Posts Tagged ‘Wizard World Chicago’
18 items.
…and SPEAKING of Spider-Man!
You might have noticed that there is a new ad to the right of the comic today letting you know that you can now BID for original Theater Hopper artwork on eBay!
To celebrate the release of Spider Man 2 in theaters, I have decided to draw the Theater Hopper cast as characters from the movie! Tom as Spider Man, Cami as Mary Jane Watson and Jared as “Mister Busyhands” himself, Dr. Octopus!
Bidding starts at .01 cent – one thin copper penny! The auction will last until next Friday, July 1st!
I’m selling the art partly to raise some more money for Wizard World Chicago. I don’t think I’ve mentioned it here, but I’ve reserved a hotel room and a booth. I’m sharing the booth with Mitch Clem from Nothing Nice to Say and Barrett’s Lament, Zach Miller from No Pants Tuesday and the omnipresent Neil G from Dayfree Press, Robot Stories, The End Chronicles and Limited Space. The convention runs from August 13th to the 15th – Come out and meet us!
Anyway, I’m raising money for that, but I’m also trying to improve our seller rating over at eBay. We’re trying to auction off some other stuff lying around the house and people aren’t buying yet because we don’t have a high seller rating.
If you’re interested in Betty Boop stuff, Cami is selling off a lot of her collection, so check that out. I’ll probably put up some of my junk there in the next couple of days.
/end whoring
Anyway, thanks!
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Something I wanted to mention yesterday but was too busy fighting off a migraine to recall is that Zach Miller – yes THAT Zach Miller, the one from the erstwhile No Pants Tuesday – has thrown his hat back into the web comic ring with a new strip called Joe and Monkey.
What’s Joe and Monkey about? Simple, really. It’s the tale of a delivery boy named Joe and a monkey named Monkey. Oh, and be on the lookout for Kleptobot!
Anyone familiar with Zach’s work knows that Joe and Monkey has been in development for a long time. There’s a good reason for that. Y’see, Zach sometimes has a little problem with updating on time. Not a strike against him! Just stating a fact!
Well, Zach knows it just as much as we do, so he decided to do something about it. That’s why he produced A TON of comics in advance so he would never miss an update. You think I’m joking, but the amount of comics he produced weighs literally 2,000 pounds.
At any rate, I’m really excited to see Zach producing comics again and also experienced a warming of the heart when he mentioned Theater Hopper in his opening blog and had lots of nice things to say. Thank you, Zach! You cut to the core of me!
Incidentally, I will be sharing a booth with Zach at Wizard World Chicago August 13 through 15. Don’t forget Mitch Clem of Barrett’s Lament or Neil G from Robot Stories. They’ll be there, too.
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I’m looking forward to the trip to Wizard World Chicago, but a little nervous, too. From Des Moines, it’s a 6 hour drive to Chicago. That’s the furthest I’ve ever driven somewhere by myself. Hopefully I won’t get desperately lost and end up dead in a crack house somewhere.
I’m also a little panicked that I didn’t bring enough stuff to sell. I only have maybe, 20 of my original posters left. Jared gave me his last 6 copies of the DVD to sell. I’m bringing, like 8 t-shirts – all mediums and larges that I’ve been waiting for someone to order and that I’ve been sitting on. I still have a lot of the Trainspotting parody poster. But the item I worked the hardest on – the 24 page sampler booklet with a new, never seen before comic – well, I only have about 150 of those. Still, if I sell out of merchandise, that’s not really a bad problem to have, is it?
I went totally D.I.Y. on this booklet. They’ve all been lovingly arranged by hand. I was going to take them to a professional printer, but they wanted $300. Sh’eah, right!
Once I get to Chicago, I expect things to be in full swing. I’m sharing a room with Zach Miller from Joe & Monkey. Let’s hope he doesn’t snore!
The two of us are sharing a booth with Nothing Nice to Say’s Mitch Clem. We were also supposed to be booth-buddies with Neil G from Robot Stories, but he had to drop out at the last minute because he’s buying a house and needed to get his stuff together. We’ll miss Neil, but I’m sure we’ll have a good time. It’s like a reunion of the Minneapolis FallCon!
…except without Carrington, who we will also miss.
Before I wrap things up, be sure to check out our latest advertiser Built For Comfort. These guys are just getting off the ground with their comic, but I think it looks pretty good. The site design is tight. BOOKMARK’D!
I prepared Friday’s comic in advance and it’s sitting in the display cue ready to go. Hopefully I didn’t screw things up with the code and you’ll have a nice comic about Aliens vs. Predator to kick off your weekend.
See you soon!
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As I’ve mentioned earlier, I will be going to Wizard World Chicago August 4 -7. If you come looking for me, I’ll be in booth 9131-A – in between my good buddies Joe from Digital Pimp Online, Zach from Joe and Monkey and Mitch from Nothing Nice to Say. I’m really excited about this because I’ve joined forces with nearly a dozen other web comic creators and we’ve reserved a block of tables together on artist’s alley. It’s going to be great. And hopefully we’ll draw a little more attention to our online genre by showing strength in numbers.
However, my trip to The Windy City is now in jeopardy and I need your help.
As you are aware, Cami and I will be moving to our new home on Tuesday, July 12. Due to some unforeseen/unplanned for expenses relating to the closing costs and moving the moving of all our crap to our new home, pretty much all of the savings I’ve gathered from advertising and merchandise sales in the last year have to be diverted AWAY from the site and into the purchase of our new house.
There’s a chance that I can scrounge up the cash I need for Chicago on my own, but with your help, I can do it faster. I need your help because after we close on the house, I’m only going to have about two weeks to get the money together that I need to pay for the hotel room, gas and food for 3 days and 4 night. Sure it would be nice to have a little “walking around” money to spend on the convention floor. But at this point I’m more concerned with being able to foot the bill for the necessities. I’ve already made a commitment to going to Wizard World Chicago. Both to myself and to others. I’m not about to walk away from it now that I’m so close. I’m asking for your help so I can meet my goal.
I’M NOT LOOKING FOR HANDOUTS. If you want to donate, that’s cool. I will reward you appropriately for your generosity. In fact, there are odds that I will probably start doing portraits for donations again to help make ends meet. Look for updated information about that soon.
What I’m asking of you is to help support the site by purchasing a t-shirt, baby doll tee, hoodie, button pack or poster. These are things I already have in stock and am ready to ship out. These are already proven sellers. What I need is a concentrated influx of orders from you guys to help me recover my loss. You’ll be getting exactly what you paid for and helping me at the same time. In fact, you’ll be DOUBLY helping me. Because if I can thin out my inventory, that’s going to be less stuff we need to move! Don’t you feel better already.
If you’re feeling extra bold, purchasing some advertising would probably be the quickest way to ammend my situation. Feel free to place orders for spots out into the future. I have an ad tracking system that will keep everything organized and will make sure your ad displays on time. Those ad spots to the right of the comic up there have been kind of lonely for a while, now that I think about it… If you’re thinking about spending your advertising dollar with us, I think you’ll find our prices very fair.
If you’ve ever thought about purchasing a t-shirt, baby doll tee, hoodie, button pack or poster and have procrastinated for any reason, I’m asking you to PLEASE reconsider now. I would grately appreciate it and it would help get me out of a real tight spot. If you’re wondering what item might be best, the button packs are a good place to start. They’re already pre-packaged and easy to mail. I can get those out the door as soon as I get your order. Plus, they are very affordably priced, so you won’t feel the same financial sting that I’m feeling right now.
I feel a little bit of shame asking you guys to help pull this together for me. But as I’ve come to know you as an audience, you’ve been nothing if not patient and fair. Even if it’s not possible for you to contribute at this time, just the fact that you come to the site every Monday, Wednesday and Friday is enough to keep me going. As always, thank you for your continued support. It has been and will always be sincerely appreciated.
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I wanted to let everyone know that I’ve updated my information regarding my appearance at Wizard World Chicago. You can learn everything from what time I’ll arrive, to where you can find my booth, to what we’ll be doing after the shows if you want to hang out all right here. Rather than type it all out a second time, I just wanted to call your attention to it.
Last year I needed a little bit of help getting to Chicago after Truman came down with his mystery intestional ailment and we have to perform emergency exploritory surgery on him.
Luckily, we’ve had no such crisis this year and my money situation is looking pretty good in terms of getting me to Chicago and back. But if you’re unable to make it to Wizard World Chicago and want to show me a little support, feel free to donate a little gas money. I’m looking at a 6 hour drive each way and I’m sure I’ll need it.
Maybe that’s kind of skeevy to ask, but the worst you can say is “No,” right? Besides, it’s not like you won’t be compensated for your generosity. Learn more about that and The Walk of Fame here.
Thanks to everyone for their support! I hope to see as many of you in Chicago as possible!
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I know today’s incentive sketch makes it look like I had a pretty rough time at Wizard World Chicago. Those things did happen, but in total truth, it was one of the best cons I’ve ever been to. Lots of success, great ideas gathered and a few doors opened through the magic of networking.
Sadly, commentary for today’s comic as well as a recap of the convention will have to wait. I drew and inked today’s comic yesterday while I was still in Chicago and immediately sat down to color it when I got home.
I have that bouncy feeling like I’m still in motion after the 6 hour drive home. I’d like to take a shower and spend some time with Cami and Truman. The rest will have to wait.
Come back to the site later this evening for more.
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This isn’t the first time Tom has taken flight. It isn’t the first time he’s seen a movie with his web comic contemporaries, either. But as I place great importance on tradition, so goes today’s strip.
For the record, great thanks must be extended to the fabulous Joe “I’m So Fast I’m Already” Dunn who not only helped whip up the punch line of today’s comic, but also added some compositional suggestions to the last panel.
Anyone who dares to doubt that Joe is the most talented man in web comics needs only sit next to him for 15 minutes. The man works so fast and with such precision, the fact that he’s able to churn out work for four to five web comics a week starts to come into focus. Seriously. The man doesn’t even pencil out his work first. He reaches straight for an ink brush. He’s THAT good. I’m hoping that by hanging around him for those four days at the con that I can absorb a little of that talent. I don’t know how. By osmosis or sumthin’.
# THE REST OF THIS BLOG WAS LOST WHEN THEATER HOPPER MOVED TO WORDPRESS IN JANUARY 2009 #
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I have plenty to say about the controversy between Kevin Smith and Joel Siegel concerning the forthcoming Clerks II, but I’m saving that for later.
For now, I have more important news…
Seriously, guys. You should have been hanging out with me yesterday. I was on Cloud 9. As I was driving to pick up the books from the frieght agency that was storing them on their docks, I swear the air was sweeter and my car stereo was pumping tunes more clearly. Flipping through this book… to have it in my hands… WOW. Big accomplishment for me. You have no idea.
Sincere thanks to each and every one of you who pre-ordered a copy. You helped make my dream come true! Now that I have this first book under my belt, I hope to do "Theater Hopper: Year Two" very soon. I’d love for it to be out by Christmas, but it really depends how well "Theater Hopper: Year One" sells first.
On that note, if you were holding off on pre-ordering a copy of "Theater Hopper: Year One," these pictures are the proof that – yes – the book IS in fact REAL. You should order one soon. We’ve already burned through half of our first print run and I’m taking a BUNCH of these books to Wizard World Chicago. So there might be very less very soon!
I can’t tell you how excited I am. Cami and I have put together a great plan to get this book in front of many people as possible. You guys have helped us meet the first goal. Now we’re going to start trying to get press for the book – both local and national – and see if we can’t push things a little farther in regards to Theater Hopper’s overall visibility and success.
You guys got us to this point, so THANK YOU!!!
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As you can see, there is no comic today and there will likely be no comic until next Monday, August 7.
Due to some unforeseen circumstances at work, I ended up at the office for about 12 hours yesterday and I am likely to repeat the stunt again on Wednesday. Thus, I didn’t have enough time to put together a comic for you today and I won’t have enough time to work in advance on a comic for Friday.
I won’t get into the details about the work situation except to say that I have a *VERY* important project due next Monday and I can’t leave for Wizard World Chicago with it hanging over my head. This is just one of those situations where real-life takes priority over my hobby.
It’s bad timing. Especially because of Wizard World Chicago. I’m going to do the whole meet-and-greet from Friday until Sunday and people will check out the site to be greated with this message. Well, if you’re one of those people, I STRONGLY ENCOURAGE you to check out our archives. Heck, start from the begining! I’m certain you’ll find something you like.
I feel bad because I think this is the first time where I’ve had to blow off the comic due to serious life stuff getting in the way. I typically pride myself on my adherence to the schedule. But you guys know how I feel about deadlines and I wouldn’t reprioritize things if it wasn’t of the utmost importance.
All I want to say is that this is not a trend. Right now work has got the better of me. If I’m going to keep the job that pays the bills, I have to show it the attention it deserves.
I appreciate everyone’s understanding. I promise that next Monday you will see a fresh comic from yours truly. And if it follows in the tradition of post-convention comics of yore, it will likely be a little tale about how me and my fellow web comic cronies went to see a movie togeher. Most likely Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.
In the meantime, if you want to capitolize on my screw up and want to submit a guest strip to help me pad out the week, I’m gladly taking submissions. I realize it’s short notice, but if you want to whip something together real quick to help score a little extra publicity for your site while I’m off the reservation, e-mail me and we’ll work something out!
Don’t forget to find me at table #3143 A in Artist’s Alley at Wizard World Chicago this weekend! I will be selling copies of my first book "Theater Hopper: Year One" (which, incidentally, you can also buy here) as well as handing out invitations to a book release party I’m having Saturday night in my hotel room at the Doubletree. It’s going to be a blast.
Thanks again for everyone’s support, patience and understanding. I sincerely appreciate it!
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Aug04
GUEST STRIP – CARL KLOSTER
August 4th, 2006 |- Comics »
- Comics »
- Guest Strip
(5 votes, average: 7.00 out of 10)
Today’s guest strip comes from Carl Kloster of The Third Half. The joke is a little bit on the border, but it was too good to pass out. I laughed out loud at this one. Plus, since I’m currently in Wizard World Chicago, having spent 6 hours in the car the day prior, it seemed fitting.
If you’re going to be at Wizard World Chicago, be sure to visit me at table #3134 A on Artist’s Alley. If you come by and say "Hi" I would be more than happy to give you an invitation to my book release party happening Saturday night. But you’re not going to know what room the party is being held in unless you get an invitation from me! No gate crashers!
If you’re not in Chicago this weekend, be sure to visit Carl’s site The Third Half. Lots of stuff to choose from there. Comics, movies, animation – he’s got it all.
Thanks again to Carl for the excellent guest strip on such short notice. Don’t forget to visit Theater Hopper over the weekend. I have two more guest strips for you that you’re going to love!
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