Musings From Oz
Wizard World LA - Day 1
INVITATION TO THE DANCE
Hey kids, my name's Mark, and I write Fairy Tales for the Pulps. For the past year or so I've officially been a self-publisher (with 3 friends) as Illusive Arts Entertainment, traveling the country promoting our comic "Dorothy." Of course, this is alongside my day job, my family and my fiancée, as well as creating the actual comic so we have products to promote. It's a crazy, exhausting lifestyle, and Pulp Fiction has asked me to chronicle a little slice of it.
So here are some slices, moments, and tidbits towards an impression of some of the weird, great things that happen when you're a small press comics publisher at Wizard World Los Angeles, 2006. Your mileage may vary.
PLUGS
You can find out more about Dorothy at our website http://www.dorothyofoz.com
OPENING OBSERVATION/WARNING YOU CAN PROBABLY SKIP
"You writers... work hard, play hard. That's what I hear, anyway."-Jack Lipnick, "Barton Fink"
Today is Friday, March 17th, St. Patrick's Day. As comic book conventions are already a convenient excuse for some grand booze ups amongst the hep creative crowd, putting the Wizard World convention in Downtown Los Angeles, within affordable cab distance of any number of unholy good bars, on a day when it's practically unpatriotic to not get at least a few pints of the black stuff in you, well.... it's practically a Perfect Storm, inebriation-wise.
We got started last night, actually.
Exhibiting at conventions usually means getting there a day early to unload merchandise and set up your booth's displays and whatnot. (Unless you're someone like Rafael Navarro, creator of the indie stalwart, "Sonambulo." Rafael doesn't come early to set up because he's so cool that he *creates* the required atmosphere just by showing up.) When we're in the L.A. area for a con, we use that extra night to throw a little get-together for friends and professionals who live in the area. It's a chance to sell some books to folks who might not otherwise make it to the convention, as well as chat about comics and the business and all that in a relaxed atmosphere, without the crush of the convention and the godless mental exhaustion that comes from being relentlessly cheery and "on-stage." It's usually a good kick-off to the show, and since they're all friends, everyone's gonna pretend that they really like our comic.
MOSTLY REAL TIME CONVENTION EXPERIENCE LOG
11 AM
Arrive at L.A.'s Union Station after lovely, stress-free train ride from Orange County. Spend next 50 minutes traveling 2.2 miles from Union Station to Convention Center & Hotel. Street repairs, sudden rain, and general L.A. driving madness make it all a screaming nightmare. No time for lunch. Straight over to the booth to set up.
12:25 PM
In a moment I shall carry to the grave, I get to carry the suitcase of TV's Batgirl, Yvonne Craig. The elevators in the parking garage seem to be broken, so I'm more than willing to lend my arms down three flights of stairs for a childhood crush. My business partners don't recognize her, so they think I'm just being extra nice to charming older women.
ADDENDUM
You see a lot of "former" TV stars at conventions, and they're always very nice (except maybe Lou Ferrigno. But I will say no more.) while in public. What made this really special for me, though, was the chance to really be gallant for a damsel in distress, for no reward, just like a real hero.
12:45 PM
Immediate problem. Our cool location on the corner with a wide open booth space leaves us no place to hang our impressive Dorothy banner. People love our banner and know to look for it, but we're forced to hang it on a low railing. It still looks good, but folks have to be shoe-gazing to notice it.
12:50 PM
Discover that the L.A. Marathon is running on Sunday, so the main street in front of the Con will be closed that day. Great. Great. With traffic already as bad as it is, we're fairly sure this will be a disaster for sales on Sunday.
1:10 PM
Show opens to the public. Late, as is usual for these things.
2:00 PM
First sale. Even though we're in a fine, fine location with some great neighboring booths (Marvel - you may have heard of them.), we're not seeing a lot of foot traffic come by. Could be the weather and the traffic, could just be that it's a Friday.
3:06 PM
We hear a solid rumor that the long defunct "American McGee's Oz" movie project is now back on track for production. They've abandoned the original game concept, but the movie is moving forward. What this means for our plans to do a "Dorothy" movie remains unclear. My feeling is that Hollywood won't dig the idea of two competing "New Dark Oz" films, but who knows? Not us, we just work here.
3:15 PM
More confirmation that retailers are our best friends - almost everyone who says "Yes, I've heard of you." Finishes with "I carry you in my store." These guys (and girls!) rock.
3:20 PM
More confirmation that while we are here to sell comics, some of our booth neighbors are here to chat up gorgeous ladies with tattoos. Not surprisingly, they've got about 50 more people in front of their booth.
ADDENDUM
Among those manning the booth next to us, at one time or another:
Rafael Navarro (Sonambulo)
Mike Wellman (Mac Afro)
Philip Victor (Scarlet Fox)
Josh Dysart (Swamp Thing)
3:30 PM
The price of success. Our neighbors decide their booth configuration doesn't work - the big chatty crowds they draw are blocking the aisles, and no one's noticing their artwork. I feel bad for them, but inside, I'm smirking just a little.
3:45 PM
18th Glen Danzig sighting. He seems to be patrolling the "gold, silver and bronze age collectibles" vendors. A dark menacing shark of commerce, roaming the troubled seas of fandom.
4:00 PM
Leaning over the railing, I discover that the giant line snaking around the Marvel booth is for Brian Michael Bendis signings. I grab a handful of "Dorothy" bookmarks and pressure a Bendis fan to take them to pass out along the line. I feel that I am doing good for both humanity and myself.
5:00 PM
Grant Morrison sighting! He whisks by with his companion, and one of them looks fantastic in purple tights. My mind feels enriched by the psychic effluvia he leaves in his wake.
5:15 PM
Uncomfortably honest (but Funny) T-Shirt of the show: "Fat People Are Harder to Kidnap"
5:33 PM
I get a few minutes away from the booth, and make sure to flag down Jim Mahfood (Grrl Scouts) for a quick hello. In fact, that's probably all anyone who knows me gets, a quick hi and a handshake. The long conversations are all with fans or folks who I'm trying to convert into fans. That's probably the most ironic change that's come in switching from a con attendee to a "professional."
6:15 PM
Things have very much wound down. Impromptu musical theater breaks out in the booth next door. Guns N Roses covers are attempted. I find it a welcome break from the thumping beats being sent out from the monster-sized SPIKE TV booth on the other side of the hall.
7:00 PM
Show floor officially closes.
7:10 PM
We finally notice that the show has officially closed, and start packing up the booth. Arrangements for dinner are made with booth neighbors and other artists. Getting everything gathered together, locating everyone, and making our way back to the parking garage takes a good 45 minutes.
8:15 PM
Finally sitting down to dinner - because of the crowded restaurant conditions, we get to share a table with comics writer Dan Wickline (Blood-Stained Sword) and two of his friends ("Bob" and "Ben"). The conversation is good, but the food seems to take twice forever to get there. And then I realize that I'm no longer talking about the convention, so I figure I better stop taking mental notes and just let the rest of the night flow. I'll be sure to write if I get into an elevator with Grant Morrison's tights, though.
WORDS THAT FRIGHTEN ME MORE NOW THAN THEY DID A YEAR AGO
"Big Day Tomorrow!"
Wizard World LA - Day 2
IMPROVEMENTS THIS YEAR OVER WIZARD WORLD L.A. 2005
*We have lots of new stuff to sell, plus we get the pleasure of hearing the reactions from fans who bought Dorothy for the first time last year.
*To date, no one has told me I look "just like Paul Giamatti."
9:00 AM
Wake up to discover that the movie currently playing on HBO is "Catwoman." I try not to take this as a bad omen.
9:55 AM
I spot DC big-wig Bob Wayne in the hotel lobby. Why wasn't he at the bar last night? Why wasn't I?
9:58 AM
Waiting at a crosswalk behind Mark Waid. He's surrounded by smiling people. I'm walking on my own hauling a laptop case and a stroller case. Do I begrudge him? Not at all. But I'm happy to notice I get to the Convention Hall before he does.
10:05 AM
I'm still late. And the lines outside are impressive! The weather today is fantastic, perfect Southern California blue skies. Looks like folks are eager to get in. I get plenty of nasty looks for skipping past the crowds with my exhibitor badge.
10:15 AM
"It's a wrestling convention with comics tacked on." - Nat Gertler (Licensable Bear)
10:28 AM
First sale. It's to a guy who's friend was a writer on "The Muppet's Wizard of Oz." My instinct is that this smells like Hollywood interest...
10:45 AM
We have an interview with Herospy.com. Well, it's technically an interview because he's asking questions and our lips are moving, but I'm fairly certain only twelve of my brain cells are firing right now. It's tough to know whether you're being sincere and interesting or just shamelessly self-promoting and cliché. Ah, well.
11:39 AM
Plenty of short skirts have gone by (some of them on girls!), but precious few crazy costumes. I also notice that there were far more Storm Troopers at the Wondercon in San Francisco last month. I take this to mean that Los Angeles is part of the Rebel Alliance and a traitor!
12:21 PM
Now, *that's* what I'm talkin' about. That's guts. Half-naked Wolverine walks by, wearing nothing but bicycle shorts and home-made "Weapon X" tubes and gear. For a guy, it's amazingly equal-opportunity, skimpy costume-wise.
1:34 PM
Great moments in costuming, Part II: Bare midriff Huntress (w/Batman). Well done, indeed. Both she and her Batman have the right build for the costumes, which is still, sadly, rare. Even in these days of 24 Hour Fitness and the Atkins Diet. Batman proceeds to tackle booth neighbor Mike Wellman, for reasons yet unknown.
1:53 PM
I flag down Marv Wolfman as he passes by, saying hello and reminding him we both signed at Pulp Fiction last year. He apologizes for his bad memory, and then we have the same conversation about "fumetti" comics that we had last year. I don't mind at all though, since it's a fun conversation. Marv is a busy, busy man, so I let him go after a little chat about his old Oz book that's back in print.
2:11 PM
I discover where the Storm Troopers are. They march by in a group, flanking Margot Kidder as though they're some sort of honor guard. That's nice. I mean, where else in the world can Lois Lane command Imperial Legions?
2:23 PM
We miss a sale, and not through our poor salesmanship, either. An interested
fellow has to go away empty-handed because he has no cash money, and apparently
THERE'S ONLY ONE ATM IN THE WHOLE PLACE. With a line that stretches out to
Rancho Cucamonga, presumably.
CAVEAT
He's the first person to mention this, so it's officially
just a rumor. But I'm going to spread it.
2:32 PM
My camera's battery pack gives out. Well, that's just great. I have a charger, but it's back at the hotel, and we don't have any nearby outlets anyway. The rest of the show will have to be burned into my own frail human memory. Which means I'll mainly be left with images of the ceiling tiles and that guy in the half-naked Weapon X getup.
3:18 PM
Random stranger comes by and hands me a plastic holder device, saying "Mark... take an 81/2 by 11 piece of paper, fold it in half, write your name on it, put it in here, then people won't have to squint at your name tag." I said thanks, but the mysterious benefactor was already moving on. Will we ever see that unmasked man again? So... I now have a name plate. I feel important. And only a little bit like a fraud.
3:20 -3:48 PM
Major major signings at the Marvel and DC booths, like giant black holes, seem to have sucked all the foot traffic off the floor. So I spend my time behind the booth signing dozens of back-stock issues of "Dorothy." We'll sell these on our on-line store for folks who can't make it to conventions. It feels vaguely assembly-line-ish, which just reminds me that I am in an *Industry*. But it passes the time.
3:49 PM
Until the girls from the "Grimm Fairy Tales" comics walk by. Then something else passes the time. Man, I know those are probably just off-the-rack "Naughty Halloween" costumes, but they, yknow. They work.
4:45 PM
Get a chance to finish a story about the Oz convention in Chicago that I started telling Javier Hernandez (El Muerto) (the movie version will be screening at film festivals around the country) about 6 hours ago. Chance is ruined by the approach of a nice young lady who turns out to have met us at the San Diego Comic-Con last year, but had held off on buying the --
5:00 PM
Get interrupted while typing last entry by Dan Vado of Slave Labor Graphics. Dan had to digitally fix an ad we put in the Wondercon souvenir book earlier this year, so he came over to chat and see our actual book. He is, quite literally, the hardest working man in comics, and it was great of him to stop by.
5:10 PM
So anyway, the girl who didn't buy our book in San Diego and stopped by now to interrupt my story with Javier, she wound up dropping 40 bucks on our merchandise, which is our biggest sale to a private individual this show so far. So it was totally worth it.
5:15 PM
Girl in this wicked cool FLCL outfit turns out to be a comics web journalist who promises to review Dorothy. I have tremendous new respect for cosplayers.
5:25 PM
Finally really get to finish the Chicago story with Javier. I forget what the point was.
5:39 PM
A Ghost Rider stomps menacingly by, but laughs when my partner Anna calls out "You really need to comb your hair!"
5:55 PM
Great development in the last minutes of the day. Sales have been slow for hours now, and there haven't been many "wow" moments in the aisles, but for me the day is brightened when a young guy named Nicholas approaches us to show off his portfolio. He's got a good style that would fit with Dorothy - lots of computer and photo work. Best of all - he's looking to do things like covers just to get the credits for his resume. Occasional guest cover artists are something we've been talking about ever since Dave Dorman painted a cover for our third issue. This looks like it could go somewhere. Very exciting.
6:15 PM
Once again, we don't realize the show is actually closed. The loudspeaker announcements are really quite muffled. We pack up while joking with the Con Center security people. They really put up with a lot of weirdness. We should get one of them to write a blog...
THE LAST WORD (FROM ANNA, BUSINESS PARTNER)
"I love working in an industry where you just walk past Ray Park."
Wizard World LA - Day 3
Hey kids, my name's Mark, and I write Fairy Tales for the Pulps...
9:45 AM
A restless night and miserable wakeup confirm that the head cold I'd hoped to stave off has instead landed full force in my sinuses and lungs. I'm a coughing, aching, sneezing, stuffed-up, gotta get dressed and go sell a pack o' comics kind of guy. If you meet me today, wear some sort of sneeze-guard.
10:55 AM
Despite fears, the L.A. Marathon street blockage and traffic have not killed the con. People have managed to find their way here and line up, so it *won't* just be a big room full of comics professionals eyeballing each other across the aisles, wondering who will be the first to grab the conch shell and declare himself leader of the tribe.
10:56 AM
On a slightly disturbing note, I notice that the port-a-potties across the street from the con are A-THRONE brand - "Fit For A King!" A dozen bad Jack Kirby jokes flit across my mind, and I pray for forgiveness.
11:05 AM
In the parking garage under the convention center (yeah, I'm late again), Margot Kidder trundles by, this time without her Storm Trooper posse.
11:10 AM
Gareb Shamus sighting! Gareb is the founder of the Wizard Empire, automatically owns 90% of anything 14-year-old boys are into, and was once known as Saruman the White, leader of Gandalf's order. Years ago, I approached Gareb in a bar and asked him why all his publications seemed to equate "commercial success" with "quality." His answer was something about giving the public what they want, which is probably why he has his own Wrestling League, whereas I have a pair of red plastic goggles on my head.
11:16 AM
First sale. Quite early in the day. Will it turn into a trend?
12:11 PM
I notice a long, long, long line snaking over to our right, by the celebrity signing tables. I figure that the Wayans brothers must have shown up, unannounced, for Sunday, since those are the name cards hanging from the wall. A quick walk over, however, tells us that the line actually leads to Jeph Loeb and Geoff Johns. Presumably raising money for the "Society for the Deliberate Misspelling of Jeff" Fund.
12:15 PM
A fellow comes by in an excellent (in a kind of chunky and homemade but charming in its kludginess way) Thing costume and poses with a tiny Asian girl in a purple shirt. Maybe six years old. I mean, a tiny, delicate waif. Next to this big, clunky Thing. It is officially the cutest thing ever, and it's happening right in front our booth. Thing does the chipper but gruff voice pretty well, the echo of his mask adding a deep tone: "Hi Guys!" "You're Welcome!" A. Dor. A. Ble. Furthermore, portions of our booth will now appear in dozens of con snapshots.
12:30 PM
So my partners tell me Jane Wiedlin (of the Go-Go's, but I'll always remember her as Joan of Arc) now has a copy of Dorothy. Apparently everyone else got to see her and her pink jacket yesterday. Not me. I was probably off buying snacks from the concession stand. For *them*. *They* got to call her over and tell her how much they liked her work and hand her a copy of our trade paperback. I got to choose between nachos and hot dogs.
12:45 PM
It's officially *really* slow for us today. That first sale did not kick off a flood. Luckily, my fiancée is here today. We get a chance to walk around the hall floor for a while, do a little shopping for cult dvds, just generally relax for the first time in more than 48 hours. It's nice. It's great, actually.
1:45 PM
Two of my good friends arrive, eager to see their very first comic book convention. I've tried to warn them that it can be an overwhelming experience, full of obsessive nerds and scantily-clad booth babes. So I walk out to the lobby to greet them and.... they've come dressed as Harry Potter and a Wicked Fairy.
ADDITIONAL
Having friends come to the show is great when you've got a booth. They usually have more energy than you do, they're really happy to help out by handing out flyers or shouting from the aisles, they have something to talk about other than how the show has been, like, they could tell you if a nuclear war had started... they can really help make the long hours fun, and I totally appreciate all the civilians who have taken the time to come help us do our little dog and pony show.
2:00 PM
Show remains slooooow for our end of the hall. Not a lot of traffic, not even in the Marvel booth. Gareb Shamus wanders within spitting distance. That reminds me: it's probably a good thing the show is slow. I don't want to shake too many hands and be responsible for some sort of cold/flu/cough epidemic. Even though I feel like a one-man plague already.
2:24 PM
Kevin Smith sighting. He's doing something to create a line over where the Geoff/Jeph thing was, but by now they've taken down the Wayans' signs. This is the first time I've spotted Kevin at this con, which is unusual. I usually run into him in all sorts of awkward ways. He's like my arch-nemesis, only he doesn't really know me, or care.
3:30 PM
Another sign of the slow day. Jim Mahfood and Dave Crosland rush by, saying goodbye. They're leaving an hour and a half before the show closes, despite the success they've had doing a live art jam at the Golden Apple Booth. When the hard-drawin' mad fools jam out, what hope is there for the rest of us?
3:50 PM
Apparently you can get high heels that flash like kids' sneakers from Wal-Mart for 15 bucks.
4:00 PM
Over in the celebrity signing row, everyone is gone except for "Virgil, Wrestling Superstar." And he's packing up.
4:01 PM
59 minutes left to go.
5:00 PM
I think the lights just flashed. Otherwise I'm having a stroke. I guess that's the end of Wizard World L.A. 2006. Hope you enjoyed this worm's-eye view of the proceedings. It's been fun for me. Next time I promise I won't be so close to sickness and collapse. That way, I'll be able to run down someone in a Batman costume, then I'll ride him like an ostrich and we'll go around lassoing Sailor Moons then present them in a bundle before Grant Morrison as a sacrifice.... Ummm, I need to go help pack up the booth now. And then I think I'll get some sleep. Yes, that would be best.
Keep the faith, kids!