COMIC CONVENTION SORDID EXPOSE: A FIRST-TIME EXHIBITOR TELLS ALL!
Buckle up for some TRUTH BOMBS...
Hello readers, new and old!
It’s a new year and I’ve been away recovering from colds and sick bugs, but I’m back to showcase the incremental progress of my creative endeavours.
After getting my first ever comic book printed, I was psyched to table at my first comic convention, but the experience was not what I was expecting!! See below.
DON’T EAT THE PINK SNOW
My comic is here and on sale now!! I’m really chuffed with how it looks and feels in your hand. The colours came out naaaaiiiice. Here’s a picture of one out there in the wild!
Now that I have a bajillion copies printed my next problem is HOW DO I GET THEM IN FRONT OF PEOPLE? You might be able to help me here! If you bought one already and enjoyed it, please recommend it to others. Similarly if you enjoy this newsletter, a little share here and there will go a long way for me.
Do you know of any comic shops/book shops/local events that might be interested in stocking my superficially pervy looking pamphlet? Love to hear your thoughts!
THE PURPLE FIEND
Those of you that have known of me for some considerable time will know I once made a bonkers 30 minute kung fu/adventure epic, which is set on New Years Eve. Seemed a good time to give it an airing!
Making this film was probably one of the funnest adventures I’ve ever had, at a time in our lives when my friends and I where free to do such ridiculous things.
Fast forward 100 years to the recent past…
THOUGHT BUBBLE: A LOT OF COMICS
We did it! We made it to Thought Bubble! The car didn’t break down, neither of us was sick and we got the comics/merch in time!
“The smartest people in a gold rush are selling the pickaxes and shovels” Christian Lapidge
Words that rang in my ears as I realised that AT LEAST 80% of the comics (including mine) were printed by comicprintinguk.com. Hats off to them. I also realised that the reason everyone was so chatty with me last year was because I might have been their only customer for hours. MAYBE THAT WAS JUST MY OWN EXPERIENCE?
I barely sold any copies and was initially vexed. But now I’ve had time to think and take stock (still got a lot of it, it turns out.) I went to one of the biggest comic festivals in the country as a total unknown, I was right on the end of a row at the far end of the convention, my cover and title are intentionally weird, obscure and inaccessible, and I expected to sell lots?
I still feel like it was a triumph that we threw down the gauntlet to make a comic and table this event (you have to get through a gruelling application process as well)
My favourite part was catching up with dear old friends and getting to know our table neighbours Idiot Corpse, who we got on with like a house on fire!
HARD EDGES: FIRST SCREENING TO THE LEAD!
You may or may not know that I’ve been making a feature length movie over the last few years. It’s called HARD EDGES. Just before Christmas I screened it to John Davis who plays the protagonist Billy, script supervisor Nic Farrell and producer/1st AD/actor etc Ryd Cook (who’s seen an earlier cut.)
To my delight they seemed pumped about it, despite it being very rough particularly in the audio department. It’s got me psyched to press on to the next more refined cut!
Stay tuned for more updates!
In conclusion it’s fun to make stuff and share it with others. So I guess I’ll keep striving to do that.
Thanks for reading. If you don’t already follow me on Instagram, hit me up!
Until next month!
Carl
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