Wow, Baltimore, who knew? Everybody but me, I guess. The comic con here is simply fantastic, on par with Heroes Con and Emerald City as one of the best mid-to-large all comic shows. Baltimore Comic Con is another great example of a good sized comic book show that doesn’t need celebrity media stars, video games, or movie studios to be energetic and successful. In a wide room resembling the hanger bay of the Battlestar Galactica, housed in an expansive modern convention hall, which is located in the center of a rejuvenated tourist friendly city center, this comic con was packed wall to wall with guests, dealers, and best of all, eager attendees! Arriving two hours early for setup on Saturday, there was already a long line stretched outside. My opinion of this show is going to be somewhat limited, however. This was my first time at Baltimore and I was so swamped the entire time with sketch commissions and people coming to the table. As a result, I never had a chance to walk the con floor. Fortunately, I felt like I still had a full experience because it seemed like a lot of the con came to me at one point or another. But my biggest regret, as is often the case, was not being able to see so many of the other great exhibitors and guests that I knew were there. But, it’s not a terrible problem to have, and I did have a wonderful experience at the Baltimore Comic Con.

Big thanks to comic book, sketch card artist, and my good buddy Chad Cicconi for the drive from Pittsburgh and being a superb roommate. We rode together down to Heroes earlier this year. Both times I’ve brought a handful of cds but never bother to open them as the conversation is constantly flowing throughout the journey. The city of Baltimore had me a bit worried, besides it’s questionable reputation and portrayal in shows like The Wire, on our route into town it was clear that this city was in need of some serious urban renewal. As we got downtown and near the convention center, it was clear where all the money went, as this area was very new, shiny, open and ready to receive visitors of any shape and size.

The organizers of the convention really have their game together, everything from my my angle went smooth as silk, and they really take care of their exhibiting guests. Every convention needs a vip room!! Good job there, Baltimore Comic Con! Seriously, I cannot stress how helpful this simple addition to the exhibitor amenities really helps at a busy con. I wish every show had one. I had so many great conversations, saw some many wonderful people, everyone was positive and excited to be right where they were. Lately, I’ve been very busy at conventions, but even in light of other recent successful shows, I was still astonished by how much business I received in the two days at Baltimore. I wish I could draw faster, because my sketch list filled so quickly. The first day, I had to tell a number of people to come back first thing Sunday to try to get on the sketch list. I didn’t expect anyone to actually come through with this offer, but they all did! Ten minutes after opening on Sunday my sketch list was again full and I knew I’d be busy right up until the closing minute. I also sold a really healthy amount of prints and I moved the Guns preview book off the table at a rate twice that of other successful cons. I want to give big, enormous, no, ginormous thanks to everyone who came by the table and got a book, a print, a sketch, or just came by to talk and tell me they liked my work, that really means a lot.

I wish I had a boatload of pictures to share from my weekend, but like I said, I was just too busy. I couldn’t even stop to take pictures of the myriad of great costumers as they passed by my table. Save for just one, and if you check out my pics you’ll see why I just had to snap that photo: All Hail Skroob! This was my first experience of the Baltimore Comic Con and I recommend this show to anyone who can attend. I know I’ll definitely be back next year!

On Friday I traveled to San Diego for the gargantuan mega event known as Comic-Con, and to attend the Eisner Awards that night.

This was my first time attending the awards ceremony, and I got to see it from the cool kids side of the velvet rope. Jim, Barry Miller, Steve Bryant, and I arrived early to find our assigned table and raid the buffet. Cash bar(What’s up with that? I cannot let it go!) but Mexican buffet was tasty, so I piled it high on the plate. I had to be careful not to spill any on my fancy new sport coat, bought especially for the event. I looked pretty snazzy if I do say so myself.

Going into the awards, I knew our chances of winning for Best Digital Comic were slim to none. But I couldn’t help but hold out a little hope, and conjure the experience in my mind of what it would be like if we won. I had rehearsed an acceptance speech in my head over and over during my cross country plane ride. Going into the room, I was asked if I was nervous, and actually, I wasn’t one bit. Ours was one of the earlier categories, and as the moment grew closer, that’s when I got some butterflies in the belly. I could feel the heart starting to race and the blood pumping. The closer we got to the deciding moment, the more I seemed to think “What if?” and “This could really happen!” As the names of the nominees were read, a giant image of the comic and creator names flashed up on the screen, it was thrilling when our time came and there was the title page from Chapter one of The Guns of Shadow Valley, as big as a wall, for everyone to see. Our pals in the audience let out hollers that could be heard throughout the hall, and that gave me a lot of pride. The winner was about to be read, my heart jumped into my throat, time slowed, and if that instant had lasted any longer I probably would have keeled over. But the moment was not ours.

The image and name that flashed on the screen was that of Cameron Stewart for his work Sin Titulo. It’s a fantastic comic, one of my favorites I read every time it’s updated, and he deserved the award. But I’ll tell you this honestly, it was a real bummer. My heart dropped out of my throat and sank into an abyss. I couldn’t really say anything for a few moments, my friends around the table looked at me and Jim and I patted each other on the back, and Jim said “Next year, dude.” Steve plopped a fresh Guinness down in front of me. The darkness only lasted a few moments. There was a little empty space in my chest the rest of the evening, but I decided to put it aside and enjoy the experience of my first Eisner nomination and ceremony. I do really feel truly honored to be a nominee, it’s been a high point of my career. We’ve only been publishing Guns for a year now, and the first chance we get, we come away with an Eisner nomination, alongside some of the very best in the business. I think that’s pretty incredible.

I didn’t get to make an acceptance speech, but here’s some of the people I was planning to thank:

All of our fans.
My old buddies in Chicago.
My new friends in Pittsburgh.
The comic podcast community, especially my friends at Comic Geek Speak and 11 O’Clock Comics for constantly expressing their support.
My brothers in arms at Dial R studios.
Steve Bryant for encouraging me to submit to the Eisners and for all the advice.
Thomas Mauer for his amazing work as letterer.
Brent and John for showing their pride and championing their little brother
Amber, for all the love, support and encouragement.
Jim for being a great collaborator, partner and friend in this crazy venture over the years.
And especially my Dad and Mom, I never would have been able to do any of this if not for the fact that they believed in me every step of the way, fostered my talents, still support me in a myriad of ways, and always encourage me to follow my dream.

And I would have dedicated the award, and I still dedicate this nomination, to my Grandmother, whom I very recently lost. Whenever I visited her as a kid, with a stack of comics in my hands, she always called them my “funny books”. I would protest “These are serious! Daredevil is not funny!” I will always miss here dearly.

On Saturday I got to hang out at the show, using the Dial R booth as a home base, I set out with my portfolio packets in hand to try and drum up some business, make connections, all stuff you’re supposed to do as a struggling creator at these shows. I dropped one off at the slot in the wall at the DC booth, gave some out to a people at a few different publishers. It’s tough to figure out who to talk to at some of these places. Even when you know the names of some of the editors, you may not know what they look like, and most of the time their badges are facing the wrong direction, or they are super busy, such as when the booth is packed because some actor turned comic writer is signing for an hour. My pal Tony Fleece is awesome, not just because of his superior comics work and winning personality, but also because he introduced me to some the editors he knows at various publishers. I received some very encouraging feedback and I’m hoping it will lead to awesome things.

Walking around on the floor of the con is, for me, an exhausting and frustrating experience. I’m just not big on crowds, and that is what you get at the San Diego show. It can be tough talking to anybody at a table or booth for more than 30 seconds because everyone is so busy, and there’s always 10 more people surrounding you trying to get their attention. The best part always is hanging out with my friends, whom I don’t get to see nearly enough, at and especially after the show. I was only there for a day and a half, and would loved to have spent more time with these guys. I also know of a lot of people there that I totally missed. But that’s always the way it goes. I was happy that I got to come out to the show and spend the time that I did.

You can see the rest of my pictures at my flickr page and facebook.

It was so incredibly great to see so many friends again and hang out at the show, or at dinner, or at the (outrageously overpriced) Westin lobby bar after hours. I also met lets of folks for the first time whom I hope will become longtime friends too. I ate at Mert’s soulfood restaurant twice. The show is almost worth it just to eat there.

It was over a 7 hour drive each way from Pittsburgh, but the trip was made much easier carpooling with Chad and Keith. Conversation, and the ability to sleep for a bit in the passenger seat, always makes these trips shorter. And big thanks to Alan, Tony, and Keith who let me crash in their room Thursday through Saturday, and Darren and Jon for giving me a roof Sunday night.

I wish I could mention and thank every single person I saw and met at the show, but the list would be pages long and I’m sure I’ll mistakenly leave somebody out, and I hate to do that. So let me just give the biggest thank you I can possibly managed to everyone I got to see again, and meet for the first time. Thanks to everyone who came by the table and picked up a print, a sketchbook, a copy of the Guns of Shadow Valley preview book, a t-shirt, an original sketch, or even just for a bit of conversation. Talking with folks is my favorite thing to do at these shows. And thanks to all those who cam by to congratulate me on the Eisner nomination, I really do appreciate the sentiments and they mean a lot to me.

If you ever get a chance to go to Heroes Con, DO IT! This convention is one no comic book fan should miss. And if you do, I hope you stop by my table and say hello. I’m going to do my darnedest to be at this show every year. The weekend was just way too short. But, it’s good to be home. I have a metric ton of work to get to. I missed Amber all weekend long and it’s so good to be back in my baby’s arms. I even missed that chubby orange furball Rusty.

I’ve posted a bunch of photos from the show at my Facebook page and flickr. (I never take as many photos as I want and I’m always disappointed by who and what I missed getting an image of). The Facebook ones have some more captions to help fill out my con experience. Here’s just a few to get you started:

I overheard from several folks working that weekend that it was a pretty slow crowd, and at no time did the floor look anywhere close to being packed with people, but business for me was usually pretty brisk during the three days of the con. From the start on Friday I had a steady flow of visitors, and the ratio of those who were interested in actually getting stuff, as opposed to just browsing, was pleasantly high. Many offered me congratulations for the Eisner Nomination, which felt really gratifying. I will admit, I felt a little like a celebrity because of it, and my ego being what it is, I didn’t mind a bit! I had a lot of sketch requests, as well as continuous sales of the books and prints from the table. Actually, I got so many sketch requests that I was trapped behind the table for pretty much the whole con. I think I got out from behind the table twice, not counting bathroom breaks. Once on Friday for a few short minutes to walk the floor and again on Saturday for a fantastic experience, which I’ll talk about in a moment.

Amber couldn’t be there on Friday due to work, so after the first day of the show, I stopped by her place and we continued on to the famous Geek Throwdown at the Gypsy Cafe. Our friends Jim and Mel run the Gypsy, a really nice, intimate and friendly Mediterranean/Eastern European themed restaurant. Being a huge comic geek, Jim basically closes the restaurant early to the general public and has free dinner and drinks prepared for anyone attending the convention. He prepared seven dishes, the theme being the emotional color spectrum as shown in recent Green Lantern and Blackest Night comics from DC. The tastes and flavors were truly eclectic and inspired. Jim is a real creative talent when it comes to food and his abilities were on display that night. The whole room was a big family of friends, old and new. A massive thanks to Jim and Mel for what must be a sizable expense of time and money. It was a really wonderful time.

Young Spidey and DD:

Amber sat with me at the table for the first halves of both Saturday and Sunday before exploring the con herself, getting interviews, and acting as one of the judges for the most popular event at the con, the costume contest. She showed off the Guns t-shirt in her cowgirl outfit, and charmed all the men in both her Invisible Woman and Firestar costumes. Which brings me to perhaps one of the best con experiences I have ever had. Amber knows legendary artist and inker Joe Sinnott. Joe was one of several headline guests at the con, and she really wanted me to meet him. We met ever so briefly on Saturday morning, but Amber wanted us to get together and really meet for a few minutes. Joe and I were both pretty busy at our respective tables, Joe much more so than me, and I didn’t want to cut in on his rather sizable line he always had going in front of his table. We checked in a couple of times, and Amber went back and forth to see when a good time to go over would be. Finally, we head over to his table when he was scheduled to be returning from a panel. Joe and his son Mark, who acts kind of like Joe’s manager, were extremely kind and gracious to me. They are warm hearted folks who, once they meet you for the first time, treat you like you’ve known each other for years. That’s when Mark mentioned that Joe had something for me. He pulls out an envelope and Joe presents me with a remarkable drawing of one of my characters! I was floored, I mean, absolutely stunned! I could barely say anything as a lump grew in my throat. You see, recently, I have been asking fans and artists to draw my characters from Guns of Shadow Valley to put up on a Gallery Page I was constructing for the website. Apparently, Amber had conspired with Mark to have Joe create such a piece for me. Joe mentioned that he really likes to draw cowboys, and I think it showed because it is just a masterful piece of artwork. It’s a pencil drawing, but with dark, confident strokes that I call inking with lead. It’s an example of why this man is a legend in the field. As Joe presented this incredible gift to me, I looked over at the giant grin on Amber’s face. She set this whole thing up for me and caught me completely by surprise. It was amazing and it reminded me of what a lucky guy I am.

Saturday night a bunch of us went to Mad Mex, a big and loud mexican place that serves some pretty fantastic food. Our group thinned a little as we settled at the bar in the Double Tree hotel next to the convention center. It was a fun time between friends which occasionally included some very strange, and hilarious, conversation. Another group of finely dressed retirement aged folks, whom we figured were not with the convention, began populating the lounge along with all the comic geeks. Apparently there was a class reunion in town, and they seemed to be having just as much fun as all us young whippersnappers. Bryan Deemer of Comic Geek Speak fame asked a gentleman what his group was there for, and without missing a beat he replies “We’re making a porno!”

Rawhide Kid by Joe Sinnott:

Sunday, the crowd on the floor seemed pretty sedate. Which was fine for me as I had a lot of sketches to get finished before the end of the show. I still have two to finish here at home for folks who were understanding enough to let me mail their pieces to them. At some point during the day, Joe and Mark Sinnott stopped by the table, and Joe presented me with another sketch! Can you believe it? This one was another great looking piece with the Rawhide Kid as subject, complete with the windswept background of monument valley. The generosity of these people is really boundless. Mark had asked me earlier to draw a little sketch on a card for him, but I heard he really liked Swamp Thing, and I love to draw Swamp Thing, so I cooked him up a full 9×12 head sketch. It was the least I could do for all the big hearted kindness they had shown me. Just meeting Joe would have been an honor, everything else just blew me away. It really does the heart good when the immense talent of an individual is surpassed by the value of their personal character. And that character apparently runs in the family.

Financially and creatively, the Pittsburgh Comicon was a great success for me. More importantly, I saw lots of awesome friends that weekend, and made a bunch more. I know I say this kind of stuff every time but it really is true. This is really why I go to these conventions.

On to the future! This weekend I’ll be set up for Free Comic Book Day at a great shop here in Pittsburgh, Phantom of the Attic in Oakland. I’ll be there from 11-4 on Saturday, May 1. If you’re going to be in the area, please come on by, say hello, get some free comics and free conversation!

And in just a few weeks, I’ll be traveling to Fort Wayne Indiana for the inaugural weekend of the Summit City Comic Con, May 22, 10-6. Hosted by the fine folks at Discount Comic Book Service, they’ve got a lineup of around 80 comic creators there. It looks to be a really fun show!

Here’s just a few pics, you can see the rest on my facebook or flickr:
Frankenstein’s Monster head sketch:

Chad Cicconi and Bryan Deemer at The Gypsy Cafe:

Shade and Sandman:

Logan, as Deadpool, with his Deadpool sketch card:

As for myself, I was on the Costumes and Comics panel along with a member of the 501st Stormtroopers, Jamal Igle, and Mike “I Will Eat Your Children as a Snack and then Make You get me a Soda” Norton. The panel was hosted by Amber Love aka The SuperHero Stylist. She has a great YouTube channel for her con footage, interviews, and comic book reviews. The complete recording of the Costumes panel can be found there. Here’s a clip where I talk about what it takes to research and develop costumes for a Western.

Okay, this next video is just for fun. At the Saturday night party at 3rd and Spruce, Amber and Jon Carroll had arranged for there to be a karaoke setup. (There’s other videos of this on Amber’s YouTube as well.) I had to get in on that, but what to sing? After changing my mind three times, I finally came back to an old favorite of mine. Written by Shel Silverstein and originally performed by The Man in Black, ladies and gentlemen, A Boy Named Sue: