Bleeding Neon

It’s Tuesday afternoon. And I’m freaking out just a little. Because in four days, I’m flying up to Seattle for Emerald City Comicon. The reason I’m freaking out (just a little) is not because of the travel (which I love) or the city (which I love) or the convention (which should be awesome), but because even though I’ve attended many comic book shows before, this is the first major one at which I’m actually holding down a table. Pretty much by myself. For two days.

Actually, I’m excited. I know a lot of people who will be up there, though most of them I’ve only dealt with over the internet, including Denis Caron, Stephen Downer, Sven Straatveit and Jason Copland, who will be joining me at our little Pop! Goes the Icon table in Artist Alley on Saturday to hang out, sign stuff and help give away two pages of his original art from the first issue of Omega Comics Presents.

But the only show I’ve tabled thus far was the Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival, which is relatively small (1200 attendees), and was only five hours. I decided to forego bigger shows such as San Diego Comic-Con this year in lieu of more intimate (or at least, not four-day blowouts) venues such as ECCC and Long Beach Comic-Con. But still, ECCC is pretty huge, and I’ll have to be all cheery and approachable behind a table for two full days, something I haven’t done since I worked in retail — and that was a long time ago.

And as I’ll be in Artist Alley, people might expect, I dunno, sketches or something. And I’ve already had requests from folks attending for sketches. I gives me performance anxiety. And I would just pull the “I’m a writer” card, but everyone knows I also draw the comics I write, so I can’t really fairly do that. And sitting next to Jason, who’s a for-real artist, well, it has me a bit antsy.

But the main reason for my mini-freak-out, aside from still not having all my materials prepared and dreading how many supplies I’ll have to load into the luggage I don’t own yet, is whether or not I’ll sell enough comics to justify the huge expense of flying both Sara and I to Seattle, staying in a downtown hotel for three nights, and paying hundreds of dollars for space and power at the convention. Due to distribution fuck-ups with the first issue of OCP, I HAVE to count on convention sales to turn a profit on this thing and get my creators paid. So I’m being optimistic and bringing a bunch more copies than I think I’ll sell. But what if over the course of two days I don’t sell diddly? Is it because I’m a bad salesperson? Or because the product quality isn’t there? See why my nerves are a little wracked?

Of course, I’m sure things will go smoothly. And I’ll have a good time meeting new people, seeing old friends and generally hanging out in one of my favorite U.S. cities. But still: nervous.

If you live in Seattle or plan to attend the show, PLEASE come visit me at Artist Alley booth M-12. In addition to the first issue of the well-reviewed OCP #1, I’ll also have bargains on The Utopian #s 1 and 2, as well as free swag. And I’ll draw you a sketch if you ask nicely. So long as it’s not a car.

Ladies and gentlemen, today is the day. Let Feb. 10 go down in history as the date upon which a new comic book giant tread upon the Earth for the first time. For today, the debut issue of Omega Comics Presents goes on sale. For real.

This is the anthology series I’ve been talking about for months. It features an array of new comic talents recruited from around the globe (no kidding, we have at least three countries represented here). Yes, that means Pop! Goes the Icon is finally publishing a comic book that doesn’t exclusively revolve around my questionable talents.

However, this will be the first time for many of you to see my storytelling capabilities (or lack thereof) outside the context of my weekly webcomic, The Utopian. The lead story in OCP is “OMEGA,” an ongoing serial about a covert counter-terrorism team that embarks on a mission to save Hoover Dam even as a mole is discovered inside its own ranks. It’s 24-meets-Heroes, and hopefully does not suck.

Buy this comic or the terrorists win.

On top of that, we have a supernatural comedy from U.K. creators Alex De-Gruchy and Robert Durham, a surrealist take on superheroes by D.C.’s own John Dimes (featuring my first lettering on someone else’s art), and a short gag strip from my favorite Canadians, Dino Caruso and Jason Copland.

It’s only $3.50 a copy (or $2.50 digital) and available in select comic stores, as well as direct order from the PGTI website. All of the above creators get paid royalties, so it’s not just me taking your hard-earned bucks anymore. Nope, I have an international cabal of comic-making mouths to feed. So, you know, please support independent comics.

The second issue is just about wrapped up and is being prepped for submission to Diamond, the giant company responsible for distributing comics and toys to just about every comic store in North America. So send some good vibes my way as we vie for wide distribution for the subsequent issues of OCP. And thanks.

Gonna keep this short and sweet. Spent most of yesterday working on comic stuff, because things are really ramping up now, going to print on The Utopian #2 as we I type this and doing final editing and prep work to meet a Dec. 31 deadline so Omega Comics Presents #1 gets to the printer by the first week of January. And if you haven’t pre-ordered that issue yet, please do so to help, you know, pay for it (and more importantly, ensure the creators get paid). Previews of OCP #1 are featured today on Ain’t It Cool News!

This week’s going to be pretty mad, as I have deadlines aplenty and need to get caught up before the New Year so that POSSIBLY Sara and I can make a break for it and run away where none of you little bastards will find us. For a day or two.

In the meantime … yesterday’s menu (only three days to go!):

• Breakfast: 1 apple, 1 banana, 1 cup “Dynamo” juice blend
• Lunch: Salad (romaine lettuce, carrots, bell peppers, celery, tomatoes) with Bragg’s Aminos
• Afternoon snack: 1 peanut butter cookie Larabar
• Evening snack: 2 stalks celery with organic peanut butter
• Dinner: 1/2 cup mixed, long-grain rice (boiled in homemade vegetable stock and mixed with diced carrots, celery, onions and garlic) with steamed broccoli and cauliflower — this should have been really good, but I think the crunchy texture of the rice threw me off. Either I prepared it wrong, or I just don’t like long-grain rice. But I boiled it down for like 50 minutes, so … uh …
• Late-night snack: 1 piece raw “fudge” from Go Raw Cafe
• Beverages: As usual, aside from the above-listed stuff, just water, and an ounce or two of Trader Joe’s “Green Protein” juice blend.

Well, I’ll tell you ONE thing good to come out of this process: I’ve blogged daily! (What, that’s NOT good?)

Sorry for the lack of updates. If you’ve been following me on Twitter (and why wouldn’t you be?), you may have caught on that I’ll be revamping this site soon to focus a little less on this poorly-updated blog, working toward more of a portfolio/brochure site. In the meantime, though, here I am. And I’ve brought with me the cover for the first issue of the new anthology series from my lil’ comic book company, Omega Comics Presents:

Set for release in February, Omega Comics Presents features three all-new, original stories from writers and artists scattered around the globe. No, really. THE GLOBE. Including the lead story by yours truly, the first chapter of an epic, action-espionage drama called “OMEGA.” Epic, I say.

“OMEGA” is actually a story that has existed in many different forms over the last 20-plus years. Much like The Utopian, it has its roots in those homemade comics I cooked up when I was a kid. Unlike that webcomic, however, this tale is completely different, bearing resemblance only superficially in characters’ names and abilities.

I started shopping around the entire graphic novel pitch to indie publishers last year, but after I launched Pop! Goes the Icon, my workload became suddenly heavier, and it didn’t make much sense to send projects off to other companies when I was in the midst of starting my own. So “OMEGA” is rolling out in short chapters with each quarterly issue of OCP, with the goal of wrapping up the rest of the story in full, graphic novel form.

Maybe.

Anyway, there’s some really great work in this first issue by folks such as Alex De-Gruchy, Robert Durham and John Dimes, stuff that will make my puny scribblings look amateur. And even more amazing comics in the second issue! But, um, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I need you to first pre-order the first issue of OCP. It’s only $3.50, and it’ll come right to your doorstep. And the aforementioned creators get paid based on sales, so it would be really nice if not only could I afford to pay for the printing, but that I can actually pay these fine people for their hard work.

The comic will also be available in stores, though just which ones I don’t know. That’s because our comics are distributed by Haven Distributors, which specializes in fulfilling indie comic orders. So if you would like to see OCP carried at your local shop (or if you’re a retailer yourself), please be sure to let Haven know.

Though I’m not usually one to tout my own artwork around here (as opposed to my everything else), colorist and illustrator Steve Downer did such a whiz-bang job taking my black-and-white line art for the cover of the second issue of The Utopian (coming in January) and transforming it into a Work of Awesomeness™, that I just had to share:

Yeah, I know, right? For reference, here’s the line art I sent Steve:

So for what reason would you not pre-order this comic right now? I don’t know, I just don’t know.

Also, over at Pop! Goes the Icon, we began posting never-before-seen previews from inside the first issue of Omega Comics Presents, which comes out February. More will be coming soon. Stay tuned.