Monday, May 20, 2013

SpringCon killed all the monsters



SpringCon was great. For those who aren't familiar with it, it's the larger of the two Minnesota conventions put on by the wonderful folks of the Midwest Comic Book Association. FallCon is a one-day show in October, but SpringCon runs Saturday and Sunday, usually in May. The Minneapolis/Saint Paul area has a great comics scene and the MCBA goes out of its way to treat creators like royalty, so there's always a lot of participation. Both conventions are fantastic, family-friendly shows and highlights of my year.

My wife's out of town for a friend's college graduation, so David and I hung out together all weekend. David made the second issue of Hulkasaurus, his series of mini-comics about his own giant monster, and I had several copies of Kill All Monsters left over from C2E2. KAM did very well and I sold out early on Sunday. A surprise hit for me was Hunt the Winterlands, a fantasy anthology of prose stories that I contributed to a year or so ago. I've had it at a few shows since then and sold some copies, but it sold like hotcakes this time.

David sold most of his copies of Hulkasaurus #2. A couple of other friends of mine were also exhibiting with their kids who also did very well all weekend. It's great to see children getting into making art and comics so early, and even greater to see the local community support them so much.

David had an iguana puppet at his table, which is the model for a giant monster in Hulkasaurus, so he had a great time using it to attract people to the table. Or just playing with friends:



As usual, we sat near Grant Gould who's always amazing with kids. He and David did an art trade, with Grant's drawing one of David's favorite characters and David's drawing something Grant had mentioned earlier: a dinosaur/scorpion hybrid.



Otis Frampton was on the other side of our table nearest me and I had a great time getting to know him a little better. He's a super-talented artist and was also really welcoming of David. My good friends Jessica Hickman and Darla Ecklund were nearby as well and David and I shared a couple of meals with them.

I also enjoyed finally getting to meet Ron Marz, who was visiting an MCBA show for the first time, and Trevor Von Eeden, who is - no lie - the sweetest person in comics. I had the privilege of being in the audience at San Diego Comic-Con last year when he received the Inkpot Award. Getting to hear him accept it and talk about his career was a highlight not only of that panel, but of the entire convention for me. Getting to tell him so yesterday was a highlight of this weekend. Comics people are the best people.

In addition to talking to people - and I know I'm leaving out so many of you; I'm sorry - I bought a bunch of comics of course and a couple of pieces of art, including this Godzilla silhouette by Jennifer Menken.



One final memory of the show was how humid it was. We had unseasonably hot weather at FallCon a few years ago and it was appropriately dubbed SweatCon. This year, I thought that MoistCon would be appropriate until the torrential rains started coming down on Sunday and it turned into something more like HurriCon.



Not that that "dampened" anyone's fun. It was a great time and thanks again to the MCBA for hosting!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Had a good time meeting you and getting your books. I can't believe they gave us a steak dinner! lol good times.

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