The Texas Library Association conference and the Emerald City ComiCon were damn good times. Very different but both rewarding and fun in their own ways. It was a whirlwind week though because I did them back to back. I got home from Texas around midnight, then went straight to bed so I could drive to Seattle early next morning. It was totally worth it though.
(photo by
geeky artist librarian)This was probably the funniest moment from the graphic novel panel I was part of at TLA. We were speaking in this really dark, cavenous hall, and due to some technical difficulties, we had to start the panel without any lights on us. Then suddenly during the middle of the panel, this super bright spotlight snapped on and glowered down upon us like the Eye of Sauron. Svetlana, who was speaking at the time, blurted, "It's the truth! I swear!" and Kean and I reeled back like the Moleman's henchmen thrust out into the sun. But Terry Moore, without missing a beat, pulled out his Hollywood shades and bathed in the spotlight. It pretty much brought the house down. And this was at 8 in the godforsaken morning!Afterwards, the super cute librarian who was moderating gave me and Kean a big, enthusiastic hug. You know, sometimes I have to wonder if I ever have the right to complain about my life.There were too many highlights from the conference to list, but suffice to say, I had a wonderful experience. Every librarian I met was so friendly and open to comics. It was very encouraging -- and inspiring. It was particularly cool for me to meet all these awesome librarians because I've always kinda wanted to be one. Perhaps in some parallel dimension... My big thanks to everyone at First Second/Roaring Brook for sending me to TLA and a special thank you to Roaring Brook's amazing marketing guru, Kathryn Sibiski, for taking such good care of me.Emerald City ComiCon was fun in a much more familiar way of course, and it was relatively stress free, which is always good news. Sharing the table with
Greg was awesome, as was hanging out with
Kaz Strzepek--one of my favorite cartoonists, by the way--over the weekend. My one slight regret is getting embarrassingly plastered at a karaoke bar with Kaz and some other cartoonist friends Saturday night.Here's some pics from
Greg's flickr stream with comments also by Greg:
"Our table at the Emerald City Comic Con was right next to Stan Sakai. We nerded out all weekend as he signed Usagi Yojimbo books for his long line of fans. Here, Derek Kirk Kim and Kazimir Strzepek pose with Stan before we worked up the courage to talk to him."
"Once we worked up the nerve to talk him, he turned out to be the nicest guy in the world. Derek exchanged sketches with him at the end of the day. It was very sweet."
"The booth next to us put up this huge display board that hid us from the rest of the exhibition hall. People kept saying they couldn't find us. Not only that but our neighbors also hung their art (including this strange Microsoft anti-piracy poster) on the back side of the display board making it look like it was our art. Derek took this picture of me, so I would always remember it."
"Derek and Kaz drink Sparks out of a paper bag in an alley, next to some dumpsters. The glamourous life of cartoonists!"I have no idea why I'm throwing an East coast sign when I'm on and of the West coast. Must be the
Sparks talking...Anyway, there was one point at the bar where Kaz was supposed to sing Ghostbusters (YES!), but the KJ gave the song to some other dude because Kaz couldn't get to the stage fast enough. Kaz, who was even more drunk than me, kinda went nuts. During his protest he pulled the fire extinguisher off the wall and started swinging it around with the nozzle pointed at everyone. A bunch of us jumped on him and pulled it out of his hands. It somehow culminated with me and Kaz wrestling on the ground, but damned if I remember why or how. Long story short, it was a blast! Unfortunately, not so much for the sober participants in the group...I met tons of nice people as usual at the table. My thanks to everyone that swung by!Next up,
Stumptown!PS: JiEun - it was wonderful to meet you! Thank you again for the crepe! You gotta be one of the sweetest people ever.
