Comic Con 2007: Convention Report Part 1

I’ve finally recovered from an awesome Comic con appearance in San Diego. I can’t say how terrific it was to meet everyone — from diehard henchmen and lackeys who came up to introduce themselves to new recruits who will be converted to full-fledged goondom soon! Seriously, it was fantastic to talk to you guys out there. It totall made the trip to the Left Coast worth it! Now, on to the photos!

As always, click on the photos to see full-sized pixelly goodness.

Here’s a look at the Blank Label Comics booth, a few minutes before we opened for Preview night. As in convention appearances past, we draped everything in BLC orange. This has been the topic of heated debate — among fans and amongst ourselves — but the fact of the matter is (a) We’ve become identified with the color and (b) We really stand out at a convention. In case you’ve never met some of us, it’s (l to r) Howard “Schlock Mercenary” Tayler; David “Shortpacked” Willis; Paul “Wapsi Square” Taylor; Kristofer “Starslip Crisis” Straub; and Dave “Sheldon” Kellett.

Another view of the booth (with Willis and Taylor mugging for the camera). It really was a sweet-looking booth. Check out the orange lights showing off the displays inside the cubes and the T-shirt display in the middle. Coupled with the table-top displays, we were able to get our stuff in front of as many eyes as possible. We put an awful lot of thought into the appearance — and ever more hard work — and I have to say, we looked it.

You wanna know one of the true highlights of the week for me? Meeting Kristofer Straub’s lovely girlfriend, Erica. Erica volunteered to act as our cashier for a couple of the days. She worked every bit as hard as any one of us — maybe harder. Because we had to maximize table space, she had to do everything she did from an awkward position, and she had to handle many tansactions at once. Not once did I hear a complaint — to the contrary, her presence was absolute sunshine for us. I got to know Erica a little better as the week went on, and I have to say, I think she’s one of the all-time greats.

OK, so this camera team comes walking by, and Yours Truly jumps to his hind legs to get a BLC media kit into their hands. The guy hands me a microphone and says, “Why don’t you tell us about Blank Label?” Actually, he got about as far as “Why don’t you–” and I was off to the races. I went down the table, I did a brief synopsis of each of our comics after explaining the webcomic co-op concept of BLC. Quick-thinking Howard Tayler, after I finished praising “Schlock Mercenary,” jumped around to the other side of the table with his camera to catch me in action.

In this shot, the action is my bald spot. Expanding. Almost at the same pace as my ass.

By this time, I’ve just finishing fumbling through a “Sheldon” promo, and, as if he knows how badly I’m going to screw-up the “Starslip” talk, Kris shoots me the “shoot me now” look to the balding cartoonist you love so dearly. Look at Kellet. Chuckling to himself. He’s just trying to keep back the tears that welled up in his eyes when I described “Sheldon” to the camera as “A comic strip about the man who wrote ‘I Dream of Jeanie.'”

I haven’t seen the completed report from the crew we talked to — and perhaps the whole darned thing wound up on the proverbial cutting-room floor. If it ever airs — or gets posted — I’ll be sure to give you the heads-up here.