Go on. Admit it. If you saw Cars this weekend, you stepped out into the parking lot with a new interpretation on automotive transport. Seeing the late show on Friday night and strolling out to our lonely Honda Element stranded in the middle of the parking lot, I expected it to ask us "Where WERE you guys?" with incredulous impatience. Or at least a sly "That tickles!" when I put the key into the ignition.
Just like every other Pixar movie that came before it, I was completely enthralled by Cars. How they manage to make these otherwise inanimate objects into characters you care about is a feat in and of itself. But the fact that they stringently adhear to what their real-life counterparts are capible of doing so that the illusion of a photo-realistic world unfolds in front of you is an equally grand accomplishment.
Going further, any movie that doesn’t give me more reason to hate Larry the Cable Guy casts quite the enchanting spell.
Something of note from Friday’s comic – I was innundated with several e-mails from those of you who caught my scripting error when I had Tom say that if he could be any car, he’d be a ’57 Mustang Convertable. Anyone who doubts America’s love affair with the automobile need only look at my inbox for proof otherwise. Several of you wrote in that you don’t often pen letters to comic strip authors, but my error forced you to speak up. You see, there is no such thing as a ’57 Mustang convertable. Ford didn’t start manufacturing them until 1964.
Everyone that wrote in was very sympathetic. Their solution to my shoddy research falling into one of two camps. Either I meant to reference the 1967 Mustang convertable – the first year for such an offering. Or I meant to reference the 1957 Ford THUNDERBIRD convertable – which existed at the time.
Quite truthfully, I just pulled a date and the make of a car out of my ass. But I appreciated all the e-mails none the less!
Incidentally, if people weren’t writing about the car thing, they extended praise for Cami’s new haircut. You guys love it! I was really surprised, actually. Who thought it would cause this much uproar? But if you guys are willing to write in over a haircut, who am I to turn away a compliment? Thank you!
Saturday’s appearance at the Iowa I-Con comic book convention went great. I had prime real estate on the showroom floor. Basically, I was right in front of the entrance. When you walked in, I was the first one you saw.
Obviously no one knew who I was, but I think it was good from an awareness raising standpoint. I was handing out flyers and stickers left and right. Telling people about the comic and where to find us online. So if you saw me at the show this weekend and are coming here for the first time, WELCOME!
I-Con was a great dry run for Wizard World Chicago – which I will be attending August 4 – 6. I was able to look around at other booths and get ideas for things to do in Chicago. Typically how it works is that I show up in Chicago and realize "Crap! I don’t have any flyers to hand out!" So I slap something together really quick and run it down to Kinko’s. This year, I’m going to actually prepare in advance as opposed to TELLING myself to prepare and forgetting about it. As is becoming the tradition at WWC, I’ll probably be giving away commemorative 1" buttons to people who come and find me on Artist’s Alley. So make a note on your calendar to come visit me August 4 – 6!
My primary piece of merchandise will, of course, be copies of Theater Hopper – Year One – which my printer has promised to deliver by July 31. So that means those of you who ordered through the site will probably start seeing them in your mailboxes after I get back from Chicago – around the middle of August. Don’t worry. I set the pre-order copies aside so I don’t run out!
I’ll probably be looking to clear out my inventory of t-shirts pretty soon to lighten the load for The Windy City. So keep your eyes open for that in the future.
Until then, happy Monday!