Oh, hello! I didn’t see you there. I guess I was too busy reading comics to notice you coming to this blog. Y’ see, it’s hard for me to do much else but read funnies after getting back from Heroes Con.

Travelmates/bedbuddies Brad McGinty, J. Chris Campbell and I met up and made the trek up to North Carolina- Oh wait, is Charlotte in North Carolina? I’ll have to ask our Father-figure slash roomie and all out organizer-for-us, Rob Ullman, when I get a chance. At any rate, we made the trek up to the greatest comic convention in the world, Heroes Con.  What makes it so great, you ask? Some nerve! Well, I mean like, besides the fact I get to see my favorite people in comics and/or world, I get more comics than I can shake a limited edition light saber sword at. Anyway, I am getting ahead of myself.

We came rollin’ up in my ’97 Corolla on Friday morning and decided to bite the bullet and park in a 20 dollar parking lot. I mean, like, dudes. We hadda lot of crap to carry, and I doubt you’d mistake Brad, J.Chris and I as people from your gym. (Rob Ullman, maybe, but still.) As it turns out, we didn’t move my car for the weekend so we got to slip out on Sunday sans paying for parking. Looks like we won this round, Heroes. Haha!

Friday was a bit slow on sales for all of us, well, everyone I talked to, but honestly, I didn’t notice. I don’t even think I was behind the table all that much,leaving my good friend Shannon Smith to man the table we shared as I was making the rounds and seeing what’s new with all my comic buddies. “Not much” was the resounding consensus. Comic people are so modest. I was pleased and surprised to see so many of my Athens pals (Robert Newsome, Patrick Dean, Joey Weiser, David Mack and Drew Weing) also seated in Indie Island. No wonder this show feels more like home that my hometown show ever does. Burn, Dragon*Con, burn!

That night Rob, J.Chris, Brad, Shannon and I met up with another good friend and favorite person in comics, Ben Towle, and had a costly dinner at some Chinese restaurant. Well, costly for us poor folks. We discussed comics(duh) and the breasts of our waitress and how they were all hanging out and stuff. Later on, we had a screening of Brad’s brilliant cartoons in the Dollar Bin suite. It always sounds funny to say, but sometimes I forget just how brilliant Brad really is. His cartoons slayed, and unlike last year, security didn’t squelch our party down plans, and party down we did,man! We drank like it was going out of style, just like comics books. We all woke up with hangovers the next day and ahead of schedule. Oh well, what can you do?

After a little hair of the dog, we got it together with some bagels and coffee and hit the convention. We got to see our pal, Ashley Holt, which of course, was really nice. Homeboy is smart.  Also, I got to spend time with my sister Sally Bloodbath and her boyfriend Matt Wiegle which was also very nice. Jeez, I need a thesaurus. Sales were pretty darn good, and I musta done, like, zillions of sketches.

That night we made our annual trek to Phat Burrito where I got to spend some time with Sally, Matt, Liz Ballie, Jackson New Jersey’s very own Meghan Ansbach and her boyfriend Lee. We mostly discussed records, n’ things, which was a welcome change from the 34 hours of comic talk. Ah, who I am kidding? We talked about comics too. Also, during the course of the evening, Brad, J.Chris, Rob and I had a beer with Tom Spurgeon and talked about the Atlanta comic scene. Surprise, surprise. I had only negative things to say about it. I read Comics Reporter daily, so this was a highlight of the show for me.

Later on that night, I got a chance to smoke a little grass* with my man P. Cleland and another unnamed cartoonist.
*Just kidding. We’d never really do anything illegal on the top of a parking garage.

Sunday is my shopping day, so shopping I did. I bought some weird, wacky comics for a dollar a piece, like this weird Daffy and Roadrunner comic (all the Looney Tunes birds,together at last!) and some peak Carl Barks Uncle Scrooge comics, because I can’t come home without duck books. Speaking of which, Boom! Studios was there with there new Disney comics, which I am a big fan of, especially the Euro duck stuff. Man, that’s some cartoony goodness! I love it. Love it, I say. We need more like that. I heard a DuckTales book is around the bend.

It’s always depressing packing up after this show, and this year was no different. I would say though, without a doubt this was my best year at Heroes. The con was stress free, and I sold a metric ton of crap. What more can I ask for? This is sleep-away camp for nerds that never went to camp.

Welp, that’s about it- Oh wait, I’d love to mention a few more fine people. Warning: more plugs than Steve Carell’s hairline up ahead.
Ken Dahl, M.K. Reed, Evan Dahm, Pale Rider crew, Gabriel Dunston, Chris Pitzer, Dean Trippe, Jason Horn, Van Jensen, Rob Venditti, Travis J. Hill, Jamie Walker, Boom!, Tom Bancroft, David Mack, Dollar Bin Podcast (Adam,Ted, Brian, Kris, Devin, Brandon), Mr.Phil, Martin Steenton, Andy Ruton, Heather McKinney, Stephanie Gladden, John Miller, Chris Schweizer, Duane Ballenger, Rich Barrett, Erakis Pemeza, Shawn Daughhetee, Scott Elingburg, Justin and Jason Gammon and Jamie Ouzts extra special thanks goes out to my man Dustin Harbin for inviting me to be part of Indie Island. See ya next year, sucker.

Tune in soon for more news on the next Rashy Rabbit!

Howdy partner! Hand me a rope. I always feel a little blue after a comic con. Especially when the comic con was as happening as Fanaticon. I can’t even begin to tell you how many things were great about Fanaticon, well, I guess I kinda sorta did, so I will keep on in this manner.

This was the first year for Fanaticon in beautiful Asheville NC and, from where I sat, it appeared to be a rousing success. Unlike other comic shows, this one broke the chains and took place inside a museum, which is much nicer than, oh let’s say a ballroom in a hotel or a convention center. There was a touch of class in the air, despite the deodorant free nerds. I am kidding. Well, not about the class, but this wasn’t your regular-run-of-the-mill nerd gaggle. No sir. Instead there was a good cross section of people of all walks of life (last I heard, attendance was over a thousand.) Men, women (LOTS of women) children, teens, hippies and gutter punks alike meandered around and actually bought stuff. I saw many costumes, which I appreciate, and I certainly miss seeing at the small press shows. Instead, while at SPX’s or APE’s, I just keep looking around and thinking I see myself all over the room. “Hey, there I am! Over there, that’s me” I think. “No, wait, I am sitting right here.”
I digress.

Fanaticon had it’s panels n all that, but another unique touch was the bands rock and/or rolling in the courtyard. We saw some pretty entertaining bands like Falcon Lords and How I Became The Bomb. Also, this gave me an excuse to get out from behind the table and drink some beer.

I think what makes a comic show like this a great equalizer between the rabid fanboys and the curious-some-latelys is the fact the show was free. Yes, free. I always had a hard time with the concept of spending admission to go somewhere to spend lots of money. I know this is the only way for the organizers to make their money at these events, I mean, I guess, but I think I saw the future of comic conventions, and lemme tell ya, I like it.

No question about it, I will be back any and every year that Fanaticon will have me…and even if they won’t, I’ll be back. You better believe I’ll be back.

Shit I got: 2 ‘peek’ Carl Bark’s Donald Duck comics, Ashley Holt’s collection of minis and Brad McGinty’s latest, Fry Cook Chronicles.

*special thanks to J.Chris Campbell for letting me set up with him. Thank you, J.Chris.

Hey Asheville! Wanna know where you’ll be tomorrow?

WIDE AWAKE PRESS AT FANATICON

The Asheville Art Museum will play host to a slew of comic book dealers and artists. We’re lucky to count ourselves among them.

Fanaticon
Asheville Art Museum
Saturday May 15
10am-5pm

Wappies Attending:

Brad McGinty with his new book The Fry Cook Chronicles
Josh Latta with his new book A Rabbit in King Arthur’s Court
Ashley Holt with his new book Bedbugs
J Chris Campbell with his new book Trickster
Duane Ballenger with his new artwork and various swag

So, dudes, what are all y’all doing this Saturday? Don’t know? Well, I’m about to tell yow what to do, and that is go to lovely Athens GA and heading down to FLUKE.

Fluke is a happening mini comic and zine fest  that’s only five bucks to get in, and this is where things get crazy- That’s how much it costs to exhibit too. Tables are first come first serve. If that’s not enough to make your knickers moist, that same 5 dollars, you know, the one that got you in AND got you a table?Well, It also gets you that incredible comic above, drawn by my hero and yours, Patrick Dean! Oh, and it was inked by a buncha other people, me not being one. Thanks, guys.

I will be there with all my Rashy comics. Have you got them all? Of course you don’t, so come one, come all and spend the day behind a folding table with me and the other top niggas in mini comix. PS I love all of you.

Any of you suckers gonna be in Greenville, South Carolina sitting behind a folding table this Saturday staring off into space and/or looking stupid?

I  know I will!

Come join the wig out on October 25th from 10 am-4 pm at the Comfort Inn (formerly Days Inn) at 2756 Laurens Road. Behind the BMW dealership and the hobo grave yard.

Get a free issue of Rashy Rabbit by punching J. Chris Campbell(designer of flyer above.) in the face!

Any questions about the show or table availability:info@greenvillecomiccon.com

See ya there!

If You happen to be at the San Diego Comic Con this weekend, be sure to swing by and say hi to J. Chris Campbell and pick up  “Off The Wall Illustrated Tribute to the King of Pop A Comic Con Exclusive” and “The Ancient Age” featuring the Rashy Rabbit story above.

If you can’t make it, you can always download “The Ancient Age” for free here.

See ya in the funny pages, sucker.

Have you heard the news? Michael Jackson died. No, we can’t bring him back, but we can celebrate the King Of Pop through comics and illustration with Wide Awake Press’ “Off The Wall: An Illustrated Tribute to the King of Pop.”

This book is gonna be off the chain, boys n’ girls. We got comics and sketches from the likes of Brad McGinty, Sarah Louise Wahrhaftig, Jim Mahfood, Rob Ullman and J Chris Campbell and many, many more of   MJ’s special little ftiends.

Okay, gang. Confession time. So I was never THAT in to Michael Jackson. I liked the videos but I never owned Thriller, however, I am bonkers about Epcot Center so I depicted Jacko in his star performance in the delightfully screwy “Captain Eo.”

It looks like this book will only be available at the San Diego Comic-Con.

Try not to lose too much sleep over this, though. If I know J. Chris like I think I know him, this might surface on the Wide Awake website in downloadable form or  some crap, or my name isn’t Peter Pan!

MINICOMICS: The Best Little Comics In The World Sat. 2PM Room 217A
Minicomics can be as simple as a photocopied booklet of stick figures or a hand-made, screenprinted masterpiece—but most importantly minicomics are comics you can make yourself! Join the Dollar Bin’s Adam Daughhetee as he sits down with J. Chris Campbell (Attic Bugs), Drew Weing (Blar), Andy Runton (Owly), Brad McGinty (Wisteria) and Josh Latta (Rashy Rabbit) to talk about what minicomics are, how they make them, and most importantly how YOU can make them too!

Heroes Con is a mere three days away. I better start packin’! Before I do though, I thought I’d share a most excellent review of Rashy Rabbit’s latest adventure, “Redskin Rashy” by my pal Shannon Smith at File Under Other.

(click on the page above to see that, I am in fact, a genius.)

Thanks Shannon, without your support, I woulda long given up on this racket, I’m sure.

So, who’s gonna be in Charlotte this weekend?

You and you?

…Not him?

Well then, let’s kick it at HEROES CONVENTION!

I’ll be with more talented artist in Indie Island, with my latest comic Redskin Rashy and the New Avatards! book in tow. (brought to you by Wide Awake Press.)

So, if you wanna hang out, drink overpriced beer behind a folding table, then let’s do this up right.

Don’t let the name fool you. Yes, super heroes are well represented at this convention sure, but as Shannon pointed out in his blog, there will be plenty for the rest of us hipster snobs that wouldn’t touch  cape with a ten-foot pole.

Thanks again, Shannon, and I’m sorry you won’t be there this year.

So, uh come by and say “HI!”and I’ll give you something neat*.

See ya in a few, true believers!

* Our ideas of neat may vary.