COMICS OR STFU

Back from TCAF- what a great convention, not only at the show but after-hours too! I had some advance copies of DEMETER available at the show (the book comes out in June- more info later!) so thank you to everyone who stopped by and picked up a copy! 

I always have so many starstruck moments of meeting artists I am totally in awe of, and then having like, conversations where I’m wiping the dribble off my chin. Bought hundreds of dollars of comics, and swapped books with a few people! Got my copies of SPERA signed by Josh Tierney, Afu Chan (omg!) Kyla Vanderklugn (OMG OMG!) Aaah! I met Yuko Ota and Rebecca Mock and Sam Hiti and and and got my Tiny Kitten Teeth signed by Becky and Frank, and I can’t wait to wear the leggings that Dani Vulnavia made and gave to me! AAAaaaahh!! So much awesome. So little time.

Highlights includes a dinner/interview (dinterview- you’re welcome!) with Jimmy Aquino, Monica Gallagher, Glyn Dillon and Paul Pope- it took all of my nerves to be cool! (BE COOL BITCH!) Also got to have a coffee break with Hamlet_Machine (of Starfighter Fame!) and her lovely friends- she is so sweet, and so talented- really glad that happened. Also went to the First Second breakfast with Mark, Gina, Calista and so many others! Psyched to be a part of their publishing family soon.

I’m also so glad Clark Burscough, Mark Ellerby and Adam Cadwell (and a surprise visit from Jamie McKelvie himself! Hell yeah!) came over from England and we got some solid hangouts in. Ran into Hope Larson and despite suffering what might have been the same con flu as me, was as lovely as ever! Sat upstairs, near to Jim Rugg, Cecil Castellucci, my hunky fiance Andy Belanger, Karl Kerschl, Murilo, Ross Campbell— This was also Ivan Brandon’s first TCAF and how I hope he comes every year because it is awesome!!! We even managed to continue our tradition of haunted steak dinners at the Keg Mansion- our group grows every year and so does our wait time, but whatever it was awesome.

Thanks to Chris Butcher and everybody who helps out at TCAF and the Beguiling for not only supporting comics like mine for so long, but also constantly raising the bar for comic conventions and making it not just a great event for professionals, but for fans and attendees! Boasting guests from all over the world- Europe, Japan, South America, and always having such substantial and sometimes esoteric panels and discussions happening not only at the con but all over Toronto, it really is a cartoonist’s convention, a love letter for comic books in convention form. I always come away from that show feeling wicked psyched about the future of comic books, and I’m already looking forward to next year!!! 

This was just an awesome weekend. I know I am neglecting to mention a ton of people, but don’t be upset- the memory of TCAF 2013 lives on in my heart as a golden treasure I will relive over and over in my dreams. Now I gotta get some dinner in me, sorry dudes I’m hungry.

(Oh and thanks to Steve Manale, the Loki of Karaoke, who made me thought I was going to die from laughter. I guess if you’re gonna go, go with a smile!)

Thank you Toronto, you were awesome. Here’s a picture of me and Hamlet <3 

PS: Now I can finally say it without being thrown overboard: YAY BOSTON!

PPS: Sorry this is a bit long, but I don’t usually do con write-ups and TCAF is such a great show I thought it deserved more than a paragraph. Yay!