Emerald City Wrap-Up

We're back from Emerald City Comicon and you won't be surprised to hear that it was a terrific show. I love having the chance to spend some time in Seattle. And the show itself is so smoothly run that it's an absolute joy to start off "con season" there. As is always the case, the weekend went by in a blur, but fortunately I took a few photos of the highlights. 

Hire This Woman panel in action

Yes, I'm the shortest one of the group. Again. Even in heels.

On Saturday I sat on a panel hosted by Janelle Asselin that captured her column "Hire This Woman" live. It was the first time I'd met Amy Chu, Heather Nuhfer, or Robin Robinson. Mairghread Scott is a SoCal writer like me, so it was nice that we were seated next to each other, representing the fact that all comics don't happen in Portland or the east coast. It was a real honor to share the stage with such talented women, so a big thank you is in order to Janelle for inviting me. If you'd like to see my print interview, you can find that here. 

Gabriel draws Rachel

"Rachel R"

Throughout the weekend Gabriel continued his Convention Portrait Project, drawing con-goers, pros, friends, and fans. You can see all of them here, and read a bit about it here. We're currently planning other cons, so if you want to be the subject for one of his drawings, stay tuned and get in touch. 

I'm kind of proud of how I managed to capture a fictional photobomber here.

I didn't get as much time as I would have liked to walk around and see the rest of the con, but happily Drew Rausch, Jocelyn Gageway, and Aaron Alexovich had a table right around the corner from ours. If you don't already know about it, you should check out Drew and Jocelyn's terrific webcomic My Blacks Don't Match. It's even free! I also got a peek at Aaron's Serenity Rose: 10 Awkward Years, and man does it look gorgeous! I can't wait to get my copy. It's one of the nicest things I've ever seen emerge from a Kickstarter.

Mike Norton photographing Gabriel in the hat

Now that's a hat! 

Apparently the Pacific northwest is good for more than comics... Great hats can be found there too. Mike Norton had a table down the row from us and at some point during the weekend he bought a hat. A terrific hat, a hat that looks good on everyone. To test out the terrificness of the hat he took many pictures of many people in the hat. Sure enough, everyone looked great. You can see more of those here.

Aww, Star Wars, I'm gonna miss you!

As Sunday wound down Gabriel and I were gifted with this swell poster as a thank you for creating a little chunk of the Star Wars universe. I was so touched! Sometimes when you work at home you forget that anyone will ever read what you've written. Getting this delivered to our table just about made my day.

Deep Gravity #1 

So after that whirlwind we are back home and back to work, because one more thing happened at ECCC. Our latest work-for-hire project with Dark Horse was announced: Deep Gravity! It's being scripted by Gabriel and me from a story by Mike Richardson, with art by Fernando Baldo. Look for it later this summer. 

Emerald City Schedule

In just a few days Gabriel and I will be in Seattle, attending Emerald City Comicon at the Washington State Convention Center. For most of the weekend

you can find us at Table A-08 in Artist Alley, but we've got a few other things planned too.


I'll be on the Hire This Woman panel in Hall D on Saturday starting at 1:40 with Janelle Asselin, Mairghread Scott, Amy Chu, Heather Nuhfer, and Robin Robinson.


On Sunday, both of us will be signing at the Dark Horse booth (#206) from 2 to 2:50. 


Of course, Gabriel will be doing sketching at our table throughout the weekend. You can find all the details on his blog. We'll also have books and art to sell.

Hope to see you there! 

Emerald City Update

We've had a great time at Emerald City Comicon for several years running now so I'm really looking forward to returning at the end of this month. The show runs from the 28th to the 30th at the Washington State Convention Center. Look for Gabriel Hardman and me at table A-08 in Artist Alley.

We'll have lots of books for sale as well as original art. ECCC is always a fun show so I hope we see you there!

In addition to doing signings at the table, I'm going to be on at least one panel. Details will be posted shortly...

Wordless Wednesday featuring a Lego Squid

Emerald City Comic Con - One Week and Counting

I can't believe another year has passed, but it must have because it's just about time for the Emerald City Comic Con again.

Gabriel and I will be at
Table K-04 
for the entire weekend of March 1st - 3rd at the Seattle Convention Center. We'll have copies of our books and Gabriel will be doing sketches. If you'd like to pre-order one you can contact him at gabrielhardman@gmail.com

Curious about prices? Here's his breakdown:
$125 for 1 character 9x12 inked
$200 for 2 characters 9x12 inked
$60 for headshot 9x12 inked.




Seattle's a great city full of great books and great food. Is it any wonder that it has a great comic book convention too? 

Hope to see you there!

Emerald City, 2011! The Wrap-up

Squid sculpture, spotted in the wild

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not too quick out of the gate with this report from ECCC 2011. It was a couple of weeks ago now, a lifetime, in Con terms. Even C2E2 has come and gone since then!

However, I have a good excuse. I have, in fact, been working. Yes, working at my day job feeding animals, playing with parrots, and raking up bunny poop. But, also writing. For pay! Much as I love this blog, the pay for writing it is rather... Nonexistent. So,  keep your eyes peeled for some fresh non-bloggery coming soon to an anthology near you.

Me, in an actual trench coat!

I love visiting Seattle at any time, and not coincidently the Emerald City Comicon is something I look forward to all year. We came into town a day early and were met with rain. Which was fine with me... It meant I could wear actual chilly weather gear. Our first stop was, of course, The Elliot Bay Book Company. Words can not express how much I love that place. It was about to move the last time we were there so it was a great relief to learn that its new digs are just as cool as the old ones. And the coffee is even better! Luckily we just about sold out of copies of Heathentown at the Con. If we hadn't I don't know how I would have fit all my new books into my luggage. 

We also had time to visit the Seattle Art Museum this trip, which was a lot of fun. Bet you didn't know that there's a whole case or tiny frog sculptures hidden in one corner upstairs. That alone made it worth the trip.

Best costumes. Ever.

This was the first year that ECCC was three days long instead of two, so we didn't know what to expect on the first day. Turns out that attendance was terrific. Our table was in a great place too. Our row was full of talent: Chris Samnee, Jeff Parker, Tom Fowler, Steve Lieber... The list goes on. Gabriel was kept busy with sketches all weekend, but managed to find the time to buy some original art. And some folks even brought us dessert! A full box of cookies, some candy, and coffee all the way from Hawaii. How's that for a warm welcome? I was also happy to meet Kyle Latino and Shane White in person. Kyle and I sat next to each other for most of the weekend, which worked out great since he didn't seem to mind my endless blather about Doctor Who. And that brings me to the most amazing thing: a woman dressed as the TARDIS. I almost knocked Evan Shaner flat while attempting to get a photo of her.

So, I would say the weekend was a success. It resulted in new reading material, a bit of writing work, and a picture of a blue-haird girl dressed as my favorite fictional time machine. We also spent some time hanging out with Paul Tobin and Colleen Cover, the creators behind one of the projects I'm most excited about this year, Gingerbread Girl. If you haven't already, you really should check it out. It's strange and wonderful and completely unexpected. Colleen was even nice enough to do a sketch of one of my favorite characters from their book, Pidgy. Can't wait for ECCC 2012!

Emerald City, 2011!

Has it really been a whole year since the Emerald City Comicon, where you can see great art and the Space Needle?

I'm not complaining though. Gabriel and I love Seattle, so we're really happy to be back in the Emerald City next week! We'll be at Table C-07, selling copies of Heathentown, meeting tons of cool comics folks, and Gabriel will be doing sketches.

Want an original Gabriel Hardman sketch for yourself? He's not taking pre-orders this year, but you can get on his list at the con. The price list is as follows:

9x12 single character pen and ink: $75

9x12 two characters pen and ink: $125

Hope to see you there! The con is three days long this year, so take a moment to stop by and say hello. And yes, we are happy to accept donations of those fabulous chocolate covered cherry things they sell in the Pacific northwest. How nice of you to ask!

Emerald City Comic Con, the Wrap-Up

After experiencing my very first Emerald City Comic Con I have only one thing to say: fantastic!

Truly, this is the way a con should be. And I'm not just saying that because we sold out of our graphic novel Heathentown. I'm saying it because ECCC is all about the comics. There were tons of interesting creators to meet, interesting fans to talk to, and nice people in cool hats with great hair. Pacific Northwest Comics Community, I have to admit to being a little bedazzled. I know my name was spelled wrong on the banner attached to our table, but everyone was so sweet about everything I couldn't hold a grudge.

Gabriel was kept very busy signing his page in Monsters and Dames, the ECCC limited edition art book which was being sold to benefit a children's hospital. He also did a ton of sketches. I love this one in particular:

It was great to spend time with some of the creators from Periscope Studios in Portland, including Jeff Parker, Colleen Coover, Paul Tobin, and Jeremy Barlow. I'm still plowing my way through all the books we bought in Seattle, but allow me to recommend the trade of Mysterius the Unfathomable written by Jeff with art by Tom Fowler. You won't be disappointed!

I was also amazed to meet several people who admit to reading this very blog! Sure, I love writing it, but what a thrill to know that someone is actually reading the darn thing. So a big thank you to everyone out there who does, especially Sigrid Ellis, a fellow blogger over at Fantastic Fangirls who was the first person at the show to mention it to me and an all around nice person.

We managed to see a little of Seattle too, including an expensive dip into Elliot Bay Books, my favorite North American book shop, and a tour of the famous underground city. Here's a view of one of those strange glass sections of sidewalk from below.

I can't even complain about our hotel. I mean, look at this view!

In short, we had a great time and we're already planning our next trip to the Emerald City in 2011 when the show is rumored to be three days long. Hear that, ECCC? You have a whole year to learn how to spell my name!