Thursday, July 29, 2010

San Diego '10: After Action Report

Few noticed the two men who got off Flight 490 that day. One was bearded and wore green. The other had on tan shorts and a Captain Hammer t-shirt. They were indistinguishable from the horde of nerds around them. That’s how they wanted it.

They strode to baggage claim, their eyes invisible behind black sunglasses. There they picked up several large, unassuming bags. If someone had been paying attention, they would have heard the unmistakable rustle of a belt of .50 ammo and the clicking of machetes against each other. These men were no ordinary nerds. They came not to just sell comics. They came to do battle with the very forces of hell.

Oh, wait. Sorry, those guys weren’t us. We were the nerds who couldn’t quite manage to get ten feet without dropping a piece of luggage.

Seriously.

Despite the luggage dropping, all in all we had a great con. We were in the Small Press area and it stayed really busy all four days. Leigh and I rarely left the table and we ended up selling out of issues #1 and #2. It was easily our best con by a long-shot.

To our right was Cody Vrosh and his lovely wife Sheatiel Sarao from Binary Winter Press. They were very nice, though I continually tripped over their display. To our left was Josh Warner from Hanging Chad and Sean Forney from Savage Mind Comic Studio. Both Josh and Sean were great guys and both of them helped chat up our books to attendees, so if you’re looking the best damn Super Hero Moose comic or Little Red Ridinghood adaption you can find, go talk to these guys.

Around us, in no particular order were: WCG Comics, Crowbar Medic LLC (can't find a page for them), Super Searnold, Strange Matter Comics, Possum Press/Ultraist Studios, Chris Wisnia, Pirate Cove, 17 Machine Studios, Devon Devereaux Illustrations, TNP Press, Kennon James Illustrations, Studio 407, Pen 2 Paper Entertainment, and Ms. Monster & B-Minus Productions. All of them were very cool and we had a lovely time in Rows K-L of the Small Press area.

Also, shout outs to our good friends Jason Martin from Super Real Graphics and Kevin McShane from Lobrau Productions. They weren’t lucky enough to be in the same row with us, but not everyone could be.

I also got to talk with writers and personal friends Bill Harms and Eric Trautmann, both of whom came by the booth. Bill even dropped off a copy of his new novel Dead or Alive for me, which was much appreciated. I also ran into Greg Rucka, a well-known comics and film writer. Weirdly enough, he was sitting about three feet away from me at the airport on Monday and I knew I knew him from somewhere, but my brain was shot so it took a while for me to recognize him. I actually went to elementary school and junior high with Greg (I went to his 10th birthday party), so it was great to have a chance to say ‘hi’ and talk about the industry.

The absolute pinnacle of the con, however, was a little incident that happened on Friday.

Some quick backstory:

Three years ago, at our first con (Emerald City), I noticed that Bill Willingham was there. He’s one of my all-time favorite writers, so I went over to give him a copy of #1 and generally geek-out. He was very gracious and we chatted a little before I let go of his leg and left.

Fast forward to Friday at SDCC. I look up at one point and see, you guessed it, Bill Willingham walking up to our table. I don’t recall the exact conversation, but the salient points were:
He liked our comic.
He invited us to an after-con party.

At that point it wouldn’t have mattered if our table burned down, cannibals stole our comics, or an elephant pooped directly onto Leigh, ‘cause Bill Willingham invited us to a party.

We of course went, had a great time, and met a bunch of cool people, including the artist Inaki Miranda, James Sime (whom I will always remember as ‘the man in the purple suit’) from Isotope: The Comic Book Lounge, and Mike Maihack of Cleopatra in Space. There were more, but sadly, I can’t find all my business cards and I was so tired that night that I can’t recall any other names.

So, to sum up:
San Diego 2010 rocked.
We sold lots of comics
We met a ton of cool people
And Bill Willingham invited us to a party.

It’s going to take a lot to top that SDCC.

Cheers,
-Jason

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

We Survived!

We're back from the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con! Four day cons are an endurance run, but we had a great show! I'll be doing an After-Action Report tomorrow, but in the meantime, check out our photos HERE.

Cheers,
-Jason

Thursday, July 15, 2010

San Diego Bound!

Next week, Leigh and I will be attending the 41st Annual San Diego Comic-Con! We will be at table K-7 in the Small Press area, so come on by and say 'hi!'

As a special treat, I plan on shaving at least ONCE while I'm down there.

We will be updating on Tuesday as usual, though I won't be blogging during the week on account of being far away from my computer.

Anyway, we hope to see some of you there. I will be writing free sentences as is customary and Leigh will be doing commissions. So if you've ever wanted a custom picture of your favorite super-hero and an unintelligible sentence of dubious worth, you know where to go :)

Have a good weekend.

Cheers,
-Jason

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Wizard!: Part 2

Torgor blinked. “What? There’s no reason to get mad about it. Destroying the source of a wizard’s power is the classic way to defeat one.”

“But that’s not the source of my power, moron!”

“Oh.” Torgor nudged a piece of pottery with his foot. “What was in there?”

“My mother’s ashes!”

Torgor stopped, foot in mid-nudge, and then took a small step away. “This is kinda awkward,” he said after a moment.

Urgan glared at him. “You think?”

“I thought it was the source of your power!” Torgor said. “Wizard’s always keep them close at hand!”

“No we don’t. That’s just a story we spread so idiots like you’ll attack us in our towers.”

Torgor folded his arms. “Then it’s really your fault I broke your mother’s urn. If you spread stories like that, of course someone’s going to take a swipe at her vase.”
With a sigh, Urgan pointed over his shoulder. “You’re supposed to attack that.”

Torgor looked up. There was a large globe above the door, set in an ornately carved clawed hand. The orb pulsed with sickly blues and greens, with the occasional spark of red.

“Huh,” the barbarian said. “I completely missed that.”

“Obviously.”
The wizard and barbarian glared at each other.

“Well,” said Torgor suddenly. “It’s late and I’m sure you’d like to re . . . uh . . . inter your mother, so I’ll just let myself out.”

“Fine.” Urgan gestured and a large, leather-bound tome with a golden clasp appeared in his hand. He opened it and began scanning the pages. “I just need to see if I have some sort of ‘vacuum’ spell.”

“Okay then.” Torgor walked over to the doorway, stepping over the remains of the door. “No hard feelings!” he called out.

“Sure,” Urgan said, as the barbarian darted down the corridor. “At least until I get mother squared away,” he continued. “Then I’ll hunt you down and turn you into something small and fluffy and give you to my cats.”

Cheers,
-Jason

Wizard!

The barbarian, his massive frame covered only by a thick fur loincloth, shattered the stout door with a single kick.

A throne room stretched out before him, its floor inscribed in golden runes. Smoke from a dozen braziers curled up, as the smell of exotic incense filled the air. The stone walls were hung with tapestries worked in gold thread, depicting scenes of decadent delight. And upon a throne of marble, a silken pillow padding his bum, sat a man in a tall pointed hat.

“So,” began the man on the throne, as he made a note to call the carpenters. “Tardor the Barbarian isn’t it? You slew the Three-Eyed Dragon of Corumbia and vanquished of the Potentate of Fresno, did you not?”

“I am he. Him? Whatever,” said Tardor. “And you are Urgan, the Black Wizard of Bakeria!”

“Guilty,” said Urgan, with a slight chuckle. His hand rose to stroke his thin, white beard. “And I suppose you’re here to defeat me?”

“Yes! Everyone knows the villainy of Urgan!” Tordor pointed his huge two-handed sword at the wizard. “Your deeds are infamous! The destruction of Vomen! The burning of Avellia! The Baby-Souffle on Sundays!”

Urgan raised a finger. “Actually, I don’t do the baby thing. My marketer went a little nuts,” he said with a shrug.

“I care not! You will die for your crimes!” With a roar, Tordor leapt across the room, even as Urgan raised his hands, a spell tumbling from his lips. The barbarian’s huge sword swept down, cutting through the wizard’s point hat, but rebounding from his head as if he’d struck solid stone.

Urgan laughed. “You are a fool, barbarian, to challenge a wizard in his home!”

Tordor regained his balance and inspected his sword. The edge where it had struck the wizard was bent and twisted. “I thought the tales were a myth,” he said slowly, his eyes roving around the room.

“No, no myth. My magic protects me from simpletons with swords!” Urgan rose from his throne, tossing the remains of his hat to one side. He rubbed his head where Tordor’s sword had connected. “Not even a headache. Now then,” Urgan continued. “Time to die.”

The wizard raised his hands and lightning spat forth from his fingertips. Tordor leapt at the last second and the energy exploded against a tapestry, setting it alight. Urgan cackled, as he continued to spray lighting at the nimble barbarian.

Tordor dodged and weaved as the lightning crashed around him. He ignored the wizard’s taunts as he bounded, seemingly searching for something. After several minutes, he suddenly gave a shout.

“I have you now, wizard!” The barbarian leapt across the room, his sword raised high. Above the throne in a small nook, a golden vase rested upon a length of velvet. His sword swept across the vase, even as the wizard screamed.

The vase shattered, a fine powder billowing forth. Torgor landed and turned, a smirk upon his rugged features. “There, wizard! I have destroyed the source of your power!”

Urgan stared at his foe, his mouth open. “You . . . “ he began, as if unable to find the words. “You dick!”

Tomorrow: Part 2 – Someone Gets a Surprise!

Hot!

I may have just discovered my super power. I complained about the weather last week and now, all of a sudden, it's freakin' hot. The fact that it's now July probably has nothing to do with it.

It's been an exciting week here at Single Edge Studios. We started updating again, Leigh did not burst into flames when he went outside, and I spelled 'rhythm’ correctly on the first try.

And I’m not implying that Leigh is a vampire. It’s just that it’s very hot and both Leigh and I go outside as little as humanly possible. Basically, we both look like Gollum, only with more hair.

We’re both excited to be exhibiting at the San Diego Comic Con this year, as we plan on debuting our trade paperback! It combines all six issues and includes an illustrated story as well as guest art and a few other surprises for a total of 160 pages! As usual, Leigh will be doing commissions and I will be offering free sentences! Be the first on your block to have a custom art piece and an accompanying literary masterpiece!

NOTE: ‘masterpiece’ is a highly subjective term. Your sentence may very well contain words like ‘booger’ and ‘fart.’

Anyway, have a great weekend and we’ll see you next Tuesday with a new page and the usual bloggy goodness!

Cheers,
-Jason

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Mom!!!

In a move that rocked the world of online gaming today, Blizzard announced that they would soon be displaying a user’s real first and last name in their forums. They hope this will cut down on the flame wars and insults that their forums have become known for.

For those of you who don’t quite get what that means, here’s a sample of what might go on:

BGB008s
Druids totally suck! They’re totally overpowered and only noobs play them!

URM0M
Hah! U suck, BGB008s.

ARtHass
Lol! Ur jast mAdd cus druids own u!

URMOM
Yah! LOL@ARtHass!

BGBOO8s
Sut up! You bth suck! F#()^*! U!

URMOM
U gona cry? ? I bet ur cryin r8t now!

ARtHass
Cryb8be!

However, if the users have to use their real names, things would change radically.

Billy Smith
Druids totally suck! They’re totally overpowered and only noobs play them!

Martha Smith
Hah! U suck, Billy Smith!

Dr. Phillip W. Jones
Lol! Ur jast mAdd cus druids own u!

Martha Smith
Yah! LOL@Dr. Phillip W. Jones!

Billy Smith
Wait, Martha Smith? Do you live on Green Street in Pittsburg?

Martha Smith
Actually, I do.

Billy Smith
Mom?

Martha Smith
Billy, is that you?

Billy Smith
Mom! What the hell?

Martha Smith
You watch your language! And no, druids don’t suck!

Billy Smith
But, you’re my mom! You’re supposed to support me!

Martha Smith
Not when you’re being a suckhole, dear.

Dr. Phillip W. Jones
Lollz!

As you can see, interactions on the Blizzard forums would be greatly changed. The user base, as you can well imagine, is not happy about this. Last I checked, there was a new post every 3 minutes on how much this would suck. Posters cite that marketing people could glean data on them, spammers and hackers could target Blizzard customers specifically, and those with odd or unusual names would be mocked relentlessly.

Honestly, I’m of two minds about it. Anonymity on the Internet can be a hassle, as some people use the lack of accountability to be jerks. A real name might very well curb a lot of that behavior.

On the one hand, I wouldn’t want my real name on a public forum like that. I mean, if people knew who I was, I could be the target of all sorts of insidious plots . . .

Oh, wait.

My name’s already all over the webcomic and our forum. You know, that might very well explain the increase in ninja attacks. Hmmm, and here I thought I was being targeted because of my rugged good looks and frighteningly advanced intellect.

I guess that’s only part of it, then.

Cheers,
-Jason

Thursday, July 1, 2010

5 Days . . .

Well, it’s Thursday and my brain hurts.

It’s been a very, very busy week here at Chez Wayfarer’s Moon. Leigh has been bent over his drawing table, intent on the upcoming pages. I’ve been working on the second Tales story (hint: it’s about the Baron’s wife) and blogging, obviously.

The first Tales story is currently being penciled and once it’s done, we’ll update the site and announce the debut. Hopefully, it won’t be too much longer.

Other than that, we’re excited that we’re going to be updating again. The principle arc of Wayfarer’s Moon has been written for a couple years now, so there are tons of cool things waiting to happen. That’s one of the fun yet frustrating things about writing an epic arc like this. I know what’s going to happen and I’m excited to share it with you all, but it’ll be years before some of the arcs come to fruition.

NOTE: If you see me at a con and ask nicely, I might give you a hint or two (cash helps).

On Tuesday, the adventure continues.

Have a fun and safe 4th of July.

Cheers,
-Jason