I’m feeling kind of spunky this afternoon and I wanted to share a few links to some other web sites that I think you guys should check out.
Used to be, back in the day, I would trade links with anyone who batted their eyelashes at me. These days… well, I’m a little more busy. But I don’t want that to be an excuse. I want to tell you guys what I’m into because that’s really the spirit of the web comics thing, isn’t it? I don’t want to stake off this little piece of internet and feverishly protect it like a frothing Gollum. "My web sitesee! Preccciiouuusssss!" Nope. Instead I’m gonna share the love. It’s good karma, doncha know?
THE PC WEENIES – Krishna Sadasivam is a great guy who produces a really sharp comic about the IT world. I don’t work in IT. I don’t know a lot about IT. But I kow a lot of guys who do, and this kind of stuff rings exceptionally true. I think he has a real strong sense of characterization. It’s just really easy to imagine what Bob and Grampa sound like.
MULTIPLEX – If you like Theater Hopper, you’ll dig Gordon McAlpin’s Multiplex. It’s about movies, but in a different way. Instead of having outsiders running around making commentary about movies, imagine if Jimmy got his own comic. That’s what Multiplex is like. It’s from the eyes of the people who work in the theater! Gordon has a way of taking really funny situations and playing them straight. Which, I think, makes them funnier. Plus, I like Gordon. I’ve chatted him up a few times online and he seems really into what he’s doing. I think that’s worth something right there.
POPCORN PICNIC – Another movie-related comic. This one is just getting off the ground. Chris Shadoian’s artwork is really sharp. Like an Archie comic with a hipster bent. If you’ve read Acid Keg, you’re kind of familiar with the style. Chris is out there, quietly doing his thing and I believe it’s time someone made some noise about it. Incidentally, it was Gordon who tipped me off to this one.
DIGITAL PIMP ONLINE – In my head, everyone in the universe already knows about the great work Joe Dunn is doing with his myriad of comics. This guy’s level of talent seriously freaks me out. It scares me. His work with Mighty Mitch Clem on The Coffee Achievers is about to come to a close, but I think it’s probably one of the greatest colaborations in web comics. Nevermind his work on Matriculated, Free Lunch and Joe Loves Crappy Movies. The later being a movie comic that always comes up with jokes I wish I had thought of! Joe is all over the map with his work and I don’t think he gets enough credit. So check out each one of those comics that he works on and find out why I call him "The Hardest Working Man In Web Comics."
Anyway, those are a few sites for your bookmark folders. If you’re in the mood for some new stuff, I would strongly encourage you to check them out!
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Today’s guest strip comes courtesy of Gordon McAlpin from Multiplex. You might not immediately recognize his style in this piece since it was hand drawn. Gordon puts together Multiplex completely in Adobe Illustrator. Personally, I get a real kick out of his hand drawn style. It shows Gordon has the artistic fundamentals that make the vector output of Multiplex that much more satisfying.
If you haven’t read Multiplex, now is a good time. I know you guys would love it. Just as Theater Hopper focuses on the fan experience of going to the movies, Multiplex covers things from the other side of the concessions counter by focusing on the employees of a movie theater. Gordon deftly juggles several characters and their complicated relationships, providing a clear voice for each one.
Incidentally, Gordon (along with Joe Dunn from Joe Loves Crappy Movies) is one of the co-hosts of The Triple Feature talkcast broadcast live every Monday at 9:00 p.m. CST over at TalkShoe. I wasn’t able to participate in this week’s show since I needed to make myself available to Cami and Henry after putting in an 8-hour work day, but I’ve downloaded a copy of the broadcast from iTunes and it was a really good show. Joe called in from a bar! The lush!
Today will be the last guest strip before I return to a Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule. I hope you’ve enjoyed all the work submitted by the guest artists. It’s been a crazy month! There will be a new comic from me on Friday and then it’s back to the grind.
I’ve been trying to prepare for my re-insertion back into the site. I’m working ahead and I already have next Monday’s comic done. I’m half way through with Wednesday’s comic. It’s colored and now I’m working on shading. I was lucky last night that we were able to put Henry down for a nap after feeding him and he slept for about 3 hours. You can really get a lot of work done when you don’t know when your kid is about to wake up from a nap! A great motivator! Hopefully I can stay ahead of the curve and produce comics in advance of their deadline so I’m not stressed out during the week. This is a new method of working for me. Typically I produce a comic the day before it’s posted on the site. After nearly 5 years, it’s taking some getting used to working a full week in advance!
All I know is that I hope I can continue to do comics in color. I was tempted to do them in black and white until I got back into the swing of things, but I always think about the books I hope to produce with these comics and how disappointed I would be in myself if I printed up a book that was part color and part black and white. It would be like it was unfinished, or something!
Speaking of which, I’m going to start early chipping away at “Theater Hopper: Year Three.” My plan is to have it finished by Wizard World Chicago in August, so I’m giving myself a lot of rope! By the way, one of those navigation links at the top of the page is finally working. It’s the TOUR page. If you guys want to see what conventions I’ll be attending this year, click here. I’ve got four on my plate for 2007.
One last bit of site news, today is the last day to pre-order the Junkie t-shirt. So if you want to make sure I have your size in stock, order today!
Keep in mind that all bundle discounts apply to this pre-order, so if you’re thinking about getting one of our two books, you can take advantage of that as well.
Anyway, gotta go. See you Friday!
People who have been reading the site for a while know that traditionally, I like to do a little wrap up for each of the conventions I attend. Typically, I end up seeing a movie with whomever I’m with and I talk about it here.
The only problem with going to Wizard World Chicago this year is that there weren’t any good movies to see!
We toyed with seeing Rush Hour 3, but frankly, too many people were against it. If they went, they’d be going to rip it a new one. Myself likely included. The inside joke of this comic is that Gordon is the one suggesting we go see it. He was probably most against it of anyone.
Oh, and Brandon J. Carr’s wife really did make him swear not to see Stardust without her.
And for the record, the other two guys in the comic are Joe Dunn from Joe Loves Crappy Movies and Zach Miller from Joe and Monkey.
As always, it was a treat to attend Wizard World Chicago and exhibit on Artist’s Alley. I would have liked to have sold a little more merchandise, but I did about as much business as last year, so at least I’m not backsliding.
The Spoiler shirts are always a big hit at conventions. I have one of them pulled over a mannequin torso I stand up on my table. Invariably people stop to comment on it. Either they laugh and walk away saying “That’s a great shirt!” Or they laugh and say “I gotta get that shirt.” I suppose the third option is when I get to talk to the person and explain which spoilers come from which movies.
I’ve been selling the Spoiler shirt for the last three years. At times, I wish I could come up with another t-shirt design that would sell just as well. A t-shirt design that isn’t Spoiler II. But what can I say? They’re the breadwinners and you gotta stick with a winning horse.
I don’t know that I sold as many books as I would have liked to. But I think I hit on a new merchandising structure that I’ll probably employ in the store soon – everything will be $15 and you’ll get 15%, 20% and 25% discounts the more stuff you buy! I think it will be really attractive to you guys and will help me keep things organized on my side.
I don’t mean to harp on the money aspect of things so much. That’s really only a small portion of the exhibiting experience. I’m grateful that I’m able to sell anything at all! It always amazes me.
I did a lot of good networking at this convention. I got to meet Brandon for the first time and DJ Coffman from Yirmumah and Hero By Night as well. They couldn’t have been nicer. Really easy to talk to and a lot of fun to be around. We all kind of share the same sense of humor, so it makes things easy. For all practical purposes, someone like Brandon is a complete stranger. But within minutes I was joking around with him and having a blast.
I was interviewed by a few online and offline publications and that was pretty cool. I have a wallet full of business cards on stuff I want to follow up on. Professionally and socially, I would say it was a really successful convention!
That said, the last day of a convention is the worst. Part of you is counting down the hours until you have to pack up your stuff and ship out and that’s never fun. And then, for me, the car ride home is tortuous. I have no one to help me cover the 6 hours from Chicago to Des Moines, so I’m often left with my own thoughts.
We talked a little bit about this on Monday’s Triple Feature broadcast, but there is no way you can go to one of these conventions and NOT compare yourself professionally to the other artists in attendance. You end up looking around and asking yourself “What am I doing WRONG?”
Every convention is a good learning opportunity to see into other artist’s process and business practices. I constantly find myself taking mental notes for things to try when I get home.
As exhausting as it can be to constantly compare yourself, going to Wizard World Chicago has revitalized me. I think also having crossed the five-year anniversary milestone has inspired me make Theater Hopper stronger. Not just the comic, but the entire Theater Hopper experience.
I want to rid the THorum and the front page comments section of spammers and bring back the positive, excited atmosphere. I want to be seen more among my peers in online communities and talk more about comics with them. I want to do more guest comics – just because. I want my site to look better. I want to try new things. I want to advertise in unconventional places and spread the word about Theater Hopper.
I’m proud of what I do. Five years and two self-published books under your belt can do that for you. But it doesn’t mean there isn’t room to improve. I’m at the point now that I’m considering outside help to spruce up the site. In some respects, if Theater Hopper is going to be taken seriously, I have to treat it like a professional venture. This is much more than a hobby site we’re talking about. I’ve experimented with a lot of things. Now it’s time to make them stick.
I would have been content to let the message I posted about my illness on Wednesday run throughout next week, but this guest strip from Josh Anderson was too timely – and too funny – to pass up. I love how he tossed Gordon and Joe into the mix. And, frankly, the hundred-yard-stare he gave Tom was pretty much how I was feeling for the last two days. Only clammier. Also, a chance to infect Shia LaBeouf? Priceless!
I got a couple of e-mail from people who were spooked when I said I was dying on Wednesday. Sorry about that. Didn’t mean to put the fear of God into you, or anything like that. Sometimes I forget the impact words have.
So, to clarify – NOT dying. Just felt like death.
I went to the doctor yesterday and it turns out I have acute tonsillitis. That sounds bad, like I have to have my tonsils removed, or something. Not the case. It’s basically an upper respiratory infection that causes white spots on the tonsils – and they’re filled with pus! Yum!
The good news is I’m no longer contagious and he has me on a steroid to reduce the swelling an antibiotic to kill the infection. As of this writing, I’ve already taken two doses and I feel much better. Not 100%, but not wincing from the back pain and migraines my body was delivering as part of the fever that was trying to get rid of the infection. So, yeah. Better.
I still plan on going to Wizard World Chicago this weekend. So if you’re in attendance, look me up at table #4308 on Artist’s Alley.
Oh, and be sure to send thanks to Josh Anderson for his guest comic by visiting his site Game U. I think you’ll like what you find there.
Thanks again for the well wishes and concern. I’ll see you all here on Monday!
You might recognize a special guest in today’s comic as none other than Gordon McAlpin from Multiplex. Gordon and I saw Wanted last Saturday while we were both attending Wizard World Chicago. We missed out on hanging with the fabulous Joe Dunn and the rest of the Digital Pimp crew because they decided to go into downtown Chicago for dinner that night. The joke was on them, though. Because they couldn’t find a theater showing Wanted! Sorry, guys!
Gordon and I saw Wanted at the palatial Muvico 18 in Rosemont – a theater suggested to us by one of our listeners during The Triple Feature broadcast a few weeks ago. This listener swore up and down about how great the theater was and expressed shock that we had never heard of it before. We were befuddled as to what he could be talking about. For years we’ve been going to this dirtball theater one town over. It was unimpressive, but it met our needs.
Pulling into Rosemont on Thursday, however, my questions were answered. From the interstate I could see the Muvico 18. You couldn’t miss it! The thing was huge like the Roman coliseum. I literally shouted an expletive as I took the exit toward the hotel and convention center, I was so shocked. To have a movie theater of this grandeur within walking distance? Priceless!
As for the movie we went to see – Wanted – it was a visceral thrill. I walked out of that movie so nerved up, I felt like punching a cop and sodomizing a grizzly bear. Seriously. There hasn’t been a movie to push my repressed white guy angst button like this since Fight Club.
A lot of critics have been making note of Wanted’s knuckle-dragging brutality. But for me, that’s a selling point. I’m so sick of action movies pulling back, failing to take risks or show us anything that isn’t a digital bath of computer generated effects.
While there are more than enough dumb CG moments in Wanted, the film also delivers real grit courtesy of director Timur Bekmambetov. Some people call Bekmambetov the Russian Michael Bay and you can see where they draw the comparison with their "eat the action" lensing. But Bekmambetov is doing stuff in Wanted that Bay wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole – for fear of offending his sponsors. Wanted is a huge calling card for Bekmambetov. You’ll see his name more often. Trust me.
As for the plot of the film, I liked it – even though it’s tale of a corporate nobody transforming into a super-powered, gun-slinging bad-ass pretty much steals from The Matrix wholesale. The big difference is tone. Whereas The Matrix insisted you could change your life if you were brave enough to fly, Wanted tells you to shut up, quit crying and get on with it already.
Despite being a big comic book fan, I never read the original graphic novel on which the movie was based. I’ve been told it takes some real liberties with the plot. Apparently, in the book, it’s a secret organization of super-villains, not righteous assassins at the center of the tale. Like I said, having not read it, I can’t express any outrage over the changes. But I would say that they certainly created something unique for the movie. Especially with The Loom of Fate – a concept that says that fate wants certain people dead and these assassins are only expressing fate’s will.
That said, after seeing the film, I would love to read the original books. They sound great.
Regarding the performances, I have a new found respect for James MacAvoy – and actor who I’ve always recognized for his talent, but one I had come to resent for his pretty boy status. After Atonement, he was on deck to become the next Colin Firth, or something. You know, the charming Brit your girlfriend won’t shut up about.
I think MacAvoy tries a little too hard with his American accent and his first act narration is distracting, but his transformation from an anxiety-ridden weenie into a gun totting bad-ass is completely believable and mesmerizing to watch.
Angelina Jolie is interesting to look at, but her character doesn’t have a lot to do, it seems. Still, I prefer Jolie kicking ass and taking names here like she does in Mr. and Mrs. Smith any day over the earnest, quasi-political Jolie of A Mighty Heart.
Morgan Freeman turns in his two millionth turn as a wise old man shepherding a confused white guy, but he’s still a gravitational force and you’ll be hooting and hollering at his delivery of a certain line in particular. I wouldn’t dare spoil it here.
All things said and done, I had a blast with Wanted and the movie stayed with me for a long time. I question if it’s kinetic spirit will hold up over repeat viewings or not – especially now that I know all of its tricks. But I’m looking forward to finding out when it comes out on DVD in the future.
That’s it for me. Be sure to check back on Friday. There will be a new comic here despite the 4th of July holiday.
See you then!
I was so wrapped up talking about, well, Up, that I completely forgot to remind you guys to check out The Triple Feature tonight.
In case you’re unfamiliar, it’s a podcast I host along with Joe Dunn from Joe Loves Crappy Movies and Gordon McAlpin from Multiplex.
We record every Monday night at 9:00 PM and you can listen to us record the show LIVE!
Not only that, but the show has a chat room where you can interact with other listeners or maybe even Joe or myself (when Gordon gets to ranting too much.)
Be sure to check us out this evening. We’ll be discussing Up and Drag Me To Hell!
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You have no idea how long I’ve kept that terrible pun in my back pocket. I don’t care if it isn’t original. I wasn’t going to pass up using it!
I think this might be the first time in since, well… ever that I’ve had a comic up and running while I’m away at a convention. Usually I have a string of guest strips lined up for you. But I figured since I made such a big deal about the 7th anniversary and the 1,000th comic milestone, it would benefit me to keep things going a little bit.
I finished this comic and blog Wednesday night in preparation of being away. So that means right now, as you’re reading this, I’m hanging out at table #3414 on Artist Alley at Chicago Comic-Con. If you’re in town, I sincerely hope you come to visit me!
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra comes out today and it is very likely that I will be seeing the movie with my friends Gordon McAlipin from Multiplex, Zach Miller from Joe and Monkey and Joe Dunn from Joe Loves Crappy Movies as I have depicted here. At least, I hope that’s what happens. We have a nice little tradition of seeing movies together when we’re in town for the convention and I hope everyone can make it.
As for the movie, I kind of think it’s a win-win situation. Based of the awful trailer, I am fully prepared for this movie to be terrible but plan on having a good time soaking up the cheese. If it turns out to be awesome (as some early reviews have suggested in a guilty-pleasure kind of way) then that sounds good, too.
In the meantime, if you want to stay up to date with me on the convention floor, but sure to check out my Twitter account. I’ll be posting status updates from my phone as well as taking advantage of AudioBoo. I noticed a lot of web comic guys using it during San Diego Comic Con and I’m eager to try it out.
Basically, it’s like a mini-podcast. I record up to 3:00 minutes of audio into my phone and AudioBoo posts it to their site – complete with a link from Twitter, so you get complete coverage! Fun little app.
If Twitter isn’t your thing, then please feel free to enjoy this shot by shot remake of the trailer for G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra that replaces the actors with action figures. Considering the movie is basically a 2 hour long toy commercial, the piece seems to cut to the heart of the matter.
Is anyone planning on seeing G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra this weekend? What are your expectations? Are you excited? Did the trailer make you skeptical like it made me skeptical? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!
I know that I did a comic about Zombieland last Monday. But since I had an opportunity to actually see the film on Wednesday, I had to do another comic about it today.
Y’see, what’s depicted in today’s comic is based on real events. Allow me to explain.
I went to a 12:30 showing of Zombieland on Wednesday and I was the only guy in the theater except for one other dude that was sitting in front of me.
I’m not a big fan of zombie movies. I don’t like gore and I don’t like cheap “GOTCHA!” scare tactics. So I busted out my iPhone and started updating to my Twitter account to distract me from some of the carnage on screen and the anxiety that was building up inside of me as I waited for the next zombie attack.
This is not normally something I would do during a movie. But, like I said, I was having anxiety attacks and there was only one other guy in the theater with me.
If you take the long view, Zombieland isn’t all that gory or scary. At least not after the first act. Once it gets it out of its system, the film makes room for more pop culture zingers and character development.
At any rate, something happens in the second act that I thought was AMAZING and I tweeted about it – generally lamenting that I wasn’t watching the film with a larger audience because it would have been neat to see their reaction.
Checking my phone maybe 15 minutes later, I saw a bunch of reply tweets from people like Gordon McAlping Multiplex and Paul Southworth from Not Invented Here having a conniption fit because what I tweeted about was apparently spoiler material.
Now, in my defense, I had read a few reviews of Zombieland and was already aware of this spoiler, so I didn’t think I had done anything wrong by mentioning it. But as more and more people began to reply with sarcastically toned “Thanks a lot, Tom!” tweets, I knew I had stepped in it.
I made reparations quickly. I deleted the offending tweet and asked forgiveness. Shortly thereafter, people started to pack away their torches and pitchforks.
Now, you know me… I’m not exactly the guy known for flinching when it comes to giving away spoilers. But I genuinely felt bad about this one because a.) the movie has been in theaters less than a week and b.) the event I got so excited about is so thoroughly awesome, I really, really, REALLY want people to check out Zombieland to experience it on their own.
Obviously, I won’t go into any more details than that. So I STRONGLY encourage you to see Zombieland if you already haven’t and – if you go – don’t do what I do. Don’t see it by yourself. Take a bunch of friends and see it with a large audience. Because I have a sneaking suspicion the movie will pay dividends if you do.
By the way, be sure to stay through the credits for an extra scene. You won’t regret it.
So, as I have now deftly danced through my explanation of today’s comic, I plan on using my faux pas as inspiration for a short storyline! As you can see, there is the tiny “To Be Continued…” disclaimer at the end of today’s strip and I think you’ll like where things are going.
I hope Gordon doesn’t mind his unauthorized cameo, but I’m sure if you visit his excellent comic Multiplex, he will forgive me. Be sure to contribute to his fund raising efforts to put together the first print collection of Multiplex, too!
That’s all I have for today. Be sure to check us out on Monday for the continuation of the story line!
Have a great weekend!
I promised you guys a recap of my time at C2E2 – The Chicago Comics and Entertainment Expo. It’s really long, so bring a sandwich.
After scrambling to get out of town Thursday morning, I pulled into Chicago around 3:30 in the afternoon. I was a little bit stressed because load-in time at the convention center closed at 4:30 and my Google Map instructions were crap!
The driving directions the show promoters gave me didn’t help much, either. I literally spent 45 minutes driving around and around the convention center, unable to find the loading dock. It turns out, I had to go UP some crazy ramp. The docks weren’t at street level! That was a first for me!
But I made it into the convention center on time and dropped off my stuff in Webcomics Pavilion. I was too tired after driving all day to bother setting up, so I walked over to the next aisle and introduced myself to Joel Watson from HiJinks Ensue. Joel was nice enough to split a hotel room with me to help save on costs, so it seemed appropriate to at least say “hello.”
Joel was a really cool guy and we had great conversations throughout the weekend. He is very serious about his career as a cartoonist and on top of his game. I learned a lot from him over the course of the next few days.
After meeting up and making introductions with a few people from Topatoco, including David Malki from Wondermark, we decided to check in to the hotel. Later, we had dinner before I dragged Joel to Millennium Park to visit the sculpture “Cloud Gate”.
We had a hilarious interaction with some high school kid that was trying to give us grief. As we approached the sculpture, this kid – part of some kind of tour group – yells to us, “Hey, guyyys! How do you like Seattle?” We both looked at him like an idiot and just kept walking.
We inspected the sculpture for a little while and as we were leaving, Joel tried to snap a picture. Again, the same kid yelled at us “What do you think of Seattle, man?” Meanwhile, his chubby friend behind him yelled “You’re gonna get mugged, tourist!”
At that point. Joel stepped up on the kid and said “What the hell do you think you’re doing? I’m taking a picture of a sculpture – just like 4 dozen other people standing around here? Are you trying to be funny, or something?”
The kid immediately folded up, shuffled his feet like a 5 year-old and with his head down muttered “I don’t know. I was just kiddin’ around…” It was awesome.
Later in the evening, we met up with the crew from Topatoco and this time Jeffery Rowland from Wigu, Jeph Jacques from Questionable Content and Matt, Rob and Chris from Cyanide and Happiness came along for the ride. We spent the rest of Thursday evening bar-hopping through downtown Chicago. We’d go to one bar that closed at 11:00 before being directed to another bar that closed at 1:00, before being directed to ANOTHER bar that closed at 2:00. I had a blast.
“But Tom,” you whine. “Stop name-dropping. Tell us about the convention!”
Okay, okay. I get you. Well, let me say this: The first sale I made was just after the doors opened. I sold a copy of Theater Hopper: Year Three to Steve Sansweet.
Now if you don’t know who Steve Sansweet is, that’s alright. But as it turns out, he is the Director of Content Management and Head of Fan Relations at Lucasfilm!
I totally didn’t recognize him because he was wearing a beard and, frankly, because I wasn’t on the lookout for anyone from Lucasfilm while I was there. But I talked to him for a little while and he said he decided to pick up my book after seeing one of my comics with George Lucas in my sampler booklet. I just hope it wasn’t this one.
I pointed out that I made 9 comics about Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith by pointing to the index in the back of the book – which he labeled “brilliant” – and said that I hoped that they wouldn’t get me in trouble. “No, no,” he said. “This is clearly parody.”
So there you have it! Theater Hopper: Year Three is approved by Lucasfilm!
I wish I had been smart enough to ask Mr. Sansweet for his picture while he was at my booth, but I was so gobsmacked by the exchange, I didn’t think of it until 2 hours later. If someone knows how I can get in touch with the guy, please let me know! I’d love to get a shot of him holding up the book for the site!
Needless to say, it was a GREAT way to start the convention.
I don’t know if my contemporaries felt quite as optimistic after Friday, though. A lot of people commented that they thought traffic was a little too light for a Friday and worried what kind of impact that would have for their show.
Personally, I talked to a bunch of people. Although, I will admit, I didn’t make a lot of sales. I chalked it up to the convention simply being so VAST that attendees were just trying to get the lay of the land and figure out what the show had to offer. Everyone I made a sale to that day was wearing a “Friday Only” badge. So I was still holding on to hope.
Friday evening, I attended the Webcomics Town Hall Panel. Since Joel was sitting on stage with David Malki from Wondermark Ryan Sohmer and Lar deSouza from Least I Could Do, Erika Moen from DAR, Lucy Knisley from Stop Paying Attention and Danielle Corsetto from Girls With Slingshots. There were also two guys with Zuda comics, but for the life of me I can’t remember them. Sorry.
Actually, I was kind of tuned-out for most of panel. Largely because the moderator (who I also don’t recall) was as boring as a bowl of oatmeal. He talked at length about his own webcomic credentials and then introduced each individual artist by reading lengthy bio information from a Powerpoint presentation that was being displayed on a screen behind him. He would have been better off just asking the panelists to introduce themselves and gotten on with the Q&A.
David Malki basically took the whole thing over, even calling on members of the audience who had questions. He practically muscled the moderator out completely. Kind of rude. But at the same time, completely necessary to keep the panel from becoming a total snore-fest.
There was also some minor controversy when apparently Malki called out Ryan Sohmer on some practice or another. Again, I wasn’t paying close attention. Someone from the audience also asked a question that took a shot at the Zuda guys, which most people on the panel thought was off sides. Truthfully, there wasn’t much for me to learn from listening the panel. I was just there to support the scene.
I attended the panel with my good buddy Gordon McAlpin from Multiplex. After it was over, we kind of tried to sneak in next to the group of webcomic artists also in attendance to see what their plans were for dinner. I was overjoyed when, after saying “hello” to Danielle Corsetto, she immediately recognized me and gave me a hug! I wasn’t sure she’d remember me, but we were on the Business of Webcomics panel together at Emerald City Comic Con last year. She is OFFICIALLY the sweetest person in webcomics!
Eventually, 15 of decided to get dinner together at Giordanos for pizza, but didn’t know that it is a world-renown restaurant. The wait was something like 2 hours. So we ended up going across the street to Jake Melnick’s Corner Tap for some hot wings.
There were more webcomic people there than you could shake a stick at! I met Phil Khan, Erica Henderson and T. Campbell from Guilded Age David Willis from Shortpacked! and Randy Milholland from Something Positive.
A bunch of other webcomics guys also wandered in off the street just by accident. I think Zach Weiner from Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal and Alina Pete from Weregeek were there, too (among many others – the Cyanide and Happiness guys showed up, too), but I didn’t get to say “hi.” There were so many of us, they had to split us up into different tables! We were half the restaurant at one point!
What was craziest about all of this interaction with different webcomic people was how many of them were already familiar with Theater Hopper. My social circle among webcomic artists is pretty small and, like most artists with social anxiety, it’s sometimes difficult for me to go up to a stranger and strike up a conversation.
But this time, I made an effort to change things and I made sure to be friendly and up front. When I walked up to Randy Milholland and said, “Hi, my name’s Tom Brazelton,” he responded “Oh, yeah! From Theater Hopper!” and that was crazy validating.
By the way, if you ever end up at Jake Melnick’s Corner Tap, get their Poncho Wings. A local recommended me to them and they were excellent. Garlic and cayenne pepper! Oh, yeah!
After dinner, pretty much everyone agreed to call it a night. Which was probably for the best.
The next day at the convention was noticeably busier and again I talked to a bunch of really cool fans. One guy came up to the booth wearing my “Junkie” t-shirt. A little later, a different guy came up wearing my Sean Bean shirt. Seeing fans wearing my shirts always brings a smile to my face.
Later in the day, a girl that I had given a sampler book to came back to let me know that she was laughing out loud while reading it. She brought her friend to my booth to show her what the fuss was about. That’s pretty awesome.
On Saturday, I was asked to pinch hit at the Reading With Pictures Iron Artist Tournament. Basically, they put me on stage with a couple of other artists and we were given a bizarre theme and asked to draw the first thing that came to our minds.
The first theme was “Superheros When They Were Young.” So, of course, I drew Iron Man as a baby. The second theme was Escape from New York meets The Princess Bride. So I drew Snake Plissken as Inigo Montoya. I got lucky on that second drawing because someone asked me to draw them as Inigo Montoya earlier in the day!
Gordon McAlpin was also part of the tournament and I have to say that his Baby Blue Beetle was adorable. I don’t know how much it was auctioned off for, but I bet it fetched a pretty penny.
I had a great time on stage drawing and helping contribute to a worthwhile cause. If you want to see pictures of the event, a bunch of them have been uploaded to Flickr here.
After we wrapped things up at the tournament, Joe Dunn and Phil Chan from Another Videogame Comic came with us to met up with the guys from Guilded Age and Cyanide and Happiness at the World’s Worst Pizza restaurant. It was so bad, I don’t even remember the name. All I remember is that someone ordered a deep dish BBQ pizza and was repulsed by it. That pizza was only mentioned in hushed tones after that.
From there, the 10 of us met up with yet ANOTHER group of webcomic artists across town at a karaoke bar called Brando’s at an event organized by Abby L, who draws The Green Avenger and The Rose Deli Project. It almost didn’t happen. The bar was very small and there was already a large, obnoxious bachelorette party taking up most of the seats.
The club owner saw we were about to leave and offered us one free round of drinks just as soon as the bachelorette party left – which turned out to be about 10 minutes after we arrived. Unable to refuse free drinks, we all spilled in to the club.
I’ve only done karaoke once in my life. Drunkenly, I tried to sing AC/DC’s “You Shook Me.” I tried to do the Brian Johnson voice and everything. It was terrible.
However, I like to sing in the car and I think I have a pretty good voice. The only problem is, I don’t know the lyrics to a lot of songs that aren’t 90’s hip-hop.
After a few rounds, I started to entertain the idea that I would sing “The Humpty Dance” by Digital Underground. Those of you familiar with Mitch Clem’s work might recognize my affinity for the song and how thoroughly it annoys others.
Joe Dunn tried to talk me out of performing the song, but when I mentioned it to Spike from Templar, AZ, she insisted I do it and promised to back me up. When my time came to grab the mic, not only did Spike join me on stage, but her husband Mike Sheridan and Joel from HiJinks Ensue joined me on stage as well. I’m proud to report that we killed it.
Or, at least I think we did. In my estimation, everyone who steps on stage to perform karaoke has to convince themselves they’re killing it or they would fold under the weight of their own embarrassment.
Two LEGITIMATELY awesome performances can be attributed to Joel’s rendition of Styx’s “Mr. Roboto.” Also, Dave Reiley from Dead Winter did a thundering version of Metallica’s “Fuel.” Needless to say, a fun time was had by all.
After karaoke, Spike was nice enough to invite everyone back to her apartment for an after party. I’m always amazed how quickly webcomic people – who are otherwise strangers – can fall into passionate, well-informed conversations so easily. Before I knew it, we were there for two hours. I could have kept talking with these people for another six.
The last day of the convention was mild compared to the previous two. I did better with sales than I did on Friday, but not as well as I did on Saturday.
One exchange I had, however, was “100% WIN” (as the L33T kids say). Near the end of the show, one of the event volunteers approached me and asked for a custom sketch. What was sweet about it was that he didn’t want a sketch of himself, but one of his wife. He identified himself as a fan of Theater Hopper, but it was his wife that introduced him to the comic. She had been on board since the early days and “shared my hatred for Ben Affleck,” he said.
He asked that I reproduce the last panel of this comic where Ben Affleck opens a package from Jared filled with bees featuring her instead of Affleck. According to this guy, his wife has been using that image as her desktop background for the last 4 years.
I happily drew the picture and turned it over to him. “Tell your wife to send me an e-mail after she receives it,” I told him. “I’d love to hear her reaction.”
I didn’t have to wait that long. Five minutes before the show was over, the man’s wife approached my table. I misunderstood the situation thinking that the husband was volunteering and the wife was somewhere else. But it turns out she was volunteering as well, just in a different area of the show! She wasn’t able to leave her post.
She was so effusive and thankful for the sketch, it was utterly heart warming. Both her and her husband were so friendly and appreciative, it was really the best way to end the convention. I left on such a high note.
For her, I decided to produce a 1280 x 1024 desktop wallpaper from the last panel of that comic. I just couldn’t let her continue about her work without something that was a little better in quality.
I talked to a lot of people about the success (or lack thereof) of C2E2. A lot of my contemporaries didn’t do as well with sales as they had hoped. Some people I talked to said they didn’t think they were coming back next year.
While I would have liked to have sold a little more than I did, I can’t look at the weekend as anything less than a complete success for me.
I got to talk to talk to a myriad of different webcomic creators for the first time. I shook hands with fans who were so supportive and thankful. Fans who told me they think my comics are getting better and how much they enjoy reading the movie reviews. One guy told me mine were the one reviews he trusted. I mean, how can you NOT feel great after a weekend like that?
I had a blast and I hope I can go back next year.
First things first. What I’m suggesting in the last three panels is true.
While this comic marks the LAST APPEARANCE of Jimmy and Charlie in Theater Hopper, it does NOT mark their last appearance in webcomics.
Jimmy and Charlie are moving to Multiplex.
This was an idea that I had started to kick around probably sometime this summer. It’s taken this long to move the chess pieces around to get us there.
I talked with Multiplex creator Gordon McAlpin several months ago. I followed up with him last week to see if he still might be interested in adopting Jimmy and Charlie once Theater Hopper ended.
As fortune would have it, he was still interested! So I went ahead and drew Jimmy and Charlie’s last Theater Hopper comic, knowing that I was sending them off into an unknown future. But a future where I at least knew they would be in good hands.
Not to pat myself on the back too hard, but I like this idea of handing Jimmy and Charlie over to Gordon for use in Multiplex for several reasons.
First of all, Gordon’s a hell of a writer and relationships are his specialty. Jimmy and Charlie have a rich background – one I invested a lot of time into. Their lengthy back story was not something I had really tried before as a writer. Turning these characters over to a writer as competent as Gordon ensures their story will continue in some form.
I also like the idea because – from what I’ve gathered – it’s somewhat unprecedented.
Now, web comics as a genre run pretty far and wide. So I could be completely off-base, but I’ve never heard of one creator handing over a set of characters to another creator like this.
Sure, characters change hands between writers and artists all the time. But usually they stay confined within the universe they were created in. How often has it occurred that a creator establishes characters in one universe and hands them over to a creator with their own established universe? It would be like Marvel turning to DC Comics and saying “Here. You can have Spider-Man from now on. Have fun with him!”
I don’t know. I could be completely wrong. If I am, I take it all back. I didn’t intend to offend. But I haven’t come across it in the last 10 years I’ve made web comics.
Lastly, the reason I like this idea is because it gives the people who supported Theater Hopper a place to land once the comic ends next week. My comic and Gordon’s comic have always had a close affiliation. I’m certain there is a lot of overlap between our fans. But in case there isn’t, Jimmy and Charlie showing up in Gordon’s comic gives my fans a conduit through which to explore one hell of a great comic in Multiplex. If you like Theater Hopper, I know you’ll find a lot to enjoy there.
Whatever happens, I told Gordon he’s free to do with the characters whatever he wants. If he decides to make Jimmy a serial killer and Charlie a lesbian, that’s his choice. The characters are his now to do with as he pleases. I don’t want Gordon to write the characters as I would have. I want to witness with everyone else the new places he takes them.
I don’t know for sure when Jimmy or Charlie will first appear in Multiplex, but Gordon indicated it would be sometime early next year – as soon as his current story line concludes. So help me keep an eye out for them, will you?
I’m very excited about this step forward. I think it’s unique and a lot of fun. I hope you guys feel the same way about it as I do.
If you could help spread the word about this comic, I would greatly appreciate it. I originally intended to upload it last Friday. But a blizzard that whipped through town last Wednesday left our home without power for over 24 hours. We were kind of scrambling to get things back together on the homefront and the Friday update didn’t happen.
A change like this is a blockbuster and I’m worried that not a lot of people are going to see it due to the holiday. If you’re reading this right now, MAKE SURE OTHERS SEE IT. Share it on Facebook or Twitter. Let your web comic reading friends know. Even if they don’t read Theater Hopper or Multiplex, the might get a kick out of what we’re doing. Who knows?
I have another comic that I intend to work on and update for Christmas. We’re doing another small leap forward in time so the comic I’m posting on Christmas actually takes place on Christmas. So be on the lookout for that.
After the Christmas comic, there will be one more comic this week. After that, the VERY LAST THEATER HOPPER WILL BE PUBLISHED MONDAY, DECEMBER 31.
Be there, guys. I can’t imagine it without you.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!