It’s been a very hectic past few months, busy with my day job and family errands, so I haven’t had a chance yet to get back to work on creative projects or website updates. However, I did take one weekend afternoon at the end of October to relax with a visit to the 2011 Long Beach Comic Convention.
This is the first convention in awhile where I just went to have fun and check out the show, rather than working as a Christian Comic Arts Society volunteer organizing exhibitor tables or panel discussions. Long Beach is a new event compared to established conventions like Wondercon, San Diego, or the monthly comic/sci-fi show in Los Angeles. The LBCC is only a couple years old at this point and doesn’t draw nearly the same size of crowds, but it is professionally run, has a lot of great guests and scheduled events. I hope it continues to grow and do well.
I arrived too late in the afternoon to catch the panels I was interested in (such as the spotlight on Sheldon creator Dave Kellett) but I was able to enjoy several hours browsing the exhibit hall and meeting up with several other friends who were in attendance. There were a lot of fans there in full costume, but I forgot my camera. D’oh!
There was a nice range of comic dealers in the exhibit hall, but I made sure to keep myself to a budget — which is good because there were several tables overflowing in “bargain priced” Silver Age and Golden Age comics where I would have happily bought armloads of books if money had been no object.
But even on a budget, here’s a few of the gems I picked up at the Long Beach Comic Con, either for myself or as gifts for others…
Besides the regular comic dealers, there was also “Artist Alley”, where I was able to meet Ethan Nicolle, co-creator of “Axe Cop”, and commission a sketch from him. (For those unfamiliar with Axe Cop, it’s an action-comedy webcomic, drawn by a thirtysomething-year-old artist and written by his seven year old brother. It’s the kind of insanely non sequiter raw creative genius that only a kid can come up with.) Anyway, the sketch he did for me is of one of his many fun supporting characters who plays a small part (ha!) in the series: The Best Fairy Ever.
While at the show, I was also able to get a sketch from cartoonist Dave Kellett, creator of my personal favorite webcomic, Sheldon. I asked him draw a sketch for my wife, who was home recovering from an injured knee and unable to attend the show with me. In honor of her slow but steady recovery, I had him sketch his strip’s newest character, an accident-prone cat named “Lil’ Butter”. (Luckily, my gamble paid off, and my wife laughed out loud at the gift rather than just smacking me upside the head.)
Good times. Good times…
