Saturday night dinner: Andy recommended Maria’s, a nice Mexican place just up the street. It was a great restaurant, elegant without being pretentious. The food was terrific in that slightly higher end Mexican style, but with really decent prices. The low lights and wondering musician with light finger picking on his acoustic guitar made for a relaxing atmosphere with a touch of class. We had a big group, a dozen of us that evening. The lively conversation was at times humorous and enlightening. Back to the Hyatt once again where I just have to give thanks to Zack and Ben for bringing your backpack to the Hyatt!

That Sunday, as Sunday’s almost always are, was slow. I finished up a few sketches and took a little time on the show floor. Andy did an amazing drawing from Where the Wild Things Are for me. Later in the day came the time for goodbye’s as many were leaving that afternoon. It can never last long enough and a little piece of me dies with every “goodbye”. Well, maybe it’s not that dramatic, but the day was marked by a tinge of sadness as we parted. We packed up and headed out the door, where were were met with air the consistency of a hot creme soup. Soaked in sweat by the time we reached the hotel, I was thankful that Pat and our brother from the UK, Nick T, were there to help Andy and I with our stuff. It was in the Crowne Plaza parking lot that I said goodbye to Pat and later Andy. It was fantastic to see and hang with you once again and I’m proud to share table space under the Dial R banner with you guys!

Then to Gino’s East again, this time it was just Steve Bryant, Jim Nelson, and myself. It was nice to have a small relaxing dinner after the end of the show. I picked the brains of these two veterans and made some preparations for the future. I spent the last night in the hotel room by myself, caught up on some desperately needed sleep and drove back home the next day. Actually, first to my parent’s house where my mom had a big scrumptious meal waiting and I retrieved Rusty(my cat). He was happy to have me home.

There was a lot of negative press for this show before it even started. I can only speak for myself, but I had a fantastic time. The show has really hopping. Saturday, the floor was more crowded than I had ever seen it in my five years of attending. Sure, there were some little glitches, as is true of any show. But everyone I heard from, both dealers and Artists, had a successful show. I know I spent too much money, that’s for sure. There was just so much great stuff I wanted to get my hands on. It was a different show from years past. Less the big media spectacle in emulation of San Diego, and more back to the comic book roots. Which may seem like a strange statement in light of the lack of Marvel and DC and the abundance of media guests at autograph booths. But if you were looking to dive into back issues, nab some toys, meet tons of artists and writers, and get some real face time with them, this was the show for you. It was a show for collectors, for Indie Press aficionados, for the fanboys and fangirls, for bargain hunters, for costume players(so many great costumes!), and for art lovers. It’s great being able to reunite with old friends and make lots of new ones. I really hope the success of this year’s show means that it will be around for many years to come. If so, I’ll be there. I hope you will, too. Come on by and say hi.

More pics, see the rest at flickr:

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 12th, 2009 at 6:10 am and is filed under Artwork, Conventions, David Wachter, Old News.