Wrapping up my report on this year’s NYCC…
Day 3: “I Know That Name…”
How best to describe Saturday, always the busiest day of any convention…?
Yeah, this. Thanks, Chuck.
The Chinese publisher’s cattle run was in full effect, with people racing back and forth, a lot of them in costume. I saw multiple Zatannas and Wonder Women, a pair of Leeloos from The Fifth Element, a couple of Dazzlers, a platoon of Spider-Men and Imperial storm troopers, a quartet of Supergirls (including one in Kara’s 1970s baggy blouse and hot pants look), and a boatload of manga and anime characters I could never identify.
Not too many people stopped to chat during the first few hours—except for one gothy girl who slowed as she passed the booth. Her eyes lit up as she pointed at my name badge.
“I know that name!” she said excitedly, and leaned forward to stare harder at the badge. Then she pulled back. “Oh, wait. I was thinking of Roman Dirge. Sorry.” And off she went.
Lenore™ & © Roman Dirge
Roman Dirge, by the way, is the creator of Lenore, the Cute Little Dead Girl. And unlike Tom Savini, we look nothing alike. Hey, but it beats the days when I’m mistaken at cons for Dave Roman (creator of the small-press comic Teen Boat) or Steve Remen (creator of Him from Lethargic Comics); at least this time I was in the same genre as the other guy.
Still, there was better news as the day progressed. Sales of Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1 jumped, a woman who’d bought a Pan T-shirt dropped by to show she was wearing it, and Saturday came to a close with a teenage girl who’d purchased Blood Feud the day before returning to point an accusatory finger at me.
“What did you do to me?” she yelled with a smile. “I just bought it yesterday, and I’m already halfway through the book!”
“Yeah,” said the female friend accompanying her. “And she won’t let me near it until she’s done.”
But then the girl bought her friend her own copy, and all was right with the world again.
Day 4: “That Chick is HOT!”
So, you hear a comment like that and immediately think, “Well, of course a guy would say that about Pan when he sees the cover of Blood Feud. The lipstick, the eye makeup, the dyed hair and attitude—what guy wouldn’t be attracted to her?” Only you’d be wrong. I get that remark exclusively from women!
It started last October, at the 2010 New York Comic Con, and continued this year as well. This time, a twentysomething, gothy/punk-rocky woman walked over, attracted by the Pan banner high above the SWC booth (I saw her staring at it for a few seconds and mouthing the title), and stopped in front of the prints of Bob Larkin’s cover painting for Blood Feud.
She pointed at Pan. “Wow. That chick is hot!”
I laughed. “That chick is sixteen.”
She shrugged. “Whatever. She’s hot.” I gave her my sales pitch and handed her the giveaway Pan comic. “I’m definitely gonna go check this out,” she said, then happily strolled away.
Not too long after, another young woman came to a halt at the booth—honestly, next to shouting out “Free comic?” at passersby, that banner has turned out to be one of the smartest ideas I’ve ever had!
I gave the woman my regular Pan sales pitch: “It’s the story of a 16-year-old Goth who meets a 400-year-old monster hunter. The first two novels [that’s Blood Feud and Blood Reign, FYI] are about a vampire war; the third involves a werewolf stalking an author he hates.” Pause. “It’s like Ellen Page and Salma Hayek in a Hellboy movie.”
Her eyes grew wide. “Oh, my God, if you could get them together for real, you’d make so many lesbians happy!”
“Yeah,” I said. “And then I could go on the Jezebel Web site and count the number of girl-crushes!”
Her eyes got even wider—no doubt surprised that I even knew that Jezebel existed—and she laughed. And then she added her name to the mailing list.
After that, things began to quiet down, especially once I ran out of the freebie Pan comics. A few people stopped by long enough for me to make my pitch, but book sales were pretty much over for the show. Some folks even added their names to the mailing list because they were so intrigued by Pan’s story—including one gentleman who laughed uproariously at the pitch before heading off with his family. I happened to glance down at the sheet after he’d been swallowed by the crowd.
Paris Cullins?! Yes, longtime comic fans, the same Paris Cullins who used to draw the superhero comics Blue Beetle and Blue Devil for DC Comics has signed on to get the latest ’Warp news. Well, welcome aboard the Fun Hearse, Mr. Cullins!
Rich and I finished out the last day with a visit from Louis Small Jr.—a fantastic good-girl artist I’ve known since his days as Harris Comics’ top-level penciler of Vampirella and its countless spinoffs—and his son, Brandon. Louis had been at publisher meetings during the show, preparing to get back into the comics game after a too-long absence, and it looks like he’s got some projects lined up. I already know I’ll be buying them!
And then it was time to pack up and head home. NYCC 2011 was done—but who knows what 2012 will bring…?
