Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. Not my most favorite, but it’s definitely up there. For Thanksgiving I have few sincere traditions. One is watching footbal (duh). The second is listening to Arlo Guthrie’s Alice’s Restaurant. My dad introduced me to it when I was a little kid and it just sort of stuck. Now I’ll listen to it with my kids, and so on.

There aren’t many Thanksgiving songs…fewer when you subtract songs with the words “gobble, gobble, goo; gobble, gobble, giggle.” in them. Alice is just a great, fun, song. This is also the song that taught me about the dangers of littering and how littering can lead to a situation where you have to associate with father rapers. It’s a dangerous situation. Don’t litter kids.

Alice’s Restaurant part 1

It’s con report time, again! This time it’s for the indomitable Windy City Comicon in fabulous Chicago, Illinois.

Windy City is wonderful show and in its two year existence, it has quickly become my favorite show to attend. The promoters of the show, Chris Neseman and Brion Salazar, are great guys and really pour their heart into making the show the best that they can. There are so many great creators and great friends who attend; it’s hard not to get excited about comics when you’re there. I strongly recommend that everyone who can attend do so.

So…on to the official report:

At the crack of 3:45 PM I rolled out of Fort Wayne with my buddies Ben Tiede and Kyle Theobald for the great and wonderful city of Chicago. The drive was pleasant and, besides some confusion in navigating some of the city streets once we got into the city, uneventful. We arrived at the hotel and although the room was conveniently inexpensive, it was not much bigger than a closet. But, meh. It served its purpose and held our bags and provided a space for sleeping—it’s not as though we had planned on spending any amount of time there beyond that. So, we checked in and immediately left to find some dinner.

Our hotel room was right off of Clark Street, so all we needed to do was walk a few blocks and there were plenty of dining options. We ended up eating at this little Greek place that, I think, was called Pita Queen…or some such thing. Either way, it was delicious. Great meals, good desserts, next time I’m in the area, I will be heading back there. The only thing sketchy about it was the guy in line ahead of me who was making demands about the size of cup he needed for his “water”. When dealing with things that are free I am reminded of the clever phrase my daughter learned in pre-school: “You take what you get and you don’t throw a fit.” He was really making a scene and finally the lady running the register buckled and gave him the large cup.

After that it was back to the hotel to get the car and drive to Challengers Comics and Conversation for the pre-show party. First of all, Challengers is a great shop. It’s tidy, well organized, and seemed to have a pretty wide selection from different publishers and genres. It was at the pre-show party that I first hooked up with friends old and new. I hung out with good buddies like Chris Neseman, Dave Wachter, Mike Norton, Brion Salazar, Dave Mathis, John Siuntres, Ron Richards, and I finally got to meet Jason Wood, Tom Katers, and Joey Aulisio in person. I also had a chance to speak with Tim Seeley briefly, and had the opportunity to meet/hang out with Richard Starkings, Moritat (Justin), Alex Grecian, and Robbie Rodriguez.

Saturday morning Ben, Kyle, and I got up bright and early in the morning and made the 1.25 mile walk from our hotel to the Center on Halsted, where the convention was being held. We headed in, got the table ready to go and hung around, waiting for the show to begin. During the set up, I made my way over and talked to good buddies Steve Bryant, Jim Nelson, and Jim Heffron. I also caught up with Mr. Andy Jewett and grabbed a copy of his mini graphic novel, Sicko. Robert Atkins and his sister were also at the show, and it was great seeing them again, too.

Once the show started, there was a steady stream of traffic in and around the show floor all day—which is obviously great and it kept me plenty busy. Sales on The Contingent were solid and the reaction to the Mystery Solved! ashcan I had was overwhelmingly positive. All in all it was a great day for me. Regrettably, I didn’t get to make it to any panels—but that’s okay, I was happy to be at the booth and have friends stop by and pick up the books. It was also great seeing Cameron and Christina there (my friends and owners of DCBS), they seemed to really have a great time at the show and I was glad that they were able to make it up.

I did make it out for lunch and sat with Siuntres, Katers, and Norton and later in the day I was able to get out and pick up some great stuff. On the show floor I picked up:

-Please Release and the Cakewalk/ Bets Are Off flipbook from Nate Powell
-Lunchnotes volume 1 from Chris Samnee
-Proof 2009 sketch book from Alex Grecian

I also scored some nice sketches. For my daughter I got three new Etrigan (one of her favorite characters) sketches; one from Jeff Lemire, Mike Norton, and Katie Cook. I got a Flash sketch from Jeff Lemire for my self.

After the con we headed back to the hotel to drop of our stuff and then it was off to dinner. Kyle elected to stay back at the hotel so Ben and I struck out on our own and ended up at a Mexican place called Nueva Mexicana (or something close to that). It was alright…the mole sauce was not great and, I dunno, it was just okay.

After dinner, Ben and I headed to John Barleycorn’s for the official after party for the show. Along the way to the after party we also made a quick stop in to Chicago Comics, that was a great store. Wide variety, tons of great indie books, and lots of art books as well. Next time I’m in Chicago, I will definitely be heading back there.

Once we made it down to Barleycorn’s and met up with all of our friends for drinks and bemused merriment. After Barleycorn’s had run it’s course for us we headed off to another, smaller bar, that was a little more my speed. While were at the second place (whose name escapes me) I got to hang out with Hilary Barta for the first time—I had met him briefly once, but never actually got to talk with him. It’s nice to meet another big Lee Marvin fan.

A little after we had arrived a whole boat load of other friends from the con showed up and everyone drank and had great time. Ben brought his Drunk Draw sketchbook and I defaced many pages. Ha. If I can get some scans from him I will post them here. Hilary and Dave Wachter contributed quite a bit to it as well…for all of the artists being drunk while they were drawing, there are some remarkable sketches in there.

Ben, Wachter, Andy Jewett, and I closed down the bar and left a little after 3:00 AM and embarked on the long walk back to the hotel. It was long, but we did stop at Clark Dogs and grabbed ourselves a bite. There are few foods I genuinely enjoy more than authentic Chicago-style hot dogs and this was no exception. It was a delicious dog and fantastic way to end the con weekend.

Sunday we drove home.

I have been fortunate to meet a lot of great people and make some really fantastic friends because of comics and this show reminded me of that again. Many thanks to everyone who was there and shared their time with me, it meant a lot.

My sincere apologies to anyone who may have inadvertently forgotten to mention. You can check out my pictures from the show HERE

the end.

Your pal,
zack

It’s that time again! The Contingent #4 is now available at DCBS for pre-order. You can order it using the order code SEP099009. Lots of very interesting events in this issue. Be sure not to miss out! There’s also an all new chapter of Scuba Frog by artist Ben Tiede!

Here’s the copy from this month’s solicitation:

FINALLY! Finally the Contingent gets to see some real action. Finally they get to use their powers to stop some bad guys. Finally Miguel decides he has to put a stop to it all? What secrets has Miguel discovered and how will his decisions affect his friends? Find out in the next sensational issue of THE CONTINGENT!

Contingent #4 cover

Let me first say that this was a great show. There was a lot of public concern about what would happen to the show without a presence from Marvel or DC and what the new competition from C2E2 would do to the show. I was among those concerned and by the time I was at the show my outlook had changed completely. It was a great show and artist alley really seemed to be thriving. I hope that the show is able to continue in this way for at least the next few years, but we’ll see what happens after April and C2E2.

Anywho…on to the con report!

Wednesday: Quinn and I depart from majestic Fort Wayne, Indiana for Rosemont and the Chicago Comic Con. It was a pretty uneventful ride. Listened to the Skeptics Guide to the Universe and a little music–a little bit of the Meat Puppets, some Rancid, Wesley Willis, Tom Waits (natch), and few other bands here and there. Everything was going great until Quinn started reciting Dane Cook jokes. Those are not funny and I never want to hear them. Sorry Quinn. You’re a cool guy and everything, just never tell me another Dane Cook joke again please.

Once we got past the horror that was the Dane Cook jokes, we arrived in Rosemont to help put up the DCBS booth. It was really easy to set up this year, and went pretty quickly. We finished just in time to snag a few delicious adult beverages at the Managers’ Reception (i.e. free booze party) in the Embassy Suites atrium. Afterwards I enjoyed a nice cigar and a bottle of Yuengling Traditional Lager.

Thursday: Woke up late…well, late for me. I went down for breakfast where I was approached by the excellent Adam Besenyodi. I also got to meet his wife and son, Jack. Jack was awesome, very cool kid and seemed to just have a blast at the convention. Rolled on over to the convention center finished up putting up books in the booth, ran to Office Depot to replace a few destroyed/missing items for my booth, and then came back and set up the table for Ben and myself.

The show commenced and right away I ran in to Pants from Comic Geek Speak, the awesome Matt and Sarah Kramer. I went back and visited with the very fine artist, and upcoming Mystery Solved! contributor, Dave Wachter. Dave had his usually fantastic commission work as well as the preview edition for Guns of Shadow Valley—a webcomic you should all be reading. I also spoke to Mr. Andy Jewett, another fantastic artist and all around nice guy. Every time I see Andy I just want to hug him.

I was also lucky enough to run into comic lover and all around nice guy Chad Seewald and his lovely wife. Chad is one of these people who just has an infectiously jolly disposition…plus he shares my affinity for fine cigars. I also ran into the melancholy Mike Moskop—Mike’s a great guy to hang out with and really fun to talk to but I think he was understandably disappointed with this year’s con.

Thursday night it was dinner and free drinks from the Embassy and then Ben and I were off to the Hyatt Red Bar! The Red Bar is an absurdly pretentious place that could not have been more fun to hang out in–so many great people there. The drink prices were out of control though. After one night of trading drink purchases Ben and I decided that from there on out we were bringing our own.

At the Red Bar we hung out with the always fantastic John Siuntres, Dave and Andy, Steve Bryant, and many, many more. I also talked to the Seewalds and Kramers again, I think they were just as shocked at the drink prices as I was. NEVER AGAIN! Fortunately I thought ahead enough to bring a fifth of bourbon. A fifth of bourbon goes fast when you’re sharing with friends.

It was also this fateful night that we learned kindergarten teachers are indeed sluts. Or, sluuuuuu-huuuuuutts, as the indomitable Dave Wachter put it. So you’re probably asking yourself how we found out about the extreme slut-itude of kindergarten teachers. Well, I’ll tell you:

There we are minding our own business, drinking and carrying on, when a brigade of women in their 20s-30s swarms the Red Bar all in matching red tank tops. Andy and I look at each other, knowing this looked like trouble. Also, I should mention that Andy and I were the only married men in our group for the evening. So a few of these women come over to us and this is the conversation that transpired between me, these women, Andy, and Steve Bryant:

Girl: “Hey! Are you the famous comic book artists that are here for the convention?”
Me: “No.”
Girl: “Sure you are. We came all the way from New York to see you guys!”
Me: “Oh, yeah? Neat.”
Girl: “Yeah. So you’re really famous right?”
Me: “No.”
Girl: “What do you do? Do you make comic books and stuff?”
Andy: “Actually, Zack is a writer.”
Me (looking at Andy): “You fucker.”
Me (looking at girls): “Andy’s also a really great artist. You should check out his stuff.”
Girl: “Yeah? You’re a writer? What have you written?”
Me: “Just my own independently published stuff.”
Girl: “Do you have a business card or something?”
Me: “Sigh. Yes.”
Girl: “Will you sign it?”
Me: “Give it here.”
Girl: “Will you kiss it?”
Me: “No. I will lick it though.” (I then proceed to lick the card and hand it back to her)
Other girl: “So are there lots of famous artists here?”
Me: “I suppose.”
Other girl: “Come on! Introduce me!”
Me: “No thanks. I’m happy just hanging out here.”
Other girl: “Cooooommmmeee onnnnnn.”
Me: “No thanks I—“
Steve: “Yeah, Zack go on. Show her around.” (as he’s shoving me out of my seat)
Me: “Thanks, Steve.”

So this slutty kindergarten teacher grabs me by the arm and begins carting me around the bar asking where the “famous” people are. I point to five or six actual creators and another handful that were just regular shlubs that I told her were famous artists.

After that I told her that I was going to go get myself a drink. She saw her opportunity and asked me to buy her one, too. I said, “No. You don’t understand. I’m not buying it. I brought my own.” She asked me to buy her a drink again and when I refused the jig was up and she suddenly seemed disinterested in me…how odd. So I walked away.

When I got back to my seat and thanked Steve and Andy again for their kindness, Andy told me that he found out they were a bunch of kindergarten teachers from Southern Illinois. So our bullshit detectors were not off and the phrase: “Kindergarten teachers are sluuuu-huuuuttts” became sort of our mantra for the rest of the weekend.

Friday: Friday was a decent day, a little slow, but decent enough. Sales on the book were pretty decent and I was able to spend a fair amount of time roaming the show floor catching up with friends and getting some things established for next May’s Summit City Comic Con. I stopped by and spoke to Mr. Kevin Meinert (another Fort Waynian), Mike Norton, Robert Atkins, Steve Bryant, Jim Heffron, Katie Cook, and a whole host of other great artists.

Back at the booth, some great friends stopped by that I always love to see; Jim Nelson, Chris Neseman, and Vince B. I love those guys and we always have a good time whenever we talk. Chris also dropped off a bunch of post cards for the Windy City ComiCon, which everyone needs to attend this September.

Friday night it was off to the Ram for big ass burgers, beverages, and buddies. Ben and I attended and ate with the likes of Steve Bryant, Jim Nelson, Jim Heffron, Chris Nesemen, Vince B., and Will Pfeifer. There was much consuming and much drunken rants and middle finger giving.

Ben, Vince, and I rode back to the hotel, cleaned up and then it was off to the Hyatt Bar. This time Ben and I learned our lesson and brought more of our own. Again, back with the same great crew this time we added Jim Nelson, Pat Loika, Vince, Sal, Jim Heffron, and Josh from Midtown. Josh and I quickly discovered that we may have a little too much in common, it’s weird finishing the sentences of someone you just met earlier in the day.

Saturday: I think Saturday was one of the busiest days I’ve ever seen at that show. Whether everyone was spending their money on photos with old wrestlers and Gary Coleman or with vendors and artists, I think is a little up in the air. Most people seemed to have a good day business-wise. Artist Alley was the most hoppin’ I have ever seen it and I think it was at least partly due to the lack of a presence from Marvel and DC.

Sales on The Contingent were really good on Saturday and the feedback I got on Mystery Solved! was really positive. So it was a good day on that front. On the show floor, I caught up with more artist buddies and friends that I had been hanging out with throughout the weekend. Vince B. was also very gracious and did a little quarter bin diving for me and came back with some nice additions to my Ditko collection: two issues of The Face from A.C.E. comics, some scattered Machine Man issues, and a handful of others. I also ran into 11 O’Clock Comics photographer El Dave Mathis—Dave is so damn tall. Plus he laughs at my jokes, so that’s another big plus for him.

Saturday night I had dinner with my booth buddies and roomies from DCBS (Cameron, Christina, Kyle, and Ben) and Robert Atkins and his sister, Elaine. They the nicest damn people. Just so fun to hang around with and we regaled each other with beer fueled stories, ate delicious ribs, and had a great time. From there it was back to the Hyatt where I hung out with the very awesome Brian Defferding briefly (sorry we didn’t get to see each other more Brian) and all of the rest of the usual suspects you’ve seen scattered throughout this con report.

Sunday: The show finally wound down. I grabbed a few quarter books for myself and said as many good-byes as I could. We tore down the booth in record time, but were still beat up and sore from the tear down and the long weekend in general.

Sunday night we ate…something. I can’t remember what it was. Then went down to the pool and tried to relax a while. Then it was off to bed to prepare for our trip home.

Monday: I had a great show. So great that it was almost inevitable that some disaster had to happen on the way home. Sure enough, it happened.

I noticed a little bit of an issue with my car when it was in first gear on the trip into Chicago. It made me nervous, but I figured “well, let’s just get through the weekend and I’ll get it looked at when I get home.” So Monday we leave and I’m a little nervous about the car and the transmission but everything seemed to be going okay. Then we hit that awful stop and go traffic on the Dan Ryan and I think that’s what did me in.

I was about 20-25 miles into Indiana when the transmission finally gave out. I was on the Toll Road. Not good. I got REALLY lucky and was able to coast into a truck stop. I can’t believe how lucky I got with that. I can’t imagine trying to load the car up onto a trailer with all of the traffic on the Toll Road.

So I call my Dad, he meets me at the truck stop five and half hours later (he had to leave work, pick up the trailer, then drive all the way up to get me), we load the car up on the trailer and head home. I got home, much more exhausted than I would have otherwise been and pretty much collapsed and fell asleep.

So that’s it. Thanks for reading through all of that. It turned out to be super long. Also thanks to all of my friends and great people that I got to hang out with at the show. That’s always my favorite part of any con and this show was no exception.

I’ll see you all September 19 at the Windy City ComiCon!

your pal,
zack

So. What will I have at the show this year? I will have ashcans that contain the very first <em>Mystery Solved!</em> story, with fantastic art by Jim Miller, coloring by Javi Laparra, lettering from Ben Tiede, and written by moi. So don’t miss out on the convention exclusive preview of the series!

I will also have the first three issues of <em>The Contingent</em>. Excellent, right? If you’ve missed out on the series so far, now is your chance to get caught up before issue #4 is made available in September.

So come by and say hello or track me down at the Hyatt bar and buy me a beer–I promise to pleasant company .

ALSO! Don’t forget to check out these great people in artist alley (booth numbers are to the right):

Dave Wachter:  5306
Steve Bryant:  3418
Katie Cook:  3312
Mike Pampinella:  3602
Robert Atkins:  3314
Jim Heffren:  3420
Andy Jewett:  5306
Mike Jungbluth:  3628
Pat Loika:  5304
Jason Millet:  3420
Mike Norton:  4526

p.s. I know the site still looks kind of janky right now. Sorry about that. I’ve been really busy and have not had a chance to get everything updated yet.

Part 1!

Part 2!

Part 3!

Hope you enjoyed the tale of these two comic adventurers!

Next stop is Wizard World Chicago…or the Chicago Comic Con, whatever you want to call it. I will have a detailed report after the show!

I am currently working on getting the site updated and looking more the way I want. Please bear with me as I get everything re-established.

Thanks for being patient!

your pal,

zack

This is my first time going to the show, so I am pretty excited. Should be lots of fun. I am sharing a table with the indomitable Dave Wachter. So make sure to come by and say hello…also buy some stuff, wouldja?!

Dave and I are wwaaayyyyyyyy at the back. Our table is #SP 638. Here’s a map of the show floor: http://bit.ly/eT1nh

There are a lot of really great guys at the show–so make sure to say hi to everyone…Dave Dwonch, the PKD Media guys, and on and on. Should be a really great time.

At my side of the table I will have copies of all three issues of The Contingent, as well as a special preview edition of Mystery Solved!. This special convention preview is just $1, but it’s free with any purchase from the table. I will also be more than happy to give away hugs 100% for free!

Exciting, right? I know. So come by, say hello and buy some stuff from me. See you there!

The Contingent #2 was reviewed this week for the Teenage Wasteland podcast. Alec does a great show and is always really thoughtful and honest in his reviews.

So if you are not already checking out Teenage Wasteland, what better time to jump on board than with this episode: Teenage Wasteland #26

Speaking of great reviewers and The Contingent #2, are you reading the F-Bomb blog? You need to get on that! Check out the reviews section and you will find another great review for The Contingent! F-Bomb Review

Finally, don’t forget to order The Contingent #3 at DCBS this month! You can find the book here: The Contingent @ DCBS

Thanks for reading and tuning in!

your pal,
zack

You can order the book through DCBS using the code MAY099008. You can perform a search using that order code, or you can track it down in the Other Comics section of the site.

We’re really hitting the meat of who these characters are and where they’re going in this issue–lots of important moments in this issue, so be sure not to miss out on the next exciting issue of The Contingent!

So, go! Order it!