Mid-Ohio Con Report

[Zapow]

Day One:

The family and I left butt early in the morning yesterday for Ohio. There was little traffic and we cruised into Columbus in under six hours.

There was a small preview night last night but not many people attended. I did get to talk to big a HB fan which is always very cool. Aaron of General Jack Cosmo fame stopped by and we talked shop a bit. Paul Storrie came by with Sean McKeever in tow. I hadn't meet Sean before so it was a treat to talk to him about writing Teen Titans. I just about fainted when Roger Stern and his wife came to talk with Paul and Sean in front of my booth.

Day Two:

The second day was a blast!

It started off with meeting Tony Isabella, writing legend and personal idol.

I've learned three things at this convention.

1. People pay way more attention to you when you're in a booth than a table.
2. People buy way more comics when you have five issues out.
3. People would have bought more if I had been wearing some Ohio State gear. Every other person was in red and white!

I had a chance to talk with Chris Sprouse, who had a booth near mine, and mentioned a secret new project he's working on for Wildstorm. He was completely mum on what it is.

Hitman from FR stopped by to chat. He had an actual first print of Honor Brigade #1 for me to sign which was pretty cool and flattering. He also had an honest to god working Polaroid camera and snagged a shot of us to together. It was great to finally meet Hitman. He got Honor Brigade into its first comic shop and that's a big deal for me. I couldn't thank him enough.

Day Three:

It was a slow day to start and we left before noon to get back to Chicago. The crowd just started to filter in from church (we guess) as we left.

Okay, let me fill in a few details that I skipped over.

As some of you may know I have sleep apnea. For the last sixteen months I've slept nightly with the aid of a forced air machine. Essentially the machine keeps me from possibly suffocating in my sleep. It also helps me have restful sleep and eliminates morning exhaustion & wicked headaches.

That's why we were a more than a bit dismayed to realize my CPAP machine was still sitting on my bedroom floor back in Chicago, all nicely packed away for the trip. Caty thought I put it in the car, I thought she did...we forgot it.

I didn't really sleep more than maybe eight hours the entire weekend. I woke up each day drained, my head pounding, knowing I had to be "on" for a couple thousand people over the next ten hours.

But you know, I love conventions. I love talking to other creators, I love talking to comic fans, I love seeing so many different kinds of people. I feel a great sense of belonging at conventions. I'm with my people. I didn't know anyone else who loved comics when I was growing up. I was pretty much alone. So I was energized by the all the great comic lovers. I pulled it off.

Unfortunately, the drive home was hard on so little sleep. On the drive to Columbus I was an iron man and did most of the driving. On the way home I drove about 50 miles and Caty had to take over. I was nearly falling asleep at the wheel. My wife drove a long time. She drove as long as possible. Eventually, with 168 miles to go, I had to take back the wheel.

We stopped for gas. I was seriously worried about getting us home. I thought we'd have to stop often. It was storming and pitch black at 4:30PM. I bought some No-Doze and a Mountain Dew.

But thankfully I had no trouble at all. I don't know if it was having to concentrate because of the driving conditions, the stimulants, or possibly listening to the thrilling last minute win of the Bears over the Broncos on the radio, but I drove the whole 168 miles without stopping.

I never thought I'd be happy to wear that stupid breathing mask. I slept like a baby last night.

The convention was a blast. If you're local and didn't go...you sure missed out. It's worth driving an hour or two to attend as a fan. Lots of great talents and vendors. The people of Ohio are very friendly. Columbus is a very nice city and there's a bunch of things you can do in the area besides the convention.

I had a chance to meet some already existing Honor Brigade fans and make some new ones. I had a great time talking with Tony, Sean, my friend Scott Story & his wife Benita. I got to meet Dave Willis of Shortpacked!, one of my favorite webcomics. Winners and losers from WHO WANTS TO BE A SUPERHERO?! were in attendance and some darn nice people.

I wish I had more to say but it was a pretty busy convention. I rarely left my booth.

There are some nifty pictures up on my Facebook. Check them out.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=12439&id=677078104