Rob's Convention Report

Thursday, July 26th

My wife and I flew out of OKC around 6 PM and after a three hour layover in Dallas, we arrived in San Diego at about 10 PM PST. I brought along a journal and made only a half-hearted attempt (exactly three entries all from Thursday) to chronicle our journey.

"4:43 PM OKC- Drinking Guiness Stout in the Redbud Bar in the Will Rogers International Airport. Cost? $11.50 for two beers + $3.50 for a tip. Note: WR has a smoking lounge. It is double cool because it is stained butterscotch from the concentrated tar."

"8:45 PM in Dallas/FW airport. Not dead of plane! Ate dinner @ Chili's. Had to buy overpriced benadryl to fend off sneezing attack. No smoking lounge so we've had to traverse the security green zone three times to reach the outside world. Very mellow here after 5 PM. HORRIFYING SIGHT: Fox News (Fixed Noise) newsstand. Couldn't help but make a shitty comment as we passed."

"@ 2 AM. Sitting outside the Good Nite Inn smoking a cig and waiting for a pie [Ed. Note- That's Rob speak for Pizza] to be delivered. It's mostly quiet though I suspect the folks in room 220 are making full use of their rented bed. There are palm trees everywhere, which makes me feel like I've flown to Gilligan's Island but after they've been rescued and then returned to turn the Island into a resort so they can host a basketball game between the Harlem Globetrotters and a team of superrobots. Am currently too exhausted from travel to sleep. 7:30 AM will be coming all too soon- FOOOOOOOOOOOOD SOOOOOOOOOON!"

The pie eventually arrived, mostly cold and eating it was the last thing I did before collapsing.

Friday, July 27th and Saturday July 28th

I spent eight of nine hours Friday and Saturday either signing or selling at the NBM booth. I did spend one hour each day at the Papercutz booth signing copies of Tales from the Crypt 1 with artist Tim Smith III alongside Scott Lobdell (Hardy Boys) and line editor Jim Salicrup. I had a great time chatting with Tim, who drew my contribution to Crypt 1. The Archaia Studio booth was also a mere stone's throw away from the Papercutz booth and so I was able to slip over and chat up my Inanna's Tears collaborator, mpMann as well as ASP mastermind and ARTESIA creator, Mark Smylie. Archaia debuted Inanna's Tears 1 at the show and Marvin made a fine advocate for our first collaborative effort.

Back at the NBM booth, there was more than enough comicky goodness to keep me happy to be behind a table rather than wandering among them. I spent quality time with some of my favorite comics creators (Ted Rall, Phil Yeh, Rick Geary, Bryan Talbot) and enjoyed getting to know David Axe, Chad Michael Ward, Jesse Lornergan and David's new collaborator, Adam Rosenlund. In my numerous excursions to the Convention Center's exterior in order to feed the nicotine monkey, I managed to exchange greetings with Eddie Campbell, Jennifer de Guzman (Slave Labor), Carla McNeil, Eric Reynolds, and Top Shelf publishers, Brett Warnock and Chris Staros.

The highlight of Saturday was sitting on the 30 Years of NBM panel with publisher Terry Nantier and the creators I had signed with earlier in the weekend. Terry started off the panel with a short overview of NBM's history, along with a slideshow showcasing his early efforts publishing the likes of Corto Maltese and Terry and the Pirates reprints. Without presupposing what anyone else thinks about NBM, I was sort of stunned to see the breadth and depth of their publishing history. Even the line I helped sell at this year's SDCC was among the strongest at the show, featuring work from Lewis Trondheim, Joann Sfar, Manu Larcenet, Nicolas de Crecy, Christophe Blain, and a holy host of other very talented comics creators from all over the world.

All the panel members discussed their current works in print as well as alluding to future works coming out through in NBM in the future. Terry and Bryan announced The Art of Bryan Talbot (his first art collection if I'm not mistaken) due out later this fall that, in tandem with the recently released ALICE IN SUNDERLAND (Dark Horse) should finally cement Talbot's place in history as among the finest and most influential comics artists of his generation. Ted Rall also announced a new graphic novel coming in 2008, THE YEAR OF LOVING DANGEROUSLY illustrated by none other than Pablo G. Callejo (BLUESMAN). For my part, the NBM panel was also the first official announcement of my upcoming graphic novel series with artist Eric Knisley, FRANK ZAPPA: AT LANCASTER.

You can check out a few pictures of the NBM booth and the panel at http://www.nbmpub.com/news/sandiegonews.html

After the show, Terry took us all out to dinner at the Edgewater Inn. Not knowing San Diego as well as some, Kendra and I caught up with Bryan Talbot on the sidewalk outside the convention hall. Bryan graciously offered to guide us to the Edgewater but only on the condition that we stop in at the Hyatt and get a pint in us first. Being big fans of both beer and Bryan Talbot, we were only too happy to oblige and enjoyed his funny recollections of conventions past. Incidentally, Bryan's written a book on this very topic called THE NAKED ARTIST…AND OTHER COMIC BOOK LEGENDS that's been released recently through Moonstone and is deliriously illustrated by none other than Hunt Emerson.

The dinner itself was amazing, though after the pint of lager and some (?) glasses of wine, my memory of the evening has gotten more than a little fuzzy. Kendra and I had Bryan on one side of us and Rick Geary and his charming wife Deborah on the other and had more great conversations than my brain has been able to unzip in the days since. Beyond that, I can only say that I ate chicken and that it was really good.

While I briefly attended the convention on Sunday, those stories segue into another one involving a long journey up the I-5 through the San Gabriel Mountains and, ultimately, into the heart of Mojave Desert. And that story, so that this one can finally end, is for another time.