I am still recovering from the marathon weekend that was the MoCCA Art Festival.
SATURDAY:
I didn't really get to walk around or take too many photos that day since I was the only one at my table. Luckily it was pretty busy and I got sell a bunch of my comics. I was excited to see some friends stop by [thanks to Gregg, Nikki, and Rob!]
Rob shows me his signed copy of Kim Deitch's "Alias the Cat".
After the show, I walked out and saw a sign that I immediately misread as... uh... something other than "Puck Fair".
I joined the enormous dinner crew consisting of Alison, Tyler, Cori, Dave, Raina, Stephanie, Zack, Dalton, Ryan, and many many other cartoonist-type peeps.
Unfortunately, we had to split up since our large group would've overwhelmed our desired restaurants! I joined the mexican food posse.
We went to the Top Shelf Comics party after dinner, but the place was a hot & stinky pit. I quickly escaped to the Kaiju after-party and happily danced with monsters.
Super Wrong and Kaiju creator Randy Borden. Giii pole-dancing.
Kaiju announcer Louden Noxious hanging w/ Giii & Plantain; Getting shit from the evil Dr. Cube.
Drinks + Giant Monsters = The irresistible impulse to make a fool of myself.
SUNDAY:
I woke up completely exhausted, as many other exhibitors surely felt [note the laid-out person in the above photo].
Oddly enough, a huge festival highlight was meeting Brian Chippendale: Lightning Bolt drummer and cartoonist. I was really surprised to find out he was exhibiting his gigantic book, Ninja, at the festival.
I was even more shocked when he came over to my table and allowed me to chew his ear off for over half an hour about everything from music & comics to the joys of driving a Toyota Previa. I've been obsessively listening to Lightning Bolt since seeing their two recent Brooklyn shows, so it was a real treat to hear his thoughts on performing, writing/recording, etc...
I got another big surprise when my good friend from college, Ian, paid me a visit! It was really great to see him for the first time in years. Joe also came by, which was awesome since I drew my latest comic about him: It was like the humble minicomic equivalent to having Spider-Man at the Marvel Comics booth! Their visits allowed me to take more breaks and revert to fanboy mode for a while...
Ben Ross and his cool-looking puppet.
Raina's sketch in my copy of Babysitter's Club Vol. 1. I've been procrastinating so long in buying these books, so it was awesome to finally get them w/ her awesome personalized sketches!
Jacob Chabot's sketch in his latest Skullboy comic; Meredith's sketch in her hilarious Octopus Pie comic.
Gabrielle Bell and Joe Matt sketching in copies of their respective new books.
As much as I enjoy Joe Matt's comics, I felt a bit strange shaking the hand of someone who's a self-proclaimed compulsive masturbator.
On my way out, I picked up this super-cool wooden postcard by Robert Goodin then saw this amusing sign down the street: "Yellow Fever". Heh heh...
CONCLUSION:
I sold the same modest amount of comics as I did at APE [Sunday was REALLY slow for me]... and realize once again that my salesman skills are completely non-existent. I can't decide whether I should initialize "customer" engagement or not: I never ask people walking by to "come look at my stuff" and wonder if that has anything to do with my paltry sales. I don't expect to ever make some kind of profit from this comics thing, and I certainly know that's NOT the point, but I can't help but wonder if I should be more aggressive in getting my books in people's hands.
Despite the monetary whining, I had a blast this weekend. Now that I've participated in a couple of comics conventions, I feel even more of a kinship with my other cartoonist friends/acquaintances... and that makes me really happy.