So, anyhow, I spent early-April to early-May on the road here and there, with weekend trips to Chicago, Columbus, Urbana, and Toronto for comix/zine shows. Here is a cursory record of those events:
First stop was
C2E2 in Chicago.
Joe Chips managed to wrangle himself a free table at this superheroey event (he was giving a presentation on Disability in the Comics) and I managed to wrangle a corner of said table from him. I guess I was too depressed to take any pictures. 'Nuff said.
Next, out to good ol' Columbus Ohio, for good ol'
SPACE. This trip is always a high point of my year, as I really like Columbus. I get to visit old High School friends (and their pets), and the show itself is low-key but well-attended by enthusiastic readers and artists.
Ginger Vitus, my l'il buddy.
JP, Carol Tyler, MariNaomi at SPACE
After Saturday's tabling we all went over to recent Columbus transplant
Caitlin McGurk's new pad where Zeek the Cat slept through the festivities. Everyone agreed that the Midwest is the new Seattle.
I stayed at my friend John J. and Michele's house north of Columbus. (Artwork by up and coming cartoonist Mia J.)
I managed to spend some time at the Highbanks Metro Park before leaving Ohio.
Quimby's manager, Liz "Caboose" Mason, talks to the MWZF crowd about zine distribution.
Midwest Zine Fest
In case you've never been here, this is what Illinois looks like.
Had one last show to do:
TCAF, in Toronto. BFF
Noah Van Sciver flew out from Denver to Milwaukee's 1950's era airport, and we got to hang out for a few days before
Zak showed up from Minneapolis, and we all headed east together towards Toronto.
Zak left Mpls at 3 AM and I took over driving once he got to Beloit. This is Zak trying to drown out the
Jerry Clower blasting over the car stereo.
Yes.
Beauty, eh?
"Wanna buy a possum?"
Big City Lights
Noah on the roof of our hostel looking out over downtown Toronto, Friday night.
So-called "Supermoon" rising over the Bloor Street Metro
The show itself was so busy I didn't have time to take any photos. As always, TCAF delivered. It goes to show you how well it's run that this seemingly perfect show manages to get better year after year. (Photo above courtesy
MariNaomi's Facebook page.)
Saturday I participated in a panel discussion with
Lizz Lunney and
Darryl Cunningham, co-moderated by
Simon Moreton and
Ian Williams, on "Comics and Mental Illness." Surrounded by Brits! I kept getting distracted by worrying that I was gonna break out into a scouse accent.
L-R: Tom Neely (over shoulder), David Collier, JP, Emily Nilsson, Zak Sally, Noah, Pascal Girard. Photo ripped from
Noah's FB page.
The Three Amigos AKA Road Hawgs
Afterwards, people got together at a bar, but as soon as the Kool Jamz™ started I took off with Noah to book-shop at BMV. I picked up the Agonizing Love collection, Fantastic Four Masterworks Volume Two, and a John Cleary Buddhist anthology that included Timeless Spring, a book I've been looking for for years...
Sunday was simply insane.
That evening I wandered around alone, trying to clear my head. We ended up waking at 3:30 AM to head back home, jamming out to
Van Halen II on our way out of town.
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