A lot of interesting documentation has come out of the SuperShow in the form of photos, blog entries, podcasts and videos. There’s a forum dedicated to just the show where you can find links to this material.

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:

Last weekend I attended the Pittsburgh Comicon. My second time at the show, it was the first time I actually attended as a local creator since moving to Pittsburgh late last year. This town seems to have a tight knit, very active, and talented local comic creators scene. This convention is what I might characterize as a medium size show, with lots of vendors and creators, but small enough to have plenty of face time with everyone and anyone you may want to meet. (more…)

What can I say about Heroes Con that hasn’t been said before? Everybody knows it’s one of the premier comic book conventions in the country. Everybody knows that the level of talent assembled under the roof of the Charlotte Convention Center is nothing short of amazing. Everybody knows that the good folks from Heroes Aren’t Hard to Find who organize the show are top notch, really take care of their guests and attendees, and do it for the love of the medium. So what else can I say? How about the facts that I had a terrific time at this, my second year of Heroes Con, and that it was extremely successful. This is a show for art lovers. While I sold a nice amount of sketchbooks, prints, some t-shirts, and sold out of the Guns of Shadow Valley preview book(again!), what the people wanted above all else was original art, which from me, meant convention sketches. I did a large amount of pre-orders before the show and I was still swamped by requests all weekend long. I hate to turn people down, but I had to do so if I wanted to get everything done by the end of the show and still manage to get onto the con floor for an hour or two to see just a little of what my fellow exhibitors had to offer. I did get to see a bit of the show Sunday, I bought only a few items, including some art for Amber, as she was unfortunately unable to come with me to the show. If I had unlimited funds, I could have spent many thousands of dollars on the show floor, the stuff their is just so good.

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:

At the most excellent Summit City Comic Con, I was asked to be a part of the Webcomics panel, along with Katie Cook (Clone Wars- Gronk!), Mike Schwartz (Oceanverse) , and Andrew Fraizer (Bridgette’s Belly). Hopefully, I don’t sound too much like a stuttering idiot. I probably do. Thanks to John Siuntres at Word Balloon for moderating, recording, and posting this. Check it out at the Word Balloon site.

Listen directly: here.