Every year, Melissa and I load up the car with comics, drive to Bethesda, Maryland to sell comics. After that we load whatever is left into the car and drive to my mom's house in Pennsylvania where we see family and friends for a few days. Then we drive back to Massachusetts.
SPX is sort of the closest thing to a hometown show for me. It was the first show of its kind that I ever attended in 2004 or 5. This year, as you probably know, was quite good. The guest list was golden, the money and alcohol flowed, and the internet became tangible.
For me, this year felt like a solidifying of Oily Comics as a project and force in my life. In my head I am always arguing whether or not to retire it at the end of the year or to keep it rolling. I think enough people coming up and talking to me about it has made me realize that this thing is a thing. So I've decided to keep this ball rolling and see where it goes. See what colors I can print in. See how long my risograph will run.
I'm a fan of Tom Spurgeon's list of thoughts about shows so I am going to try that. Here we go.
• Meeting a handful of FOOCers and seeing membership cards in their wallets. Ridiculous and great
• I've noticed a lessoning of my usual starstruck paralyzation. I talked to people I was previously scared to. Hey, people are nice. Give them a chance.
• Having comics be put into the the Library of Congress and the Dylan Williams collection at OSU.
• North Bethesda is still a scary place. At one point I was standing in a parking lot waiting for my lunch all alone, blackbirds were eating trash, Bad Company was playing out of a car stereo and Francoise Mouly was walking down the Rockville Pike with a drug store bag in her hand.
• Michael DeForge and Patrick Kyle are a like a quiet beavis and butthead. Not sure what this means but I am saying it.
• I drank bourbon all weekend and stayed away from beer. This was a good choice. Beer makes me feel gross inside.
• One guy came up to the table and bought every single Oily comic on the rack. I am pretty sure that there was someone or two or three sending a lot of people my way. I heard it a million times over the 2 days. So thank you to whomever was doing the sending. My money is on Annie Koyama.
• I bumped into Matt Seneca, Chris Mautner and Jog of Comic Books are Burning in Hell and thanked them for talking about me on the air. Those are some nice boys. I can't wait to read Seneca's Daredevil comic.
• Thanks to table mates Melissa Mendes, Alex Kim, Sean Ford, and Joe Lambert for always being perfect.
• Loved talking shop with Rich Tommaso. I hope I can be half the cartoonist this guy is when I grow up.
• I got to listen to Noah Van Sciver gripe which is always a pleasure.
Alright, I've run out of things to say. I'm tired. Time to crash. Here are a few more pictures from the trip. Stay tuned for new Oily Comics. Will get the September releases up on the store by the end of the week. Shipping subscriber copies tomorrow.
Birthday pie from mom.
Birthday present for my brother. Dan Zettwoch Cardinals print.
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