Scott King

    The problem with everyone being nice is that when you approach a table and talk to artist for 5 minutes or more, you feel like a major jerk if you don’t buy their books.
    The other big difference I noticed about SPX from the mainstream conventions were the women. They were all over the place! I don’t mean that in a crude perv-way. I mean it as in it was nice to see actual female creators.
    The first artist I spoke today was a female. It was Carla Speed McNeil who does “Finder.” Her table was dead in front of the entrance to the showroom floor and she was on my list of people to talk to, but I had really intended to swing by her booth later. However, as I entered the showroom, I heard her discussing the difference between soft-core porn and hard-core porn. This immediately made me stop and think “huh?” It turns out that she put a sex scene in a book a while back and Diamond was unhappy with her about it.

[Above: McNeil]
    After listening to her discussion with another fan, I was able to pick up the first two volumes of “Finder.” McNeil warned me that the books were her early works and she hopes I enjoy them, but wanted me to know she has grown as an artist.
    Another person who mentioned Diamond was Jamie Rich, creator and writer of “12 Reasons Why I love Her.” I had read several articles about him on Newsarama and had wanted to pick up the book, but he told me that Diamond screwed up and the book wasn’t shipped this week. However, he said that Diamond was sending a shipment directly to SPX and that they would have copies at the ONI both tomorrow [Below: Jaimie Rich signing an autograph].

    Another artist I wanted to buy a book from, but couldn’t was Dash Shaw. He did “The Mother’s Mouth,” but when I tried to get a copy he was out of change. I was too busy to stop by his booth again, but plan to tomorrow.
    The next item I bought was “My Brain Hurts” by Liz Baillie (http://www.lizcomics.com/). I had read a few interviews about her online and wanted to check out some of her work. She was really funny and so was her friend who kept saying that he was just her “man servant" [Below: Baillie].

    From there I moved on to see Craig Taillefer and picked up a copy of Wahoo Morris [Below: Taillefer].

    After that I waited in line to see Scott Morse. I’ve been a fan of his for years and actually met him 3 years ago during my first trip to SPX.

[Below: Andy Ruton]

   I was excited to see Andy Ruton. Owly is such an amazing comic and shows how much emotion a simple cartoon-like character can have without even using dialogue. Even though I already have the books, I made sure to pick up a stuffed Owly doll [Below: Bean (Sarah's cat) snuggling with my new stuffed Owly].

    It was about then that I noticed two members of the McCloud Clan chilling at a desk. I recognized Winter and Sky from their 50-State-Tour blog. Being the total dork that I am I had to go over and say “Hi” to the girls. I also got them to sign two of their dad’s book. That’s when Winter gave me my favorite sketch of the day:

Winter wanted to sign "Reinventing Comics" because (exact quote), "I want to sign that one 'cause Dad says its the book everyone hates, but I like it cause its the first I'm in. Is it ok if I sign me?"
    After that I spent over an hour talking to Ivy McCloud (Scott McCloud took the girls to get something to eat). She was so entertaining and fun to talk to. We talked about her family, doing the 50-state-tour, about comics, about how she first met Scott, about my family, about film school, about Veronica Mars. I mean she was super nice and fun.

    By the time Scott McCloud finally returned, there was a line of people waiting to get autographs from him. Since I was first in line I felt pressured to be quick. I basically just introduced myself to Scott and told him I would be coming to his panels and book signing tomorrow.
    By this point it was pushing 8p.m. and I was exhausted. There are tons of creators I met and talked to today that I just don’t have time to mention right now. There are also a ton other that I want to met tomorrow. I’m almost worried I won’t have enough time to talk to everyone I want to talk to.