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Send mini comics and pictures of your mom to:
P.O. Box 14234
Greenville
SC 29610
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Heroes Convention 2005
Charlotte North Carolina
June 24&26
It didn't make as much noise. Well not as much as you would think a building imploding 2 blocks away would make. The 2005 Heroes Convention was held in the Charlotte Convention Center. And on Sunday morning they blew up the Charlotte Convention Center. The old one.
I was trapped in rubble. My legs crushed and the air thick with dust. When I woke up I was fine. It was Friday night. Before I heard about the implosion happening. Sometimes dreams are funny that way.
All day Saturday the Convention was a buzz about the big event. I got a note late Saturday night. So, yes I got up Sunday morning with my buddy Rob Ullman rapping on my door. It was 7:30 and we tried to watch the building fall. And no we didn't get to see it implode. We mostly just saw smoke. Our view was obscured by another building.
This year's Heroes Convention featured the all New Indie Island. A huge area packed with killer artists and publishers. Somehow they didn't screen the guest list good enough and I got smack dab in the middle of it.
Fancy banner that ran on WAP the month before.
There was a camera crew there all weekend filming for a DVD of the show. Here they interview Jim Mahfood who was on the Making Mini-Comics panel with me, Kachalka, Ullman, Towle and Runton. Which was also recorded and ended up being a pretty good panel.
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Tap, tap, tap went my door. Rob's well written note had not worked. He ended up having to wake me up.
Foster's grandmother made him a little cape to where at the show. He can't fly yet. He's still to young for us to know what Super Powers he has.
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Mr. Pitzer finds a moment to sit among his fancy AdHouse Books banners and show off his purty teeth.
Andy Runton explains to Tom Feister the complex plot of the second Owly book, Just A Little Blue. "It's about the struggle of mankind and how we have a choice in what will become of this world we live in. Plus it's got little burdies in it," Runton says.
Duane Ballenger gets a little Top Shelf love'n from Surrogates writer Rob Venditti. The Surrogates is the first monthly "floppy" from Top Shelf Comics. He had a preview copy at the show and it looked super cool!
Old timey friends Rob Ullman and Chris Pitzer stand locked in each others gazes waiting for someone to speak first. As usual Chris Pitzer wins the grueling "silent match".
Mr. Jim Mafood got funky with the pen all weekend. He kicked it live for all the peeps wanting a sketch or a commissioned work. Whoo doggy that boy can sling some ink! Wait, is whoo doggy considered fresh slang? I'm such a poser.
The Common Bond folks discuss if there technique of changing booths every hour is working. Or if it would be more confusing to just stay in one place.
Wide Awake Press had a really nice spread. Including Zig Zag #1 from AdHouse Books and a new one from me called SO. We also had Duane's new comic Smell It that was published by the Common Bond.
Keeley of Bloo Empire, was able to swing by the table and check out some of the new WAP freshness. He had some killer paintings at his booth, plus a new mini-comic that was pretty cool. But he didn't like my stuff, or at least that's the impression I got when he took out a torch and lit it all on fire. I could be wrong, maybe that's a compliment, I'm still not familiar with all the different forms of fan appreciation.
From behind the Top Shelf booth I finally got a picture that proves Kachalka sometimes uses a chair when he writes his name on things. I always knew Andy Runton was a chair kind of guy. But who knew Kachalka was all about the ass in the chair. Rob Venditti on the other hand finds it hard to sit down and pull wads of cash from his front pocket when making change.
Foster came down to help setup on Friday morning. He's in charge of merchandising, sales and being really cute.
As always I'm the last one to pack up all the WAP merch and everyone has to wait around on me before we go eat at local favorite FAT BURRITO. Which was so good, Justin Gammon took orders from everyone and picked us up some for lunch the next day. Thanks Justin! We love you.
Ben Towle tells Rob and me about the time he met old man Haversham up in the hills of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He showed Ben how to make mini-comics out of tree bark, twine and a pocket knife. Said he drew his comics in his own blood and kept them in mason jars buried in his yard. He even showed Ben a map he made pointing out the spots of all the jars. Thankfully Ben has a photographic memory and made a copy of the map when he got home. One day he says he's gonna go back up there and dig up everyone of them mini-comics. That Ole Ben is such a crazy fella.
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Sometimes the freaks come out to the shows. They need love too. But Frank from the Common Bond doesn't need love. He's in it for the nipple clamps.
Dean Trippe takes a moment to escape to his happy place. Far away from the hustle and bustle of Indie Island. A nice place filled with sunflowers and super heroes with the proportional power of butterflies.
Friday morning before the show I was in the bathroom for 2 hours. No I wasn't in the bath tub. I was cutting, assembling, painting and drawing the cover to my new Mini-Comic SO. Holli and Foster slept through the whole process.
Hand Embellished Color Cover
36 black and white pages
4.25" x 5" mini-comic
WAP 026
4 Dollars
Andy Runton and Rob Venditti stand around after the show on Friday. Taking a few seconds to admire the limited addition Chris Pitzer altered cover of Zig Zag. Pictured below:
 AdHouse Books Publisher Chris Pitzer
Hand Embellished Color Cover
36 black and white pages
4.25" x 5" mini-comic
WAP 026
Only one in existence
Just 25 Dollars
James Kachalka readies a copy of his new comic Super F*ckers for an on looking perspective customer.
Scott ogles his cell phone while pretending not to notice how fly he looks kicking that sweater around his shoulders.
We did a jam comic at the show that I'll be putting together shortly. With over a dozen different artists doing panels. So keep your eyes peeled for it.
The show was really great and everyone seemed to have an amazing time. So the next Heroes Convention should be even better! Mark your calendars for June 30-July 2 2006!
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And now some pictures of grown men holding a baby at a comic book convention.
J Chris Campbell and Foster Campbell mug like it's 1999.
Justin Gammon demonstrates the baby sleeper hold.
Jamie Walker enjoys the wonderful smell of Foster's afternoon delight.
Rob Venditti explains how one day Foster will have to tell his daddy how much he hates comics. "Make sure to let him down easy," he suggests.
Jim Mahfood gives foster his first sampling of The artist is Madlib. "He makes hip hop, jazz, funk, etc."
Foster gives some huggies to Owly and Wormy. Holli was great bringing him around to all my friends and taking pictures all weekend. She's the best! Photo from Andy Runton or I wouldn't have gotten a single shot of her. Thanks Andy!
I got to draw Galactus for the Heroes Convention booklet. Originally they couldn't use it at a large size but good ole Dustin found a way. He gave AdHouse Books a little advert and Chris Pitzer used it big in the ad! I'm so lucky. |
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Shout out to Brad, Josh and Jennifer of Cute Girl Demographics. I didn't get a single pic of you guys but the show wouldn't have been the same without yah. Come back next year.
OH, and a big round of applause for Dustin. You did a great job pulling this thing together. You da man!
How can you resist?
Duane is all about the love for tiny super heroes everywhere.
Wait! What's a girl doing at a comic convention? Oh, that's just Duane's little lady Angela.
Rob Ullman struggles to keep Foster away from Uncle Justin's bottle of gin and juice. "Babies shouldn't drink juice," Rob says, "It's just loaded down with sugar and food coloring. But gin is good for when he starts teething."
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