this year exceeded my expectations so far. last year was a success but still had a lot of slow moments, this year i was literally running around the whole damn time like a mad man, and when i had a chance to sit i was actually selling comics! who'da thunk it?
it was great to have a 'big' small press publisher like secret acres get a table, but it was even better the fact that they came super early and helped me set up the tables. i wasnt sure if they were kinda shocked that it was super DIY having the star exhibitors set up the tables but by the end of the day when they were rolling in sweet comic cash it didnt seem to matter.
i was surprised at the huge amount of foot traffic we had, all day long, there wasnt 5 minutes gone by where nobody was coming through the door. last year the first hour and a half only like 2 people showed up, this year we had people comin in before all the exhibitors were even set up! my future-goal was to have people travel to come see pacc, ya know, a few years down the line when i get big enough names, but i reached that goal this year! i had a family (literally husband wife and kids) come by and tell me they drove from virginia for the day just to check it out! i was stunned! oh and kids, like literally, there were kids at this thing! hah! i dunno, i guess the whole stereotype is comics are for kids, but when you make books like mine and you hang out with cartoonists like the philly comix jam scene the last thing you think of is kids+comics.
of course being philadelphia, and the rotunda's lack of AC, it was a sweaty day which i think helped with the DIY atmosphere. im sure other, more heat sensitive people, would say otherwise though.
Secret Prison 2 took the con by storm as well as Dirty, 2 projects which im heavily apart of, and both are free. so i was super pumped about that, since i had no real 'new' book. i guess this was the debut of inhabitants at a comic con though.
im not sure the head count but im estimating in the 500's of attendees, one of which includes local legend (and PACC alumni) Charles Burns
it was a fun all day success, which was supposed to end at 6 but the room was so packed no one really left til 630.
i also learned some more about organizing shows and have a boatload of awesome ideas for next year to make it much bigger and better!
overall it was totally worth the 4 months of work. it paid all my summer bills! yay! no more debt (lies)!
its also really weird to be like a person-to-know type of deal, getting a lot of publicity and random emails from people. but now that its over ill have to wait til next summer before people start giving a shit who i am. it is definatley the type of thing i wonder constantly 'well these people know who i am now, but do they read my comics? appreciate my art? or are they just trying to network with a organizer of a comic con?' OH SELF DOUBT! i did sell out of my small stack of inhabitants early in the day and was kicking myself for not bringing more.
heres a pic of me pretending nobodies taking a picture of me talking what makes a man dress up like a bat? and secret prison 1 cover artist Jacob Yeager
MORE RECAPS HERE
SECRET ACRES
CURLS STUDIO
PLASTIC FARM (VIDEO!)
STEVE STREISGUTH
and my THANK YOU post at the PACC site (WITH LOTSA PICS!)
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