I opened Substack and saw that my last two posts were never published. I definitely recall clicking the publish button. I guess I didn’t click it hard enough? I’ll PUNCH the button this time.

FanX 2022 After-Action Report

As I mentioned in my last (apparently unpublished) post, I was able to make it to the FanX Salt Lake Comic Convention this year.

Originally, I was going to share a table with my friend, the novelist Jason Anderson (he’s on my right), and for the first day that’s what happened. But we had this empty table next to us the entire day. That looks bad at any convention, particularly one this big, but we figured the occupant would show up eventually. He never did.

On Friday, we pushed my posters, prints and comics to the empty table. We also did a little sleuthing. The table had Rico Renzi’s name on it. He’s a professional colorist. I figured he was over with the other professional artists in a different remote section of the con (more on that later). Sure enough, I went to my buddy Doug Wagner who said Rico was set up on the other side of him. It appeared that Rico hadn’t been given a table, but when Doug brought that to the con’s attention, he got two. So I now had a free table! I put my banner up on Saturday, and figured out how to arrange my books for optimum sales. Note, it was after the above photo was taken.

My panel

My panel on “Creating Comics from the ground up” was successful, at least in getting the information conveyed to those looking to create comics. I got to do a panel with my fellow creators and buddies, Chris Hoffman, Andrew Malin, and Doug Wagner. The panel was sparse, maybe 14 people, but we had a great time anyway.

If I met you at that panel, hey! Thanks for signing up for my newsletter!

A Comic Book Convention?

Not really. It’s billed as such, but it sells tickets based on the promised celebrities they book for the con. My nickname for it has always been “Star Fucker Con.”

The people who buy tickets are there to meet celebrities, and we comic shop celebrities aren’t the ones they’re looking for. In years past, I’ve found creators’ tables buried around the con. Creators I was delighted to meet, like Mike Grell, Bernie Wrightson, and Peter David. Only Stan Lee was put with the movie stars and other major celebrities. More recently, they’ve made an effort to put the bigger names together, but they still bury them to where you have to search to find them.

Almost every professional comic book creator who has come to the con from out of town won’t come back.

At every other comic book convention these creators go to, they’re treated like royalty, spend the day signing autographs, selling their art and books, and get to interact with their fans. At Star Fucker Con, they’re ignored by the majority of the patrons, buried somewhere near Artist Alley, meet only a handful of fans, and make no money for their effort.

Speaking of Artist Alley, I had wanted to get an Artist Alley table, but they were sold out. Walking through, looking for Doug Wagner and the other comic book celebrities, I saw why that was the case. The majority of tables were occupied by individuals selling posters that weren’t their own work. It’s cheaper to get an Artist Alley table over a regular vendor table.

On the other hand, I was treated better than I’ve been treated by that con in previous years, lucked out on getting my own table, and made about $100 selling comic books, so I really don’t have anything to complain about. On top of that, I met the local Star Trek fan club and tried out their transporter…

BEAM ME UP!

Website update

After talking about The Shaolin Nun at the convention, I realized my website desperately needed an update.

That’s much cleaner. I plan to launch the Kickstarter for issue #4 sometime next month. Tiah has been hard at work and I got to see the first five pages last weekend. I can’t wait for you all to see them!

Time for a letters page

Usually somewhere around issue 4, comic books start a letters page, which I think is a great idea! I’ll call it “The Sangha,” which is the Buddhist term for the community. I’ll make announcements, introduce new artists, and answer your letters in The Sangha.

I’ll be soliciting for letters in issue 4, but you could get a jump on that and get your letter printed in that issue by writing to letters@shaolinnun.com! Make sure you include the phrase “Okay to print.”

Sifu's Notes

Why aren't these things posting?