Gillespie Clan Treehouse

Emerald City Comic Con 2010

I love geek cons. Rarely can one go to an event with a vast group of people you’ve never met before, make casual jokes about THAC0, and have people standing next to you laugh uproariously; or talk to someone about Mark Hamill’s voice work as the Joker without them trying to correct you that ‘actually, Heath Ledger was the Joker. Did you know he died?’

I love the independent artists, who have fought tooth and claw to do what THEY want to do instead of what others wanted them to do, and have an avenue to be admired and approached and discovered. I love the socially inept vendors, and the dedication of fans to their idols and of the idols to their fans. Geek cons are community driven, and give a place for those who would otherwise have nothing in common with the common man to strike up a conversation with someone they’d never have a chance to approach on the street. I love the cosplay, the gaming areas, the music, the wacky contests, the shameless squeezing of a large body into a tight suit because DAMMIT I AM GOING TO BE SPIDERMAN AND THIS IS THE PLACE TO DO IT.

Emerald City Comic Con gets drastically bigger, fuller and better every year – I heard a lot of artists compare this year’s turnout and content to early San Diego Comic Con with great fondness. A good number of artists told me that their sales from Saturday alone were double that of their sales from the entirety of last year’s con. Veteran con vendors actually ran out of merchandise. Artists got serious wrist cramps from all of the sketching and signing they did.

Speaking of indie comics and artists, this year I ran into some old friends and made some new ones. Jason Zachary-Pott and Dan DePaolo of Neotrash Comix were there again this year – and remembered me! I had entirely forgotten, but last year I not only chatted with them quite a bit, but bought one of their gorgeous comics entirely with pocket change and refused to let them give me a discount. I was able to pay them with actual cashmonies this year for the second issue of the Brass Knuckle Rituals, which was even better than the last issue. Dan’s linework has gotten sleeker and his panels are even more dramatic – and it’s a rad experience to be able to talk to him about what he’s doing differently, and where he’s headed with his art. How frickin’ cool is it to be able to sit down with an artist you admire and actually talk mechanics? He and Jason both are funny as hell, humble, and great guys. If you like Sam Keith’s (of the Maxx fame) art, and enjoy a good story that doesn’t give everything away in the first three seconds, you should definitely follow the Brass Knuckle Rituals.

I also ran into the guys from Corrosive Comics (site coming soon, have a gander at their MySpace page)! I was horrid this year and didn’t check to see who’d be at the con, so I almost completely missed them until I happened to walk by on Sunday. Shawn Cruz was at the booth, and introduced me to their new artist/colorist, Micah Baker. Shawn’s stuff is, as always, awesome (think Ed Roth wielding a guitar in a bar fight against the RIAA and zombies, which is a good summary of Pyscho Guitar Killers #1); and Micah’s color work really adds to it. I got a look at some of the work from Psycho Guitar Killers #2 – I’m really stoked for them, because their new comic features the Eagles of Death Metal! There’s some mainstream recognition for you! Once again, great guys that are wicked funny and willing to talk nuts and bolts with random crazy strangers.

Erika Moen was there this year! She made the comic DAR – which just ended recently – and I’ve always been impressed with her candor, strength, humility and courage. It’s really inspiring stuff, about her life as an artist, queer, free spirit, responsible and irresponsible adult, and being human. DAR is one of the publications that helped me realize that girliness doesn’t equal weakness, and strength doesn’t equal masculinity – strength is strength, preferences are preferences, love is love, our bodies are what we have, and our friends and family are important. She’s also really sweet in person, and was a model in a phenomenal series of photos with an octopus via Visioluxus Photography (Their website appears to be somewhat broked, but the NSFW link is here if you want to try looking). She also has some ‘dorable cephalopod-themed cards and prints.

Another group of great artists I met were from Zomboid Comics – not much on their site yet, but the guys I met at the booth – Jeremy Thew and Seth McMahill – both have stellar (and sometimes NSFW) art galleries on DeviantArt. I got an original piece by Jeremy that we’ve dubbed ‘gallery of Rogues,’ because it’s four different time periods and costumes for X-Men’s Rogue. Once I’m no longer tired and sore the con, I might upload it for you to see if you’re all very good.

I also saw the crew from the Dreaming Comics – they ran some kickass game sessions at PAX, and though I was disappointed to learn they weren’t doing so at ECCC, they’ll be back at PAX! So I forgave them and allowed them to live. If you see that they’re running an event of some kind, go. They have impeccable DMs, great taste in tabletop RPGs and board games, and reward you for being a nice and friendly human being.

I am beginning to run out of energy, but before I go, I must tell you about the amazing project my friends did at the Con. Tim, who has a heart of gold and the beard of Chuck Norris, convinced us all to transport a large piece of posterboard around the con, and convince artists to sketch on and sign it – with the intention of donating the board to Child’s Play Charity. Kris Straub and Scott Kurtz blessed our endeavor… but I don’t think they realized the epic power of our supergeek team, because when we brought back the finished board, they suddenly were unsure as to what to do. Not only had we hit all the major webcomic artists at the show, but also many independent artists, professional illustrators, and even a few writers. The board was almost completely full, and with some very general calculations considering that a LOT of the artists charged at least $20 for a sketch, it was worth at least $1000 without an auction inflating it.

I’d really like to thank the artists who contributed – Aaron Diaz, R Stevens, Meredith Gran, Erika Moen, Dan DePaolo, Seth McMahill, Chris Moreno, Stuart Sayger, Danielle Corsetto, Kris Straub, Jeph Jacques, Jon Rosenberg, Dave Malki, Scott Kurtz, Joel Watson, Diana Vick… there’s no way in hell I could list you all without our finished compilation of your names. You know who you are, and dear God, you made us absolutely soar with excitement when you put pen to our board. Even if Child’s Play makes such an incredible amount of money that our donation is a drop in the bucket, you all still allowed us to be part of something bigger than ourselves. Not only that, but you gave us the means to donate more money to a worthy cause than we could ever hope to do on our own. When we have finished compiling our list of names and details photos, and are ready to put this bad boy up for auction, we will give all of you the link. Once again, thank you from the depths of our hearts. It might not mean much, but you have all earned five lifelong fans – of you as the radical, generous, awesome people you are – and oh yeah! Your art’s pretty sweet too!

Peace.