So I've said a bit about what it was like being a congoer. But what was it like being a dealer with The Nice?It was pretty cool, actually. I got to meet a lot of fans. Most of the people who bought our books were familiar with our comics, which was neat. So thank you to everybody who stopped by to say hi. We had a big "Namir Deiter" banner hung over our table, because we were the only ones in our group who had a banner (and we'd look kinda blank without anything there - we're definitely going to have to do more decorating next year). I didn't get to spend much time at all hanging out with my boothmates, Mark, Leonard, and Thomas. We were too busy selling things to talk much. I worked my sales skillz as I had never worked them before. Perhaps a more low-key sales approach would've worked equally well, or at least let us hang out more. I was too busy and too tired (after the first day, at least) to think of anything really clever to say to anybody. At the end of each day, we went home and went straight to bed. As a result, my con stories might be less exciting than some of the other folk. We should've all got together and gone bowling or drinking or something - we'd have more stories at least - but after ten hours of working the con I wasn't up to it. Thomas had some really neat ideas for a CCG, which we only managed to get to as the con was closing down on Sunday.
There were about three or four people who had heard of Unlike Minerva but had no idea that I was doing anything since then.
Captain Packrat came by and it wasn't until about three days later that I realized he was the webmaster of Twilight Agency - sorry, Captain. D.A. Graf, their writer, also came by, but we weren't around. There were rumors that Maritza Campos was there, but those proved to be false. A certain other webcartoonist (who values his privacy) stopped by and I really appreciate that he did. And there was the Tall Tails booth which will have its own entry, probably Friday.
Gremlin Trouble was diagonal from us, same as they were at Califur. I went over and said hi, which I didn't get a chance to do at that other con. It's rare that one can make up for the regrets of the past, even the small ones. But I got a sketch and Gremlin Trouble TPB #1, which was on my list of things to pick up for the longest time. It's neat seeing other comics by married couples (and they thought the same thing about Isabel and me). Gremlin Trouble itself is over so I'm waiting on whatever they put out next.
Haibane
Someone came by dressed as a Haibane. I've read some of the manga, so I'm a bit embarassed that he had to tell me what he was dressed as. I never saw the Haibane Renmei anime, though. He had a MegaTokyo lanyard. We talked HR for a bit. I didn't get his name though. But "Haibane who never learned how to sew" was a damn good costume. I'm thinking of doing an omake called Brisbane Renmei at some point, just so people can figure out how to pronounce it.
Someone else came by on Friday, said they'd be back wearing a sandwichboard for us to draw on. And he did (yes, yes, chronological style would've made that anecdote a bit more compelling...). Isabel drew Tipper on the back, right between the Cardboard Tube Samurai and the Shirt Ninja. If I were clever (and knew how to draw) I would've drawn Carl as the "Karateka with Oven Mitts" or something like that. And since the sign was on his back, he wouldn't've been able to stop me until I was done drawing. But no, I didn't think of it. And watch, next year I'll wind up drawing on the signboard between two other comics and not be able to think of anything good until a week later. But them's the breaks.
Friday- more random con stuff!
