Eric Johnson Comics

Cherry Capital Con 2010 is behind me.

Official con website: http://www.cherrycapitalcon.com/

The box of comics I brought to sell isn't much lighter than when I first put it in the car. But, I got the experience of "working a con" in my hometown.

Saw old friends, including at least one that it was really important to see about now, with what's going on in his life.

My being there got my family members to come by and see the con, have the neat experience.

My sister brought her two boys by, which was great. Pics here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=58114&id=1078812761

The trip down to Traverse City let my friend Pat, set up his wife Keri (who was my booth assistant) where he came down to TC two days after we did to surprise her for a lead-in to their anniversary.

While he was here, Pat also slapped on his pirate costume (the one with the awesome hat) and jumped into the costume contest at the last moment. I hope I can find on the internet somewhere a pic of him doing the Captain Morgan pose on the stage.

As I hinted above, sales were slow, even though I was giving a 2/3rds off discount for a "back to my hometown" sale. Got a few people to buy all 6 comics though. Had one person say "I just got this most recent issue online", then he picked up the other 5. Another person who just bought FemForce early back issues at the big retailer nearby, then got the new issues from me, saying he was a huge Bill Black fan. One person bought all 6 issues after hearing me explain my "Fantasia" character from the 1-900-Giantess stories.

Several non-buying browsers said things like "FemForce? I've heard of that, not sure where." or "FemForce? Those guys are still publishing?"

Left Keri to watch the booth while I attended two writing-related panel presentations on Saturday. Daniel Way had some interesting info on breaking into writing for the mainstream comic book publishers.

The second panel was on the collobrative process between writer and artist. Panel was Daniel Wray again, Steve Dillon, and Jason Aaron. I was kinda gratified that much of the stuff in the second panel, I had already learned by experience.

Cool moment towards end of con, in final push to get more donations for the MS fundraiser, and the various comic book stores one-upping each other with donations. I threw in a few bucks, of course.

Hung out and chatted with cool people in the booth next door.

Go check out Bruce Gerlach's home page, he and his lady are nice people: http://www.tattooed-sky.com/

He's done a lot of sketch cards and editorial cartoon type stuff. And has some neat prints too.

More importantly, having the booth next to him made the con a lot less boring for both Keri and I.

Plus, he bought my comic, so he has a good soul.

My other booth neighbor to my left was Eric Mullarky. Self-publishing under "New Baby Productions". He and I didn't talk as much. We had the gap between our tables for exhibitors to get in and out of the "island" of tables. I did buy his "Elemental Fources" 6-issue mini-series. His pitch line was "Superheroes mixed in with Hellboy and the DaVinci Code".

Self-publishing in hard, so check out his website, see what you think: www.ElementalFources.com

Wrote first draft of two scripts for 8 page comic stories during the slow times at the booth. The next "Gammazon Housewife" story, and another "Ali Bastur and her Forty Feet" comedy. Both hopefully coming to a future issue of Gargantarama near you. I guess being at a con gets me in the mood to write. Hopefully, the transition from written first draft to typed-up submission draft is a smooth one.

Big thanks to Keri for being by "booth assistant". And to Pat for letting me "borrow his wife" for most of a weekend. Also thanks to Marty for driving me down, and doing some quick last-minute gophering. Of course, thanks to friends and family for stopping by and seeing me at the table, which helped make it feel much more 'real' and definitely more worthwhile.

My final summary of my first time working "behind the table" at a con: "Sure, net loss in money terms, but big net plus in life experience."