Montreal Comic Con roundup

Another Montreal Comic Con has come and gone. The show has ballooned from less than a thousand people only a couple of years ago to something like 20,000 people. That's great for the city and the show itself, but I definitely felt the growing pains this year. Sales were lower than last year, which were lower than the year before that. I think the show is entering that comfortable sweet spot for bigger guests, but it's becoming less profitable for fellows like myself.

Here's a sample of the sketches that kept me busy all weekend. Thanks to everyone that came out to see me and pick up some comics, pages, and sketches from me.

 Spoiler Robin

 

Spider-Man

 

Solid Snake 

 

The Spectre

  

Batman Beyond 

 

Shepard (from Mass Effect) Gangnam Style

The Spectre

Ariel (from Green Wake)

Speaking of Green Wake... Kurtis Wiebe won the Shuster Award for Best Writer on Saturday night! Since Kurtis couldn't be at the show, I accepted on his behalf. Very proud of him and very proud of the book.

Other highlights of the show included the three panels I did on Saturday; my own panel on Making Comics (the class I teach at Syn Studio), the Elephantmen panel with my excellent friend Richard Starkings, and the Ben Templesmith panel. Ben is a tremendously clever and fun guy, I had a great time chatting with him all weekend. I also had the great pleasure of meeting the tremendously talented Mark Chiarello and seeing the unlettered, uncoloured pages from Hellboy in Hell #1 (thanks to Christine and Mike Mignola for such an honor). I spent a bit of time with Darwyn Cooke and he told me some good news about upcoming Parker projects. Very exciting.

Back to business! Bedlam #1 is on its way and I'm supplying the letters for it. It's some of Riley's best work yet and I can't wait until its unleashed on the world.

Montreal Comic Con & Comics Alliance

First up, a big 'thank you' to Lauren Davis at Comics Alliance: she wrote a very complimentary article about my work on September 1st. The article can be read here. I am flattered and amazed that one of my favorite sites about comics took the time to talk about what I do. Thanks again, Comics Alliance!

I am a guest of the Montreal Comic Con again this year. This has been my go-to show for the last four years; Montreal is my home now and it's been amazing to see the show go from a couple thousand people at most to the media event it has become.

If you are interested in tracking me down at the show, here's how to find me:

I will be at table 1710, next to the intimidating Mark Chiarello. I will also be at two panels: I am running one myself called Making Comics (Saturday, 11 AM) which will be about making your own minicomics, and I will be moderating the Elephantmen panel with the marvelous Richard Starkings at 4 PM on Saturday. Don't miss 'em, there are a lot of surprises in store.

I will be selling minicomics, comics, trade paperbacks, and doing sketches in varying sizes. I will also have a unique item this year: if you purchase something from me, you will get a card with a website and a password on it. This combination will allow you to download and unlock a pdf with a brand-new 8-page Archie Snow story! I completed the story a while ago for an ill-fated anthology, and it has sat on the shelf for long enough. I am doing a Montreal Comic Con exclusive cover for the PDF: this will not be made available again after the show and I am limiting the cards to only two hundred and fifty.

Here is a sneak peak of the exclusive cover:

Come early, I will not be reserving these. When they are gone, they are gone.

Hope to see you at the show!