Day 2 of APE turned out a little better in terms of actual sales. The heavy rains from Saturday seemed to have let up a bit, so there were more people attending the show (that's my estimate, anyways). To be honest though, I don't know if they were spending that much more money than Saturday's crowd. Kinda light on sales for many of us this year.....
Course, it could have been raining bloody eyeballs, and I still would have had a great day! After another breakfast feast at Ahn's, I swung by the local 7-11 and bought several copies of the local paper. It was Sunday, and that meant the color funnies were out, and that meant that El Muerto's appearance in the BALDO newspaper strip climaxed that day.
To see El Muerto in the color Sunday newspaper strip was such a great feeling. To see him sharing the page with GARFIELD was downright surreal! I actually got to write the Sunday appearance,as well as drawing the Muerto figures. And artist Carlos Castellanos did a great job coloring the entry, as he always does. Read about the El Muerto/Baldo crossover here.
I had a copy of the Sunday strip with me at the show, and during the day a lady walked by, saw my El Muerto banner, and told me "Hey, I saw that character in the Baldo strip this morning!". I was proud as a papa to explain to her the whole crossover. I was really stoked to hear someone actually saw the strip that day.
Among the visitors that day was my lovely cousin, Monica. Hadn't seen here in, like, sheesh...15 years or so! And I didn't even know she was living in San Francisco for the last 9!
My traveling partners, and good friends, Michael Aushenker and Ted Seko catch a break in the action. I've probably partnered with Mike more times at conventions than with any other friends of mine. Not hard to figure out why: Mike's hysterical at times and always fun to travel with. A real mensch, as the ancient Aztecs used to say! And Ted is someone I met at a zine fest back in 2001 or so. He hasn't done too many shows, but the guy's made lots of of mini-comics and zines and even graphic novels over the years. He and are I launching a new joint imprint XOMIX COMIX, in 2009!
The witty and talented Chris Wisnia was down the hallway from me. Chris does some hilarious comics, my favorite being his DORIS DANGER monster books. I interviewed Chris some weeks back on my radio show, PLANET COMIC BOOK RADIO. He's a hard-working talent and real personable guy!
This guy, I'm going to have on my radio show! Rob Osborne, the electric artist and writer of "1000 Steps To World Domination!" and 'The Nearly Infamous Zango". I met Rob very briefly last year at WizardWorld Texas, but this time we had a chance to talk comic book boot camp. Once he referred to indie publishing as 'the Wild West', I knew this man was dead serious about making it in comics! Look for Rob to show up in December on the show.
A friend I run into periodically at these shows is Jaime Crespo. I must must have first met Jaime years ago, and I don't think I've seen him for a couple of years. But we ran into each other and caught up on old times.
Jaime's what I can consider an old school/alt/indie cartoonist. His comics work dates back to the late 80s/early 90s. When he's not chatting it up with his 'old school' pals Jaime and Mario Hernandez, Dan Clowes or Keith Knight, he's talking to neo-old school/johhny-come-lately guys like me!! (?). Jaime also hosts a radio show in the Bay Area, so we're gonna plan some kinda crossover between his show and mine. I like the tiny sombrero!
APE, as you can see, is a mix of many things: You're their to sell your work and meet old and new fans, and you also get to catch up with old friends and make new ones. In my case, I also get to find new guests for my radio show! But APE has always been for me, a very fun show to do. I'll wrap this report up with PT 3 over the weekend, so come back to hear about the Indian Pizza we had for dinner, the Day of the Dead celebrations in San Francisco, and the First Meeting of the Sons of the Cat!!!
Geez, it's been about a week since the Alternative Press Expo in San Francisco, and I think I better get to blogging about it! As it is, here's PART 1!!
Okay, so, this was my 10th APE I've exhibited at consecutively. Pretty cool! 10 years since I first debuted EL MUERTO at APE, back in it's early days when it was held in San Jose, CA.
This year, like every other year, I drove up. This time with two friends, Michael Aushenker and Ted Seko. We drove into San Francisco late Friday evening, Halloween, and picked up our badges at the mixer held by Last Gasp Publishing. After 'mixing', we drove back across the Bay Bridge into Oakland and hunted down a motel. It was drizzling on and off throughout the evening, but no major drama.
Early Friday morning, Michael and I decided to take Ted to breakfast at Ahn's Burgers, a fantastic little mom & pop diner we fell in love with on previous trips. Burgers, shakes and the All-American breakfast, that's what makes a good ol' fashioned restaurant. Course, we got there about 45 minutes early, and we were hearbroken as Mike headed back to the car to give us the bad news. But then, the front door opens and the cook (probably co-owner) waves us in! We figured it's either a sign of the economy, or just good old fashioned hospitality (I would wage the later!).
So there we are, the three of us counting our good fortunes. We already figured the trip was a success (hint to exhibitors: always look outside of any sales you may make at your table for signs of good fortune!). As luck would have it, I was served first, literally receiving the first plate of food hot off the grill!
Michael (l) and I savoring our fresh, hot meals for the press!
After eating like Kings, we head on over to the Concourse in San Francisco, which is only about 20 minutes or so over the Bay Bridge. APE is usually held in Feb or April, so this year's Fall date gave us a little wetter weather, but other than that, all seemed the same as before (keep reading!).
This year's spread at my table was pretty rockin': new El Muerto comic book, new issue of my long dormant newsletter, THE BORDER, the EL MUERTO DVD and some XOMIX COMIX promo material!
There was sporadic rain that Saturday, at times it was coming down pretty hard. Combined with the Halloween weekend, and the move from it's usual date, it's fair to say that the audience was lighter that day. And with the economy the shape it's in, spending was down. But, I have to say, I still had a wonderful experience there. Of course there is always the old fans stopping by the table, and you always make new fans at any show. But I also get the chance to meet up with those once-a-year acquaintances you see at every show, as well as friends you haven't seen in years.
Here's JB and Anita. I first met them at the Santa Barbara Zine Fest back in 2000 or 2001! JB I run into at least once a year, but Anita I haven't seen since the Zine Fest! What's that old, tired cliche....? Seems like only yesterday....
Here's a nice couple I met on the internet. (Sounds a lot worse than it really is!). Scott and Audra, who were celebrating their 1 Year Wedding Anniversary, flew in from Hawaii for the show! Imagine leaving Hawaii for rainy California! They're really nice folks, and put out some attractive work. Check out their site NEMU NEMU for the goodness!
It's not officially an APE unless Rafael Navarro of SONAMBULO fame is there with his charm and wit and eye-popping art!
Another APE regular is dear, sweet Roxie! I met her at APE years ago and she's a great pal to see every year.
Roxie and I always try to have fun at these shows, and this little trip to the JACK CHICK table qualified, fer sure!
One of the gems I bought was this particularly "imaginative" anti-Catholic Chick Tract..THE DEATH COOKIE!! Stuff like this can either be very offensive, or provide me with some chuckles. The Death Cookie!!?? That is awesome...despite the nasty bit of propaganda it's pushing.
END OF PT. 1
THEY'RE HERE!!! My brand-new EL MUERTO comic book, DEAD & CONFUSED, arrived from the printers on Saturday! This is the first time I'm using a POD (Print On
Demand) service, so I was a little weary at first. After asking several friends for recommendations (thanks Jason, Mort and Colin) I chose to go with Ka-Blam. They delivered a couple of days ahead of their promised ship date, and the books look sharp!
This issue finds El Muerto landing in the arms of Modragon's Festival of Freaks, in Baja California. And it's more ominous than it sounds.... Also included in this issue is a mini Galeria del Muerto with pin-ups from Kevin Cross and Jim Lujan. The painted back cover is by Michael Aushenker (his El Muerto painting previously showed up on the
EL MUERTO DVD in the Guest Artist Gallery on the Special Features!).
The comic will debut at the 2008 APE (Alternative Press Expo) in San Francisco the weekend of Nov. 1 and 2. November 2, by the way, is Dia de Los Muertos, the Mexican cultural celebration that is the basis of the El Muerto story. And this APE marks my consecutive 10th appearance at the show and in fact is the 10th Anniversary of the debut of the comic book. It was back in Feb., 1998 in San Jose (where APE was originally held) that I debuted EL MUERTO, so the fact that this year's APE has moved to November (it's normally held in the Spring) tells me that the gods are smiling favorably on me and El Muerto!
If you want to order you copy of the book right now, you can get a copy in one of two ways:
-Via the web: Paypal me the amount of $5.95 ($3.95 for the book and $2.00 to cover P&H) and I'll send you a copy.
-Snail Mail me a check or money order the amount of $5.95 ($3.95 for the book and $2.00 to cover P&H) and I'll send you a copy. Javier Hernandez, PO Box 718, Whittier CA, 90608-0718
If you would like the book signed or personalized to you, please let me know. And no extra charge! I'll probably have to wait until after I get back from APE to update my website's store, but in the meantime feel free to order through here!
My traveling partners, and good friends, Michael Aushenker and Ted Seko catch a break in the action. I've probably partnered with Mike more times at conventions than with any other friends of mine. Not hard to figure out why: Mike's hysterical at times and always fun to travel with. A real mensch, as the ancient Aztecs used to say! And Ted is someone I met at a zine fest back in 2001 or so. He hasn't done too many shows, but the guy's made lots of of mini-comics and zines and even graphic novels over the years. He and are I launching a new joint imprint XOMIX COMIX, in 2009!
The witty and talented Chris Wisnia was down the hallway from me. Chris does some hilarious comics, my favorite being his DORIS DANGER monster books. I interviewed Chris some weeks back on my radio show, PLANET COMIC BOOK RADIO. He's a hard-working talent and real personable guy!
This guy, I'm going to have on my radio show! Rob Osborne, the electric artist and writer of "1000 Steps To World Domination!" and 'The Nearly Infamous Zango". I met Rob very briefly last year at WizardWorld Texas, but this time we had a chance to talk comic book boot camp. Once he referred to indie publishing as 'the Wild West', I knew this man was dead serious about making it in comics! Look for Rob to show up in December on the show.
Jaime's what I can consider an old school/alt/indie cartoonist. His comics work dates back to the late 80s/early 90s. When he's not chatting it up with his 'old school' pals Jaime and Mario Hernandez, Dan Clowes or Keith Knight, he's talking to neo-old school/johhny-come-lately guys like me!! (?). Jaime also hosts a radio show in the Bay Area, so we're gonna plan some kinda crossover between his show and mine. I like the tiny sombrero!
