Con Reports Posts

One . . . two . . . two conventions to start off the New Year! AH AH AH! We were on the road again this month, driving north on 5 through the happy cows of California to Sacanime. Then it was east on 8 through frolicking sheep for Phoenix Comic-Con. I’m not kidding about the cows and sheep, people. Drive north or east from San Diego and you will see some kind of desert, some kind of irrigated farmland, and some kind of  livestock. You’ll also see several Circle K’s, where the coffee is good and strange things are afoot. 

California, she has a-everything!

Sacanime  in Sacramento was our first anime focused convention, and I’m making a note here, HUGE SUCCESS. James and I weren’t sure if my stuff would attract the love of the anime crowd, but our lovely patron Margaret and the lycanthrope-loving Phil of book selling fame assured us that we would do well. They were not wrong, which is pretty typical behavior for those two. As an added bonus, we were lucky enough to have our table next to theirs, which meant we had someone to talk to about our observations regarding the behavior of “those anime kids.” We also saw huge throngs of this anime army at Phoenix. 

As a Gen-X geek chick, I must admit, my first thoughts were that this anime and manga scene was definitely not the ways of my people. Kids leading other kids on leashes, androgyny that would make David Bowie smile, yards and yards of sometimes fetishy cosplay, and cliquey clusters of attention-starved teens who loudly obsess about their fave manga or anime? Oh yeah, our generation of geeks was nothing like that. 

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December is convention hibernation time. And just like all good hibernating animals, we here at Lunasea Studios run amuck in a mad foraging spree before we head for our caves. But the nuts we try to horde are found only at conventions. So it was conventions a go-go this November!

Wizard World Texas was one of our most successful cons in 2007, so we were looking forward to returning. But we were also a little nervous. Would people remember us? They did! We got to see Aaron Settle of Lone Star Comics again. You can now get the Little Vampire hardcovers in their store. One of my super Little Lunatics, Wyatt, came by with his family.  We added many new peeps to the Lunatic ranks as well. But there was something missing from the con, and that was Neal. 

In 2007, we were lucky enough to be at the table beside writer Neal Bailey. He couldn’t get a table this year, which was a bummer. But I was sketching a werewolf in a Viking helmet, I looked up, and there he was! He was able to make it to Wizard World Texas as an attendee at least, and we got to hang out over an awesome steak dinner at Trail Dust.

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I tried some different sketching techniques this convention. The top two sketches are my view from our table at APE. The bottom two are James as a Victorian gentleman, and Death from Sandman, inspired by my buds at Emonic.

Cue Willie Nelson! James and I were on the road again for the Alternative Press Expo. It’s a long haul from San Diego to San Francisco, but APE was worth every mile.

We arrived early Halloween evening. Driving around downtown, we realized that Halloween in San Francisco is, uhh, pretty much like every other night in San Francisco. After observing the crazy costumed fun (wait, I think they dress like that every day), we were off to the APE Exhibitor Mixer at the offices of Last Gasp publishing.

Now I’m a highly social person. I grew up in Brooklyn, and still have many New Yorky traits despite leaving there in my preteens. I’m skilled at self-deprecating humor, nod and wink sarcasm, and am very gregarious. I will strike up a conversation with a stranger on a bus if I see that we might have something to talk about. But if I don’t see a good reason to start yapping, my clothes turn a dull shade of wallflower.

So it was at the APE Exhibitor Mixer. Read More »

October has been all about traveling to a smattering of one day shows. And each show could not have been more different.

We drove up to the Bay Area for the Hayward Comic-Con on October 12. The only thing that helped us get through the ginormous Central Valley was listening to a Sarah Vowell audiobook. History explained with a dry wit in a dry voice makes driving through miles of endless farmland palatable. Who knew?

Financially, the Hayward Con leaned towards the tornado in a trailer park side of the disaster scale. Our only paying customers were the kids and spouses of the retailers who were not getting any financial loving either. Luckily for us, the con did yield some experiences worth writing about.

The same masseuse that kneaded the sinewy man muscles of Richard Hatch’s back was at Hayward. I could not resist the opportunity to have the hands that touched Richard Hatch touch me. I feel that much closer to Mr. Hatch because of the experience. And my shoulders feel a lot less schlumpy.

Another Hayward highlight was getting to meet illustrator Jack Shen and his posse. I saw Jack’s work at the From the Land Beyond/Sac-Con shows, but didn’t get the time to talk to him there. He created a Little Vampire Girl character and Zombie Cat. I smell a crossover.

Our bud Emonic, fresh from his successful gallery showing, and brother Chemix, a great artist himself, had a table at Hayward. We were thrilled to meet another member of their posse, their brother Gabriel. We asked Chemix why Gabriel didn’t get a cool nickname like, well, Emo or Chemix.

“Gabriel’s so badass, he doesn’t need one.”

Now that’s family. Read More »

Got the ScareFest 2008 photos up on Flickr. Check them out!

Our first convention guest appearance was blessed by a Gorn and a hat.

We’ve had all kinds of folks wish us well at various conventions, but we’d never been blessed by anyone from the original Star Trek. Now we can say we have. Stuntman Gary Combs got the From the Land Beyond convention rolling on September 26 by walking around to each vendor and wishing them a good show. Now that’s a Gorn Captain with class.

Further blessings abounded when Margaret Mannatt, my patron goddess, gave me a fabulous velvety Victorian top hat adorned with ribbon and my Little Vampires. She was hosting us at From the Land Beyond and Sac-Con through her bookstore, The Gilded Bat. This was gift enough. I was on the same guest list as Wil Wheaton! Dude! What could be better? But then Margaret busted out this pimpin’ hat. Talk about feelin’ the love. I was feelin’ it in Sacramento.

I’m wearing that hat right now and singing I’d Do Anything from Oliver! Whenever you’re reading this, that’s what I’m doing.

From the Land Beyond was our first sci-fi/horror focused convention, and our first in a Scottish Rite Center. This con had a different, more laid-back nerd vibe than other cons, and the dealer’s hall had a fabulous floor. Laid back on a wood floor with a fab hat and a blessing from a Gorn? That’s a recipe for a good time. Read More »