Emerald City, Day 2

Well I gotta say, hats off to my bro, JD Green. Dude was a friggin' rock star this weekend. By far his best ECC, and this time had the added distinction of really flying on his own, without the safety net of fellow bro and mentor Steve Hartley. Steve was booked with gigs this weekend, and although he was sorely missed, it made JD have to spread his wings. And he did, in spades. I'm proud of JD for the work he did and the fans he made, and I'm proud of Brian M. and the brothers Demonakos for making ECC into the show it is today (and will be in years to come).

Some quotes in review of RADZ:
"This is so kick ass!"
"This is darling." (said of the brute on the cover)

On my way in, I was accosted (in the best way) by Quentin Shaw, who had all sorts of gushing to do about OA. That's not only good to hear, it makes me know I'm on the right track. When you can make something that people respond to like OA has, it's the universe talking to you. We must have had a sort of up-and-coming vibe happening at the Dead Man Press table, because the word was out, and we were never short of interest, both in the OA DVDs and in the RADZ book. One young fan (big shout out to Lucas!) not only hung out by the table for a long time both days, he ended up getting a RADZ book and two commissioned pieces from JD.

So, back to JD: He did 11 commissions yesterday, and several more today in the short time I was around, and one fan who'd been collecting original art all weekend long was showing off some pieces by some heavy hitters - and then saying how JD's was better! It's gonna take weeks for his head to be able to fit through a normal doorway. But he earned it. He did a couple pieces that are going up in a comic shop in Tacoma, far from our normal haunt at The Comic Stop. It ain't just a homegrown thing anymore.

Oh yeah. And then there was the part where JD went for a rematch of the arm wrestling match he lost at last year's show, and this time beat Oeming. Talk about the capper on a perfect weekend for our boy.

I didn't get to talk to Brian B. afterward, so I don't know how he did. But I'm pretty sure our neighbor Jason Metcalf did some booming business. We might actually collaborate on something in the future. He and his wife were really great, real folks.

Got a Starslip Crisis book from Kris Straub, signed with a sketch of Chex from Checkerboard Nightmare (shown here in a cameo from my own Zingo webcomic, circa 2001) and a word balloon saying "I'm nowhere in this book!" Thanks Kris - we'll be working together soon!

There was a general murmur of relief that Duo was back on the front burner. We'd created some buzz three years ago when it was first in production, and folks still remember. And for what it's worth, nobody in the industry has ever given me their pity regarding Sam. They quietly shared condolences, but never pity. And now that I'm back up to speed and working again, it's party time. I got many pats on the back for rebounding in a big way (as if the alternative would ever be acceptable - but hey, I'll take it).

And the most surreal moment of the entire dreamscape of a weekend: Signing a copy of the REQUIEM CD for Gigi Edgley in front of a group of Gigi Edgley fans. Just crazy. She's psyched about the short film, and I'm psyched to do it.

Great show this year. Can't wait to host a film festival next year. In fact, what a premiere venue for Duo!