FULL BLEED: LIFE IS SHORT AND FULL OF STUFF

EMERALD CITY COMIC-CON 2015

Last time I exhibited at Emerald City Comic Con was probably 2010 or maybe 2011. I’m not sure I ever sold THE THIRSTY there, actually. Anyways, it’s been a long time. Really been a long time since I went to anything other than a local show (my definition of local being sorta flexible since I like to drive, so I’ll take a two-and-a-half-hour trip to San Jose or a shorter trip to Stockton to get my cheap back issue fix. That and going to see other people (since I mostly live in a large skinner box, administering treatments to my children and keeping the Wire Mother maintained and in working order.)

So yeah, this whole get in a plane and fly to a show is kind of a big deal. And I wouldn’t even be doing that if it weren’t for Twitter (now real-life-) friend Rich Amtower, who got me hooked up with a 3-day pass (yeah, those sold out a little while ago). So thanks, Rich. But it’s also kind of a scary threshold to cross for a show, when folks have to line up to get their entertainment fix. I know that there’s nothing to be done to change that. This isn’t a dig on the management of the show. They’re confined to the available space, and they’ve just filled it up. Demand outstrips supply. Happens. Just means I need to be more on the ball.

And honestly, there’s no changes to be made to it. Yes, the show is going to a four-day format next year, but that won’t change a darn thing. It’ll still be just as busy (barring devastating meteor impact or retrovirus or resurrected dinosaur rampage) next year. Unless I’m exhibiting (yeah, it could happen), I can’t see being there for all four days next time around, but I bet most of the regular con-goers will find a way to make that happen.

Pretty sure that the last time I was here, the show was only using part of the main floor, and it felt plenty big. This year, it’s all of the main floor, several side rooms and the entirety of the top floor was being used as autographs/celebrity holding pen and a second artist’s alley (which I sadly did not get as much chance to explore as I wanted to.) The whole building is being utilized. Which makes ECCC #2 or #3 in comic con attendance, probably #3 now that I think on it more, behind SDCC and NYCC. Nowehere else to go except to a secondary building, which doesn’t seem to be a possibility.

Huge. Well-managed growth. Almost unrecognizable from the old shows at Safeco from what must be nearly ten years ago now, maybe not quite that long. Hats off to the team, ’cause I’d have driven the works off the end of a pier long ago.

Spent the night before the trip up not sleeping because that’s how I work. It’s fun. You should try it. You get to wander around in a daze even before you’ve had the first drink of the night. Read Peter York’s STYLE WARS on the plane ride up (and back). Can’t recommend it enough (and in turn it was recommended to me by fellow traveller Andrew Weiss). Anyone who’s interested in culture/class/fashion/music/history will have something to chew on there. Since I’m interested in all four, I was in bliss.

Until my taxi hit the Seneca turn-off of I-5 and was stuck in traffic for what seemed like an hour. Soul-destroying traffic back-up there. Always. Checked in at the hotel which was nicer than I deserve, I’m sure, but on the far side from the convention center (though there was an upside to that, as once you got two blocks away from Pike or University, the crowds disappeared.) Walked over to the Barnes and Noble to kill some time. Read over the wall of offerings in the SF section and was kind of appalled. Sure, there’s some good stuff. But there’s a whole damn lot of samey stuff that seemed to be selected and promoted on the same basis as we choose politicians: lack of experience, relative un-taintedness from time in the industry, ready made franchises that promise four books of the same experience over and over. Hell, I just want one good one. Doesn’t even have to be long.

Oh, and reading the magazine section made me feel like I’d fallen back in time to maybe 2003. All of these fancy publications carefully curated and offering content that’s weeks or months old already. ADBUSTERS felt positively quaint compared to my tumblr feed, and I tend to cull anti-establishment types (who aren’t entertaining) pretty quickly. Besides, where would I put any of these magazines once I bought them? The content’s already at the magazine’s site. Why buy the paper?

More on that later, I suppose.

Met with the aforementioned Rich and got my badge, headed over to the show. Even at noon, there were a lot of people still sludging up the escalators and walkways. Big crowd. Big crowd on the mezzanines. Big crowds taking pictures of the elaborate cosplayers. Big crowds eating up the hallways of the main room. I wasn’t ready for that. Got in and looked around, saying “this ain’t so bad” and then figuring out that this was only the first room (of three, and only the second biggest one at that). Knew I was in trouble then. Pushed my way ahead to the Image booth and chat with a friend, grab a copy of KINSKI (of which I’d only read the first four chapters on the tablet before figuring that I was just going to buy it.) Tried to take in only a bit of input at a time. I do overwhelm easy. Delicate brain and all that.

Gotta say that Boom! sure had a sweet set-up being in the hallway between main halls. You want to talk high-traffic? They got it. Hope it did well for ‘em as I’m sure that it cost a pretty penny. Funny how Image and Boom were the biggest publisher set ups there. Dark Horse and Valiant came kinda close (though DH was more boutique than freebie table, as publishers often roll in shows like this.) Of course Marvel and DC weren’t there with booth presences. You knew that already. Funny how I’ve gotten used to that. Can remember for a long time that Marvel only showed up at Wizard shows and not even at SDCC in the lean years of 2002-2004. And it’s also interesting to see that the publishers are here to sell, not just to educate. Wonder if this is still a topic for discussion amongst retailers. Remember there being some irritation about that (particularly debuting books at shows, which made me nervous when I was first debuting STRANGEWAYS and I broke my own street date. Of course, that only matters when it’s a big book that retailers might actually order in quantity — ahem.)

Found the artist’s alley on the other side, in the big hall. Started meeting up with folks. Jeff Parker/Tom Fowler were easy to find, right at the end of the main hall in where it dead-ended. Talked with both for awhile. Watched Tom draw for awhile which is still pretty intimidating. He makes it look easy. Still pleased that he’s doing a Cronenberg-esque story for the next STRANGEWAYS book (and his art will even be in shortly). Gabriel Hardman and Corinna Bechko were right around the corner (you all are reading INVISIBLE REPUBLIC, right?) and got to chat with the two of them for some time, looking through pages I should buy but don’t have the money to. He’s another of the great storytellers in comics (which is what it’s about) who never seems to get the credit that he’s due. If I had the money, I’d have him draw Baron Karza and then I’d get all enthused and try to sell him on my MICRONAUTS pitch, which starts with Arcturus Rann saying “You could have done anything and yet you chose THIS!” sweeping his arm and indicating a world left in ruin, then kicking Karza’s ass and starting to rebuild the Microverse from the rubble.

Luckily, I didn’t do any of that. Did go for lunch with Dylan Todd and Sequential Matt (which is a good way of distinguishing him from Me Matt) at Qdoba I think (a step up from Chipotle, but not authentico) and talk about comics and movies and why UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING was one of the best films of 2012 or 2013, whichever, and why I’m wary of named movements (particularly when the names seem guaranteed to be treated as click-bait) in criticism/culture/hot takes. Pretty sure I met Ken Lowery in there somewhere too, which is one of those strange moments when you finally get to meet someone who you’ve been talking with for more than ten years now. That’s at least a generation in popcult circles, maybe more, so it almost felt like meeting someone who’d survived the same psychic wars that you had. Grabbed a copy of LIKE A VIRUS (written by Ken, art by Robert Wilson III) and another of Ken’s comic projects, which I’ll need to get to soon.

Hung out with Steve Lieber for a bit, picked up the SUPERIOR FOES OF SPIDER-MAN trades and am really liking that. It was the kind of book that I really wanted to write with the Paladin during the great Epic Comics Pitchfest of 2003 (still have the pitch document somewhere) so even if it took several years after, it finally came around. Steve’s the perfect cartoonist for it, too, grounded when it needs, but unafraid to break the rules of that when a double-take is the only reaction that will do. Picked up a copy of BAD HOUSES from Sara Ryan (with art by Carla Speed McNeil) and that’s on the ever-growing reading pile as well. Glanced up and down the offerings at artist’s alley, some very good, some okay, much of it not to my taste whatsoever (but then I’m not a collector of original pin-up art or the like and have very damn little space for art on my walls anymore.)

I know that I saw more and did more that night, but I know I punched out of the show early to lie down for a bit. I’d been up since before 5 and the folks I was meeting for dinner wanted to hit a bar (or several) after dinner and if I was going to keep up (spoiler alert: I didn’t), I was going to need to start on some kind of foundation of not being exhausted. Great dinner at a Tiki place whose name escapes me, sushi, adobo chicken wings and more sake than I usually drink. Good thing I paced myself. Great time sitting and chatting in a pretty quiet place, though the playlist leaning on Bob Marley was pretty hard going for a little while. Wander down to Pike Place Market in the dark, take in the atmosphere, argue about film versus digital and then visit the liquor store on 2nd Street which was right out of PRINCE OF DARKNESS. Yeah, that was fun. Then back to the Sheraton bar to check out the scene. Sure, it was busy, but the Sheraton bar isn’t really that big. Or I’m jaded. Could be. Talked more (the NDAs are air-tight so I’m not saying a damn thing) and finally gave in, stalking back to my room where I promptly not-slept for a good long time. Bleah.

Up too early Saturday morning. Wandered down to Pike Place to get some breakfast and visit the market, which is always a good way to kill a morning. Ate at Lowell’s (outstanding corned beef hash) overlooking Puget Sound, gulping coffee to keep the fires stoked. Spent near an hour taking pictures of the market offerings and neon and the weirdly cthuloid sculpture in one of the side atria. Tried to square this version of Pike Place with the one that I remember from being a kid and visiting in the early eighties. This one smelled nicer, though it was more touristy.

Finally started getting a handle on the show, covering some ground. Caught up with Carla McNeil (you’re all reading FINDER, right?) Got a copy of the #1 issue of NO MERCY (with Carla on art, Alex de Campi writing). Got to talk with her a bit about the project she’s (hoepfully) doing with me for the next STRANGEWAYS book. I’m keeping fingers crossed on this one. I’m a patient dude. Even if it doesn’t happen, Carla’s one of my dearest friends in comics (since we crossed paths at SDCC and hung out at several shows, including the one time I’ve done an east coast show in Baltimore in maybe 2008, before I’d even watched THE WIRE.) She does great work and FINDER is really one of the most unique books out there, mixing science fiction, crime, fantasy, romance and nearly everything else.

Talked with Ramon Villalobos. Kept lingering over the Unknown Pleasures Psylocke ink drawing in his collection. I’ll probably break one day if he hasn’t sold it by then. I guess I’ll get my chance at Big Wow/Super-Con in San Jose in about a month. I’ve seen other pages of a thing he’s working on (with Dennis Culver) for Dark Horse and they’re pretty spectacular, so keep an eye out for that when it happens. Chatted with Dennis too, learned the wonders of these super-tough stands for displaying comics/art/whatever, and I’ve got to get my hands on some for when I get back in the game (which might be Rose City in September).

Saturday was also the day I started buying junky old comics. I blame Dylan. He told me about them. Okay, that’s a lie. By the time he told me about them, I’d already been rummaging through the bins. MAN-WOLF, KILLRAVEN and STRANGE TALES were the order of the day. Sure, there’s some mixed other Marvel reprint books in there, odd martian adventures (one with a Steranko cover), some STAR WARS and LOIS LANE comics as well. Most of them were a buck. I paid five whole dollars for an issue of STRANGE TALES with Doctor Strange facing off against Eternity, so, totally worth the money. I mean when a modern book is four bucks, it’s hard not to justify spending a buck on a comic, y’know? Specially when I can take pictures of them and monetize those with ad revenue and… Wait a minute… I missed a step in there, I think.

I’d be back at those bins a number of times. Like I said, prices on these have dropped and I really don’t care if they’re nearly falling apart, so long as they’re readable. But I’m not paying twenty five bucks for an issue of THE AVENGERS from the post-Kirby era. Come on. I can get that stuff for cheap with some nicks and tears and character.

Met an old friend for lunch and by old I mean just out of college old. Well, not just out, but a couple years after. Brian MacDonald, who has forgotten more about music than I’ll ever remember (and produced/engineered the first Roswell Incident LP, almost 20 years ago now). Walked out for pho and it was worth it, just to get out of the show for a little while as much as anything. I am getting old, y’know. Talked about a personal project that he’s working on and when it gets finished, I really want to work through it. Should be interesting, so here’s hoping that he gets time to do it.

Did a run-through of the upstairs area and that was enough. I don’t go to comic shows to meet celebrities (though I kick myself for not talking to Crispin Glover the one time I saw him at a table at SDCC with nobody around), much less shell out for autographs or photo ops. Not my thing. I mean, maybe if Peter Weller was there. Or Kurt Russell. Fred Williamson, definitely. As mentioned before, there was another artist’s alley upstairs (seemingly split between self-published authors and artists) and it was the road less-traveled. The problem with any of these auxiliary areas is that they’re just not getting the traffic that the main areas do. If I’d been put up there, I’d not have been happy.

Which of course reveals one of the logistical problems with shows this size. There’s only so many places where they can be held and still have them work. ECCC is about to out-grow the Seattle Convention Center, just as SDCC threatens to do the same for its home city. Yeah, I suppose these are good problems to have. But when you talk about a show capping capacity because of external logistics now (not simply the convention centers), something will break. Or maybe I under-estimate the demand of these things. If people bail out, I suppose there are others who will rush to fill in.

Speaking of which, ECCC has to be the only show I’ve been to recently that had scalpers out front loudly announcing their (probably maybe not counterfeit) badges for sale or purchase (which is yes, a violation of the terms of agreement for purchasing a badge in the first place). Maybe it happens at SDCC, but I’d have figured it would’ve been happening years ago when I was still attending that show (no, I’m not going, I said maybe a hundred times at this show). Of course, a Saturday badge would have cost you eighty bucks at two in the afternoon, so that’s probably not cost effective unless you really really want to get in.

The only single piece of cosplay that really stood out on Saturday was the AIM/MODOK team on one of the mezzanines. Oh wait, there was a Mark 2 Space Marine Terminator as well. I only saw that one disassembled, but it was still pretty impressive. Apparently there’s a group of Russian folks who have a template for this sort of thing up online so you can make one at home yourself. I’ve no interest in it, but I’ll admire the work of others.

Heard a recurring story over the weekend which reminds me that no matter how big you think you might be in comics, you aren’t big enough to outrun burning bridges. I mean, don’t take a dump right where you eat, okay? Because that’ll stick with you. And I’ll just leave that at that. But honestly, we’re all people here. We all deserve to be treated with a minimum of goddamn dignity and that golden parachute that you think will save you from the plane going down? Well it might have holes in it and you might need friends later.

No, I’m not talking about my career, ha ha.

Rummaged through more old junky comics boxes and came out with a ton of stuff, most of which I brought back and pawed through over at Steve Lieber’s table (it’s good to have a friend who has a chair open), admiring various work by Steranko, Severin, Ditko and Schaffenberger (wow did he have a thing going) between sales, drunk on the smell of decaying pulp.

Called it a day, dinner of Thai food (and overpriced cider) with friends at a place on third. We were apologetically told that we couldn’t be seated in the noisy restaurant, but instead in the quiet and clearing-out bar upstairs, which was pretty perfect. Good to get out and talk with grownups. Many of you might not know this, but I’m Mr. Mom when I’m not writing/etc and I don’t get out all that often, much less with people who know the difference between John Byrne and John Buscema. So this is what conventions are really about for me. Talked into going to the Dark Horse party. Did so. Downstairs was eighteen-dollar whiskey and the people I knew leaving after a few minutes. Staggered home, passed off a chance to be taken to the mythical “upstairs” and no regrets. I only read two Frank Thorne issues of RED SONJA before I fell asleep. I wouldn’t have been the life of the party. Or worse, I’d have ended up being it. No thanks. I don’t need to end up on that site.

Sunday was breakfast at Ludi’s (Longsilog – sausage and eggs and a ton of garlic rice, and when you say “lots of garlic rice” on the menu, I’m there). Second breakfast at Daily Dozen because super-hot fresh doughnuts are irresistible. Marched up to the show in time for it to open at a little past ten. There were a lot of people there. Like too many. Next year is going to be a challenge.

Sunday was really more of the same, though more concentration on looking at what was out there and wondering where to make my work fit in. Have to admit, every time I saw a weird western thing, I twinged. Nobody, but nobody was doing that when I started STRANGEWAYS. [EDIT – WEIRD WESTERN TALES was an anthology that happened about the time I was shopping STRANGEWAYS around.] No I didn’t invent the goddamn genre, but I was reppin’ it when nobody else was. The fact that there aren’t more books of mine out there is on nobody but me. Sure, there’s other factors, but it’s still me at the center of ‘em. I’d rather wait to put out the book that I wanted to put out than ditch the artist I wrote the story for and just find someone who can get pages out fast. It’s a book I want to do, and it’s got to be done my way. Good thing I’m a patient dude.

That said, still wondering how a lot of this business floats. Lots of professional-looking books and packages out there that I wouldn’t see anywhere but a show. And even when I did great (like at Wonder-Con one year) I’m making table and maybe hotel. Portland shows were different because I crash with friends and just have to cover the flight, but rarely do that plus food plus table. Yeah, I know. get more books out there. Be a real publisher. Sell some merch. Not what I got in the business for. I got in to write and to write stuff that other people weren’t writing. Still there.

Was talking with Ed Piskor and another writer/artist and I joked about quitting. “It’s okay to quit, just so long as you don’t quit forever.” I’ll stand by that advice, watery as it might be. Ed also told a great story about talking to Steve Lieber at Pittsburgh comic shows when Ed was much younger, and that Steve gave the kind of advice you couldn’t pay for. This is one of the reasons why Steve is the best. Well that and he often has a free chair for you to be exhausted in. Got to chat with fellow Speakeasy Survivor Josh Fialkov for a little bit. Curious to see what he has up on deck in the PACIFIC RIM comic book for Legendary. 

I didn’t so much leave the show on Sunday as I fled it. I was done. I’ve only done one-day shows for awhile. Three days might be too much unless I’m exhibiting (and that’s a different kind of draining.) Hid out at the airport for several hours, wondering if I even had a flight booked or not for most of the weekend (long story). Watched the last five or so episodes of HANNIBAL’s second season which had both low and high points for the series. Read more STYLE WARS on the plane, so lost in everything that I didn’t even notice that Ramon was on the plane with me until I ran into him at the luggage carousel at a little past midnight. Felt bad. I’ll do better next time. Gotta do better.

Until then.