Shikacon was this weekend, and here’s how things began for me:
Well, actually, things began with my friend Big Daddy Voodoo at the con’s opening ceremony. He got each guest up onstage and talked to them a little. We talked more about Pacific Rim than my own work, but I managed to get a few nervous words out about Reflected Gaze. So, a bit of an awkward start, actually, especially considering how confident and charismatic the other guests were.
I’ve never truly been a guest at a con before. I’m used to putting some money down to be in the artist’s alley, overlooked by 75% of the people passing by, but at Shikacon I was in a separate room with the other guests, including my friend Bubba’s One Time Hero Photography. He’s the one who brought the ball pit. I was one of the first to leap in, fulfilling a promise I’d made to my girlfriend. Bubba’s wife Aria was there showing off her costume making skills, and I was next to vocaloid producer EmpathP (I traded comics for a couple of her CDs) and her friend Charles Dunbar, who knows way more about Japanese folklore and history than anyone I’ve ever met and did a TON of panels. They were a lot of fun to hang out with, and I got to draw a cool dark ages vampire lady for Charles that I was pretty pleased with.
I stayed fairly busy, doing better than I had at ETSUcon in February. I did a large number of sketches on Saturday:
After making a decent amount of cash, I went to the vendor’s room towards the end of the day and found someone selling NECA’s 24” Godzilla action figure, the only decent figure done of the 2014 design. I decided I had to have it. I tried to get BDV to talk me out of it. He tried, he really did, but then I showed it to him and he understood my need. Hey, my birthday is Wednesday, give me a break. NO REGRETS.
It’s okay, too, because I made back twice what I spent on him on Sunday! It was kind of strange: I mostly did sketches on Saturday and sold a few Slimepunk minicomics. Didn’t sell any posters at all. Sunday, I only did a couple sketches and sold a LOT of posters and a few more comics! A girl dressed as Ramona Flowers insisted on overpaying for an Other Sleep poster, so I gave her a copy of Burst Reach 3 as thanks. I gave out the rest of my leftover October Game postcards to customers too. My friend Gregory Dickens kept track of the demographics of his customers at a recent con he attended, with interesting results. I meant to do that this time, but completely failed. I feel like it was a pretty even split of men and women, honestly. A nice balance of young and old, too. I was really pleased to sell a copy of Shouting at the Void to a little kid after his mom flipped through and approved. Hopefully it isn’t too obtuse for him.
So yeah, Shikacon’s first year was a success for yours truly. It went really well for everyone else too, I think. Attendance was high, and there were there were a ton of panels, gaming tournaments, raves, and probably some other stuff that I completely missed because I spent so much time at my table drawing and chatting with people. Everyone else in the guest room had fun too, I was in really good company.
I’m excited to do it all over again next year, especially if Bubba brings the ball pit back.
Reminder: this upcoming Saturday is Free Comic Book Day! Go out to your local comic shop and take part in the celebration! I’ll be at Mountain Empire Comics doing it all once again! Things are in high gear now, let’s hope I can keep this energy up!