New York Comic Con 2010 - Day 3

On Sunday, our booth was swarming with customers who liked what they had heard the previous evening. Sunday was by far my best sales day, and I also received numerous compliments on the way I handled my hosting duties.

I even conducted two interviews: a print interview for Cue Pittsburgh magazine and a video interview for AOL, which is now posted on their Queer Sighted blog.

Sunday evening we met my old friend and former co-worker Julia and her husband Stephen for dinner, followed by a performance of “Million Dollar Quartet,” which co-stars my friend Levi Kreis, who won the Tony Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical for his role. This show is inspired by the true story of the time Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins met for a jam session at Sun Records. Levi steals the show as Jerry Lee Lewis. We even got to go backstage after the show to meet with Levi. Julia and Steven were starstruck when they met him in person, and he couldn’t have been sweeter to them. It was a wonderful way to end our trip to New York.

On the flight back, inspired to finish writing “Jayson Goes to Hollywood,” I knocked out two more chapters – just four more to go! As usual, my characters surprised me in ways that I hope you find entertaining when the book is published next year.

New York Comic Con 2010 - Day 2

On Saturday morning, I finished writing my questions and designing the slides for the LGBT panel, before heading off to the convention. Our hotel was located just a block from the Javits Center, on a refreshingly quiet street. Unfortunately, it didn’t have a Business Center. So while I worked my booth, Bud took my PowerPoint file off to Kinko’s to print copies.

Good thing he did, too, because when it came time to set up the room for our panel, we could not get the file to project correctly onto the screen. Fortunately, I’m used to things going wrong, so I began to introduce the panelists while the technical team worked on the computer’s resolution settings. I looked out at the audience for the first time and couldn’t believe my eyes; we had a full house, and standing room only in the back! (I later learned that people were even turned away because the room had reached capacity.) I never expected such a turnout. The audience applauded each of the panelists as I introduced them, and as I launched into the questions, the technical problem resolved. The hour flew by way too fast, and we only had about 7 minutes left at the end for audience questions. The panel was a resounding success, and I plan to do it again next year. I just need to get the organizers to give us a larger room and more time!

New York Comic Con 2010 - Day 1

My first sale, just minutes after I arrived at my booth in the Small Press section, was to Tania del Rio, who toplined the recent manga-inspired run on “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch” for Archie Comics. She told me that Mike Pellerito, the President and Editor-in-Chief of Archie – the one who contracted appendicitis in San Diego – was at the Archie booth and that I should catch up with him before the “Archie Means Business” panel, which started at 3pm. She also told me that they talk about me at Archie all the time!

I ran over to the Archie booth and spied Nina Kester, the Communications Director who was so helpful to me in San Diego. She told me that Mike had not arrived yet but was expected shortly. So I introduced myself to two of the other creators, Fernando Ruiz and Alex Simmons, who were doing signings. They both said, “Oh, they talk about you at Archie all the time!”

Mike arrived and he was all smiles. We made small talk until the Archie business folks, including Mike, needed to make their way downstairs to where the panel was to be held. Since this was my first time at NYCC and I was not at all familiar with how the Javits Center was laid out, I just followed them, reinforcing that I belong with them.

At the Archie panel, they announced that because the Kevin Keller issue of “Veronica” sold out and led to the first reprinting in Archie Comics history, they were going to launch a four-issue Kevin mini-series in 2011. And if that sells well, he will get his own series. And if that happens, they will need writers – like me!

I have this thing about finding pennies at pivotal moments in my life – especially when things aren’t going well or I stand at a crossroads. I believe they are the way God speaks to me, and I call them my “pennies from Heaven.” My previous record, during a disastrous tech week on the “Jayson” musical in 1998, was the 18 pennies I found just a block from the theater, that gave me the strength go on with the show.

Friday evening Bud and I went to see a performance of the musical “Promises, Promises” with Sean Hayes and Kristin Chenoweth. On the way to the theater I spied some pennies on the ground as we were exiting the subway station. I picked them all up and shoved them in my pocket. “They’re dirty!” Bud cried. “This is how God speaks to me!” I snarled. As soon as we got to the theater, I washed my hands, and didn’t count the pennies until after we returned to the hotel. In my pocket were 41 pennies! I dare say that something great is about to happen. Oh, and the show was good too.

New York Comic Con 2010 - Day 0

I am usually represented at conventions by Prism Comics, which does all the advance work, including setting up the panels. Since I knew Prism was not going to cover New York this year, I put in my bid a year in advance for an LGBT panel, which I deigned to moderate. I had never moderated a panel at one of these events before, although I’ve been a panelist, and I’ve moderated similar events at the Evil Aerospace Giant (EAG). Still, it was a move that paid off when the NYCC organizers accepted my panel. Now I just had to find panelists!

I titled the panel “LGBT Comics, Creators, and Characters,” so that I could include straight cartoonists who were championing the inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender content in their work. This paid off handsomely when Archie Comics announced the introduction of Kevin Keller, Riverdale’s first openly gay teen, in “Veronica” #202, which hit the stands in September. As soon as the news broke back in April, I invited Dan Parent, who created Kevin, to join my panel and he agreed.

To round out the panel I wanted to get as many East Coast creators as possible, since they don’t always make the trip to San Diego. Before long I landed famed underground comix creator and graphic novelist Howard Cruse (“Wendel,” “Stuck Rubber Baby,” original editor of “Gay Comix”), Abby Denson (“High School Confidential”), Tim Fish (“Cavalcade of Boys,” “Young Bottoms in Love”), Joan Hilty (“Bitter Girl,” an editor at DC's Vertigo imprint), Phil Jimenez (Eisner and GLAAD-nominated writer/artist for DC and Marvel Comics), and Tim Piotrowski (“Nitsy & Bitsy,” “Kool Aid Gets Fired”).

Since Prism Comics didn’t have a booth at NYCC, I agreed to share a booth with Tim Piotrowski and two other creators. Tim designed the whole space for us and printed a beautiful banner that promoted all of our work. I shipped my books to him in advance, and by the time I showed up at the booth on Friday afternoon, he had already set everything up. All I had to do was show up and make sales.