It was while I was still making the rounds as a small-press-comic publisher that September 1992 saw me hop an Amtrak train and head upstate to the city of Utica for a one-day comic con.
The show, created by comics fan and small presser Bob Elinskas—publisher of the reviewzine Small Press Feedback and writer of the minicomic series The Adventures of Mister Mid-Nite—was launched in 1990 to help raise money for the American Diabetes Association, for which Bob had served as a youth advisor. I can’t remember if Bob had contacted me about attending as an exhibitor, or I’d reached out to him, but either way I’d packed a box with copies of the digest-size Lorelei and Troubleshooters, Incorporated comics, shoved a sketchpad, pencils, and markers in a bag, and set off to meet the upstate comic fans.
Back then, the convention didn’t have a name—as you can see from the flyer, it was just listed as the “3rd Annual Comic Book & Card Show,” and held in a high school gymnasium—but today it’s known by a much catchier name: Uticon.
When I attended it, the con had a real homey feel—in fact, on the night before the event Bob invited all the guests to his house for a home-cooked meal! (I think it was lasagna.) I remember it as a dining-room-table gathering mainly of fellow small pressers, with mainstream writer Tom Peyer from DC Comics (Sandman, Legion of Super-Heroes) being the “big” name at the meal.
I don’t remember making many sales the next day—certainly not enough to cover the round-trip Amtrak fare to and from Utica, and the hotel room—but I do remember having a good time there, and coming back feeling confident about my involvement in the comic creator community (holy alliteration!). I think by this time I’d already decided that SWC would be expanding to full-size comics; being at this show and getting positive feedback about Lorelei just confirmed on I was on the right track.
Over 30 years later, Uticon is still run by Bob, and still features a mix of indie/small press creators and mainstream comic veterans. With all the mega-pop-culture conventions out there loudly making noise, if you’re looking for a quieter, more relaxed con experience, maybe you should give Uticon a try.
Stay tuned for more Convention Memories!
