Posts Tagged ‘recap’
3 items.
In my rush to post a comic today for the one I missed on Monday, I totally neglected to post a blog recapping my experience at the Minnesota FallCon comic book convention this weekend.
I had been geared up for the event all last week. As I was making final preparations, I could hardly contain myself. I started having trouble sleeping Thursday night before we were to make the 4 hour drive to Minneapolis on Friday. By the time the first day of the convention rolled around on Saturday, I couldn’t sit down.
Being as amped up as I was (and also trying to navigation an unfamiliar city), I decided to head out to the convention center early. I was there to greet everyone when the doors opened. I met Zach from No Pants Tuesday first, then Mitch from Nothing Nice to Say arrive and finally, Carrington from Movie Punks . Suffice to say, they were all really cool.
It was weird to meet these guys in person after corresponding with all of them in one form or another over the last year. I knew what they looked like, I knew their sense of humor, but it’s like they weren’t real people until they were right there in front of you.
Conversation flowed like wine and we were all getting along great. Sometimes, we’d be so deep in conversation, we’d ignore people checking out our booth! Whoops!
But I’m glad things turned out that way and not the other. It would have really sucked if we were all just sitting there, staring off into space with nothing to say to one another.
In terms of people who came to check us out, I’d say the turn out was pretty good. True, the majority of people who stopped by didn’t know who we were or what our comics were about. And when we told them they were on the web and that we update multiple times a week, we got some interesting reactions.
But I’d say most of those reactions were positive! A lot of people promised to check out the site. And if you’re one of those people and you’re reading this right now – I love you!
Carrington and I would sometimes have some odd overlap when were explaining our sites to people. People would ask one of us what it was about, and we would say “Well, it’s a comic that makes fun of movies and it’s updated every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.” Then they would turn to the other and we’d say “Ditto.” We had fun playing around with people and charge that one was ripping off the other. Good times.
The biggest treat of the convention was meeting the people who were already familiar with the site. The crew from Still Untitled came to visit and we chatted them up for a good while. They were really cool. BobaBen from the forums also said hello and it was good to see him.
All in all, it was a great experience and it was great to sit around and talk shop with the other creators. I had so much fun, I’m thinking about heading out to another convention in Kansas City this November. Theater Hopper Tour ’03!
Be sure to keep checking the site because I’ll be offering TWO posters that were on sale at the convention. I have a new one for Theater Hopper and a SPECIAL EDITION poster created by the four of us who shared a booth together. It’ll be a trip!
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Tomorrow is New Year’s Eve and before I partake in the libations that will help to wash away what was 2005, I like to take a moment to look back, take stock and examine where things started and how they ended.
2005 was a difficult year for me in a lot of ways. Lots of personal stresses. Cami got a new job. We sold our first home and bought our second home. Moving… THAT’S never fun. I lost my Grandpa and tried to guide my family through the aftermath of that. Still have a few relatives in the hospital. Somewhere in there when I was stressed out to the point I was banging on the steering wheel in traffic (it happened!), I decided to make a change in my personal health, started working out and lost 25 pounds.
So, yeah… lots of personal change. So it feels good to have moved beyond it.
As far as the comic is concerned, I don’t know if I was as dedicated to it as I could have been this year. Looking back through the ’05 archives, I’ve had more guest strips this year than any other. And while I’m proud that Theater Hopper is at the level where there are enough readers and other creators aware of the comic to help support me through a rough patch… honestly, that shouldn’t be happening to that degree.
Then again, I only blew off two updates this year. One was because my monitor fried on me, and the other one was just this week because I was still coming down from Christmas. So that’s not bad!
2005 was a year for milestones. We celebrated our 400th comic, our 3rd year anniversary and our 500th comic. All big successes. Incidentally, our 400th comic was also the introduction of our first new character in a long time – Charlie. Which could be considered successful or unsuccessful depending on your level of patience for slowly-unfolding storylines…
In the spirit of further transition, 2005 was the year that Theater Hopper moved away from Dayfree Press – the web comic collective we helped to establish – and onto greener pastures with Boxcar Comics. As much as I learned from the Dayfree guys – and I respect all of them – I think the camaraderie I have at Boxcar is a little more tightly knit as I was already good friends with Zach, Mitch and Joe. So it was a pretty smooth transition. Incidentally, I had a blast with those three jokers at Wizard World Chicago this year and hope to do it again next year!
Probably our biggest success this year wasn’t even something I did. The proper accolades go to Dave Buist from Taking the Bi-Pass for helping get our content the most organized and efficient it’s ever been. And I mean EVER!
Dave devised a new archiving system for the comics and the blogs built off keywords. So now you guys can search for your favorite strips, characters and movie references with greater ease. This has been something I’ve wanted for A LONG time. Not only for you guys, but it was even getting hard for ME to find the comics I was looking for. And I created the dumb things.
But Dave took his work one step further by also developing our Movie Review Database – and application so brilliant, I’m still grinning over it’s potential. I haven’t talked about it in a while because I’m still adding to it all the time. New movies, images of posters, cast information, links to the Internet Movie Database, plot descriptions, the works.
The idea is amazingly simple. All you have to do is create an account through the THorum. One you’re logged in, you can search for any movie that you would like to comment on and leave your own review! How cool is that! Like I said, I’m adding movies all the time. Eventually, the hope is that you can leave your two cents on virtually every movie Theater Hopper has ever referenced! How many other web comics are doing that!
There’s still a few layout glitches in the database that Dave and I are working on. Cosmetic stuff. Nothing serious. The guts of this thing work like a charm and it’s all thanks to Dave’s expert code knowledge. Once again, Dave – thanks from the bottom of my heart!
I think 2006 is already shaping up to be a great year. With my personal trials out of the way, I have more time to dedicate myself to the comic and push some projects through that I’ve been wanting to accomplish for years. I’ve designed the initial layout of the FIRST THEATER HOPPER book which will collect the first 52 strips in one handy volume. Eventually there will be two more volumes and the entire set put together will represent the first year. I plan on producing books in a similar fashion for Year Two and Year Three.
It might sound odd to offer three volumes for the first year, but I’m going that route to help me keep costs down. When it’s all said and done, the individual books will only be $9.99. When compared to other web comic collections I’ve seen, that’s pretty cheap. I want to make sure you guys get a copy for yourselves because it’s going to look really nice. More news on that in the future.
In the meantime, I want to thank all of you for sticking around and making Theater Hopper the success that it is. I’m continuously humbled by your interest in my work and only want to bring you more and better work in the time ahead.
Happy New Year and best wishes to you and yours!
THANK YOU!
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I have a lot of stuff that I want to talk about today, so be sure to check back to the site often for updates. Right now, I plan on putting messages together as I have time since I’ve had to ramp back up to "real-life" speed in a fairly short amount of time after a 6-hour drive home from Chicago yesterday. I’m wiped out, but I’m excited!
First, let me say that my attendance at the 2006 Wizard World Chicago comic book convention was my best convention EVER! I was really nervous about going because, for me, it was the culmination of an effort that started back in October of 2005 when I first set out to put together "Theater Hopper: Year One." My expectations for Wizard World Chicago were very high and felt that my success or failure there was really going to set the tone for the larger goals I hoped to accomplish with Theater Hopper.
Well, I can say with confidence that "Theater Hopper: Year One" was a resounding SUCCESS! I sold dozens of books and a bunch of t-shirts. I met all kinds of great people and passed out a ton of fliers. If you’re one of the people I talked to who is visiting the site for the first time, welcome! If you like, feel free to start from the begining and work your way through the arcI have a lot of stuff that I want to talk about today, so be sure to check back to the site often for updates. Right now, I plan on putting messages together as I have time since I’ve had to ramp back up to "real-life" speed in a fairly short amount of time after a 6-hour drive home from Chicago yesterday. I’m wiped out, but I’m excited!
First, let me say that my attendance at the 2006 Wizard World Chicago comic book convention was my best convention EVER! I was really nervous about going because, for me, it was the culmination of an effort that started back in October of 2005 when I first set out to put together "Theater Hopper: Year One." My expectations for Wizard World Chicago were very high and felt that my success or failure there was really going to set the tone for the larger goals I hoped to accomplish with Theater Hopper.
Well, I can say with confidence that "Theater Hopper: Year One" was a resounding SUCCESS! I sold dozens of books and a bunch of t-shirts. I met all kinds of great people and passed out a ton of fliers. If you’re one of the people I talked to who is visiting the site for the first time, welcome! If you like, feel free to start from the begining and work your way through the archive. Of course, I’m up to 589 comics counting this one, so that could be a daunting task! If you’d like to skip around a little bit, visit the archive page and pick a date! Or, take advantage of our database search function that allows you to type in the title of nearly any movie you can think of and it will return the comic that spoofs it!
I think what really amazed me most were the fans who came to the convention looking for me. I never expect it. Despite the fact that Saturday marked the beginning of my fifth year doing this comic, I never expect anyone to know who I am or appreciate what I do. So it’s very mind-blowing when someone walks up to the table and says "I’ve been looking for you!" or when they approach you wearing one of the t-shirts you designed. I mean, in a convention hall that’s selling literally everything and that covers so many facets of entertainment – not just comics… For someone to wake up, throw on a Theater Hopper t-shirt, march down to the convention and say "THIS is what I’m into." That’s awesome.
I mean, I had someone come up to me with their cell phone so I could say "Hi" to their friend who was stuck at work. I’m more than happy to do it and it was a really fun conversation, but who the hell am I? I’m just some guy that does a web comic! Who wants to talk to me on their break?
I’m stumbling around. But it’s my way of saying thanks. What an incredible validation.
I think the other thing I was surprised by was the almost instant feedback I was getting about the book. I was actually able to sell a lot more of them to people unfamiliar to the comic than I had anticipated. I’m not complaining! Just surprised. But I had a few people come back to me on Sunday who had either bought the book on Friday or Saturday and told me how much they liked it!
I didn’t really get a chance to get out from behind my table and walk around, but I’m not complaining. That’s a good problem to have. All the same, it kept me away from the members of the press I wanted to talk to about the book. Fortunately, a few of them came down to Artist’s Alley and I was able to hand out a few press releases. I’m gonna follow up with you guys!
I should also mention that Saturday’s book release party was a real success. It was mostly people from the Digital Pimp crew – including the fabulous Joe Dunn, plus Gordon McAlpin from Multiplex, Zach Miller from Joe and Monkey, Mitch Clem from San Antonio Rock City and myself. But there were also a few fans in attendance and we had a great old time. I seriously never laughed so hard in my life!
I feel like I’m leaving out a bunch of details. But, truthfully, the whole convention went by so fast and I think I’m still processing it. 3:00 rolled around yesterday and I had to pack up in order to get home at a reasonable hour. I didn’t want to go!
Sincere thanks to everyone who took the time to stop by my booth and talk to me about Theater Hopper. If you bought a shirt or a copy of the book, extra SPECIAL thanks for giving me a chance. I mean, Wizard World Chicago is HUGE. Maybe the second largest convention of the year after the San Diego ComiCon. For anyone to walk through those doors, past every exhibitor and dealer and to say "This looks good. I want to buy your book." Well – don’t think I don’t take that for the miracle it is.
Come back later in the day. I still have lots to talk about regarding last week’s guest strips, Talladega Nights and the winner of the Fandango mailing list sign-up drawing!hive. Of course, I’m up to 589 comics counting this one, so that could be a daunting task! If you’d like to skip around a little bit, visit the archive page and pick a date! Or, take advantage of our database search function that allows you to type in the title of nearly any movie you can think of and it will return the comic that spoofs it!
I think what really amazed me most were the fans who came to the convention looking for me. I never expect it. Despite the fact that Saturday marked the beginning of my fifth year doing this comic, I never expect anyone to know who I am or appreciate what I do. So it’s very mind-blowing when someone walks up to the table and says "I’ve been looking for you!" or when they approach you wearing one of the t-shirts you designed. I mean, in a convention hall that’s selling literally everything and that covers so many facets of entertainment – not just comics… For someone to wake up, throw on a Theater Hopper t-shirt, march down to the convention and say "THIS is what I’m into." That’s awesome.
I mean, I had someone come up to me with their cell phone so I could say "Hi" to their friend who was stuck at work. I’m more than happy to do it and it was a really fun conversation, but who the hell am I? I’m just some guy that does a web comic! Who wants to talk to me on their break?
I’m stumbling around. But it’s my way of saying thanks. What an incredible validation.
I think the other thing I was surprised by was the almost instant feedback I was getting about the book. I was actually able to sell a lot more of them to people unfamiliar to the comic than I had anticipated. I’m not complaining! Just surprised. But I had a few people come back to me on Sunday who had either bought the book on Friday or Saturday and told me how much they liked it!
I didn’t really get a chance to get out from behind my table and walk around, but I’m not complaining. That’s a good problem to have. All the same, it kept me away from the members of the press I wanted to talk to about the book. Fortunately, a few of them came down to Artist’s Alley and I was able to hand out a few press releases. I’m gonna follow up with you guys!
I should also mention that Saturday’s book release party was a real success. It was mostly people from the Digital Pimp crew – including the fabulous Joe Dunn, plus Gordon McAlpin from Multiplex, Zach Miller from Joe and Monkey, Mitch Clem from San Antonio Rock City and myself. But there were also a few fans in attendance and we had a great old time. I seriously never laughed so hard in my life!
I feel like I’m leaving out a bunch of details. But, truthfully, the whole convention went by so fast and I think I’m still processing it. 3:00 rolled around yesterday and I had to pack up in order to get home at a reasonable hour. I didn’t want to go!
Sincere thanks to everyone who took the time to stop by my booth and talk to me about Theater Hopper. If you bought a shirt or a copy of the book, extra SPECIAL thanks for giving me a chance. I mean, Wizard World Chicago is HUGE. Maybe the second largest convention of the year after the San Diego ComiCon. For anyone to walk through those doors, past every exhibitor and dealer and to say "This looks good. I want to buy your book." Well – don’t think I don’t take that for the miracle it is.
Come back later in the day. I still have lots to talk about regarding last week’s guest strips, Talladega Nights and the winner of the Fandango mailing list sign-up drawing!
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