Blue Milk Special

Baltimore Comic Con 2011 is sadly over. What an amazing show! We normally go to shows not expecting to break even, but focused more on meeting old friends and making new ones. Cons are always an adventure and a step into a world of creativity and storytelling that so many of us would love to be doing professionally. Although, between Leanne and myself, with her professional work as a comics illustrator and editor and my own work as a writer, Blue Milk Special remains an amateur project. What money we can make from Leanne’s convention sketches and the selling of prints helps offset most of the costs. Even for a show in Baltimore (semi-local for us) a convention is quite expensive and often a question of spending money just to help keep one’s name out there. Considering this was our first show in almost a year it was a real thrill to meet so many friends again, but this time with an added bonus. For once we appear to have actually broken even on the convention, food and hotel expenses. Wow!

Thank you so much to everyone who stopped by and slapped down a few dollars for a Blue Milk Special or an Order of the Phoenix print. Thanks also to the many fans who commissioned Leanne for convention sketches. We will be posting photos of the BMS related sketches via Twitter and FB through the rest of this week. If you are a new reader then welcome to BMS. We hope you enjoy the comic and will tell your friends. 😀

The highlights of the show included meeting our readers and those that sought us out as if we were some kind of Con attraction. For our dinky little fan project to mean that much to someone is really quite touching. Although we have attended many shows and we seldom remember names, unless we speak further outside of the show or online, we remember faces and enthusiasm. We also made some new friends with the 501st Legion’s Old Line Garrison, an organization of meticulous Star Wars costumers who raise money for charity all over the world. Actually hanging out, if briefly, with a couple of Stormtroopers and an Imperial Officer at our table was a thrill for us. The authenticity of the costumes are amazing, and the sense of humor of the wearers made for a lot of fun and a great photo. We now know why so many Stormtroopers were killed so easily in the Original Trilogy, and why Ewoks are their bane. I also gave good practical advice that may have helped out one Imperial Officer with no obvious pockets. That’s what we do at BMS, we observe and think outside the box.

We saw Stan Lee several times. Our table was positioned facing the signing area, which was overrun by VIP badge holders eager to meet the most famous name in comics and get their picture taken at his side. Stan Lee is a living legend, but you see him in so many documentaries and movies that I think many of us tend to feel we know him already. Seeing Stan Lee’s name on the guest list of a show is always cool, but it was not until Leanne and I actually saw him in the flesh (he was clothed, don’t worry — it’s just a term, okay? They weren’t taking those sorts of pictures!) that it really sinks in that comic history was walking past our table. Leanne, being as adorable as she is, became very concerned about the frail Stan Lee and the rather grueling signing schedule that the convention was demanding from him. To be honest, I couldn’t help but feel bad for him either. The hordes of people, the dazzle and bustle of a con and engaging in one conversation after another all day long was hard enough for us, so I can only imagine how hard it is for a guy in his 100s.

Later that evening we had dinner with one of the later Spider-Man writers, our buddy, Todd Dezago and Spider-Man loves Mary Jane artist Craig Rousseau (creators of The Perhapanauts, hands down the best crytozoology indie comic!). With them were our regular convention comrades Matt and Suzanne Wieringo, Kelly Yates (Amber Atoms and Doctor Who artist for IDW) and Rich Woodall (Zombie Bomb! and Johnny Raygun). Suzanne and I ended up having to split a large bottle of Chianti between us as no one else wanted more than a drop. Yeah, I had half a bottle of Chianti. Eat that Hannibal Lecter! On second thoughts, don’t!

There are a couple other things to mention. Our friends Adam Withers and Comfort Love, whose indie comic Rainbow in the Dark was nominated for the prestigious Harvey Award for Most Promising New Talent. Although they did not ultimately win the award category, the achievement and recognition is long deserved. The Uniques, also by Adam and Comfort, has been nominated for “Best Self-Published Comic” at the Shel Dorf awards! Voting is open to the public and if you want to help support them, please consider giving them your vote. Like ourselves, Adam and Comfort are husband and wife creators, although we have much to learn from them. Their comics “The Uniques” and “Rainbow in the Dark” are available to download and read on your smartphone or computer. What are they about? One is a witty take on superheroes from an indie point of view, the other is about a girl’s world turned-upside and down by a colorful group of rebels. If you want a good story then take a look. Their Forciness is strong!

I mentioned food as an expense when at conventions. Consider that two burgers, a tiny tray of nachos and a single bottle of water (which we shared) were $30 bucks. That was just lunch on Sunday! It’s not cheap doing these shows. Pringles can only keep you going for so long.

Finally, I have to thank Jon Kallis for his help at our table over the weekend. Leanne did nothing but work on sketch commissions all weekend and when I had to step away, or needed help with a print, Jon was always there. When we finally managed to leave our table it was Sunday 4pm, giving us just 1 hour to visit our friends trapped at their own tables. It was tough not being able to talk long to so many, particular Rich Woodall who always makes me laugh. To be honest, not getting to hang with Rich for longer was probably the low point of the show. Fortunately, when it comes to thinking of low points, it is very hard to think of anything that really qualifies. The show was great in almost all respects other than being able to spend as much time with friends as we would have liked. Thanks to Jon, the burden of the table was lightened. The scroll banners and displays were broken down and carted back to our car with an extra set of trusted hands. And I don’t mean that Jon is related to Goro from Mortal Kombat, I just meant Jon’s hands in addition to our own. Ignore me…

We ended our stay in Baltimore with dinner at the Cheesecake Factory where a child sitting nearby started waving a Jar Jar Binks balloon at me while singing Happy Birthday. Although this really pissed me off at the time it was fortuitous that I still had the safety pin from my convention badge.

Have a good week faithful readers!