What
a great time we had! This is becoming one of our very favorite
yearly events.
This
year we expanded our visibility by having two booths instead of
one. We have so many different items that it's becoming virtually
impossible to fit everything on a single table.
We
drove down to Seattle on Saturday the 28th and arrived at the
Seahawk Stadium around 2:00pm. We spent a few hours putting our
display together and chatting with some of the other artists and
publishers.
Once
the booth space looked to our satisfaction, we left the hall and
drove around downtown Seattle in search of a hotel. We settled
on the Warwick, a high rise hotel that provided us with an excellent
view of the city. After a wonderful meal at the hotel's restaurantl,
we went up to our room on the 14th floor to relaxed. We knew that
Sunday would be hectic so we wanted to be nicely rested. Well,
fat chance of that. It seems that every time I do a convention,
my synapses are in overload and I just can't sleep. I pretty much
looked at the ceiling for 8 straight hours.
On
Sunday morning, we caught breakfast at the hotel before driving
to the convention hall. Once inside, we did some last minute adjustments
to our display and I took the opportunity to do some quick shopping
before the crowd came in.
The
doors opened at 10am and things got rolling right away. We had
six Demon
Dog Rabbit Statues on the table. Within the first two hours,
they were gone. Parables: An Anthology
was a big hit. We sold all the copies we brought. Fans were very
eager and enthusiastic. I sketched for everyone who bought books
and then some! Many artists stopped by and asked questions about
breaking into the industry which I tried answering the best I
could.
I
was glad to finally meet Stan Sakai (creator
of Usagi Yojimbo)
who came by our booth. Stan and I are currently collaborating
on a small project and it was nice to be able to see each other
in person.
Business
started slowing down in the last two hours but we didn't mind,
we were exhausted! We knew that our sales had already far surpassed
the previous year. I used the breather to walk around the hall
to do some last minute shopping while Nancy, my soul mate, held
the fort. I was glad to find a bunch of really good deals on some
old Kirby monster comics. I was particularly happy to finally
get a hold of Where Monsters Dwell
#1 and #2 which were
missing from my collection.
At
5:00pm the doors closed. A quick overview of our inventory revealed
an increase in sales of about 50% over last year's event. We were
happy.
After
the convention, we hooked up with our friend Jeff
Nicholson, the extremelly talented artist behind
the critically acclaimed comic series Colonia.
Nancy, Jeff and I headed to the Icon Grill Restaurant
in downtown Seattle where we had yet another exquisite meal. We
met Jeff last year at the San Diego Comic-Con and we really like
him. He's such a nice guy.
Next
year will be a two-day event and we're definitely planning on
being there again.
Michel
Gagné, March 4th 2004