NYCC 2011 Fancy Photo Comic Part 1

“George Hurt You” shirts are in the store!!!

Part 1 of 3.

Who knew convention life could be so sexy. Or so meaty? This comic stars Lar, Sohmer, Becker (the meats destroyer) and Rich of Blind Ferret plus a few fans, a couple of breasts and a Cloverfield monster given to my by Hasbro at the show in honor of my Groverfield shirt.

I’ve only done a few conventions with Blind Ferret since they took over my merch and advertising earlier this year, and DAMN has it been an eye opener. I never imagined how much less stressful cons would be if I had a skilled support team backing me up. It’s such a relief to get to talk to readers, draw sketches, etc and not have to worry about finding a shirt size, making change or running credit cards. I can walk away from the booth and know that it’s in good hands, we have these amazing backdrops, all the merch is shipped straight to the con… it’s just such a departure from the DIY/hold everything together with cable ties approach I’ve been taking for the past 3 years. I am so grateful to those guys for everything they have done for me. So grateful, that I chose to make fun of them in nearly every panel of this photo comic.

COMMENTERS: Did you go to NYCC? I did! It was super fun times. Any NYCC stories you want to share? How about New York stories in general? There was a cop directing pedestrian traffic to the con who screamed, “IF YOU CAN READ A FREAKIN’ COMIC BOOK, YOU CAN CROSS THE STREET CORRECTLY!” Nerds, amirite? Always walking all over the place.

Connecticon 2011 Fancy Photo Comic Part 2

Wil Wheaton and I got excited and made a thing! Check out our University of Gallifrey Fighting Time Lords Shirt over at Sharksplode.

CONVENTION NEWS: San Diego ComiCon is in a week and a half! I will be with Ryan and Lar and Danielle at the Blind Ferret Booth in the Webcomic area. Row 13 I believe. I will have books 1 and 2, prints, sketches and nearly all of my shirts.

Thus endeth my Connecticon shenanigans! After the last day of the show, the organizers threw the guests and staff a pasta buffet/bowling party at a place called Bowl-A-Rama. I bowled the best game of my life (a 108), and had an amazing time hanging out with Kris, Rob (Cyanide and Happiness)and Jennie. I partially attribute my all time high score to the addition of a White Russian (Caucasian). The Dude abides, and he knows his bowling drinks.

Every time I post these post-con photo comics I get a few complaints to the tune of, “blah blah this is just a bunch of inside jokes that we don’t get mnah blorh this is how I sound because I’m a stupid whiny baby mnahhh.” I make these photo comics for two reasons. A) to make me and my friends (the ones in the comic) laugh while remembering how much fun we had, and B) to give you guys something to look at while I recuperate from the con. So yeah, they are mostly inside jokes, but that was exactly why I started HE in the first place. To entertain my friends. I personally think it would be cool to see how some of my favorite Internet peoples hang out on their off time. I know this negative sentiment is not shared by the majority of you Fancy Bastards, but I just wanted to clear that up. Regular comics resume tomorrow.

STORE NEWS: The HijiNKS ENSUE Store is closed for a few weeks so I can make some big, exciting changes. [READ MORE HERE] In the meantime you can still get shirts from Sharksplode and HE Book 2 from this very site.

Connecticon 2011 Fancy Photo Comic Part 1

Wil Wheaton and I got excited and made a thing! Check out our University of Gallifrey Fighting Time Lords Shirt over at Sharksplode.

UPDATE: Removed the animated panel because it was screwing up the RSS feed.

Connecticon was a freaking blast. I don’t know what it is about Anime cons but they tend to treat webcomics people like kings. I have never been so pampered and cared for at a convention before. Most of that is thanks to Badger, who was our guest liaison. He’s a stand-up dude if there ever was one.

This comic takes us through the first couple of nights of post-con debauchery. Guest stars include perennial photo-comic punching bag David Willis and his wife Maggie, Kris and Rob from Cyanide and Happiness, Kris’s girlfriend Jennie, and my Super Art Fight opponent Alina Pete [she drew a synopsis of our battle HERE].

Tomorrow’s photo comic conclusion will take us to the magical, mystical, drunkical world of WEBCOMIC BOWL-A-RAMA!

Phoenix Comicon Fancy Photo Comic Outtakes

Wil Wheaton and I got excited and made a thing! Check out our University of Gallifrey Fighting Time Lords Shirt over at Sharksplode.

I am closing out some current t-shirt and print designs. Please check out this blog post since the stuff on closeout probably won’t be available again any time soon.

NEWS! I will not be attending HeroesCon this weekend. Read more HERE. Sorry, Charlotte Fancy Bastards.

IT’S MY 30th BIRTHDAY RIGHT NOW! LOOK AT ME, EMBRACING MY MORTALITY! I DO NOT FEAR YOU, DEATH! I WELCOME YOU AS A FRIEND! WOULD YOU LIKE TO GET A BEER? How can you help celebrate my 1/3 life crisis? Oh I don’t know… maybe donate, get something off the wish list or buy something from the store or Sharksplode? Sure. Why not. Whatever.

If you have read my Phoenix Comicon Fancy Photo comic, then you understand the heat-induced delusions I must have been suffering when I tell you my original plan involved all of the above panels being integrated into that original comic. It would have been a comic so tall, so massive, such an affront to God, that people would have attempted to scale it in order to reach the heavens. I felt like the previous Phoenix Fun Times comic had a loose narrative, so rather than call this “Part 2,” I am calling it “The Outtakes.” These are the bits that landed on the cutting room floor.

Big big thanks to Wil, Anne and Ryan Wheaton, Boyan and Amy. Additional thanks to Aaron “Chief” Douglas, the Phoenix Ghostbusters, the naked men who assaulted me, the people in the Stargate whose names I never caught (though the man drew Ryan’s super portrait and also draws Spider-Man), the wizarding folk, the cranky, square-headed man with the ballon house and Eric Fiallos who took the Geek Prom photos.. Damn, I already miss Phoenix.

Phoenix Comicon Fancy Photo Comic

Wil Wheaton and I got excited and made a thing! Check out our University of Gallifrey Fighting Time Lords Shirt over at Sharksplode.

I am closing out some current t-shirt and print designs. Please check out this blog post since the stuff on closeout probably won’t be available again any time soon.

NEWS! I will not be attending HeroesCon this weekend. Read more HERE. Sorry, Charlotte Fancy Bastards.

My mother freakin’ 30th birthday is tomorrow! How can you help celebrate my 1/3 life crisis? Oh I don’t know… maybe donate, get something off the wish list or buy something from the store or Sharksplode? Sure. Why not. Whatever.

Phoenix. Oh, sweet dear Phoenix. How I have fallen under your siren song. Or perhaps I am just light headed from the dry heat. Either way, I can say without a doubt that the time I spent last week in Phoenix, AZ was some of the most fun I have ever had in my entire life. What a way to usher out my 20’s and begin the long, slow crawl towards the grave. I hope the (unbearably lengthy) comic above illustrates just how amazing of a time it was.

Phoenix Comicon, while still firmly rooted in its anime-con upbringing, was one of the better comic/pop culture cons I have attended. The fans were just fantastic. Enthusiasm and fandom abounded. People in fur suits also abounded, but you take what you can get, right? It was really my kind of show. 1000’s and 1000’s of kids literally wearing their fandom on their sleeves. Their weird, hand crafted, often cardboard sleeves. If I could do 5 shows like this a year I wouldn’t do any others. I actually sold out of all of merch for both Phoenix AND Heroes Con (which is one of the main reasons I had to pull out of that show). I have already signed up for next year, so look for me in your sandy, parched grasp in 2012.

After the show each night I met up with Wil Wheaton, his wife Anne (“Molly” in the final panel), their son Ryan (hurphing next to his facepalming dad) and his friends John Scalzi, Boyan Radakovich and Amy Black. While I was already well acquainted with Wil, I did not expect to make such fast friends with his family and assorted cohorts. Our little group of creatives, writers, and Internet vagabonds spent every evening after the show together exploring downtown Phoenix, dining, drinking, playing games, and crashing the occasional geek prom. I know this is sappy, but it was really a magical time. When reflecting on the lives we live, Wil commented, “I hope I never wake up.” That really sums up my feelings. I am so grateful for the opportunities I am given to meet wonderful people and integrate them into my life.

I also want to mention and say thanks to Cherie Priest, a sci-fi writer and a friend of John and Wil’s who makes a cameo in panels 13 and 24. We are both from the same area in Southeast Texas and we had fun commiserating on our mutual escape from the region. Additional thanks to Nerdchick, who’s video of Wil’s performance of The Last Unicorn Pegasus Kitten inspired those panels above, and “grown up” film star April O’Neil who portrays Counselor Troi in this comic, as well as in the “grown up” Star Trek: TNG parody. I also need to shout out to Eric Fiallos, the photographer who took the prom picture in the final panel. The image captures one my favorite things that has ever happened. Evar.