Jeremy Wins Life

At first, we were concerned with our placement, unsure if people would be able to see us at all and make it behind some of the bigger booths. Luckily for us, we had nothing to be afraid of.

The “we” that I’m referring to includes me and fellow artist, former course mate, and SCAD soon-to-be graduate, Guthrie Ensor. I had planned on going alone to Asheville, but thankfully Guthrie found out I was going. We put two minds together and carpooled up, and it was the most perfect decision I made for this weekend. We had a blast sharing a a car ride up, accommodations, and mostly a table. We got to share the same experiences, talk to a lot of the same great people, and riff off each other when we recorded an interview for a podcast, and when customers came up to peruse our wares. We saw tons of people and got to talk with lots of “new fans”. And luckily for Guthrie, he will be moving back up to Asheville (he had lived here previous to Savannah), and the new-found connections he and I made will benefit him, with some possible future appearances and signings.

I sold out of my latest comic, “Stand-up Comic Book” #1 in both the Limited Black Book Edition, as well as the standard blue book run. I also ran out of stock in Jimbo Maneuver books. Both books were quite a hit at the show, so I was glad not to have to haul them back to the hotel. I was able to get away from the table and meet with Hope Larson. She was completely pleasant and both her books Chiggers and Mercury looked immaculate! I was seeing people throughout the convention clinging their copies lovingly and it made me miss my copies at home. But meeting her was definitely a highlight, and I can’t wait until the next time I see her. NOTE: Had it not been for Hope Larson and her Twitter, and the tweet she sent out about the Fanaticon organizers treating her so well 4 months in advance to the convention, I wouldn’t have signed up. So thanks!

Guthrie sat by the booth and inked some work which captivated casual attendees. To our surprise, families were gathering around him, aspiring artists loomed over his shoulders. We also attracted the likes of the media, including a photographer for the Asheville Citizen Times. You can see us both in picture 4, and a close-up of Guthrie drawing in picture 44. Also, I’m on the Mountain Express website! We both felt so honored .

Asheville is a thriving community and a wonderfully beautiful city. People really wanted to see artwork. In the beginning, we had seen only exhibitors with golden age back issues, tons of guys with action figures and Magic Cards. I certainly felt out of place as the lone self-publishing artist, but it provided some variety on the floor. We later learned that the lower level had most of the self-publishing cartoonists, and though it would’ve been fun to riff with those guys downstairs, we were perfectly comfortable in our spot and made it work for us within the hour.

There were a handful of artists we got to meet and talk shop with, including our neighbors Nicki and Mary, who were selling and receiving commissions for minimalist superhero paintings. From the booth behind out table, we met Meg of the Firestorm Cafe, whose cafe/bookstore/performance venue we later visited. They have a zine section next to their bookshelves, and there were a ton of literary zines but no comics. I wish I hadn’t sold out or else I would’ve brought some over to the store. At the con, we also got to chill with TL, Darrin, and Patrick, representing Asheville’s comic shop Comic Envy. After the convention we trekked out of downtown to see the store, and again we were impressed. I noticed tons of independent graphic novels placed in very prominent shelves. They really have a love for comics that are not just superheroes. They had books that had JUST come out, like my friend Joey Weiser’s Cavemen in Space.

We ate at Doc Chey’s, checked out the Malaprop Bookstore, hit up the True Blue art store, and Guthrie pointed out all of the landmarks to (basically) his entire life. We showed me restaurants and construction site he worked at, body shops and food stops his wife worked at. The skate shop, the free parking lot, the bar/restaurant where he proposed to his wife. He definitely brought an energy to the trip that I wouldn’t have gotten had I gone alone.

And here’s some other show notes:

• We were the only SCAD students there. That alone made it feel a little bit more special.
• There was a Ghostbuster’s car!
• The news was all over the place, and that combined with the costumers and street performers drummed up a ton of hype around our venue.
• Because it was free, it brought in all kinds of people. I was surprised to see droves of girls come in together, guys dressed in tuxes waiting on their prom dates, moms who wanted to buy my books for themselves by using their children as an excuse to buy them. We did a lot of people watching at the booth, had some great conversations, and met the great people that make up Asheville. I’m visiting again soon.
• This experience for us will never happen again. It was a feeling of surprise that just delighted our entire weekend and we couldn’t stop talking about how much fun we had at the con.

And once again, you should visit Guthrie Ensor’s portfolio and check him out. He took some boss photos and I’m really glad to have been a part of his FIRST real comic book convention experience. This one was definitely a good one to start with.

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Tags: Asheville, Comic Envy, comics, conventions, events, Fanaticon, Guthrie Ensor, North Carolina, Pack Place

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 15th, 2010 at 8:58 pm and is filed under blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.