vendors were comprised of dealers liquidating their backstock. I saw a lot of half off trade & hardcovers. $1 and $2 bins. Some great old comics from as far as the silver age for half off what the comics were apparently worth. This was awesome but has me worried at the same time about the health of comic shops. I've been noticing this more and more every year. Could not find any DC stuff to speak of (discounted that is) that I was looking for. Pretty recent Marvel stuff was all half off. A real glut of them at two dealer booths.

I almost had a sketch list going which was awesome Saturday. I've been trying to get that going for years and it's picking up now. Probably the Mr. Freeze & the Batman sketches were my favorite. The request for Tigra I went blank on and had to scrounge for reference. Felt like a bit of a perv running around for pics of Tigra. Could not even find the crappy Bendis comic where Tigra gets a beatdown. Geesh. Turned out alright and the congoer was happy. No, I didn't get any pics of the sketches I did. Didn't plan for this taking off like it did. A real pleasant suprise of the show.

Thanks to everyone for the sketch commissions.

There's a real upsurge in madeup superhero costumes. I blame the 'Who wants to be a Superhero?' show. Maybe I don't hit the circuit that often. There were a hella lot of furry types at the show or at least circling Creator's Common. Clearly passed the mullet count for the show which dissapointed me.

I did get to meet Joe Kubert finally. My inner five year old was quite pleased.

My next show is Gem City I guess. I'm thinking of doing the Motor City Con. I've never done it before. Been to the show a bit during the college days.

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If you haven't registered to vote yet, please do. I believe the deadline for Ohio is tommorow.

*I had thought about Tiny Canary, but between the booth fee, 'jury fee' and a vendor's license it seemed like a bad deal for now. They need to get some sponsors and knock that booth fee down. Craftin' Outlaws was $40 cheaper. I'm all about sponsored shows. Really nobody pays attention to the sponsor ads, they just want their handmade plush. My gut tells me I wouldn't make any more at that two day show than the Outlaws show.

I did alright. I coopted their name sign for a makeshift banner which I strung on my table. Once I put the sketch sign up, it was a struggle to look up and not at my board. The traffic was slow but steady. The last hour really slowed down on my end. Show's in a new room in the convention center. My parking only came to $7. There were some problems with traffic flow in the booth area. Once Joe Kubert sat down that isle was shut down. The rest of the exhibitors pretty much got ignored until the signing was over. The Alan Davis row was all day as was the row with Chris Claremont. No traffic. Honestly this should have been anticipated and have them moved out to what was ample space. A simple roped off line up to the table would have sufficed. This killed any traffic that would have been walking down those rows.

Most of us however were in the Creator's Common which was problem free. There are no Alan Davis' in my row. Some small press/ vendor booths were mixed in with vendor booths which is always a bad idea. I almost passed by Chris and Xan completely. No idea what's going on with panels this year. Never was given a program. I was bummed a little that I was unable to get my Kubert books signed. Maybe tommorow.

Touched on some of the mechanics of the LA low brow scene with a gallery owner today at the show. Good talk.

I really really need to get rolling on adult size SPB shirts. I know. I know.

Scored $5 Essential Marvel editions of Fantastic Four and a Beta Ray Bill Saga. Tom wins.

Thanks to everyone that came by the table. See you tommorow.