Geek Syndicate
Yomi managed to get talking to one of the organisers of ComicCon, who is impressed it’s our first time at the show – she reveals that the waiting list to attend is massive and we must have something they and customers want if we managed to beat it. Further still, only around one hundred tables are allocated for Small Press, so competition is especially fierce. Suddenly all that paperwork we had to go through doesn’t seem as mountainous or painful. The rest of the day passes without incident, so we head out and have a few drinks with some of our fun new contacts. It’s a night full of laughs – and alcoholic slushies, which are surprisingly potent. We eventually meet up with Jimmy Aquino of Comic News Insider, who brings with him TV presenter and writer Jonathan Ross and artist John Cassaday (X-Men/Planetary), who are all in great form and proceed to launch into an array of dirty jokes. It all makes for a memorable night… although we’re told that Saturday will be the busiest day of the whole Con (uh oh), so we should go to bed early. Naturally, we end up turning in at nearly three AM. Whoops.
Day 4
“What’s up with all these horse heads? They’re freaking creepy,” says Yomi between yawns. I agree. The bizarre number of people wearing strange horse head masks is kinda unsettling. Maybe they were actually hallucinations from the lack of sleep. Barely four hours is nowhere enough to get through a day at a ten hour convention, let alone SDCC. It’s punishing, and strangely enough, despite the increased crowds, very few people are buying. In fact, after a few waves of sales, many fob us off with a polite “okay, I’ll come back later” or “sounds cool, let me think about it.” It turns out, as stated by our lovely new friend who works for Comic-Con, Saturdays are crazy busy but many people hold off buying because they want to see if you’ll cut your prices on the following (last) day to shift stock. Shrewd. A quick chat with others around nearby tables reveals that we’re all in the same boat – inconsistent sales, strange behaviour and a slightly demoralising dismissive feel. That’s the nature of any sales driven business, at times. Despite low sales, there’s plenty of interest in the books, as many are taken in by the unique elements of Clockwork Watch, while others suggest Magic of Myths would be ideal for an animated series. John “Doctor Who/Torchwood/Arrow” Barrowman gets chatting with Yomi, saying that he may well send over his sister to grab some copies of Clockwork Watch, given the chance – a very nice surprise. One thing which became quickly evident over the duration of the con is that the artwork – and the artists involved – are very, very important. The most asked question of the entire week? “Are you the artist of Clockwork Watch?” We feel Jennie’s absence as she adds another draw (no pun intended) to our table that we can’t fill – when you have two giant art banners behind you, it’s only natural it would be one of the main talking points. I make a mental note to create a Magic of Myths banner and also to kidnap both Sergio and Jennie for future conventions.
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