First and foremost, this was the most enjoyable time I've had as an artist at this show. That's not saying I didn't enjoy myself the other times, quite the contrary in fact. After a better than expected first year, a disappointing, yet fun second year, the third time is definitely a charm as the promoters, in my mind, have finally found a balance that makes their show unique. In other words: there was definitely something for everyone here. My only complaint would be that there just weren't enough vendors, and vendors with big ticket items such as variant comics, collectibles, trades.
Whereas Motor City Comic Con attracts audiences by having celebrities from the A-D lists, Fanfare is ultimately about comics, the artists and creators, which obviously works for me. And the media guests they do have, are related to comics or comic related media. This years main guests were Michael Jai White (Black Dynamite, Spawn, and Gambol from the Dark Knight, just to name a few) and David Prowse, the main who played the physical aspect of Darth Vader in the original Star Wars films.
Overall the show was very well organized, the staff was incredibly accommodating, and the layout of the show was ideal. Everything was easy to navigate around and traffic was laid out to where people had to pass by tables to get to their next destination, so people were always stopping by to chat and whatnot. Sunday they even had trick-or-treating for kids, and I even got up earlier to go out and pick up some candy that no doubt rotted their teeth a bit, but hey, it's part of being a kid. Right? Right.
For this show I released a Walking Dead print that is limited to only 30 prints:
It didn't do gangbusters, but I didn't mind; I sold a bit of EVERYTHING. My Avengers prints were still as popular as when I had them at the last show, sold a few sketch cards, and I even did a couple commissions to boot (something I don't really care to do to be completely honest). Overall, I was quite happy with the sales aspect. Definitely one of my best shows.
Also released at the show was the short story book "Voices from the Deadworld" (pictured above, along with my contribution) which is written by Gary Reed and features 30+ short stories and illustrations to accompany them from artists such as myself, Bruce Gerlach, Bill Pulkovski, Jay Shimko, Alex Buechel, John Marroquin, and many others. I have 3 copies (signed by Gary Reed) on hand, so if anyone wants one, drop me a line.
Overall, this years Fanfare was fantastic, and I truly cannot wait to see what they have in store for next year. Here are some random pictures from the event:
Muppet Trooper platoon.
Muppet Troopers!
The lovely Heather Nolan, myself, the Dark Knight, and Hellboy with his horns and the left hand of doom.
Bane took time off from destroying Gotham to show up to the after party on Saturday night.
Iron Man. Get it?
I'm not ready.
I passed.
That's it for now, but I have more stuff to talk about next time and a few more updates on some projects I have on the horizon.
Til' next time...
