Keepin' it Classy

Another SDCC in the books, and and awesome one at that.

Well, I’m back from San Diego, did you miss me?

I’m happy to report that I had one of my best cons ever, and if I’m being honest it’s less about the actual projects that are potentially in the works, and more about the new way I decided to approach things. I have officially entered my Attitude era.

So what did I do different? It really just comes down to having confidence in myself, my ideas, and my potential, and not being afraid to express that. I had many, many conversations with fellow pros and editors, and honestly, I don’t know if any of them are going to help or hurt my career in the long or the short run, but I know one thing - I spoke from the heart, I didn’t get down on myself or anyone else, and I was just honest about what I wanted.

It was just very freeing not to worry about everything coming out of my mouth - whether I needed to talk to this person or that one. I could just be who I was, take me or leave me. And that felt great.

But what did you DO?

Lots of stuff! I got to speak on a few Comics Experience Panels with friends like Gamal Hennesy, Joe Illidge, Heather Antos, Bobby Curnow, and Reilly Brown. The topics were varied but all centered around helping new creators find their feet in this business - whether it was how to approach freelancing, how to pitch publishers, or how to collaborate.

Never gets old.

I attended a couple of great panels too, like a spotlight on Julio Anta, a talented author and friend doing amazing work in graphic novels, monthly comics, and more - hosted by my good friend Chris Condon.

I had a great signing at the Dark Horse booth on Sunday, with artist Gavin Smith, where we signed copies of our book, Heartpiercer, and he knocked out some awesome sketches.

And I spent a lot of time catching up with old friends, meeting new ones, and generally just having a great time.

hanging with absolute legends Gerry Duggan and John Layman

Me with good buddy and perpetual rival for best facial hair in comics, Bob Harrison

And of course there were lots of fun and cool things to see, both from publishers and media companies, and fans!

There’s an actual dude in there, and the whole thing walked and talked!

Cyberpunk biker gang? Big Tron fans? Both? Looked cool either way.

as an ad man, I appreciate a fun bit of guerilla marketing.

And of course, I ended the weekend of my own private tradition to cap off the weekend. I go find a nice bar on the waterfront and order some west coast oysters and a cool crisp lager.

Perfection.

That was my San Diego - how was yours, if you attended?

I know I glossed over the actual work I talked to folks there about, but believe me, it was a lot, and it was all exciting… so fingers crossed that I’ll have more news to share on that soon!

Until then,

Thanks for reading, everyone!

- Rich

PS - I almost forgot - I’m a sucker for weird fringe culture ephemera, so even though it wasn’t a classic like It’s My Fault Black Leaf Died, I was kind of tickled to be handed an actual Chick Tract by some dude who I’m sure was trying to save my soul from the evils of comic books.

seriously, don’t scan this code or go to the site. Those people are nuts.