Aug 23, 2016
I went to Boston Comic Con this year thinking I'd walk around
and talk to a few artists for three or four minutes and make a
nice, snug little minicast. My plans changed quickly. There were so
many great artists and writers, and people selling strange and
wonderful work, that I wound up with about an hour or interview
material. I learned a lot from these folks about the comics
industry - what independent and self-published authors are up
against, what an ambitious author can get done in three weeks
sleeping just three hours a day, how cons can be a place where
artists and writers find each other, and how the very nature of
comic cons have changed drastically in a short time. <a
href="http://www.mouseguard.net/" target="_blank">David
Petersen, creator of Mouseguard</a>, put it in perspective
when he said that comic cons used to be places to find the
hard-to-find thing. Now you can find those things on comic book
shop Web sites or EBay, so now the creators are the thing people
are seeking out (well, that and a throng of incredibly
well-designed and/or completely inappropriate costumes).
Petersen was first up, followed by doll-maker Jessica of <a
href="https://www.facebook.com/TheMysticAsylum/"
target="_blank">Mystic Asylum</a>, publisher and creator
Tyler James of <a href="http://www.comixtribe.com/"
target="_blank">Comix Tribe</a>, <a
href="http://marvel.com/comics/series/19750/the_unbeatable_squirrel_girl_2015_-_present"
target="_blank"><em>The Unbeatable Squirrel
Girl</em></a> and <a
href="http://archiecomics.com/tag/erica-henderson/"
target="_blank"><em>Archie</em></a> artist
<a href="http://ericafailsatlife.tumblr.com/"
target="_blank">Erica Henderson</a>, author and creator of
the <em>Seven Forges</em> book series <a
href="http://www.jamesamoorebooks.com/" target="_blank">James A.
Moore</a>, elf-ear maker Lindsay of <a
href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheElvenCaravan"
target="_blank">The Elven Caravan</a>, artist and
co-creator of <a
href="https://imagecomics.com/content/view/shutter-an-all-new-urban-fantasy-adventure"
target="_blank"><em>Shutter</em></a> <a
href="http://leiladelduca.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">Leila del
Duca</a>, artist and novelist <a
href="http://www.drewblank.com/" target="_blank">Drew
Blank</a>, and one half of <a
href="http://sunbrosstudios.com/" target="_blank">Sun Bros
Studios</a> Brad Sun.
It was amusing and enlightening talking to these folks, and I now
have an even longer reading list to contend with. Enjoy the
conversations, and support the work of these artists and
writers!