Thank you Faith for the photos. Today was fraught with several perils. First of all, I forgot my phone at home. Midway through my walk to the Con with Faith and Wilkes I realized this, but thought, “Fuck it, I’ve never lost a friend at Comic Con.” Oh, how wrong I was.

The day started off well enough. I squirmed my way to Questionable Content/Three Rivers Press/Easton Studio Press‘s booth, where I got a couple of really awesome shirts (think pterodactyls shooting each other with optic beams) and bought Scott Bevan/Kent Earle’s book, White Ninja, which is a hilarious comic available online.

Here’s the thing about Scott Bevan: He’s from Canada and he’s a total babe. Babraham Lincoln. He totally signed my book, if you know that I mean. And I gave him a birdsong. And I got, I Saw You… which is a collaborative comic book about missed connections, edited by the marvelous Julia Wertz.

Then I made my way back to Buena Ventura,

(I’m wearing a jacket that Faith got at the African Alliance thrift store for $1.50) where I got Aiyana Udesen and Matt Furie to sign my copies of Drawing IV Worf + Wolf and Boys Club 3, respectively. I’ve been sending Matt issues of birdsong since I got to interview him for birdsong #4, and in return he gave me a bunch of stickers and pins. And of course I got to talk with Lisa Hanawalt again. Babe.

Then I followed Esther Pearl Watson to the Fantagraphics booth,

talked to her at length about memory and sometimes estranging family narratives (it was awesome), when I realized I had lost Faith and Wilkes, and having no phone, I did what I do in stressful situations: I had a hot dog.

Found Faith later, but she didn’t have Wilke’s number. So I called Cara (who has her number) from Faith’s phone(to no avail), got Michelle’s number from Becky, called Michelle (who was driving), copied down Wilkes’s number (which was a total crapshoot b/c Faith dropped her phone in a toilet and it can’t type 7′s or 9′s) but it all turned out fine. She has a fancy phone she found a way. Got back, took the most savage of naps (crowds, I’ve found, really stress me THE CRAP out), had a plate of spaghetti, and then went to Becky and Justin’s housewarming party. 17 beers later and I’m good for bed. The photos will be here, soon. Check back.

Viva day 3!

I went to the first day of Comic Con International with Wilkes and Faith. I couldnt figure out how to upload the pictures from Faith’s camera so this might be a little sparse whatevs. Being from the greater San Diego area, I had been going to Comic Con since before I stopped playing with Barbies, for like a veddy long time. I used to go with my dad and every year he’d let me have one thing, which amazed me (up until then the only things he’d buy me were “chapter books” aka The Babysitters Club and Christopher Pike). Then in middle and high school I’d go with my friends and cousins and everything was five finger discounts and selling shit. In recent years its gotten really crowded and uncomfortable and I’ve lost my lust for superhero comic books. But I’m becoming more and more enamored of “indie comics,” and I get to meet some of my favorite artists and scope hot nerds (which makes the every-five-minutes, crowd-induced-panic-attacks worth it).

After walking around like a blind giraffe for a half-an-hour with Wilkes, I finally stumbled upon Jeff Soto’s booth. We did a zine trade awhile back and I’ve been dutifully sending him birdsongs ever since. I didn’t even know he was going to be there, in fact I had no idea what he actually looked like! Isn’t that funny about artists sometimes? Like you can totally spot their styles their visual tics, but can still have no idea what they look like. I bought his newest zine, No Hope,

and he kindly signed it for me (at Wilke’s insistence, I was too shy to ask him on my own [ps he totally remembered me!]). While there I ran into Mark Todd, who I had the pleasure of interviewing in birdsong #6. He was really friendly and awesome and got me on “the list” for Mark Murphy’s documentary viewing party/art show called Scribble.08 later in the night.

Then I made my way to Esther Pearl Watson and Mark Todd’s booth (they are married). She loaded me up with swag, let me tell you. Esther is one of the most awesome human beings in America, she writes and illustrates my favorite comic of all time, Tammy Pierce is Unlovable:

and she was the first person I ever asked to interview for Five on It, after last year’s Con. Her enthusiasm gave me the confidence to ask other professional writers and artists to participate, and the rest is history. She gave me two awesome prints and a bunch of signed books, one of which I had her make out to my mom. She has a new comic called Eric Parris World based on a character she created when she was 13. I am in love with this woman. She also introduced me to Martha Rich, an amazing artist who Esther collaborated with for a zine called Beauty Across America wherein they were awarded a research grant to travel the country asking people their feelings on beauty. Love.

The third and final booth I visited (I couldn’t handle the crowd I was like choking on other people’s pubic hair) was Buena Ventura Press, where Lisa Hanawalt was working. We are the same age and she recently moved Womynsbug (tm Max Steele), and even though we have been in email contact for a year, this was the first time we met in person. Her comics are funny as shit, detailed and s.m.a.r.t. I bought her latest zine, Mistakes We Made (the cover is a fluffy, wide-eyed cat in a button-up drawing a bunch of dicks), and her book I Want You. She signed them and then I sheepishly gave her my phone number and told her we should hang out when she gets back to Brooklyn.

Then I rested up and went to the viewing party solo. Wilkes had to write her L Magazine column and Faith was getting laid. Not knowing anyone at a fancy warehouse art party can be really intimidating, but soon I saw Mark Todd and hung on for dear life. The documentary was really great, and in particular I think you should check out the Broken Wrist Project, a collective of artists in LA who paired themselves with writers in Chicago to make beautiful books of illustrated short stories. Then I had some vanilla sandwich cookies and two gallons of water.

Viva Day 2!!!