It was around this time last year that I was wandering around the booths at the Overland Park convention center, wearing my bright yellow "Zombietowne" t-shirt and trying to impress people with my spiral-bound, floppy "Shrinking Universe" trade. I had only a few to give out, and I had to strategically choose my best bets. To other people, I sold t-shirts (or gave them away).
One year later, and so much has changed. Not as much as I'd like, but a little.
I hit up many of the same people I spoke to last year: B. Clay Moore, Daniel Spottswood, Holly Messinger, some tall guy who owns a comic book shop and bought a t-shirt from me to be supportive.
What was great was that most of them remembered me. It helps that I was wearing that same bright yellow t-shirt, so even if they didn't remember me by name they at least knew who I was. It was nice to approach a booth and have the person immediately ask me how my book was coming. I felt almost like one of the gang.
What was even better was that I could show them I had moved up a little in the world. I reached into my bag and pulled out my shiny, professionally printed books and handed them over. I felt much more legitimate, and it was a great ego boost--something I needed at this point in my fledgling career, uncertain if I really had the fortitude to keep going.
As a fan, it was also a very good con.
Actress Mira Furlan was there. She played Danielle Rousseau on my favorite TV show of all time, LOST. (I say "played" because I'm pretty sure she's not going to be in the final season, but we'll see...)
She was a great sport, especially when I asked her for what must've been one of the most unusual autograph requests of her career.
Being the huge LOST fan that I am, it didn't take long into my first issue of "Yellow" that I dropped my first reference to the show. During the introduction to the main character, Quinn Buckley, we hear his high school teacher say
"Continuing our discussion of Enlightenment thinkers, today we'll talk about Jean-Jaques Rousseau. Contrary to what you might think, he was not a crazy woman lost on an island."
Of course, I was referring to Miss Furlan's character (who herself was a reference to the philosopher). I was already excited that she was at the convention, although I had only considered having her sign my copy of the first season of LOST. When I remembered that reference, I became ecstatic.
At the second day of the convention, I approached her with the original page I drew that had that line on it, and asked her to sign it. She understandably wasn't really sure what I was talking about, or what was going on.
"Who is this for?" she said.
"Me. Just me," I replied.
"What are you going to do with it?" she asked.
"Uh, frame it and hang it on my wall for all time," I said back. She laughed and then asked where exactly I wanted it signed. The coolest part was when she stopped as she was starting to write her autograph and looked up and said, "This is really cool." Made my day.
Here's the page with her 'graph:
As a gift, I gave her a t-shirt, which she graciously accepted. And in return, she asked if she could give me a photo of her. I of course said yes, and picked out the coolest one of her as Danielle Rousseau, all dirty and jungle-fied. She signed it and handed it over and that was that. For a while.
Later, when I was getting ready to start thinking about leaving, I came by her table again and held up a copy of my comic.
"Do you have any kids?" I asked.
"Yes," she said.
"Like...over thirteen?"
"Well, eleven."
"My comic is sort of PG-13, with the language."
"Oh, my son is so ready for that. Yeah, he's so ready for that."
So I handed over a copy of "Shrinking Universe" and "Spares." I started to tell her it's about zombies but not really (my usual, awkward, I-Don't-Really-Know-How-To-Summarize pitch). She took one look at the cover of "Spares" and said "Oh, he's going to love this." Then she read the description on the brain jar, and said it again with more emphasis. I think she really meant it. I started to walk away, grinning ear to ear, when I heard her say "This is great." I turned back and she was flipping through the book. "Great use of color," she said. I talked to her about it a little more, briefly, and then left again. I came back a moment later just to let her know that if her son does like it, my contact info was in the back and I'll send him whatever he'd like. I really hope he enjoys it that much. It'd be awesome to have Son-of-Rousseau as a fan!
Also at the con I picked up some LOST action figures, which I'd wanted for a long time. These were all new in the box, and quite reasonably-priced. First it was Charlie, which I got for Emily because that's her favorite character. He was $30, even though Amazon had him listed for $75. After that I went back and bought the other two, Jack and Locke, which were $75 together. (Locke alone, meanwhile, is worth at least $100 in some circles.) All of these figures are from McFarlane Toys, which went bankrupt years ago. They printed two series of LOST figures, and had a third planned. Now, however, no one is making any figures. The guy I bought them from said another company picked up the rights to make toys and has a line of 6-inch figures planned, but as for the McFarlane diorama-style figures I bought--they're already collector's items. I don't know if I'll ever sell them, but I can imagine someday they'll be worth quite a bit of money.
And that's my report from Planet Comicon 2010. Like I said: successful overall. Both as a fan, and as a creator. I don't think I made any new industry contacts per se, but it was a great way to re-energize me and remind me of where I want to be.
My goal for next year is to have my own booth at the con, and to have at least finished my second trade. That only means I have to finish two more issues, including the one I'm currently working on. Two issues in 12 months should be very doable. If I can be partway done with a third by next year's Planet Con, I will be a very happy guy.
Hope to see you there in 2011!
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