I'm returning to Baltimore this year for the awesome Baltimore Comic Con! The site has me listed under "studios" but I'm still in Artist's Alley table A255. For some reason, I always end up drawing the most dog sketches at this convention! People in Baltimore really love their pets :)
More info and tickets here: http://baltimorecomiccon.com/tickets/
If you're in the Baltimore/DC area, hope to see you there!
I'm an official artist in Artist's Alley this year in Comic-Con International in San Diego! I'm listed under my real name, Mindy Steffen, at table BB-23. Last year, I was able to get a table mid-way through the convention, but this year I'm all in! I've been spiffing up my sketch folio and am very excited to see what will happen this year! Since I'll mostly be glued to my table, I won't get to see cool panels, but I plan to network at some after parties. SDCC is pretty overwhelming, and there's way too much to put all in one blog, but here's some useful links:
Tickets are sold out! SDCC is super hard-core, so you need to buy badges way in advance - start planning for next year! https://www.comic-con.org/cci/purchase-badges
If you're already going to the convention, here's a link to the show map - Artist's Alley is that blue box waaaaay to the left: https://www.comic-con.org/sites/default/files/forms/CCI17_ExhibitHallMap_Small.pdf
Get your best artwork ready for the folio review section - I actually got some coloring work for Action Lab Comics through meeting them here: https://www.comic-con.org/cci/portfolio-review
The Quick Guide - scroll 3/4 of the way down to see a color-coded schedule of panels: https://www.comic-con.org/sites/default/files/forms/CCI17_QG_Online_V1_LR.pdf
Lots of awesome stuff going on and I'm very excited!
So if you've been following me, you know I haven't posted in awhile! Summer's here and my priorities have shifted a bit. Is it possible to ever reach a true work/life balance? Added to that, as an artist, I have personal projects, which count as both work and life. But lately I've preferred sketching in parks outside rather than blogging - carpe diem!
The beautiful San Diego Convention Center! I love this building! So futuristic!
(Crowd photo by Geek Shot)
How can I begin to tell about the awesome time I had at Comic-Con International, the biggest comic convention in America? I was on the wait list for an Artist Alley table, and my main goal was to enhance my career. I got all my merchandise ready, and felt that even if I didn't get a table, I could still benefit greatly from the portfolio reviews and informative creator panels. It was a bit of a risk - the plane ticket was pricey all the way from NYC, but I got to stay with my sister and brother-in-law :) The risk was totally worth it, as I ended up getting a table half-way through the convention!
"Let's Fighting Love!!" South Park life-sized scenes.
At other conventions, I don't really get to walk around and fully enjoy the fun due to working at my table, but this time I got to do BOTH! My favorite thing to see was the life-sized recreation of the town of South Park, complete with some of the most popular scenes. Neil DeGrasse Tyson sponsored a virtual reality section too.
Did you know that at SDCC, there is a whole section for folio reviews? Other conventions I've been to don't have this. I researched the listed companies and what they were looking for, and the week before, I got together 3 folios: storyboarding, comic, and coloring. These were reviewed by people from Nickelodeon, Disney, and comic companies like Action Lab and Arch Enemy. I did this all Thursday, because I knew it would just get crazier with each passing day so I had a better chance of being chosen. If the list is too long, no luck - I didn't get in for Cartoon Network which was only on Friday. I actually went to SDCC a decade ago and just had a student folio. I noticed a considerable difference in the response to my work now that I have years of professional experience in the comics industry! I think artists at any stage in life can benefit from these reviews - people pointed out things in my work I'd never thought of before. Many cards were exchanged... we'll see what happens!
Most of Friday I sat in on a bunch of panels. I was amazed at how many wonderful creator-themed topics SDCC had! Everything from industry pros telling their career stories to cool Photoshop techniques and more! My top 3 were: 1. Artist as Brand: Rise of the Artist Entrepreneur, where indie creators talked about the struggles and rewards of business stuff and owning their creations. 2. Creating Comics with the iPad- I had no idea of the incredible advances in technology and freedom artists can have on-the-go. 3. Cartoon Creatives: Women Power in Animation- since I'm considering getting more into the storyboarding world, it was great to see many strong women with major roles in the industry!
I've gotta say, New York Comic Con has been lacking in creator-themed panels in the past few years, probably due to a "fans first" policy. But before I began tabling at NYCC, I remember they used to have more good artist panels. Last year I didn't find many good NYCC panels to blog about that I'd be interested in as a creator (if I had time to go) - they focused on celebrities and fan themes. By the way, SDCC "pro passes" are still FREE, whereas NYCCs pro passes keep going up in $ each year. Overall, I feel that San Diego CC respects, appreciates, and represents creators more than NYCC.
The Most Random Sketch Award goes to this dog as an Ewok-Gremlin!
Every day I got to the convention super early and checked in with Artist Alley registration to see if a table opened up. And Saturday morning IT HAPPENED! I couldn't believe it! Little did I know, SDCC's Artist Alley is notoriously difficult to get into, with the waiting list being "years long." It's complicated to explain exactly how I was able to get this table, but it was a combination of being qualified, prepared, persistent, some tips from the inside, and some luck! If one of these aspects had gone wrong, I may not have gotten in, but I guess it was meant to be!
I realized that SDCC's Artist Alley is different than other artist alleys because it's made up of mostly old pros that have had major industry work for like decades! I was right next to Len Wein, creator of Wolverine and other X-men characters! Ken Penders, one of my heroes from Sonic the Hedgehog, was also tabling. So there were giants like these, and then... me, somehow! :PI was sketching up a storm though, and was successful enough to pay for that plane ticket + more :) There was lots of encouragement among the rest of the artists, with words like "good luck, kiddo!" and I did feel like I fit in there more. Oh Katie Cook was in the row right behind me! Her career has grown so much over the years, she's very inspiring! So it looks like the next generation of cartoonists is on the rise at SDCC.
Overall, I had the most ideal experience this year at SDCC, with a great balance of fun, constructive folio reviews + networking, informative creator tips, and making $! If you're on the west coast and in the comics or animation industry, SDCC IS A MUST! If you're in the midwest, it's worth a road trip! If you're on the east coast and have a place to stay, the plane ticket is definitely worth it. If you don't have a place to stay, hey AirBnB is on the rise. It's cheaper if you stay farther from the convention and take the trolley. Hope to see you there next year!
Did I mention that I got sick the week before SDCC? Just like what happened last year before NYCC! I guess I burn myself out preparing. I went to the same clinic and they recognized me :PLuckily antibiotics are like tiny microscopic superheroes! Comic cons are exhausting enough without being sick.
C2E2, the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo, is this week from Fri 3/18 - Sun 3/20! I'll be in Artist's Alley table i16a, and will also be doing a signing each morning at the IPG booth 640!
There are lots of other cool things going on at C2E2 - panels like "From Book to Screen," "Everyday Podcasting for your Everyday Life," "How to get Press for your Comic," and "Nonfiction Comics: Childhood, Food, and Relationships."
C2E2 is at McCormick Place's south building 2301 S Lake Shore Dr. Hours are Fri 3/18 10A-7P, Sat 3/19 10A-7P, and Sun 3/20 10A-5P. If you're in Chicago, hope you can make it!
Super excited for my first time exhibiting at C2E2 this weekend! (Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo.) If you'll be in the Chicago area, or know of friends who are, here's the scoop:
Friday April 24 - Sun April 26. Show floor hours are Fri & Sat 10A-7P, with programming running til 9p. Sun 10A-5P.
Tickets are still available for all days! Ranges from $30 for one day bought online to $70 3-day pass paid at the door. Kids get in for $5 on Sunday!
It's at the South Building At McCormick Place. 2301 S Lake Shore Dr., Chicago IL 60649. Looks like the closest subway is taking the Green line to the Cermak-McCormick Place stop. If you're coming from the suburbs, you can take the Metra orange line to the McCormick Place Metra station.
Special guests include Stan Lee, Jason Momoa and Finn Jones from Game of Thrones, Chad Coleman from The Walking Dead, and many others! There are all kinds of fun programs to see like stuff about medieval armor, to learning Chinese, how to combat cyber-bullying, to learning about the comics business. See me and other amazing artists in the Artist Alley too - I'm table N17A! Right by the food court! Could be a strategic location - we'll see... Interestingly, artists with tables near the front of the alphabet are in the back corner...
Kids may enjoy my workshop "Sketching from Life with Mindy Indy" on Sunday from 11:30a-12:30p in the Family HQ (room N427bc).
Looking forward to a very exciting trip! I'm very lucky to be staying with some great friends in town :) (Secret tip for cartoonists wanting to do conventions far away). This time, since I'm flying AND taking Megabus later on to Michigan, I need to pack smartly. Southwest Air still has 2 free checked bags, but you only get 1 with Megabus. Gotta be under 50 pounds too. Ok enough blogging and more packing to do!
I always have to check the weather before doing laundry...
Not sure if I mentioned, but I got into NYCC's Artist Alley! I'm sharing a table with Nadia Burgess again, and am very excited! We're table W4 in Artist Alley. There's still time to buy tickets for Thursday October 9th for $35! But if you can't take the day off work or miss class, you can still go to all these cool new SUPER WEEK events! What is Super Week?! NYCC has wised up to the fact that they've grown so much that people who are casually interested cannot easily get a ticket. Tix are selling out earlier and earlier - it's freakin' 3 weeks away and only Thursday tix left?? So they created Super Week packed with comic-themed events all around NYC! There are over 100 things going on for free, cheap, or $$$ to fit anyone's budget. Events range from a free Muppets and Superheroes thing at Housingworks Bookstore, to lots of $10 improv comedy shows at bars, to more expensive talk shows with the stars (I reeeeeeaaaaaaalllly want to go to Neil DeGrasse Tyson's talk!!! But $45..... hmm.....) Anyone can go, and I'd like to go to some of the free/cheap ones to mingle and talk with people about my Artist Alley booth! I went to an event last week at Brooklyn Brewery (yes last week, it was that early... the hype is getting like that of the Super Bowl's), and found out that a lot of people don't even KNOW about Artist's Alley. For shame. http://www.newyorksuperweek.com/Home/ Super Week goes from October 3rd thru 12th. Ok that's more than a week but "Super Week" sounds better than "Super 10 Days."
Since moving, there are the obvious places you need to change your address officially with - the post office, credit cards, and banks are the first things that come to mind. But then there are the zillions of other smaller things you forget about that need your address, like every online shipping address for starters, and stuff like insurance and aauuuughhhhhh!!!!
So did I mention I got into New York Comic Con this year after all? Late last month they said a space opened up in Artist's Alley, and I coordinated with another artist, Nadia Burgess, to share a table! Nadia does cool crossover illustrations and AMAZING comic themed cakes! We're very excited to be in NYCC this year and have much to prepare. Find us in the North Pavilion at table V15. This is a slightly better spot than last year when I was in aisle Z.
You can still get a Thursday ticket to NYCC, but all other days are already sold out. Hope to see you there!
Last night the Power Rangers signing was awesome! Thanks to everyone who came! Sold some books, did some drawings, and talked with a lot of nice people! Special thanks to Michael for bringing all the books! It was super great catching up with him too! Special thanks to my friend Carlos Abdu for bringing everyone pizza!
It felt so fulfilling to be a part of such a cool book and in this event! Sometimes, because it takes so much work and time to plan events, and to prepare for things like comic conventions, I wonder if it's all worth it, but it's for amazing experiences like this that make me know that comics are what I'm meant to do with my life!
Now onto the next thing! Right now I'm on the Bolt Bus to Baltimore with my friends Ellen Stedfeld and Carlos Abdu for the Baltimore Comic Con! OMG it was crazy coordinating and some of us almost missed the bus :P Everyone was printing last minute stuff, and I just printed my new story, "The Lucky Penny" today! Can't wait to show it to everyone! I'll post it on here soon too.
We'll be in Artist's Alley at Table A286! Super excited!
WOW! Ok I know New York Comic Con was last week, but I need to recap! It was so intense that I had to recover for awhile. I took those videos on Friday, and the crowds in the video got even bigger for Saturday and Sunday.
I got a tripod/easel at the 24 hour Staples Thursday night to elevate my poster for better exposure. It worked! More people saw my sign and looked at my table. I also taped drawings to the poster so people could see examples of my drawing style. Most importantly, I put a sign at the top that said "Colorist for DeadPool" and that really drew attention! I got about 4 DeadPool commissions from that! People were interviewing me and taking pictures - NO JOKE! I felt like a celebrity!
I spent all of Saturday and Sunday just drawing commissions! It was amazing! I had a list of drawings to do and honestly took more than I could handle, but it was a great learning experience!
This pic was my first commission! A guy dressed as Dead Pool and his girlfriend wanted their favorite characters (Dead Pool and MewTwo from Pokemon) fighting. This became a theme of the weekend - couples wanting their favorite characters either fighting or cuddling.
He's so happy with the sketch! Later on, I drew another Deadpool sketch (below) and put it on my poster, and he bought that one too! Repeat customers!!
This commission was for an amazing girl, Mya Terry, who's battling cancer. Her aunt/godmother went around getting sketches of Mya as a "super girl," because she's been through a lot and is very courageous. Mya even wrote a book about getting an NG feeding tube. I went for a Rainbow Brite/Sailor Moon theme for the sketch. Her aunt was thrilled and even got me and Scott (the artist next to me) fries :) Hope Mya likes the drawing!
One guy wanted some Avengers head shots for his niece and nephew. I chose Scarlet Witch and Captain America.
I looked up references for characters on my smart phone. Luckily this year Artist Alley was in a spot that had good reception! I had kind of cramped drawing space for my little half table, and I kept knocking over the Aer Head stand and Ellen's comics next to me, but I made it work. Here are some other sketches I did, but I didn't have the chance to take pictures of all of them:
This girl even came back the next day for a Prince Zuco sketch!
This guy heard I was a colorist (word of mouth spreading like wildfire!) and asked me to color a black & white drawing someone did of the Fraggles. I totally had the theme song stuck in my head all day after that!
I kept seeing all these people dressed up with horns that looked like candy corn. It's from a web comic that got pretty popular called Homestuck. I got about 3 commissions of Homestuck characters!
This guy was a teacher who was getting sketches to show his students many different drawing styles. My first Aer Head commission! It's interesting to me to see the variety of people that come to comic con for different reasons :)
And ending with my favorite, Sonic! Didn't even need a reference for that because I drew Sonic all the time as a kid :) I love My Little Ponies too :)
The flyering worked well too - my friend Ellen passed around flyers and brought about 20 more people to the table, and of those maybe half signed up for the mailing list :) A few bought misfortune cookie mini comics, and half just took the free cookies.
All in all, New York Comic Con was a HUGE success. I made my table money back plus a huge profit! This was an eye opening experience because now I see that doing the comic con circuit can be a legitimate way to make a living, if you do it right. Next time, I'm going to do more sample sketches beforehand so they're ready to sell, and I need to practice drawing faster!
Awesome news! New York Comic Con added me to their official site! You can find me by 2 ways: When you go to the NYCC site, click on the tab "Who's Coming" and hover over to Artist's Alley on the right, where you'll see "Artist Alley List" and "Artist Alley Gallery." The pic above is my image in the "M" zone (where it should be, not with the "I"s like Baltimore Comic Con listed). You'll see a larger image and description of me when you click on the mindy indy thumbnail:
It's pretty freaking cool to be on the official site. This way, I'll get even more exposure! Hope it works to draw more people to my table :)
Here I am in the "Artist Alley List" section. I wonder why they didn't combine the list with the gallery, but whatever, I can't complain. I'm up there!
And NYCC is officially SOLD OUT! I'm excited to be part of such an enormous event!
THEY'RE HERE!! The REAL Misfortune Cookies have been delivered to me! Super excited and can't wait to see people's reactions to them. Since I only printed 150, I've decided to mix them in with the normal fortune cookies, so it will be even more of a surprise. Cookies are free with purchase of any mindy indy product :) Also, everyone that brings a flyer I printed (see last blog post) to my table (Z19 in Artist's Alley) gets a free cookie.
I made the custom fortune cookies from a site called www.tankinz.com, and their prices were pretty good. I got 4 different custom fortunes for ordering 150 cookies for $30. It seems like a lot, considering I'm giving them away for free, but it's New York Comic Con so I want to do something special :) Oh and the picture above was on a little thank you card that came with the cookie box. Apparently their motto is "So fresh you'll want to slap us!" Wow :P
I found out my table number for the New York Comic Con! Table Z19A. The Artist's Alley aisles are labeled alphabetically, so yeah.....aisle Z.... I'll pretty much be in the corner. But the corner of NYCC is better than not exhibiting at NYCC at all! Artist's Alley is in the North Pavilion, as shown on the map above. It's separated from the main show floor by a corridor thing, but I think it will still get lots of traffic. You can see the NYCC interactive map here.
So from the next picture above, you'll see that at least I'm not in the corner of corners, but slightly inward, so that's good. I have half of a table, so that's why it's Z19A instead of just Z19. I think I'll do just fine with the half, because I usually double my comics up to fill a big table space anyway.
If you were on the fence about buying a ticket to NYCC, better get it ASAP before they're all gone! There are still some day passes for Friday October 12 for $35. Buy them here. Ask for a day off work and go! Comic con is a total blast and it's totally worth it :) The whole show was sold out for the past 2 years online (no tickets sold onsite even).
More news: the new "real" misfortune cookies are going to be shipped this Tuesday! I have big plans for them :)
SUPER PUMPED!
The Baltimore Comic Con was a super success for mindy indy! I made back my table money and more! The table was $200, and I made $219, so that's pretty darn good for my first big convention :) Especially considering lots of artists don't make their table money back. I'm so glad people like my comics, and appreciate everyone that stopped by my table! Special thanks to anyone that bought anything and/or signed up for the mailing list! I loved meeting new people and talking about my artwork. It was a pretty exhausting weekend, but it was totally worth it :)
I didn't get to see much else of the convention, but you can see a bit more of artist's alley in this picture (taken before the convention opened to the public). I was lucky to get a table on the corner. Oh yeah, and see that huge purple suitcase behind me? I lugged like 70 of my new books from New York on the Megabus in that thing!
Here's my new book, "Mindy Indy's Daily Misfortune and Flip Book!" It's 2 books in one! On the right page is a collection thus far of all the Daily Misfortunes that I've been posting here on mindyindy.com, and on the left is a brand new quirky animation that's a flip book! I spent most of the time for this book drawing the animation. I wanted it to have the same look as the comic, so it's all hand drawn. It involves a giant godzilla-like-pacman-like misfortune cookie eating a city, then trying to eat a spaceship and getting zapped by the ship. At first I wanted it to be a simple animation, but it got more complex as I kept drawing :P Oh and in the picture above, the artist at the table next to me cleared their table early and I took it over :)
My friend Tracy, who helped me out with the table, suggested stacking my books, because people are attracted to vertical things. It was a super great thing to do, because if you just have flat objects, people can't see your stuff until they're already at the table. I even stood up my mini comics too. I think it helped!
Here's Tracy modeling another new addition to the mindy indy table: Misfortune Cookie Charms! My mom made these tiny cute charms BY HAND out of sculpey! You can put them on your cell phone, key ring, rear-view mirror, and other stuff :)
I had to take a picture of the GIANT box of fortune cookies. I stayed with Tracy in Washington D.C., and there's a super awesome China Town where I got this box of 350 cookies for $15. I wanted to make sure we had enough to last the whole convention, and we certainly did. I have enough left over to last like A YEAR.
Again, thanks everyone for making this convention a big success! And more good news, a spot in artist's alley opened up for the huge New York Comic Con, and I got a half table! Since I did well at Baltimore, I feel more comfortable spending $300 for the table at NYCC. It's the next big step in my career and I'm super excited! To all peeps in Baltimore, it's only a $9 Megabus ride to New York! So please stop by and see me and other spectacular artists and cool stuff at NYCC October 11-14 at the Javits Center in NYC!
No, I won't be at SPX (Small Press Expo). I missed the application deadline, and already have plans that weekend. Maybe next year!
I'm on the Megabus right now for the Baltimore Comic Con tomorrow and Sunday! It's awesome that I can even DO this post right now on the bus - they have wifi! This week I didn't have a chance to post the Daily Misfortunes because I've been super busy with other work and getting my BRAND NEW book out: "Mindy Indy's Daily Misfortune and Flip Book"! I can't even believe I got all 100 printed in time. I had to reformat the size like 3 times, then my first printing option fell through (their printer broke) but I was able to print them at Staples! The 24 hour Staples ALWAYS SAVES MY LIFE!! The books were so heavy I couldn't even drag them all in my huge suitcase at once, so I had to leave some behind, but if I miraculously run out tomorrow I can always print more at another Staples! I'll have pictures later, and will be creating an online store very soon so you can buy it :) Anyway, I'm super excited to be exhibiting at this convention! I'm also very thankful to my great friend Tracy for all her help - without her I probably wouldn't be able to be at the con! If you're in the Baltimore area (or NYC area - Megabus is only $9!!) please make a trip to the Baltimore Comic Con - I heard it's even bigger and better than last year :) I'll be at table A247 in Artist's Alley.
Thank God I didn't miss the Megabus! I came pretty close :/
I've been preparing new stuff to exhibit at the Baltimore Comic Con next weekend! It's September 8th and 9th. This time next week I'll be on a bus getting there. Special guests include Stan Lee, Neal Adams, Frank Cho, Dean Haspiel, and many more. The convention is also hosting the Harvey Awards, which honors comic work excellence. There will also be lots of fun and cool comics and collectibles to buy! I'll be in Artist's Alley, Table A247, so if you're going to the show, please stop by! I'll have a new book out! Yes, an actual BOOK, not just paper copied and folded at Staples :P More info on that next week!
I applied for an Artist's Alley table at this year's New York Comic Con, but just got a rejection letter :( I guess I have to keep in mind that even though the steps I'm taking with my comics are big in my mind, they're pretty small compared to other well-known independent artists. But everyone has to start somewhere. No time to mope and grope. It wasn't meant to be! But I just sent in an application for the Baltimore Comic Con, which is pretty big too. I hope I get into that one! Positive feelings!
Words are not enough to describe how awesome and inspiring the New York Comic Con was this year! I met SO MANY awesome people everywhere I went and learned immensely important things for my career as a cartoonist.
I got a 4 day "Professional" pass. Usually the con is 3 days, but Thursday was open to just Professionals. That's why you see all that clear space around me in the top picture, and craziness in the pic just above (taken Saturday). It helped to have time to scope things out before it got insane. I was able to talk with some other professionals I may not have gotten one-on-one time with otherwise, like Victor Gorelick: Co-President/E-I-C of Archie Comics, and Paul Kaminski: Compilation Editor of Sonic the Hedgehog. More on Sonic later :)
Half the time I spent going to panels (meaning interviews with creators/business people, rather than drawn comic panels on a page!). The ones I targeted were mostly about "how to" things, like self-publishing your comic, copyrighting, and digital distributing. One of the best panels was about using Kickstarter to fund and market your comic, so that may be the way AER HEAD gets out into the world. I even went to a panel about planning events in a comic store. It was aimed at store owners, but was actually very helpful in teaching interesting marketing techniques. Another useful one was about digital coloring. Christina Strain blew my mind away with all the awesome Photoshop stuff she demonstrated. I thought I knew a lot about coloring before, but there's so much more to learn!
I loved the panel about Womanthology, which is a compilation of short comic stories drawn and written by women. Womanthology is being put together by Renae De Liz, who I got to meet and is super awesome! She also drew the gorgeous artwork for the graphic novel adaptation of The Last Unicorn (one of my favorite childhood animations). I also met her husband, Ray Dillon, who inked and colored her work. This couple is so inspiring not only because their artwork is supernaturally amazing, but they have such drive and passion about them, as well as being very friendly down-to-earth people. Another Last Unicorn person I saw was Peter S. Beagle, who wrote the original prose novel that the animation was based off. I met him once before at the San Diego Comic Con years ago, and it was just as awesome seeing him again.
Another highlight was the Sonic the Hedgehog panel! I've been a lifelong fan of Sonic - from the videogames to the tv shows to the comic. I was thrilled to meet my favorite Sonic artist, Patrick Spaziante ("Spaz")! I asked him lots of questions about his career, gave him one of my AER HEAD mini comics, and practically launched into outer space when he said that HE liked MY artwork! How cool is THAT? As Sonic would say: "Way past cool!" I also briefly met Ian Flynn, writer of Sonic. Everyone working on Sonic just beams with positive energy and it shows that they really love what they do. Someday, I want to be part of that team!
I also spent a lot of time in the "Artist's Alley" section of the Con. This is the section where independent comic publishers and freelance artists have booths to sell their books and showcase their artwork. The more I talked with artists there, the more I felt the calling to get a table at this and other cons too. Some artists suggested starting with the smaller conventions to save money, so keep an eye out for mindy indy at your local Brooklyn cons soon :) (In this context, "con" is short for convention. I don't intend to con people :)
I noticed a significant difference in people's general responses to me this year when I mentioned that I colored Marvel comics as Kyle Baker's assistant. (I was careful not to look like I was blatantly name-dropping, and didn't bring it up with everyone. It naturally came up in conversations). I had a published Deadpool Max comic to show as an example too. Last year, I toted my portfolio around to publishers and asked advice, and was told at worst that my style wasn't what they were looking for, and at best to just submit samples online to the company's general email, not to anyone specific. (I don't like online art submissions, because like job submissions, I think they go into a black void and my time was wasted). But this year, people paid attention to me more! I got lots of positive feedback from the AER HEAD mini comics, and I may have gotten some possible leads to future projects - fingers crossed!
Speaking of Deadpool, a gazillion people dressed up as him! Everywhere I turned, there was Deadpool! I think because there's a movie coming out soon. I felt special that I get to contribute my talents to something so big and popular :)
While I'm at it, here are more cool costumes! If you don't know, Comic Cons are places where people dress as their favorite characters, often going to amazing lengths over details. I especially appreciate when I see unique characters from my childhood, like Darkwing Duck! Look at how the guy made the duck feet - they're 3 shoes glued together!
There are so many more awesome stories to tell, but it's past 4AM. Overall, this year's NYCC was more amazing than I could have imagined! I met fantastic people, reconnected with some old friends, learned a whole lot about the business, and had a TON of fun all at once!