I drove 628 miles round trip to buy your minicomic: The 2014 fuo Fluke report.

This is Fluke. (Image stolen from Fluke.) 

(EDITOR'S NOTE:  I started writing this soon after Fluke but then I got busy with work that pays me money.  Sorry.  As much as I'd love to spend all day creating "content" for you to share with your mom on Facebook, I gotta get paid. The kids gotta have their My Little Ponies.)

FLUKE, APRIL 19th 2014. ATHENS GA, USA.

Fluke is a mini-comics and zine festival that takes place in Athens GA USA every spring.  I love it.  I think this is year twelve of the show.  I think I've been to maybe seven of them?  I like it so much that when I don't go I have Henry Eudy drop in by parachute to write a report about it for file under other.  (Or maybe he drives there?  I forget logistics.)  The point that I am trying to make with this opening paragraph is that Fluke is great.  I love it.  You love it.  We love it. 

I love Fluke so much that I requested to have off from work the Friday before the show months in advance so that I could drive down before the show and enjoy Athens.  This request was denied.  So, I had to leave after work and drive in the rain all Friday night showing up in town sometime in the Saturday AM.  Same as always.

The way you (and by you, I mean I) get to Athens GA from southwest VA is to drive to Kingsport, TN then get on Interstate 26 and take it through the Carolinas then on into Georgia.  I'd like to take a moment to talk with you about the abomination that is Interstate 26.  

I once read a book about traveling through Mongolia and post Soviet Russia and how terrible the roads were.  As in there were not any roads.  I'm assuming it was a lot like Interstate 26.  Calling Interstate 26 an "interstate" is the most flattering lie I could direct at Interstate 26.  Interstate 26 is a nightmare.  It is driving for three hours on road so bumpy that you have to keep telling yourself over and over that you do not have a flat tire.  Yet.  How do people in North Carolina live like this?  If you drive that road more than once a week I assure you that you are living with a constant concussion and you are most likely brain damaged right now.  Brain damage being the only thing I can imagine that has prevented every single citizen of North Carolina from marching on their state capital and demanding that Interstate 26 be improved and/or just murdering everyone in the building. 

Sections of I-26 have sings that read "Future".  They have said this for years and years.  The future is never going to come to North Carolina.  I guess the future can't happen everywhere.

Eventually, I made it to Interstate 85 and headed on into Georgia.  Touching tires to asphalt on I-85 after hours on I-26 is like arriving at Disney World after a days long journey.  I can only imagine what it must feel like for pilgrims to arrive at Mecca but I'm guessing the elation is much like that moment when you realize that all of I-26 is behind you. 

This concludes the Interstate Highway System review portion of the report. 

Around 12:20 or 1:30 AM (some time with a 30 in it) I finally arrived that the home of cartoonist extraordinaire and Fluke organizer Patrick Dean.  Patrick had graciously offered me couch space to I took him up on it as I am cheap and don't like sleeping outside. I presented my host with a collection of Werewolf by Night comics as is the custom.  Patrick gave me the tour of his lovely home.  He has some very impressive original art but I mainly looked at his kids' toys. We then talked about Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko for a while.  Again, as is the custom.

The next morning everyone got up and I met Patrick's wife and kids.  Patrick's son showed me his toys.  We had a nice breakfast and then it was time to get out there and make Fluke happen.  Patrick lives a few minutes outside of Athens and I enjoyed the drive into town.  The non-Atlanta parts of Georgia are very pretty.  Trees, ponds, ducks, covered bridges, Waffle Houses with giant bulldogs painted on the side... it's nice.

We went to Kroger and picked up a giant cake for the show.  As is the custom.

This is 40 Watt Club around 9 AM before the Fluking starts.

We got to the 40 Watt Club around 9 AM and met up with Fluke organizer, writer, editor, publisher, retired pod-caster and all round swell fellow Robert Newsome.  This is a good two hours before the show starts but there were already a few exhibitors waiting to get into the show.  Which is odd, because Fluke adopted a pre-show registration process last year so these guys knew they had a table.  But, who am I to question their enthusiasm?   I drove six hours in the rain.

At 9 AM on a Saturday, 40 Watt Club is an empty place.  It was strange to be in a bar in the AM and not be intoxicated.  I pressed on. Robert and Patrick's friends showed up to help set up for the show.  They included Joey Weiser, Michele Chidester, Drew Weing, David Mack and maybe some other people I apologize for forgetting.  In my mind, I call this group of people Athens Force and when I think the words "Athens Force" I see it in my mind in the font from the cover logo of  Atari Force.  They showed up to help load in the tables but the tables were not there yet.  Drama!
Not really.  The tables showed up a little while after 9:30.  We probably had them set up and ready for Fluking by 10.

Somewhere previously in that last paragraph, I should have mentioned that while we waited for the tables two fun things happened.  1) Patrick Dean went to Waffle House to get a knife to cut the Fluke Cake but he also bought and ate a bacon, egg and cheese biscuit because he felt it was the polite thing to do.
2)  Robert Newsome played with the Fluke megaphone.  Fluke has a megaphone.

This is Michele Chidester using sorceress powers to make a cake appear. (She did not really use sorceress powers to make it appear.  Patrick Dean bought it from a grocery store bakery. I saw it happen.  Both Michele and Patrick may have sorcery based powers but I'm pretty sure the cake was just eggs, flour, sugar and whatever else goes into cakes.  What does go into cakes?  I honestly have no idea.  (It's probably sorcery.)

This is the stage of 40 Watt Club.  Famous people have performed music on that stage.  I have never seen that happen.  I have seen people buy, trade and read minicomics and zines in a rock club though.

This is Robert Newsome harassing complete strangers with a Megaphone.  (He totally knows who those people are but the thought of him harassing strangers is funnier.)

 It was my understanding that the Earth revolves around the sun so the appearance of sunshine moving is just an illusion.  But, since these guys have an exact street address of where the sunshine has moved, I may be wrong.

Tables hungry for Fluking.

The line was backed up all the way to where the sunshine had moved.

At 10 AMish, exhibitors were allowed into the show to set up.  This is great because a lot of the exhibitors are my long time pals.  It only takes a few minutes to set up so that leaves some time to socialize.  As soon as Henry Eudy came through the door I flagged him down and asked if he wanted to share a table with me.  This is because I love him.
He said yes.
We used his cool Halloween skull tablecloth to cover our table.  It looked nice.

This is my table setup.  Kinda orange. 

After the tables were set up, the knife was acquired and Patrick ate his biscuit, the non-exhibitor patron type people were welcomed in at 11 AM and Fluke was on.

Also at 11 AM, 40 Watt Club's bar opened.  I believe I was the first customer.  I ordered Jim Beam with Ginger Ale.  Five bucks and a tip.  It was good. 

This is me making a face at Henry Eudy. (Image stolen from Henry Eudy.)

This is Henry Eudy (the world's most dangerous man) making a face at me.

 Robert Newsome.  The longest reigning The Atomic Elbow Professional Wrestling Zine World Heavyweight Champ of the modern era.

This is Robert Newsome yelling at my shoes with a megaphone.  (He is not really yelling at my shoes but, again, made up stuff is funnier.)  (Image stolen from Fluke.) 

Now there are people in Fluke doing Fluke things.  I see Rich Tommaso, J. Chris Campbell and Jason Horn.  We are doing Fluke y'all!   (Image stolen from Fluke.) 

This is Adam Daughhetee doing Adam Daughhetee things.  (Image stolen from Fluke.) 
Adam and Shawn Daughhetee had the new Dollar Bin comics zine thing and it looked great.  It contains an Adam Rose pin-up by me.  You should track them down and buy 12 copies. 

That is Eleanor Davis on the right being tall and awesome. (Image stolen from Fluke.) 

Yes, David Mack and Joey Weiser would like some cake. (Image stolen from Fluke.) 

Fluke does not have an awards show or panels.  Fluke has cake.  I think we started eating the cake around noon.  

It was probably also around noon that Patrick's wife showed up with more biscuits from Waffle House.  Patrick ate them.

Henry Eudy's cake kind of fell apart.  He cried for a while and then murdered all of us.  (No, he did not murder us.  But again, made up stuff is funny and murder is hilarious.)  (Image stolen from Fluke.) 

That is Adam Casey doing Adam Casey things. (Image stolen from Fluke.) 

 This is people Fluking.

The show had a good crowd.  All of the tables were sold out in one day of registration so we knew the room would be full.  I think the walk up non-cartoonist attendance was steady.  Not the most shoppers I've seen at Fluke but it was a rainy day and the day before Easter.  I didn't sell as much as I have in the past but a lot of the business you do at a show like this is with other cartoonists and I did not have anything new on my table that the folks that I already knew had not already picked up.  I was also out of what have been my two best selling comics so I guess I need to re-print those and finish some new stuff right now.

 Here is a picture I took from one of Henry Eudy's sketchbooks.  I think it is great.

Henry Eudy seemed to do very well.  Henry's table is a good example of my multiple price points philosophy in action.  Henry had small prints and comics in an affordable price range.  And his stuff looks great.  His bigger prints with their bold colors seemed to bring folks over and the smaller stuff gave them something to walk away with.

I didn't ask anyone about sales or numbers but Rich Tommaso seemed to be very busy.  He had a solid variety of Recoil books on his table.  The all look great.  Picking up some stuff from Rich was one of the main things on my to-do list.  So I did.

Other things on my to-do list included getting whatever Drew Weing and Eleanor Davis had to offer and getting anything that Patrick Dead had that I was missing from my collection.  I did those things and it was good.

I really was not focused on selling. I was mainly there to talk to my comics friends and see what was new.  I talked to J. Chris Campbell about Brad McGitny.  I talked to Rich Tommaso about Patrick Dean.  I talked to Drew Weing about Margo Maloo.  I talked to Robert Newsome about Jimmy Valiant.  I talked to a lot of people about wrestling.  A lot of people talked to me about how rad my Brad McGinty t-shirt was.  I regretted not talking as much as I wanted to to many other people.  (Sorry bros.  Get at me at HeroesCon.)

 This is Patrick Dean announcing that Fluke has cake for people to eat.  I really should have put this picture up above the pictures of people eating the cake but get your own blog and don't tell me what to do. Maybe try tumblr.  All the kids love tumblr.

Here are more Fluke people.  I'm pretty sure I've known everyone in this picture for about a decade but I don't know any of their names.  (I know some of their names but, again, comedy.)

Here is another picture that looks almost the same as the other pictures I took from behind my table.  Walking around and taking pictures honestly never occurred to me.  Professional photo journalists just stand in one spot and wait for something exciting to happen right?  Well, that's what I did.

The dude on the left is me and the dude on the right is my pal writer and former co-worker Todd O'Brien.  The last time I saw him was a previous Fluke show about 5 years ago.  He grew a beard.  And a hat.  Maybe he bought the hat.  I didn't ask.  Look, if anyone can grow a hat, it's that guy.

After Fluke we all went to the Bizzaro-Wuxtry comics shop.  As is the custom.  It is great.  You should go there.  They have at least one of everything.  Also, Devlin, the gentleman that runs the shop, bought copies of Fluke peoples' minicomic and zines to sell in the shop.  Go there now.  I several different minicomics on sell there right now.  Right now!

This is Robert Newsome playing with a Hulk toy at Bizzaro-Wuxtry.  I thought about cropping out that bending over dude's back but whatever.  When I put this picture on my facebook page it wanted me to "tag" all of those masks because it thought they were all real peoples' faces.  Ha hah hah!  The joke is on you Zuckerberg!  You may be worth a billion dollars but that website you "invented" that is just MySpace with the customization features turned off does not know the difference between a Sylvester the Cat mask and a human being!

We eventually left Bizzaro and headed out looking for some dinner.  I was super hungry having eaten only breakfast, cake and some tic-tacs.  Patrick was starving having only eaten at least breakfast, cake and three bacon egg and cheese biscuits.  Robert, Patrick, my pall Todd and I ended up at Yummy Pho where we found Rich Tommaso, his girlfriend and another fellow to whom I apologize for not remembering his name.  I ordered grilled pork.  It was great.  Robert and Patrick ordered these huge bowls of crazy Vietnamese noodles.  These bowls were the size of bowls you would use if you were going to make a large quantity of food that would then be served in several smaller bowls to several people.  They ate it all and did not die.  I was impressed.

Yummy Pho was very good and very affordable.  I recommend it.  I wish I was there eating right now. (Even though Robert Newsome thinks that adults should not say the word "yummy".  I kinda agree with him.  Maybe mothers can say the word yummy to their own children but a grown man should probably never say it unless talking specifically about a Vietnamese restaurant with the word "yummy" in its name or Chester Brown comics.)

This is a picture of the stuff I got at Fluke.  Actually, I got other things but those were for my kids and they took those things before I took this picture. 

After dinner and a stop in a record store (it was record store day) it was time to say my sad farewells and head back to Virginia.  Huge enormous thank-yous to Patrick Dean and his family for having me.  Thanks to Robert and everyone else for hanging out and having a swell time.  I miss you all already.  Let's do it again. 

Your best pal ever,

Shannon Smith

p.s. Say you want a leader but you can't seem to make up your mind. I think you'd better close it and let me guide you to my twitter feed.
p.p.s. Let's pretend we went to high school together on facebook.
p.p.p.s. Google + is another place you can read the same thing I posted here.
p.p.p.p.s. I'll tumblr for ya.
p.p.p.p.p.s.  Yeah, I do Instagram too now.  I guess it's a law or something.

Other Comics News Parade-O-Links 12082013

(Detective Comics #389.  Image stolen from an incredible set of Neal Adams art at The Golden Age.)

Here are some things I found interesting in the world of minicomics, comic books, graphic novels, small press, self publishing, zines, webcomics, cartoons, digital comics, other, etc. during the week ending 12082013:

"When I heard that Ed was accused of child molestation, I had a hard time believing it. I knew Ed. I couldn’t see it. But that is the way of sociopaths that they can make themselves look innocent and normal in the eyes of everyone else."  -Kathleen David on Ed Kramer.

• Hi brothers and sisters.  Let's start with me since I'm the one paying for this party.  I wrote reviews of Harley Quinn 0, The Walking Dead 144, Savage Dragon 192, Daredevil 32-33 and The Sandman Overture 1.  Yup.  Sho nuff did. 
• I also did an in depth study of 80's porn. 
• I sent five bucks to small press and minicomics champion Rob Clough.  We need at least a dozen Rob Clough's but since we only have one he keeps doing the work of one hundred.  Here is one of Rob's recent feats of strength. 
• If you gotta be a jerk then be a jerk but don't be an asshole.  Nobody laughs with the asshole. 
• Also don't be an asshole that calls for the dismissal of someone that points our that you simply can't draw for crap. 
• Also don't be that asshole that calls people "penis" instead of their names. 
•  Also don't be the asshole that says, “I think he’ll most likely try and figure out a way to come in contact with children, and that’s where I’ll get him.”  Um, Mr. Assistant District Attorney Danny Porter, that is not comforting at all.  Not, at, all comforting!  So what you are saying is, Dragon*Con co-founder and child molester Ed Kramer can live in his house, which is exactly where he wants to be, but the next time he breaks the law we all know he already broke then you are going to be the first in line to go "get him" for the same thing you all ready got him for?  Law is confusing.
• I live in Gwinnett County GA.  I'm glad I don't live there anymore.

• Dan Nadel announced that Picture Box will not be publishing any more books.  It is certainly not good news for comics.  You can't just assume that someone else will pick up the kind of books Nadel would have been publishing if he had carried on and you certainly cannot assume that they would be published with the same quality.  I personally did not buy many Picture Box books.  I just couldn't afford them.  Sorry.  You can make they greatest work of human expression of all time but if it costs over $15.99 there is a good chance I'm never going to read it.  Back when I worked at Borders as an inventory manager, I made sure my store stocked a lot of small press graphic novels if for other reason that I myself could read them.  But I left Borders and moved to the cow fields about the same time Picture Box started.  I picked up a few things here and there at conventions and when I visited civilization.  But I missed most of what Picture Box did.  You can't have it all.
• I still pick up Brian Chippendale's Maggots and flip through it about as much as I flip through anything.  It is still fascinating.
• I also couldn't afford anything on Fantagraphics Kickstarter.  Sorry.  You small press comics book publishers let me know if you start publishing any comic books under ten dollars. 
• David Alan Doane is back to comics blogging.  That's swell. 
• I enjoyed this article on the evils of smarm.  But if you really want to learn about smarm, watch professional wrestling.  Bo Dallas is the human smarm.  

• Speaking of wrasslin', check out this Patrick Dean cover for the new Old School Wrestling Podcast book. 
• Speaking of wrasslin' again, I liked this Joey Weiser comic.  Check out those A Round Town comics.  Good stuff from Mack, Weiser, Dean and others. 
• She's a wonder all right. 
• I would have cast Rosario Dawson. 
• Not only because I think Rosario Dawson is the perfect actress for Wonder Woman but also because if there was ever a situation where I was in a position to pay beautiful women to be a part of my... anything, I'm calling Rosario Dawson first.
• But that's just me.  You folks enjoy you skinny starlets in your movie where people wear rubber clothes. 
• That new Spider-Man trailer doesn't look all that great to me.
• Let's see jerks, criminals, wrestling, movie stars, sexy ladies, movie trailers... what else are you guys into?  Comics?  Hey, here is a post with a neat pdf of a comics layout template you can use.  Make your own comics at home!  It's fun and easy!
• And here you can learn how to draw Adventure Time.  Or you could just sit down and draw Adventure Time from memory like every other middle school kid in the United States. 
• Would you guys just look at this Jimi Hendrix inspired art by Moebius.  Wow.  I've owned that Voodoo Soup album for years and never figured out that it was Moebius.  How did I miss that?
• All I want for Christmas is everything on this list. Or just a gift card from Huddle House.  I'm easy. 
• Hey you guys know it's winter right?
• Ooh.  A new little Josh Simmons mini.  Sending PayPal money... now.
• In the long ago way back time of October, 2013, The New York Post had an article about Julia Wertz's photos of creepy abandoned gross terrifying things.  Wertz has some great items for sale here. 
• Years ago there was a cartoonist named Julia Wertz.  I really liked her stuff.  Damn shame she's dead now. 
• Another place you can exchange money for products which I myself would like to own is Gabby Schulz's store.  You can go ahead and buy me that "Drunk" print if you'd like.  Thanks!
• Did you guys know that Devil Dinosaur was on a TV cartoon?  Did I tell you about it before? It's hard to remember because that cartoon is terrible but, still Devil Dinosaur!
• And finally... your microphone sucks by the way.

Your best pal ever,

Shannon Smith

p.s. Say you want a leader but you can't seem to make up your mind. I think you'd better close it and let me guide you to my twitter feed.
p.p.s. Let's pretend we went to high school together on facebook.
p.p.p.s. Google + is another place you can read the same thing I posted here.
p.p.p.p.s. I'll tumblr for ya.
p.p.p.p.p.s.  Yeah, I do Instagram too now.  I guess it's a law or something.

HeroesCon 2013 Charlotte NC USA with Henry Eudy

(HeroesCon stolen from HeroesCon.)

Hello brothers and sisters.  Your pal Shannon here.  I was not able to attend America's Most Beloved Comic Book Convention this year so I'll hand things over to America's Most Beloved Eudy.  Take it away Henry!

*****

HEROESCON: WALKING HALF THE FLOOR WITH HENRY H. EUDY (a retrospective)

So, last year I went full tilt HeroesCon. I got a table, I went to the Drink and Draw, I did the Art Auction, I slobbered all over the Jaime Hernandez panel, I got a sketch from Dave Cooper, I did McGintyfest, I got good and drunk every night, never more so than at the Dead Dog Party where I cornered Roger Langridge and bored him with my analysis of Bowie, Brian Eno and the importance of dream symbolism. I came out of those three days like Charles Bukowski stumbling away from a bare knuckle brawl with Frank Stallone, full of ham sandwich and Schlitz and victory. I did HeroesCon and I did it hard. 

This year, I remained more sober. I spent just five slim hours on the convention floor and, shame of shames, never even made it all the way across the great width of this show beast. But here's what I saw and thought, in my mostly disqualified experience and opinion: 

(Image stolen from Major Spoilers.  That girl is not Henry Eudy.  He has brown hair.)

More so than any other year I can remember, the focus this year was almost totally on the customer, the guest, the attendee. Not to say Heroes isn't always focused on the people of the con, the show's great reputation is rightly built on the expansive friendliness of Shelton Drum and company, but this year it was stunning how many novel amenities were made for the great many. Firstly, the show was at least twice the size of previous years. The space the con inhabited was truly immense. Like, if you stood at the far end of one side, the other wall was obscured by clouds or something. Huge. Because of this, the aisles were super wide, it was incredibly easy to traverse without bumping against those idiots who bring their entire collections on those stupid pull carts or having to rub up against the kings of terrible body odor or getting trapped behind the gaggle of pervs taking snapshots of nipple slip Dazzler on your way to a $9.00 hot dog. The freedom of mobility was wonderful. But it had it's costs, more about that later. Other public friendly stuff included a concession area with tables and chairs aplenty that reduced the chances of dangerous nacho crashes while on the hoof and placing the Art Stage in the very center of the floor with a semi-circle of chairs for an open-mouthed audience to sit and watch a myriad of Dark Phoenixes get created right before their eyes.
As a customer, I never felt more comfortable on the floor. It was actually relaxing, strolling from place to place as opposed to an anxiety filled walking of the nerd gauntlet. My hat is tipped and, in fact, totally off my head for the magnificent efforts of the best people in the comics business. These little touches made a great many people overjoyed with the show.

(Jim Steranko with Shelton Drum.  Stolen from Heroes facebook page.)

Now, on to the costs of all that mobility. When you're trying to sell and show your comics, especially if they are small, personally constructed comics that no one has ever heard of, you're like a bear in a stream full of running salmon. You just gotta hope you can get your paw in there often enough to scoop up a few of those slippery people who just might dig what you got on the table to make wading in the river worth it in the first place. So, when the river gets wider but the salmon count stays the same, it's a lot easier for the swimmers to just keep on swimmin' instead of having a look at your all panda retelling of The Canterbury Tales in mini-comic form. And that's what seemed to be happening every time I stopped to ask a pal, "So, how's it going?" What was great for the customer was not so great for the cartoonist, crouched behind his little clump of what felt like an increasingly deserted Indie Island. It was just too easy for the walkers to build momentum and rush on by, which is what seemed to be going on the small sliver of Saturday that I was there to observe and give high fives to bros.

(Patrick Dean knocking out a masterpiece.  Stolen from Heroes facebook page.)

Even so, spirits seemed universally high everywhere I went. Economics ain't the whole burrito and the energy was still electric. The best times I spent that afternoon were bouncing across the aisles to visit with dudes like Patrick Dean, Robert Newsome, J. Chris Campbell, Duane Ballanger and Joey Weiser, guys from FLUKE. I missed this year's FLUKE and getting to hee and haw it up with these fellas really brought my spirits up. Patrick Dean especially sells everything too damn cheap for how beautiful he makes it and I took full advantage by giving him $5.00 bills for stuff that makes my eyes super happy. J. Chris gave me some super good art advice and also a nice across the table choke for free.  All those guys are super. 

An aisle down from the FLUKE party was my pal and past and future SPX table mate, Christian Sager along with Kelly Williams, the long bearded brushist that I much admire. These guys have a project called The Cabinet which is soon to be out in fabulous book form and my brains filled up with exclamation points looking over Kelly's originals for that tome. Across from there was Mike Freiheit with whom I tabled next too last year. Mike has a great new book called Monkey Chef and I made him accept my money for it because, dammit, he deserves money for the great stuff he makes. Right next to him was Matthew Smith of the Simon Says series. I thought I had good tabs on Matthew but he had about six new issues that I had never laid eyes on. What a powerhouse. So then, next to Matt was a guy who is on my list of top three best cartoonists in the biz right now, Benjamin Marra. It's all about Night Business and that collection of American Psycho drawings for me. Marra is making comics other people forgot how to make. He's a genius and a great American. Right about then I became really aware that, like sand through the hourglass, so were the days of our lives. This thing was about to close and I had better hurry up and meet a famous guy. 

(Karl Rove on the far left working out a strategy with his young male assistant on how to best complete his complete run of Legion of Super Heroes.  Image stolen from Adam Daughhetee.) 

The only great cartoonist on my mind was Pete Bagge. Hate was a cornerstone for me as a young man who loved comics but was sick to death of superheroes. I think a lot of that stuff was supposed to be making fun of goateed, flannel draped white kids. But as a goateed, flannel draped white kid, I couldn't have identified more. So, it was a minor big deal to meet Bagge to tell him I loved Hate and hated everything else, to praise him for his Weirdo years and shake his hand. And I did all that and it felt good.

(Evan Dorkin and Pete Bagge.  Stolen from The Beat.)

So that was my few hours at HeroesCon this year. The least amount of time I've spent on the floor in over five years. Still, I had an amazing time and I loved every second of it. I guess I didn't realize I had so many friends in comics until they were all under one huge roof. Thanks to everybody for the good times.  

-Henry Eudy, America.

(That time Henry Eudy was murdered by J. Chris Campbell.  We'll miss him.)

*****

Thanks Henry!  You are the best person alive  recently murdered.

Now, while I, Shannon Smith, (This is Shannon talking now, Henry is done.  He's dead ya know.) didn't actually go to HeroesCon this year, that's no reason why I can't talk about it.   In fact, blog law demands that I talk about things which I have no actual personal knowledge.  For those of you new to teh intronets, this is how it works.

From most all of the twitter, tumblr, instagram, facebook and myspace posts I've read, this year's HeroesCon was a life affirming zensplosion of joy for thousands of people.  (Just kidding.  I never looked at myspace.)  It seems that fans customers and creators both had a wonderful time.  I sincerely hate that I missed it and I hope I get to go next year.

Outside of the spotlight of social media however, in the dark shadows of email and direct messages, I did hear some mixed feelings about about sales.   Sketch and commissions were way up and comics sales were way down.

And let me take a moment to clarify what I'm talking about when I talk about comics sales here.  I'm not talking about the comics dealers.  I love the dealers but I've not had a chance to talk to any of them as I was not there.  I'm not talking about the mainstream (Marvel, DC, Image, Dark Horse etc.) creators.  Those guys don't usually even bring comics to sell.  I'm really just talking about the indie/small press/self publishing guys here.  A lot of the folks you would find on Indie Island or in artist alley.  For the sake of brevity, I'll just call them small press for the remainder of this post.  And by guys I mean boys, girls etc.  Those guys are not selling big numbers in the mainstream comics shops.  Those guys often depend on comic conventions not only as away to promote their comics but to sale their comics.  For the mainstream guys, conventions are, ya know, conventions, but for small press, from swap meet to SDCC, shows are a place to sell books.  For a lot of those guys, sales from one convention may determine if they make it to the next convention and in some cases even if they bother to print their next comic.  Sales matter.

But those guys are also pretty savvy and I don't think HeroesCon has ever been looked at as a show where a small press guy should expect to earn their rent.  Even with Indie Island, it is still a mainstream show.  (And Indie Island is a great small press show within a mainstream show.  If Indie Island were it's own thing, it would be a very impressive small press show.  Dave Cooper, Jamie Hernandez, Pete Bagge, Evan Dorkin... some of my biggest comics heroes have been on Indie Island.  So high five Indie Island.)  But over the past five years or so, or maybe going back to whenever Indie Island started, I think most of the small press guys have figured out that HeroesCon is not really a place where people go to buy comics.  Most of the fans customers at the show have pull lists and buy their comics in shops or online.  Or maybe they don't buy comics at all.  Maybe they are there for the cosplay and toys.  What they are there for is what they can't get in a comic shop or online.  And this is a big part of what HeroesCon does so well.  The customer is there for that interaction with the creators that you can only get in the con setting.  And art.  Lots and lots of art.  HeroesCon is a sketch show now.  Looking through folks "loot" pics, I see more original art, sketches and prints than I see comics or even toys this year.

And like I said before, the small press guys are savvy.  Most of the repeat exhibitors have caught on to this and are focusing on selling art now.  I've heard from multiple accounts that when checking out Indie Island this year very few of the guys had new comics to sell but many of them had new prints and t-shirts.  I heard from several guys that they sold more sketches and commissions this year than ever before.

And that's great!  I'm super happy to hear that so many people walked away from HeroesCon with original art by some of my very favorite creators.  I'm super duper happy that so many of my favorite creators got paid to draw for three days.

But, that is hard damn work ya'll.

And while I really should not be looking for the downside of guys selling a lot of sketches, I do worry about the comics.  And this is not a knock on HeroesCon.  HeroesCon is just one example I'm using to illustrate a point I may or may not get to before the end of this post.  I'm not even really talking about HeroesCon at this point.   I'm talking about the current evolution of how the customer interacts with comics.

My knock is on you.  You the comics customer.  You've come a long way.  You are super smart now.  You are aware of the creators and not just the properties.  You celebrate the creators.  You read their free comics online.  You follow them.  Like them.  Re-tweet them.  Re-blog them.  You interact with them all over teh intronets.  You meet them at conventions.  You get your picture made with them.  You buy a sketch from them.  Maybe you even go get drunk with them.  You feel connected to them.  You feel like you are a part of their increasing success.  You are doing such a great job of fueling the creators' desire to keep making great comics.

But please buy the comics.

Please pay money for the comics.

Everything changes.  Comics will change.  But there is exactly one Jenga piece that you can't take out of the comics tower.  One piece that when you take it out, you may not be able to rebuild the tower again.

Comics.

Please buy the comics.

(A Jawa and Jeremy Massie.  Stolen from Animated Trigger.)

Okay, I'll slide the soapbox back to Stan Lee.  But before I hit the "Publish" button let me point out some links to some HeroesCon stuff you should check out.

Let's start off with some of my favorite art stolen from teh intronets:

Sandman and The Endless by Patrick Dean.

A bear with sharks for arms by Joey Weiser.

Burt Reynolds playing cards with a lion by Jeremy Massie.

A sexy eight winged fairy thing by Rob Ullman.

Some leather wearin' Disney dudes by Jason Horn.  Stolen from Shawn Daughetee.

Captain Marvel by Derrick Fish stolen from Little John.

Catwoman by James Lyle also stolen from Little John.

There was a whole bunch of art I wanted to share here but I can't figure out how to post pics from Instagram.  Sorry.
And now some links because that's what I do right?

• Christian Sager's HeroesCon report featuring a cartoon reenactment of that time Ed Piskor hung with Karl Rove. 
• A recap and slides from the Rich Barrett moderated panel on Design & Comics.
• The Ben Towle report. 
• Steranko and "that Hulk cover".
• People that are into that Carol Danvers Captain Marvel are SUPER into that Carol Danvers Captain Marvel. 
• The great Don Rosa stolen from Heather Peagler.
• The HeroesCon staff group photos also stolen from Heather Peagler.
• MTV Geek is desperate to marry HeroesCon.  (Sadly, the state of North Carloina will not recognize that union.)
• More of Patrick Dean's HeroesCon sketches.  Maybe you have to be Patrick Dean's friend to see those.  Maybe you should be Patrick Dean's friend. 
• Rico Renzi's Instagram is full of great HeroesCon art. 
• The awesome Jack Kirby characters Chris Sims asked people to draw. 
• The Beat's coverage of the Valiant panel. 
• The Comics Reporter talking to Ben Towle and Craig Fischer before HeroesCon.
• The Comics Reporter's collective memory archive of HeroesCon links and stuff. 
• Sterankoing.

The most important thing to take away from HeroesCon is that no matter who you are, no matter where you are, mo matter what you are, Jim Steranko is better than you.

Your best pal ever,

Shannon Smith

p.s. Say you want a leader but you can't seem to make up your mind. I think you'd better close it and let me guide you to my twitter feed.

p.p.s. Let's pretend we went to high school together on facebook.

p.p.p.s. Google + is another place you can read the same thing I posted here.

p.p.p.p.s. I'll tumblr for ya.
p.p.p.p.p.s.  Yeah, I do Instagram too now.  I guess it's a law or something. 

Fluke Mini-Comics and Zine Festival 2012 guest report by Henry Eudy

Pic totally stolen without permission from Jono Ruelas facebook page.  

This past Saturday was Fluke day in Athens, GA.  The annual trip to Fluke is one of my favorite weekends of any year but due to circumstances beyond my control I had to cancel at the next to last minute.  I was downtrodden not just for myself but for you dear reader.  An annual Fluke reportt has become a beloved tradition here at file under other.  Missing it would be like that time my family went to Disney World without me.  So, I did what any devastated person would do.  I turned to twitter and asked Charlotte cartoonist and pal Henry Eudy to write a report about Fluke for file under other.  

Take it away Henry!

Pic of Henry 'E.U.D.O.K." Eudy totally stolen without permission from Rico Renzi's twitter feed. 

Hey Shannon, 

Here's a quick rundown of my impressions of this year's FLUKE show. Firstly, I should say that FLUKE is my very favorite comic book show of the entire year. I look forward to it, I dream about it, I yearn to be there all through the rest of the crappy time I'm alive. FLUKE always feels like home even if I do have to drive 250 miles to get there. I gotta think the move to the 40 Watt is the greatest thing since Abraham Lincoln sliced bread and fed all the Indians and pilgrims for 40 days and nights. It's a fabulous venue and the show just hums with energy (and booze) through the entire length. 

I'm sad to say a little of that energy was in regress due to the lack of a few favorite and familiar faces. One, yours, of course, dear Shannon but also the absence of Josh Latta put a tear in everybody's tall boy. Come back to us Josh, you are so missed. Even so, there were many of the standard FLUKE cadre in attendance plus a seeming over abundance of very young SCAD students out on their first endeavors as comic book hucksters. So many shy and innocent faces sitting over their folded and stapled goods, sweating it out, wondering who they thought they were fooling trying to be something akin to an "artist". I was one of those kids, four years ago, doing my very first show in a town far away from my own, hoping no one could tell I was a fraud. I hope those kids caught the fever on their first times like I did and I hope they'll be back, making themselves real cartoonists staple by staple and fold by fold. But, anyway, I'm getting romantic here. Does it show that I've been drinking?

Anyhow, here's how my trip went. I arrived with my pal and FLUKE first-timer Rico Renzi in tow about 8:30am, well before the doors were scheduled to open, and captured an amazing parking space at the side of the building that I managed to hold a full 13 hours. As we passed by the 40 Watt front entrance on a trek through town for biscuits, we glimpsed Patrick (Dean) and Robert (Newsome) already furiously arranging tables within. When we returned a little after 9, only the faintest signs of a line were evident and I ended up waiting the shortest amount of time ever to gain entrance to the inner sanctum. By 9:30 people were being permitted inside and barren tabletops were quickly being converted into storefronts. 

Everything seemed to go very, very smoothly. In a short time Rico and I were joined by fellow Charlotte dweller Bridgit Sheide, and we constructed a flotilla of Queen City power along the edge of the stage. The public was admitted around 11ish, I suppose, but it's always a little hard to tell because already the exhibitors were out and about casing their compatriots and buying up a few pre-opening items. I made sure right away to buy a copy of Audrey Morris' "Power Drive A" anthology. I've kept my little eye on Audrey since last year when I was sorely impressed by her "Jawsome 1999" and there was no way I was missing getting a copy of her latest bit of amazement. As fortune might have it, I found here squeezed in right next to my good buddy Adam Casey who was making a triumphant return to the show after a few years in the wilderness. Adam had a really funtastic new "Drac-Drac-Drac-Drac-Dracula" mini and I was able to get a neat Hamburglar in prison drawing from him as well. Then I sat at my table and was a good little comic seller for a good spell. 

Pic of J. Chris Campbell's Fluke setup totally stolen without permission from J. Chris Campbell's facebook page. 

The crowd didn't seem quite as large as last year, perhaps because of the event coinciding with Record Store Day. Nerds only have so much money to blow on one weekend, I totally understand. Also there appeared to be a large bro-fest of terrible music and even worse people in a lot across the street from the club that may have detoured the more sensitive mini-comic patrons. I can't know for sure, but the crowd seemed a touch thinner. Still, the people that were there were major quality consumers and I actually sold my items quite briskly. Plus I had a lot of great conversations with culture savvy strangers. 

When I rose from my seat a second time I hit some of the majors in the room. I got Joey Weiser's new "Merman Theater", a handful of David Mack minis including a great little book about Athens itself and some lovely "Monsters in Transit" note cards. Drew Weing seemed to have nothing of his own new to sell but I snatched up the new issue of Eleanor's (Davis) "Beouija" sketchbook from their table. 

I dropped by the Dollar Bin to see Shawn and Adam Daughhetee and purchased a little charmer from Shawn about the time she was treed by cows. It's called "The Time I Was Treed by Cows." Sure, I was getting pretty thirsty by this time and I sauntered over by the bar where I paused to buy a pretty handsome FLUKE 2012 t-shirt and Patrick Dean's absolutely incredible new comic "Sometimes I Think About You at Night". Patrick's work is always amazing but this one.... wow. I got a beer and said hello to my friend Tara [Fend] Harris whom I met last year with her regular conspirator Alison Burke. She had a second volume of their co-created post apocalyptic survival tale "A.R.R.O." for sale and I made arrangements to claim one for myself. I also picked up "Dungeon World" and "Tales of Haunt" from the affable and future-minded Doug Metcalfe before returning to my spot to get my drink on. I did a little trading, most notably with Jordan Fitch Mooney who gave one of my favorite things of the show, "The A-Z Guide to Dispatching Your Enemies."

We comicers, we sold, we talked up, we chatted, we pretended to flick boogers across the crowded room. Suddenly the sweet, short hours were in their last minutes and so my tablemates and I started to replace our wares and count our money. I regretted I had visited so few tables and not sprinted from my chair more often. 

I never did see what Dean Trippe had as offerings and neglected my chance to get a collected Ninjasaur from Jason Horn. Neither did I properly visit the gauntlet of power ladies that was Jackie Lewis, Erin Gladstone and Cassie Hart Kelly, all seated neatly in the row opposite. And a great many of those hopeful, innocent faces... I'm sorry I missed you guys. I can be a real jerk sometimes. 

So, it was out the door, out for pizza and then hauling it back home. I spent the whole of Sunday sleeping it off and dreaming of next year when FLUKE will re-open to the waiting and wistful world and all will be right. 

Sorry I don't really have any pictures. I'm not much of a pictures taking person. Still, maybe you can find an image or two to steal some place or you can just insert a pic of Sam Elliot every once in a while to keep the public calm and let 'em know everything is gonna be alright. Best of luck! Hope to see you on the convention floor real soon. 

-- YOUR bestest pal forever,

Henry Eudy          

Pic of Fluke Co-Grand Poobahs Robert Newsome and Patrick Dean totally stolen without permission from Shawn Daughhetee's facebook album of Fluke pics. 

Thanks Henry!  You are the Absolute Hardback Edition best!  I hope to see you (and you dear reader) at HeroesCon.  Don't forget your drinkin' shoes.  Everyone go read every word and study every drawing on Henry's website, write a report about it, hand written, double spaced, due by 3rd period Friday.  Also follow Henry on twitter and all that nonsense. 

Thanks as well to the fine folks from whom I stole the above photos.  If you, or anyone has, photo sets or show reports that you would like to see posted here then let me know.  I tried to provide links to all of the people mentioned in Henry's Report but I had trouble finding a few of names.  Also I drank a Manhattan and got tired. (With Rye of course.  I mean c'mon.  I'm no savage.)

UPDATES:

• Chris Sims at Comics Alliance has posted about five great minicomics from Fluke.  Read it here. 
• The Dollar Bin has their Fluke 2012 re-cap podcast up.  Go listen. 
• At Space/Love/Robots, Kyle Nolan has a nice Fluke report with a bunch of photos. Look at it with your eyeballs here. 
• And here is a report with some more photos from Missy Kulik.  I think I stole some photos from her.  Maybe. 

Your best pal ever,

Shannon Smith   

p.s.  Say you want a leader but you can't seem to make up your mind.  I think you'd better close it and let me guide you to my twitter feed.

p.p.s. Let's pretend we went to high school together on facebook.

p.p.p.s. Google + is another place you can read the same thing I posted here.

p.p.p.p.s. I'll tumblr for ya.