SPX '09 REPORT PART 03 :: Return of the King
Continued from Part 02
Oh man, SPX Day 2 (my trip Day 3)! We were seasoned veterans by this time, we got up early and went down to the hotel restaurant to enjoy the sumptuous breakfast buffet. GOOD GRAVY! There were dudes chopping roast beef for you, two different dudes ready to make you omelets, all sorts of meat, cheeses, a waffle iron, shrimp and crab (for breakfast??) and a million other things. And they didn't taste bad either, it was not bad more or less.
WAIT DID I FORGET to mention it came with your choice of a Mimosa or Bloody Mary? So we toasted each other again and packed our malnourished bellies with victuals. Then nearly fainted when we got to the register: $26 apiece! But listen, but listen: you can't put a price on how good we felt going into the show. I don't think I even got hungry again until like 4 or something.
Colleen AF Venable came by with one of the Lumberjack mini's she'd made, which have a little illo by me in. Not only did this earn me a comp copy, but a comp felt beard! Check out how good I looked--I would have worn this thing all day, but it kept steaming up my glasses.
I think I made more actual bucks on the Saturday of the show, but it was a near thing. I got more custom from other cartoonists on Sunday, so I was actually pretty busy most of the day. I doodled in sketchbooks, especially Alvin Buenaventura's incredible book (starts with R.Crumb!!), and Rickey Purdin's Watchmen-themed book, which I did my best sketch in. I'll link that piece up once Old Slowcoach posts the new pages. Supposedly the rest of SPX was super icy, but once again we lucked up--our little corner was perfectly comfy. But yeah--whenever I'd walk around, the temperature was like 15 degrees cooler. I was talking to Lamar Abrams and nearly fell asleep--Lamar had to slap me back awake, screaming "NEVER LEAVE A MAN BEHIND NEVER LEAV--" Anyway, you get the idea.
I did the only real buying of the weekend on Sunday, and only quickly -- we were busy at our table, and I knew the longer I walked around the more money I'd spend. The most amazing thing I got was something I bought weeks ago from Ken Dahl/Gabby Schulz and which I picked up at SPX: his original page from Julia Wertz's "I Missed Saw You" Craig's List personals anthology. Dang! I can't find a link to that either! It's pretty amazing though. Also purchased was one of John Allison's Scary Go Round books, the new Driven By Lemons by Josh Cotter, Masterpiece Comics by Bob Sikoryak, and Monsters by Gabby.
Did I say John Allison? This dude is a tie with Steve Wolfhard for "favorite new friend" at SPX; he was a scream. Just a sweet dude with a bottomless arsenal of quips and witticisms, all delivered in a voice better suited to a public country club reading of an Agatha Christie novel than a grubby indie comics convention. Ladies ladies ladies: if you want to become one of John's "brides," space is limited, apply now!
After the show closed and we had some dinner, we repaired back to our room for the final night of hotel partying. We thought we'd take it easy, but of course a bunch of awesome people showed up. For my part, it was great to see Joe and Becca Lambert, Alexis Frederick-Frost, and JP Coovert, even if it was only for like half-an-hour before they split again (there was nowhere to sit!). I love these guys, I want to go to CCS super-bad, but that money simply does not exist. Next convention I go to, my mission will be to love these guys better.
Anyway, once we GOT RID of the CCS guys and endured another noise complaint, our party receded to the small group above, and we pulled out the cards to play some "shush" -style cards. David Malki is a good guy to have in your hotel party, he's aggressive without being aggressive, he can get things done. Phil McAndrew, while a peerlessly excellent fellow, has a voice like Great Neptune himself, and is such a fun guy he couldn't help ratcheting up the volume all the time, bringing on our shushes. I'm just letting you know for whenever you're planning your own hotel party for the future. Although listen: I got dibs on these guys. This is my team.
Monday morning there was delicious breakfast and then it was off to get my tire fixed. I wish I'd taken a picture of the woman behind the counter at "Just Tires"; she looked like she was pushing 60 but was all gooed up with makeup and had a sandy blonde wig that would have made Lady Godiva jealous. She clucked and told me that I needed four new tires or I would never get back to North Carolina, but I was too wily for her captive salesmanship. Plus I am the sort of person who will simply wish his tires to stay together for 7 hours of 70 mph highway driving in the rain.
But look, it worked! Optimism = its own reward, my friends.
Part 01
Part 02
Flickr photoset