Hey, Folks!

Yesterday, Benita and I went to Columbus, Ohio for the Mid-Ohio Convention; this is about a three-and-a-half hour drive each way, but the trek was worth it many times over. We got to catch up with many old friends, and meet lots of new friends. (I know that sounds really clichéd, but the truth of the matter is that many of these people have become full-fledged friends, and others are well on their way to becoming fast friends. The comic community is small and pretty tight, and we spend a lot of time together in person and on-line.)

Benita and I appeared at the Comic Related booth from noon till just after 3:00 PM. Chuck Moore, owner of Comic Related and pod caster extraordinaire, invited us to use half the table he had there. Chuck is about the nicest guy you could imagine, and he’s a real brother-in-arms in the war to bring indie comics, and comics in general, to the forefront. I strongly suggest you visit his site, Comic Related. Benita and I also had the opportunity to appear again on his pod cast, which has not been posted yet, but we’ll let you know as soon as it is.

Benita and I also had the opportunity to catch up with Bob Hickey. You’ve probably heard me speak about Bob in my blog many times; as well as being our friend, he is a creative overachiever and the person behind Blueline Pro, Sketch Magazine, Art Unleashed, and many other ventures. He’s also a comic creator and publisher himself, and the force behind next year’s Pop Culture Con, a new convention that I’ll write more about as the situation develops. Bob and I were able to talk a little business, and I think it’s safe to say that we’ve got some excellent plans in the works. I’ll talk about those more as things develop. At very least, expect to see a lot more of my words coming up in Sketch Magazine.

I also had the pleasure of catching up with writer Steve Horton. Steve is an impressive guy, because he has a way of making things happen. He is widely published in the magazine, comic, and mainstream art book world. I picked up his new book, Webcomics 2.0, and I’m really looking forward to reading it; I thumbed through it last night, and it looks packed with webcomicky goodness. I met Steve when we were both on Graphic Smash; Later, he became the editor of Komikwerks, and he lured us over there. Then, eventually, we both ended up back at Graphic Smash.

There were other people of note that I got to meet or catch up: Brant Fowler of Wannabez, and a former editor of mind at Rogue Wolf Comics; Dara Naraghi, webcartoonist and writer at IDW, also a fellow Komikwerks cartoonist; Paul Storrie, a widely published writer with a great last name; Mike Indovina, convention regular and cartoonist on Satyr; John Wilson, writer at Comic Related and colorist-in-training; and Kenn Minter, webcartoonist on “I’m Not From Here”; and Mike Easton, who contributed a pinup to the Johnny Saturn Pinup Gallery.

I know there are names I’ve probably forgotten to mention, but the whole day has become a blur to me!  Sorry!

On an un-related note, here is a caraciture of me done by good friend and fellow, Indiana-based artist Paul McCall–I absolutely love this!  It all relates back to an earlier blog posting of mine where I jokingly referred to myself as looking like “Captain America with a pencil.”