It’s funny, I’ve heard a few creators complain about how
much they hate working the table at cons. How boring it is, and how frustrating
it is. I spent almost all of my twenties playing in bands that felt the same
way. The standard procedure for most
bands I was in – 1) Set up 2) Rock out 3) Break down the equipment 4) Drink many
beers. Most bands I have met would rather do almost anything than sit at the
merch table after they play trying to sling T-shirts and CDs. So many bands outsourced
that job to a friend, or a girlfriend.
Fortunately for my band-mates, they always had me. I LOVED
the merch table. I wasn’t much of a drinker, so sitting in the van and swallowing
lukewarm Pabst Blue Ribbon didn’t hold a lot of appeal for me. Plus, often the shows we were playing were
populated by just the bands, and their friends. I thought an extra body still
in the room watching whoever was on next was just plain courteous. But more
than anything else, I always just assumed that someone buying a CD of a band
would rather buy it directly from the hand of someone in that band. And I dug
having the chance to actually connect with someone who was into what I was
doing.
 |
| The Dakota Version, 2005. |
Same thing with comics and conventions. I LOVE being at the
table, and selling comics, and talking to whoever will make polite eye contact
with me. I’m not a hard sell guy. I’ll tell you what the books are about, and
if it’s not your thing, no hard feelings. But I really love knowing that there
are some people out there, reading a story I have written, and maybe feeling
that extra investment in it because they got it right from my hands.
Much love to some of the familiar faces and some of the new
friends from MoCCA Fest.
·
Table-neighbor Mario Gonzalez, creator of the
fantastic WYLIMAN. I only got to talk to Mario a little bit, but he struck me
as being very sweet and genuine. I really dug talking to him, and I love his
work a lot.
·
Heather Nunnely, our other table-neighbor, and
the talent behind the comic/soon-to-be-webcomic VACANT. I got to snag the first
issue of Vacant and thought it was really cool. Interesting premise, intriguing
characters, and it left me wanting to know/read more. (Heather’s sister was also at the table, but
I didn’t really get to talk to her, and have totally forgotten her name. She
seemed very nice, though.)
·
I finally got to meet Taylor Esposito face to
face, after an extended courtship via Twitter. Taylor is good people,
boy band handsome, and you should totally get him to letter your comic, if your
comic needs lettering.
·
Sean Von Gorman, artist of the completely rad
comic The Secret Adventures of Houdini,
in what can only be called “living your art”, was wowing the crowd with
straightjacket escapes all weekend long. He was goodly enough to drop a special
performance in front of the Gray Haven table, and then talk us up to the
assembled audience. He’s a really good dude.
·
I also got to see the lovely and talented AlisaHarris and her faithful sidekick, the no-less lovely or talented Allan Norico. I
love them so much. I wish we lived in the same city so we could hang out all
the time.
ASSEMBLEFRIENDS AVENGE! (Part One)
I continue to be obsessed with the Avengers Alliance game
for Facebook, playing it like I’m getting a paycheck for doing so. It’s an
insanely fun and addictive game for someone with my proclivities, and I find
myself having actual hard opinions on the game mechanics, the difficulty of
various bosses, the balance of power between Character A and B, and other sorts
of things that would normally mean fuck-all to me in relation to a Facebook
game.
ASSEMBLEFRIENDS AVENGE! (Part Two)
Speaking of games, I had the opportunity to try out the new
Marvel Heroic Roleplaying Game recently. My one word review: Fungasm. I’ve been
playing D&D in its current iteration for long enough that I had forgotten
the joy of a pure RPG, with all of the wargaming and tabletop trappings burned
away and only the drive of pure narrative left to matter. I’m so used to
juggling a pile of different cards codifying the very specific acts my
character can take that it was a thrill to be playing as Spider-Man, tell the
Gamemaster (Or “Watcher”, how fucking cool is that?) “I’m going to grab a girder,
make a web slingshot and shoot it at the bad guy,” and have him look me
straight in the eyes and say, “Of course you fucking are. Because you’re
motherfucking SPIDER-MAN.” (Or something like that, anyway. )
I cannot express this clearly enough. There was never that
moment where Captain America jumping out of a helicopter and into battle
required a lookup of rules on movement, motion, velocity, physics, and a
million other things that each required a separate section of the rulebook. IT
JUST HAPPENED. Because he’s Captain America. And there’s a battle to get into.
So of COURSE he can jump out of the goddamned helicopter if he wants.
ASSEMBLEFRIENDS AVENGE! (Part Three)
Jenny and I have tickets to see the midnight opening of “The
Avengers”. So if you follow me on Twitter, don’t expect much in the next few
days except the words “Oh my fucking god” and “Holy fucking shit”.
Hugs and kisses,
(The)Travis
(The)Travis
